Does Taylor Swift’s engagement really include us?

There have been a few constants in my life: living with dogs, a love of books, and most relevant to this article, the music of Taylor Swift. From first hearing ‘Shake It Off’ at my Year 2 school disco to lying on my bedroom floor, crying to ‘This Is Me Trying’ after once again doing badly on a GCSE maths exam, it’s safe to say if my life had a soundtrack, an embarrassing amount of it would be by Taylor Swift.

At moments like these, she feels like a close friend, or an extension of yourself

This isn’t an experience unique to me but rather common to many: people who’ve grown up with Taylor Swift, and have had her songs playing in the background of their formative moments. Even if it can be fun to try connect her songs to the latest series of mediocre men, they’re all vague enough to work as a mirror to whatever’s going on in your own life, especially if (as so much of Taylor Swift’s audience is) you’re a teen girl and naturally inclined to dramatics. Listen to ‘Love Story’ and all of a sudden, you can imagine the crush you sit behind in History, who you’ve never actually spoken to, declaring their love for you. Listen to ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ and you can imagine yourself calmly and coolly dealing with the breakup after said crush inevitably lets you down (you’ve still never spoken to this person).

This feeling is topped only by the connection you feel when your and Taylor’s experiences intersect. I remember being eighteen, experiencing my first proper breakup and, amidst all the sadness and insecurity, feeling real joy at the thought of getting to listen to ‘All Too Well’ later on. I thought to myself, finally, I can really understand what Taylor Swift was singing about.

At moments like these, she feels like a close friend, or an extension of yourself.

It’s not just individuals that Taylor Swift seems like an extension of, but often culture itself.  In the 2000s, when the world was split into good girls and bad girls, she dutifully played her role with her buoyant curls and songs about first love. In the early 2000s, she became the epitome of hipster chic – you can imagine the Taylor who sang ‘Shake It Off’ and ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’ having a moustache tattooed on the inside of her finger. In the late 2000s, in the wake of the Trump presidency, when celebrities were expected to comment on politics, she became a dutiful liberal. Even upon entering this new decade that seems to be getting stranger with every passing year, she’s patiently carried on. Becoming thoughtful and melancholic when we were all reassessing our lives during lockdown, and relatable in the year 2024 when we expect celebrities to talk candidly about traumas and mental health issues. Every time the world changes, Taylor Swift shape shifts to maintain her position.

Taylor Swift has been a constant in so many of our lives but we should still remember that she has an identity outside of us

I think this is why her recent engagement to Travis Kelce has got people online acting so strangely (although, to be fair, people always act weird when Taylor Swift’s involved). This is something so specific, so personal – it can’t be connected to something wider, something that involves us. I mean, the younger generation who primarily form Taylor Swift’s audience are currently living through a loneliness epidemic and having to experience the horrors of online dating. A marriage seems miles away from this.

So, we turn to culture, something else Taylor’s so dutifully reflected. Is this an indication of the shift to the right? Is Taylor Swift going to become a ‘trad wife’? Will her next album be about baking bread from scratch while pregnant with her thirteenth child?

While I’m not sure what Taylor’s future will hold, I can say that I think we should use this opportunity of her recent engagement to take a step back. Taylor Swift has been a constant in so many of our lives but we should still remember that she has an identity outside of us: as a musician, as a future wife and maybe mother, and most importantly, as a person. Simple as that.