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There's no questioning the popularity of Taylor Swift in mainstream media. But what if we told you that one of the largest student groups at #SDState is all about her? In this episode of "The Yellow & Blue Podcast," students Allison Bruns, Emma Brown and Olivia Petrik speak about Swift, the phenomenon of the "Eras Tour" and her latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department." Whether you're a newbie or a "Swiftie," you're bound to learn something.

Transcript:

[Olivia]  One thing.
                 
[Olivia]  If you are listening to Taylor Swift's discography for the first time ever and you're doing it album by album, and the next song is about to be the fifth track of the album, you should be scared.
                 
[Heidi] Oh, why is that?
                 
[Heidi] Hello Jackrabbits Nation! My name is Heidi Bushong.
 
[Allison] I'm Alison Bruns.
 
[Heidi]  And this is The Yellow & Blue Podcast.
 
[Heidi] Taylor Swift is a pop megastar. She is the first person to win “Album of the Year” four times. She has 14 Grammys and was named Time Magazine's 2023 “Person of the Year.” She's currently performing her Eras Tour internationally.
 
[Allison] There's no questioning the popularity of Taylor Swift in mainstream media. But what if we told you that one of the largest student groups at SDState is all about her? Here with us in the studio today are Emma Brown and Olivia Petrik, who are members of the Taylor Swift Society. Thank you for being here.
 
[Emma] Thanks for having us.
 
[Heidi] We are so glad to have you guys here. To kind of give like a really good icebreaker. One of the big things, with Taylor Swift, her fans, Swifties, is the exchange of friendship bracelets. At Eras Tours, people are giving them out all over the place. People have them all over their arms. I made some SDState themed bracelets today, and we're going to exchange them.
 
[Heidi] And I kind of wanted to say a little bit about our favorite album, from our favorite era. I decided to dress up as the “Fearless” era. That is one of my favorites. When I was growing up, I was in high school when “Fearless” came out, and it is my favorite album by far. “The Other Side of the Door” is probably one of my favorite songs and “Love Story.”
                 
[Heidi] Definitely danced at prom to “Love Story,” so that's why that's my favorite album. How about you, Emma?
 
[Emma] I would say my favorite album. It's always a toss-up between “Reputation” and “Folklore.” It depends on the day. I can't ever really decide. but I'd say, I don't know, probably, “Folklore.”
 
[Heidi] OK, let me see your bracelets. I want to see what these look like.
 
[Emma] I have one that says, “Starbucks lovers,” because that's like the common misconception.
 
[Heidi] I feel like that's got to go to you, Allison.
 
[Allison] I'll take it.
 
[Emma] And then, Always good. Taylor's version is a good.
 
[Heidi] Ooh, look at that. Love that. Yeah, that.
                 
[Heidi] How about you, Allison?
 
[Allison] Yeah. So I would have to go with the “Red” album. That was my first Taylor Swift concert that I went to. I think I was about 10 at the time.
 
[Heidi] 10? Oh, goodness.
                 
[Allison] So just. Yeah.
 
[Heidi] I feel like a lot of Swifties feel that way.
 
[Allison] Yeah. So just that's my all-time favorite I love it. All my bracelets. I'll have you pass those two down.
 
[Heidi] And Olivia?
 
[Olivia] Yeah. My favorite album probably changes like every single day. Right now it's “Tortured Poets Department.” I just love that album so much. I've been listening to it nonstop since Friday. Right? Yeah, yeah. But other than Tortured Poets, I think my favorite album has always been like, “Speak Now‚” is always up there. And then "Folklore” and  “Evermore.”
 
[Olivia] Always up there, too.
 
[Heidi] Sure. Sure.
 
[Olivia] I have a lot left over from tours, so you guys can.
 
[Heidi] I got “Long Live” that is one of my favorite songs. Yes. Oh, wow. And geez. Look at all these.
 
[Olivia] Yeah.
 
[Emma] You guys can take these too.
                 
[Allison] Yeah.
 
[Heidi] Yeah. You're giving us so many. Yeah. I'm so in love this.
 
[Olivia] I'm sure I got more.
 
[Heidi] We are going to make new friends here at SDSU, I'm just gonna hand them out to kids.
 
[Heidi] So tell us, what is the Taylor Swift Society?
                 
[Olivia] Well, I actually started the Taylor Swift Society like, two summers ago, with a couple other NSO leaders that I was working with over the summer. And, my advisor, Ashley McConnell, actually gave me the idea for it, because she saw a bunch of stuff on, like, Instagram and Twitter that was like talking about other schools that had them.
 
