With the Chiefs' victory in the Super Bowl, Taylor Swift's grip on American culture continues to tighten. To quote the article that introduces her, she is: Time Magazine's Person of the Year“The World's Main Character.”
Some on the right are claiming that both the NFL season and Swift's season are over. Rapid rise From mere stardom to imperial majesty beyond the observable universe, it is part of a carefully choreographed “operation” to secure a second term for President Joe Biden.
Other conservatives mercilessly ridiculed the idea that Swift was a puppet dancing on a bridge. invisible string of the liberal elite. Such conspiracy theories, they say, only feed Democrats by making the right-wing look like a bunch of weirdos.They are Point out (Understandably) Swift's relationship with Travis Kelce has conservative undertones. The path to political and cultural victory, they argue, is to abandon random contrarianism and “have regular contrarianism.” (Related article: Taylor Swift and friends go wild as Kansas City Chiefs win)
Now, what I'm trying to say here is that you don't have to be “normal.”because “Normal” is a moving target And the people running it have no love for conservatives. You cannot win even if you try to exceed the standard. We win by cultivating weirdness that is more appealing than society's distorted normalcy.
To that end, I recommend the following: Reject Taylor Swift. Hug Lana Del Rey.
Reject Taylor Swift's bland pop-liberal 'Miss Americana'
Embrace Lana Del Rey's dark, gritty, rusty-toothed, moss-skinned vision of American empire.
— 🥀🖤🥀 (@_smert_miru_) December 7, 2023
Certainly, there are similarities between the two. Musically, Taylor has been heavily influenced by Lana since 2014's Wildest Dreams, and they both write beautifully about longing and heartbreak.Even for two people collaborated on a track About Swift's latest album. They sat together at the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl.Both have no children, are unmarried 30s. Both are politically liberal.
Lana's real name is Elizabeth Grant. voted for Biden Attended in 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and may have even tried it Place the hexagon About Donald Trump. (Related: Could Taylor Swift spark the next American baby boom?)
But even though Swift and Lana share similar political views, their political temperaments are very different.
in 2019 “You need to calm down.” Swift advises anti-gay deplorables who would “rather go into the dark ages” to “just don't do it.” Her concerned tone reveals her disdain for anyone outside of her right-thinking environment. Those who oppose progressive orthodoxy are incapable of having any kind of legitimate grievances or real inner life. They're just outraged by the idea of women and LGBT people living authentically. No further analysis is required.
Lana is more sympathetic. When asked about the Capitol on Jan. 6, he said: riotShe attributed it not to malice or stupidity on the part of Trump supporters, but to a general sense of alienation and the accompanying need for “extermination.”
“I think people need to reevaluate what is strange and what is not strange,” she told an interviewer shortly after the riot. “Just like you watch people storm the Capitol, everyone can watch it and figure out which Capitol they stormed this year in their own crazy lives.”
For several months in 2019 and early 2020, Del Rey dated Sean Larkin, a police officer and host of “Live PD.'' told the New York Times He said he and the pop star were “hanging out with friends in law enforcement and their spouses” in Tulsa. For a liberal billionaire pop star to enjoy the company of a down-to-earth crew of grizzled cops in the nation's second-reddest state suggests a kind of generosity of spirit. (With her love, she looks to the reddest state in the country in 2023, “Take me home, country road.” Strictly speaking, though, this song is about Western Virginia, not West Virginia. )
She recently posted on Instagram holding a handgun and was later spotted at a shooting range. Taylor would never do that. Lana queerbaits conservative fans the same way Taylor queerbaits gay fans. both fandoms Become an expert in a difficult field strauss read. (Related: Image of Lana Del Rey holding a gun sets the internet abuzz)
This is more than just a shooting range, it's Taran Tactical in So Cal province. Here, secretive, conservative celebrities go out shooting under the guise of “preparing” for a movie or music video, but really they just don't want to get shot. A fancy cocktail party has been “canceled”. Open secret… https://t.co/PWmYyOZSSk
— 𝐄𝐝𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 😏 (@EdmundSmirk) February 8, 2024
Another part of Lana's interest in the low-status and right-prescribed aspects of American culture was her decision to feature megachurch pastor Judah Smith on her latest album.Smith has a traditional view of the Bible About sexual moralitythat wouldn't have made him a starter for most pop stars.
But Lana isn't most pop stars. Despite the criticism she received (and expected), Del Rey dedicated the entire song to Smith's sermons, which examine love, desire, human insignificance, and divine creativity. In Taylor's songs, God appears only occasionally. metaphor or (in her early days) rural work) Remaining genre indicators. (Related: Your favorite pop star is probably working on a country album)
Lana simply loves America, Americans, and Americana, and cannot share Taylor's solipsistic snobbery. She loves beatniks, beach bums, and trailer trash. “Tulsa Jesus Freak”[s]” At the same time, you can indulge in upper-middle-class aspirations and ennui, the cocktail set of a boozy suburban neighborhood straight out of Mad Men or a John Updike novel.She sing about “There were chemtrails in the sky above the country club.” She's not doing it to point out that chemtrails are a dangerous far-right fantasy or that country clubs are bastions of white cis-hetero patriarchy.
Lana also has no interest in playing the role of a girl boss. Swift was praised for lyrics and accompanying songs such as “I'm tired of running as fast as I can/Would I get there faster if I were a man?” Music video The film she directed is a supercut of Tumblr's feminist grievances.
Del Rey, on the other hand, embodies a radically different idea of femininity, which is why she routinely faces backlash. in 2020 Instagram postShe said she often plays a “submissive, passive role” in relationships and that women like her should be represented and affirmed, not forced to assert themselves in a way that is not natural. It is written.
Lana doesn't shy away from expressing a level of understated dedication that most feminists would shy away from. She knows what men want to hear and she doesn't mind saying it.in one early singles, she imagines a man who would “hug me in his big arms” as her friends endlessly swirl through marriages, divorces, and remarriages. She tells him, “It's all for you and everything I do,” and invites him to “go play video games.” In other words, I feel safe when I'm with you. I know you are a good person. You don't have to constantly nagging me to reassure me, and I don't mean to belittle your efforts. Go and relax. Don't feel any guilt about it. (Related: ROOKE: Give young women masculinity for 30 seconds and watch feminism melt away)
Conservatives can be heard singing out loud the lyrics to Swift's “All Too Well,” “Back to December,” “Love Story,” “Betty,” “22” and other hits. You shouldn't be ashamed of being seen. She is a talented songwriter and has an amazing range of work under her belt.
But for discerning right-wing aficionados of pop music, Lana's favorites include “Young and Beautiful,” “Born to Die,” “Coke,” “Love,” “Arcadia,” and “Bartender.” We encourage you to sample some of the works. “Grant”
she has to borrow Wordsworth's wordsa “more inclusive soul” than Swift, and inferior to Swift. narcissistic. She sees more of the world around her and empathizes with it more deeply. She stands further apart from modern orthodoxies, which allows her to see them from an oblique perspective.
Lana may not be voting for Trump or donating to the Heritage Foundation any time soon, but her music has certain qualities that have been abandoned or flattened out in Swift's work. A universal yearning is preserved within it. Lana poses questions for which true conservatism can provide real answers. Taylor, not so much.
Grayson Key is the editor of the Daily Caller.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
