Mallory Hazel: Swiftie Saturday

Showing posts with label Swiftie Saturday. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Swiftie Saturday. Show all posts

Taylor Swift Fearless Album Overview

Posted by Mallory Hazel

Fearless was released in the fall of my senior year of high school. Upon revisiting this album it was incredibly familiar to me (besides the from the vault tracks of course.) It's hard to remember how I knew all the songs. I didn't have the CD, or the album downloaded to my iPod. I have come to the conclusion that Taylor Swift must have been so popular back in the day that I heard all the songs on the radio enough times that 15 years later I can still easily recall them.

For me Fearless really leans into the fairy tales and the fantasy. It's about being young and believing in whatever world you want to believe in. It is the space before the heartbreak. It's finding your footing and being curious and living in the moments. It's wanting to experience love for the first time. It's full of hope and optimism. And I love leaning into that space.

It's wanting to experience love for the first time...

I'm going to jump back into these songs one by one over the course of the next few months and talk about what they all mean to me. I invite you to share your insights and what these songs mean to you. At the end of the album we will reconvene and discuss favorite songs, favorite lyrics, how this album ranks and any fun other fun facts we come across. Thanks for joining me and for sharing your voice.

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Taylor Swift's Debut Album Wrap Up

Posted by Mallory Hazel

So I just finished listening to the whole album, taking notes, doing a write up for each song individually, and here are a few of my takeaways from this album as a whole.

First I want to address that I went into this album thinking it would just be fun silly vibes, remind me of my high school years, and generally that it would take me back but not mean much to my present self. I was incredibly wrong and very surprised how many of the songs spoke to me 15+ years later. They were empowering and vulnerable and I really really enjoyed diving deep into each song and realizing that themes like being brave and vulnerable and heartbreak and love really stand the test of time. I'm glad I went back here with an open heart because there were some real gems among these 15 songs. I am even more excited for the re-release to see what changes are made and what she adds to this collection.

5 Star Songs - Song that for me are just practically perfect no notes.

1. Tim McGraw

2. A Place in this World

3. I'm Only Me When I'm With You

The Song That Surprised Me the Most

Picture to Burn- This song was just so empowering I absolutely loved it.

Favorite Lyrics

"There's no time for tears I'm just sitting here planning my revenge... so watch me strike a match on all my wasted time."

"I don't know what I want, so don't ask me."

"Love was all you wanted."

"Take me back when our world was one block wide."

Places She Referenced

Georgia

People She Referenced

Tim McGraw, Drew, Cory, Mary

Album Ranking

1. Debut - It's the only album so for now it will hold the number one space :)

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1.15 | Teardrops on My Guitar (Pop Version)

Posted by Mallory Hazel

Drew talks to me. I laugh cause it's just so funny.

I've already done a write up about the song Teardrops on My Guitar and since the pop version has the same lyrics I don't have too much else to add about this song. So instead of talking about what this song means to me I am going to highlight one of my favorite lines in this song.

Let's set the stage. Taylor is singing along about this boy she loves and she says "Drew talks to me, I laugh cause it's just so funny." The way she says so funny in this song is unironically my favorite part of the song. I absolutely love it and think it is perfect in every way. It's feels right to me and I am thankful she dug deep to give us this treasure. I am very interested to see if she keeps the vibes of that line around for the rerecording.

Feel free to share below if you agree with me on this hot take or if I'm simply way off and it's too ridiculous.

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1.14 | A Perfectly Good Heart

Posted by Mallory Hazel

Why would you want to make the very first scar?

The first broken heart, the very first scar, it's just a part of being alive in this world. This song was an interesting listen for me. While I would say that I have felt broken-hearted before it's always been a mild case because I really struggle giving myself fully into any relationship. I'm too afraid of being hurt, and if you can keep a little bit of a separation, maybe you can avoid the pain of heartbreak. But I'll be the first to admit when you live life this way you also miss out on the joy of love. The best relationships of my life are the ones that I have been the most vulnerable in. I guess this is all to say that if you have been through real pain from a broken heart, it's likely because you have shown up in this world fully.

