FACULTAD DE EDUCACIÓN Y CIENCIAS HUMANAS

Swiftie Starter Pack: How to become a Swiftie

Hey there! Welcome to the Swiftie World. If you’re feeling like joining this magical
fandom, this tutorial is for you.

Taylor Swift is one of the most recognized and successful singers and songwriters
worldwide. Her name occupies the headlines of plenty of newspapers around the
world, and social media is full of news about her and the number of records she
keeps breaking after 17 years of musical career. That’s why I’m not surprised that
millions of people listen to her music everywhere and love what she does
motivating them to join her fandom called “Swifties”. But becoming a Swiftie
doesn’t happen right away. So, you’re lucky I’m going to help you during this
journey. Let’s start!

This is what you need:

- Internet connection.
- Respect, tolerance, and interest.
- And of course, a good pair of headphones.

Now that you know what you need, follow these steps.

Step 1: Rock out to Taylor’s hits.

Taylor has a lot of smash hits, and I’m pretty sure you’ve heard some of them. So,
to start choose one from the genre you prefer the most. Taylor has explored in
different ones, so it’s very probable that you’ll find one you’ll love. Furthermore, you
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should make a marathon with music videos in order to go deeper into Taylor’s
art.

Some of her smash hits are the following:

 You belong with me: country  Blank Space: pop

pop  Cardigan: alternative
 Enchanted: country pop  Shake it off: pop
 Love story: country pop  Look what you made me do:
 Cruel summer: pop dance pop

Step 2: Explore the Taylor Swift storybook.

Taylor Swift’s career has been marked by her personal experiences. Since she
was a little girl, she wrote different songs about situations she had lived. That
tradition is still alive. So, for this step, you should first read about what she’s been
through and what has inspired her to create her albums.

Here you have some important aspects you might want to search for:

- Her debut in the music industry: It’s widely known that Taylor started her
career singing country music. But I think you might want to know about her
childhood and why did she wanted to be a country singer.

Interesting fact: Her parents decided to named her after James Taylor (a
country/pop singer).
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- Her polemic relationships: Taylor was severely criticized for her

relationships and the songs she wrote about them. But it is admirable how
she overcame the criticism and demonstrated that her art is more than
writing about men.

She released these songs and left them speechless - the man, you need to
calm down, soon you’ll get better, innocent, ME! and you’re on your own, kid
- are some songs Taylor wrote taking from inspiration the illness her mom
suffered, empowering movements, and the difficulty of facing life alone.

- Taylor’s transition to pop music: In 2014, Taylor shocked the world with the
releasing of her first pop album “1989”. It’s no surprise that it was a high
success and increased her recognition worldwide. However, it wasn’t at all
the happiest era for Taylor.

To keep digging in this, I suggest you to watch her documental “Miss

Americana” in Netflix.

- Her disappearance from the public eye in 2016: This year was hard for
Taylor. She was involved in a polemic narrative with Kanye West and Kim
Kardashian, who started a massive wave of hate against Taylor, and caused
that she started to be canceled on twitter. But Taylor knew how to face this
moment and returned with an iconic come back. “Look what you made me
do” was a surprise release and now is called as “the revenge song”.
- The polemic battle to recover the ownership of her first albums: Taylor lost
the ownership of her first six albums due to the owner of her initial
discography label. She made the decision to re-record them in order to
recover her music. Those re-recordings are known as “Taylor’s Version”.

Until now, she has re-recorded: Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989.

Step 3: Choose your album!

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When you’re familiar with Taylor’s journey in the music industry, the challenges
she has overcome, and the inspiration behind her albums, choose the album that
interests you the most. Then you can give the rest of the albums an opportunity.
My suggestion is that you take the time to understand the lyrics from each song,
each one is a story that will captivate you.

Just to remind you, this is the order of the albums:

 Taylor Swift (2006) – country

 Fearless (2008) / Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (2021) – country pop
 Speak Now (2010) / Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (2023) – country pop
 Red (2012) / Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021) – country, pop
 1989 (2014) / 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (2023) – pop
 Reputation (2017) – R&B, electropop
 Lover (2019) – pop
 Folklore (2020) – indie folk, alternative rock
 Evermore (2020) – alternative rock, indie rock
 Midnights (2022) – electropop

Step 4: Swiftify your world!

First, go and follow Taylor on social media so you don’t miss any updates. Taylor
has a habit of surprising fans with unexpected news and releases. Next, join online
groups and follow Swiftie accounts. These communities are great for making
Swiftie friends, creating theories along with Swifties and tracking Taylor’s
movements. Besides, you’ll learn a lot about Taylor and her music and you’ll get
involved in the Swiftie aura. Finally, is important to respect everyone (including
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Taylor) and never judge someone because of their preferences. Focus on

enjoying her music, her impact, and her achievements.

To conclude here are some tips and interesting facts that will help you during this
journey:

 Taylor Swift has broken 58 World Record Guinness.

 Her favorite number is 13, and she finds significance in everything related to
it
 She wrote every song on “Speak Now” by herself.
 Taylor has a song for EVERY situation in life, explore her catalog to find
them.
 Make sure you always listen to the Taylor’s Version.
 When you find “TV” after a song/album it means that is the Taylor’s Version
 The albums she hasn’t re-recorded are called Stolen Versions
 Swifties are always creating theories about albums or songs.
 Taylor is a cat lover, and she has 3: Olivia, Benjamin, and Meredith.

Becoming a Swiftie is not something that happens right away. It requires patience
and love while immersing yourself in this journey. I became a Swiftie not too long
ago, but I’ve been marked by this special singer and her music, which have
brought me so much joy. Now, I share with you this guide so you get to know how
wonderful is this Swiftie World. Learning the lyrics by heart, dancing to her songs,
and sharing with fellow Swifties is the start of a delightful adventure where Taylor’s
songs can be the soundtrack of your life
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Swiftie Starter Pack: How to become a Swiftie.

Written by:
Maily Cordero Delgado.

Subject:
Grammar II.

Professor:
Andrés Felipe Arango Arteaga.

Foreign Languages with Emphasis on English.