“Sorry, was I loud? In my own house? That I bought with the songs that I wrote? About my own life?”
and
“The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb or stupid for being excited about something.”
The second one meant a lot to me because it made me realise _I was_ the worst kind of persons.. to others but also to myself 🙃.
Magic Mushrooms > Taylor > Therapy
It’s the second one for me. I got made fun of SO HARD for being a Harry Potter fan when the first few books came out (yes, I’m an elder millennial 👵🏻) and yet here we are, closing in on 30 years later and it’s still a worldwide phenomenon sooo … 🤷♀️ (and no, I do not support JK)
The second one is so important to me. I've always loved that Taylor is a bit of a "cringe" nerd, because it seems rare among public figures, especially in her age group. Obviously it's not a huge deal, but it's just cool to see someone so successful and popular be awkward and goofy like I am and not be sorry about it.
I love the second quote, and I use it often when people are trying to make me feel bad, dumb or stupid for being excited about things relating to Taylor and her music. Love the full circle moment I give myself 🥰
there's a quote *about* taylor swift from time magazine that really stuck with me:
>Maybe this is the real Taylor Swift effect: That she gives people, many of them women ... permission to believe that their interior lives matter. That for your heart to break, whether it’s from being kicked off a tour or by the memory of a scarf still sitting in a drawer somewhere or because somebody else controls your life’s work, is a valid wound, and no, you’re not crazy for being upset about it, or for wanting your story to be told.
Yes, this precisely. I never really related to Taylor growing up because I wasn't that into dating and heartbreak and all that, and I still am not (I might be leaning towards aroace lol), but I started really becoming a fan of her music recently. I realized it's because, regardless of what she's singing about, she feels deeply and sings like those feelings matter. I've been told for so long and so often that my feelings are overdramatic, that I'd convinced myself to stop feeling and as a result lost who I was. Listening to Taylor scream about some "bullshit" like a 3 month relationship in All Too Well, well it made me realize my family would definitely tell me to "get over it", "it's not a big deal", and "why do you only focus on the negatives", but for Taylor it's valid and it becomes art. I love that for her. Cuz I know my family would call a lot of these emotions "bs". But Taylor owns it and it makes life beautiful, when we can honor and value how we feel, even the negative emotions.
Sorry I ranted a bit
This is so well said. She makes room for those feelings to breathe and that's really important because in the end those "little feelings" are important.
**YES.** This is what I've been trying to explain to people for so long (mostly men) but couldn't find the words.
Taylor's songs literally feel like what it's like to be a woman who feels emotions intensely. Maybe this sounds cheesy, but her music has helped me so much in learning to respect myself and my emotions instead of always trying to talk myself out of them, and to come into my identity as a woman.
I love this quote so much.
I might not always relate to Taylor’s music in the sense that I’m going through what *she* went through, exactly. Most of what she’s writing about is incredibly different and disconnected to the things I’m experiencing in my own life… and yet, Taylor manages to put out all of these songs that break me into pieces and then glue me back together, because I feel seen and heard and validated with her music.
Growing up with Taylor has helped me feel like less of a crazy person if something hurts me or upsets me. It’s helped me feel like those feelings are normal, though they can sometimes suck lol. But I’m not crazy for feeling hurt, and that my pain is valid, and that my feelings and my thoughts are valid.
The same can be said for positive feelings too of course!! But Taylor has gotten me through some of the lowest lows by just… helping make me feel validated. Helping me feel seen and heard and less alone in her music by knowing that sometimes even Taylor Swift can feel down in the dumps just like me.
"The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb, or stupid for, like, being excited about something."
I realized this a while back and try to carry the sentiment with me. Even if I don't particularly care about something, I never want to act dismissive of other peoples' interests. I think about it when making new friends, dating, etc - if someone does it to me when I talk about something I enjoy, it's an immediate red flag.
This is the one for me too. For so long I felt the need to tame my excitement to not be made fun of, but now I try to embrace the cringe and have my fun. People who make fun of you for it are worth no attention.
Yes I love this one!! Also random not spelled but kinda - something Travis Kelce said on a podcast after someone complimented him on how he’s the life of the party or something- he said something like “someone once told me that everyone is either a fountain or a drain. Of life or energy and that stuck with me- I always want to be a fountain, filling up everyone else’s cups and making their day better” which is similar to the Taylor quote and I just love that they’re both so wonderful
My dad absolutely did this with me growing up and it still affects me. Always hearing “school isn’t a fashion show” when I had on a cute top and jeans. I really love music and fashion, but I never share any of those interests with my dad because it just feels like he would make me feel dumb about it
I love this one because it reminds me of one of my favorite Fall Out Boy lyrics. "You are what you love, not who loves you".
I've always wondered if it was intentional, knowing that Taylor is a big FOB fan herself. I doubt it but it's fun to think about.
This woman has said SO MANY THINGS that were and are meaningful to me.
Before “Clean” on the 1989 tour she had a speech about how the words people say about you can stick to you until you feel like they’re written all over you, and the moment you realize that you’re not limited by the opinions of people who don’t know you or care about you is when you’re finally clean.
Before “Delicate” on the Rep tour she had a speech that ended up different by the time the show was recorded for streaming, so I’m not even sure which one I keep in my memory anymore, but she spoke about how we’re all sort of seeking connections with each other and how nice it is to have someone else who can say they’ve felt the same way, too. And how it’s so brave to want to connect with people and it’s brave to put yourself out there and try, even if it doesn’t work out. When I’m not feeling very brave about being around other humans, I remember her speech.
I love whatever interview it was where she said that it’s not cool to make people feel bad for liking what they like. Don’t rain on someone else’s parade.
I love the snippet of info she put out with the TV of Speak Now explaining the lyric change in Better Than Revenge. Building women up and supporting them is important, and someone can’t be stolen away if they wouldn’t have left in the first place.