Although your heart "is not unbroken anymore," it was also allowed to experience a deep and fearless love. It's kind of the worst that the more you risk for the love the more love you can experience, and on the opposite side the more you risk for love the greater the pain if it doesn't work out. I think when I was younger I was more afraid of the pain, of loving something too much and losing it. I think I have carried that with me even into my adult years, it's so scary to love something so much. It is a practice for me to open myself up to love. To believe it, to seek it, to allow it into me in a real way.

I know this song is more about someone feeling sad that they are going through heartbreak, but for me, right now, it's a reminder to risk more for love. The love of people and the love of life. While these lyrics said one thing, my listening to them communicated the message I needed. I love this about music. I love that what it means to you personally can change and transform depending on where you are in life and what you need. Even a song written by a teenager 15 years ago can still teach me something about myself years later. What a gift.

It's not unbroken anymore. How do I get it back the way it was before?

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.13 | Invisible

Posted by Mallory Hazel

Baby let me love you, let me want you.

It's March 2025 and Taylor Swift is an international pop star, global sensation, 11 albums deep into her career, generally about as far from being invisible as you could possibly be. But I think she got to this place by being incredibly vulnerable in her song writing. She has given us the gift of sharing all parts of her and allowed us as listeners to be able to relate.

When I think back to the teen years I think that everyone experienced the feelings of being invisible on some level. There is this idea that if people could just see who you really are that everything would just work out perfectly. In some ways I still hold this thought, that if the people around me could really see me then everything would be okay. Maybe everything would be more than okay, maybe my relationships could be a "beautiful, miracle, unbelievable." It just feels like by now I should have made it to a place where I no longer feel invisible.

Cultivating meaningful relationships can be tough though. I guess in some ways it's nice to know that even the Taylor Swift knows what that feels like. Like we've really all been through it haven't we. The loneliness of feeling invisible is maybe the hardest part. But in Taylor's very first album she wrote a song that communicates that you are not alone. She said I've been here, and look where she is now. It might feel like a lot but she is a testament that you can get through it and there is more on the other side.

And you just see right through me but if you only knew me, we could be a beautiful miracle, unbelievable, instead of just invisible.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.12 | I'm Only Me When I'm With You

Posted by Mallory Hazel

And I know everything about you, I don't wanna live without you...

Often I relate to parts of a song, a line that really cuts me to my core, a phrase that captures a part of me. This song hits different though. For the first time I feel like the whole song reflects me. I don’t know what it means to be “paintin’ pictures in the sky" with someone, but also… I do. An abstract concept but I get the vision of what it would be to me and it sounds perfect. Sitting with someone and not having to say anything but still being comfortable together is absolutely the love I dream about. Knowing each other and still choosing each other is all I ever wanted.

Being that open with somebody else take real vulnerability, and I’ve always wanted to find myself with someone who could hold that vulnerable part of me. I also always wanted to be able to hold the vulnerable parts of someone else.

When I listened to this song I wrote my husbands name at the top. So many of Taylor’s songs don’t really make me think of my husband, because the relationship ends or is really confusing. Even some of the love songs that end well just don’t feel like they represent our story. Listening to this song was the first time I could see us in a song. I’m interested to see as I continue on through her discography where I see the love story that unfolded for me comes up. Until then I’m thankful that the love I have allows me to be 100% me.

...and you know everything about me, you say that you can't live without me.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.11 | Our Song

Posted by Mallory Hazel

He's got a one-hand feel on the steering wheel, the other on my heart.

This song is just pure joy for me. I heard it in high school and I feel like it captures a lot of the fun of being a teenager. The excitement of having a crush and flirting. Feeling a new sense of freedom but without having too much in the way of responsibility. It reminds me of all the Friday nights hanging out with friends. Doing whatever, being kind of dumb, but having so much fun. It’s just such good vibes all around.