[Olivia] And she was like, “Oh my gosh, we should start one.” And we talked about it for like probably a year before I actually started, like writing our constitution and stuff during NSO training that summer. But the club itself, it's really just like a place for anyone interested to come, like have fun every other week. We do a lot of different stuff.
 
[Olivia] Like our last meeting, we watched, a YouTuber. His name is HT Hayes. We watched a lot of his reaction videos to her songs and it was so fun.
 
[Heidi] Oh yeah, that sounds like a really a lot of fun.
 
[Heidi] You helped create the Taylor Swift Society originally. What did it take to, you know, start a club? It sounds like it's pretty easy to start a club based on your interests here at SDSU.
 
[Olivia] Yeah. it is pretty easy. Basically, you just have to write, like, your constitution and your bylaws and stuff, and then you go in front of the Students’ Association, and they basically vote on if they think your club should be a club or not.
 
[Heidi] Sure.
 
[Olivia] And I don't think they've ever voted no.
 
[Heidi] We'll have to take a look at the record for that. So what do you guys do at meetings? I know you said you were listening to a popular YouTuber react to some of the songs. What are some examples of things that you do?
 
[Olivia] Yeah. So we also have had like listening parties for all of the new albums. When they come out, we hang out in the union basement, usually to listen to them, and it's super fun. Some of my favorite meetings are the lyric analyses, which I usually take over for those because that's my favorite part.
 
[Emma] She's really good at it.
 
[Olivia] I love doing it so much.
 
[Olivia] I just like all of her songs connect in one way or another, so I love talking about it. We also for Valentine's Day, we always make paper rings and we have like game nights and stuff like trivia nights. It's just so fun.
 
[Heidi] That does sound like a lot of fun. Emma, what's your favorite part?
 
[Emma] The listening parties are always fun. That's always one of my favorites. As stressful as we are, like for the exec board, we love doing it because people always. It's kind of like an expected thing now, because “Tortured Poets” is that our third one? Or fourth one? Third I think , third. Yeah. So it's kind of like an annual thing almost.
 
[Emma] But I mean, she drops albums like twice a year at this point. So it's kind of like an expected thing. So that's always fun. Yeah. The lyric analysis is always fun, especially hearing like their theories and stuff. We always do like hot takes at the beginning or end of every meeting. Those are always interesting to hear. So we get some fun laughs and some gasps and some agreeing and disagreeing.
 
[Heidi] Yeah. Oh yeah.
 
[Heidi] People feel pretty strongly?
 
[Emma] Yes.
 
[Heidi] Oh. I'd love to see that sometime.
                 
[Heidi] How many members are in the Taylor Swift Society? It seems like it's pretty big.
 
[Olivia]  On Jacks Club Hub, I think we just hit 100. Right. We just hit 100 on Jacks Club Hub. But I think on average for meetings we have anywhere from like 10 to like 25, 30 sometimes listening parties, though, we usually get like 30 to 40.
 
[Heidi] Sure. Absolutely. I know there were a ton of you walking in the Hobo Day parade. You guys had your own float.
 
[Emma] We did.
 
[Heidi] What was that like?
 
[Olivia] That was so much fun. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It was freezing, but it was really fun. Like seeing everyone in their, like, themed outfits and just, like, handing out candy. Everyone was so excited to be there. Was so much fun.
 
[Emma] Yeah, we gave our members each like just a plain flag, like a white flag from Amazon. And we just had them paint, you know, whatever lyrics they want or references or anything like that, and they get to hold it while they walk through the parade, which is really cool.
 
[Heidi] For sure. I remember watching it with, some friends and they're like, “What is that?” I was like, “It's the Taylor Swift Society!” And they're like, “That's a thing?” I'm like, “100 % That's a thing!”

[Emma] We got a huge reaction. I was honestly surprised people were loving it.
 
[Olivia] Yeah, there was a lot of people who were excited about it. And then there was a lot of like, dads who would ask us if we had Travis Kelce in the backseat or something.
 
[Heidi] Oh.
 
[Heidi] That's awesome. Well, that means you guys got to do it again, right?
                 
[Emma] Oh, yeah.
 
[Heidi] Always raising awareness. Why a club about Taylor Swift?

[Olivia] I just really love the idea, honestly. Like, I know that, like, a lot of people are. I feel like you either love her or you hate her, so.

[Heidi] Oh yeah. People have very strong feelings about her.

