Living in my Taylor Swift Era

#ErasTour

I am a self-proclaimed Swiftie and proud of it! I have been a fan of Taylor Swift since she released “Tim McGraw” when we were only 16-years-old. There is something about her music that spoke to me when she first hit the scene and then has continued to resonate with me as we have both grown up. Whether you need a good cry, something to boost your spirits, or a song to plot revenge to, there is something for you on each of her 10 albums.

I was lucky enough to score tickets to her Reputation Tour in 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. To say her performance and personality on stage was amazing, is understating it big time. She really brings her characters from her songs to life and she seems to honestly be a performer who genuinely cares about her fans and how they affect her life, along with how she has affected ours.

Now, I did have tickets to Lover Fest in LA, but, of course, we entered into a pandemic and everything shut down. During that time, Taylor surprised us with not one, but two, new albums—folklore and evermore, to help get us through those trying times. Then she delivers us another new album, Midnights, after not having been able to tour for any of the previous albums since Reputation!

So what is a girl supposed to do? Well, of course, put on a MASSIVE worldwide tour, that combines 17 years’ worth of music (10 albums!) and you have the Eras Tour. Now, I’m clearly not the only Swiftie out there, because even with VIP Swiftie Access, I could not get my hands on tickets to her US leg of the tour.

But, never fear, because Taylor will do her best to not leave her fans hanging—so she produces a theatrical version of her SoFi Stadium performance and drops it on us October 13. (Perfect date no? #13)

#Swifties4Life <3

I snagged tickets to that and along with my #MiniSwifities, got to experience the Eras Tour in a new way and I was not let down.

TSwift is a FANTASTIC performer! Blew my mind with her stage presence and her vocals. The songs just hit home harder than they ever could just through my headphones or blasting in my car stereo system. By far, the song that hit the hardest (yes, I cried) was “tolerate it” off evermore— “I know my love should be celebrated, but I watch you tolerate it.” “…Ready For It” off Reputation literally shook the entire theater, as did “Bad Blood” from 1989. It’s just an experience that you cannot miss.

Now, I did a little digging with my new #MiniSwifties. We all three came to the concert in an Era—myself, 1989, Audrey, Fearless, and Sophie, Lover. Now to the tough questions. What is your favorite song off the album of your Era and why?

Audrey, Fearless— “The Way I Love You” because it has a beat that just makes you feel good.

Sophie, Lover— “Daylight” mostly because of the speech Taylor gives at the end of the song:

“I wanna be defined by the things that I love Not the things I hate Not the things that I'm afraid of, I'm afraid of Not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night I, I just think that You are what you love.”

Me, 1989— “Clean” because it speaks to being a survivor (and there is a story behind her reason for writing that song, but we would be here awhile) for me, it’s surviving a domestic violence relationship. These lyrics just speak truth to me:

“Rain came pouring down When I was drowning, that's when I could finally breathe And by morning Gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean”

There is no way to pick only one song per album without going, no, wait, this one, then no, wait again, this one. Her albums are full of songs that you make you listen to them over and over and over, and that is not just counting the ones that are lucky enough to be released as singles.

I could go on and on, but I think I will wrap it up here and leave you with a lyric that I have on repeat as my mantra:

“Best believe I'm still bejeweled When I walk in the room I can still make the whole place shimmer”

XOXO,

Rhiannon