In a lot of ways I wish I could take my current maturity back to high school to relive some of the more dramatic moments with a more developed brain, but I know that maturity would also make me too logical, less willing to take risks, and I would have missed out on the moments that made me laugh the most. The memories that have stuck around and become the most important to me are the ones when I was just living in the moment, not taking anything to seriously, and just having fun.

While I’m technically an adult (I guess), I still feel all the emotions of this song when I’m driving the car by myself singing along. I love when it comes on while I’m going to pick up groceries and I feel no different than I did singing along as I was driving to high school. I love that music can transport us back to a feeling. I might not be able to time travel, but singing along to music like Our Song really does feel like for a moment I can transcend time, like the past and the present have merged into one moment for the duration of this simple song.

Our song is the way you laugh, the first date "man I didn't kiss her and I should have.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.10 | Mary's Song (Oh My My My)

Posted by Mallory Hazel

Take me back when our world was one block wide I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried, just two kids you and I.

A quintessential love story captured in a song. Growing up neighbors, two kids find love and grow old together. There is such a sweetness to this song that captures these two people in love and the phases of life they share. Childhood innocence when your whole world is just one block wide. Seeing something more than just friendship in someone, the realization that you want to build a life with them. And the accomplishment of that goal when you are 87 and 89, still in love and living in the life you have built. It’s got all the pieces of this idyllic life story.

It makes me feel so happy and kind of sad at the same time. It’s just a bird eye view of a relationship, a love that lasts told in 3 minutes and 33 seconds. It’s something people hope for and pray for, but we live in the zoomed in reality of a daily life with intimate challenges to face, and if we compare our story too closely to this story we might feel like we fell short in some way.

I was raised in these stories, bird-eye views of ancestors that were happily married 58 years, with 7 beautiful children all successful in their own marriages and families. Showing the perfect family photos felt important, and they also felt real to me. I truly thought I would grow up and find this perfect marriage and have this perfect family and it would just happen because it is what has always happened. And I grew up and found my husband who is pretty perfect, but we struggled for years with infertility trying to get these perfect children to us. And while I did have these pretty perfect children I found myself with chronic illness as they toddled around. How was I suppose to take care of a baby who needed me for everything when I was in so much pain on a daily basis. But I showed up in the world showing a perfect family, because that’s what we were suppose to do. In my adulthood I have learned that this perfect facade is simply a facade, and while I felt like I should have known this much sooner, how and when should I have come to this conclusion on my own?

Turns out everyone had miscarriages, or postpartum depression, or infertility, or loss, or illness. All of these perfect worlds are built on real lives with a vast array of experiences, and sometimes I wish we would be more open to sharing all of life, not just the perfect versions.

That being said I love this song. Sometimes in life you just need to be allowed to go to a dreamland of simple love, a lifetime love. A cute beautiful story that shows us that two kids can make a beautiful world.

Take me home where we met so many years before, we'll rock our babies on that very front porch.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.9 | Should've Said No

Posted by Mallory Hazel

But do you honestly expect me to believe we could ever be the same?

I’m quite far removed from the dating and relationships game, and to be frank when I was in the dating game it was under the influence of strict religious beliefs. I don’t feel like I ever really got to experience dating in a normal way, for better or for worse. Now as an adult with kids who will be entering a completely new world of dating with far less rules than I was given, I often wonder what is my role, what is the advice I need to impart, and how do I teach them what is normal and natural when my experience was not. Enter my media training where I listen to music or watch modern television shows as a form of research in addition to the entertainment I seek. I’m observing with an intent to learn how to be in this world when you have true agency to make choices. Sure my strict childhood guardrails kept me from experiencing anything really bad, but they also kept me from experiencing much at all.

