Taylor Swift, as a successful artist and famous figure, has the means to distribute her music and the messages within. Her most recent album, 1989, is a strong example of the autobiographical representation that is possible with musical lyrics. Swift’s utilization of musical autobiography to provide a counter-story to the media’s version of her is not unheard of. Purnell analyzes the “(re)negotiation of identity”(450) that Billie Holiday creates through her music, and the “self definition”(444) she provides. She claims that her lyrics provide an opportunity for the deconstruction of hegemonic identities, particularly those in relation to race, class and gender.
Brown does similar work with Tupac Shakur’s Greatest Hits album, finding that in its examination a “more complete understanding”(558) of African American cultural values, gangsta rap, and Black youth culture can be had. Labrador follows with a study of the rap artist Bambu, agreeing with his belief that autobiography in music can demonstrate a counter-story that opposes Solorzano and Rosso’s concept of “majoritarian stories”(244), or the dominant versions.
Taylor Swift’s discography and most recent album is a comparable example of musical autobiography. Swift’s albums in sequence show her personal experiences, conflict, and development throughout her career. Her newest album, 1989, was named after her year of birth and is what she calls
her “musical rebirth” with her complete transition into the genre of pop. She organizes her album in such a way as to create a story with each song title and the hidden liner note messages within the written lyrics. The album and song titles could be compared to ‘traditional’ written forms of autobiography with their own titles and chapters as differing levels of abstractions for the lyrics themselves. In the last song on the album, Clean, she completes her story of the previous two years by outlining her growth and a final cleansing public goodbye to her period of dating in the spotlight.
In her writing of 1989 as a form of life narrative, Taylor Swift also deconstructs her identity in the media. Swift counters her popularized identity as a “serial dater”(Strecker) and the greater dominant feminine identities of virgin/whore. In the song Shake It Off, she writes, “I go on too many dates/but I can’t make them stay/at least that’s what people say,” in recognition of the media’s portrayal of her. By “generating and mocking her own headlines”(Strecker) through her lyrics, Swift provides her audience with her own version of the story. In addition to that message, she also criticizes the “takedown culture” (McGahan) in society, whereby stories are found and twisted to be negative.
Swift’s self-mocking and self-representation allows for a strong analytical foundation of the dominant feminine identities that are not only imposed upon her and famous figures, but also other spheres within society. The use of music is an interesting case in that it can reach a wide range of audiences through permeation into television, film, advertisements, and radio. Songs can have a short burst of popularity or have a more lasting impact on culture, as is the case with ‘classics’. Hopefully, this form of life narrative will continue to develop and attract greater attention for scholarly study.
