Pop Music Destroying Country Artists

So to my fellow music listeners out there, I’m sure that most of you have a favorite artist. For whatever reason, you have been following and supporting this artist for a very long time. You love this artist because he/she is part of your favorite music genre and writes amazing songs. You may also love this artist for their physical appearance, personality, or values (what they stand for or believe in). This artist is your idol, and 

you think that they will never change.

However, all of a sudden, your idol does change. For a minute, your favorite artist has beautiful, long, blonde curly hair; the next minute, she has short, shoulder length hair. Your favorite artist all of sudden trades in her sundresses and cowgirl boots for crop tops and tight high waist shorts. Your favorite artist decides to change her music style from country-pop to just pop, leaving her country roots behind. No matter how much you love this person, sometimes you might feel sad about how much she has changed over the last few years. 

This is how I feel about my favorite artist Taylor Swift. No matter how much she means to me, I sometimes can’t help think about the fact that she has changed so much throughout her career. Contrary to what I have said in my other posts, I blame the pop music genre for making her abandon her country roots.

This is one of the few instances that show why I wish pop music wasn’t such an everlasting trend. I personally believe that this genre slowly drew her away from her country sound and appearance. My theory is that she had to mix in pop elements with her country sound in order to increase her audience. For instance, with friends and acquaintances that I have, most of them do not favor country music. They would rather listen to pop music. Also with a new sound, a new look emerges. I noticed as her tours progressed throughout the years, her outfits became more sexualized.  She appears to be wearing shorter skirts and tops. Perhaps she felt like this new image would fit her new pop songs instead of her old country boots and sun dresses. 

I also think that her transition to pop music ruined the quality of her lyrics. I think that her country lyrics are more beautiful and have deeper meanings. Here is a lyric from her first song called Tim McGraw: “He said the way my blue eyes shined put those Georgia stars to shame that night. I said that’s a lie”. Here she makes a beautiful metaphor where someone compares her eyes to a starry night. Here is another lyric from her song called Enchanted: “Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy, vanished when I saw your face.” Here she talks about being in an uncomfortable setting and eventually finding comfort when seeing a special someone. These are songs from her country-pop albums. With her new pop album, she now has lyrics such as “to the fella over there with the hella good hair” and “haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate”. These lyrics do not sound as clever and meaningful as her old songs. 

Sometimes I like to look back and reminisce about the old Taylor Swift. I’m definitely going to miss her old style and country roots. However, even if she changes, I’m still going to love her no matter what she does. She has a quote saying that she will never change but she won’t ever stay the same either. She has definitely changed a lot, but underneath the short hair and new style is the same Taylor Swift I fell in love with.