As I approach 25 at a neck-breaking pace (September 28-- you're gonna want to put that on your calendar), I'm getting somewhat reminiscent as I look back on my quarter-century lifetime. As many of you know, the soundtrack of my life for the past several years has been sung by America's sweetheart, Taylor Swift. From soul-mending break-up songs like "Dear John" and "Last Kiss" to the coming-of-age ballad "Never Grow Up" to the hopeful love song "Enchanted" (that one goes out to my boo thang, Al), Taylor has always sang as though she was literally ripping pages out of my diary. At her concert, Alex leaned over and said, "Is there seriously no song she sings that you CAN'T apply to your life??"
Answer: no.
That is, until now. It doesn't help that I'm painfully aware that in most senses of the word, I'm technically a grown-up: college graduate, gainfully employed, married. When Taylor announced last week that she would be releasing a new song, I only assumed it would be just like the others: about me. Something like, "Help: I'm an Educator," or "My Husband's Definition of Clean is Only Acceptable in a Frat House." Maybe that's a little far-fetched, but something along those lines.
Instead, I got "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."
Sure, the song is catchy. I sing along, and of course I support Taylor in all that she does. (although, admittedly, I'm a little concerned about her recent interest in a young Kennedy-- Taylor, google "curse.") But this is the first time in my T-Swift fandom that I've not been able to relate. And frankly, it's not doing much for my quarter-life crisis.
Allow me to use another obsession to relate the situation. For years after Wendy's first venture to Never Land, she returned annually with Peter to visit the mermaids, pirates, fairies, and more. But eventually, Peter comes back to find Wendy all grown up, unable to return. She has to explain to Peter that she can't return to Never Land because she is, at long last, a grown up.
Have I outgrown Taylor Swift? Is her next album my Never Land?
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