Like her lyrics say...I could listen to some of my indie records that are "much cooler than hers." I do have a lot of music that is much "cooler", much more "sophisticated", more "ironic" and much "deeper" than Taylor Swift's. But, none of that will change the fact that I LOVE her. I think she is talented, amazing, genuine, modest, a decent role model for my growing girls, and let's face it, she speaks her mind and the truth. She doesn't candy-coat a second. She plays her own songs, writes her own lyrics, designs her own stages, costumes, sets, and shows. She works a lot harder than a lot of 18-23 year-olds I could name. She doesn't wear whipped-cream-boob-bras on stage or sing about vile Friday night activities. (ahem, Katie Perry.) Her language is clean, and she doesn't glamorize disgusting things, and her dancers actually dance. She is also awkward and she owns it. It was actually really refreshing and sweet, to be at her concert, a multi-million dollar production, with tens of thousands screaming and adoring fans, and look at this girl and think "she is just an awkward girl trying to fit in like everyone else... and ADMITTING it!"
Sure, she really likes to sing about the boyfriends. My small daughters, who haven't even begun an interest in boys beyond sharing video games, have had a better education in boys from Taylor Swift than I could ever give them. But, seriously, she has said it all, and maybe better than I could. And, guess what, they will listen to Taylor Swift! They won't listen to their stodgy mom who has been married many years longer than they have been alive. What do I know about boys anymore? Where was Taylor Swift when I was 12, or 15, or 20? I could have used her a few times back then!
But, she doesn't paint herself into a corner. Taylor, contrary to what is played on the radio, does write songs about other aspects of life. She has an adorable song about her parents, she writes about her feelings and her dreams. She writes about being bullied, about kids dying of cancer, and about being a human being. There is only one song of hers that I can think of that is just a bit too adult for my kids (thankfully, they don't even know what they lyrics mean and they are still pretty tame lyrics.) She is growing up herself and I know her songs will become more adult, but I'm trusting her that she will keep it clean and remember that a huge portion of her fans are less than 12 years old. She knows it. She walks through the crowds at her concerts and hugs as many of the little kids as she can get her arms on. She and her guitar can stand on their own too. Head over to YouTube if you don't believe me and watch her sing stripped-down versions of every song all by herself with her guitar. She truly sings every lyric. She can truly play every note. She is the talent - it's not stacked voice-overs and computer generated melodies in a can.
Last summer, when Janie stayed with us for a couple of weeks, we all fell in love with Taylor. I had heard her songs before and we had a few on itunes, but the 4 of us went head first into her music. We downloaded all of her songs, watched her concert videos online for days, listened to and sang along with her music in the car everywhere we went. We all imagined together, how cool it would be if we could have seen her in concert (she had finished her last tour not too long before and we missed it.) We had no idea she was working on a new album and would be heading out soon for a new tour. The girls really dreamed about seeing her live, especially Janie. It was one of those "I really wish could happen to me, but probably never will" kinds of things.
Low and behold, her RED album came out, and in the fall, we found out she would be on tour, stopping in Janie's home-town, DENVER!! (sorry Salt Lake cousins, Janie spoke first...)
I watched the internet like a hawk to find out when the tickets would go on sale. Then, the day that they did, I was on my computer the exact second the clock turned over. I was clamoring to find 5 tickets together (for myself, Jane, and the 3 girls.) I should have known better than that. I should have tried to buy 6 instead, but kept going for 5. Later, it was reported that the concert sold out in 3 minutes (meaning that all the tickets were in purchase queues within 3 minutes.) I had no idea how lucky I really was to FINALLY have 5 tickets drop into my queue about 30 minutes later after refreshing my request constantly. I found out how lucky we were when we got to the concert and walked up ALL of the stairs to our seats on the LAST ROW of the stadium. I've sat in nose-bleed before, but this was oxygen tank territory. We were so high, we couldn't even see the big screens because we were ABOVE the A/V equipment and it blocked our view. I felt so bad our seats were so far away, but at the same time knew how lucky we were that eventually 5 seats in a row fell out of other queues and into mine. Close call. (next time, buy 6!)
