Throwback Thursday: Taylor Swift’s Debut Album Turns Ten
Swift may have spread her wings and flown away from the country music landscape, but she still carries country elements of storytelling into her new pop endeavors.
It’s hard to believe that it has been a decade this week since we were introduced to Taylor Swift via her self-titled debut album, the project that launched her onto the path to reigning queen of the music world. She was just 16 when she entered the spotlight and despite everything fame throws at a young woman, Swift has remained unchanged in who she is, even if her music’s genre has.
Taylor Swift, the album, showcases Swift’s innocence and ability to write a catchy country song while looking cute doing so. She busted the door wide open to brand new fans to experience country music with her pop crossovers and relatable tracks that just about every tween to young adult female can connect with.
By communicating stories with grand imagery through her music, Swift cemented her place in country music. Through her prominent presence in the genre, she began the comeback for female country vocalists while giving aspiring artists a voice all while making country music trendy again.
Her debut project is far from her most recent album, 1989. Throughout Taylor Swift, we heard songs from the perspective of a borderline angst-filled teen who was struggling through the challenges of high school, including unrequited love, cheating boys and discovering who she was. Iconic tracks on the album include “Teardrops On My Guitar,” “Just Another Picture to Burn” and her very first single, “Tim McGraw.”
It’s hard to picture pop-culture prior to the Swift era. We have watched her grow in her sound and appearance. From a curly headed, long-haired blonde strumming about high schoolers, to a pop superstar with global recognition singing songs about heartbreak and life among the famous, while winning two Grammy’s for Album of the Year as well as two CMA Entertainer of the Year awards in between.
Swift may have spread her wings and flown away from the country music landscape, but she still carries country elements of storytelling into her new pop endeavors. She may not be the same “Our Song” singing, teenage girl, but she will always have a home in country music. And it all started ten years ago this week.
