I get what you are saying about Taylor Swift. I don't like her politics and I find her music sort of bland, but I like her. She's very talented, hardworking and, by most accounts, generous and kind to the people who work for her. You can't get much better than that.
Exactly! I think what I like about her is less about her and more about the experience of watchig her concerts...the love in the room...Maybe I didn't explain it right. I found it was weird to be flipping back and forth between a Trump rally and a Swift concert...
I’m not into Swift’s music at all, but I can appreciate her bringing folks together. Here’s more my beat, which also brought this particular room together way back during the Unraveling era of 1979, and is on my constant repeat rotation:
I honestly never would make the connections you make, but that’s why you’ve become one of my favorite Substack writers…after Nellie Bowles’ TGIF for the Free Press. For me, being overtly political was never a thing. I’m a southern libertarian in my soul so I never get anything I want. I just don’t want incompetence. But my kids come home saying “Trump is going to jail” or “Everyone hates Trump” and I am angry at parents that can’t keep their ignorant thoughts to themselves. I’m a lawyer so they need to debate me with their precious 7-year old minds and they failed. Now, I’ll give them a pass until the day they throw shade at the Supreme Court…then they pull weeds until they make that make logical sense…they do have Murthy v Missouri as an option.
One of your best pieces, Sasha... we need this unifying, life and culture affirming message right now... wouldn't have thought it was possible to connect the dots between swiftie nation and MAGA, but you did it. Thanks.
A great essay, Sasha. I'm right with you on Trump, having spent my life as Mister Democrat until recognizing Trump as the only candidate in the primary with the guts to give John McCain the bucket of disrespect he richly deserved.
I completely defer to you on Taylor S., except to add that anyone bringing joy to people is highly worthy of praise. We should all remember that epic line by e e cummings - "There is some shit I will not eat." Words to live by.
It has been suggested that Trump should select Swift for VP and then dump her after the election. He would get a landslide and she would get 200 songs. Win win.
I always enjoy your writing, but this was particularly touching, especially given all the noise following the debate. Wonderful job pulling together disparate elements of our culture to remind us of our common humanity while also gently calling out the lies and half truths those who seek to divide us (or profit from) continue to promote. Thankfully, aforementioned lies and half truths are having less and less credibility. Your words in this article are inspiring, and I thank you for posting this piece. Cheers to you.
My big mushy heart is tearing up right now. Thank you for this and I am right there with you on both Trump and Taylor. They’re not perfect (who is?!) but they are two of the hardest working people out there right now and I love and appreciate both of them. Very interesting and on point analysis!
Sasha, I love your work and really thought this post was insightful. But, as a Boomer: a Taylor Swift song in the same league as Eric Clapton and “Layla”?? Maybe if people still love Taylor Swift and her music 50 years from now. That line seemed almost sacrilegious to this Boomer.
Hey Jude is better. And I am suspicious of songs supposedly written by 19 people. I'll take a song written by one guy in his sleep: "All my troubles seemed so far away".
In any event, AI has started writing songs, which will soon be better music (in terms of chords and melody) than anything we lowly humans can produce. I have noticed that AI songs often have what I call "off-beat/over-flow" (hitting 4.5 and 1.5), which (if not over-used) seems to have a strong primal appeal.
"Speaking words of WIS-DOM"
"She's Got a Ticket to RI-IDE" or for that matter ...
Lovely article once again Sasha. Probably the most heartwarming and touching one I’ve read from you. I even felt myself on the verge of tearing up at one point. I’ve pretty much ignored Taylor Swift her entire career, I generally don’t like pop music and mega stars with huge followings. But I watched the videos in this article and now I think I understand her appeal. She’s a good songwriter, but more importantly a good person who is real and genuine and cares about her fans. That clip of her giving her hat to the 8 year old in Scotland was quite sweet.
On another note, regarding Trump and the dichotomy between how he’s presented in the media and how he actually is in person and at rallies, I remember watching an unedited video early in his presidency, it may have been a YouTube clip. It was at a church, and a black man was giving a speech, with Trump at his side, after being recently released from jail after Trump had passed some law overturning bogus sentences for petty crimes. The man was genuinely grateful, and said he’d still be in jail were it not for Trump. Afterwards he and his family and Trump shared warm hugs and smiles, and I knew at that moment that the narrative that Trump was a racist was utter bullshit. And from there I started learning that pretty much everything they tried to portray about Trump was wrong. I wish I had saved that video so I could show it to my lefty friends who still claim Trump is a bigot or whatever. They certainly don’t take my word for it.
Anyway thanks again Sasha, you’re a bright light during these dark times (along with Taylor haha 😁).
I don’t know what to do with you sometimes. I wanna hug you, I think. I don’t like TS’s music because I am old, but pulling these things together was fun to read. Thank you for being so clever.
:-)
I am generally out of it. I had a 30 year old try to explain TS’s popularity to me. I was like, “whut?”
Same. My daughter (32) and her friends like her and have gone to her concerts (although they don’t cry over it haha). I don’t get it - I remember when she first came out and really couldn’t sing well. Cudos to her for getting her voice to match her writing (apparently) and building her career. But I definitely don’t get it either!
