Country, when Country wasn't cool

I’m ripping off the Band-Aid today.

I’m getting real.

I’m coming clean.

I’m a Taylor Swift fan.

For years I’ve been saying that I listen to her music because it helps me get into the teenage mind when I write – most specifically, Zellie, because I think a 16-year-old pastor’s daughter is definitely Tay Swift’s target demographic.

I’m not her target demographic. I’ll be thirty-seven in May. I drive a mini-van. When I was her age, Grunge music was all the rage. I have the flannels and long-haired college radio DJ’ing ex-boyfriend to prove it.

The last time I confessed to enjoying girly pop music…the name Debbie Gibson comes to mind. On the bus ride to school, Bill Ellis asked me if I liked Bon Jovi or Michael Jackson better and I said I loved Electric Youth.

One tends to remember the most embarrassing moments in their life.

After that, I never admitted to liking anything that wasn’t Cool Guy Approved – The Mighty Lemondrops, The Violent Femmes, Kate Bush, They Might Be Giants, Blondie, The Cure, Uncle Tupelo, The Pixies, The Replacements. I genuinely liked and like these artists.

But when I was home alone hairbrush singing in the mirror…I was all about Showtunes, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Paula Abdul (!), Celine Dion and Mariah Carey.

And forget New Country. That was like owning up to thinking it was okay to marry your cousin.

Hence, there was a period of time where I kept all of my Faith Hill CD’s in Ani DiFranco cases.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with liking Taylor Swift, or Mariah or Faith – it’s just not me that’s supposed to.

But I do, and not in an ironic guilty pleasure sort of way.

I like Taylor because she writes her own songs and because she learned how to play the banjo. She’s not the best singer in the world, but her intentions are good, her words are heartfelt and she tells a great story.

She writes about longing and forgiveness, first love, passion, heartbreak and getting your feelings hurt. I find her songs to always be in the moment and I never doubt that she’s gone through the emotions she’s singing about herself.

And that makes her relatable.

Who hasn’t loved someone that didn’t love them, or wished they could take something back that they’ve said?

Who among us hasn’t wanted to ask our critics, “why ya gotta be so mean?”

Plus, she basically called out John Mayer for being John Mayer-y in Dear John and I think that’s something we can all get behind.

Change is my favorite Taylor Swift song, mostly because it’s loud and rockin’ and makes me feel like I’m kickin’ ass and takin’ names.

Shall we commence to get our girly rock on?

1-2-3-4!

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Stacey Wallace Benefiel is the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, the Day of Sacrifice series, The Toilet Business - a collection of essays, and multiple short stories. She sometimes goes by S.W. Benefiel, but knows she's not foolin' anybody. Stacey lives in an orange house in Beaverton, OR with her husband and their two kids.

Her website is: http://staceywallacebenefiel.com