Grace wasn't deterred. She thought they were great seats (oh if only she knew how awesome it is to sit on the front row and high five Michael Hutchence.) Janie was a bit disappointed, but got over it after the concert started. At least we got to hold up our posters! With no one behind us, we could hold them as high as we wanted, and Harriet could stand on her seat for a better view. It wasn't all bad. (what am I saying - it was awesome!) And, we got to see and hear Miss Taylor! It was truly a tween-age dream come true. When Taylor's music started, and we saw her silhouette behind the screen, I got really emotional - that these girls had had this great little innocent dream last summer and now, here we were, exactly where they had wished they could be, but never thought would be possible (well... a few rows back...)
Melissa and her family saw the concert in Salt Lake the night before we saw it in Denver. She and I talked on the phone in-between. She warned me that Taylor "really likes to do a lot of talking" on stage. Her kids (even younger, 4 and 7) got a little bored with the Taylor speeches. But, the girls we took - Janie (12), Grace (10), and Harriet (7), soaked up every word. Jane, Janie, and I got teary-eyed more than a couple of times when she talked at length about people being mean to her and how no matter who you are, there is always someone who won't like you, and then sang her song "Mean." Kids need to hear that stuff. And, the fact that it came from someone so hugely popular meant even more. She also talked about how she puts all of her anger and frustration into her music and uses song-writing as an outlet for her feelings. Harriet needed to hear that one for sure. Kids need to know that there are ways to express your feelings and turn them into positive things, rather than bottling them up inside, exploding, being self-destructive, acting out, turning to drinking or drugs, or any of the myriad of other things teens think of to do with their unwanted feelings. Coping skills are key, and Taylor has them. They have turned her into a celebrated musician. Think of all that kids could do if they put their energy into positive things like that instead of the destructive things they do. It's kind of inspiring and depressing at the same time.
That's probably enough of my back-ground gushing. Here are the concert highlights. It was such an amazing show from start to finish. She had at least a dozen costume changes, even more dancers, ballet dancers, performers, and amazing musicians. It was a broadway-worthy show with talent just dripping from every pore of every person on stage. Each song and act was so well done and creatively crafted. Her vocals were spot on. I loved how she took the tired old song, You Belong With Me (we've all heard it and seen it a thousand times), and reinvented it. She turned it into a 50's shoo-bop song and completely revived it in a new way. She's incredible. I loved every minute and so did the girls.
Getting ready to roll:
Janie, Jane, Me, Harriet, Grace
Taking my girls to their FIRST concert! So exciting.
Complete with "13" on their hands (Taylor's lucky number.)
Harriet's glitter poster - she designed it completely herself.
Grace's poster - Janie helped Grace and encouraged her to use some girly sparkles.
Harriet thought about and shopped for a long time for each thing in her outfit,
down to the earrings and shoes.
She knew sparkles would be important.
Grace also wanted something new to wear, but was not willing to consider sparkles. She bought a fresh t-shirt and dressed up in white shorts (left the gym shorts behind.) Her favorite Taylor quote is "If you're lucky enough to be different, never change." So, why on Earth would she go to Taylor's concert trying to be like everyone else? Makes sense to me. (Grace is actually a little bit mad and flattered that Taylor cut her bangs to match Grace's. hahaha... there is a startling resemblance though.)
Janie's poster was pretty awesome. She had been working on it for months when we got there.
The girls outside the Pepsi Center.
Posing in front of a display of some gowns Taylor has worn to different awards shows.
Waiting for Taylor to come out!!! We had a great view of the WHOLE stadium ;)
If it weren't for the shirt, you might think she was at a Guns and Roses concert?
Earplugs... the concert wasn't too loud, it was the screaming fans!
Jane and Janie. It was Jane's first concert too! She finally let herself let her hair down and have fun and was singing and dancing with the rest of us by the end. (No Jane, you can NOT read your kindle during the concert. Did she really ask me that?! hahaha... love that Jane)
holding her poster up, high and proud
Taylor's "B" stage was a little closer to us so we actually got a shot at a pic.
This is so blurry, but it was cool to see her float over the crowd back to the main stage.
I wish I had a video of Melissa, Me, and our cousin, Jennifer at our first concert when we were in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. We saw Tiffany at the Salt Palace. Good times. This one is is a keeper for sure.
Check out Janie, Grace, and Harriet singing along. This is how they went for the whole show - stood up, danced, screamed, cheered, sang every lyric.
Here's one more. You can see Harriet singing better on this one.
This was her favorite Taylor song at the time:
Thanks Taylor!
1 comment:
Reading this post made my day. Kennedy really wanted to go, but we couldn't get tickets. I love seeing the difference between your girls. Grace in a tshirt and shorts, Harriet out for a night on the town. Classic!
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