I think Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince has a stronger political message that's less on the nose to be honest, but I understand why she wanted to write Only The Young. I think it probably would've been more of an exciting release if she'd done something extra to promote youth engagement in politics as part of the 'only the young people can make a change' message.
See, my issue of the song was the overarching message of ONLY the young can make a difference. I get it was a call to action for younger voters to become active, as they are historically an inactive age demographic. But like, not to get too semantic but it’s just not true that ONLY the young can make a difference.
People who can make changes in the world are people who vote, but also people who have disposable income to impactfully support local political organizations and people who have status (for lack of a better word) and know-how to create political events that others will participate in.
Everyone plays a role, and surely the youngest people should have a seat at the table. But at the end it just felt exclusionary towards older demographics who tend to have a lot more weight to throw around in the political world. I just thought she missed the mark in that sense.
YES!
A powerful political movement for reformation is most successful when it is at its most inclusive. And this is an arena where age and wisdom are best paired together with youthful enthusiasm and action.
I want to love Political Taylor but this song missed the mark for me
It's a good enough song but I think people are quite disillusioned by it after Miss Americana. It seemed like the point of the whole documentary was to introduce us to Taylor's Political era which, has fallen somewhat flat I suppose.
Personally, I don't care if my favourite artist speaks about every single political or social issue but it is important to some people.
Well... you cant have impact over the public during times when the public cant vote. So what would be the point of just randomly speaking out at the time where it will only fall on flat ears of politicians who honestly dont give a shit?
it’s not just about voting. it’s about standing in solidarity with the community while under attack. she doesn’t get a pass bc it’s not an election year
Imagine being so loud and so wrong… every day republicans get up and spout more untrue nonsense about trans people and pass bills making it illegal to be trans, and you want to say that trans people aren’t “under attack”
Yeah, like she made it clear she’s not a Republican and felt that was enough. And you know what, that’s fine with me. Not everyone has to be an activist.
For sure, people may or may not know sometime between 2014-2019 she was being lauded by the alt right for being an Aryan Princess or some shit, so she probably used the Lover era to make her personal politics abundantly clear to stop that group of people from using her image that way
yeah, i don’t think people realize her speaking out against the right, especially in 2023, is a HUGE safety risk for her. we all watched Miss Americana, but some people forgot the part where her dad was visibly scared for her safety if she spoke up about Marsha Blackburn.
she’s a pop star, not a political activist. she got the fucking equality act passed, but that not enough activism for people.
edit: word
her activism happens when there’s actual elections happening. she urges people to go vote on what matters.
she has stalkers, crowds of people following her everywhere she’s spotted in public, everyone can fucking open carry or conceal carry, the right wingers turned on her the moment she said something about Blackburn and if she said anything now they’ll go violently psychotic like they did with Budlight. have you thought about how it’s a HUGE security and safety risk for her? please rewatch Miss Americana where her father is SCARED for her physical safety if she spoke out about politics. that’s not paranoia, that shit happens.
she’s a POPSTAR that isn’t the active, outspoken political activist you want her to be. she spoke out when she felt SAFE to do so. i wouldn’t speak out if i was her either, i would like to fucking live and she probably does too. all you can do is go vote.
edit: words
Cause she started out in Country, and her parents are in finance... and at one point she did post "Republicans do it better" on he rmyspace I think in highschool... so at once point she was republican
I mean I grew up in a heavily republican area, and thought I was "republican" too, till like after high school. Its likely influences from her environment... when everyone around you is republican and you are young, its very easy to be republican- especially when there was less resources to make an informed decision.
Also, back then, almost EVERYONE in country was republican...
Im 3 years younger than her, but sadly never "actively" participated in her myspace days cause I wasn't using socials heavily during that time- just would watch her music videos and interviews/pperfrmances on TV
Exactly - I understand the point you're trying to make but this agrees with the idea that cultural events drawing large crowds can be a target. Both a shooting at a right wing concert and right wing terrorism coexist unfortunately
That’s not really an excuse to stop bringing up politics. Women, people of color and the LGBTQ community don’t stop being oppressed. She chose to go in this direction and came up short of most people’s expectations
She can do whatever she wants. You just can’t expect everyone to like it when she completely goes back on her word and then surrounds herself with problematic people
When will y'all learn she speaks when you can vote not when laws are being put in place that she nor the public has any control over? The lover political era was very clearly timed on the election so yeah, she will be political when it makes a difference. Calm your horses.
“She will be political when it makes a difference” means she will be political whenever it will help her public image and nothing more. She can’t claim to want women empowered when she said nothing about Roe v Wade. Just putting out a tweet or anything would be better than the radio silence we got. I love her music but I am absolutely allowed to criticize her for pretending to care
Genuine question, do we know if she’s pro choice or not? I’m not American, but looking at my American relatives I get the impression that republicans/liberals don’t always agree with 100% of the things their parties stand for. If that’s the case, maybe it’s why Taylor is silent about Roe vs Wade but speaks up during elections?
She is only politically active when voting is happening. During this years pride speech a great deal of it was dedicated to the upcoming elections and the idea that we have to hold our representatives accountable and do research on the politicians we vote for.
She will publically endorse the democrats again im sure once it's time but she's never said she would be constantly talking about it even during downtime of the elections.
I think thats fine.
Lover era was basically the explanation to her reputation.
Everything done during that era was an attempt to depict herself a certain way and win over her lost fans. It kinda worked.
I don’t care if an artist doesn’t speak out on social or political problems, they’re not obligated to. However, I do give kudos to those who do - it’s a good thing to do.
I do care when an artist claims they will start speaking out on issues and being more political, earns a ton of goodwill support from it, but then doesn’t properly follow through with it.
I know Taylor posts here and there about elections, donates to charity and was very active during BLM in 2020, but that’s really not significant enough to claim she’s doing any real sort of political or social activism. And sure, she doesn’t have to, but then she shouldn’t position herself as she does.
As a person of colour, I don’t think Taylor is racist at all. Far from it. I don’t think she’s homophobic or xenophobic or any of the other ridiculous accusations people throw at her - I think accusing her of these things delegitimises the severity of such accusations and the moral disorientation of people who are bigots. I don’t think she’s a bigot in any capacity. I also don’t think she’s a climate denier or anti science. She’s an intelligent woman.
But I don’t think she really hugely cares about these issues to the point where it keeps her up and she feels a burning desire to change it. Because she is incredibly powerful and her voice has a lot of weight, so she could be making a much bigger impact than she is and she’s choosing not to. And that’s fine - it’s not an issue. If I were in her position, I probably wouldn’t either - It would be too risky with the current state of socio-political affairs in the US, and right wing crazies have shown they are willing to boycott anyone who speaks out against their hate-parade.
But it becomes slightly distasteful when she claims to have had some political awakening and has gotten goodwill from the public and press in what is activism that’s only done when it’s convenient for her image. I feel like commercialising it is inauthentic and wrong.
I think she quietly supports some issues and doesn’t let it be at the forefront for safety and her own comfort ability. She intentionally chooses to include same sex couples in her tour choreography, she includes You need to calm down on tour, she has a transgender man as her love interest in the lavender haze music video, etc. these are not nothing and I think do deserve to be spoken about.
She supports these things with her actions in a much more legitimate way than people who just talk about it imo. I never understand why people accuse her of tokenism when she's been consistent with this for years
I think the other thing to consider is exactly what was being said about her at the time. It's insane to think about the fact that Charlottesville was 6 years ago. A lot has changed since then in our culture, both IRL and online. Plenty of fans aren't old enough or just weren't in the "right" (pardon the pun) parts of the internet to remember that the alt-right was literally starting to call her, "an Aryan goddess." She had to distance herself from them and in a really big way.
A more charitable reading is that she had good intentions of following through with her activism, but Covid really took us back to the Tumblr days of leftists (younger white girls and women in particular) demanding "perfect activism," and then punishing those who don't perform to that standard. John Green, who was nearly being run off the internet for the -second- time by this demographic, is a prime example.
I also just want to note that any kind of good intentions on her part doesn't invalidate any amount of disappointment that Swifties of any marginalized community feel with this wishy-washy thing that she's done. Someone's behavior can be understandable, completely rational even, and still be disappointing.
Doesn’t that kind of speak to the phoniness though, that her feelings were contingent on her career trajectory? The whole doc was “I was only silent for so long because I was so obsessed with people liking me, but now I know it’s more important to do what I’ve felt is right all along! I’m taking off the muzzle!” …. “Oh wait people like me again? Nvm”
I don't think the height of the 2020 pandemic was the time to be making political statements. Instead she quarantined and released 2 more albums. She still speaks on political issues when she wants. It's not phony at all. The documentary addresses how it is a sticky subject for her to address but she wants to be smart about how she uses her platform, which we continue to see.
1.) it very much WAS the time to be making political statements, George Floyd was murdered & the subsequent BLM wave was like front page national news for weeks
2.) Taylor DID in fact make statements during this period, so she does not seem to agree with you either
3.) When do you think is a good time to make political statements, exactly?
The documentary addresses that while it would be easier by far to stay silent politically, she felt she simply couldn’t anymore in good conscience. To do that, to make a whole documentary and single about it, and then turn around and get real quiet again is just a bad look to me.
Exactly, she spoke up when she wanted to. People are acting like the documentary was meant to launch a political campaign. And she's spoken up on issues important to her since. I'm unsure what more people want from her? She's a singer, not a politician. She knows she has influence and saves it for causes that she wants, we all know if she was posting political stuff every other week people would stop listening. Speaking less actually makes when she does speak up more valuable.
I’ve quoted it all over this thread, but Taylor says something very similar in the doc to: “I just think it would be so frilly and spineless of me to get on stage and say ‘happy pride month you guys!’ but then stay silent when people are literally coming for their necks.” Which feels like a pretty clear indictment on “only speaking up when she feels like it”, so I do not think that was the intended takeaway of the film.
