“Yeah, we’re happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time

It’s miserable and magical, oh yeah

Tonight’s the night we forget about the deadlines

It's time, oh-oh

I don’t know about you

But I’m feeling 22.”

- Taylor Swift

Calling any Swifties out there? This one’s for you, from a newly initiated.

(If you’re not interested in pop culture or Taylor Swift, maybe skip this week’s offering!)

🎤 PARIS (Midnights)

On Sunday, I travelled to France to accompany my teenage niece and her friend to a concert - the last night of the Paris leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. I had the most marvellous time and wanted to share some of my experience with you. And how, somehow, I appear to have inadvertently become a newborn Swiftie.

I didn’t know much about the superstar Taylor Swift until last year. I knew a few of her catchiest hits and that everyone always seemed inordinately interested in her boyfriends. I also knew that her fans, the Swifties, are notoriously rabid in their adoration. I’m not the biggest fan of celebrity worship; I didn’t suppose I’d get caught up in the hype that much.

But, Oh La La…

🎸 22 (Red)

…What hype. Once I was chosen as the responsible adult to ferry these young ladies on the night, I was on the steady receiving end of messages about friendship bracelets, set lists, album releases, and outfit choices. I couldn’t help but get carried away by pure youthful excitement.

To prepare for the concert and secure my title as the coolest auntie ever, I signed up for Spotify and started listening to her songs and all the albums with earnest diligence. I’d ever so slowly stopped listening to music over the last decades - in favour of Radio 4 and other sensible listenings—but this re-initiation to popular music has been surprisingly and achingly delicious.

I found her music absorbing, lending itself to repeated playing. The songs drew me in, making me curious about the life and stories behind the lyrics. Whether I was affected by the anticipation of the concert or the music itself, I felt strangely alive to my inner child, bopping all over the place like crazy with my headphones in.

Responsible adult begone, I was lured to prance and dance, sing and scream, just like the teenage girls who stood next to me at the concert and the young girl who lives inside me still.

🎹 MASTERMIND (Midnights)

Continuing to free fall into the Taylorsphere, I learned that she is the award-winner and record-breaker of her generation. Such is her reach that academics debate her influence on socioeconomics, philosophy, literature, psychology, and feminism. Arguably the most famous person in the world right now and one of the most powerful women, she was named TIME magazine’s Person of the Year in 2023.

Despite all her success and fame, her humanness transmits through her music and storytelling. I’ve understood a little better why and how this woman reaches far and wide in geography and sales, capturing millions, one person at a time.

Whichever Taylor you hear, she embodies everything from the siren, the feminist, the lover, the kick-ass businesswoman to the all-American girl next door. She is somehow authentically all of these. Her songs openly and elegantly articulate her life with a poetic flourish, and her brand is cleverly forged. Transcending genre, she’s in a category entirely of her own.

Hey, am I sounding like a proper fan now? Submitting this blog may well help me pass by T-SATS (the fan test to a Swiftie’s legitimacy 😂)

This is the part where I gleefully share my playlist with you, hoping you’ll catch a song you might love.

The list keeps growing: https://spotify.link/fAHqAIGwA

(NB. This share is no mellow yoga flow!)

🎶 TIMELESS (Speak Now)

What does it feel like to be a Swiftie if I might now call myself one?

Listening to her music evokes feelings of being young and old, stupid and wise, chemical and cerebral, and falling madly in love and even more madly out of it. I, too, feel maligned and adored at times, like a sexy baby and a monster on the hill—so alone and like I belong entirely.

Is this what music does? And why artists become idols? Not just for the fawning admiration of glamour and talent but the way that music itself resonates with the part of us that feels understood…

There it is - Timeless connection.

🥁 THE ALCHEMY (The Tortured Poets Department)

Wearing merchandise on the Eurostar is a guaranteed conversation magnet - Taylor continues to connect.

“The show was phenomenal - the woman is a machine singing for over 3 hours straight”, I explained to a curious barrister sitting next to me on the train.

“Your daughters are going to love it,” I said to the man down the carriage, who excitedly told me he was taking them to Wembley in June.

A young girl in the seat behind me peered over and shyly asked me which Taylor friendship bracelets I had. I rolled up my sleeve and gave her one. I was smiling all the way home.

I was ever so slightly hesitant to make this week's blog all about Taylor Swift (!), but these moments of connection inspired me to share my sparkling week of fun, frivolity and memory-making. And music - I wonder why ever stopped listening.

Back to yoga now 🥰

To borrow from a song I’m playing right this very moment (Labyrinth, from Midnights),

“Breathe In, Breathe Deep, Breath Through, Breath Out.”

Let’s practise.

Bonus for fellow Swifties…

❤️ QUESTION? (Midnights)

-For anyone who’s been or knows remotely what I’m talking about, I want to know YOURS!-

Favourite song from the concert: Begin Again/Paris acoustic mash-up (the surprise song)

Favourite outfit of the night: red/black sparkly number for ‘All Too Well’

Favourite performance of the night: Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

Favourite Era of the night: Reputation

Favourite friendship bracelet trade: So Long London