Revisiting Taylor’s Swifts music from her teens years has been fun, but also educational to me. This song in particular makes me feel really proud of her strength and the general message is one that I feel is important to impart. In this song a very dumb guy cheats on his girlfriend, comes crawling back to her with all the right words, and she responds with a resolute “it’s over.” In the beginning when she finds out about this guy cheating she responds by stating that after learning this information even just looking at him feels wrong. I was so impressed by this verbal admission of her feelings. I struggle with wanting to make everyone feel comfortable, and often don’t speak the truth of how I feel so I can keep the peace. I see a real world situation where she holds her discomfort in as he grovels, then it is allowed to be twisted into an idea that maybe what he did wasn’t so bad. But by stating her intuitive feelings out loud, they hold more truth and make it easier for her to stand her ground.

And she does stand her ground, she doesn’t make it about her in any way, simply states that this guy shouldn’t have been doing what he did and that it affected her negatively. The most poignant question she raises is “do you honestly expect me to believe we could ever be the same?” That is the power of being true to yourself and what you deserve. In the end she knows she shouldn’t have been cheated on and she stands on business now that line was crossed. And maybe that’s something I do want to impart to my kids. I’ve watched too many television shows where the women excuse mens bad behavior just for it to repeat itself again and again. If you're looking for love, these people are simply not providing it.

I can't resist before you go tell me this, was it worth it?

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.8 | Stay Beautiful

Posted by Mallory Hazel

If you and I are a story that never gets told, if what you are is a daydream I'lll never get to hold.

About a year ago I was rummaging through a box I have of whatever my mom saved from my childhood room. What was left of my childhood were a few random trinkets, some photo/year books, letters I had saved, and a big stack of journals. I loved journaling when I was a teen. I think one year my New Year’s resolution was to write a journal entry every day of the year, and if my memory is correct I think I actually accomplished that goal. I pulled out my high school journals 15 years later and decided it would be fun to read through the details of my formative years. I thought it would refresh my memory on all the silly and fun times I had, and be a light trip down memory lane. The reality was that it was the story of a girl fully immersed in religious beliefs that the adult version of me had left behind long ago and a bunch of stories that were never finished. While the religious upbringing is sure to be covered in other songs, my focus today is on the stories that were never finished.

Stay beautiful is a light-hearted country song about a teenage relationship in bloom. The potential exists for something more, but the growing up years between the present and that potential being realized will determine whether these young people will be endgame. And yet the narrator takes a realistic view and realizes that while she might not end up with Cory in the end, she still wishes him well on his life journey.

She writes “if you and I are a story that never gets told, if what you are is a daydream I’ll never get to hold…” That line sent me back to reading my journals and feeling like so many friendships are stories in my life that got cut short. I remember writing best friend forever notes and listening to the “Graduation (Friends Forever)” song by Vitamin C. I guess I just assumed that time and space wouldn’t keep me from my besties and so I never realized that the last time we talked was the last time we talked. I thought there would be more time, chance encounters in our hometown when we all gathered over break, social media would keep us together right? In some ways yes, but never in the same ways. My hope that our stories would continue was simply never realized. Some untold stories feel more painful to me than others. I see the moments where a different choice could have changed the outcome.

In the end though I still created a beautiful life. I also gave myself some space to mourn the losses of the stories that ended so abruptly. And I love the perspective given in this song “…at least you’ll know, you’re beautiful, every little piece love, don’t you know you’re really gonna be someone.” Even though my story with these beautiful people got cut short, I can still find joy in seeing the successes they have created in the story they live.

And when you find everything you looked for, I hope your life leads you back to my door.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.7 | Tied Together With a Smile

Posted by Mallory Hazel

You walk around here thinking you're not pretty but that's not true, cause I know you.

Part 1 - I have a confession to make. When I was a little girl I had an aunt who had deep crow’s feet wrinkles that would emerge whenever she would laugh or smile. She also had a great smile. I took note of this as a little girl and couldn’t wait until I had the lines when I smiled like my beautiful aunt. Well I just looked up crows feet wrinkles to make sure I had the right terminology for this post and the top posts have titles such as “Crow’s Feet :What it is, Botox, Treatment & Prevention” or “ How to Get Rid or Crow’s Feet: Reducing Eye Wrinkles, Cover-Up and More.” Now if I were going to write a post about Crow’s Feet I might title it “Crow’s Feet : How the Little Lines Signal a Life of Joy and Laughter.” That is simply how I thought about it as a little girl.

