OPINION: So tired of Taylor

It is rare to find someone who has not at least heard of Taylor Swift. 

One of the most successful and influential musicians on Earth, Swift holds a special place in our hearts; many of us grew up with her music, dressing up with friends to act out scenes from her songs and screaming lyrics about breakups that we hadn’t experienced yet. 

But the woman strutting up the 2024 Grammy Awards’s stairs last weekend has been tainted by overexposure.

Swift has risen to new heights in recent years and is recognized as one of the most successful women in the world, breaking records and paving the way for female artists. She now holds 14 Grammy Awards (featuring a record four Album of the Year wins), 40 American Music Awards, 40 Billboard Music Awards, 23 MTV Video Music Awards and was just recently named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.

As impressive as these awards are, enough is enough. Watching Swift walk past SZA, Janelle Monáe, Jon Batiste and Lana Del Rey to pick up her fourth Album of the Year was a breaking point.

Especially when Swift’s winning album, “Midnights,” was mediocre at best — not just compared with those of her fellow nominees — but also to Swift’s own discography.

Swift’s song “Bejeweled,” for example — featuring lyrics, “Don’t put me in the basement / When I want the penthouse of your heart” — is not representative of the lyrical genius that many Swifties (Swift’s fans) attribute to her.

With so many accolades, you would expect Swift’s lyrics to be more meaningful than a collection of lackluster lines — and with her rapid release of albums with the same static rhythms and uninteresting musical dynamics, she is starting to turn herself into little more than the fast fashion of the music industry.

Although our loyalties lie with Lana Del Rey, SZA’s “SOS” should have won Best Album of the Year. This has been the year of SZA, with hit songs such as “Kill Bill” and “Shirt” influencing pop culture trends and garnering wide praise.

SZA’s music is multidimensional. Her voice effortlessly moves between octaves to express emotions that are widely relatable, more intimate and that make the listener feel something more real than any song on “Midnights.”

To be clear, it isn’t Swift’s fault that she has become a safe choice for industry voters — and an easy paycheck for the press — to choose as the winner. Her music is very digestible, as are her politics. 

Swift has been praised for her activism, from sending Swifties en masse to the polls to vote for Joe Biden to her work to prevent sexual assault to being an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community. 

This lineup of stances is important but notably excludes controversial issues. These include speaking out against what South Africa urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider as Israel’s “genocidal-in-character” assaults on Gaza, the United States’ exploitation of the DR Congo, or any social class or environmental emissions issues that may inconvenience her career or personal life.

For example, Swift has recently been called out for being the world’s most carbon polluting celebrity. Instead of publicly commenting or changing her ways, Swift threatened the student who released her jet report with legal action.

This nearly nonexistent political activism, which caters to white America, easily deems her as uncontroversial and makes her an attractive choice for platforming.

While Swift picks and chooses her causes, other artists — specifically, artists of color — are writing about personal hardships and advocating for political and societal changes within their music.

In Jon Batiste’s “MOVEMENT 18’ (Heroes)” from his nominated album “World Music Radio,” Batiste sings: “And heroes who are called to represent a bit of humanity, at large / Can also remind us that the great cultural heroes from New Orleans / Belong in the same platform with the great heroes of humanity.”

Batiste is challenging us to think about the way we celebrate and commemorate our “heroes.” He is using his music to make a statement — something Swift is unwilling to do.

Swift’s consecutive wins reveal that our society praises whiteness, complacency and mediocrity for the sake of avoiding controversy.

Frankly, the lifting of Swift onto this skyscraper of a pedestal has become embarrassing to watch. The obsession has gotten straight-up weird — and I’m sure there are days when even Swift herself wishes she could climb down.

Why do we care? Because she is everywhere. 

If Swift could be a powerful, successful woman without affecting our lives whatsoever, there wouldn’t be a problem. But every platform for pop culture is dominated by her face, name and music. 

Even the Super Bowl couldn’t avoid plastering her face on viewers’ screens, with constant pans to her seat next to Ice Spice. This was amplified by numerous news sources, whose streams were dominated by coverage of Swift and tight end Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs victory celebration. I mean, even Hillary Clinton had something to say about “Taylor Swift’s boyfriend” after the Super Bowl.

If this is not to your taste — and it sure isn’t to ours — there’s no avoiding the resentment.

Swift is a culture, media and industry phenomenon. She’s sold out stadiums and her current Eras Tour has boosted the economies of entire countries. With such immense fame, Swift doesn’t need another flashy award on her bookshelf; she doesn’t need the visibility.

The media needs to broaden their horizons and take risks. It is undeniable that Swift has done an incredible amount for women in the music industry — but it’s time for the industry (and for us) to platform different female artists.

Let more women break through and let Taylor fade into folklore.

 

Frances Smith PZ ’26 is a sophomore from Pitzer College. She enjoys playing the board game Dixit with her imaginary friends. 

Aaron Matsuoka PZ ’26 is from small-town Connecticut but takes on big-world opinions. He enjoys hiking, running, and listening to Fred Again..