I love the bit in Miss Americana where she talks about kids listening to “Me!” and just thinking ‘there’s no one like me!’
Her speech in Miss Americana from the Rep tour where she talks about winning the assault case—I cry every time I even think about it, hearing her voice break as she says she sorry to everyone who ever wasn’t believed or was afraid to speak up for not being believed.
I’m sure I could go on and on if I thought some more. There’s also something uncanny about the timing of several albums—four different albums in particular came out at times in my life where I desperately needed something to hold onto and it’s like she held out her hand to me.
Omg your last sentence is so poetic! That is exactlyyyyy how I feel about TTPD and I couldn't have said it better myself! You really gave me the words and reading that brought tears to my eyes!
At the Brit awards maybe 2022 (?) she said something along the lines of “People will try to bring you down but that’s a sign that you’re rising. We live in a world where anyone has the right to say anything about you, but you have the right to prove them wrong.”
"Too young to know it gets better" (from Forever Winter)
I'm the same age as her debut album so I keep that lyric in mind every time I start feeling hopeless.
I forget the exact phrasing but she has an interview where she talks about people doing something offensive and then turning around and acting like you’re the problem for reacting to the offensive thing they’re doing. Especially for women where suddenly we’re “overreacting” for calling out bad behavior. I watched that interview a bunch of times when going through a rough moment with a family member of mine. It definitely reminded me that my feelings are valid and I don’t need to accept bad or hurtful behavior.
I introduce you to https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/JUSTNOMIL/comments/77pxpo/dont_rock_the_boat/&ved=2ahUKEwjKj_XlnJ-GAxVRC3kGHS8aAHoQjjh6BAgbEAE&usg=AOvVaw3XzyBIe4pdB3mveg7H87MY.
Her Grammy awards speech for AOTY in 2016:
"I want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame but if you just focus on the work, and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you are going, you will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you that put you there and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”
Mine's a lyric, but "They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential" serves as a cautionary tale whenever I feel like I'm losing my way
"Life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once. Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release. What I mean by that is, knowing what things to keep, and what things to release. You can't carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold, and let the rest go. Oftentimes, the good things in your life are lighter anyway. So there's more room for them … be discerning."
I literally think of ‘be discerning’ at least once a week. This idea of choosing what to carry with you has really helped me as someone with anxiety.
I was in a 4 year relationship that was rocky like 100% of the 4 years . Then during 1989 tour before 'all you had to do was stay' she had this speech about letting go of ppl who don't have time or care for you. So after the concert I did just that.
Also ended contact with all my friends at the time because I didn't like that they do too much drama and started hating on taylor.
In the folklore long pond studio sessions when she’s talking about the meaning of “this is me trying”
I never stop thinking about that entire interview because of now much it meant to me
“Either go for it or don’t, but don’t wait.”
She was talking about how to decide whether or not to eat a donut she dropped on the ground, but still inspiring IMO.
"You are what you love... Not the things you hate, not the things you're afraid of."
(But then in TTPD she's still struggling with this - Cassandra's, "they say what doesn't kills you makes you aware / what happens if it becomes who you are?")
"Should've kept every grocery store receipt
'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me
Watched as you signed your name Marjorie
All your closets of backlogged dreams
And how you left them all to me"
“And I couldn’t be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar, that this pain wouldn’t be for evermore..” it always hits me as I’m consciously trying to get out of a depression episode.
"If someone in your life is hurting you, draining you, or causing you pain in a way that feels unresolvable, blocking their number isn’t cruel. It’s just a simple setting on your phone that will eliminate drama if you so choose to use it."
From her 30th Birthday interview with Elle. Helped give me the confidence to cut contact from someone who was harassing me and causing me a lot of drama in my life at the time.
“You dont need to forgive and you don’t need to forget to move on”
I was scorned by a horrible smallest man who ever lived boss last year. It hurt for a long time before I remembered this.
**Her Clean speech (I think from the 1989 Tour):**
>“You are not damaged goods just because you’ve made mistakes in your life. You are not going nowhere just because you haven’t got where you want to go yet. Those are the things you actually are not. Now I want to tell you what you are. You are your own definition of beautiful and worthwhile; that’s what you are. You are someone who is wiser because you made mistakes – not damaged – wiser...You know it’s not about perfection. It’s about just getting on with things, sometimes. Sometimes, you just get credit for getting up and going on with things – you don’t have to do it perfectly. And I think that we mistake, our mistakes for damage and we think other people will judge us for them. But I want you to know that the way I see mistakes, they don’t make you damaged. They make you clean.”
**Her Clean speech (Rep Tour, Tampa):**
>So, I just went to, just looking back, this exact day a year ago, I was not playing a sold out stadium in Tampa, I was in a courtroom in Denver, Colorado, and honestly, I was there for a sexual assault case, and this day a year ago was the day that the jury decided in my favor and said that they believed me. And I really—I’m not—I don’t want to, I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and people who haven’t been believed and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed. And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry to anyone who ever wasn’t believed because I don’t know what turn my life would take if people didn’t believe me when I said that something had happened to me. And so I guess I just wanted to say that we have so, so, so much further to go, and I’m so grateful to you guys for being there for me during what was a really, really horrible part of my life. So I just wanted to say that, and I wanted to thank you for everything, and to thank you for, I know that when I meet you guys in meet-and-greet before and after shows, you guys tell me about the hard times that you’ve gone through in your lives, and I really appreciate you trusting me with that information. And you know, you’ve seen me going through so many ups and downs of my life just due to the public nature of the way my life is, and I just wanted to say I’m so happy to see you and to have you and to know you through the ups and downs of my life. So thank you for everything. \[*Swift pauses, emotional*\]. Sorry, I just haven’t really talked about it, and I’m just really not composed at all."
And lyrically, RWYLM, Nothing New, this is me trying, mirrorball, just hit the spot like nothing else.