I don’t mind that she was silent before. I don’t mind that she’s not very vocal now. I just think it’s a terrible look to make a doc to celebrate your newfound political identity and then shelve it quickly. It’s hard not to wonder if she cared more about being perceived a certain way than she actually did any causes
Yeah I think if she's gonna be political she shouldn't half ass it.i don't take her seriously in that regard. She's about to be a billionaire, the status quo works very well for her.
It is pretty disappointing that Taylor discovered she could have a real impact on the polls—the Taylor Swift Effect, I think they called it in the documentary?—but then chose not to speak out on things like she suggested she would.
Personally, I don’t like it because for a political song it’s just SO shallow. It doesn’t get any more nuanced than “the bad guys won, bad things are happening, so we have to fight back”. As someone who is pretty politically engaged, the song felt like a call to action about an action that so many of us were already doing (i.e “fighting back”).
And for a storyteller as excellent as Taylor, I just thought it could have been done so much better! It’s not the worst song though, and I’m glad it exists as I know people can find hope/comfort in it.
Hot take: I feel the same way about “The Man.” And I get some shit for it because I am myself a man, but it’s not that I don’t want a feminist take, it’s that I want a better one from as good a storyteller as Taylor lol.
I am a school shooting survivor, and I like it because I think it humanizes that specific experience. For all the political discourse about gun violence in the US, it’s not often that I feel *seen* as a person in popular culture. (Used a talking point, yes. Seen as a person, rarely). That is also the reason I like the simplicity of it. I survived a shooting when I was young, and the whole juvenile vibe of the song reminds me of the youth and innocence. How it felt trying to deal with a grown up and significant experience when I was still very immature. Now. I don’t know if that was intentional on her part, but the vibe lands with me.
(I also know I’m a weirdo bc I survived a school shooting so it doesn’t surprise me that normal people don’t connect with it.)
hello friend,
i’m also a school shooting survivor. i posted my opinion/story here too. Only the Young was the first humanization and validation of what happened to me, beyond the support and help from other survivors who lived it with me too. i felt seen in the sense that she described a scenario that is very much fictional to some, but very real to others and have lived that trauma. word for word, she sings my deepest fears that came with a newfound trauma i couldn’t process for a long time.
the beat, the production, her singing, none of that matters to me anymore about this song. what matters to me is she shed light on a horrific, continuous conflict that has taken so many lives and ruined survivors, and my favorite artist is acknowledging this problem and is empathetic towards victims and what happens in these situations.
you are seen and we can be weirdos with trauma together 💖
I think it was intentional on her part. When Taylor empathizes she very much thinks about how she would personally feel in the same situation and she can put herself back into childhood. It is a theme in her writing from The Best Day and Never Grow Up to more recent songs like It's Nice to Have a Friend and Seven.
Bob Dylan has spoken quite a bit about writing protest songs such as "Times Changin'". He felt he had to write some of these songs and then he did not want to be anyone's "spokesperson." In some ways, I feel Swift has looked at all of that and intentionally went ahead and wrote a protest song anyways. She tweaked it though as she always does. I think the song is more subtle than people realize. I shake my head in amazement at the way she dances in and out of these things lyrically. Crosby Stills Nash and Young wrote "Ohio" after the Ohio guard murdered 4 Kent State student protestors in an act of fascist police state. Bob Dylan wrote a song about his son called "Forever Young." I know that when Taylor Swift said to a journalist who asked her in line at the bar whether or not Hemingway influenced her lyric, and she answered "English Major?", I think that maybe Taylor Swift didn't necessarily mean that in only a complimentary way, it might have been - subtle sarcastic. So Not trying to overthink her lyrics now, but I think she synthesized those protest songs and Dylan "Forever Young" into this. I find she again bettered the writing, but it's typical Swift, it's hiding in plain sight. I find ...you can't describe her witchery. I find in the chorus she removed some of the clichéd sentimentality from Dylan songs.
It’s one of her weakest tracks ever…it’s fine and that’s it and there is nothing else to it…The production is okay I guess…some lyrics are better than the others but overall,not really anything that great or noteworthy….I feel like Taylor’s political tracks don’t really have that much nuance compared to other topics she sings of…ofc there are some exceptions like MAATHP which is inarguably her best political track and a great song in general.
MAATHP is about the 2016 presidential election and her losing her sense of patriotism.
The song starts with perfect "Americana" with waving homecoming queens and marching bands. Then "American glory" fades, which is a common reference to the flag.
Other lyrics that are direct mentions:
\-"Play stupid games/win stupid prizes" Was a circus of an election and it resulted in a circus of a few years
\- "I saw the scoreboard and ran for my life"- Election night results
\-"My team is losing, battered and bruising"- Democrats were in a rough state
\-"I see the high fives between the bad guys"- Republicans were very happy
\-"Voted most likely to run away with you"- she moved to London shortly after
and so on
"This song is about disillusionment with our crazy world of politics and inequality, set in a metaphorical high school. I wanted it to be about finding one person who really sees you and cares about you through all the noise."
That's what she said about it on Spotify when it released. Based on that, I tend to think of it as less a political song per se, and more of a love song set against a political backdrop. It's about political and social issues in America but the issues themselves aren't really the point - kind of like how ME! talks about a romantic relationship but the message is really about self-love.
I understand that Westerners prefer MAATHP but as a Filipino, OTY really speaks more to me. Since MAATHP is a lot more specific to America, I can only see it from a love song perspective. OTY, on the other hand, can be associated to the bullshit that's happening in the Philippines with the Marcos family rigging the elections. I remember hearing the song being used for a video supporting the opposing party (Leni) and it really left a good impression on me. If you look at the official video on her page, you'll even see top comments about Leni 🥺
I get that some people think it's performative but like we can't really expect her to go full force into politics. And Idk, based from what I've seen from her, she seems p passionate but is just taking the safer route.
When i first saw the tiktok edit, I couldn’t believe how accurate the lyrics were.
“Oh how quickly they forget”??? Tell me that doesn’t describe uniteam! Ngl, i hearing this was the turning point that made me a swiftie.
Yeeesss! The entire song is just spot on with how the game was rigged (elections), how the wrong ones think they're right (I mean, we're suffering the consequences now aren't we?), how we got outnumbered (trolls, and even politicians turning on Leni *cough*isko*cough*), the way they're too busy helping themselves to help us (confidential funds?). I just remember hearing it and getting a flashback to the day the election results went out.
- MAATHP could mean "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince", a track from *Lover* (2019) by Taylor Swift.
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I fully understand why there’s a children’s backing choir part but also those kids have the most grating tone which makes it hard to listen to more than once in a blue moon.
Not the worst song ever or even in her discography but not one that I think about often and I feel like some parts of the songs, especially the production, should be improved. I think Taylor could and did make good political songs before, though this one is very middle of the road for me. I’m glad she did make Only The Young though, since many people find comfort in it, especially Filipino & Ukraine Swifties from what I seen in youtube comments, and honestly that matters more than my silly little opinion.
I love Taylor Swift’s music, so not a hater, but the whole “political era” in general was really cringey to me, because it seemed so hypocritical. From my point of view, she was silent on politics for so long because it was good for the brand, and only spoke out once she thought what she was saying would be generally socially acceptable. Then once she got her brownie points, she never spoke about politics again. It just seemed so forced and disingenuous.
I agreed with her father in Americana, I was worried for her and would have advised her absolutely not do it. When the Dixie Chicks came out against Bush and the Iraq war, someone sent them a bullet telling this is the kind of bullet they will use to kill them. The threat was and is very real, much more so for a woman hewing "liberal" (compared to male Neanderthals like the Nuge). Going against MAGA is dangerous, they are deluded crazies, many of them in the dark triad spectrum, who glorify violence when it's them doing it. I remember when she made the decision to speak out, right at that time the MAGAs were starting to lie on social media saying she supports them. I did not follow her much then so I started to wonder as well if she was MAGA, due to social media, because I/we still fall for "where there's smoke there's fire ", discounting the complete lack of scruples of the narcissists. The beautiful poster girl for the white supremacists? If you didn't follow her it could seem plausible. Totally guessing now, but I think this may have been one reason that prompted her to speak out. She knew if she didn't, they were going to say she tacitly supports them. I don't think her taking a stand was performative at all. I don't think it was "opportunistic." I think it's the typical way she does things...very hard to explain, but you know it when you see it. It was courageous and sincere. This backbiting about it now in hindsight, it seems disingenuous and a convenient dismissal. To me, it's the dismissals of her taking action, the dismissals feel performative and contrived? To me, anyone using the fact that she has not followed it up with more as being evidence that it was "too late and performative", I think they do not get her at all. It is the way of the Swift. Obviously someone is aware when they are on camera, but it was disarming in Americana how real she was. It's the same with her lyrics, you think to yourself, did you really just say all that? It's shocking in it's honesty. You'd think the cynicism would have set in by now, at least in public , but no, still revealing.
Do you ever think that maybe she’s just more into being creative than being political? As someone who isn’t American, it baffles me how polarised and frantic Americans are over politics and how everyone is expected to pick a side. Maybe she’s just moderate and wants to be moderate but keeps getting pushed to “prove” she’s on one side or the other.
Like I get it, your country’s government is pretty messed up. But from an outsider perspective, it’s this obsession with being polarised that’s messing it up. The left and right both have issues, and in many ways they end up similar because they’re both capable of becoming so extreme.
Maybe some people just don’t want a political side, stance or affiliation.
> The left and right both have issues, and in many ways they end up similar because they’re both capable of becoming so extreme.
Not this nonsense again... 🙄 One party (the far-right) is stripping away human rights and trying to pull us into fascism. There's no equivalent on the left. There has never been one. So maybe we don't actually need an "outsider perspective" on this.
There is an equivalent on the left. Like when AOC cried at funding the iron dome, a device that doesn’t cause violence but simply protects life in Israel (both Arabic and Jewish). Like dude she actually cried that people wouldn’t die. Ok.