[Olivia] I love to cause a scene. So when Ashley came to me with this idea, I was all for it because I. I love being dramatic. And so the idea of, like, seeing people cause such a scene about a club has been so much fun.

[Heidi] Oh, wow.

[Heidi] That was not the answer I was expecting Olivia.

[Olivia] So much fun.

[Heidi] That's awesome. So for people who may not know, do you guys want to get into some Taylor Swift basics? Yeah. What? What would you say? For people who don't know much about Taylor Swift, what would you guys say people should know about her?

[Olivia] They should know the number 13, that she loves cats.

[Emma] She loves to cook.
 
[Olivia]  She loves to cook and bake. Yes. there is, like, every time there's an album release, I'll always see someone on Twitter, Instagram talking about how they made, like, their chai sugar cookies and stuff, because that was like a really popular recipe of hers that she posted on, like Tumblr or something a long time ago. What else?
 
[Emma] I don't know. 
 
[Heidi] What do you think? Anything that you like.
 
[Heidi] What stands out to you when you think of Taylor Swift?
 
[Allison] I would just for sure the 13, I think that is so iconic.
 
[Heidi] And why is 13 important?
 
[Olivia] It’s her favorite number.
 
[Heidi] Yeah. But isn't she also isn't her birthday also December 13th? Yes.
 
[Emma] Yeah. There's like ten reasons of why there's so many.
 
[Olivia] There's like an interview of her on I think Stephen Colbert or something from so long ago where she's talking about, well, I was born on the 13th and when I won my first Grammy, I was in the 13th seat of the 13th row of whatever. And oh my gosh, yeah, there's like so many different things she talks about that all like related back.
 
[Olivia]  And there's a bunch of Easter eggs. I always add up to 13 somehow. And she's oh my gosh.     
 
[Allison] She definitely finds a way to incorporate it in just about everything. Yeah. There's a so to her fans. Yeah.
 
[Heidi] Oh yeah, I was going to say there's a reason why you see fans like painting the number 13 on their hands. Yeah.
 
[Heidi] Yeah, absolutely. One of the things that I think people should know Taylor for is, like, her different eras, like, she's been making music for so long. She's been making music since 2006, and gonna age myself here, but I was in middle school when that came out, so, “Teardrops on My Guitar” was like, the perfect, like, “He doesn't love me‚” anthem.
 
[Heidi] And, so it was. It was amazing. But, yeah, like, she's just transformed so much over time. I think, like, her music, appeals to broad audiences. Would you guys kind of like say that? Yeah, but, yeah, I think that's pretty a pretty indicative thing of Taylor Swift. Anything else you think? That is a basic idea behind Taylor Swift that people should know before we get into, like, the rest of her stuff?
 
[Emma] This is kind of a little bit off topic, but like, one word for her would just be like girlhood. I guess that's a thing that's going around. Like when I went to her concert in June of last summer, there was people of any gender and any age there. So not just girlhood, but it's just like, I don't know, just living like there's I saw grandmas there with their grandkids.
 
[Emma] Yeah. I there was one guy in my row who was like construction worker, long beard. He was sobbing to every song. And so it's definitely she just kind of has something for everybody in that way. So she's not just for middle school girls, I guess.
 
[Heidi] Yeah, absolutely. Maybe if started that way, but definitely revolutionized. Yes. that's a really good point. I know you three have been to the, Eras Tour. I saw it on Disney+.
 
[Heidi] Oh, and my husband watched it with me. So you're right. It does appeal to broad audiences, but, one thing I think you could say about her, too, is entertaining. You know, she knows how to, like, captivate an audience. but, yeah, we can talk a little bit more about her, “Eras Tour.” What is so significant about eras with Taylor Swift?
 
[Olivia]  Honestly, I don't even know how the “Era” term started, but it's basically just like the time immediately before and after an album that doesn't overlap with the time before a next album, if that makes sense. So like the 1989 era would start, I define it as when she chopped her hair, which technically was during Red tour. But the 1989 era ended when she blacked out her socials for, “Rep.”
 
[Olivia]  So the exact timeline of era is kind of hard to define sometimes. But when you look back, you know exactly what it was.
 
[Emma] Yeah, yeah, you can tell a lot. Kind of like with her street fashion and stuff like that. Like I kind of looking back on it now, like for, “Tortured Poets Department,” we knew something was coming and now that it's out, we're like, oh, she was in the “Tortured Poets Department‚” era. We just didn't know it, kind of if that makes sense.
 
[Emma] So it's kind of like you can tell something's happening whether you know it or not, if that makes sense.
 
