The Whoa Oh Oh Feelings of Taylor Swift

by Leila Brillson

There’s a moment in the TV series The Bear when the irascible divorced dad Richie Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is clinging on to his tenuous relationship with his little daughter and, as she leaves him standing on her doorstep, he calls after her apologetically, “I love you! And Eva… I love Taylor Swift too. I just needed a break.”

But later in the same episode, when he has tapped into his hidden passion and the narrative has turned, Richie blasts through the streets of Chicago, shouting the lyrics to “Love Story,” one of Taylor’s most saccharine but gratifying ear worms. This is the nature of Taylor Swift. Billions of listeners, from the besotted to the casual, know by now what she is. We know who it’s for. But that doesn’t make her any less efficient in soundtracking our triumphs and heartaches.