While I don’t particularly care what people want to do to feel beautiful, I do think it is interesting that something I saw beauty in as a child has a whole industry associated with the removal of. In the opening of this song is the line “you walk around here thinking you’re not pretty, but that’s not true, cause I know you.” The beauty of those "crow's feet" lines came from knowing the joy of my aunt. She shared that joy through laughter and smiles and the lines that her joy produced were simply a beautiful byproduct of joy. And I loved them. I’m not sure if my aunt loved them though, I’ve never asked or brought it up. What if she was putting on cream that night to treat or prevent the lines I saw as beautiful. And you know what fair enough if she wanted to do that for herself, but I just want to point out that things we are told are not beautiful or that we might see as not beautiful, might be very beautiful to the people who know us.

You cry, but you don't tell anyone that you might not be the golden one.

Part 2 - I grew up feeling like I needed to be a golden child. My religious scrupulosity probably fanned the flames of feeling like I needed to achieve some sort of perfection. That along with being praised for my perfect grades or being told I was so smart, altogether it created a spiral of needing to feel golden. So I relate deeply to the lyric “you cry, but you don’t tell anyone, that you might not be the golden one.” For so long it was at least somewhat important for me to at least appear as the golden one, but I held a lot of internal stress about keeping up that appearance. I got a 4.0 GPA in high school and graduated college with a single A- which made my GPA like 3.97 or something like that. I needed those scores to appear golden, but in the background I never risked taking a class that was too challenging for fear that I might fail (in my case get lower than an A). I missed so much experimentation and risk to hold it all together. I look back on that girl and simply give her a hug. She was simply doing her best, but if I could give her some advice I would say take more risks and fail more. It’s going to be okay.

My daughter just came home with her report card a few days ago and ended up with her first B. She said "look mom I’m doing so good. I’m either excellent or above average in every class." I think it healed a part of me and is definitely the attitude I want to foster for her.

Love was all you wanted.

Part 3 - It turns out “love was all you wanted.” Love is what we want and when we lack the feelings of love for ourselves or from the outside world we can feel like we are coming undone. But if you are in that place it can be helpful to hold on, take a step back, reevaluate and look at it from afar. Maybe the love we want is right around us or inside us. Can we love ourselves more. Can we call a friend and be vulnerable and ask for the love we need. It’s okay to reach out and at least find someone to come undone with together. I know when I do that for myself, it helps.

Maybe the love we want is right around us or inside of us.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.6 | The Outside

Posted by Mallory Hazel

You saw me there, but never knew that I would give it all up to be a part of this, a part of you.

At the heart of this song I find a girl who just wants to be seen, invited into a community, taken in for who she is, but feels alone and overlooked. As someone who has always struggled with finding community and friends I feel so jealous of the people who can walk into a new situation and feel comfortable, share their feelings, make themselves known and heard. I try to hype myself whenever I’m in a new circumstance meeting new people. I think to myself no one knows you are introverted or a bit shy, you can just walk in a feign confidence and no one would have a clue. I think about what I’m going to say and how I am going to be bold. And then I step in and I realize I am simply a quiet person, who thrives when invited to share but just simply struggles to show up alone.

Even creating this online platform feels so scary to me. I’m putting out my writing but what if it falls flat and just becomes another lonely place for me. I want so badly to find a community of people that share interests and are willing to help each other, but the fear of not being accepted, and the feelings of not having found that type of community for a long time are real.

But then I just keep thinking about how lots of people feel lonely. Lots of people want community that they don’t already have. And if it’s something I lack, maybe it’s something I can try to build. As much as I want other people to reach out to me and help me exactly as I need it, there is also a part of me that hopes that I have enough of the gifts or talents or audacity or whatever it takes to make a space where people can feel less lonely and can be invited in. I don’t want to look back and know I could have done something to help if I had wanted to and I don’t want to be someone who doesn’t notice others until it’s too late to do anything.

