A Gleneagle Digital Portfolio

Comments

  1. Ms. Lee December 2, 2021 - 2:12 am

    Taylor, your name and music has made a mark on the world for sure, but I’m interested in hearing about your relationship with the media and paparazzi. In particular, the double standards that female celebrities face, especially since you have personally gotten quite a bit of scrutiny over your dating life and writing about it in your songs!

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 3:15 am

      This was a very thoughtful comment about something I care about, thank you. I find that over the years my relationship with the media has changed. For most of my career I have scruntinized myself along with them, being single for many years and trying to hide my relationships from the public. The criticism even began to reflect on myself. I became overly careful with my words and developed a host of mental health issues, but eventually I have learned to work through these issues. My album “reputation” deals with a lot of these topics as well, from feeling like love in the spotlight is “dancing with my hands tied” to leaning into depictions of me as a “snake” to satirize them. I also called out these expectations in Blank Space. Writing about my breakups in my songs is therapeutic, and writing about the scrutiny I get from these breakups is also therapeutic.

  2. kwasstrom December 2, 2021 - 2:39 am

    Hey Taylor! Huge fan here! Great work on your personal website and all of the information inside of it. Very cool to see you discuss your eminence from your own point-of-view. Your timeline also showed just how busy you have been over the last decade and a half.
    You live a very public life and I am interested to know how you feel that that has connected you to your fans over the years. You spoke about how you really point to your fans when it comes to your eminence and how that community has meant so much to you. How has growing up and learning about love and life in the public eye perhaps helped you to better connect with your fanbase (predominantly young women)?

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 6:52 am

      Thank you so much for your comment, I really appreciate hearing from a fan! I definitely believe I have been able to connect with my fans through my experiences. Using both my lyrics and social media extensively, I’ve tried my best to show young women and other fans that they are not alone. Being someone that people can cry with and laugh with no matter the distance and no matter what’s going on in their lives is truly a gift. Performing songs like Dear John at my concerts, I see tons of girls who have had the same unfortunate experiences with love and life and I try my best to reach out to them and cheer them up when I can.

  3. Claire December 2, 2021 - 2:54 am

    Hello Taylor,
    Your music has truly made a mark on the world and I really like the thought and meaning behind the lyrics you write. I liked how your learning center was organized and set the mood well.
    One thing I would like to ask is how do you think you helped inspire other artists to step up?

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 3:44 am

      Thank you so much for your comment, I really appreciate hearing from a fan! I definitely believe I have been able to connect with my fans through my experiences. Using both my lyrics and social media extensively, I’ve tried my best to show young women and other fans that they are not alone. Being someone that people can cry with and laugh with no matter the distance and no matter what’s going on in their lives is truly a gift. Performing songs like Dear John at my concerts, I see tons of girls who have had the same unfortunate experiences with love and life and I try my best to reach out to them and cheer them up when I can.

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 3:55 am

      Thank you! I am so glad that you appreciate my lyrics and my work. I am honored every time that an artist cites me as an inspiration, and I have inspired many young women to pursue music and write about their experiences. Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish to name a few. In my Billboard Woman of the Year speech in 2014, I said something along the lines of “Somewhere out there, there is a young girl taking piano lessons, in a girl’s choir, and we need to take care of her” in regards to standing up to sexism in the industry. Years later, Billie Eilish won this same award and said something like “I was that girl, and you took care of me, thank you.” I hope I inspire many more bold, young artists in years to come.

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 6:52 am

      Hey I am so sorry, I accidentally replied to your comment twice with a reply to another comment! My bad!

  4. Ellie December 2, 2021 - 3:15 am

    Taylor Swift, that’s what I call an aesthetic learning center! Including a museum and a website! Both are so organized and you went into so much detail. What was your experience writing a new album with so much support? You’re laying out an amazing legacy!

    “No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.” – Taylor Swift

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 6:55 am

      Thank you so much, this comment means so much! Thank you for quoting me especially, that’s very flattering. I still do believe being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind. Writing and recording albums with so much support and knowing that people are excited for them is such an uplifting experience. There can be a lot of pressure at times, but doing what I love and knowing the people around me and the people who listen to my music will give me a chance is truly a dream come true. I hope my legacy remains as one of kindness, goodness and care for the world and all the people in it.

  5. Benjamin December 2, 2021 - 4:49 am

    I really liked the many different ways you presented information about yourself within your chosen medium of a website, whether it be through a virtual museum, slideshow, or timeline. I also liked the thoughts you had on how your true eminence lies in the community you created with your work. What is your next big goal in your work? What do you aspire to explore or do next?

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 7:04 am

      Thank you so much! I truly did put a lot of effort into making this a multimedia experience like my albums. As for what’s next, I’d like to go with the flow; I am always trying to adapt and change and I hope that every album is different from the last. When I’m done and through re-recording all my old works, I would like to keep going in a direction that is authentic to myself and perhaps return to writing personal stories after the mostly creative and imaginative work of Folklore and Evermore, but who knows, maybe that’s my thing now! I never know what I’ll write next.

  6. Matthew December 2, 2021 - 4:56 am

    Hi Taylor,
    It was great reading about your journey and being able to see your wonderful accomplishments. Your learning centre was set up in incredible fashion, and the aesthetics were amazing. It was inspiring to see how down-to-earth you are and just how much you value your fans.
    Is there a song or album that you really like or has a strong connection to you as a person? If you had to choose just one song or album, what would it be?

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 7:16 am

      Thank you so much. I am so happy that you enjoyed my learning centre! I’m also glad I was able to articulate how much I love the fans, it is truly an honor. And wow, what an impossible question… uh… how could I only ever live with one song? I’d almost rather live with no music at all! Actually, to perform Hot In Herre by Nelly with Nelly himself and my friends in the group HAIM definitely solidified some great memories with my favourite song. Maybe that would work. My tastes will always change, and the emotional connections I feel to songs will ebb and flow, so choosing would be a nightmare for me, but I hope that was a sufficient answer.

  7. Henry December 2, 2021 - 4:59 am

    Hi Taylor, your learning center was super fun to explore, great job. It looks like you’re an artist both in music and design! A question I have is what do you believe is the most unique about your music？ What separates you from other songwriters?

    • Bana December 2, 2021 - 7:00 am

      Thank you so much! Art really is interconnected, haha. As for what sets me apart, well I believe that my music provides a level of relatability, weakness and detail that isn’t necessarily expected from pop music these days. Not only do I talk about love in all it’s forms, I try to use my specific feelings, lessons, emotions and experiences to make it feel like you were there and it’s your story. Somehow, talking about my life in detail and elaborate metaphor instead of talking about general feelings and sentiments makes my songs more relatable. But I wouldn’t consider what I do too special… I got it all from my influences after all. I’m just doing what I love to do and hoping others stick around for the ride!

  8. qmtk December 2, 2021 - 7:13 pm

    Taylor, thanks for sharing aspects of your life with us. It sounds like you chose a career that has been meaningful for you. What other career choices did you ever consider and why?

    • Bana December 3, 2021 - 2:26 am

      You’re welcome! I have chosen a career that means a lot to me, but I think if I wasn’t a singer-songwriter, I would be an English teacher or a marketing director. My love for words would make the first choice obvious because I want to pass them down to the next generation, and I have often likened writing a good hook to marketing a product. Either career would play on my skills well, but I’m so happy to be where I am.

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