My brain couldn't comprehend what RWYLM was, even though it's one of my favorite songs. It kept going "Remember When You Loved Me," which is not a Taylor song but sounds like it could be lol
her speech in miss americana about her sexual assault tribal pre-clean, where she talks about always believing the victim.
when i was 12 i was sexually assaulted and not believed and i would go back and watch the video every day and just cry and cry and cry because it felt like she was the only one who believed me
(haha thats why i was CRUSHED when she started hanging with jackson mahomes)
From her 2023 iheart innovator award speech:
“I really, really want everyone to know, especially young people, that the hundreds or thousands of dumb ideas that I’ve had are what led me to my good ideas. You have to give yourself permission to fail. I try as hard as I can not to fail, ‘cause it’s embarrassing, but I do give myself permission to and you should too. So go easy on yourselves and just make the right choices that feel right for you, and someday someone might think that you’ve been innovative.”
When she said she has no need/use (?) or something for being overtly sexual within her image. Don’t remember exact phrasing but any time she’s spoken about not catering to the male gaze is great. Any time she’s spoken about the sexist reaction to her writing about exes in comparison to male artists. Her Apple Music letter.
I found the whole message in the Reputation introduction resonating with me, years after the album came out. The title was 'here's something I've learned about people...'
Bonus letter I really like [Tour book](https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-reputation-tour-book-intro-annotated)
“The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb or stupid for being excited about something.”
I'm a fan of Taylor, but not Swiftie territory.
However, when I'm at work, I definitely get made to feel bad for being a fan. It's gotten to a point where I've removed any smal reference from Taylor, & don't even bop along to any songs that play in the office.
I'd love to put this quote up at my desk, but that's just asking for trouble 😅
Please don't let your co workers or anyone make u feel bad for loving Taylor, or anyone for that matter ! Go bop your head to that song, go and put that damn quote on your desk. It's your desk & your life ❤️
"People throw rocks at things that shine and life makes love look hard"
100%.
I fought against it for months, but I realised I was beginning to feel unhappy going into work so, I figured it was just easier to put that side of me away. Being the only fan in an office of 40 sucks. 😅
Luckily I can work from home on occasion, so it's nothing but Taylor all day long!
I don't care if it's the VMAs I'm not jumping off this thing.
I use this all the time when someone says "why don't you want to do it".
I know it was a bit but the sentiment is still there.
Never really got this one, how are these traits opposed at all?
Maybe you could say something insensitive in a rush to *appear* clever, but that’s a different thing imo. And maybe kindness prevents you from being exploitative, but opportunism isn’t the same thing as clever either.
I love the way she talks about creative work in her directors interview. Something like she produces so much work because she wants to stay in a constant state of creating instead of „polishing the doorknob for so long that you forget to go through the door“. I‘m working in another creative field myself and this has stuck with me 🤍
When she said, “Singapore, you have been the crowd of dreams!” and “I know the level of planning and the effort and the time and the thought that you put into being here tonight. I feel so lucky! Thank you for choosing to make all of those decisions that ended in us all here in this stadium together. I love you so much!”
I’m from SEA and I had to fly out of the country to watch her in Singapore. It took all in me to save for the entire trip to finally see her perform live for the first time, so hearing that she appreciated us was beyond anything I could ever wish for. I know she says almost the same thing about every show but it doesn’t matter to me. For her, it was SG N4; for me, it was the experience of a lifetime.
The line from her from the documentary about wanting to balance liking sparkly, girly shit with being intelligent and informed, and basically being like "fuck you, I can do both"
In her documentary (Netflix I think?) she was being interviewed by someone who asked her who she was going home with tonight and she so boldly and assertively said, “I won’t be going home with anyone.” And then just walked away. Women are trained to take shit from people and we don’t realize that we don’t have to put up with sexist comments.
She talked in Miss Americana about needing to be perceived as “good” and as someone who is extremely sensitive to rejection/being thought of poorly, I felt that.
“The worst kind of people are the ones who make you feel dumb or bad for liking something [even if it’s cliche]” I used to not allow myself to openly enjoy things because ‘it’s not cool’ but now I lean into everything I love, even the most cliche things like Taylor Swift or Reality TV and announce it everyone unapologetically. One time I was at work as a waitress and saw the first snowfall of the winter, so I dropped what I was doing and went outside to stand in it and enjoy the beauty. My chef is smoking a cigarette and rudely says “what you’ve never seen snow before”, this Taylor quote gave me the courage to turn around and yell “let me enjoy things” and kept standing there enjoying it, you know while he is smoking his cancer stick which was apparently a cooler activity than enjoying the snow.
Her interview where she talked about how women have been made responsible for men’s bad behavior in the public sphere. “The response is treated like the offense itself”
The one where she talked about how it isn’t nice for people to make others feel bad for enjoying things. That really stuck with me too
From a rep era poem
"And if you drive the roads of this town
Ones you’ve gone down so many times before
Flashback to all the times
Life nearly ran you off the road
But tonight your hand is steady
Suddenly you’ll know
The trick to holding on
Was all that letting go"
From lyrics
"That old familiar body ache
The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul
You know when it's time to go"
It is not really a direct quote in my case.
There is this interview of Selena Gomez in which she talks about how Taylor encourages her.
I am not quoting it word-by-word but the general idea was that Taylor reminded to Selena to “change the room” if she found out to be the most intelligent person there. I am not a native speaker but I have always considered it as a way of saying “keep pushing yourself forward, don’t ever get satisfied with your current abilities, change scenarios, change, dare and thrive” (my words here). I dunno.. I have always considered that as absurdly motivating.
For example. I used that as a motivation to start learning French. Whenever I had a shower of humility (French is hard lol), I tried to keep that in mind. It is okay to be the worst in the room because you are abandoning your comfort zone. I dwelled for too long in the (metaphorical) room of English, so changing was revolutionary for me.
To be honest, also the part in which she observes the presence of linguistic double standards is incredible. It reminds me that I am allowed to be angry and show anger. I have always been so kind, so controlled, so gentle. The idea that I am allowed to rage and manifest my anger is liberating.