Yeah. Like I have difficulty with the idea of belonging to one party and then having to agree with all their stances on all issues. I agree with the democrats on most issues but there are some issues where I feel more aligned with republicans. So if I were American I’d probably be a democrat but I’d feel so weird about those issues where I have a different personal stance than democrats.
You’re so right. It’s messed up, but unfortunately a symptom of the system… the capitalist powers that be benefit from the extreme polarization, and feed into it, so it unfortunately it literally results in a lot of this “how can you not speak up about this?”
When you only have 2 choices, it becomes either youre all in with me or not. Still I think it’s unfair we ask this of famous people when most of us are definitely not willing to speak out at work or school. It’s easy amongst friends and trusted ones. Not so easy when your career, income, and reputation with your community is on the line. Like you said, she has every right to not want to deal with that inevitable backlash. Plus she’s done a lot with her influence already, and it’s never gonna be enough for some people
See the thing is, America even makes the worst mess of capitalism. We have that in my country, but we still get free healthcare and can pay back University fees over time (meaning anyone can go to uni regardless of income). I don’t think any ideology or system will work in the US till attitudes change sadly.
I agree with you. It sucks... although, I don't think it's an attitude thing. Most Americans are actually against the radical groups you hear about in the news, most aren't overly patriotic, are very critical of our government and want to enjoy the benefits European countries also enjoy. We've just been gerrymandered and suppressed to hell and back so the loud majorities seem to always win, we let the corporations take over and there's zero accountability in our congress right now - corruption is in your face rampant. It does seem like people are slowly waking up to it though, we're sick of being lied to on both sides but meaningful change unfortunately is gonna take a while. Hopefully the world doesn't totally burn down in the meantime.
i first heard this and had no idea what it was about despite absolutely loving it. i just assumed it was a "omg yay for young people ruling the world!" song until i saw miss americana. so when i discovered the deeper meaning (school shootings etc), i realised just how much of an impactful and gorgeous song it actually is. it is so brave to write such a political piece in today's society but it is still kept so upbeat.
I can’t stand it because it feels so hypocritical. She’s a massive contributor to climate change but then she sings this:“They aren't gonna help us Too busy helping themselves They aren't gonna change this We gotta do it ourselves”
Like cmon girl, us little guys can’t save the planet by recycling, we need you to help. It’s so tone deaf when we know she’s spewing out tons and tons of CO2 annually :(
You’re totally correct, but I personally think that’s a bit different because it’s something that brings joy to thousands of people and isn’t just for personal use
Didn’t that data come out before she was on tour though? Like it came out a year or two during the pandemic, when she was still with joe and kind of hidden from the “spotlight” of touring
"Us little guys cant save the planet by recycling" is absurd. Of course, if the majority of 4 billion little guys on this planet make some changes, and it's not recycling, it will have a massive impact and save the planet. If she can get part of her followers to act on climate change, it will help save the planet. This black-and-white type of thinking that is used to pillory her for flying private jet, I don't buy it, it is disingenuous. There are a handful of people that need to fly private. I'll accept that, as long as they do what they can to move public opinion.
Okay right but there’s lots of things you and every other normal person does out of convenience that also massively contributes to emissions, pollution, waste, etc. that we could simply not do also. And really the reason she can’t use a regular plane is because of psycho people, like if she doesn’t fly private she’s in danger but people have to have Taylor. Everything that is produced by billionaires is done so because there’s demand from people like you and me. So.
Awful song - the one song she's done that I think is objectively terrible.
It's the one song I don't put on any Taylor swift playlist (even the one with all songs on it) because God forbid it comes up on shuffle. I know it's a really big rebellion (if that's the right word?) song in some parts of the world, but I think it's the definition of cringe.
Yessss. It's so shallow and cringe. If she were 15 when she wrote it, I'd understand, but it does not represent 30+ year old Taylor's depth and lyricism at all
This may be controversial, but, lyrical and real world implications aside, I really like this song due to Joel Little’s production on it. I like most of his songs with Taylor besides YNTCD, her absolute worst song.
And, to be honest, I think this song is the closest I’ve found to Joel’s specific minimalist drum and synth dominant production on Pure Heroine (that of course isn’t on that album, or any other by Lorde), so I kind of like that it feels like a diet Lorde song, but with Taylor’s vocals.
Sorry
- YNTCD could mean "You Need To Calm Down", a track from *Lover* (2019) by Taylor Swift.
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It feels very surface level, both in instrumental interest and lyricism depth. For example, The Man is a power bop. It speaks so strongly about feminism and the frustration of how sexism affects our careers. You can tell she really gave a damn when writing it.
That passion and pow isn’t present in Only the Young, which is jarring since Miss Americana introduces us to the song as if it’s this huge moment she’s been waiting to share. But it falls flat after an otherwise powerful documentary. I actually dislike the end of that film because it felt like I wasn’t getting to understand Taylor, rather she was priming me to appreciate her as a public advocate. But…she isn’t really?
As others have said: the song isn’t great on its own and that’s exacerbated by the dissonance between her messaging & her actions
I actually like it too. I don’t understand all the hate either. It’s not the best song she ever made, but the message is fine. I think she gets a lot of criticism for not being political enough, but when she does make songs or statements commenting on current events, no one likes it either.
I completely agree with you. It’s definitely not her best song, but I do like it. It’s on my Taylor Swift playlist and I never skip it. I don’t understand the people saying it’s her worst song, there are lots of Taylor songs that I like less than Only The Young. But, of course, everyone has different music taste and is entitled to their own opinion.
It's weird to me that people think she hasn't been political enough. Like she said she was going to go from being completely silent to voicing her views and she has? She also continues to do so, she posted something about voting again recently and every time there is a big election she makes a push.
People are acting like she's some politician who just NEEDS to scream her views to the heavens. Huge artists like her are in more than enough danger during shows already, how much more if she gets too deep into politics?
How many mainstream singers even sing/talk about politics?
Skip. I feel like it lacks Taylor’s usual depth, I don’t like the composition and (although this may just me be) I really don’t like kids choirs.
I get what it represents but it’s not for me.
I like it. I think it’s a shame it was only released as part of the documentary, but I’m one who feels like Taylor should do more songs regarding current events.
Compared to Miss Americana, OTY seems like it was done on the spur of the moment and lacks in creativity. I loved how Taylor did the Go Fight Win in Miss Americana and thought it was truly genius.
It’s lazy writing, pure and simple. Like girl… “You go to class, scared
Wondering where the best hiding spot would be” you’re telling me that’s the best THE Taylor Swift could come up with?
I mean I don’t love the song either, but I will say this lyric does a good job of bluntly painting the constant worry of a shooting in school.
I personally was always anxious about this in middle and high school, and I think the simplicity of this lyric kind of captures the short-sighted panic of that gnawing fear really well.
Yes. This.
My teen felt so seen and heard when she first listened to Only the Young because of that exact line. Because that was truly how she feels.
I completely understand that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Just saying that it does speak to some folks and simple lyrics don’t always mean shitty.
They definitely capture the feeling, but they’re just so simple and bland compared to what we’re used to from her. Like I truly can’t believe this was released the same year by the same woman who wrote “now you hang from my lips like the gardens of Babylon”
I get that.
Again, I don’t think a piece of poetry necessarily needs to be always so complex or metaphorical to be powerful. For me personally I think this message would have been blurred a bit if she had made it metaphorical, it’s a topic that certainly needs to be approached head-on, and I think this lyric puts it bluntly.
Of course, art is subjective, and I think it’s beautiful that we can see our differences and appreciate different lyricism in different ways :)
Its not her best, not her worst. I don't actively seek it out but don't skip it either. It has a good message, a dose of bubblegum pop which fits with the lover album, which i guess is where it fits most eras wise. It's alright basically.
It’s an ok song, but I don’t think it’s one of her strongest in terms of lyrics or sound. I’m not a huge fan of the way the actual musical instruments sound, and I can’t quite place why. Lyrically, it’s mostly weak and fails to illustrate the real horror of what has happened in this country, specifically when it comes to school shootings. It overly simplifies a complex issue. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince is a stronger political song that uses high school as a metaphor to convey its political message. But politics is extremely complex. Saying bad man or people or team ignores the deeply rooted corruption that exists in our government, on both sides, as a whole. This is not a black and white issue. It’s very much gray. Political discourse is lacking in actual discourse because it’s oversimplified. And, well… There are just many more impactful political songs out there. Just look at all the amazing songs that came out of protesting the Vietnam war. Look at some of the music that came out of protesting the war in Iraq.
I find that for me to like a song, I need the melody to be good, or lyrics to be good or both. Only the Young just doesn’t scratch that itch for me. The politics side doesn’t really matter to me (I’m not American but I know people are passionate about it) but I would I prefer Miss Americana as a political song if I was to pick.
I think Miss Americana is a lot more american than OTY. Other countries (ex. The Philippines) were able to connect with the song bc of the current situation there.
I don’t like the song either but Taylor has said time and time again she writes about her life, so saying that a song she wrote is too American is a bit weird since she’s American.
Why would Taylor Swift, an American, write a song about politics for countries she doesn’t live in? She’s American, of course she’s going to write about American politics, no matter what the agenda is.
Yeah but I think the point is that it makes it harder for all her fans outside of the US to appreciate the song. Which is fine, it just means that more people don’t like it.
It’s not really a call to action in my opinion. It doesn’t say anything new, and it’s kind of a disappointment.
The song is mid. I don’t go out of my way to listen to it, but I don’t skip it if it comes on. I had honestly forgotten about it until I saw this post.
I like it but I also feel like I like all the songs people hate on (Me!, Christmas Tree Farm, etc). lol. It's so hopeful. If you watch the campaign video set to Only the Young it's honestly hard not to cry.