So while right now this is just a blog where we can share our thoughts about songs Taylor Swift has written, there are dreams of having it be a digital space of connection and community. People with similar interests finding other people and not feeling so alone. And if that is a community you want to be a part of, I hope you will stick around. Come by every so often and share your experiences and feelings and thoughts. This is your invitation, we need your voice here to be a strong and active community. Make this a place where people don’t feel on the outside anymore.

This is your invitation, we need your voice here to be a strong and active community. Make this a place where people don't feel on the outside anymore.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.5 | Cold As You

Posted by Mallory Hazel

Oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day.

For me this is a song about experiencing deep grief, a song I still need to this day. Grief often accompanies loss, and there are many ways to lose something. For me this song highlights the grief felt with the loss of what you believed to be true. It seems like there was a relationship that came into her life and that she had an idea of what the relationship was. Someone showed up and gave her love or kindness and she reciprocated it back. It felt safe and had potential until the mask came off and she realized the relationship was just someone who wanted to take advantage of her. Thinking you have a friend for them only to be someone who was using you is a devastating loss. You were living in a perfect day only to realize that at the end it would turn rainy and gray.

I think she captures this loss so beautifully. I have felt anger that leads to a desire to start a fight just because I need to feel something. It absolutely feels condescending for someone to fake a smile after betraying a friendship that was real to me and only just learned that it was one sided. I have sat in rumination counting all the scars you made.

I’ve never been anywhere cold as you is such a thoughtful and healthy recognition in the end. It cuts to the core but is also so honest and real that it is simply just a statement. It is easier to move on from a conclusion than it is to move on from wondering. Being wishy washy is confusing. Are you good? Are you bad? Are you mean? Are you kind? Likely the answer is yes. And what do you do with a person like that in your life? Give them grace, hope they change, continue to give yourself to them. Maybe yes maybe no? But by declaring that being with someone is simply cold, you can leave. They can simply be a place that does not provide a safe landing for you and nothing else really matters. Leave them with their story of a mess of a dreamer with a nerve to adore you, but don’t stop being the dreamer.

I've never been anywhere cold as you is such a thoughtful and healthy recognition in the end. Some people simply do not provide a safe landing place for you and nothing else really matters.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.4 | A Place in this World

Posted by Mallory Hazel

I don't know what I want, so don't ask me.

I don’t know what I want, so don’t ask me, is the greatest opening line and something I relate to deeply. I struggled in childhood when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I struggle in adulthood when I ask myself what I want from life. How am I suppose to choose? I want a lot and at the same time nothing at all. I want to be great at embroidery but I also have this deep knowing that even if my skills develop to some desired level its also all so temporary in the grand scheme of things. What do I want to do with a life that is temporary?

Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who struggles with the way I think. I know I’m not, but even though there are other people who think the way I do, I do feel alone, on my own, trapped in the brain I have. Knowing that I am just a girl who is attempting to find my own place in my own world is probably the healthiest perspective I have. I have to remind myself often that I simply showed up as a baby 34 years ago into a world already created. The systemic problems have already been deeply entrenched in the systems that make our world function. There have also already hero’s who have been brave enough to take a stand and make the world better for everyone.

I know deeply that there isn’t really a perfect world for everyone, but I still believe so deeply that there could be a good world for everyone. The potential for that timeline to exist is just as possible as the current timeline that we currently inhabit. I feel like I am just a girl trying to find a way to be in the gap between how it is and the potential of what it could be? Sometimes my passion for discussing a better world feels like I am just just a girl on an impossible mission, but I am more than ready to fly towards a better reality. And while I love to dream big, maybe I need to remember that my small impact is just a simple ripple in a greater world. What I can do matters, and focusing on the people in my orbit is enough for now.