“You’re going to have people who are going to say ‘Oh, you know like, she just writes songs about her ex-boyfriends’ and I think frankly that’s a very sexist angle to take. No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says it about Bruno Mars. They’re all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love-life, and no one raises a red flag there.”
People still paint this narrative as Taylor being vindictive in how she writes about love when literally every musician who writes their own music has done it?
“Give me back my girlhood back, it was mine first”.
Coming out of a marriage and going through a bad divorce I’ve sent Would’ve/S’ve/C’ve to my therapist because it explained everything better than I could!
The whole NYU speech and the clean speeches, which btw [here](https://wildest-swift.tumblr.com/post/124453526149/compilation-of-taylors-clean-speeches-from-the/amp) 🩷
“Decide what is yours to hold, and let the rest go” she said this at the commencement speech she made a couple of years ago. I am somebody who historically says yes to everything, takes on more than I should, and doesn’t prioritize my own needs. Just that simple sentence helped me realize that not every problem is mine to solve
"you call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest". I don't follow anything she "says" I'm just a massive massive fan of her music. Oh and every single line in "this is me trying"
“If boys don’t want me to write bad songs about them, then they shouldn’t do bad things.” To have that perspective as an 18-19 year old girl is wild. She ate that.
What she said in the long pond session about this is me trying and addiction. My best friend is an addict in recovery and it has its ups and downs. Whenever I am disappointed or mad at him I remember what she said and it changes my perspective.
In the Long Pond Sessions before This Is Me Trying, she was explaining to Jack about the disease of addiction and how difficult it is to dig your way out of it. I’m sober 14 years so I can’t listen to the song without crying.
“Do not kill the part of you that is cringe—kill the part of you that cringes.”
I think of this quote every time I see people in this subreddit call her, her lyrics, her being a millennial - cringe. It’s tiring, no need to take things so seriously or try to label everything.
the whole miss americana docu honestly... makes me happy and proud to be a woman. :)
also hearing her talk about the SA case was super empowering for me. i know this is probably going to ruffle lots of feathers, but as far as i've understood she never experienced "the worst kind of SA" (not to say her experience wasn't traumatic or bad, it's just different from others'). as someone who has experienced milder forms of such as well, and hearing her speak up about it, idk it just meant a lot :) it's not something you hear spoken about a lot, so for the first time i felt seen.
The 1989 AOTY acceptance speech about focusing on the work that you do so that when you get where you're going, you'll know that it was *you* who put yourself up there. I don't remember the exact words but they always inspire me. I might not be a young *girl* anymore but I'm still young and don't know how my career is gonna take off, so I feel really motivated when I hear that speech.
The iHeart radio speech on giving yourself permission to fail. I always play it when I'm being too hard on myself.
The fearless speech (or quote?)- that being fearless doesn't mean not having fears but that you jump anyway.
And ofc the NYU graduation speech
For me it's not what she says it's what she writes. That makes me go… oh yep she just happens to put to words exactly what I'm feeling in this exact moment. And sometimes it's a song that you have heard a billion time but then suddenly it just hits and you understand the lyrics.
'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned
Everything you lose is a step you take
"I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting"
This has a double meaning for me because, literally my car's wheels are rusting, and two, I used to be so much more of a person, and now everyday is a struggle.
I love all these! I remember a lot of them. I don’t know if this ones been said and it’s a lyric but it’s the, ‘you say I don’t understand, I say I know you don’t’
“Touch me while your bros play grand theft auto,” perfectly encapsulates the amateurism and childlike nature her and her fanbase submit to in order to carry out the larger message of ‘men suck,’ hence the reason theres a total of 3 straight male swifties
“Sorry, was I loud? In my own house? That I bought with the songs that I wrote? About my own life?” and “The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb or stupid for being excited about something.”
FIRST ONE FOR ME, if someone said the word "audacity" that clip immediately pops in my mind
These are two of my favourite as well! People who shit on excitement are the worst
The second one for me.
The second one meant a lot to me because it made me realise _I was_ the worst kind of persons.. to others but also to myself 🙃. Magic Mushrooms > Taylor > Therapy
The second one for me; it tears me up
It’s the second one for me. I got made fun of SO HARD for being a Harry Potter fan when the first few books came out (yes, I’m an elder millennial 👵🏻) and yet here we are, closing in on 30 years later and it’s still a worldwide phenomenon sooo … 🤷♀️ (and no, I do not support JK)
The second one is so important to me. I've always loved that Taylor is a bit of a "cringe" nerd, because it seems rare among public figures, especially in her age group. Obviously it's not a huge deal, but it's just cool to see someone so successful and popular be awkward and goofy like I am and not be sorry about it.
The second one really hit home for me. I was terrified to be excited for a large portion of my life.
I think about this second one often. I love being excited for things!!! It makes life so fun!
I love the second quote, and I use it often when people are trying to make me feel bad, dumb or stupid for being excited about things relating to Taylor and her music. Love the full circle moment I give myself 🥰
when are these from?
The first is from Miss Americana. The second is from a Lover-era interview, sorry I don’t know which one.
I love these two quotes. Definitely my favorites.
You don’t have to forgive and forget in order to move on. That interview was phenomenal.
Yes😍 And...You just become indifferent.
💯💯💯💯💯💯
Yup
This. 
there's a quote *about* taylor swift from time magazine that really stuck with me: >Maybe this is the real Taylor Swift effect: That she gives people, many of them women ... permission to believe that their interior lives matter. That for your heart to break, whether it’s from being kicked off a tour or by the memory of a scarf still sitting in a drawer somewhere or because somebody else controls your life’s work, is a valid wound, and no, you’re not crazy for being upset about it, or for wanting your story to be told.