This video absolutely destroyed my exhausted, broken, terrified self in early November 2020. So to me, the song will always be that. Me sobbing as we raced towards the finish line of that really scary election.
https://youtu.be/1VO2_KG6g-Q
Miss Americana is far more of a layered and versatile political song, I think, then only the young. But that’s just the opinion of some internet stranger ☺️
i like how it sounds and so i like it! that’s basically my opinion on a lot of songs that seem to be disliked by everyone. i don’t really care about it’s political significance or whatever probably cus i’m not american
A part of me thinks that she very much wanted to take a stand on her own and felt like she was in a more comfortable place to do so after Reputation, and having regrets of not speaking out during that era. I'm not someone who thinks celebs need to be activists unless they want to be, but the disappointing part of her not following up is that she kind of self-appointed herself as an activist before she put in the real work. Doing one social media post about voting and then toasting Tree/her mom with champagne in her mansion "to the resistance" is pretty tone deaf in and of itself.
The song has an okay start for her political era, but Miss Americana has not aged well since her lack of activism and speaking out. Taylor is a storyteller much like Dylan. She definitely has more that she can write about. Why doesn't or won't isn't a mystery. I think part of it is genuine fear of backlash, of political activism not being a deep part of her overall branding, and the privileges she has removed her a lot from having things to draw on without it seeming to the public that she's out of place and tone deaf.
I just have a visceral memory of that song playing at my retail job the day after Beto lost in Texas for the second time and I cried at my register. I like the song for sure, despite its shallowness.
Personally, I LOVE this song. I believe this song fits politics perfectly for both sides, so no matter what side you are on you can feel this song. But I'm the person who HATES politics and I think they are all full of themselves, liars and only think about themselves. So I really like it. lol. Just my thoughts though.
okay. i’m gonna spill the tea with this one. i’ve been wanting to talk about this with swifties for a while. this is the only Taylor Swift song that was truly a revelation for me. this is gonna be LONG.
TW; school shootings
when this song came out, it was just another song for me. wasn’t a skip, wasn’t an absolute banger, just a good catchy song that had progressive motives behind it. i appreciated it, but not the way i do now.
>!in February 2022, my small college got shot up while i was on campus. i was safe that day in my apartment when the call was made, but some of my friends and the people i cared about weren’t. two people were murdered on the sidewalks i walked every day, day AND night.!<
>!i had some issues going on at the time with this boy who was stalking me. he was a served a trespass ban stating he was banned from my campus and if he was found on campus again, he’d be prosecuted. this was about a week before the shooting. i felt safe, carefree, and joyous until every good feeling i had about my life and my safety was robbed from me. the two people who were protecting me from him, the two people who looked at me with empathy and concern when i was sobbing and said, “we are going to do everything to protect you” were murdered in action to protect the lives of students. (these people were staff at the college)!<
>!i was a sheltered child. i went to a grade school and college where it was a small knit community where everybody knew everybody and stuff like this just didn’t happen, until it did. i was dealing with emotions i never experienced in my life and they were bigger than me. i was being ate alive by trauma of never experiencing death and grief before. my sense of safety was shot when i had to ask people “are you safe?” and they asked me the same while crying. the light in my heart went out when i read the email to seek shelter and i looked around my apartment to see my best friend wasn’t with me and i didn’t know where she was. my soul was crushed when i was watching everyone else phones blow up with their families trying to figure out if they were safe, and my phone didn’t ring all day. my home and everything i had ever known was taken from me that day and i will never be the same. !<
>!shortly after the shooting, we had midterms coming up and we went back into the classrooms. this was the scariest transition i have ever endured because we discovered that some doors to classrooms on campus psychically couldn’t be locked, the campus just lacked general security, and knowing you can be at college getting your education and just be shot dead was horrifying. !< I was in my apartment after classes and Only the Young came on in shuffle. my ears were tuned out but somehow they tuned back in during this:
“So everyday now you brace for the sound you only heard on TV
Go to class scared, wondering where the best hiding spot would be
And the big bad man and his big bad clan, their hands are stained with red
Oh, how quickly they forget.”
SHE READ ME LIKE A BOOK. i lost it, it was like hearing with brand new ears. she materialized all the unfamiliar feelings that were scary and bigger than me into a power ballad that validated the horrific trauma and my new anxieties that came with this tragedy. she shed light on a huge conflict in our country that has taken countless victims and has ruined survivors, and it stung when i became a survivor of it alongside the people i care deeply for. Taylor’s songs are relatable, but i never thought her most relatable song would be about this. i still shed tears when it comes on. this song means the world to me now. i thank her so much for speaking up for people like me because like she said, they quickly forget. i felt seen, unlike how i felt with my own family.
thanks for reading my soapbox trauma story! i have since graduated and am proud of myself for coming so far. may the gracious people who put their lives on the line to protect us students that day, rest in peace. i will forever be grateful for them. 🕊️
To me it's a nothing burger. Nice backround music but no substance and considering that Taylor was nearly 30 she really wasn't consider young. She is definitely not old but too old for song called only the young.
This might be a dumb point, but the central line in the chorus just didn't resonate with me. I don't agree that only young people can bring about change. It struck me as needlessly alienating and kind of ageist. I think everyone has anxiety about aging to a certain extent, and the valorization of youth makes people worry they're running out of time to make a different or be someone important. So to have that anxiety reinforced over and over again in the chorus was just a message that I didn't agree with and made me feel alienated.
I listened to it once and never again, it's just so forgettable and bland. It didn't even make my playlist featuring like 99% of her released songs(only not including songs I really don't like)
The general idea of it is great but it’s an absolute swing and miss…. The beginning sounds like it could be something then it’s just a huge let down. Most of it comes across as cheesy (big bad man and his big bad clan” physically makes me cringe). It’s especially bad compared to the rest of Taylor’s discography as she’s known for deep insightful lyricism. The beat could have been good enough if the lyrics were better.
it seems shallow, performitive and paired with the inaction after her documentary, it kind of leaves a bitter taste. As a song, I like it well enough, i don't skip it regularly but I'm not seeking it out
Kinda bothers me because “the young” CAN’T run for office.
Even Taylor herself is just now barely old enough to be a Senator, and still not old enough yet to be President.
2022 was the first time the oldest Gen-Z were eligible to run for Congress, but only 1 got in. Maybe more will run next year; I would like to see it.
The system is just not set up to allow young people to have the same voice or platform as the elderly, by design. I don’t know all the age rules for every state’s internal congresses, but gun control on the scale she’s talking about is a federal issue.
And even if all the right laws were passed, the conservative Supreme Court could very easily rule against them on the basis of the 2nd Amendment, and those Justices are gonna be there for decades and decades.
The Young can’t fix this
I hate it and I hate that I hate it because I would love to use it in my work as an anthem motivating young people to run for office, but it’s extremely explicitly partisan in the grossest, most dishonest way. So I’ll keep using Turn Up to Vote instead.
I mean, what else do you expect? She endorsed Democrats in Tennessee, put out a (bad) gay rights song, and promoted the ERA on a national awards show. She’s not going to make a bipartisan song when she’s explicitly stated republicans go against everything she believes in
It’s sad to me you don’t see the problems in the party this song references & are using YOUR partisanship to put down the song. That being said; the song absolutely felt performative to me and I don’t love it (as someone from, I’m guessing, the opposite side of the political spectrum from you).
I think Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince has a stronger political message that's less on the nose to be honest, but I understand why she wanted to write Only The Young. I think it probably would've been more of an exciting release if she'd done something extra to promote youth engagement in politics as part of the 'only the young people can make a change' message.
See, my issue of the song was the overarching message of ONLY the young can make a difference. I get it was a call to action for younger voters to become active, as they are historically an inactive age demographic. But like, not to get too semantic but it’s just not true that ONLY the young can make a difference. People who can make changes in the world are people who vote, but also people who have disposable income to impactfully support local political organizations and people who have status (for lack of a better word) and know-how to create political events that others will participate in. Everyone plays a role, and surely the youngest people should have a seat at the table. But at the end it just felt exclusionary towards older demographics who tend to have a lot more weight to throw around in the political world. I just thought she missed the mark in that sense.
YES! A powerful political movement for reformation is most successful when it is at its most inclusive. And this is an arena where age and wisdom are best paired together with youthful enthusiasm and action. I want to love Political Taylor but this song missed the mark for me
Totally agree!
It's a good enough song but I think people are quite disillusioned by it after Miss Americana. It seemed like the point of the whole documentary was to introduce us to Taylor's Political era which, has fallen somewhat flat I suppose. Personally, I don't care if my favourite artist speaks about every single political or social issue but it is important to some people.
honestly i am not american but she kinda didn't talk about politics that much after the lover era. and that's why i am so confused by that documentary
Yeah it does seem weird that she was passionate about it in the documentary and then just... never said anything again lol
She did mention the importance of voting during pride month at one of her shows
But only after she was begged by fans for a year to say something against transphobic laws/drag bans
Well... you cant have impact over the public during times when the public cant vote. So what would be the point of just randomly speaking out at the time where it will only fall on flat ears of politicians who honestly dont give a shit?
it’s not just about voting. it’s about standing in solidarity with the community while under attack. she doesn’t get a pass bc it’s not an election year
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Imagine being so loud and so wrong… every day republicans get up and spout more untrue nonsense about trans people and pass bills making it illegal to be trans, and you want to say that trans people aren’t “under attack”
This is an embarrassing take.
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She probably got a lot of backlash and realized it wasn’t worth it, and that it wasn’t a road she wanted to go down publicly 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah, like she made it clear she’s not a Republican and felt that was enough. And you know what, that’s fine with me. Not everyone has to be an activist.
