I recently took a liking to Taylor Swift’s song “New Romantics” and decided Taylor Swift is THE millennial of millennials. Even though she hangs out with models and fun celebs and posts amazing pictures on Instagram, she writes and sings about the struggles of being young – what its like to grow up during this unique time of opportunity, total transparency and instant gratification. Her lyrics speak to this and give us a sense of relatability, an understanding that she, too, knows the struggle is real! But what’s interesting about this song in particular is that the lyrics seem depressing when you read between their catchiness. Because I have a history of always thinking songs are the wrong words (yes, I thought the Thong song was the Dong song), I looked up the lyrics just to make sure I heard correctly. With the exception of one or two words (who wouldn’t think the opposite of love was anger?), what I heard was true. But are we really as Tay Tay describes? Let’s explore – here’s a link to her song lyrics since I am legally not allowed to quote her directly: http://www.metrolyrics.com/new-romantics-lyrics-taylor-swift.html.
After reflecting on the song, I definitely find myself having experienced or experiencing of a lot of what she talks about. Her verse on being tired… This was the THEME of my 20s, and lately, I’ve had so many conversations with younger friends or coworkers wanting to switch their job, switch their apartment, switch their roommate, after just a few months… because it’s just not working. Her lyrics on no show trains… I’ve definitely sought out perfection most of my 20s and didn’t settle for anything less, making myself pretty miserable in the process. The line about going for danger… Um, yeah, who hasn’t dated the semi-jerk because if we can just win him over, then he must really like us. The phrase on dancing… Does she mean dancing or the distractions we surround ourselves with to not face reality which only then end up hitting us in the face and “knocking us off our feet?”
I can’t speak for you, but in my opinion, I think the song sums our generation pretty well. For better or worse, T Swift isn’t some distant, removed celeb, but she’s one of us. She’s is BEING millennial. But I think “New Romantics” isn’t meant to offend but to reinforce and point out what we all need – things we’ve learned, things we’re still learning, and things we need to learn. I hope each time you listen to this song you will think about what this means to you, even if you are busy dancing.
Leslie Delery 