Growing up the Taylor Swift way

Taylor Swift is now 23 years old. She has been a hot-selling artist for six years. And she is now at that stage when she has to make crucial changes in her music, her looks and even how she conducts herself before the public. She is ripe for growing up. The question now is how should she grow up? The answer might seem easy but it is really not. 

Not when you consider that she has to do it in front of millions of people from all over the world and with a career worth lots of millions of dollars on the line. Should she be like Miley Cyrus as in get an edgy hairdo, put on black lipstick and wear bondage gear in her effort to ditch Hanna Montana? Should she be like Carrie Underwood who maintains a blonde, wholesome country image with a couture wardrobe? 

Judging from the contents of her new album Red, I do not think that Taylor has already made the choice. She is instead taking things easy and allowing the growing up to happen naturally. Wise girl. This way she can still date a boy from the band One Direction and not get compared to Demi Moore. So she remains a wide-eyed romantic.  Broken-hearted at times but still amazed by her discovery of new emotions that her young following can easily relate to. Now for the sake of those kids, don’t you just wish that every young pop star would start thinking the way Taylor does?

Despite her cagey attitude towards assuming maturity, Red also spells a milestone in her career. It is her first true pop album. She has transcended her country roots and is now ready to claim her pop crown. It is not just good pop. It is a well-made album with cleverly executed melodies and lyrics that dig into the subconscious. We Are Never Getting Back Together Again did that in one week’s time and gave Taylor her first pop No. 1 single. The even stronger I Knew You Were Trouble will surely cement her position. And I see another big favorite in The Lucky One.  

With Taylor’s big splash into the pop genre, I now see big changes that could affect not just the hit charts but also the image of girl singers nowadays. Admit it, despite her propensity for often changing boyfriends and then using them as themes for her songs, Taylor has remained a wholesome example to her fans with a sweet smile and the always appropriate wardrobe. The description refreshing is cliché but that is what she is, a refreshing sight and sound we should see and hear more of.

Also included in Red are State Of Grace, Red; Treacherous; All Too Well; I Almost Do; Stay Stay Stay; The Last Time featuring the hip rock band Snow Patrol; Holy Ground; Sad Beautiful Tragic; Everything Has Changed feat. British singing sensation Ed Sheeran; Starlight; and Begin Again.

And as 2012 comes to a close, here are the biggest hits of the year in the US as per Billboard Magazine’s Year End Charts: 

Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye feat. Kimbra; Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen; We Are Young by fun. feat. Janelle Monae; Payphone by Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa; Lights by Ellie Goulding; Glad You Came by The Wanted; Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson; We Found Love by Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris; Starships by Nicki Minaj; What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction.

Wild Ones by Flo Rida feat. Sia; Set Fire To The Rain by Adele; Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO; Some Nights by fun.; Wide Awake by Katy Perry; Good Feeling by Flo Rida; Whistle also by Flo Rida; One More Night by Maroon 5; Drive By by Train; and The Motto by Drake feat. Lil Wayne.

The top albums are 21 by Adele; Christmas by Michael Bublé; Take Care by Drake; Red by Taylor Swift; Up All Night by One Direction; Tailgates and Tanlines by Luke Bryan; Babel by Mumford & Son; Talk That Talk by Rihanna; Tuskegee by Lionel Richie; El Camino by the Black Keys; Believe by Justine Bieber; Own The Night by Lady Antebellum; Under The Mistletoe also by Bieber; Blown Away by Carrie Underwood; Here And Now by Nickleback; 19 also by Adele; Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay; Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits by Whitney Houston; My Kind Of Party by Jason Aldean; and Some Nights by fun.

Let us all hope and most of all pray for a blessed and peaceful 2013. Have a happy New Year.