The Review RVHS Issue 2: Vol. 2 Vol 2 | Page 10

By: Jean McCelland 1989 “1989” is Taylor Swift’s full “coming out” into the realm of pop music. Being her fifth album, her full transformation from a drawling, Nashville princess of country, to a young woman who’s experienced the weight of living is fully evident. Conceived on the front doorstep of the city that never sleeps, Swift reached a pivotal moment in her life where she dropped everything to move to New York. Her journey through the highs and lows of her new life are presented in a way that’s catchy, yet carrying underlying weight along with it. If you say that you’ve never wanted to dance to “Shake it Off”, then you, dear reader, are a liar, caught red-handed. This song just calls for the impromptu dance solo, and I have yet to see someone resist swaying to the beat. Yet, the track is acknowledging the fact of the opposition she had faced throughout her 10 years of making music. The background music in “Out of the Woods”, although “poppy” in its essence, is what completes this track. 10