My Date With the Secular / Why I Stopped Listening to Taylor Swift Music

Eh, another controversial post! Beware. :p

That being said...

If you had known me in 2009, you would also know that... I adored Taylor Swift's music, my favorite song of hers was Love Story and that I loved nearly all of the songs on her Fearless album. I could also list out the songs to avoid - those with questionable content or a swear word (yes, there are a few songs of hers with not-so-pretty words in them). I figured I was a pretty good Christian girl - I fastforwarded the questionable songs on my CD and didn't buy them iTunes. But despite this attempt to distance myself from the more dangerous aspects of listening to secular music, I was obsessed.

Honestly, Taylor Swift seems like a genuinely nice person. She has charm, sweetness and talent. Being able to bemoan or romanticize my feelings about guys in the form of singing along with Taylor seemed the perfect outlet to be able to express my feelings. She seemed to have the perfect song for every occasion involving a young man, and some friend / family-oriented songs too which I used to justify the excess amount of romantic ones I put through my mind. Even so, I began to feel a little uneasy about my obsession.

At the same time I was also obsessed with FaceBook and while I was chatting with one of my friends, I finally told her something like, "I wish I didn't like Taylor Swift music so much." My friend suggested I go on a fast from Taylor's music, and told me she that would fast, too.

It began indefinitely. The fast was tough, but completely worth it. Though a month or so later we agreed to end the Taylor-Swift-abstinence, I didn't go back to her music with as much fervor and obsession as before. Now, I don't listen to Taylor Swift music much at all and tried not to listen to her latest CD, Speak Now at all, mainly because I didn't want to hear the songs and get the tunes in my head.

An interesting phenomenon...may I call it an antithesis? I was looking through my 2010 photos for a certain pic I thought I had saved on the computer of my TS CD, and I found this one instead. It's my Taylor Swift CD... with my purity ring. Now I'm not saying Taylor's music necessarily impure or anything like that, it's just...an interesting picture that I decided to take. :p

Now I'm not saying "You should never listen to Taylor Swift music!" or, "I hate Taylor Swift!" As I said earlier, she seems like a sweet young woman and I don't deny that she has a great voice or talent. I simply thought I would share my little story about when I dated the secular world of music...and why I broke up with it. :p I still listen to some secular artists, several romance songs, and occasionally even Love Story. But I do know that music is very powerful. What we put in our ears often enters our thoughts and our actions. I would just like to remind you to be discerning and to be very, very careful. I would rather miss out knowing all the words of the latest hit than regretting it later. I know we have different levels of convictions. Some Christians only listen to Christian music; some listen to the top hits right alongside their favorite Christian artists. And that's not up to me to judge.

However I just want to encourage you to be careful what goes in your ears or flows out of your speakers into your room. Music can be gorgeous and also moving. Let's not let it influence us in the wrong ways. Remain open to what God is telling you, and closed to what the world is shouting at you. While dating the secular world will only result in heartbreak, spending time with the real Prince will only bring joy.



"Klarabelle"