What is it about?
We analyzed a broad array of romantic attitudes and behaviors portrayed across Taylor Swift’s song lyrics. We found that many negative and some positive romantic attitudes and behaviors are present throughout Swift’s lyrics, with these romantic messages varying across relationship stages.
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Why is it important?
When we identify the romantic messages contained in popular music lyrics, listeners can be more mindful about how those messages impact their own thoughts and feelings about romance. We hope our analysis helps both “Swifties” and casual listeners determine which romantic attitudes and behaviors in Taylor Swift’s lyrics are realistic and helpful, and which attitudes and behaviors they would do better to avoid emulating.
Perspectives
As a personal fan of Swift’s music, I want to emphasize that we are not trying to convey that Taylor Swift’s music is “bad”. Rather, we wish that as individuals continue to enjoy Swift’s incredible work, we are also intentional about how we absorb the lyrics’ romantic messages.
McKell Jorgensen-Wells
Western University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Romantic ideas and ideals in popular music: A content analysis of the Taylor Swift musical catalog., Psychology of Popular Media, June 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000606.
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