Taylor Swift. The Country turned Pop star with the multiple US Itunes peaking singles was at first kind of too country-ish for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like some country music (like Shania Twain’s) it is just that I associated Taylor with sappy love songs about heartbreak and fairy tale love stories, the types of themes that I don’t really relate to, making me focus more on Pop tarts like Katy Perry, Rihanna and Lady Gaga who had more of a Pop/Rock/R&B edge to their musical outputs. There were some Taylor recent ones that caught my attention but not that full-on like “Blank Space”, “Style”, and “Wildest Dreams.”
But it was one song of hers that I listened to just recently that has made me really say to myself, “Oh Taylor has a good head on her shoulders.” That song was the single, “Mean” from her 2010 release, Speak Now. “Mean” when it came out back then only appealed to the Country music audience and had reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. It won Grammy awards for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012. Additionally, the magazine, Rolling Stone ranked “Mean” at number 24 on its list of the 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time which is a high position for a song that was released in this century.
Some further information on this song. According to Wikipedia.com, “Mean” was Taylor’s snapback at people who constantly criticize her actions and her music. She is quoted as saying: “there's constructive criticism, there's professional criticism, and then there's just being mean. And there's a line that you cross when you just start to attack everything about a person.” When I read those words of hers on that site, I immediately had a newfound respect for her and have decided then and there to buy her products and become a stan of hers on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. If there’s a thing about me people don’t know that much about, I am an enthusiast and I will go out of my way to promote promising people and influence my friends and families to support those people because they deserve it.
Now what is it about “Mean” that makes me cry every time I hear it? Why, it’s its lyrics and accompanying music video’s outlying message against bullying and against being a “spiteful, vicious, hateful person.” I have both been a victim and a meanie in my life so I am not trying to say that I am all saint and pure here. I have learned a lot of lessons and have felt many regrets over the course of my life here on this precious earth that I find this song of Taylor’s very well-thought out and just sincere. Here are some of the lyrics that speak to me:
“You, with your words like knives
And swords and weapons that you use against me
You, have knocked me off my feet again,
Got me feeling like a nothing
You, with your voice like nails
On a chalk board, calling me out when I'm wounded
You, picking on the weaker man…”
There was a time in my life when I was a foolish young adult where I would spew really hurtful and angry words at family relatives never stopping to consider the consequences that may come out of them being spoken out loud. I felt that Taylor was singing about me being “mean” and that the person on the receiving end would forever know me as a bad, no-good person because honestly, I am not. I do have a heart and I do have compassion it’s just that when anger gets the best of me, all the trash and debris that has piled up in me would come out and I am someone who really sucks at holding it in while angry. I mean, that was back then. That is why I cry still to this day when I listen to “Mean” over and over because so many people that I have said harsh words to have gone on to become greats while I am left being the loser without a life. (And it sucks like hell!)
However, I was also a receiver/victim myself because anyone who knows me from childhood knows that I was “different” and “awkward” as a child and so I was the butt of jokes and jeers during P.E. at school and the dreaded afterschool trip towards home. I remember hearing derogatory names directed at me from kids on school buses as I walked home every day. I would always feel afraid and nervous that some “bigger, stronger” kid would throw something from the bus at me or embarrass me in broad daylight. Haha. Anyway, back to the song: here are further lyrics from “Mean” that I can relate to as a receiver/victim:
“You… and your humiliation
You have pointed out my flaws again
As if I don't already see them
I walk with my head down,
Try to block you out 'cause I never impress you
I just want to feel okay again
The part where it says: “I walk with my head down, try to block you out ‘cause I never impress you…” really is about me and how I would do that to avoid looking into my bullies’ menacing eyes.” How I just want to block all that aggressiveness and just smile and laugh it away as just an unfortunate part of life that will eventually corrode with time. I commend Taylor so much for this song because she’s right. When you are a meanie, you will be known forever in life as a bully and a sorry, waste of humankind specimen that is probably suffering at the moment while the person who was your victim has gone on to better things in life. In short, it’s never good to be labeled a “meanie” by someone else because what usually happens is the victim will triumph later while you the meanie will be the loser in the end. That is usually the case or you the bully will always hold feelings of “guilt” for the rest of your life. So thank you Taylor for your “Mean” song and video.
