Are you ever in the car and hear a song that you have to turn up, shush everyone, and vocally put your entire soul into? Or maybe you crave a certain genre when things are tough? Have you ever thought about the soundtrack to your life?
If so, possibly music is a venue for emotional exploration for you, whether intentionally or accidentally.
Music can be a powerful tool to sit with our own emotions and explore how we are feeling about ourselves and the world around us. This can be deeply personal or can connect us with bigger stories. Whatever the case, music can be great to utilize when we are exploring some big things in our lives, or just wanting to linger in an emotion a little longer.
While there are many artists who do this, an artist that often comes to mind for me is Taylor Swift. Taylor has produced a lot of music throughout the years that helps connect many with experiences and emotions.There are themes of love, friendship, loss, self doubt, and even living with trauma.
Taylor’s artistry has a knack of beautifully expressing emotions and lived experiences in a way that listeners can naturally see in themselves. Perhaps you, like so many others, have found yourself reflecting and understanding your own emotions through her songs.. I have found myself reflecting on the emotional nature of people while listening to Taylor’s music. Both personally and also how it informs my work helping others navigate emotion. I invite you to explore the reflective quality of Taylor’s music with me today through some examples in Taylor’s discography.
Taylor has a wealth of connection to emotions that we can utilize for our own exploration. Let’s get started!
Song: Fearless
Lyric: ‘I’m not usually this way but you pull me in and I’m a little more brave’
So many possible interpretations of this lyric, though the song is undeniably about first loves. Beyond that though, the power of community and intimacy to make us a little more safe and confident stands out to me. We are stronger together and sometimes having someone else to pull us in during hard times or new experiences can give us bravery and strength to be fearless in moving forward. This album in general explores the theme of being fearless, but I love the interpretation of being braver with someone else and I love the confidence and pride that washes over clients when they access their fearless parts!
Song: Electric Touch
Lyrics: ‘just breathe, just relax, it’ll be okay. Just an hour ‘til your car’s in the driveway. Just the first time ever hanging out with you. Tonight I’ve got my money on things goin’ badly. Got a history of stories ending sadly.’
This song is an exploration of relationships gone wrong and that fear of starting something new. Building trust in yourself and making new connections is difficult when relationships have ruptured before and that reminder to breathe through it and know that in time, this anxiety can pass.
Song: Clean
Lyric: ‘the rain came pouring down, when I was drowning that’s when I could finally breathe’
Okay, sometimes when things fall apart we can finally see it for what it is. Cheesy, I know, but I’ve seen it happen. For myself and for clients. Clean helps make note of how this isn’t an easy moment though. It can feel like drowning when we are in deep with everything that has happened and it feels like it is all coming down on us. When we have the support to swim in all those emotions though, we can start to breathe.
Song: The Archer
Lyric: ‘And I cut off my nose just to spite my own face. Then I hate my reflection, for years and years. I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost. The room is on fire, invisible smoke’
I am a big fan of the Archer and feel strongly that this is possibly one of Taylor’s most emotional songs, exploring self doubt, feeling exposed and seen for all the wrong reasons, but never really getting to be yourself without bending to the expectations of others. The difficulty that comes with being who you think others need sometimes is a painful trade off to dealing with the scrutiny of being yourself.
Song: Marjorie
Lyric: ‘And if I didn’t know better I’d think you were talking to me now. If I didn’t know better I’d think you were still around.’
This song explores a deep connection to how we relate to what our family has passed down. In this instance, there is a connection between Taylor and her grandmother with their love of music. Taylor really feels her presence here. Maybe you feel a warm connection with an ancestor and see pieces of yourself living out a life you and they would be proud of. Sometimes we have a link to our ancestors in quite painful ways too and still feel their presence and pain.
Song: The Manuscript
Lyric: ‘Looking backwards might be the only way to look forward’
Well, this is a bit of trauma treatment in a nutshell. Sometimes we need to reprocess and explore old wounds to be able to move forward with our lives. This song feels like a connection to a previous painful relationship and a desire to be able to move forward from it without feeling like it is only yours to carry.
Wrapping Up
If you are feeling it, Taylor likely has a song about it. With over a decade of music under her belt and writing through some difficult eras of her life, there is a wealth of music to explore our own emotions. I would invite you to explore some of Taylor’s discography and see what emotions and experiences you can connect with. Is there an era that stands out to you? Or maybe a theme that Taylor explores often to make a playlist of? Take some time to put together a collection of songs that help you dive into the emotions that you would like to explore.
Looking for a therapist who can incorporate some TS into your healing? Let me know!
KR Withrow, LMSW works with adults for individual counseling at our office. She likes music, keeping plants alive, and helping people heal. She’s a fierce advocate for social justice and inclusion.