My dad was a professional classical musician. Good enough to tour on three continents. He never earned a dime by anything other than music. He was genuinely enthusiastic about music of merit from any genre. He could tear any of my rock songs down to nuts and bolts, analyze them, and explain why they worked so well. I never did hear him ask about the artists’ politics, though.
This was a good post, Sasha. You’re doing good work here.
Thanks for the insight. I knew almost nothing about the Swiftie movement. My wife and I enjoyed watching/listening to the podcast and seeing the videos. You are right, there are intertwined threads there of intense personalities. Good stuff.
I’m feeling you Sasha! I am also scratching my head that I could be a Swiftie and a Trump fan(since 2016) at the same time. 😂 I am way late to the game on her music as I was not paying attention until the last 6 months. I started giving it a listen and it just made me forget about the things I was worried about, depressed about etc..Red is the album I play on repeat. But Long Live makes me tear up every time. So happy you played it at end and made reference to it. Somehow I am able to not see her politics while listening which makes me happy to just be entertained again. That could change though, she may do something that really pisses me off. I stopped watching football for a while during the whole BLM thing. I was all of a sudden turned off and it surprised me. For now she’s helping me with the blues as we moved across the country from woke New England(my home)and from my first born grandson. Now I’m in Oregon(the non woke side) and just trying to come to grips with it all and how my life has changed. The music has been a nice distraction to say the least. Always appreciate your honesty in your writing.
I too am in LA trying to navigate the politically homogeneous crowds after opening my eyes during covid. Really enjoying your writing (podcast), your brave willingness to call out things that are actually quite obvious if people were will to risk their comfort zone. I enjoyed the nuanced comparisons here -- culture and politics always go hand in hand.
Completely agree. Sometimes one knows when someone has crossed into the dark side. I had to stop reading. Reading the Bible daily blessings may come with discernment.
I’ll say it again, Sasha, you are a gem! A really wonderful soul and it’s such a pleasure to be a subscriber! God bless you, girl!
I get what you are saying about Taylor Swift. I don't like her politics and I find her music sort of bland, but I like her. She's very talented, hardworking and, by most accounts, generous and kind to the people who work for her. You can't get much better than that.
Exactly! I think what I like about her is less about her and more about the experience of watchig her concerts...the love in the room...Maybe I didn't explain it right. I found it was weird to be flipping back and forth between a Trump rally and a Swift concert...
Weird. But clever.
I’m 61 years young and I love watching her concerts on Netflix!! My 69 years young husband does too! They’re absolutely fascinating!!!
I’m not into Swift’s music at all, but I can appreciate her bringing folks together. Here’s more my beat, which also brought this particular room together way back during the Unraveling era of 1979, and is on my constant repeat rotation:
https://youtu.be/_MwKstla6w0?si=q2FQsjU0rYLvGhR_
I honestly never would make the connections you make, but that’s why you’ve become one of my favorite Substack writers…after Nellie Bowles’ TGIF for the Free Press. For me, being overtly political was never a thing. I’m a southern libertarian in my soul so I never get anything I want. I just don’t want incompetence. But my kids come home saying “Trump is going to jail” or “Everyone hates Trump” and I am angry at parents that can’t keep their ignorant thoughts to themselves. I’m a lawyer so they need to debate me with their precious 7-year old minds and they failed. Now, I’ll give them a pass until the day they throw shade at the Supreme Court…then they pull weeds until they make that make logical sense…they do have Murthy v Missouri as an option.
I also fell for Taylor Swift.
One of your best pieces, Sasha... we need this unifying, life and culture affirming message right now... wouldn't have thought it was possible to connect the dots between swiftie nation and MAGA, but you did it. Thanks.
A great essay, Sasha. I'm right with you on Trump, having spent my life as Mister Democrat until recognizing Trump as the only candidate in the primary with the guts to give John McCain the bucket of disrespect he richly deserved.
I completely defer to you on Taylor S., except to add that anyone bringing joy to people is highly worthy of praise. We should all remember that epic line by e e cummings - "There is some shit I will not eat." Words to live by.
It has been suggested that Trump should select Swift for VP and then dump her after the election. He would get a landslide and she would get 200 songs. Win win.
That's good.
I stole it but can't remember where. Bee maybe.
It's only fair since she appears to have stolen her dress from Scarlett O'Hara.
😂
I always enjoy your writing, but this was particularly touching, especially given all the noise following the debate. Wonderful job pulling together disparate elements of our culture to remind us of our common humanity while also gently calling out the lies and half truths those who seek to divide us (or profit from) continue to promote. Thankfully, aforementioned lies and half truths are having less and less credibility. Your words in this article are inspiring, and I thank you for posting this piece. Cheers to you.
My big mushy heart is tearing up right now. Thank you for this and I am right there with you on both Trump and Taylor. They’re not perfect (who is?!) but they are two of the hardest working people out there right now and I love and appreciate both of them. Very interesting and on point analysis!