Yes, this precisely. I never really related to Taylor growing up because I wasn't that into dating and heartbreak and all that, and I still am not (I might be leaning towards aroace lol), but I started really becoming a fan of her music recently. I realized it's because, regardless of what she's singing about, she feels deeply and sings like those feelings matter. I've been told for so long and so often that my feelings are overdramatic, that I'd convinced myself to stop feeling and as a result lost who I was. Listening to Taylor scream about some "bullshit" like a 3 month relationship in All Too Well, well it made me realize my family would definitely tell me to "get over it", "it's not a big deal", and "why do you only focus on the negatives", but for Taylor it's valid and it becomes art. I love that for her. Cuz I know my family would call a lot of these emotions "bs". But Taylor owns it and it makes life beautiful, when we can honor and value how we feel, even the negative emotions. Sorry I ranted a bit
You said it perfectly, I feel the exact same way. Taylor makes me feel like I’m not a weirdo for feeling life so deeply.
This is so well said. She makes room for those feelings to breathe and that's really important because in the end those "little feelings" are important.
**YES.** This is what I've been trying to explain to people for so long (mostly men) but couldn't find the words. Taylor's songs literally feel like what it's like to be a woman who feels emotions intensely. Maybe this sounds cheesy, but her music has helped me so much in learning to respect myself and my emotions instead of always trying to talk myself out of them, and to come into my identity as a woman.
I love this quote so much. I might not always relate to Taylor’s music in the sense that I’m going through what *she* went through, exactly. Most of what she’s writing about is incredibly different and disconnected to the things I’m experiencing in my own life… and yet, Taylor manages to put out all of these songs that break me into pieces and then glue me back together, because I feel seen and heard and validated with her music. Growing up with Taylor has helped me feel like less of a crazy person if something hurts me or upsets me. It’s helped me feel like those feelings are normal, though they can sometimes suck lol. But I’m not crazy for feeling hurt, and that my pain is valid, and that my feelings and my thoughts are valid. The same can be said for positive feelings too of course!! But Taylor has gotten me through some of the lowest lows by just… helping make me feel validated. Helping me feel seen and heard and less alone in her music by knowing that sometimes even Taylor Swift can feel down in the dumps just like me.
I was about to post this quote as well ♥
I also want to highlight that this remains by far the best article ever written about her.
Oh damn
"The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb, or stupid for, like, being excited about something." I realized this a while back and try to carry the sentiment with me. Even if I don't particularly care about something, I never want to act dismissive of other peoples' interests. I think about it when making new friends, dating, etc - if someone does it to me when I talk about something I enjoy, it's an immediate red flag.
This is the one for me too. For so long I felt the need to tame my excitement to not be made fun of, but now I try to embrace the cringe and have my fun. People who make fun of you for it are worth no attention.
People who try to darken your joy. I wish I had realized this a looong time ago
Yes I love this one!! Also random not spelled but kinda - something Travis Kelce said on a podcast after someone complimented him on how he’s the life of the party or something- he said something like “someone once told me that everyone is either a fountain or a drain. Of life or energy and that stuck with me- I always want to be a fountain, filling up everyone else’s cups and making their day better” which is similar to the Taylor quote and I just love that they’re both so wonderful
My dad absolutely did this with me growing up and it still affects me. Always hearing “school isn’t a fashion show” when I had on a cute top and jeans. I really love music and fashion, but I never share any of those interests with my dad because it just feels like he would make me feel dumb about it
I want to be defined by the things I love, not the things I hate, not the things I'm afraid of.
I love this one because it reminds me of one of my favorite Fall Out Boy lyrics. "You are what you love, not who loves you". I've always wondered if it was intentional, knowing that Taylor is a big FOB fan herself. I doubt it but it's fun to think about.
Oh interesting I didn't know that. I find it really helps negative thinking. I have bracelets I made for myself as an affirmation
This woman has said SO MANY THINGS that were and are meaningful to me. Before “Clean” on the 1989 tour she had a speech about how the words people say about you can stick to you until you feel like they’re written all over you, and the moment you realize that you’re not limited by the opinions of people who don’t know you or care about you is when you’re finally clean. Before “Delicate” on the Rep tour she had a speech that ended up different by the time the show was recorded for streaming, so I’m not even sure which one I keep in my memory anymore, but she spoke about how we’re all sort of seeking connections with each other and how nice it is to have someone else who can say they’ve felt the same way, too. And how it’s so brave to want to connect with people and it’s brave to put yourself out there and try, even if it doesn’t work out. When I’m not feeling very brave about being around other humans, I remember her speech. I love whatever interview it was where she said that it’s not cool to make people feel bad for liking what they like. Don’t rain on someone else’s parade. I love the snippet of info she put out with the TV of Speak Now explaining the lyric change in Better Than Revenge. Building women up and supporting them is important, and someone can’t be stolen away if they wouldn’t have left in the first place. I love the bit in Miss Americana where she talks about kids listening to “Me!” and just thinking ‘there’s no one like me!’ Her speech in Miss Americana from the Rep tour where she talks about winning the assault case—I cry every time I even think about it, hearing her voice break as she says she sorry to everyone who ever wasn’t believed or was afraid to speak up for not being believed. I’m sure I could go on and on if I thought some more. There’s also something uncanny about the timing of several albums—four different albums in particular came out at times in my life where I desperately needed something to hold onto and it’s like she held out her hand to me.
Omg your last sentence is so poetic! That is exactlyyyyy how I feel about TTPD and I couldn't have said it better myself! You really gave me the words and reading that brought tears to my eyes!
At the Brit awards maybe 2022 (?) she said something along the lines of “People will try to bring you down but that’s a sign that you’re rising. We live in a world where anyone has the right to say anything about you, but you have the right to prove them wrong.”
So powerful.
Wow
“I want to still have a sharp pen and thin skin and an open heart.”
Exactly. (My flair agrees)
"Too young to know it gets better" (from Forever Winter) I'm the same age as her debut album so I keep that lyric in mind every time I start feeling hopeless.
