I USED to love Taylor Swift.
Her songs textured my 20s, and I was a “Swiftie” before the term existed – back when only American tweens and country music fans had heard of her.
The Sun’s Kate Wills explains why she thinks that Taylor Swift’s latest album is the cringiest of her careerCredit: Getty
Kate Wills reveals why she’s no longer a SwiftieCredit: FABULOUS
But as the rest of the world has become more and more obsessed with T-Swizzle, I’ve started to question if she’s actually a bit meh.
Take her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department – or TTPD – which sounds like it was written by a pretentious sixth-former.
This is an artist who is supposed to be such a songwriting virtuoso that multiple universities have courses dedicated to studying her work.
Yet the songs on TTPD sound like bad teenage diary entries put to the same synth beat.
READ MORE ON TAYLOR SWIFT
Even a long-time Taylor fan like me couldn’t take her droning on over 31 songs (31?!) with word-vomit lines like: “I scratch your head, you fall asleep/Like a tattooed golden retriever”.
Not exactly lyrical genius.
To me, TTPD is the cringiest album of her career, and yet Taylor has reached such untouchable mega-star status that no one will dare criticise her.
It’s like The Emperor’s New Clothes, except the Emperor is wearing an “I heart TS” T-shirt.
Back in 2010, I spent seven days with a then 20-year-old Taylor, after the magazine I was working for sent me to interview her.
She was icily composed, intelligent and almost spookily mature.
We hung out in her hotel room, at fan meet-and-greet sessions and in rehearsals.
I was even mistakenly mobbed by paps and fans when I left her hotel, as I was wearing a hat and we had similar hair.
Over the week, I was struck by how exacting she was, from what she ate (her assistant was sent to get sushi with very precise instructions), to how much time I was to spend backstage with her (not a lot).
But I guess you don’t get to be worth an estimated £877million without being ruthless – and charging 12 year olds hundreds of pounds to see you live.
My problem with T-Swift is she tries too hard to be relatable.
Her whole image is based on being the girl-next-door, but it doesn’t square up when you’re the biggest pop star on the planet.
Her constant faux humility is nauseating. “How did I get this lucky, having you guys out here doing something this mind-blowing?! Like what even just happened??!?!” she tweeted when her album broke streaming records.
Her cottagecore, folksy image was recently punctured when her private jet was recorded taking a 28-mile, 13-minute flight.
Loads of celebs have private jets, but because Swift likes to pretend she’s a mere mortal like the rest of us, online mockery ensued.
It was seen as damaging, so she had her attorney write a cease-and-desist letter to Jack Sweeney, the college student who tracks celebrity private jets and shares it on social media.
There’s also something strange about the way Taylor continues to dress and act like a teenager, even though she’s 34.
There’s a theory that child stars remain stunted at the age they became famous, and Swift, who signed a record deal at 15, seems perennially stuck, doomed to sing about bad boyfriends and wearing prom dresses forever.
And while her fans worship her as a feminist icon, how has she used her power to improve the lives of anyone but herself?
Maybe I’ve grown up, and Taylor Swift hasn’t grown with me.
And as her huge Eras tour rolls into town, boosting the British economy by a reported £1billion, I can’t help thinking: “I’m the problem, it’s me.”
● Follow Kate on Instagram @katewillswrites.
This week I’m…
Staying at… Mollie’s
These budget-luxe motels from the team behind Soho House are the ideal place for a stop in Bristol or Oxford.
Loving… Skin Laundry
The in-clinic facials are fab, and now there are products to get your skin as glowy at home.
Listening to… Offstage: Inside The X-Factor
Host Chi Chi Izundu goes down TV memory lane with this podcast.
Kate shares how Skin Laundry’s in-clinic facials are fab
Chi Chi Izundu goes down memory lane with this podcast on The X Factor