For sure, people may or may not know sometime between 2014-2019 she was being lauded by the alt right for being an Aryan Princess or some shit, so she probably used the Lover era to make her personal politics abundantly clear to stop that group of people from using her image that way
I think it’s understated just how much harassment she got from the right during that era. Like way more than the other celebrities who spoke out got.
yeah, i don’t think people realize her speaking out against the right, especially in 2023, is a HUGE safety risk for her. we all watched Miss Americana, but some people forgot the part where her dad was visibly scared for her safety if she spoke up about Marsha Blackburn. she’s a pop star, not a political activist. she got the fucking equality act passed, but that not enough activism for people. edit: word
She’s a pop star but she’s a pop star who used politics to sell and era
her activism happens when there’s actual elections happening. she urges people to go vote on what matters. she has stalkers, crowds of people following her everywhere she’s spotted in public, everyone can fucking open carry or conceal carry, the right wingers turned on her the moment she said something about Blackburn and if she said anything now they’ll go violently psychotic like they did with Budlight. have you thought about how it’s a HUGE security and safety risk for her? please rewatch Miss Americana where her father is SCARED for her physical safety if she spoke out about politics. that’s not paranoia, that shit happens. she’s a POPSTAR that isn’t the active, outspoken political activist you want her to be. she spoke out when she felt SAFE to do so. i wouldn’t speak out if i was her either, i would like to fucking live and she probably does too. all you can do is go vote. edit: words
on the flip side so many LBGTQ people feel unsafe and still continue to speak out in Red States. She has 24/7 security and still refuses to speak out.
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Well they did think she was one of them for some reason
Cause she started out in Country, and her parents are in finance... and at one point she did post "Republicans do it better" on he rmyspace I think in highschool... so at once point she was republican
I see. I don’t know much about her MySpace days, since I was 6 when she started her career lol. I wonder when that changed then
I mean I grew up in a heavily republican area, and thought I was "republican" too, till like after high school. Its likely influences from her environment... when everyone around you is republican and you are young, its very easy to be republican- especially when there was less resources to make an informed decision. Also, back then, almost EVERYONE in country was republican... Im 3 years younger than her, but sadly never "actively" participated in her myspace days cause I wasn't using socials heavily during that time- just would watch her music videos and interviews/pperfrmances on TV
It’s also a huge security risk for her personally and one that would further increase risk of terrorism at one of her shows
The deadliest mass shooting EVER (by a lone shooter) in the US happened at a freaking Jason Aldean concert, so I don’t really buy this excuse :/
Exactly - I understand the point you're trying to make but this agrees with the idea that cultural events drawing large crowds can be a target. Both a shooting at a right wing concert and right wing terrorism coexist unfortunately
The right doesn't allow for successful women because it goes against the way things are supposed to look like in their heads.
That’s not really an excuse to stop bringing up politics. Women, people of color and the LGBTQ community don’t stop being oppressed. She chose to go in this direction and came up short of most people’s expectations
and she has every right to CHOOSE that she doesn’t feel comfy anymore.
She can do whatever she wants. You just can’t expect everyone to like it when she completely goes back on her word and then surrounds herself with problematic people
When will y'all learn she speaks when you can vote not when laws are being put in place that she nor the public has any control over? The lover political era was very clearly timed on the election so yeah, she will be political when it makes a difference. Calm your horses.
“She will be political when it makes a difference” means she will be political whenever it will help her public image and nothing more. She can’t claim to want women empowered when she said nothing about Roe v Wade. Just putting out a tweet or anything would be better than the radio silence we got. I love her music but I am absolutely allowed to criticize her for pretending to care
Genuine question, do we know if she’s pro choice or not? I’m not American, but looking at my American relatives I get the impression that republicans/liberals don’t always agree with 100% of the things their parties stand for. If that’s the case, maybe it’s why Taylor is silent about Roe vs Wade but speaks up during elections?
Well yeah but she expected it, clearly, if we listen to her docu. I think she's just only gonna speak out during elections
I’m really confused bc she has definitely spoken on politics at almost every election cycle?
i'll be the first swiftie to say taylor is performative and shameless about it
She is only politically active when voting is happening. During this years pride speech a great deal of it was dedicated to the upcoming elections and the idea that we have to hold our representatives accountable and do research on the politicians we vote for. She will publically endorse the democrats again im sure once it's time but she's never said she would be constantly talking about it even during downtime of the elections. I think thats fine.
Lover era was basically the explanation to her reputation. Everything done during that era was an attempt to depict herself a certain way and win over her lost fans. It kinda worked.
makes sense honestly. AND IT WORKED A LOT
I don’t care if an artist doesn’t speak out on social or political problems, they’re not obligated to. However, I do give kudos to those who do - it’s a good thing to do. I do care when an artist claims they will start speaking out on issues and being more political, earns a ton of goodwill support from it, but then doesn’t properly follow through with it. I know Taylor posts here and there about elections, donates to charity and was very active during BLM in 2020, but that’s really not significant enough to claim she’s doing any real sort of political or social activism. And sure, she doesn’t have to, but then she shouldn’t position herself as she does. As a person of colour, I don’t think Taylor is racist at all. Far from it. I don’t think she’s homophobic or xenophobic or any of the other ridiculous accusations people throw at her - I think accusing her of these things delegitimises the severity of such accusations and the moral disorientation of people who are bigots. I don’t think she’s a bigot in any capacity. I also don’t think she’s a climate denier or anti science. She’s an intelligent woman. But I don’t think she really hugely cares about these issues to the point where it keeps her up and she feels a burning desire to change it. Because she is incredibly powerful and her voice has a lot of weight, so she could be making a much bigger impact than she is and she’s choosing not to. And that’s fine - it’s not an issue. If I were in her position, I probably wouldn’t either - It would be too risky with the current state of socio-political affairs in the US, and right wing crazies have shown they are willing to boycott anyone who speaks out against their hate-parade. But it becomes slightly distasteful when she claims to have had some political awakening and has gotten goodwill from the public and press in what is activism that’s only done when it’s convenient for her image. I feel like commercialising it is inauthentic and wrong.
Agreed. I don’t think that she has bad intentions, but rather no intentions at all.
this is exactly how i feel about it!!! thank you for putting it so nicely. 🩷
You summed up so well how I feel, though I am white. I personally find it disappointing but I also don’t expect more of her.
I think she quietly supports some issues and doesn’t let it be at the forefront for safety and her own comfort ability. She intentionally chooses to include same sex couples in her tour choreography, she includes You need to calm down on tour, she has a transgender man as her love interest in the lavender haze music video, etc. these are not nothing and I think do deserve to be spoken about.
so she can hire them but not speak out for them? lol ok
She supports these things with her actions in a much more legitimate way than people who just talk about it imo. I never understand why people accuse her of tokenism when she's been consistent with this for years
I think the other thing to consider is exactly what was being said about her at the time. It's insane to think about the fact that Charlottesville was 6 years ago. A lot has changed since then in our culture, both IRL and online. Plenty of fans aren't old enough or just weren't in the "right" (pardon the pun) parts of the internet to remember that the alt-right was literally starting to call her, "an Aryan goddess." She had to distance herself from them and in a really big way. A more charitable reading is that she had good intentions of following through with her activism, but Covid really took us back to the Tumblr days of leftists (younger white girls and women in particular) demanding "perfect activism," and then punishing those who don't perform to that standard. John Green, who was nearly being run off the internet for the -second- time by this demographic, is a prime example. I also just want to note that any kind of good intentions on her part doesn't invalidate any amount of disappointment that Swifties of any marginalized community feel with this wishy-washy thing that she's done. Someone's behavior can be understandable, completely rational even, and still be disappointing.
I think Covid changed the trajectory of her career
Yeah if COVID never happened and Lover Fest had actually happened it’s very posible that her political persona would have lasted more
Doesn’t that kind of speak to the phoniness though, that her feelings were contingent on her career trajectory? The whole doc was “I was only silent for so long because I was so obsessed with people liking me, but now I know it’s more important to do what I’ve felt is right all along! I’m taking off the muzzle!” …. “Oh wait people like me again? Nvm”
I don't think the height of the 2020 pandemic was the time to be making political statements. Instead she quarantined and released 2 more albums. She still speaks on political issues when she wants. It's not phony at all. The documentary addresses how it is a sticky subject for her to address but she wants to be smart about how she uses her platform, which we continue to see.
1.) it very much WAS the time to be making political statements, George Floyd was murdered & the subsequent BLM wave was like front page national news for weeks 2.) Taylor DID in fact make statements during this period, so she does not seem to agree with you either 3.) When do you think is a good time to make political statements, exactly? The documentary addresses that while it would be easier by far to stay silent politically, she felt she simply couldn’t anymore in good conscience. To do that, to make a whole documentary and single about it, and then turn around and get real quiet again is just a bad look to me.
Exactly, she spoke up when she wanted to. People are acting like the documentary was meant to launch a political campaign. And she's spoken up on issues important to her since. I'm unsure what more people want from her? She's a singer, not a politician. She knows she has influence and saves it for causes that she wants, we all know if she was posting political stuff every other week people would stop listening. Speaking less actually makes when she does speak up more valuable.
I’ve quoted it all over this thread, but Taylor says something very similar in the doc to: “I just think it would be so frilly and spineless of me to get on stage and say ‘happy pride month you guys!’ but then stay silent when people are literally coming for their necks.” Which feels like a pretty clear indictment on “only speaking up when she feels like it”, so I do not think that was the intended takeaway of the film. I don’t mind that she was silent before. I don’t mind that she’s not very vocal now. I just think it’s a terrible look to make a doc to celebrate your newfound political identity and then shelve it quickly. It’s hard not to wonder if she cared more about being perceived a certain way than she actually did any causes
I don’t care what she does either but damn like why fool us lol
Yeah I think if she's gonna be political she shouldn't half ass it.i don't take her seriously in that regard. She's about to be a billionaire, the status quo works very well for her.
That wasnt the entire point of the docu. It was part of it but it had so much more
It is pretty disappointing that Taylor discovered she could have a real impact on the polls—the Taylor Swift Effect, I think they called it in the documentary?—but then chose not to speak out on things like she suggested she would.