[Heidi] For sure. So at the Eras Tour right now, she's performing ten different eras, you know, ten different albums, dating all the way back to 2006. So she has, you know, ten different eras, but some of those albums were remade, into what we call “Taylor's version.” So for people who don't know what “Taylor's version” is, what is that?
 
[Olivia]  So a “Taylor's version” album is her rerecording of one of her first six albums, and she did that because she was working with a label at the time for her first six albums that she had a contract with. But then, long story short, a bunch of stuff happened with them and she decided she wanted to own her work, which she had wanted to own her work for a long time.
 
[Olivia]  But it was more important to her than ever because of the stuff that happened with her old label. So because she writes all her songs, she has the rights to the lyrics of the song so she can just rerecord them under her own name. So then the label that she was working with before wouldn't be able to profit off of them.
 
[Heidi] Right. Right. So she like, rerecorded her masters to, have rights to them. And then she also adds in like a few odd new songs that didn't make the album for the first time. So if you ever see an album in it's “Red Taylor's version” you know, that's the rerecording of the album. And then, like some songs that would be added in is like, “I Bet You Think About Me‚” like that kind of thing.
 
[Heidi] So, people usually stan the ”Taylors versions,” I know the radio groups and, you know, Spotify and stuff like that have probably been trying to promote those versions. Because she profits off those then, too. Right? You guys were talking about it a little bit earlier, all the lyric analysis and how she leaves clues. What are some examples of things that she does as an artist to, like keep people going?
 
[Heidi] Well, I know it's so broad, so many ways.
 
[Olivia]  You could go at this, but like in her lyrics, like in “Tortured Poets”, she has a lot of lyrics that hint back to “Midnights” or “Reputation” or “Lover” that, like, you hear that or even sometimes she'll sample her old songs. Sure. For like a short, like three second clip of a new song. Like, like the.
 
[Emma] Production is the same.
 
[Olivia]  The production is the same for the beginning of the songs. For example, like “In Love of My Life” on the new album, she samples the piano. In the beginning of “White Horse.”
 
[Heidi] Oh yeah, I'll listen to that.
 
[Allison] I did not know that, yeah.
 
[Emma] Yeah. And I think there's one in “Tortured Poets‚” that samples “Call it What You Want,” I don't remember what. Yeah. Is it “Guilty as Sin?”
 
[Olivia]  No, no,
 
[Emma] I can't remember what it is, but she samples stuff, like in “So Long London.” Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.
 
[Heidi] Sure. Any any other clues that kind of get you going or, you know, she always leaves, like, little puzzles and things like that, and you're like, how did people get that? Or how did she even think of that?
 
[Allison] I just think back to, the Google puzzles that, from “1989 Taylor’s Version” and how fast her fans are, like, able to solve them. That's just unreal to me. Yeah. I mean, the fans are invested. They want to know what's coming next. And another big thing is like the fan theories that are out there.
 
[Heidi] Oh yeah, so many!
 
[Allison] The different like speculation on, “Debut, Taylor's Version” and “Reputation Taylor's Version.” Any that you guys have heard of?
 
[Emma] There's definitely some crazy theories out there that like some kind of track like, “Oh, that makes sense.” And then there are some that people are just reaching. And so we kind of try to always not interact with those because it's so invasive. And it's sure not, not really nice to do that to people. So we kind of like try to talk about like the fun ones that could be like, oh, “When's the next album coming out” or stuff like that.
 
[Emma] And just like hints in music videos and stuff like that.
 
[Heidi] One thing I know that you guys wanted to talk about, that might kind of fall under this category. Is track five like what's so significant about track five on her albums?
 
[Olivia] So one thing, if you are listening to Taylor Swift's discography for the first time ever and you're doing album by album, and the next song is about to be the fifth track of the album, you should be scared.
 
[Heidi] Oh, why is that?
 
[Olivia] Because every track five is like one. It will be one of the most like, gut wrenching songs you've ever heard in your life. Because we've got like from “Debut” “Cold As You” and then “White Horse,” “Dear John,” “All Too Well.”
 
[Heidi] Oh yeah, that's 100%.
 
[Olivia] Yeah, there it is. And then “So Long London‚” from the new one and.
 
[Emma] “Delicate” is the only not sad one. Yeah. For the most part.
 
[Heidi] Oh yeah. You're right. Yeah.
 
[Emma] Because she was kind of like at that point in a new relationship. So it's kind of like starting to be the beginning of that. But I'd say from what I can remember, “Delicate” is like the only, kind of upbeat one a little bit, if that makes sense. But yeah.
 