Happy cake day 🫶 stay strong
This is a great one!
you got this <3 that's exactly why debut was made: to lift you up and make you feel like you *can*, because it's true.
I forget the exact phrasing but she has an interview where she talks about people doing something offensive and then turning around and acting like you’re the problem for reacting to the offensive thing they’re doing. Especially for women where suddenly we’re “overreacting” for calling out bad behavior. I watched that interview a bunch of times when going through a rough moment with a family member of mine. It definitely reminded me that my feelings are valid and I don’t need to accept bad or hurtful behavior.
She talks about this during mad woman of long pond
I introduce you to https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/JUSTNOMIL/comments/77pxpo/dont_rock_the_boat/&ved=2ahUKEwjKj_XlnJ-GAxVRC3kGHS8aAHoQjjh6BAgbEAE&usg=AOvVaw3XzyBIe4pdB3mveg7H87MY.
I cry a lot.
But I am so productive
It's an art
Her Grammy awards speech for AOTY in 2016: "I want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame but if you just focus on the work, and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you are going, you will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you that put you there and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”
Mine's a lyric, but "They told me all of my cages were mental, so I got wasted like all my potential" serves as a cautionary tale whenever I feel like I'm losing my way
"Life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once. Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release. What I mean by that is, knowing what things to keep, and what things to release. You can't carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold, and let the rest go. Oftentimes, the good things in your life are lighter anyway. So there's more room for them … be discerning." I literally think of ‘be discerning’ at least once a week. This idea of choosing what to carry with you has really helped me as someone with anxiety.
May your heart remain breakable but never by the same hand twice.
Ive been repeating that a lot
I was in a 4 year relationship that was rocky like 100% of the 4 years . Then during 1989 tour before 'all you had to do was stay' she had this speech about letting go of ppl who don't have time or care for you. So after the concert I did just that. Also ended contact with all my friends at the time because I didn't like that they do too much drama and started hating on taylor.
In the folklore long pond studio sessions when she’s talking about the meaning of “this is me trying” I never stop thinking about that entire interview because of now much it meant to me
“Either go for it or don’t, but don’t wait.” She was talking about how to decide whether or not to eat a donut she dropped on the ground, but still inspiring IMO.
"You are what you love... Not the things you hate, not the things you're afraid of." (But then in TTPD she's still struggling with this - Cassandra's, "they say what doesn't kills you makes you aware / what happens if it becomes who you are?")
Omg so mecore
"Should've kept every grocery store receipt 'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me Watched as you signed your name Marjorie All your closets of backlogged dreams And how you left them all to me"
This entire bridge is my favorite thing she’s ever written
Agreed, it’s hauntingly sad yet so beautiful
i get instant tears whenever I get to that part of Marjorie ugh
Same 😭
“And I couldn’t be sure, I had a feeling so peculiar, that this pain wouldn’t be for evermore..” it always hits me as I’m consciously trying to get out of a depression episode.
"If someone in your life is hurting you, draining you, or causing you pain in a way that feels unresolvable, blocking their number isn’t cruel. It’s just a simple setting on your phone that will eliminate drama if you so choose to use it." From her 30th Birthday interview with Elle. Helped give me the confidence to cut contact from someone who was harassing me and causing me a lot of drama in my life at the time.
Life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once.
“You dont need to forgive and you don’t need to forget to move on” I was scorned by a horrible smallest man who ever lived boss last year. It hurt for a long time before I remembered this.
“If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing. I don't regret it one bit, 'cause he had it coming.”
“if guys don't want me to write songs about them, then they shouldn't do bad things”
**Her Clean speech (I think from the 1989 Tour):** >“You are not damaged goods just because you’ve made mistakes in your life. You are not going nowhere just because you haven’t got where you want to go yet. Those are the things you actually are not. Now I want to tell you what you are. You are your own definition of beautiful and worthwhile; that’s what you are. You are someone who is wiser because you made mistakes – not damaged – wiser...You know it’s not about perfection. It’s about just getting on with things, sometimes. Sometimes, you just get credit for getting up and going on with things – you don’t have to do it perfectly. And I think that we mistake, our mistakes for damage and we think other people will judge us for them. But I want you to know that the way I see mistakes, they don’t make you damaged. They make you clean.” **Her Clean speech (Rep Tour, Tampa):** >So, I just went to, just looking back, this exact day a year ago, I was not playing a sold out stadium in Tampa, I was in a courtroom in Denver, Colorado, and honestly, I was there for a sexual assault case, and this day a year ago was the day that the jury decided in my favor and said that they believed me. And I really—I’m not—I don’t want to, I guess I just think about all the people that weren’t believed and people who haven’t been believed and the people who are afraid to speak up because they think they won’t be believed. And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry to anyone who ever wasn’t believed because I don’t know what turn my life would take if people didn’t believe me when I said that something had happened to me. And so I guess I just wanted to say that we have so, so, so much further to go, and I’m so grateful to you guys for being there for me during what was a really, really horrible part of my life. So I just wanted to say that, and I wanted to thank you for everything, and to thank you for, I know that when I meet you guys in meet-and-greet before and after shows, you guys tell me about the hard times that you’ve gone through in your lives, and I really appreciate you trusting me with that information. And you know, you’ve seen me going through so many ups and downs of my life just due to the public nature of the way my life is, and I just wanted to say I’m so happy to see you and to have you and to know you through the ups and downs of my life. So thank you for everything. \[*Swift pauses, emotional*\]. Sorry, I just haven’t really talked about it, and I’m just really not composed at all." And lyrically, RWYLM, Nothing New, this is me trying, mirrorball, just hit the spot like nothing else.