I still believe so deeply that there could be a good world for everyone. The potential for that timeline to exist is just as possible as the current timeline that we currently inhabit.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you are also just a girl (or person) trying to find a place in this world please share your thoughts in the comments below so that myself and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.3 | Teardrops on my Guitar

Posted by Mallory Hazel

The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart.

High school feels like a whole different lifetime for me at this point. All the inside jokes and nights I thought I’d never forget are now blurred around the edges. Why did I have a can of Beanee Weenees on displayed so prominently in my childhood room? I know there was some deep, significant lore behind it, but try as I might I just can’t remember where it originated anymore. While high school experiences are starting to get hazy, it’s incredible how a song like Teardrops on My Guitar can transport you back to the feelings that were unique to the high school experience.

I don’t know why but high school crushes and love feels so different than any other time. It likely comes down to the experience and perspectives we get through living life as well as the brain development that happens as we grow older. This young love though, it’s a lot, and also a lot of fun. Taking a trip down memory lane by listening to this song is a good adventure to experience every once in a while.

This song is filled with drama in the best way. “I wonder if he knows he’s all I think about at night?” “Can he tell that I can’t breathe?” “The only one who’s got enough of me to break my heart.” The first loves can be all consuming. If your experience is like mine they can also be short lived. One week it’s Drew, but then it’s Ben followed by Otis, then we will circle back to Drew because we love him, that is until we sit next to Sam in class and then it’s all about him. Yet with each of the twists and turns from person to person, it doesn’t matter. We’ll journal that night about how Ben is out and Otis is in, even though just last week Ben was the only thing that kept me “wishing on a wishing star.”

In some ways I miss this part of myself. The all in version of myself that loved so wholeheartedly and bounced back when things weren’t looking like they were going my way. It was a version of me that was always hopeful and excited. Could he be the one? And when he wasn’t, no problem because someone new was sure to pop into my orbit and become the all encompassing potential love of my life.

While life has left me feeling less optimistic than I was at 17, I still appreciate that I can listen to this song any time, and take a moment to transport back to that wild longing mixed with moments of hope. The time when I would “laugh because he’s just so funny” and despair because “I’m needing everything that we should be.”

I appreciate that I can listen to this song any time and take a moment to transport back to that wild longing mixed with moments of hope.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.2 | Picture to Burn

Posted by Mallory Hazel

There's no time for tears I'm just sitting here planning my revenge.

My favorite part of this song is that no questions are asked. Taylor makes declaration after declaration about this person who so obviously wronged her. There is no space for excuses, no self blame. She stands on business that this relationship was horrible because this person was horrible and she is not going to give it any more time, or any benefit of the doubt. It’s a perfect example of knowing what you have witnessed and not trying to gaslight yourself into seeing it any different than it was.

I have felt (because I have been taught) that women are suppose to hold grace for the people around them. Ideas like "nobody’s perfect" or "who among us hasn’t made mistakes" have been weaponized against us to accept behavior that is more than just simply being human. Yeah those trite sayings are true technically, but they should never excuse physical, emotional, or spiritual abuse and all the turmoil that comes with it.

While I likely yelled this song at the top of my lungs in high school while dancing around my room over a crush who didn’t say hi to me when passing me in the halls, my adult self feels even more empowered by this song. Giving space and grace to people who apologize for their small human errors will always be a part of my personality. Excusing horrible people who use their power or position to do horrible things, especially to the most vulnerable populations, is never okay, full stop.

We could all be inspired by Taylors 16 year old words. Let’s strike a match on any time we wasted giving to these people and move on to the people who care. And if you need a moment to sit around and plan your revenge, that’s a good first step. Letting grief move through you is healthier than stopping to or hiding it away, it will always come back screaming until you acknowledge it. So for now let things burn burn burn, and soon enough the pain will fade leaving room for something better to come along.

Let's strike a match on any time we wasted giving to these people and move on to people who care.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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1.1 | Tim McGraw

Posted by Mallory Hazel

I hope you think of me.