[Heidi] So earlier in here, we had some of our coworkers in here, and we were talking about who who would be an enemy of Taylor Swift. And we're like, oh, just start listing them off. And one of them was Jake Gyllenhaal, and they were like, why would that be an enemy? I'm like, have you ever heard of “All Too Well?” Like literally, she wrote a 10-minute long song about him.
 
[Heidi] Yeah, it was a masterpiece till he tore it all up.
 
[Heidi] Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
 
[Heidi] Oh, yes. So let's talk a little bit about the Eras Tour. You three have been. What was it like?
 
[Olivia] It was insane.
 
[Emma] It was, I cried, I don't remember it. To be honest. I cried a lot.
 
[Heidi] You always see videos of people crying!
 
[Olivia] I don't, I don't remember like most of it.
 
[Emma] The concert. I knew the concert amnesia would hit. I didn't think I would hit that hard, but I remember, like, snippets, but I don't remember as a whole. Like, the videos on my phone are the only thing that are like keeping me remembering that.
 
[Allison] It was the shortest 3.5 hours of my, you know, shortest. Yeah. The shortest. It went by so fast, but it was unreal. Yeah, yeah.
 
[Heidi] Where, have you each been once? Yes. Yep. Okay. Where did you guys go see?
 
[Olivia] I went to Kansas City the second night.
 
[Emma] I was Minneapolis the second night.
 
[Allison] I was also Kansas City night two.
 
[Heidi] Oh, yes.
 
[Heidi] Small world.
 
[Emma] Going to say.
 
[Heidi] Oh, I did, I didn’t even think of that!
 
[Olivia] I saw him when we were walking up. I saw him like, no, I must have been when we were, we were in like on, like the top deck of the stadium because we were trying to find a spot to take good pictures. And we saw him and a bunch of other people, like walking into the stadium.
 
[Allison] Oh my.
 
[Olivia] And everyone was like, that's not Travis Kelce. You're psycho. It was Travis Kelce.
 
[Allison] Yeah. From where me and my friends were sitting. From where we were sitting, we kind of like kind of figured out that he was above us, or maybe below us, I don't, I don't exactly know, but that's like we always talk about it like, yeah, Travis Kelce was at our concert that we were at. And, so yeah, it was such a fun experience.
 
[Emma] That's always fun to, like, go on Twitter, you know, while you're waiting for the show to start and see who's in the celebrity VIP tent, that's always fun to see who's at your show and stuff. So.
 
[Heidi] Yeah, absolutely. So the reason why I ask where you guys went to the Eras Tour is because it has been a huge pop culture phenomenon. You know, it is, the first tour to gross, one over $1 billion, and it's still going, she booted Elton John for the, spot. You know, the widest grossing tour of all time.
 
[Heidi] I don't know what you guys paid for your tickets, but, tickets averaged $238 for face value, each show grossed $17 million and played for an average about, 72,000 people each show. 4.2 million tickets were sold, and merch grossed over $200 million. As Allison is so proudly donning today. Yes. 
 
[Heidi] Did you get that at the concert?
 
[Allison] I did, I waited in line for probably an hour and a half.
 
[Heidi] That I would have thought longer to be honest.
 
[Allison] But it was so worth it. I mean, we got in quick. It was so worth it. I would have waited longer.
 
[Heidi] Really? Yeah. Why?
 
[Allison] It's just cool. Like, it's just I, I like merch and I, I just think it's even cooler that I mean, she's got her face on here like ten times, so.
 
[Allison] Yeah, I like it.
 
[Heidi] So what is, what is so significant about the Eras Tour? Why does everyone want to go?
 
[Olivia] I don't actually know how it all started being, like, everyone freaking out about it, but I just remember, like, the day that she announced tour, I feel like they're like. Like Earth had to of shifted or something.
 
[Heidi] Some way because it.
 
[Emma] Stopped it.
 
[Olivia] There was not that many like hardcore Taylor Swift fans before she announced tour. And then the whole Ticketmaster situation and trying to get tickets was insane, but I think I think people were just really excited that they knew for a fact they would get to hear like old songs that are, like, really sentimental to them. So I think that was a big part of it in the beginning.
 
[Olivia] And then at one point I feel like it did become like trendy to go to the Eras Tour, if you like. Could financially afford last minute tickets.
 
[Heidi] Yeah.
 
