Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 11,618
|
Quote:
Taylor Swift’s Lesbian Anthems
(Disclaimer: Obviously, I mean to take nothing away from genuine Songs About Lesbians, which are beautiful and frankly, not nearly as ubiquitous as they should be. Nor do I want to disparage the good work of anyone covering a pop song and not changing the pronouns, creating a de facto gay version. Heroes, every one of them. I guess what I’m saying is that the worship circle for Angel Haze’s version of Same Love is Tuesday at 8, I’ll bring the guacamole.)
I spent the first four summers of my employable life as a lifeguard in a Chicago suburb, a job I highly recommend to anyone with an interest in maintaining a low level of anxiety for hours at a time. Being that I was too shy to flirt with patrons and too absolutely terrified to daydream, I spent most of my time listening intently to the family-safe top 40 radio we played. Hours of it, day after day, for four long summers. I’ve heard more Coldplay than you’ve heard Coldplay jokes. What I’m getting at here is a discovery you may not have had the opportunity to make: Taylor Swift is secretly writing lesbian vignettes for us all.
But wait, Taylor Swift’s not a lesbian. (Related viewing: Taylor performing Closer with Tegan and Sara.) Sure, but that’s not the point! There are no legitimacy requirements for Songs That Should Be About Lesbians. Finding queerness where there is none is an important gay teen ritual. There are some artists for whom this game does not work: Jason DeRulo, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5. Trust me, I have tried them all. If you’re looking for lesbians in your soft pop selection, Taylor Swift is the way to go.
You Belong With Me: This one is almost too easy, so we’ll start here. Our moody band geek narrator wears a lot of t-shirts and sneakers, and that’s how we know we’re supposed to identify with her. Take the first verse:
You’re on the phone with your girlfriend, she’s upset
She’s going off about something that you said
Cause you don’t get her humor like I do.
What’s that? Those aren’t quite the lyrics? Of course they are. Because this is a song about unrequited love across the hierarchy matrix of high school, featuring the beautiful-but-oblivious male best friend who’s dating that cheerleader you want to kiss.
She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts
She’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers
Dreaming ’bout the day when she wakes up and finds
That what she’s looking for has been here the whole time
If that last line doesn’t resonate with you, then you’ve clearly never had a crush on a straight girl. And may you never.
|
Did some of you write this?  ( x)
|
|
|
|
]
