This is not the Taylor Swift Fan Club, Really

I feel rather self-conscious about writing another post about Taylor Swift, but I discovered her latest song, "Mine," last week (it's only been #1 for nine weeks now, ha ha), and I just really admire the writing in that song.  In the course of two verses, three choruses, and a bridge, Swift manages to tell an entire story that conveys plot, backstory, character, and theme.  Oh, and it's pretty catchy to sing along to.

In terms of plot, there's nothing especially original about the song - girl meets boy, girl gets boy, girl nearly loses boy, girl keeps boy.  But there's an economy to what Swift includes in the story that keeps only the details needed to move the story along to its conclusion.  Although she doesn't specifically say what the demons in the backstory are, she gives us enough that we can guess ("Brace myself for the goodbye, cause it's all I've ever known") what are her "parents' mistakes."

Ok, maybe the main reason I like the song is the line in the chorus, "You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter."  I just think that phrase is put together so well.  It has the antithesis thing going for it, but it also seems to me to capture a real sense of the character who is narrating the story.  And there's nothing wasted in it - every word contributes.

If only I could write that well....

No Wonder She's So Popular

As I was washing the dishes tonight and listening to the mp3 player, Taylor Swift's song Fifteen came around in the shuffle.  Listening to the lyrics, I thought, "Now THERE'S someone who understands her target audience!"  Even though it's been many, many years since I was fifteen, I can still remember the awkward mix of uncertainty and bravado that she sings about.  Granted, she's not that far removed from that age, but to be able to verbalize the feelings the way she did is, I think, pretty remarkable.  How does a writer go back and remember what was important back then? I wish now I hadn't been so zealous about destroying all the evidence of my teen-aged dorkiness once I got into my twenties - it might have come in handy now that I'd like to write for young adults, ha ha.