Everybody Loves Taylor

I went to an elementary school talent show recently; Mattie, my friend Shelly's daughter, sang and danced to a song from High School Musical with two of her friends. All biases aside, they really were one of the best acts. The judges must have agreed, as Mattie and friends placed first in the 4th grade (OK, it was probably out of two or three other 4th grade acts, but still).

Out of 22 overall performances, several little girls sang solos. As one might expect, there were a couple rambunctious renditions of Miley Cyrus songs. However, the majority of solos were of Taylor Swift songs. I have to admit her melodies are cute and catchy, but holy cow - I didn't realize just how popular she is. I decided to get one of her CDs from the library to see if Gabie also enjoyed her music.



When I was 7 years old, I don't remember really being interested in music. Perhaps it was because all my mom had in her brown four-door Eagle was an 8-track player, and she wouldn't have likely had all the popular tapes (I seem to recall singing Tom Jones' "What's new pussycat" at some point). I actually think it took me another year or so to really get into the latest and greatest bands, such as Men at Work, The Police and The Stray Cats (I believe Quiet Riot was a few more years still). A far cry from a bubblegum country-pop princess...but, I digress.

Saturday was the perfect day to listen to some good music. It was sunny and warm, a rare day in Nashville of late, and we celebrated by driving with the convertible top down on the way to the park. After playing to our heart's content, we hopped back into the car and I slid Taylor Swift's debut CD into the player. Gabie sang almost every song word-for-word. I should have known! Taylor certainly has some appeal, with her squeaky clean girl-next-door image and songs about young love, and I like that I don't have to worry about Gabie singing very adult lyrics while (hopefully) not knowing what they mean. Plus, she writes most of the songs herself.

I went ahead and requested Taylor's other album from the library, and am looking forward to hearing Gabie belt out her version of "Love Story." Who knows - Taylor might have even found another fan in me.