Taylor Swift has gone through a myriad of different eras. Her ability to recreate herself through every stage of her life and career brings a new way of understanding her music. Her recreations put her on the same level as some of the greatest female pop icons of all time like Madonna, Britney, Gaga and Beyonce who are all known for recreating their image and staying current with changing trends. Swift definitely did that with her Grammy-winning album Folklore. After the release of Lover in 2019, it was clear that Swift was back on her A-game after a brief hiatus before the release of Reputation. When the surprise album Folklore dropped it was clear that Swift was moving on to another era. While the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to stay home and get in touch with nature, Swift did the same thing while creating Folklore. Swift has made herself into a timeless act because she evolves with the times. To celebrate her most recent Grammy win here’s a look back at all the different eras of Taylor Swift!
Country Star Swift
The release of Swift’s first big single titled “Tim McGraw” signified that a country star was bord. Her first self-titled album Taylor Swift was full of hit singles. “Teardrops on My Guitar,” “Picture to Burn” and “Our Song” were the first singles of Swift’s to dominate the radio, and Swift owned this era. As a young woman who grew up in Pennsylvania, she would travel to Nashville to sing and pass out her self-made CDs. Swift stayed in her country roots up through Fearless and Speak Now, which gave us timeless country-pop hits such as “Love Story,” “You Belong With Me,” “Mine,” “Back to December,” “Mean” and “The Story of Us.”
Girl Next Door Swift
When Swift released Red in 2012 is was basically a giant Easter egg for what was to come in Swit’s career. While Red was still classified by Swift as country, it was a huge move into the pop arena. It also showed a different side of Swift than her country girl aesthetic. It also dealt with more complex relationships in Swift’s life, some songs from the album are supposedly about her relationship with Harry Styles and Jake Gyllenhaal. This album was the floodgate for the pop star that is Taylor Swift to emerge, and gave us timeless bops such as “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and the ultimate tearjerker, “All Too Well.”
Creation of a Pop Star
When Swift released 1989 it was clear that she had officially thrown her hat in the pop arena. When Swift announced the upcoming release of 1989 she declared it herself as her first official pop album. In 1989 it’s obvious that Swift is a young woman who is enjoying her time in the spotlight and living her best life. The album is really nothing but fun, and its singles resemble how Swift was feeling at that time in her life. “Shake it Off,” “Welcome to New York,” and “Blank Space” were some of the hits of the album. 1989 also let us into a feud that could be happening within Swift’s inner circle with “Bad Blood.” Swift was never shy of expressing her feeling throughout her music, and that includes friendships along with relationships.
Reputation Taylor
After 1989, Swift went on a personal hiatus. Since her arrival on the music scene, she was branded as the good girl next door, when she shrugged off that image the media became more critical of her. People always loved a reason to hate on Swift, maybe it was because she dated a lot of guys, maybe it’s because she’s a genuinely talented songwriter, or maybe it’s because the roots of misogyny run so deep in our society that people love to hate on successful women, who knows? Unfortunately, she also began a feud with Kanye West around this time, who subsequently got his wife Kim Kardashian involved in the drama. After calling Swift out for lying in a video people turned against Swift and branded her a “snake.” In reality, people were waiting for a big reason to shun Swift, and this was it. She was also feuding with Katy Perry, who was supposedly the inspiration for “Bad Blood.” When all these situations came to a head Swift was definitely feeling the burn from the music industry. She went dark on social media, and IRL, for a good year. When she returned to Instagram almost a year later all she posted was a picture of a snake. It was then when she released the arrival of her sixth studio album, Reputation.
Lover
When Swift released Lover it was clear that not only had Swift seriously fallen in love but that she had also healed from the issues in her past. Whether it was time, growth or the love of Joe Alwyn, but Swift had let the hurt of the past go and created an album that symbolized that. She even let one of her long-standing feuds go by including Katy Perry in her music video for “You Need To Calm Down.” Lover was the perfect summer album that made everyone listening to it feel as light and airy as Swift felt when she wrote it.
Folklore and Evermore
Folklore and Evermore were two career-defining masterpieces. Folklore came out during the summer of 2020 and really changed the way people viewed Swift. Folklore was Swift’s first alternative/indie album and it blew up on the charts. Not only did Folklore give Swift a Grammy, but it also brought her a new slew of fans and people who recognized her talent as a songwriter. Swift also released Evermore at the end of the summer and it certified what everyone already knew, that Swift was an amazing songwriter and that she has the ability to reinvent herself while still being authentic.