The soundtrack of Gen-Z featuring Taylor Swift

Sitting in Dana at breakfast, if you turn your head in any direction, you will see at least one person at every table intently looking at their phones with puzzled looks. If you glance at their screens you will see green, yellow, and gray squares as they try to figure out the daily Wordle. I am sure many of you at this point know the game I am talking about, and some of you may have even played a variation of Wordle. These games each offer an alternative daily word. But have any of you heard of Taylordle? Taylordle is the same concept as Wordle, except every five-letter word has something to do with the pop icon Taylor Swift. For example, the past couple of days have been words like “paper” and “Blake”, referring to her hit song “Paper Rings” and her friend Blake Lively. 

At this point, many of my friends have become annoyed by the more complex words that have taken over Wordle since The New York Times acquired the platform. This has led many of my friends to instead turn to the Wordle alternatives, particularly Taylordle. The Taylordle variation led me to think about the presence of Taylor Swift in my life and in pop culture in general. I have many memories with her songs playing in the background. I have sung her songs at parties, sped down a road with her music blasting while I sang (a better word would be shrieked) with friends. But I have also cried on the floor while one of her more melancholy songs plays in the background. For some reason, Taylor Swift’s versatile music can  match any mood and any life event, which is rare for an artist.

But why is Taylor Swift so popular? Yes, her music is catchy and seems to always be playing on the radio, but I think she is popular for more than her talent. For our generation who grew up listening to her music, we watched her transform from a country musician to a pop star. We watched as she went through many very public relationships and was scrutinized for them. We watched her being branded a snake because of her scandal with Kanye West and overcame that title. But most importantly, these songs became ingrained in our memory, and it is almost guaranteed that if a popular Taylor Swift song is played, everyone will sing along. 

But Taylor Swift does more than make great music. We have watched her stand up against sexism and sexual harrassement in the music industry. She showed many the importance of fighting these sexist principles that seem ingrained in society by constantly calling them out. She continues to create relatable music while remaining unproblematic and setting an example of how women can break down misogynistic stereotypes through her constant public criticism. When she was robbed of the property rights to her own music, she persevered and is now rerecording her albums and releasing them as “Taylor’s Version” in a more raw form. “Taylor’s Version” has allowed many of us to relive the first time we heard these songs, while supporting Taylor as she reclaims her songs. Taylor Swift has become an icon for Gen-Z not just because her songs are played all around us but because she remains an unproblematic celebrity to use as a role model. 

~ Tara Goday ’24