Oh no, not Taylor Swift. I am bracing myself to lose some subscribers as I publish this one. But wait until the end. If you’re hanging out with me here, good chance that you’ll pick up at least some of what I’m putting out.
I always find it super interesting to examine what the masses are consuming, and poke deeper into what exactly makes it so appealing.
Things that fall into that category include: Disney fairy tales, Hollywood movies, Super Bowl commercials, what’s trending on Instagram, and yes, Taylor Swift’s song lyrics. All are up for review as the sources and means of mass programming.
Taylor Swift’s new double album The Tortured Poets Department was just released. And it has already been breaking records. I read that it had something like 300 million streams on Spotify in under a week.
It makes me wonder, what makes pop culture, popular?
The whole album could be viewed as a hit piece. The lyrics are full of Easter eggs, some hidden and some lying out in the open, painted with jabs at her exes and rivals. There’s a schadenfreude in consuming her lyrical agony. It’s hate speech in pretty packaging, veiled just enough to make it quasi-mysterious.
I admit, I like her music as brain candy, or for booty shaking. I have danced and lip synched along to many rebel bitch, diva tracks of hers in the past. But now I’m listening more closely and looking into the mind slavery of humanity. I am looking a layer beyond the mindless entertainment.
Unpopular opinion: Many of her songs glorify obsession and possession as the tenets of a teen-angst love story. They take pride in an unwillingness to forgive as a distorted form of strength. They pedestal the idea of being tortured as a merit badge of depth. Lots of gossip column coverage speculates about which poison arrow was aimed at which nemesis.
This is not about taking a swipe at Taylor Swift personally as much as it is a callout of the pathology of humanity. Her popularity highlights the part of humanity that gets off on drama; the part that’s rabid with the vibration of vengeance, while mistaking that as empowerment.
Have you noticed what’s going on in the world? Mass killing, forced starvation, missile attacks, campus arrests, economic turmoil... (We are now well into the realm of what’s taboo to discuss in polite company, so if you’re still here, congratulations on your bravery and willingness to entertain non-standard thoughts.)
Now, please hear me out. I am not saying Taylor Swift is the reason why we’re on the brink of war in the Middle East. Not at all. Please don’t jump on me thinking that that’s what I’m suggesting. I have no idea what her political views are, or where her financial interests are invested, so this has nothing to do with that.
What I am getting at is much simpler. I’m looking at an energy that’s founded on an underlying, likely unconscious belief. This is an energy that every human harbors within if we’re willing to look. See: Hatred as a disease in the body of humanity
Can we see recurring themes of hatred and vengeance, with hidden motives of profit and greed? The basic ruling narrative is: These people are wrong and/or lesser. I am right and/or better. And oh by the way, using my privilege and power to reinforce that better/lesser distinction can make me a fuck ton of money.
Taylor Swift is using the power of her platform to humiliate her exes — to tell her version of their stories for her personal profit. She’s a billionaire with an audience of millions. It’s not exactly a fair fight is it? With such an inequity of power, we know whose side of the story becomes the history on record.
Where else have we seen these power dynamics play out?
You don’t need to agree with my comparison as a conclusion. But I hope this can spark a little curiosity, or inspire an opening to question some things.
The insidiousness of pop culture lies in its ubiquity. If we have objects of adulation so well loved by so many that they are beyond question… well, those are precisely the things we’d do well to grow wary about.
TTPD is emotional warfare with candy coating and a catchy hook. This pop culture brainwashing is what millions of people are willingly listening to, on repeat. This is the mass trauma bonding that we call entertainment.
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to see what’s disturbing about this. You don’t have to think aliens are harvesting human energy via mass events. You don’t even have to believe that there’s malintent.
Negative intent is not required for negative effect.
Let’s just look at the effect.
Think of the fans in Taylor Swift’s sold-out stadiums, hypnotized into screaming the broken heart anthems of a badass angry bitch that’s out for revenge. Millions of voices joining in a chorus of hurt and angry — making it cool to be mean, as long as you wrap it in a package that’s clever and sweet.
Pop music concerts are perhaps the closest things we have to modern rituals. But what deity are we worshipping? In our ancestors times, we would gather in large numbers to ask for a good harvest or to heal sickness in our community.
We used to gather together to uplift the collective. Now our concerts are forums for trauma bonding. What a tragic waste of human capacity and creativity.
You know how they say, sex sells? It seems that what sells even better than sex, is human suffering. The collective pain body feeds on this addiction to false belonging. We might perpetuate our misery but at least we have company.
Imagine if the energy used to amplify hurt feelings were poured into stadiums full of people chanting for unity, love and peace on Earth instead. We could channel power into making love, building community or creating beauty. Why don’t we?
If you are interested in participating in community that is centered around co-creation and building a healthier, whole new reality for humanity, I am going to be announcing an immersive retreat in Thailand later this week. It’s the only in-person offering that I have this year. You can join my newsletter to receive details when we open retreat registration.