Someone asked me this week if I was a “Swiftie”. At first, I thought they were asking me if I owned a Swiffer. I don’t. It took an awkward moment or two, but we cleared that up. What this person really wanted to know was if I was a fan of Taylor Swift’s music. That’s a tough question. It’s not that I’m not a fan; I just don’t know her music. I always figured it was for the younger folk. Plus, does a 55-year-old man really have any business calling himself a “Swiftie”? But, given this person’s obvious connection to the music of this mega pop star, I felt there was merit in digging a little deeper. So, I listened to some of her songs and read some of her lyrics. She’s good. She’s very good! She writes a lot about heartbreak, betrayal and disloyalty. I can well understand why young people, especially those dabbling for the first time in love, can find their own story in hers. Love is fragile, and a first heartbreak can seem terminal. Taylor Swift gets that. Listen to how she captures it:
“My castle crumbled overnight, I brought a knife to a gunfight. He took my crown, but it’s alright.”
“Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere.”
“It never occurred to you that I can’t say “hello” to you. And risk another goodbye.”
“Don’t treat me like some situation that needs to be handled.”
Taylor Swift is more than a singer/songwriter; she is a bit of a modern-day prophet. A prophet is someone who has a unique gift of being able to speak truth in a way that brings understanding to the deepest levels of ourselves. In writing about her own struggles with love, she gives voice to anyone who is familiar with love’s ability to take us to the mountaintop and then kick us back into the valley. It’s so easy to dismiss the romances of young people as “puppy love” as if they are only playing at love. They aren’t. They feel affection, loss, heartbreak, and betrayal just as deeply as anyone. And good for Taylor Swift for recognizing that, and for expressing for them what they may not yet have the words to express for themselves.
That’s what prophets do, biblical or otherwise; they package up truth and hand it to us in a form that addresses the longings, misgivings, fears, curiosities and broken places within us.
Just for fun, I couldn’t help but wonder to myself if, back in the day, those who found meaning in the writings of Jonathan Swift also called themselves “Swifties”. I doubt it. But he, too, was a prophet with an empowering voice for his contemporaries. Here is his take on life:
“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others”
“Every person desires to live long, but no one wishes to be old”
“We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another”
“The proper words in the proper places are the true definition of style”
Taylor Swift and Jonathan Swift. Likely they both had their “Swifties” and still do!! The point being, every generation needs it’s prophets to distill the clamouring voices vying for our attention, and present truth to us in precise sound-bites that can inspire us, calm us, deepen us, open us, and allow us to feel seen and heard.
Let’s face it, there is no better feeling than knowing that someone, even a distant popstar on a stage, understands us and what we are going through.