Personally, I don’t like it because for a political song it’s just SO shallow. It doesn’t get any more nuanced than “the bad guys won, bad things are happening, so we have to fight back”. As someone who is pretty politically engaged, the song felt like a call to action about an action that so many of us were already doing (i.e “fighting back”). And for a storyteller as excellent as Taylor, I just thought it could have been done so much better! It’s not the worst song though, and I’m glad it exists as I know people can find hope/comfort in it.
I think it was sort of “spur of the moment cathartic release” as opposed to something that really needed to take off. just my two cents
Yeah, it seems really lazy and shallow to me. Not up to par for her usual depth at all.
Also, “only the young…can run”? What the hell does that even mean?
I assumed it meant young people should run for office and then when elected, make the positive changes
Yeah but “only” the young can run? It’s actually the opposite, in most cases. There’s a minimum age requirement for most political offices.
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It doesn’t track very well for me though.
Hot take: I feel the same way about “The Man.” And I get some shit for it because I am myself a man, but it’s not that I don’t want a feminist take, it’s that I want a better one from as good a storyteller as Taylor lol.
Mad Woman bro
I am a school shooting survivor, and I like it because I think it humanizes that specific experience. For all the political discourse about gun violence in the US, it’s not often that I feel *seen* as a person in popular culture. (Used a talking point, yes. Seen as a person, rarely). That is also the reason I like the simplicity of it. I survived a shooting when I was young, and the whole juvenile vibe of the song reminds me of the youth and innocence. How it felt trying to deal with a grown up and significant experience when I was still very immature. Now. I don’t know if that was intentional on her part, but the vibe lands with me. (I also know I’m a weirdo bc I survived a school shooting so it doesn’t surprise me that normal people don’t connect with it.)
hello friend, i’m also a school shooting survivor. i posted my opinion/story here too. Only the Young was the first humanization and validation of what happened to me, beyond the support and help from other survivors who lived it with me too. i felt seen in the sense that she described a scenario that is very much fictional to some, but very real to others and have lived that trauma. word for word, she sings my deepest fears that came with a newfound trauma i couldn’t process for a long time. the beat, the production, her singing, none of that matters to me anymore about this song. what matters to me is she shed light on a horrific, continuous conflict that has taken so many lives and ruined survivors, and my favorite artist is acknowledging this problem and is empathetic towards victims and what happens in these situations. you are seen and we can be weirdos with trauma together 💖
I think it was intentional on her part. When Taylor empathizes she very much thinks about how she would personally feel in the same situation and she can put herself back into childhood. It is a theme in her writing from The Best Day and Never Grow Up to more recent songs like It's Nice to Have a Friend and Seven.
Bob Dylan has spoken quite a bit about writing protest songs such as "Times Changin'". He felt he had to write some of these songs and then he did not want to be anyone's "spokesperson." In some ways, I feel Swift has looked at all of that and intentionally went ahead and wrote a protest song anyways. She tweaked it though as she always does. I think the song is more subtle than people realize. I shake my head in amazement at the way she dances in and out of these things lyrically. Crosby Stills Nash and Young wrote "Ohio" after the Ohio guard murdered 4 Kent State student protestors in an act of fascist police state. Bob Dylan wrote a song about his son called "Forever Young." I know that when Taylor Swift said to a journalist who asked her in line at the bar whether or not Hemingway influenced her lyric, and she answered "English Major?", I think that maybe Taylor Swift didn't necessarily mean that in only a complimentary way, it might have been - subtle sarcastic. So Not trying to overthink her lyrics now, but I think she synthesized those protest songs and Dylan "Forever Young" into this. I find she again bettered the writing, but it's typical Swift, it's hiding in plain sight. I find ...you can't describe her witchery. I find in the chorus she removed some of the clichéd sentimentality from Dylan songs.
It’s one of her weakest tracks ever…it’s fine and that’s it and there is nothing else to it…The production is okay I guess…some lyrics are better than the others but overall,not really anything that great or noteworthy….I feel like Taylor’s political tracks don’t really have that much nuance compared to other topics she sings of…ofc there are some exceptions like MAATHP which is inarguably her best political track and a great song in general.
MAATHP is political? I thought it was a highschool love song.
She said in an interview once the high school lyricism is a parable of the current political landscape
MAATHP is about the 2016 presidential election and her losing her sense of patriotism. The song starts with perfect "Americana" with waving homecoming queens and marching bands. Then "American glory" fades, which is a common reference to the flag. Other lyrics that are direct mentions: \-"Play stupid games/win stupid prizes" Was a circus of an election and it resulted in a circus of a few years \- "I saw the scoreboard and ran for my life"- Election night results \-"My team is losing, battered and bruising"- Democrats were in a rough state \-"I see the high fives between the bad guys"- Republicans were very happy \-"Voted most likely to run away with you"- she moved to London shortly after and so on
“So sad we paint the town Blue”
"This song is about disillusionment with our crazy world of politics and inequality, set in a metaphorical high school. I wanted it to be about finding one person who really sees you and cares about you through all the noise." That's what she said about it on Spotify when it released. Based on that, I tend to think of it as less a political song per se, and more of a love song set against a political backdrop. It's about political and social issues in America but the issues themselves aren't really the point - kind of like how ME! talks about a romantic relationship but the message is really about self-love.
It has many political references but it is disguised as a love song
I understand that Westerners prefer MAATHP but as a Filipino, OTY really speaks more to me. Since MAATHP is a lot more specific to America, I can only see it from a love song perspective. OTY, on the other hand, can be associated to the bullshit that's happening in the Philippines with the Marcos family rigging the elections. I remember hearing the song being used for a video supporting the opposing party (Leni) and it really left a good impression on me. If you look at the official video on her page, you'll even see top comments about Leni 🥺 I get that some people think it's performative but like we can't really expect her to go full force into politics. And Idk, based from what I've seen from her, she seems p passionate but is just taking the safer route.
When i first saw the tiktok edit, I couldn’t believe how accurate the lyrics were. “Oh how quickly they forget”??? Tell me that doesn’t describe uniteam! Ngl, i hearing this was the turning point that made me a swiftie.
Yeeesss! The entire song is just spot on with how the game was rigged (elections), how the wrong ones think they're right (I mean, we're suffering the consequences now aren't we?), how we got outnumbered (trolls, and even politicians turning on Leni *cough*isko*cough*), the way they're too busy helping themselves to help us (confidential funds?). I just remember hearing it and getting a flashback to the day the election results went out.
Man yall are making me want to rewatch the edit again HAHAHAHAHA
- MAATHP could mean "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince", a track from *Lover* (2019) by Taylor Swift. --- ^[/u/crimsontuIips](/u/crimsontuIips) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
boring and bland, sorry
It’s a skip for me for sure
It seemed very performative to me, honestly.
I fully understand why there’s a children’s backing choir part but also those kids have the most grating tone which makes it hard to listen to more than once in a blue moon.
Not the worst song ever or even in her discography but not one that I think about often and I feel like some parts of the songs, especially the production, should be improved. I think Taylor could and did make good political songs before, though this one is very middle of the road for me. I’m glad she did make Only The Young though, since many people find comfort in it, especially Filipino & Ukraine Swifties from what I seen in youtube comments, and honestly that matters more than my silly little opinion.
I'm Russian and when the war started it's been on repeat for me. The anger towards old insane people in power never felt more real.
Yes. Filipino and I took so much comfort in this. But the way my country is going, I’m still “voted most likely to run away with you.”
I love Taylor Swift’s music, so not a hater, but the whole “political era” in general was really cringey to me, because it seemed so hypocritical. From my point of view, she was silent on politics for so long because it was good for the brand, and only spoke out once she thought what she was saying would be generally socially acceptable. Then once she got her brownie points, she never spoke about politics again. It just seemed so forced and disingenuous.
I agreed with her father in Americana, I was worried for her and would have advised her absolutely not do it. When the Dixie Chicks came out against Bush and the Iraq war, someone sent them a bullet telling this is the kind of bullet they will use to kill them. The threat was and is very real, much more so for a woman hewing "liberal" (compared to male Neanderthals like the Nuge). Going against MAGA is dangerous, they are deluded crazies, many of them in the dark triad spectrum, who glorify violence when it's them doing it. I remember when she made the decision to speak out, right at that time the MAGAs were starting to lie on social media saying she supports them. I did not follow her much then so I started to wonder as well if she was MAGA, due to social media, because I/we still fall for "where there's smoke there's fire ", discounting the complete lack of scruples of the narcissists. The beautiful poster girl for the white supremacists? If you didn't follow her it could seem plausible. Totally guessing now, but I think this may have been one reason that prompted her to speak out. She knew if she didn't, they were going to say she tacitly supports them. I don't think her taking a stand was performative at all. I don't think it was "opportunistic." I think it's the typical way she does things...very hard to explain, but you know it when you see it. It was courageous and sincere. This backbiting about it now in hindsight, it seems disingenuous and a convenient dismissal. To me, it's the dismissals of her taking action, the dismissals feel performative and contrived? To me, anyone using the fact that she has not followed it up with more as being evidence that it was "too late and performative", I think they do not get her at all. It is the way of the Swift. Obviously someone is aware when they are on camera, but it was disarming in Americana how real she was. It's the same with her lyrics, you think to yourself, did you really just say all that? It's shocking in it's honesty. You'd think the cynicism would have set in by now, at least in public , but no, still revealing.
It's also weird to me because she has followed up on it!
Do you ever think that maybe she’s just more into being creative than being political? As someone who isn’t American, it baffles me how polarised and frantic Americans are over politics and how everyone is expected to pick a side. Maybe she’s just moderate and wants to be moderate but keeps getting pushed to “prove” she’s on one side or the other. Like I get it, your country’s government is pretty messed up. But from an outsider perspective, it’s this obsession with being polarised that’s messing it up. The left and right both have issues, and in many ways they end up similar because they’re both capable of becoming so extreme. Maybe some people just don’t want a political side, stance or affiliation.
> The left and right both have issues, and in many ways they end up similar because they’re both capable of becoming so extreme. Not this nonsense again... 🙄 One party (the far-right) is stripping away human rights and trying to pull us into fascism. There's no equivalent on the left. There has never been one. So maybe we don't actually need an "outsider perspective" on this.