[Emma] Yeah, yeah. I think it's like with the “Reputation” tour, you're going to get mainstream or like all the “Reputation” songs “1989‚” you're going to get all the songs from that album. But like with the Eras Tour, you're going to get a snippet, a handful of songs from every single era, as we talked about. So it's kind of nice to like if you're a Swiftie from like an older generation or like middle school age right now, like you're going to get songs that you know from every album.
 
[Heidi] Right. Right. Well, and like a significant part of this too, you know, she's performing ten different album songs from 10 different albums. Weren't there like four albums she hadn't performed the live yet? Yes.
 
[Olivia] So we had all yeah, we had all been kind of speculating like what she would do. And there was a term for like the “Folk-Lover-More” tour that she was going to go on after after COVID-19, since “Lover Fest” got canceled, and then “Folklore” and “Evermore” came out, and then “Midnights‚” came out and we were like, oh, we'll probably get a tour after this.
 
[Olivia] And then we did, but we thought it was just going to be like those four albums. And then it was a lot more than that.
 
[Emma] Yeah.
 
[Heidi] For sure. What was your guys's favorite part about the concert?
 
[Allison] For me, I would say like, just kind of reliving that part of my childhood, like, it's almost she almost just has like, nostalgic feeling. I would say, and I felt the same way seeing her live, like, the same way I did when I was ten years old versus 20 years old. Like, it was just it was kind of that, like, full circle moment for me.
 
[Olivia] Yeah, I had to definitely agree with that. Like the first night of tour, I was watching one of the TikTok livestreams and seeing her do the little spin with the guitar when she plays “Fearless” made me bawl my eyes out. I actually like, went insane after that though. Oh my gosh.
 
[Emma] I would say my favorite part for my concert was the surprise songs. So the surprise songs are kind of a huge speculation at every single concert. She has the acoustic set, she plays one on piano and one on guitar. No fans ever know what the songs are going to be. I don't know if she has like a spreadsheet of, okay, this night we're going to play this, or she just does it because she felt like it 20 minutes before she went on for that part of the concert.
 
[Emma] So I think the surprise songs, especially for our show in Minneapolis night two, is, well, unexpected, but it was crazy.
 
[Allison] And the planning that she puts into that. Yeah, I like the thought that she has. Yeah. So. Yeah. What, what surprise song am I going to play tonight like she has. Yeah. Planned out months in advance.
 
[Emma] And she has to practice it because yes, it's been years since she's performed this certain song or that. So she definitely has to plan that out.
 
[Heidi] Did you have a favorite part?
 
[Olivia] Honestly, getting to hear “Long Live” live was insane. And I was also watching the livestream the night before when the Kansas City first night show I was we were trying to take pictures at the Cornelia Street sign, and there was like everyone was watching the livestream, either on their phone or whoever was close to them in line.
 
[Olivia] And collectively, we all realized at the same time that she was staying on the stage after singing “Enchanted,” and so everyone at the same time just started freaking out because we were like, “Oh my God, she's going to play ‘Long Live!’” And then she did, and it was insane.
 
[Heidi] So, we talked about why the secret songs are important and what people are expecting. I know people look up on social media, you know, to see “What was the secret song in Australia tonight,” you know, in Sydney. What were the secret songs when you guys went?
 
[Olivia] I had “Last Kiss” and “Dorothea.”
 
[Emma] I had “Dear John” and “Daylight.”
 
[Heidi] And you guys went to the same concert.
 
[Heidi] Yeah, yeah, that's so wild. I know they're both there. Yes.
 
[Heidi] So obviously, the Eras Tour has been a phenomenon. You see it all the time on social media. Let's talk a little bit about her impact on pop culture and society. She's really, spread out through a lot of genres. You know, she started out as country, kind of made that transition to pop with really with “1989” little bit of hints there in “Red.”
 
[Heidi] And now she's kind of charted into untold territory after starting dating Travis Kelce. Got more people to know about the NFL. What would you say? Taylor Swift has ... how has Taylor Swift impacted society or pop culture?
 
[Olivia] Oh, gosh, I don't even know where to start. Honestly, I feel like.
 
[Emma] Just the impact is insane. Like, from any aspect, from whether it's like a small business she's bought jewelry from, like there's a page on Instagram dedicated to finding every single aspect of her outfit. And then you go to that website where she bought some of these, from, and it's sold out within minutes to an hour. And like, the Chiefs themselves have made so much money off of her, which is great.
 
[Emma] So, I mean, like, you know, like things like merch and tickets even. I'm sure Swifties have gone to Chiefs games and stuff too. So just profiting that and the NFL in general too, is something crazy impacted.
 
