People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine

By: Alex

Graphic by Alex.

Taylor Swift is one of my favorite human beings. I love her because the music she writes and performs is her, at her finest yet most vulnerable. Her songs are about how something or someone made her feel and how she’s a better person for it. What makes her unique is the fact that she learns lessons from these hardships, so she turns a negative into a positive. She’s not just complaining about her life, she’s singing to an audience that relates to her music, and through it, find an outlet to overcome what plagues them.

Taylor’s not afraid to speak her mind, and I really admire that. The perfect example of her courage to ‘speak now’ is her sassy masterpiece, “Mean.” Taylor wrote “Mean” about a critic who absolutely hated her, and as she does with everything else in her life, she decided to write a song about how he made her feel. But what is so great about this song, is that it’s become so much more than a song about a critic; it is a power ballad against any bully that has ever brought her down, and that’s something everyone can relate to.

Bullies come in many forms. They can be as stereotypical as a dramatic, two faced teenager who makes your life hell as you grow up. Or a bully can be someone different, someone who doesn’t call you names or leave you out of the group, but instead, someone who doesn’t believe in you. These are bullies in the real world—people of authority who won’t give you a chance, people who take advantage of your talents, people who disregard your feelings at a chance to make them look better.

I’ve had many people tell me I couldn’t amount to anything, and that really hurts. There is something so encouraging about knowing that someone has faith in you; it really gives you more confidence and drive to accomplish what you want to. But when someone condemns you, when someone refuses to respect your dreams or talents without even giving you a chance to prove all you can be, it takes motivation to a whole new level.

When I hear a nasty comment from someone, whether they are insulting my writing, my intelligence, or just my personality, I think of Taylor’s song. When I hear these insults, I want nothing more than to prove to all those people one day that I have amounted to something so much greater than they could have ever imagined. I don’t want to get revenge. It’s nothing malicious. I just want to show them that they were wrong for not having faith in me.

Taylor’s “Mean” has become so much more than a song about a pretentious critic. It is an anthem to anyone who has ever doubted her. It’s a kind, subtle, and classy middle finger to all the haters saying, “You didn’t believe in me, and look where I am now. And what do you have? Nothing.”

There is just so much truth and righteousness in this line, “someday I’ll be living in a big old city, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean.” She says it perfectly. One day I’m going to do great things, and move on and become a person I’m proud to be, an it doesn’t matter if you believe in me or not. I’m going to get there. And once I realize my dreams, you’ll still be mean. You’ll still be stuck in an unhappy, lonely place.

And, man, isn’t that satisfying; knowing you’ve become someone great, despite what everyone else might say, despite your past. That’s when you truly know you’ve accomplished something. I can only imagine the pride and fulfillment that Taylor feels each time she sings this song at a concert. I know she’s smiling because she knows there’s someone out there watching who didn’t believe in her. And it must be great for her to know that she made it just fine without them.