Taylor Swift has all of the looks, talent, success and vulnerability that seemingly would make her fair game for more then her share of ridicule by envious onlookers. So what is it that makes the 21-year old, who is once again Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan’s top-selling artist of the year, so loved by almost everyone, even those who aren’t fans of her music? The partial answer must be the vulnerability she shows about everything from her oft-broken heart to her forays into life as a single adult to her fans.
“I was sitting backstage and getting really emotional,” Swift told the studio audience at the Rachel Ray television show earlier this year after she met some of her devoted fans. “The fact that the two of you have included me so much in your life is so moving to me. Thank you so much.”
| Onstage |
| Taylor Swift |
| When: 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday |
| Where: Verizon Center, 601 F St., NW |
| Details: $28 to $82.50; 202-397-SEAT; ticketmaster.com |
Ever since Swift released her first album at age 16, she’s been that effusive. Consider her debut single “Tim McGraw” that gave the world a glimpse into her life as a lovelorn teen. As she consistently reminds fans, her openness about her life is still in full display in her songs.
“Are the songs about my personal life?” read Swift, from the fan questions she fielded during a past web chat, before nodding. “The thing is, I don’t really talk about my personal life in interviews but I definitely sing about it so…. That’s definitely very sung about on the next record.”
Of course Swift was talking about her recent release, “Speak Now” which topped 1 million sales in its first week. The subsequent tour, that was halted for a bit last month as Swift battled bronchitis, has been so popular that many dates sold out in minutes.
During a recent two hour-plus show, Swift played guitar, banjo, piano and ukulele and mixed the music with “a genuine love for her audience you don’t find much in megastars these days,” wrote a critic for Cleveland Scene Magazine.
And, yes, the songs and Swift’s reactions were just as personal as ever.
“My only option is to write about what I’ve been through and what I’ve lived,” said Swift of the album. “I’m always going to be very hopeful and blindly optimistic when it comes to love, even if it does seem like it’s very hard….I can’t wait for you to hear it.”
D.C., here’s your chance to hear it and give her some of that love back.