[Heidi] Mother/daughter or father/daughter relationships.
 
[Heidi] Yes. Yeah. With football.
 
[Heidi] Definitely. I definitely saw some Super Bowl commercials relating to that. Oh yeah. And I thought that was awesome. Yeah, yeah. What would you think is like kind of her biggest impact?
 
[Allison] I would just say like her fan base and how they all just gather around her and then also kind of just gather around each other. I think that's kind of unlike anyone else that I know. Like, yeah, that just really special.
 
[Heidi] Sure. One thing I always look at is like, I know music is sold differently today is like, how many records have been sold? And Taylor Swift is 34 years old and she's already sold more than 200 million records. She's really getting up there. I mean, at the top, obviously is like the Beatles and, people like that.
 
[Heidi] But she has a lot of time to really make up that momentum and close the gap, to really be the best selling artist of all time. And I think that alone really goes to show the impact of her music on people.
 
[Emma] I don't think she's stopping anytime soon.
 
[Heidi] For that impact. I think she's got time.
 
[Heidi] Yeah, that's for sure. So yeah, let's talk a little bit about her newest album, then “The Tortured Poets Department.” It really is, as it sounds, the title I the way I try to describe it to people is like, “If Edgar Allan Poe wrote music.”
 
[Heidi] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
 
[Olivia] I feel like if you put, like, Sylvia Plath, Edgar Allan Poe together in a room with Jack Antonoff, the same thing would happen.
 
[Emma] Yeah.
 
[Heidi] So yeah, that's fair. That's fair. What did you guys think this album was going to be about going into it?
 
[Olivia] I thought it was going to be a lot about her past relationship with Joe Alwyn, which there was chunks of that in there, but it was I expected it more like if “Folklore” had like “Red” production was what I expected, but that was not really the case. The “Red” production for some songs was pretty close, but it was not like what I expected.
 
[Olivia] Like “Folklore.”
 
[Emma] There were also no singles on this album, the earliest before that whole album came into the world. Like “Midnights,” there were no singles, right? We went in blind. Same thing with “Tortured Poets.” We had no idea what to expect. We didn't even know the genre. Like we had an idea, but we didn't know what exactly it would sound like.
 
[Emma] So it was kind of. I always think it's fun to kind of go and blind a little bit to see what's going to happen. So that was fun.
 
[Heidi] Absolutely. What did you what did you think before listening to any of it?
 
[Allison] I would just touch on like I had no idea what to expect at all. Just the name was like some something different than she's ever done. and I don't really know what to make of that so. But, yeah, you're definitely right. I think the, the songs reflect the album title. So yeah.                     
 
[Heidi] I'm kind of with you, Olivia. Definitely thought it was going to be a lot about Joe Alwyn because, wasn't that like a dig? Wasn't he part of, like, there was.
 
[Heidi] Like, you know what I’m talking about.
 
[Olivia] We’re getting into the lore now. There was there was a group chat of him and Paul Mescal, Phoebe Bridgers’ ex-boyfriend.      
 
[Heidi] I'm sorry. I don't know if you know.
 
[Olivia] Phoebe Bridgers’ ex something and someone else. I don't remember who, but it was called the “Tortured Bands Club.” And I don't remember exactly how like the public found out about that.
 
[Emma] I think it was in an interview that Joe did. Oh, really? That he said that that was the name of a group chat or something.
 
[Heidi] Sure. So. So I'm not crazy. I'm not making this up, honestly. Twitter will take you down a rabbit hole.
 
[Emma] Yes.
 
[Heidi] Oh, yeah.
 
[Emma] Whether it's a good or a bad one, you will end up somewhere on Twitter.
 
[Heidi] Sure. So, now it's been released. what? What did it end up being versus what you thought? I mean, it was a, it was a double album. Yeah, yeah, it's.
 
[Olivia] 31 songs.
 
[Heidi] Almost two hours of listening time.
 
[Olivia] I feel like what we're used to, especially with, like, “Speak Now” and in “Red,” it was very obvious who the songs were about. But I feel like this album was a lot more about how she felt, rather than what happened with Joe or what happened with Matty Healy, or what's happening with Travis. I think it's a lot more focused on this is how whoever did this made me feel, rather than this is what they did.
 
[Heidi] Sure. Yeah, definitely didn't expect there to be songs about Travis on there.
 
[Heidi] No. Nobody did.
 
[Olivia] I didn't, either.
 
