T-Swift And The Problem With Hardened Hearts

I think the most cringe-worthy moment of 2017 was the moment I heard Taylor Swift's new song "Look What You Made Me Do." 

Okay, so hear me out. Tswift is my girllll, and her songs were the anthem to my teen angst; so I'm not going to sit here and bash her as a person or her new sound or how she's not the same, etc. Music artists change their sound/style all the time, and there's not much you can really do about it. Am I a "Teardrops On My Guitar" over "Blank Space" kind-of-girl? Yes, but irrelevant.

My concern here is for this twenty-seven year old girl's heart and the message she projects to people all over the world. 

Taylor Swift is probably one of the most (if not the most) well-known name in pop culture. This girl has had some crap happen to her, and she's done some crap to other people. Regardless of what's true or how I feel about her personally, her song gave me actual anxiety just by listening to the lyrics. She openly claims to write music from personal experience, so we know these words come from her heart. 

Here are some of the most concerning lyrics to me:

"But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time

Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time

I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined 

I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!"

"I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me

I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams"

These words scream bitterness and a hardness of heart. 

Something I realized is that we are living in the middle of a culture that is now glorifying these feelings. Our culture is advertising a persona that is hardened and callous to emotion and feelings and giving us an excuse to act how we want because it's just "who we are." People, especially girls, all over the world will be claiming this song as an anthem to their hurt and pain while never receiving the healing their heart needs. 

Standing up for yourself and being a strong, independent woman doesn't mean your heart can't be soft and overflowing with the capacity to love. 

I actually think this song is the direct opposite of the way we're called to live. 

Where did we get the idea that having a soft heart is weak? My prayer is that our hearts would be soft, not to be a doormat, but with compassion.

That we would love hard and love deep. 

That we would be so committed to loving that we are willing to risk pain and discomfort for the sake of a self-sacrificial love. 

That we would be willing to offer forgiveness not because someone deserves it, but for freedom. 

If my purpose is to love people as Jesus does, I'm going to use Him as the perfect model. In His life, we see Him love so deeply to the point of enduring the cross. We see Him forgive, even lay down His life for people that hurt Him. He is someone that people trusted and looked to for grace. 

I'm sorry, Tswift, but this song feels like I'm singing something over my life that contradicts the way I want to live. 

Most people would say this is just a song, not meant to be taken so seriously. And you're right, I do know it's a pop song that will fade in and out with the times. I'm not going to judge anyone for listening/loving this song; it's got a catchy beat. But for some reason this one struck a chord with me. Music is something that has had an influence and made a difference in my life, and I couldn't let this song be one of those differences. 

In the mean time, my prayer is that we would be sensitive to the things we feel and aware of what we let influence our lives. 

And my prayers are with Taylor... not that her music would return to the good ole days (we can only hope ???), but that her heart would grow soft and strong and beautiful again.