Sasha, I love your work and really thought this post was insightful. But, as a Boomer: a Taylor Swift song in the same league as Eric Clapton and “Layla”?? Maybe if people still love Taylor Swift and her music 50 years from now. That line seemed almost sacrilegious to this Boomer.
Ha! It's not as good musically, of course. But it's a great epic breakup song...
That’s all her songs are. I’ll never be a swifter fan, but appreciate your view. Her songs are repetitive and pop silly to me. To each their own.
Yeah, Duane Allman did a few spins in his grave in response to that line...
Hey Jude is better. And I am suspicious of songs supposedly written by 19 people. I'll take a song written by one guy in his sleep: "All my troubles seemed so far away".
In any event, AI has started writing songs, which will soon be better music (in terms of chords and melody) than anything we lowly humans can produce. I have noticed that AI songs often have what I call "off-beat/over-flow" (hitting 4.5 and 1.5), which (if not over-used) seems to have a strong primal appeal.
"Speaking words of WIS-DOM"
"She's Got a Ticket to RI-IDE" or for that matter ...
"Here are we ARE NOW, enter-TAIN US"
🤣🤣
Lovely article once again Sasha. Probably the most heartwarming and touching one I’ve read from you. I even felt myself on the verge of tearing up at one point. I’ve pretty much ignored Taylor Swift her entire career, I generally don’t like pop music and mega stars with huge followings. But I watched the videos in this article and now I think I understand her appeal. She’s a good songwriter, but more importantly a good person who is real and genuine and cares about her fans. That clip of her giving her hat to the 8 year old in Scotland was quite sweet.
On another note, regarding Trump and the dichotomy between how he’s presented in the media and how he actually is in person and at rallies, I remember watching an unedited video early in his presidency, it may have been a YouTube clip. It was at a church, and a black man was giving a speech, with Trump at his side, after being recently released from jail after Trump had passed some law overturning bogus sentences for petty crimes. The man was genuinely grateful, and said he’d still be in jail were it not for Trump. Afterwards he and his family and Trump shared warm hugs and smiles, and I knew at that moment that the narrative that Trump was a racist was utter bullshit. And from there I started learning that pretty much everything they tried to portray about Trump was wrong. I wish I had saved that video so I could show it to my lefty friends who still claim Trump is a bigot or whatever. They certainly don’t take my word for it.
Anyway thanks again Sasha, you’re a bright light during these dark times (along with Taylor haha 😁).
I don’t know what to do with you sometimes. I wanna hug you, I think. I don’t like TS’s music because I am old, but pulling these things together was fun to read. Thank you for being so clever.
:-)
I am generally out of it. I had a 30 year old try to explain TS’s popularity to me. I was like, “whut?”
Same. My daughter (32) and her friends like her and have gone to her concerts (although they don’t cry over it haha). I don’t get it - I remember when she first came out and really couldn’t sing well. Cudos to her for getting her voice to match her writing (apparently) and building her career. But I definitely don’t get it either!
Am 70 so can’t comment on Swift but am amazed at the MSM pretend that before debate Biden was Churchillian and now is suddenly demented.
What a joke.
My dad was a professional classical musician. Good enough to tour on three continents. He never earned a dime by anything other than music. He was genuinely enthusiastic about music of merit from any genre. He could tear any of my rock songs down to nuts and bolts, analyze them, and explain why they worked so well. I never did hear him ask about the artists’ politics, though.
This was a good post, Sasha. You’re doing good work here.
Thanks for the insight. I knew almost nothing about the Swiftie movement. My wife and I enjoyed watching/listening to the podcast and seeing the videos. You are right, there are intertwined threads there of intense personalities. Good stuff.
I’m feeling you Sasha! I am also scratching my head that I could be a Swiftie and a Trump fan(since 2016) at the same time. 😂 I am way late to the game on her music as I was not paying attention until the last 6 months. I started giving it a listen and it just made me forget about the things I was worried about, depressed about etc..Red is the album I play on repeat. But Long Live makes me tear up every time. So happy you played it at end and made reference to it. Somehow I am able to not see her politics while listening which makes me happy to just be entertained again. That could change though, she may do something that really pisses me off. I stopped watching football for a while during the whole BLM thing. I was all of a sudden turned off and it surprised me. For now she’s helping me with the blues as we moved across the country from woke New England(my home)and from my first born grandson. Now I’m in Oregon(the non woke side) and just trying to come to grips with it all and how my life has changed. The music has been a nice distraction to say the least. Always appreciate your honesty in your writing.
I too am in LA trying to navigate the politically homogeneous crowds after opening my eyes during covid. Really enjoying your writing (podcast), your brave willingness to call out things that are actually quite obvious if people were will to risk their comfort zone. I enjoyed the nuanced comparisons here -- culture and politics always go hand in hand.
You had me until…Taylor Swift, ugh, no thank you.
I knew it would be a little divisive!
Completely agree. Sometimes one knows when someone has crossed into the dark side. I had to stop reading. Reading the Bible daily blessings may come with discernment.