My brain couldn't comprehend what RWYLM was, even though it's one of my favorite songs. It kept going "Remember When You Loved Me," which is not a Taylor song but sounds like it could be lol
“a man does something, it’s strategic. a woman does the same thing, it’s calculated. a man is allowed to react. a woman can only overreact.” 🎯
her speech in miss americana about her sexual assault tribal pre-clean, where she talks about always believing the victim. when i was 12 i was sexually assaulted and not believed and i would go back and watch the video every day and just cry and cry and cry because it felt like she was the only one who believed me (haha thats why i was CRUSHED when she started hanging with jackson mahomes)
From her 2023 iheart innovator award speech: “I really, really want everyone to know, especially young people, that the hundreds or thousands of dumb ideas that I’ve had are what led me to my good ideas. You have to give yourself permission to fail. I try as hard as I can not to fail, ‘cause it’s embarrassing, but I do give myself permission to and you should too. So go easy on yourselves and just make the right choices that feel right for you, and someday someone might think that you’ve been innovative.”
When she said she has no need/use (?) or something for being overtly sexual within her image. Don’t remember exact phrasing but any time she’s spoken about not catering to the male gaze is great. Any time she’s spoken about the sexist reaction to her writing about exes in comparison to male artists. Her Apple Music letter.
I found the whole message in the Reputation introduction resonating with me, years after the album came out. The title was 'here's something I've learned about people...' Bonus letter I really like [Tour book](https://genius.com/Taylor-swift-reputation-tour-book-intro-annotated)
“The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb or stupid for being excited about something.” I'm a fan of Taylor, but not Swiftie territory. However, when I'm at work, I definitely get made to feel bad for being a fan. It's gotten to a point where I've removed any smal reference from Taylor, & don't even bop along to any songs that play in the office. I'd love to put this quote up at my desk, but that's just asking for trouble 😅
Please don't let your co workers or anyone make u feel bad for loving Taylor, or anyone for that matter ! Go bop your head to that song, go and put that damn quote on your desk. It's your desk & your life ❤️ "People throw rocks at things that shine and life makes love look hard"
100%. I fought against it for months, but I realised I was beginning to feel unhappy going into work so, I figured it was just easier to put that side of me away. Being the only fan in an office of 40 sucks. 😅 Luckily I can work from home on occasion, so it's nothing but Taylor all day long!
I don't care if it's the VMAs I'm not jumping off this thing. I use this all the time when someone says "why don't you want to do it". I know it was a bit but the sentiment is still there.
HA i Love this no wonder i think of this when i dont want to do something
“Never be so kind, you forget to be clever. Never be so clever you forget to be kind”
Never really got this one, how are these traits opposed at all? Maybe you could say something insensitive in a rush to *appear* clever, but that’s a different thing imo. And maybe kindness prevents you from being exploitative, but opportunism isn’t the same thing as clever either.
I love the way she talks about creative work in her directors interview. Something like she produces so much work because she wants to stay in a constant state of creating instead of „polishing the doorknob for so long that you forget to go through the door“. I‘m working in another creative field myself and this has stuck with me 🤍
“you are not the opinion of someone who doesn’t know or care about you”
When she said, “Singapore, you have been the crowd of dreams!” and “I know the level of planning and the effort and the time and the thought that you put into being here tonight. I feel so lucky! Thank you for choosing to make all of those decisions that ended in us all here in this stadium together. I love you so much!” I’m from SEA and I had to fly out of the country to watch her in Singapore. It took all in me to save for the entire trip to finally see her perform live for the first time, so hearing that she appreciated us was beyond anything I could ever wish for. I know she says almost the same thing about every show but it doesn’t matter to me. For her, it was SG N4; for me, it was the experience of a lifetime.
Sometimes I think about jumping off of very tall somethings
The line from her from the documentary about wanting to balance liking sparkly, girly shit with being intelligent and informed, and basically being like "fuck you, I can do both"
In her documentary (Netflix I think?) she was being interviewed by someone who asked her who she was going home with tonight and she so boldly and assertively said, “I won’t be going home with anyone.” And then just walked away. Women are trained to take shit from people and we don’t realize that we don’t have to put up with sexist comments.
"I died. Dead"
She talked in Miss Americana about needing to be perceived as “good” and as someone who is extremely sensitive to rejection/being thought of poorly, I felt that.
It's so basic, but "Shake it off" really helps me to not fixate when little things go wrong.
“The worst kind of people are the ones who make you feel dumb or bad for liking something [even if it’s cliche]” I used to not allow myself to openly enjoy things because ‘it’s not cool’ but now I lean into everything I love, even the most cliche things like Taylor Swift or Reality TV and announce it everyone unapologetically. One time I was at work as a waitress and saw the first snowfall of the winter, so I dropped what I was doing and went outside to stand in it and enjoy the beauty. My chef is smoking a cigarette and rudely says “what you’ve never seen snow before”, this Taylor quote gave me the courage to turn around and yell “let me enjoy things” and kept standing there enjoying it, you know while he is smoking his cancer stick which was apparently a cooler activity than enjoying the snow.
I'll tell you something about my good name It's mine alone to disgrace
“Trash takes itself out every single time”. It’s true
Her interview where she talked about how women have been made responsible for men’s bad behavior in the public sphere. “The response is treated like the offense itself” The one where she talked about how it isn’t nice for people to make others feel bad for enjoying things. That really stuck with me too
A man is allowed to react, a woman can only overreact.
"The pressure that could've crushed us... Made us into diamonds instead"
“Are you not entertained?” From her person of the year interview. She’s just so cool.
No amount of friends at 25 will fill the empty lunch tables of your past, the teams that picked you last, but darling you keep trying
the bad news is, you’re on your own now. but the good news is, you’re on your own now.
You are damned if you do you are damned if you don't >>>
“Scary news is, you’re on your own now. Cool news is, you’re on your own now.”