[Allison] Were you guys expecting the double album?
 
[Emma] No, we I mean, obviously there was, you know, theories about some things coming because she those the peace sign that everybody kept. So like two something like people thought there was going to be like a 2 a.m. version, which technically there was, but it was a whole other half of the album, like “Midnights” with those 2 a.m. tracks, or people thought that it was going to be the rerecord of “Reputation Taylor's Version.”
 
[Emma] So yeah, something we knew, something was up, but we didn't know what until it happened.
 
[Heidi] For sure. we talked a little bit about the double album. In addition to that, there was also a track with Post Malone on there, “Fortnight.” Talk about that a little bit.
 
[Olivia] “Fortnight” the music video I've watched probably like 20 times.
 
[Heidi] Oh, really? Yeah. It keeps showing up on my YouTube and I haven't clicked on it yet.
 
[Allison] It's so good. It's good.
 
[Olivia] It's so good. But honestly, I don't, I don't even know what to say. The songs are good, the music videos really good. Post Malone, Post Malone and her voice is they their voices together just sound so good, I did not expect that at all.
 
[Heidi] Another person has a lot of range, Post Malone.
 
[Emma] Yeah, I.
 
[Olivia] Yeah.
 
[Emma] I've been a Post Malone fan for a long time and obviously like he started in rap and everything. He's still in that. But his collabs recently with like Noah Kahn and Beyonce you can he can sing.
 
[Emma] And especially like now with that Beyonce Noah Kahn and now Taylor like I love how he is experimenting with his voice and it's I think it's a really good collab and I'm excited for him to do more and see where that goes.
 
[Heidi] So for sure. Clara Bow. Clara
 
[Olivia] Bow. Clara Bow.
 
[Heidi] Clara Bow. Why is that significant?
 
[Olivia] Clara Bow is significant. Well, it's it's the closing track on the like, main album. And it's basically a song about how, like, no matter what Taylor does, someone is going to come after her and they're going to say, this person is the new Taylor Swift. And she started it out by saying that, like from Stevie Nicks perspective, they were saying, you look like Clara Bow in this light.
 
[Olivia] And then the next verse is, you look like Stevie Nicks in this light, the hair and the lips. And then it ends by saying, you look like Taylor Swift.
 
[Allison] Oh my God, she's never mentioned herself in a song before.
 
[Emma] It's felt illegal, like, for no reason.
 
[Heidi] Yeah.
 
[Heidi] “The Tortured Poets Department,” also known as “TTPD‚” is the first, long play in Spotify platform history to have more than 300 million streams in the same day. Why do you think that people really, like, flocked to this album to listen to it?
 
[Olivia] I think the Eras Tour had a lot to do with that, because she's gained so much popularity since like “Midnights” and tours and stuff. But I think people were just really excited to see what it was since, like the long track names and the long title of the album itself were not something she normally does. So I think it was a lot of like curiosity more than anything.
 
[Emma] And I think like at least for me personally, you, it took me a couple times to absorb everything and kind of try to figure out what she was saying. And so it takes that many streams to kind of tile the, stuff together and like, figure out what she's trying to say.
 
[Heidi] For sure. Why do you think so many people listened?
 
[Allison] I would just say the anticipation. I mean, everyone talking about it on social media, like it has been definitely trending. So, yeah.
 
[Heidi] Is there? I haven't gotten to listen to a ton of it yet. I probably only listen to like eight tracks. You guys have listened to it a lot. What's your favorite part?
 
[Olivia] I have like a group of favorite songs. I'd say if you haven't listened to, “Guilty As Sin‚” “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
 
[Emma] “Love of My Life.”
 
[Olivia] “Love of My Life.” “So Long London.” “So High School.”
 
[Emma] “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart.” Oh, my God, that's crazy.
 
[Olivia] So far, so good. “The Bolter” and “The Black Dog” are both really good, too.                        
 
[Heidi] Yeah, sure.
 
[Olivia] And then the man, “The Manuscript” is the closing track, which is so a little bit gun gut wrenching, but it's fine.
 
[Heidi] Yeah. Awesome. Anything else you want to add, Allison?
 
[Allison] Just like on the album or.
 
[Heidi] Yeah. Or in general.
 
[Allison] My favorite song was “Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?” I was like, yeah, that one's good. Yes. So I, I'd have to add that one. And that was my favorite.
 
[Heidi] Perfect. Thank you so much, Emma, Olivia and Allison for joining us today. This has been The Yellow & Blue podcast – SDSU’s Version. Thanks for listening.