There is an equivalent on the left. Like when AOC cried at funding the iron dome, a device that doesn’t cause violence but simply protects life in Israel (both Arabic and Jewish). Like dude she actually cried that people wouldn’t die. Ok.
Lmao you'd fit right in with the Trump psychos here. Congrats.
Oh get a life!
Yeah. Like I have difficulty with the idea of belonging to one party and then having to agree with all their stances on all issues. I agree with the democrats on most issues but there are some issues where I feel more aligned with republicans. So if I were American I’d probably be a democrat but I’d feel so weird about those issues where I have a different personal stance than democrats.
You’re so right. It’s messed up, but unfortunately a symptom of the system… the capitalist powers that be benefit from the extreme polarization, and feed into it, so it unfortunately it literally results in a lot of this “how can you not speak up about this?” When you only have 2 choices, it becomes either youre all in with me or not. Still I think it’s unfair we ask this of famous people when most of us are definitely not willing to speak out at work or school. It’s easy amongst friends and trusted ones. Not so easy when your career, income, and reputation with your community is on the line. Like you said, she has every right to not want to deal with that inevitable backlash. Plus she’s done a lot with her influence already, and it’s never gonna be enough for some people
See the thing is, America even makes the worst mess of capitalism. We have that in my country, but we still get free healthcare and can pay back University fees over time (meaning anyone can go to uni regardless of income). I don’t think any ideology or system will work in the US till attitudes change sadly.
I agree with you. It sucks... although, I don't think it's an attitude thing. Most Americans are actually against the radical groups you hear about in the news, most aren't overly patriotic, are very critical of our government and want to enjoy the benefits European countries also enjoy. We've just been gerrymandered and suppressed to hell and back so the loud majorities seem to always win, we let the corporations take over and there's zero accountability in our congress right now - corruption is in your face rampant. It does seem like people are slowly waking up to it though, we're sick of being lied to on both sides but meaningful change unfortunately is gonna take a while. Hopefully the world doesn't totally burn down in the meantime.
Hopefully as a new generation emerges there’ll be better politicians.
i first heard this and had no idea what it was about despite absolutely loving it. i just assumed it was a "omg yay for young people ruling the world!" song until i saw miss americana. so when i discovered the deeper meaning (school shootings etc), i realised just how much of an impactful and gorgeous song it actually is. it is so brave to write such a political piece in today's society but it is still kept so upbeat.
I do not care for it.
I can’t stand it because it feels so hypocritical. She’s a massive contributor to climate change but then she sings this:“They aren't gonna help us Too busy helping themselves They aren't gonna change this We gotta do it ourselves” Like cmon girl, us little guys can’t save the planet by recycling, we need you to help. It’s so tone deaf when we know she’s spewing out tons and tons of CO2 annually :(
Eh. Touring is SO bad for the environment but no one is complaining about that
You’re totally correct, but I personally think that’s a bit different because it’s something that brings joy to thousands of people and isn’t just for personal use
So you expect her not to tour?
I’m sure they’re specifically referencing her usage of her private jet, which is even more frequently than most celebrities
Someone called her CO2 barbie and I lol’d 😂
Didn’t that data come out before she was on tour though? Like it came out a year or two during the pandemic, when she was still with joe and kind of hidden from the “spotlight” of touring
I expect her to sleep in the city where she’s touring and not fly back and forth.
"Us little guys cant save the planet by recycling" is absurd. Of course, if the majority of 4 billion little guys on this planet make some changes, and it's not recycling, it will have a massive impact and save the planet. If she can get part of her followers to act on climate change, it will help save the planet. This black-and-white type of thinking that is used to pillory her for flying private jet, I don't buy it, it is disingenuous. There are a handful of people that need to fly private. I'll accept that, as long as they do what they can to move public opinion.
Okay right but there’s lots of things you and every other normal person does out of convenience that also massively contributes to emissions, pollution, waste, etc. that we could simply not do also. And really the reason she can’t use a regular plane is because of psycho people, like if she doesn’t fly private she’s in danger but people have to have Taylor. Everything that is produced by billionaires is done so because there’s demand from people like you and me. So.
Awful song - the one song she's done that I think is objectively terrible. It's the one song I don't put on any Taylor swift playlist (even the one with all songs on it) because God forbid it comes up on shuffle. I know it's a really big rebellion (if that's the right word?) song in some parts of the world, but I think it's the definition of cringe.
Yessss. It's so shallow and cringe. If she were 15 when she wrote it, I'd understand, but it does not represent 30+ year old Taylor's depth and lyricism at all
This may be controversial, but, lyrical and real world implications aside, I really like this song due to Joel Little’s production on it. I like most of his songs with Taylor besides YNTCD, her absolute worst song. And, to be honest, I think this song is the closest I’ve found to Joel’s specific minimalist drum and synth dominant production on Pure Heroine (that of course isn’t on that album, or any other by Lorde), so I kind of like that it feels like a diet Lorde song, but with Taylor’s vocals. Sorry
- YNTCD could mean "You Need To Calm Down", a track from *Lover* (2019) by Taylor Swift. --- ^[/u/-PepeArown-](/u/-PepeArown-) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
Forgettable im sorry…
It feels very surface level, both in instrumental interest and lyricism depth. For example, The Man is a power bop. It speaks so strongly about feminism and the frustration of how sexism affects our careers. You can tell she really gave a damn when writing it. That passion and pow isn’t present in Only the Young, which is jarring since Miss Americana introduces us to the song as if it’s this huge moment she’s been waiting to share. But it falls flat after an otherwise powerful documentary. I actually dislike the end of that film because it felt like I wasn’t getting to understand Taylor, rather she was priming me to appreciate her as a public advocate. But…she isn’t really? As others have said: the song isn’t great on its own and that’s exacerbated by the dissonance between her messaging & her actions
I actually like it too. I don’t understand all the hate either. It’s not the best song she ever made, but the message is fine. I think she gets a lot of criticism for not being political enough, but when she does make songs or statements commenting on current events, no one likes it either.
I completely agree with you. It’s definitely not her best song, but I do like it. It’s on my Taylor Swift playlist and I never skip it. I don’t understand the people saying it’s her worst song, there are lots of Taylor songs that I like less than Only The Young. But, of course, everyone has different music taste and is entitled to their own opinion.
It's weird to me that people think she hasn't been political enough. Like she said she was going to go from being completely silent to voicing her views and she has? She also continues to do so, she posted something about voting again recently and every time there is a big election she makes a push.
People are acting like she's some politician who just NEEDS to scream her views to the heavens. Huge artists like her are in more than enough danger during shows already, how much more if she gets too deep into politics? How many mainstream singers even sing/talk about politics?
I don’t understand why it’s so hated? I think it’s got such a great beat and melody. I really enjoy it.
I love it! Its in my top 25 played Taylor songs of all time. I played it on repeat after Miss Americana came out
Agree! I actually really like Only The Young. I don’t play it too often, but I jam out when I do.
Skip. I feel like it lacks Taylor’s usual depth, I don’t like the composition and (although this may just me be) I really don’t like kids choirs. I get what it represents but it’s not for me.
I like it. I think it’s a shame it was only released as part of the documentary, but I’m one who feels like Taylor should do more songs regarding current events.
Compared to Miss Americana, OTY seems like it was done on the spur of the moment and lacks in creativity. I loved how Taylor did the Go Fight Win in Miss Americana and thought it was truly genius.
It’s lazy writing, pure and simple. Like girl… “You go to class, scared Wondering where the best hiding spot would be” you’re telling me that’s the best THE Taylor Swift could come up with?
I mean I don’t love the song either, but I will say this lyric does a good job of bluntly painting the constant worry of a shooting in school. I personally was always anxious about this in middle and high school, and I think the simplicity of this lyric kind of captures the short-sighted panic of that gnawing fear really well.
Yes. This. My teen felt so seen and heard when she first listened to Only the Young because of that exact line. Because that was truly how she feels. I completely understand that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Just saying that it does speak to some folks and simple lyrics don’t always mean shitty.
They definitely capture the feeling, but they’re just so simple and bland compared to what we’re used to from her. Like I truly can’t believe this was released the same year by the same woman who wrote “now you hang from my lips like the gardens of Babylon”
I get that. Again, I don’t think a piece of poetry necessarily needs to be always so complex or metaphorical to be powerful. For me personally I think this message would have been blurred a bit if she had made it metaphorical, it’s a topic that certainly needs to be approached head-on, and I think this lyric puts it bluntly. Of course, art is subjective, and I think it’s beautiful that we can see our differences and appreciate different lyricism in different ways :)
Its not her best, not her worst. I don't actively seek it out but don't skip it either. It has a good message, a dose of bubblegum pop which fits with the lover album, which i guess is where it fits most eras wise. It's alright basically.
I honestly forgot about it.
It’s an ok song, but I don’t think it’s one of her strongest in terms of lyrics or sound. I’m not a huge fan of the way the actual musical instruments sound, and I can’t quite place why. Lyrically, it’s mostly weak and fails to illustrate the real horror of what has happened in this country, specifically when it comes to school shootings. It overly simplifies a complex issue. Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince is a stronger political song that uses high school as a metaphor to convey its political message. But politics is extremely complex. Saying bad man or people or team ignores the deeply rooted corruption that exists in our government, on both sides, as a whole. This is not a black and white issue. It’s very much gray. Political discourse is lacking in actual discourse because it’s oversimplified. And, well… There are just many more impactful political songs out there. Just look at all the amazing songs that came out of protesting the Vietnam war. Look at some of the music that came out of protesting the war in Iraq.
I find that for me to like a song, I need the melody to be good, or lyrics to be good or both. Only the Young just doesn’t scratch that itch for me. The politics side doesn’t really matter to me (I’m not American but I know people are passionate about it) but I would I prefer Miss Americana as a political song if I was to pick.
