The Appropriateness In Taylor Swift's Songs

Jessica Jensen

Professor Rice

English 1302

25 October 2016

Taylor Swift’s Appropriateness

Taylor Swift’s career started when she was just sixteen years old. With hit singles like “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me,” her fame skyrocketed until she released her first album in 2009, Fearless. As her fame grew, she became inspiring to young girls everywhere. They looked up to her as the girl who made her dreams come true. She helped them to believe that love was possible and encouraged girls to believe in themselves too. Her songs were appropriate and loved by everyone. As she grew up, however, she began to move away from the younger crowd. Her songs were less about the heart melting romance and more about breakups and one night stands which

Through these songs, Swift met the criterion by providing a positive message in which anyone can find love. When her next album, Speak Now was released, some of her songs were similar in appropriateness and some that were more explicit. The song “Speak Now,” is about ruining someone’s wedding because they might be marrying “the wrong girl.” At the end of the song, the man goes off with the girl who ruined the wedding and it’s still a happy ending. This is not sending a positive message to young girls because it teaches them about selfishness. It teaches girls that they can ruin someone else’s happiness to get what they want, when that is far from reality. During the song, “I knew You Were Trouble,” Taylor uses phrases such as “so shame on me now,” teaching young girls that it is okay to beat themselves up. In her latest album, 1989, Taylor has two songs that send two very different messages. The positive message in the album can be found in “Shake It Off” when Taylor communicates to not let negativity drag you down. The negative message is found in “Wildest Dreams.” This song implicates that Taylor had a one night stand, or something close to it. The negative message, inappropriate language, and explicit imagery portrayed in lyrics such as

After analyzing the lyrics based on positivity and lack of explicit content, Taylor Swift was deemed inappropriate based on the criterion. Taylor Swift’s dancing and outfit choice, however, were suitable based on the criterion of appropriateness such as modesty, appeal, and less suggestive dancing suitable for young girls. The aspects that help determine if it is appropriate or not include dancing, lyric choice, and outfits. Although the criterion deems Taylor Swift appropriate for young girls, parents are still the ultimate deciding factor. They are the people who should decide whether or not their young girls should be going to a Taylor Swift concert or listening to her music on the radio. In the future, it would be beneficial to create a list to better enhance understanding the criterion and in determining if something is appropriate or