I still love Taylor Swift. My playlist right now is almost entirely Folklore and Evermore. My favorite song off of The Tortured Poets Department is “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.” I still wear my 1989 tour shirt to class. I watched Taylor win at this year’s VMAs with a big grin on my face and hope in my heart that she would announce Reputation (Taylor’s Version). But, I don’t find her relatable anymore.
Since the release of TTPD, I can’t help but feel like I don’t recognize her. I know she hasn’t been the small-town girl with modest dreams of moving to the city for a while, but she still felt like it for a long time. She was always so personal. She always felt like everyone’s best friend who always had the right thing to say. I don’t feel that with her anymore.
First, it rubbed me the wrong way that a billionaire’s latest album was about being a “Tortured Poet.” I don’t think that those two things can apply to someone at the same time and be true. I understand where she’s coming from. I understand she wants to make her art without being constantly scrutinized. Trust me, I get it, but it felt very out of touch to me.
Second, it drives me crazy when she releases ten remixes of the same song. Taylor, I am begging you to let the charts breathe for just a second. Also, let one of our other favorite pop girls get the number-one spot! In my opinion, it feels like a money grab. She knows her fans will stream and buy these singles so she keeps doing it. A remix here and there, great! You already know I’m so excited for the brat remix album, but not every top song on every one of Taylor’s releases needs to be remixed. Not every album or every song can be remixed and that is okay!
However, I also think that my feelings have a lot to do with the fan and media frenzy that is constantly berating her. It forces her to be less relatable. She has to retreat in order to protect herself, so she can’t really share chai cookie recipes on Tumblr anymore. I don’t think that the relatable Taylor I miss is gone, I think she’s still there, she just has to hide now. I miss the girl who was able to post a picture of her cats on Instagram without getting thousands of genuinely scary comments. It’s not safe for a woman to be as famous as her anymore.
I think the same thing is happening to Chappell Roan. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she disappeared and was never heard from again. The constant berating from people online makes their careers scary and not fun. She posts less about her personal life and fewer photo dumps with funny captions. She only really posts now about her tour or late-night TV appearances. Every other headline is picking apart her appearance or her comments about struggling with rising to fame so fast. I wouldn’t blame her if she completely retreated.
I love Taylor, and I hope that one day I can find her relatable again. Until then I will continue bumping it to “This Love” and “cowboy like me” and try to remember what it was like to be a little girl looking up to a pop star.