I’ll never forget the first time I heard one of her songs. It was summer 2006. My best friend Kamie had just gotten her learner’s permit. We were riding down the only highway in our tiny beach town in Kamie’s 1996 Jeep Cherokee with the windows down, salty ocean air messing up our hair, listening to our local country radio station Gator 107.9.
“He said the way my blue eyes shined put those Georgia stars to shame that night, I said, ‘that’s a lie’...”
Everyone who knows me knows that I am a talker. But for once in my life, I fell silent. We both listened intently for the entire three minutes and fifty four seconds.
Now admittedly, I’m kind of an elitist when it comes to the music I choose to listen to because I’m so focused on incredible lyrics. A song is nothing without amazing lyrics. I’m a Beatlemaniac. I love Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Elton John, James Taylor—you get the picture. I’m that pretentious snob who’s like “I was born in the wrong decade” and “they don’t make music like they did in the 60s and 70s.” Hey, at least I’m self-aware, right?
I let Kamie choose the music of course since it was her car and while the other songs that came on the radio were fun and catchy, I wasn’t expecting to hear anything that would blow me away. Well I was blown away by the lyrics to that song. And I was even more blown away by the fact that the girl singing it appeared to be around our age. When the song concluded, the DJ said it was this young new musician Taylor Swift’s first single called “Tim McGraw.”
I never forgot that name. I bought her first album later when it was released that fall. I bought every subsequent album on release day. She made me feel like I should own my naturally curly hair and give my straightener a break. She made me feel like I should stand tall and rock heels with confidence even though I’m 5’9” and tower over everyone else. But most importantly, she made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Her lyrics were like reading my own diary—if I wasn’t ADHD and could actually sit still long enough to write a diary—back to myself. She was navigating the awkwardness that is high school and first loves and heartbreak just as I was, but writing about it and being open and honest and raw and vulnerable as she shared her experiences with the world through her music.
It’s funny how music has this strange and beautiful ability to take you back to exact points in time. I remember recording an embarrassing video that I hope never resurfaces of Kamie and me lip-synching to the 2009 Grammys performance of “Fifteen.” I remember dating for the first time and listening to “Our Song” and “Fearless” on repeat. I remember being heartbroken and listening to “White Horse” and “You’re Not Sorry” on repeat.
Speak Now came out when I was in my freshman year of college. I remember hearing “Mine” for the first time and having to pick my jaw up off of the floor because she sang about my life in a such scarily accurate way. My parents’ divorce happened a few years prior and I had developed deep rooted trust issues as a result of that so dating was hard. Hearing her write such a beautiful and optimistic song about a girl with trust issues due to her father’s wrongdoings made me hopeful for maybe potentially getting past that and finding love in the future (spoiler alert—I did and I’m happily married!). I still get chill bumps every time I listen to that song.
I remember studying abroad in London and dating the most beautiful man to ever walk the earth and repeatedly playing “Sparks Fly” on top MacBook speaker volume in my tiny flat, on my iPod while riding the tube, in the library studying, literally everywhere. I remember getting back to the States and meeting this guy I thought was perfect for me because of our electrifying witty banter and playing “Enchanted” nonstop but then being disappointed when things fell apart so all that “Enchanted” playing turned into “The Story of Us”. I remember dating this blue eyed boy who looked at me like I was from another universe and listening to “State of Grace” and thinking maybe he could be the one. I remember screwing him over and feeling bad about it and going “Back to December” all the time. Most importantly, I remember meeting this freckle-faced introverted but brilliant man at a concert and thinking “Everything Has Changed.” And it has. When my sister didn’t like him at first, I reminded myself that this love was “Ours.”
So many things change as time goes on. People change. You move cities. Friends come and go. But music is always a constant. And Taylor’s music has been there for me every step of the way. Every heartbreak. Every love. Every milestone. Taylor, I cannot thank you enough for your words. They mean so much to me and so many people.
Love, the OG Olivia. My older sister who is also a big Swiftie’s name is Meredith and we’re convinced we’re the inspiration behind your cats’ names, see our REP tour signs.
@taylorswift @taylornation @theswiftchicks