If each of Taylor Swift’s albums represents a season of the year, then I love and admire her musical journey through each season. 12 summers have passed since the first day the song ‘You Belong With Me’ came to me. That year, I was just 9 years old, I didn’t even understand the meaning of the lyrics, but I still hummed and sang it.
Music monument for young people in the 21st century
It’s not easy to start talking about Taylor Swift. Some people started by listing her awards and albums, some people chose to tell about her inspirational journey of re-recording old albums, and some people chose to associate her with keywords like “trip”. legendary “The Eras Tour” or “country music princess”. One way or another, Taylor is still a musical monument for young people in the 21st century.
Her songs not only take us back to our school years with joy, anger, and sorrow through Fifteen or Mean, but she also cleverly integrates painful social issues through the song Epiphany. ; are stories about a trio of fictional characters through three songs: Cardigan, August and Betty. Those are still idle thoughts when we become adults through Nothing New.
The great thing about Taylor is the connection between her and her fans through her songs. Through the narration in each line of Taylor’s music, we find ourselves in each story: we cry because we remember our late grandmother through Marjorie; we remember an unfinished love through All Too Well; and most of all, we chat with Taylor through the song Long Live, which she composed specifically for her fans.
Long-lasting and strong connection with fans
If you are a long-time Swiftie (Taylor Swift fan), you are probably familiar with the number of times Taylor Swift has stepped on stage to receive awards.
This relationship is defined as a one-way relationship, when fans give all their love and attention to the celebrity, on the contrary, the celebrity is likely completely unaware or unaware. about the existence of individual fans. With the development of the digital age, this relationship has been shortened thanks to interaction on social networking platforms. But nonetheless, for big artists, this is still a significant challenge because they not only have to maintain their professional image but also try to interact and reach out to their fan group. As the number of fans increases, the “personalization” between celebrities and fans will gradually disappear.
Taylor Swift, on the other hand, has all the elements to form a “parasocial relationship” with fans. She is at the peak of her career, her journey has been long enough for her fans to grow up, and there is always a certain group of fans. However, Taylor has been very skillful in interacting with fans through each of her periods. This is proven through the fact that she regularly interacts with fans through song lyrics and Easter eggs (clues) in music videos for viewers to explore and discover for the next albums. Or in recent years, she has also created a TikTok account and “liked” fans’ videos. During her latest tour, she inspired fans by making friendship bracelets to exchange.
Through these actions, we can see that the celebrity-fan relationship between Taylor and her fans is always maintained and strong, making fans feel like they are chatting with a close girlfriend. set.
Beloved Brands website believes that Taylor Swift’s success comes from the fact that she treats her fans like friends. Professor Simone Driessen of the Department of History, Media and Culture at Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands) said that it was the long-term and strong connection between her and her fans that created the attraction for the success of the show. Miss. She always brings personality and connection with fans through each song.
The Eras Tour: Professional and impeccable
These successes are best demonstrated through The Eras Tour. With more than 100 concert dates, across 4 continents, approximately more than 20 countries, Taylor’s “Erases” tour is a step in affirming her position in the music industry and her true value.
Ticket prices are not cheap, but for every Swifties, attending The Eras Tour is considered an honor or a privilege. For my sister and I, it was a journey to reach our childhood dream when we both witnessed her sing live, possibly for the only time in our lives, at the Johan Cruijff Arena, capital Amsterdam (Netherlands) on the evening of July 5 with about 55,000 people attending.
Depending on each individual, we will have different definitions of the success of The Eras Tour. As for us, the success of The Eras Tour comes from the fact that I had the opportunity to transform into a 9-year-old girl dancing around the room to the song You Belong With Me. The success of The Eras Tour for my sister was a 1/200 chance when Taylor Swift included the song Cowboy Like Me in the list of surprise songs that my sister really liked. And most of all, the success of The Eras Tour in us is also the nostalgia and the days of eating lots of ice cream sticks to have a chance to win tickets for the Red tour in 2014, or the days of memorizing the lyrics. music to be able to immerse yourself in the most memorable stage on the evening of July 5 in Amsterdam.
Throughout the performance, Taylor impressed us with her wonderful journey of singing ‘live’ continuously for 3 hours. Taylor transformed into a girl immersed in love and happiness in the Lover era. She also skillfully touches on social issues such as feminism and LGBTQ+ in this era. Then she reappeared with the appearance of an enthusiastic high school girl through the golden Fearless era. Coming to the concerns and difficulties of adolescence through the Red era, then once again returning to the image of a girl in love through the dreamy purple Speak Now era. Taylor continues to surprise fans by transforming herself in an era full of climax with the image of the legendary snake queen in Reputation. And she also makes us cry through the stories told in the poetic piano notes of the two “sister” eras, Folklore and Evermore.
Not stopping there, Taylor brought to the stage a very American image through the 1989 era, with vibrant pop songs that I’m sure everyone has heard and danced to. And a whole new era of trendy music and composition through Midnight. What’s most special, on the night of July 5, we were honored to be among the audience listening to Taylor’s latest era, writing about human psychological issues such as self-awareness or the… childhood trauma via The Tortured Poets Department.
It was only when I attended the performance in person that I realized why Taylor was so successful. Hidden behind a feminine appearance, she is an extremely professional person.
Professional is the perfect word to describe Taylor Swift. She devoted herself to her fans for 3 hours, without even taking a few minutes to rest. She spent most of the performance singing and did not use it to interact with fans. She was on time, and never missed a beat. What is most impressive is her ability to control the crowd.
In that overwhelming scene, all you can do is immerse yourself in singing along to Taylor Swift’s love songs.
Taylor Swift once sang “Lost the balance on a tightrope, it’s never too late to get it back”. Although in the song, this sentence is placed in a different context, in this case it is strangely true for her. She once fell, once failed, and had to stay away from the media for a while, but she also rose up strongly, regained her original glory, and once again affirmed her own value. own body.
The success of Taylor Swift in general and The Eras Tour in particular comes from her talent.
Another summer has passed, and I believe there are still many more summers I will immerse myself in Taylor Swift’s lyrics. Soon, I was the same age Taylor was when she released my favorite album, Red.
