Taylor Swift and the infinite desire to love and be loved

By Isabella Garcia Ramos Herrera - This week, Madrid will be swept up in the whirlwind of Taylor Swift's Era's Tour, with thousands of fans, known as Swifties, flocking to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium on May 29 and 30 for a concert that promises over three hours of pure entertainment. In light of this phenomenon, it's worth pondering what it is about Taylor Swift that generates such fervor.

I’m picking up three Swifties at the airport—two from Venezuela and one from Japan. We formed a WhatsApp group to organize this trip back in June 2023, nearly a year in the making. For the fan coming from Japan, this will be her third Taylor Swift concert this year.

Walking near Plaza del Sol, I spot a girl wearing an Era's Tour shirt. Curious, I ask where she bought it, since the merchandise hadn’t yet been sold in Madrid. She tells me she bought it in Lisbon, having traveled all the way from Singapore to see the concert.

We plan to buy our shirts at the stores set up around the Bernabéu. The line stretches from Paseo de La Castellana to Plaza de los Sagrados Corazones. It’s 11:00 in the morning, and sales started at 10:00. The stores will be open for three days from 10:00 to 20:00, with one day extending until 23:00. Despite 25 sales points at the Bernabéu, the line shows no sign of shortening.

The atmosphere around the Bernabéu is a mix of soccer fans, tourists visiting the stadium, and Swifties singing for RTVE and Telecinco cameras, showcasing their devotion. People have been camping out since Sunday, even though the first concert is on Wednesday.

With our merchandise bags in hand, we ask a girl to take our photo in front of the Bernabéu. She agrees and mentions that she and her family, who are also attending the concert, traveled from India. A mother and daughter, desperate to find an English speaker, sing a Florida chorus to us when we ask where they're from.

What drives people to follow a singer to such extents? What is it about this young American that compels fans to travel from country to country, lining up for hours or even days to be the first into the stadium?

El País Semanal dubbed her "The Boss," and El Mundo, in its cultural supplement La Lectura, described her as "the poet of a generation," even comparing her to Bob Dylan, suggesting she could win a Nobel Prize for Literature. To someone outside the Swiftie phenomenon, this might seem an exaggeration, but beneath the hyperbole lies some truth.

Taylor Swift's legal battle with her record label over the copyrights to her songs led to one of the most successful brand crisis management strategies in recent times: she re-recorded her albums and re-released them with the two words that have defined her recent career: "(Taylor's Version)."

Beyond the commodified nostalgia of re-releasing songs that Swifties have grown up with, there must be an even more powerful element driving this mobilization. Fans have rallied behind her, listening exclusively to Taylor’s versions and supporting her more fervently since the album Lover in 2019, when her songs began to belong entirely to her.

In an interview with El Mundo, a fan confessed, "Her music got me out of my depression, it was like a hand outstretched when no one else was offering it." What is it about Taylor Swift that can lift someone out of depression without ever having met them? Her music speaks to her fans in a profound way.

The answer might seem obvious, especially in Swift’s case. Since her beginnings, critics have noted her songs often revolve around her relationships and ex-boyfriends. While this could reduce her to a gossip-fueled artist, it also reveals the essence of the Swiftie phenomenon. Taylor Swift’s songs explore heartbreak, loneliness, abandonment, and the deep desire to be loved well—universal themes that resonate with her fans and likely with everyone.

On her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, Swift sings in "The Prophecy": "Please / I'm on my knees / Change the prophecy / I don't want money, / Just someone who wants my company. / Let it be me for once. / Who do I have to talk to / To change the prophecy?"

Each of Swift’s eras is marked by this yearning to be loved well. When it doesn’t happen, the heartbreak is palpable, as in the ten-minute version of "All Too Well." There’s also the possibility of feeling unworthy of love, as hinted in "Anti-Hero."

Despite this, neither Swift nor her fans abandon the quest for true love. They share a belief in a love that makes them feel alive, as expressed in "Daylight" from her album Lover: "I’ve been sleeping in a night for twenty years / now I’m awake / and now I see the light of day / (...) once I thought love would be black and white / now I know it’s golden (...) / like the light of day."

To desire this love, both Swift and her fans must have experienced it, as one cannot desire something unknown. This is why Swifties often say that Taylor Swift’s songs reflect their own experiences. Memes and social media posts humorously capture the stages of becoming a Swiftie:

1. She has good music, I like it.

2. She writes quite well.

3. This woman speaks to my heart, and I will never stop listening to her music.

This magnetic attraction compels fans to pursue what makes them feel this way. It’s not about losing freedom but about channeling all their freedom into this pursuit.

Fans from Asia and Latin America travel to Europe to see her, spending significant amounts of money. Swifties buy multiple tickets to attend concerts in different cities, camp outside stadiums days before the shows, and even gather outside venues to listen from the sidewalk.

This "magnetic attraction" between Taylor Swift and her followers is a connection between one heart and many. Despite their pain, they dream of true love, hoping to change the prophecy for a happy ending. This is why they sing songs like "Enchanted," pleading their loved one not to be in love with someone else, and know every word to new songs like "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" because they’ve lived those feelings even before Swift sang them.

One Swiftie I spoke with said what fascinated her most about Taylor Swift was realizing that despite all her fame and fortune, she still comes across as human. This connection grows with each album.

Taylor Swift’s impact is extraordinary. Her marketing strategy and ability to continue making millions are noteworthy, with American universities offering courses on her business acumen. But what truly amazes is the effect she has on her fans.

Swift’s heart cries out for love to be returned, and her fans resonate deeply with this sentiment. They organize surprises for her concerts, create "friendship bracelets" to exchange with strangers, and want not just to be loved but to love in return. They don’t just want to listen to her sing; they want to give back, whether it’s a color or a unified shout.

This need to love and be loved drives Taylor Swift and her fans, creating moments that seem impossible: fans traveling from across the world, buying multiple concert tickets, camping out for days, and screaming her name. What kind of love is this, and what has Taylor Swift done to inspire it?

She has simply spoken her truth. Her broken heart calls out to change the prophecy of loneliness and pain, and her fans listen because she sings the words they can't or don’t know how to express.

When the tour ends and the confetti is gone, the Swifties in Madrid will already be wishing it hadn't. They are part of a global phenomenon, drawn by the magnetic force of Taylor Swift’s voice—a voice that, like theirs, dreams of a love that lasts much longer than the Era's Tour. A love that lasts a lifetime.
This is an adaptation of an article by Isabella Garcia Ramos Herrera that originally appeared on paginasdigital.es.