"It's hard to imagine a world in which Taylor Swift didn't eventually get married. Perhaps no artist today has an identity tied as closely to the idea of a forever love as hers is. So the Instagram announcement yesterday about her engagement to her boyfriend of two years, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, felt existentially fitting, even preordained."
"Swift has been writing songs that look ahead toward marriage since she was a teenager. "Mary's Song (Oh My My My)," from her self-titled debut album, released when she was only 16, tells the story of two childhood best friends who grow up to marry each other and still exchange loving looks when they're 87 and 89. Her early radio hit "Love Story" ends with a proposal."
"References are strewn throughout most of her 11 albums: "I want you for worse or for better"; "You and I go from one kiss to getting married"; "I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings." (Kelce did not ask her to make good on this promise- her diamond ring is both shiny and humongous.) Her song "Lover" is so commonly played at weddings that it has a "First Dance Remix.""
Taylor Swift's public identity and songwriting have consistently centered on enduring romantic love and the idea of marriage. Early songs like "Mary's Song (Oh My My My)" and "Love Story" explicitly narrate proposals and lifelong devotion. References to marriage and wedding imagery recur across her eleven albums, and "Lover" functions as a frequent wedding first-dance choice. Personal life developments now include an engagement to Travis Kelce. Swift continues to prioritize a demanding career, recording new music between lengthy Eras Tour performances. The tension between sustained ambition and the prospect of married life appears repeatedly in her career narrative.
Read at The Atlantic
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