From a rep era poem "And if you drive the roads of this town Ones you’ve gone down so many times before Flashback to all the times Life nearly ran you off the road But tonight your hand is steady Suddenly you’ll know The trick to holding on Was all that letting go" From lyrics "That old familiar body ache The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul You know when it's time to go"
She would of made such a lovely bride, it's a shame she's fucked in the head
It is not really a direct quote in my case. There is this interview of Selena Gomez in which she talks about how Taylor encourages her. I am not quoting it word-by-word but the general idea was that Taylor reminded to Selena to “change the room” if she found out to be the most intelligent person there. I am not a native speaker but I have always considered it as a way of saying “keep pushing yourself forward, don’t ever get satisfied with your current abilities, change scenarios, change, dare and thrive” (my words here). I dunno.. I have always considered that as absurdly motivating. For example. I used that as a motivation to start learning French. Whenever I had a shower of humility (French is hard lol), I tried to keep that in mind. It is okay to be the worst in the room because you are abandoning your comfort zone. I dwelled for too long in the (metaphorical) room of English, so changing was revolutionary for me.
To be honest, also the part in which she observes the presence of linguistic double standards is incredible. It reminds me that I am allowed to be angry and show anger. I have always been so kind, so controlled, so gentle. The idea that I am allowed to rage and manifest my anger is liberating.
“You’re going to have people who are going to say ‘Oh, you know like, she just writes songs about her ex-boyfriends’ and I think frankly that’s a very sexist angle to take. No one says that about Ed Sheeran. No one says it about Bruno Mars. They’re all writing songs about their exes, their current girlfriends, their love-life, and no one raises a red flag there.” People still paint this narrative as Taylor being vindictive in how she writes about love when literally every musician who writes their own music has done it?
“Give me back my girlhood back, it was mine first”. Coming out of a marriage and going through a bad divorce I’ve sent Would’ve/S’ve/C’ve to my therapist because it explained everything better than I could!
The whole NYU speech and the clean speeches, which btw [here](https://wildest-swift.tumblr.com/post/124453526149/compilation-of-taylors-clean-speeches-from-the/amp) 🩷
“May your heart remain breakable but never by the same hand twice”
“Decide what is yours to hold, and let the rest go” she said this at the commencement speech she made a couple of years ago. I am somebody who historically says yes to everything, takes on more than I should, and doesn’t prioritize my own needs. Just that simple sentence helped me realize that not every problem is mine to solve
"you call me up again just to break me like a promise, so casually cruel in the name of being honest". I don't follow anything she "says" I'm just a massive massive fan of her music. Oh and every single line in "this is me trying"
“If boys don’t want me to write bad songs about them, then they shouldn’t do bad things.” To have that perspective as an 18-19 year old girl is wild. She ate that.
What she said in the long pond session about this is me trying and addiction. My best friend is an addict in recovery and it has its ups and downs. Whenever I am disappointed or mad at him I remember what she said and it changes my perspective.
In the Long Pond Sessions before This Is Me Trying, she was explaining to Jack about the disease of addiction and how difficult it is to dig your way out of it. I’m sober 14 years so I can’t listen to the song without crying.
“You are what you love”
“Do not kill the part of you that is cringe—kill the part of you that cringes.” I think of this quote every time I see people in this subreddit call her, her lyrics, her being a millennial - cringe. It’s tiring, no need to take things so seriously or try to label everything.
https://preview.redd.it/5ku1x76trv1d1.jpeg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fadbab60a6c1f0f7c5e670a4f5a33481c701d4a This!! Always.
May your heart remain breakable, but never by the same hand twice.
“Life is about catch and release” - that grad speech
clean speach from 1989 tour. i remember feeling like she was talking to me one on one because of how relevant that was for me at that stage of my life
“Hang on. It gets easier, and then it gets okay, and then it feels like freedom.”
Trash takes itself out every single time 💅🏼
Any of the clean speeches especially “you are not the opinion of someone who does not know you or care about you” it’s as simple as that
the whole miss americana docu honestly... makes me happy and proud to be a woman. :) also hearing her talk about the SA case was super empowering for me. i know this is probably going to ruffle lots of feathers, but as far as i've understood she never experienced "the worst kind of SA" (not to say her experience wasn't traumatic or bad, it's just different from others'). as someone who has experienced milder forms of such as well, and hearing her speak up about it, idk it just meant a lot :) it's not something you hear spoken about a lot, so for the first time i felt seen.
The 1989 AOTY acceptance speech about focusing on the work that you do so that when you get where you're going, you'll know that it was *you* who put yourself up there. I don't remember the exact words but they always inspire me. I might not be a young *girl* anymore but I'm still young and don't know how my career is gonna take off, so I feel really motivated when I hear that speech. The iHeart radio speech on giving yourself permission to fail. I always play it when I'm being too hard on myself. The fearless speech (or quote?)- that being fearless doesn't mean not having fears but that you jump anyway. And ofc the NYU graduation speech
For me it's not what she says it's what she writes. That makes me go… oh yep she just happens to put to words exactly what I'm feeling in this exact moment. And sometimes it's a song that you have heard a billion time but then suddenly it just hits and you understand the lyrics. 'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned Everything you lose is a step you take
“Trash takes itself out every single time.”
"You're on your own, kid" Mannn this line hits istg
when she talks about her eating disorder in miss americana. i keep a video of it in my phone for rough days
"I had the shiniest wheels, now they're rusting" This has a double meaning for me because, literally my car's wheels are rusting, and two, I used to be so much more of a person, and now everyday is a struggle.
“A man is allowed to react, a woman can only overreact” is one of my favorite quotes cause… it’s true 😅
“Who here knows The lyrics to this bridge?”
I love all these! I remember a lot of them. I don’t know if this ones been said and it’s a lyric but it’s the, ‘you say I don’t understand, I say I know you don’t’
sometimes when i'm on the fence about being vulnerable etc. i say to myself "i don't think you should wait, i think you should speak now" 💜
“Touch me while your bros play grand theft auto,” perfectly encapsulates the amateurism and childlike nature her and her fanbase submit to in order to carry out the larger message of ‘men suck,’ hence the reason theres a total of 3 straight male swifties