It’s happening guys, it’s happening! It’s the Taylor Swift newsletter I know you’ve all been waiting for! Hard to believe it took me 6 whole weeks. Strap in, we’re starting with the card.
The Empress represents the ability to both feel deeply, and channel those emotions into real life art or expression. A synergy of the (figurative) heart and mind and hands.
None of the cards describe strictly any one gender, but they can point out specific masculine and feminine energies that are present in all of us. The Empress can allude to the traditionally feminine concepts of nurturing, fertility, growth, gentleness, guidance, sensuality (senses tie us to the physical world), “mother nature”, creation, sharing from a place of love. They are the Divine Feminine.
Now, look at the card again, and then look at this woman. The queen of 22 herself. (photos by Beth Garrabrant)
You can’t tell me she doesn’t EMBODY the Empress in both physical and archetypal form. Taylor’s music is the definition of channeling emotions into art. She writes incredibly raw and specific and honest albums because she has to. It’s how she processes, how she moves forward in life. And as someone who has a hard time understanding and verbalizing my emotions, Taylor’s music has always been incredibly helpful in my own healing. I can listen to her songs and point to a specific line and say “This! THIS resonates with me. This is what I’m feeling, and thank god I’m not the only one.”
Obviously she’s not THE artist that possesses this Empress quality, in fact most artists do. Maybe your Empress is Adele, or Frank Ocean, or Bob Dylan, or some indie artist I wouldn’t know about. It’s both the relatability, and the time you’ve spent with the artist that matters. Having grown up with Taylor’s music is what makes her Empress energy so strong to me. For the last 16 years she’s comforted me - parasocially raised me.
To celebrate Taylor and the Empress energy she embodies, I’ve created a playlist of what I think are her most vulnerable songs - a funny task, because what I perceive as scary and embarrassing and exposed is, I’m sure, very revealing of my own insecurities. You might have a completely different idea of what her most vulnerable songs are, based on which feelings you keep most guarded, what you feel the most ashamed of.
The playlist is 22 songs (a very satisfying accident), carefully organized into 6 parts, which I will explain below.
We start with the songs that are really just so heartbreaking - The Track Fives*. (If you’re not aware, Taylor has explained that early in her career, she “started to put the songs that were really honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five” of each album.)
I would say she’s brave for releasing these, but I think when you’re in this much pain you almost have no choice but to scream it to the world.
all too well (10 minute version) (taylor’s version) (from the vault)
white horse
tolerate it
dear john
*I’ll note that The Archer and Delicate are also track fives, but fit better elsewhere in the playlist
If you’re listening with me, that was intense. Do you feel fragile? I do. So of course we roll right into the Going Back To Your Ex songs. God, is that not just so embarrassing to even admit to thinking about? She is brave for putting these out is all I’ll say.
back to december
‘tis the damn season
i almost do (taylor’s version)
And now for some good ol’ Shameless Begging. These two earn their own category for the lyrics “say you’ll remember me” and “please don’t be in love with someone else”. Imagine asking (ASKING!) to just be remembered. So pathetic. So tragic. So true. (Sigh).
wildest dreams (taylor’s version)
enchanted
From shameless begging we transition into Taylor’s peak simp era. Arguably her most vulnerable album, Reputation leans into the villain archetype that she played around with in her previous project, 1989. She confesses both the terror and excitement of her new relationship with Joe Alwyn, as well as her anger and hurt over broken friendships and the beginning of a long period of time where public opinion had turned on her. These “most vulnerable” picks all fit somewhere in a Venn diagram of fear, horniness, and head-over-heels corniness.
gorgeous
delicate
dancing with our hands tied
don’t blame me
dress
king of my heart
Following the emotional outburst and release of Reputation in 2017, we get a much more subdued, contemplative Taylor. These songs from Lover and Folklore are about Self-Reflection, Admitting You’re Wrong, Apologizing. In these tracks you can really appreciate the growth and healing that’s come from channeling her pain into art for so many years. This quiet accountability is such a far step from her loud and accusing earlier albums.
the archer
afterglow
this is me trying
mirrorball
Mirrorball is an interesting one, because you can imagine her words directed to a lover, or to her fans. It therefore serves as the perfect bridge to this final category: the songs that directly address her struggles with Fame And Getting Older In The Music Industry. An artist’s entire career is based on how much their fans relate to and love them, so I imagine it was quite hard for Taylor to say “hey, I’m so grateful for everything you guys have done for me, but this job has pressures you can’t understand and there are times I fantasize about quitting.”
Going in age descending order, Fifteen isn’t as related to her career, but it fits right in to the “growing up and understanding” theme of the previous two, (and it makes me cry every time), so I included it in this category as the last song on the playlist.
nothing new (feat. phoebe bridgers) (taylor’s version) (from the vault)
the lucky one (taylor’s version)
fifteen (taylor’s version)
If there’s any you think I missed, let me know and I’ll try to guess your own deepest insecurities.
Now go. Embrace your Divine Feminine. Write a really cringey poem about your ex. Send it to me, even!
<3 Jordan