Dear Taylor,
Look what you just made me do…
To the old Taylor:
I’m sitting in my chair, by the window, looking out at the city, and it’s made me realize you were a masterpiece; perfectly crafted through puberty, intimacy, and discovery. Those youthful, naive Taylor years produced the most moving lyrical compositions my heart has ever heard.
Take a deep breathe in the mirror, they don’t like it when you change yourself, but we do. They always say they don’t get your songs, but we do.
And I’ve been spending the last three years thinking all the critics do is break and burn and end, but with a Thursday and an Insta page, I watched you begin again.
It’s hard to fight when the fight isn’t fair. You can chose to walk away, say you don’t need this, but there’s something in your songs that says we can gonna beat this. Bring on the pretenders, we’re not afraid, because there is nothing you do better than revenge.
Remembering you comes in flashbacks and echoes, and I tell myself it’s time now, gotta let go? Cuz moving on from you is impossible when I still see it all in my head playing Speak Now, Fearless, and Red.
I’ve watched your life in magazines like I used to watch your tours, and I feel you forget us like I used to feel empowered, and I keep up with your Insta just to hope you’ll post again…hope it’s nice where you are..where you’ve been.
And I could go on and on, on and on, lantern burning, but you’re still gone…
To the new Taylor:
It seems you’ll be the one answering all of the phone calls from here on out since the old Taylor is dead.
I know we aren’t gonna just be able to shake it off like before. It will never again be 1989. You will never be able to relive fifteen. That’s why it’s so important to speak now and be fearless.
I cannot begin to imagine the sheer volume of responsibility you have felt over the last two decades as you grew up under the spotlight, nor do I pretend to understand the reasons you have chosen to take a break from fame and just be Taylor…but now it’s time to come back to us.
We need your beautiful voice, your humorous rhetoric, and your genius lyrics. We need your comfort, encouragement, and your struggles.
We want to help fight the critics who cower behind their camera lens or keyboards. The ones who think it’s fair to judge you based solely on what their narrow, uneducated views allow them to see.
Your life is made up of more than just what you publicly share and there are many facets to Taylor Swift most of the world will never have the privilege to see.
Like any great artist, you keep us guessing; like any real artist, you’re ever changing; like any true artist, you drive us crazy, but you know we wouldn’t change anything.
This is a worthwhile fight, but we have to play it good and right.
You are Taylor – motherf#$king – Swift. You never go out of style.
You make the rain spell out words per request. You emote with the back of your head. You use words to transform arenas into entire universes that bring together millions of people in different cities across the world. That’s the Taylor I need. The Taylor the world needs.
To the real Taylor:
Our paths first crossed on May 11th, 2007 when you invited me and my two best friends on to your tour bus after a show in Kansas City.
That night changed my life, and you have continued changing the way I look at life ever since. I never saw you coming and I’ll never be the same. I’ve been lovin’ you for quite some time and I think it’s best if you just stay.
You are the reason I believe good guys can win. You are the reason I can breathe in a world often consumed in flames.
Your strength through unwarranted criticism for the last three years has been incredible. But now we must stand, get off our knees, and fight for what you’ve worked for all these years. We may just be a band of thieves – or robbers – in ripped-up jeans but we can rule the world.
I want to believe there will be another era of Taylor Swift that narrates my life after college – just as each of your previous five albums did throughout my childhood – but if there isn’t…I’ll never forget you as long as I live.
Your lyrics have healed my heart the way countless hours of therapy have been unable to. The intricate details and secret messages hidden in your videos enthrall me more than any Sherlock Holmes novel ever could. Your ability to transform stages in to brilliant palettes of live art and creative expression is miraculous and surreal. You are an under-appreciated genius and one of the savviest, most influential business woman this millennium will ever know.
The world is known to underestimate, but there’s a fire inside of you that can’t help but shine through. You are inimitable…unlike any artist we will ever see again or have ever seen before. The haters are always gonna hate because all they are is mean, and nothing safe is worth the drive but we will follow you, as long as you promise to never forget the essence of your sparkle.*
Forever & Always,
Amanda J. Sharp
*- If you don’t understand…it’s intentional.
A. Sharp Story 