Taylor Swift is the guilty pleasure we all need

You either love her or you hate her.

Either way, none of us can avoid her.

I claim that Taylor Swift is my guilty pleasure, but that’s not entirely true. I don’t feel guilty about it. That’s right, I said it. In a world where hating the whitest, blondest, most privileged star on the planet is the norm, I put my hands up in the air and let the haters hate, because I love Taylor Swift.

The love story (geddit?) began in 2007, a monstrous year for all of us as we transitioned from primary to high school. The gentle twanging of guitars and tale of a typical Tennessee summer love graced my ears for the first time and I was saved from the hell of puberty by Our Song from Taylor’s first album, Taylor Swift.

After the commercial success of Love Story, the emotional turmoil of Fifteen (we were all so stupid back then), and the tidal wave of success from her second album Fearless, I was ready for something more. More than the boy next door who chose the popular girl.  More than a 27 second break-up call from Joe Jonas. I wanted heartbreak. I wanted John Mayer. I wanted feels.

And boy did I get dem feels. In 2010, Taylor hit us with one of the most emotionally mature albums she has ever created, Speak Now. Every song was penned alone, and we should keep in mind that she was only 20 at the time.

Dear John completely floored me, and made me want to smack John Mayer in the face (he’s a genius on the beats but a freak in the sheets). Her third single Mean not only gave a big “go fuck yourself” to her critics, but it went on to win her two Grammys. And if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a breakup then you’ll know that Last Kiss did not fix the heartache, but forced you to relive every excruciatingly painful memory of the relationship. Again and again and again.

Despite her international fame ‘n’ acclaim, 2012 is when shit hit the fan. Everyone decided to abandon the idea that Taylor could have as many romantic experiences as she wanted (she was only 22 FFS) and she was expected to commit to one boyfriend or stay single. And God forbid she express the feelings felt in those relationships through any medium, especially not song. Upon the release of her most vulnerable album Red, critics created a platform to discredit her relationships and attempted to paint her as a man-eater.

As we played the classic game of “who is this Taylor Swift song about,” names such as Joe Jonas, John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Launter, Harry Styles and Conor Kennedy came up. Whether any of these were true or not is besides the point. The first time I listened to the highlight of the album, All Too Well, I was forced to stop halfway through to express to my mother the pure emotional distress and excitement I was feeling. Safe to say she didn’t give much of a shit. But you cannot deny the raw feeling of ‘you call me up again just to break me like a promise // so casually cruel in the name of being honest’. You just can’t. You can only cry.

‘Time won’t fly, it’s like I’m paralysed by it // I’d like to be my old self again but I’m still trying to find it’ PLEASE TAY STOP

And we can’t forget the absolute toe tappers that came from that album such as We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, I Knew You Were Trouble and 22. Despite the media’s vicious attacks, Red was an international success.

However in 2014, Taylor Swift took over the world. With the release of her first clear cut pop album 1989, her declaration of a new found feminist outlook and a fit Scottish BF, the world was putty in her hands. Day by day, new members of the girl squad emerge and absolute bangers are being released left right and centre (get Out of the Woods in clubs NOW please).

Taylor Swift is a force to be reckoned with. She is my best friend who I’ve never met. We’ve grown up together, and learnt that other girls are not our enemies (unless the blood gets bad) and our lives are going to amount to something greater than the boys we loved when we were fifteen. She’s fixed my broken heart and dried my tears without even being on the same continent as me. I’ve stood by her side criticism after criticism because I know she is so much more than a headline or a publicised break-up.

I love Taylor Swift. I’m definitely not guilty about it.