While most songs from the Debut album take me back to the teenage angst and feelings of longing that are unique to the high school experience, Tim McGraw withstands the test of time and seems just as relevant to Mallory at age 33 as it was to Mallory at age 16. I relate to the themes of Tim McGraw now as much as I ever did. For me it really captures the human need to mean something to the people that come in and out of our lives. Each phase of life brings in new people and the transitions between phases can mean people who meant a lot to us at one point are gone. A childhood best friend, a first love, a college roommate, these are the people we share BFF bracelets with, risk everything to hold hands with, stay up til midnight sharing stories and secrets and laughter with. Because of time and space these relationships can fade until one day you realize they are so far in the past, and potentially gone forever. All these people who were so important to a developmental stage of your life become people you realize you may never see or talk to again. Even if you did connect now, could it be in the same way as it was before? The relationships that we had were so specific to where we were, and as time marches on we cannot return to what was. Sometimes that makes me feel so sad.

Yet Tim McGraw holds a bit of optimism for me. In this song I find that what is gone in reality still exists in my memory. Over and over we hear the phrase “When you think (fill in the blank)… I hope you think…” One specific example is “When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song. Someday you’ll turn your radio on, I hope it takes you back to that place.” This idea has me believing that on some typical Tuesday night and old friend might be out there living life, when something out of the blue jogs a memory of me. I do hope that people that have impacted me in positive ways were also impacted by me in positive ways. I hope my memory makes them smile for a moment before they return to their regularly scheduled lives. I guess it is just nice to believe that my existence in someone else’s life was meaningful. I hope that our connection transcends the time and space that has since separated us.

It's nice to believe that my existence in someone else's life was meaningful. I hope that our connection transcends the time and space that has since separated us.

I love Taylor Swift’s music and have a deep curiosity about who it is so meaningful to so many people. If you have any thoughts about this song in particular please share it in the comments below so that me and the Swiftie community that finds this space can enjoy your insights.

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Taylor Swift Debut Album Overview

Posted by Mallory Hazel

Taylor Swift’s Debut album was released in the fall of my Sophomore year of high school. While I remember listening to Teardrops on My Guitar, Our Song, and Tim McGraw, I don’t really remember where I would have heard the album in full. Likely in the background at the mall or on the radio. I was surprised when revisiting this album that I could sing along to the chorus of almost every song. Everything was vaguely familiar. Did I somehow have the album on my iPod, or have these songs been around long enough that I simply have heard them over time. I guess the part of my mind that holds the music of my life is a place that is easy enough for my brain to access. While I can’t remember how these songs came into my life so many years ago, it is very apparent that when they did, they left a deep impression.

Listening to this album as a 33 year old woman that has left her teenage years behind, I was surprised how each song unlocked that angsty teenage longing that I thought was extinct. How quickly I was sent back to high school wondering if my crush at the time saw me, noticed me, liked me… I found myself wondering if this album resonates with the teenagers of 2025 in the same way that it hit me nearly 20 years ago. While the landscape of high school has certainly changed in ways I can’t comprehend (with the technological advances and waves of social media websites that have come and gone), are the basic emotional needs still the same. Do they still want to be seen, liked and heard in the same ways I did, and in the same ways all generations do. Or is it different, and if so how?

Let’s do a deep dive into Taylor Swift’s debut album. As I listen to each song I really want to understand why I feel so deeply connected to each song. What parts of me does it reach? How do I relate to the music that has been with me for so much of my life. I invite you to do the same. Share in the comments any and all the thoughts you have. Revisit this music and share your story with it. My curiosity leads me to wondering what makes music resonate with people across the country and across the world. We all have a unique story, unique experiences, unique upbringings, but we all also listen to and love the music that Taylor Swift has gifted us. It connects us and that is a gorgeous part of being part of the Swiftie fandom.

Let's do a deep dive into Taylor Swift's Debut Album. Revisit this music and share your story with it.

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