NOTE: I tend to only post here when something or someone inspires me. That said, this is the first time I’ve ever posted about the same person twice…
Walking along the banks of an idyllic creek in Dean’s Village, a charming fairy tale enclave in Edinburgh’s West End, Taylor Swift’s luminous voice suddenly wafts through the leafy trees and stops me and my wife in our tracks.
The song is “All Too Well”—her 10-minute version—and as it builds to one of its heartfelt choruses, the roar of over 73,000 fans singing along with her follows in an echoing crescendo that practically ripples the water.
The otherworldly moment seems especially fitting. When we booked our week and a half vacation to Scotland, my wife and I had no idea Taylor Swift would be launching her UK Eras Tour and playing Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh all three nights we were in town. Both of us had become ardent fans—me as recent as February—but had no plans to attend any of the shows. We’d already watched her three and a half hour concert film, and mining the Internet for tickets to stand in a packed crowd in cold wind and possible drizzle just wasn’t appealing to us.
Yet this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because it allowed us to experience the happy, infectious Swiftian culture that permeates every city she plays in, it felt like we did attend. Swifties of every size, shape, age, and gender were absolutely everywhere, many garbed in sparkly short skirts, tall white boots and homemade ensembles representing various phases in Taylor’s career. (An eleven-year-old boy with blue tinted hair wore a T-shirt that read I LOVE MY ERA.)
At the airport in Boston where we had changed planes, a dad waited to board with his exuberant three daughters wearing a Travis Kelce Chiefs jersey. On the morning tram coming into town that snaked past the stadium, hundreds of fans were queued up in the wind and rain 12 hours before the concert to buy merchandise. Later, up and down Princes Street, where street vendors hawked pink cowboy hats and matching feathered boas for ten pounds apiece, concertgoers stuffed themselves onto special stadium-bound trams for hours.
The British press, with concerts in Liverpool, Cardiff and London to follow, were draped all over her like magical capes. Loch Tay in the Scottish Highlands was renamed Loch Tay Tay for the week. One of the couples that got engaged at the Friday show was seen posing for photos on the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle the next afternoon, where they mingled with Swifties from Italy and Spain in Eras Tour sweatshirts.
Best of all, we met wonderful fans sitting beside us at numerous restaurants. A mother in her 40s with two kids had been encouraged to fly there alone from Houston by her husband to see Taylor again because “she loves me. When she sings a song, it feels as if she loves me.” Amy and Alex, girlfriends in their 20s from London, had seen her the previous night and agreed it was one of the best experiences of their lives, astonished that over 70,000 people in the stadium “knew practically every word of each song .” Another young woman from Nashville we met on a street corner had shelled out $1,800 per ticket to see Taylor in the U.S., and was in town to see her again with her Welsh boyfriend at a fraction of the cost. Edinburgh is rich in art, history, food and drink, and remarkable in every way, and Swift’s nearby presence catapulted the city into an urban celebration.
There’s a pretty simple reason why Swift is a global phenomenon, and her unfailing honesty, crack stage performances, and fetching looks are only a few of them. I pay zero attention to her monetary success and dating history; my obsession is with her music. She rarely repeats a line, makes lyrical use of every bridge, assembles little sonic stories that are easy to sing along with and never leave your head or heart, often beautifully building before ending with a sudden poof—an emotional mic drop.As that mother from Houston expressed so clearly, her songs have a way of personally connecting with the listener like no popular artist ever has—not even the Beatles.
With a cabal of evil forces threatening the world right now, the mass joy that Taylor Swift produces feels absolutely necessary. She is an empowering, inclusive role model for countless people, an undisputed force for all that is good. You’ll never catch me donning a furry cowboy hat or one of those Chiclet-style friendship bracelets, but I may have her music on my earbuds and in my car for quite some time.
After seeing my original 39-song “Taylist” swell to 73 songs with her just-released album and added recommendations from friends, I’ve since pared that down to a new collection of 30 favorite tracks, an excellent starter set for those who have yet to indulge. May I now present…Taylor Swifter:
1. All Too Well
—The 10-minute acoustic version is a work of art, this shorter, louder one is merely sensational.
And you call me up again
Just to break me like a promise
So casually cruel in the name of being honest
2. State of Grace
—surprising propulsive rocker that proves she can also kick some hard ass
3. Fearless
4. Cowboy Like Me
—gorgeous ballad with patented Swiftian imagery
Now you hang from my lips like the Gardens of Babylon
With your boots beneath my bed, forever is the sweetest con
5. Hey Stephen
—delicious, catchy gem I came across a few weeks ago. Seamlessly rhymes Stephen with “deceivin”, “feelin”, “leavin” and “fifty reasons”
6. But Daddy I Love Him
—dynamic rock track from her new album
God save the most judgmental creeps
Who say they want what’s best for me
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies
I’ll never see
7. Anti-Hero
8. The Man
—superb female empowerment anthem and live showstopper
9. All You Had To Do Was Stay
10. Betty
(thanks for the tip, Lindsey R.)
11. Holy Ground
—another good rocker from her Red album
12. The Best Day
13. Invisible String
14. Clean
15. Paper Rings
—wonderful pop (thanks for the tip, Jason T.)
16. Right Where You Left Me
—sad and lovely, and best example of her knack for perfectly stringing lyrical ribbons together with music to channel the tune right through you
17. The Last Great American Dynasty
18. Karma
19. Forever and Always
20. Style
—a near-Madonna tribute
21. Lover
—sweet slow dance we also heard through those Dean’s Village trees
22. Today Was a Fairytale
23. ’Tis the Damn Season
(thanx again, Lindsey R.)
24. Long Live
(thanks for the tip, Debbie B.)
25. Cruel Summer
—Eras Tour opener that instantly hooks her audience
26. You Belong With Me
27. Starlight
—yet another great underrated rocker
28. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
—my second favorite, a funny, addictive breakup anthem best seen live
29. Getaway Car
—My favorite Swift song has everything: compelling story, tangible imagery, and killer lyrics all set to fabulous, driving music.
It was the best of time, the worst of crimes
I struck a match and blew your mind
We were ridin’, in a getaway car
There were sirens, in the beat of your heart
30. Marjorie
—A universal, deeply felt coda about loss of a loved one, the most hauntingly beautiful song I’ve ever heard
Jeff Polman 