Taylor Swift just dropped an album of the year. For anybody who knows me, they are probably surprised that this isn’t a review. No, my editors would not approve of a whole page in The Voice just for me to gush over her. You probably think that her songs are like a mosquito, constantly buzzing in your ear. When you think you have her voice out of your head, one listen to the radio is all it takes to get another song to reenter and lodge itself. “I’m immortal now,” Swift belts in her new song, “Life of a Showgirl,” and it genuinely feels this way: she’s inescapable.
What is even more inescapable is people’s comments about how much they hate her. It is impossible to talk about the new album without someone talking loudly in my ear about how “there is just something about her” that they just hate. Honestly, it’s concerning how triggered some people get when they just hear her name uttered in conversation. Chill out, dude, she’s just a pop singer, she’s not running our government.
Let me propose a hot take: Sometimes, your opinions are unwanted, and some people feel so entitled to share their opinion that they feel it is okay to put others down for their interests, like saying people have bad music taste for listening to a particular artist or genre. No, unfortunately, I cannot be convinced that country music is actually enjoyable to listen to; I even prefer listening to Taylor Swift’s later albums (I even purposely opt to skip over her country phase when going through my daily binge through every breakup of her life). But at least I am not yelling at one of my peers from across my English class that all of Morgan Wallen’s songs sound the same.
Yes, maybe when Taylor Swift releases a new album, it becomes my whole personality. I’ll admit, I know way too much about the pop singer for her to just be considered my favorite music artist. But honestly, it is draining having to hear a hater share their unwanted opinion about how she “only writes breakup songs” or “has dated hundreds of men.”
Hating on other people does not make you unique, interesting or cool. Honestly, no one cares. This notion goes for all music fans. Just let people be, and although you might think your opinion is interesting, trust me, that fan probably couldn’t care less, so maybe just save your breath. When you encounter your local Taylor Swift fan, consider just letting them live in the glory of 12 new addictive songs that may or may not sound the same.