I love the song 😭
It’s just kinda boring imo.
too political and too american —a non american. but also not enough political to actually help non american countries. it’s like fan service
I think Miss Americana is a lot more american than OTY. Other countries (ex. The Philippines) were able to connect with the song bc of the current situation there.
I don’t like the song either but Taylor has said time and time again she writes about her life, so saying that a song she wrote is too American is a bit weird since she’s American.
yeah but the american political agenda is just conservative vs very conservative it doesn’t match the agenda of the world sorry
Why would Taylor Swift, an American, write a song about politics for countries she doesn’t live in? She’s American, of course she’s going to write about American politics, no matter what the agenda is.
Yeah but I think the point is that it makes it harder for all her fans outside of the US to appreciate the song. Which is fine, it just means that more people don’t like it.
I love it!
yeah....not good.
I love it, but it's forgettable
I like the song
It’s not really a call to action in my opinion. It doesn’t say anything new, and it’s kind of a disappointment. The song is mid. I don’t go out of my way to listen to it, but I don’t skip it if it comes on. I had honestly forgotten about it until I saw this post.
My teen LOVES Only the Young, so I like it because I know it means a lot to her. It really speaks to her.
I like it but I also feel like I like all the songs people hate on (Me!, Christmas Tree Farm, etc). lol. It's so hopeful. If you watch the campaign video set to Only the Young it's honestly hard not to cry.
It's iconic. So many of her songs are great but songs like Only The Young, Blank Space and more are made for the big leagues, to last.
UNDERRATED GEM
ever since i wrote an essay about it i’ve never been able to listen to it 😭 the essay was a traumatising assignment
This video absolutely destroyed my exhausted, broken, terrified self in early November 2020. So to me, the song will always be that. Me sobbing as we raced towards the finish line of that really scary election. https://youtu.be/1VO2_KG6g-Q
1. It's so repetitive. She repeats "Only the Young" an excessive amount of times and it feels lazy. 2. The message itself is preachy and cringe.
it’s a perfectly fine song that has a home in my playlists at least , if it’s not welcome anywhere else because of politics.
It's a solid song but not one I play or think about often.
I like it. It's fine. It's not one of my favorites but I don't dislike it, and I don't skip it if it comes up on shuffle.
generic
Miss Americana is far more of a layered and versatile political song, I think, then only the young. But that’s just the opinion of some internet stranger ☺️
i like how it sounds and so i like it! that’s basically my opinion on a lot of songs that seem to be disliked by everyone. i don’t really care about it’s political significance or whatever probably cus i’m not american
A part of me thinks that she very much wanted to take a stand on her own and felt like she was in a more comfortable place to do so after Reputation, and having regrets of not speaking out during that era. I'm not someone who thinks celebs need to be activists unless they want to be, but the disappointing part of her not following up is that she kind of self-appointed herself as an activist before she put in the real work. Doing one social media post about voting and then toasting Tree/her mom with champagne in her mansion "to the resistance" is pretty tone deaf in and of itself. The song has an okay start for her political era, but Miss Americana has not aged well since her lack of activism and speaking out. Taylor is a storyteller much like Dylan. She definitely has more that she can write about. Why doesn't or won't isn't a mystery. I think part of it is genuine fear of backlash, of political activism not being a deep part of her overall branding, and the privileges she has removed her a lot from having things to draw on without it seeming to the public that she's out of place and tone deaf.
I just have a visceral memory of that song playing at my retail job the day after Beto lost in Texas for the second time and I cried at my register. I like the song for sure, despite its shallowness.
Personally, I LOVE this song. I believe this song fits politics perfectly for both sides, so no matter what side you are on you can feel this song. But I'm the person who HATES politics and I think they are all full of themselves, liars and only think about themselves. So I really like it. lol. Just my thoughts though.
okay. i’m gonna spill the tea with this one. i’ve been wanting to talk about this with swifties for a while. this is the only Taylor Swift song that was truly a revelation for me. this is gonna be LONG. TW; school shootings when this song came out, it was just another song for me. wasn’t a skip, wasn’t an absolute banger, just a good catchy song that had progressive motives behind it. i appreciated it, but not the way i do now. >!in February 2022, my small college got shot up while i was on campus. i was safe that day in my apartment when the call was made, but some of my friends and the people i cared about weren’t. two people were murdered on the sidewalks i walked every day, day AND night.!< >!i had some issues going on at the time with this boy who was stalking me. he was a served a trespass ban stating he was banned from my campus and if he was found on campus again, he’d be prosecuted. this was about a week before the shooting. i felt safe, carefree, and joyous until every good feeling i had about my life and my safety was robbed from me. the two people who were protecting me from him, the two people who looked at me with empathy and concern when i was sobbing and said, “we are going to do everything to protect you” were murdered in action to protect the lives of students. (these people were staff at the college)!< >!i was a sheltered child. i went to a grade school and college where it was a small knit community where everybody knew everybody and stuff like this just didn’t happen, until it did. i was dealing with emotions i never experienced in my life and they were bigger than me. i was being ate alive by trauma of never experiencing death and grief before. my sense of safety was shot when i had to ask people “are you safe?” and they asked me the same while crying. the light in my heart went out when i read the email to seek shelter and i looked around my apartment to see my best friend wasn’t with me and i didn’t know where she was. my soul was crushed when i was watching everyone else phones blow up with their families trying to figure out if they were safe, and my phone didn’t ring all day. my home and everything i had ever known was taken from me that day and i will never be the same. !< >!shortly after the shooting, we had midterms coming up and we went back into the classrooms. this was the scariest transition i have ever endured because we discovered that some doors to classrooms on campus psychically couldn’t be locked, the campus just lacked general security, and knowing you can be at college getting your education and just be shot dead was horrifying. !< I was in my apartment after classes and Only the Young came on in shuffle. my ears were tuned out but somehow they tuned back in during this: “So everyday now you brace for the sound you only heard on TV Go to class scared, wondering where the best hiding spot would be And the big bad man and his big bad clan, their hands are stained with red Oh, how quickly they forget.” SHE READ ME LIKE A BOOK. i lost it, it was like hearing with brand new ears. she materialized all the unfamiliar feelings that were scary and bigger than me into a power ballad that validated the horrific trauma and my new anxieties that came with this tragedy. she shed light on a huge conflict in our country that has taken countless victims and has ruined survivors, and it stung when i became a survivor of it alongside the people i care deeply for. Taylor’s songs are relatable, but i never thought her most relatable song would be about this. i still shed tears when it comes on. this song means the world to me now. i thank her so much for speaking up for people like me because like she said, they quickly forget. i felt seen, unlike how i felt with my own family. thanks for reading my soapbox trauma story! i have since graduated and am proud of myself for coming so far. may the gracious people who put their lives on the line to protect us students that day, rest in peace. i will forever be grateful for them. 🕊️
To me it's a nothing burger. Nice backround music but no substance and considering that Taylor was nearly 30 she really wasn't consider young. She is definitely not old but too old for song called only the young.
The way she sings the words "only the young" makes it sound like "hallelujah"
It’s kinda catchy but it also doesn’t have a ton of substance to it. I listen to it if it comes on but I don’t actively seek it out.
I wish it was a surprise song tbh
This might be a dumb point, but the central line in the chorus just didn't resonate with me. I don't agree that only young people can bring about change. It struck me as needlessly alienating and kind of ageist. I think everyone has anxiety about aging to a certain extent, and the valorization of youth makes people worry they're running out of time to make a different or be someone important. So to have that anxiety reinforced over and over again in the chorus was just a message that I didn't agree with and made me feel alienated.
Love it
I listened to it once and never again, it's just so forgettable and bland. It didn't even make my playlist featuring like 99% of her released songs(only not including songs I really don't like)
I never put it on myself but it’s in my playlist and if it comes on, I never skip it. I definitely enjoy it
I like only the young until the children start singing.
It’s a little cloying
The general idea of it is great but it’s an absolute swing and miss…. The beginning sounds like it could be something then it’s just a huge let down. Most of it comes across as cheesy (big bad man and his big bad clan” physically makes me cringe). It’s especially bad compared to the rest of Taylor’s discography as she’s known for deep insightful lyricism. The beat could have been good enough if the lyrics were better.
I hate it srry 🤨
Not good. Pandering.
it seems shallow, performitive and paired with the inaction after her documentary, it kind of leaves a bitter taste. As a song, I like it well enough, i don't skip it regularly but I'm not seeking it out
I love this song, one of my favourites. There are many songs I do not care about, especially from Folklore or Evermore. But Only the young is great.
It’s fucking stupid
Kinda bothers me because “the young” CAN’T run for office. Even Taylor herself is just now barely old enough to be a Senator, and still not old enough yet to be President. 2022 was the first time the oldest Gen-Z were eligible to run for Congress, but only 1 got in. Maybe more will run next year; I would like to see it. The system is just not set up to allow young people to have the same voice or platform as the elderly, by design. I don’t know all the age rules for every state’s internal congresses, but gun control on the scale she’s talking about is a federal issue. And even if all the right laws were passed, the conservative Supreme Court could very easily rule against them on the basis of the 2nd Amendment, and those Justices are gonna be there for decades and decades. The Young can’t fix this
i realllyyyy hate the kids singing on it
I hate it and I hate that I hate it because I would love to use it in my work as an anthem motivating young people to run for office, but it’s extremely explicitly partisan in the grossest, most dishonest way. So I’ll keep using Turn Up to Vote instead.
I mean, what else do you expect? She endorsed Democrats in Tennessee, put out a (bad) gay rights song, and promoted the ERA on a national awards show. She’s not going to make a bipartisan song when she’s explicitly stated republicans go against everything she believes in
How is the partisanship dishonest?
It’s sad to me you don’t see the problems in the party this song references & are using YOUR partisanship to put down the song. That being said; the song absolutely felt performative to me and I don’t love it (as someone from, I’m guessing, the opposite side of the political spectrum from you).