My Year With Taylor Swift

To be clear this isn't some kiss and tell. I haven't been dating the fragrant Taylor behind Travis's back. God forbid. Have you seen the size of him? No, my year with Taylor isn't even a year, more like a few months and as lovely as she clearly is I need to console myself with the fact that it's just her music I've discovered.

It all began with 1989 which I cover in detail here. I made some weird connections to the band of my life Del Amitri and started to realise that the girl has real talent.

I've since discovered the backwoods, wilderness inspired beauty of Folklore and Evermore. Look at these covers and you can guess what's inside. Let’s not kid ourselves Taylor is a beautifully striking woman yet here she lets other imagery do her talking. Does she sexualise herself elsewhere? Yes, she probably does, if so it’s definitely on her terms. Here she tells us it’s about a feeling, about the music and the image is about that, not what she looks like or what she’s wearing.

Yes of course Taylor draws on her relationship experiences but that's not all she's got. She creates a magic in these albums that is tangible. You can feel it. She doesn't suffer from over singing as so many new artists do. Lyrically powerful yet keeping the music beautifully simple. These two albums in particular have struck such a chord with me that they have been ever presents, usurping my usual tried and tested listening. Unless, unless… There’s something familiar in there and it’s Del Amitri again. Those lyrics, that sound. From Folklore The stunning This Is Me Crying would sit on Some Other Suckers Parade or Can You Do Me Good more than comfortably.

From Evermore any number of tracks could be from Justin Currie’s solo output. If Justin Currie were to write a song from a female perspective he would write Tolerate It I’m so convinced that Taylor or one of her inner circle must have listened to Del Amitri. A lot.

The next album I clicked play on was her second album from way back in 2008 the oh so country Fearless. Guess what? It’s brilliant. These are clearly where her roots lie. She’s a country girl who’s spread her wings. There is something in her delivery, musicality and talent that makes this a joyous listening experience while dealing with some really tough subject matter. This is a truly extraordinary song. I don’t want to do the Del Amitri thing again but she leaves me no choice. If you know Sometimes I Just have To Say Your Name you know exactly what I’m thinking.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing. I struggled with Lover and will need to return to try again. I’m currently on Red and it’s very promising. So 6 albums in out of 11 and there’s three strong nine out of ten’s a good eight and a couple still to click with me. I’ll take in the rest in 2025.

I’ve also inadvertently stepped into the world of Swifties on Facebook. I followed a page entitled Swifties Over Fifties, shared my 1989 piece and before I knew it the Facebook algorithms started to overwhelm my timeline with clips, photos and stories from the frankly unbelievable world of Taylor Swift. Seeing how she affects her fans, how The Eras Tour happened and the sheer enormity of it has been a real revelation. I don’t know how she does any of it, where her energy comes from, how she copes with the intense scrutiny, her seemingly boundless optimism and just making the time for it all. It gives me a headache. Then you see a clip from a clearly driven young girl filmed by her loving, driven and clever parents who planned this all while keeping Taylor’s best interests at heart. Guitar in hand, writing songs almost savant like dreaming of one day and being with the guy from the football team. Of course it all came true.

Am I a Swiftie? Of course not. I’m a 59 year old English bloke who enjoys his music. What I will say is that young Taylor has a talent and magic I really enjoy and I’m more than happy to share. At the heart of it all is great song writing, brilliant execution and that indescribable something that lifts an artist into another place.