MPAA Rating, PG-13
USCCB Rating: Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating: 2.5 out of 5 reels
I consider never having attended a music concert to be one of my finer accomplishments. The art form combines high prices, crowded spaces, inaccessible bathrooms, rowdy strangers, and many other of my least favorite attributes of the human condition in one hellish experience. But even I had to take notice of Taylor Swift’s juggernaut film The Eras Tour, which became the highest grossing concert movie of all time in only a few days and inspired a bizarre article comparing the singer to Jesus from The Gospel Coalition.
My knowledge of this particular celebrity was admittedly limited to just a few of her biggest hits and reputation for having a rotating door of high-profile relationships. But I tried to enter with an open mind and heart, if only for a woman—not Swift, but the woman I married, who dragged me to see the production.
Upon entering the local theater, patrons were greeted with a sign encouraging us to “sing and dance” along with the show, but fortunately it was more like a grown-up sing-along rather than a Rocky Horror production. The plot was non-linear, a nearly three-hour journey through seventeen years and ten studio albums, crisscrossing years and genres. The craftsmanship was spectacular. Every era had its own tone and color schemes, with elaborate props, dancing, and costumes. The cameras moved effortlessly and seamlessly, never missing a moment.
Best of all was Swift herself – an incredibly talented singer, songwriter, and performer having the time of her life. She was always smiling, pointing people out, giving small crowd banter, and just having fun. Even Oscar the Grouch would have trouble staying stoic.
Unsurprisingly, Fearless was the best section. There’s “You Belong With Me,” about looking past appearances and pining for someone you know is meant for you. “Our Song,” her first big hit, is a celebration of love found in the small things. Lastly, there’s her masterpiece “Love Story,” which is not only a clever take on the Shakespeare classic but a surprisingly profound allegory of salvation history.
This was Taylor I knew from my youth: perky, doe-eyed, and hopeful. It’s also the only album that mentions God and prayer, when her faith was apparently still rooted in her Southern Christian upbringing. Not coincidentally, these were also the songs that got the audience out of their seats, singing and cheering.
After that, everything blends together. Some songs are fun (“Shake It Off”), others are catchy (“I Knew You Were Trouble”), but none are compelling.
Her song “22” explains:
Yeah, we’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time
It’s miserable and magical, oh yeah
Tonight’s the night when we forget about the deadlines
It’s time, oh-ohI don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22
Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you
You don’t know about me, but I’ll bet you want to
Everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we’re 22.
Every post-Fearless song typifies this same pattern of an endless cycle of hot men, girl power, partying, and self-indulgence. The worst is Folklore, where Swift sings six insufferably boring songs in a fake woodland cabin. She explains the album, written during the height of the 2020 lockdowns, allowed her to create fantastical characters and situations. Given these infinite possibilities, she still writes a song about a cheating high school boyfriend.
By this point, God is absent, at least in any meaningful sense. In her 2020 documentary Miss Americana, Swift mentions she is still a Christian, but immediately points to a conservative politician as “not the Christianity I know.” There is far more evidence of her allegiance to liberal causes than any mention of faith.
She ends the concert with a track from her most recent album Midnight:
Ask me what I learned from all those years
Ask me what I earned from all those tears
Ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here
(I’m still, I’m still here)‘Cause karma is my boyfriend
Karma is a god
Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
Karma’s a relaxing thought
Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?
She is, it appears, stuck in an endless cycle of give and take, love and heartbreak. Sometimes it’s up, and sometimes it’s down, but the world never stops turning. It’s not the explicit paganism of Beyonce or the Satanism of Lil Nas X, but she’s heading in that general direction.
Yet there are still touches of the 00’s Swift: her energy, her smile, her genuine gratitude to her fans. These are not fruits of karma but an authentic spirit. She is still young, and her story is not finished. Her fans, of which I now number, should pray (literally) that, in the end, she turn out more Joseph Ratzinger and less Hans Kung.
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Ive never heard Taylor Swift singing or watched her perform but I saw her birthdate once and realized she’s the same age as my son who’s married with a family.
I remember my mother telling me that in her last year of high school several of the girls in her class were engaged to be married. Granted, it was a tiny rural community but still if Miss Swift was living in my parents generation she’d be nearing an age where she could be looking forward to grandchildren.
Life is short and those opportunities can easily pass you by. I think there are a great many people who got stuck at 22 or younger and one day will wake up well into middle age.
I keep waiting for the adults to show up. What we have is a culture of perpetual juveniles.
It sure seems that way Deacon Edward. At least in the developed world. Virtual adolescence continues on into the 30s.
false gods some of these? (asking)
Her outspoken support for killing babies has rendered her unlistenable to me. The same goes for U2, whom I used to appreciate. It’s interesting how U2 vanished from relevance as soon as they publicly endorsed Ireland’s legalization of abortion. Anyway, separating art from artist is more difficult now that so many artists feel compelled to virtue signal and shout their political and (a)moral convictions.
I am a musician, although you won’t see me on a stage with thousands of screaming fans–I just play in church, schools, and community organizations!
Although Taylor Swift is not a spokesperson for pro-life issues or other “Christian” causes), I think she is a lot more “wholesome” than many of the other current pop/rock/country musicians who often appear on stage half-nekkid, rapping about their sexual exploits, and spouting four-letter words and anti-police slogans, or in the country genre, drinking and raising a ruckus!
I admire the way Taylor sits with her latest boyfriend’s (Travis Kelce) MOM at football games! That’s sweet, IMO! And I also admire her large cash gifts to her stage crew–$150K apiece!! That’s not just a token–that could pay for a child’s college education! And the fact that she even recognizes the value and worth of her stage crew and truck drivers is sweet!–that’s small town thinking, and I like it!
I’m not a fan of her genre of music (pop/rock), and that would include Christian pop/rock/praise and worship!–I just don’t like it, but lots of people do, including many Catholics and other Christians, and it’s not my place to judge their tastes. (I happen to enjoy bluegrass music, which many people turn up their noses at and label as “hillbilly!” I also love Bach, which drove my late husband NUTS!!!!).
But I have to admit–and maybe it’s just a “woman thing”–even at age 66, I still am “feeling 22”-except when I stand up after sitting for a long time-ouch!! I love the idea of this song!
Hopefully Taylor Swift will stay on a “good path”, remain “clean” and not get messed up with alcohol/drugs, age gracefully, and continue to grow in her musical endeavors. She’s talented enough to sing almost any style-maybe we’ll see her doing a classical program in the future! And keep in mind that many of the old-time singers had pretty rocky lives, but today, we still play and love their music.
Too funny.
How is it possible to ruin a tremendous article with such an ending? “…should pray (literally) that, in the end, she turn out more Joseph Ratzinger and less Hans Kung.” That was so bizarre and incongruent. It’s like listening to a symphony and on the final bar we hear a four string banjo strum that is out of tune. Huh?
Does she ever give God the glory for her talent and success?
I have certainly heard of this young lady but I had never heard any of her songs so I went to her website and I chose a song at random and I listened to about 30 seconds of it and that was enough so I turned it off.
I can’t remember what the song was.
I’m like my parents. They did not like my generation’s songs, and now I could not care less about this eras music. When tuning into Radio stations try to find a olde station, with songs from 60’s, 70’s or early 80’s. Very seldom hear it by like to listen to Bye-Bye American Pie, by Mclean. Also like Beatles songs.
Who ever she is, hope she keeps her ego in check.