T Swift Concerts As a Worship Experience
Sacrilege, or just... true?
Every single writer and podcaster seems to be talking about Taylor these past couple of weeks — so much so that I almost forewent this post because I really hate doing what everyone else is doing. So, my caveat for this week is that I SWEAR the only reason this post is showing up is because I watched the Eras concert a few weekends ago because my spouse was busy prepping for a funeral and I had lots of time to myself! 🙈
You may recall from a prior post that I confessed to getting really into Taylor Swift recently. The one update from that post is that I think I’m officially a Swiftie, where for every song of interest I listened to1 (which is most of them), I’m immediately going to Reddit to get other Swifties’ opinions of the meaning of the songs. I still refuse to be embarrassed about it, even if it’s the most mainstream thing I’ve ever done. 😂 I’ll also acknowledge that all the kerfuffle with the Grammys and Super Bowl and being the talk of the town has now made me significantly less interested in it all. Sigh.
Anyway, as part of my special interest, I finally got around to watching the Eras tour concert on a streaming service. Ok, I watched it 1.5 times (it would have been twice but it’s 3 hours long, it only rents for 48 hours, and I can only start after 8pm). It was an EXPERIENCE. And I wasn’t even there! I was just sitting on my couch!
I have written before about wondering if I have ADHD (oh! Now I realize why I just went off on a rabbit trail about “ADHD testing near me” and taking a random quiz…). Anyway, I don’t sit still well to watch things, and when I do watch them, my attention tends to wander quite a bit. But I was glued to my sofa, singing along to every song, for the whole 3 hours. And it made me realize…
What if the Taylor Swift concert — and this could be anything from the fandom surrounding her to the literal concert itself — is a type of worship experience?
If you’ve stuck with me this long, you’re probably not afraid of a little sacrilege, so I’ll assume we can do a little deep dive together. Also, I’m far from the first person to write about this2, but I came to this worship/Swift experience on my own. It seems we’re just naming a cultural phenomenon we see unfold around us!
Music & Group Singing
First, obviously, is the music component. You know how when you’re in the evangelical space, you assume your powerful emotions in worship are due to the direct connection you’re having with God? But then — maybe you allow yourself to explore more “secular” music, or go to a really great non-Christian concert — you realize that it might have been more the music aspect than the god aspect. Music is an essential part of cultural and religious rituals. There is something in the magic of a good beat, a catchy melody, and meaningful lyrics. And what that “something” is? I think it’s a little subjective.
This will be Taylor Swift-specific, but I think you could also substitute the artist of your choice that you’re wild about. And let’s imagine you could also substitute these artists… for a church worship service.
In these experiences, you’re surrounded (physically, or in my case, watching them on the screen) by fans that have the same passion for the object of adoration as you do. But it’s not just about the object of adoration — it’s about the whole culture that emerges from this experience. There’s a common understanding of the shared texts (be it song lyrics, or scriptures). There’s an awareness of how one shows up to the gathering place (be it football stadium / concert arena / megachurch). You know if you should be bringing your friendship bracelets and hearts, or your Bible and journal.
And when you go to these services — or concerts — you have the full expectation that you will be moved by what is going on. Evangelicals generally expect to “feel God” in church (and worry if they don’t experience that subjective feeling). Most concertgoers won’t say they feel God in those spaces, but they sure expect to have an emotional experience — otherwise you might as well stay home and listen on Spotify for free!
Reading Sacred Texts for Meaning
Once I began my deeper dive into Swiftdom, I realized that the committed fans have a whole ecosystem that revolves around understanding her lyrics, tracking the details of her love life, and searching for “Easter eggs” [clues] that hint at what her songs are really referring to, and what might be coming down the pipe next.
Do you recall the days of reading your Bible, looking for references to other verses? Of reading the “proof” in Matthew that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah, and then cross-referencing with various verses from Isaiah? After my days of being a good evangelical, I instead becoming a progressive, text-critical Christian. I spent hours, and I do mean hours, poring over the Pentateuch and taking careful notes in my Bible’s margins about what ancient group likely authored this or that particular verse3.
These ecosystems have a whole culture of their own. I’m sure you, like me, can hear “church speak” from a mile away, and you will instantly clue into whether that person is “a believer” (ughh that phrase felt and still feels so gross) or not. Likewise, in Swiftdom, there are key phrases that are used, cross-references that are made, assumptions that are held, that all indicate you’re one of the Swifties. Its own sort of “believer,” if you will!
The Undeniable Whiteness of It All
Many writers and podcasters4 have been touching on this topic recently: how Swift represents a particular white kind of femininity. She writes about girlhood, but it’s a middle/upper-middle-class, privileged, white girlhood. She may be the only person to have won 4 Grammys for Album of the Year, but it’s been 25 years since a Black woman won Album of the Year, period. If we’re willing to be challenged, there’s a lot to look at there.
Likewise… evangelicalism is a white-centric religious cult5. It centers the white experience, assumes Euro-centric, Western, white values, and actively works to support those values and beliefs above other belief systems. We might even call it a supremacist system.
But the other thing it tends to do is erase the Black Christian experience. Even to exvangelicals themselves, many forget that there are versions of Christianity that exist beyond evangelicalism, and Black / African American Christianity is A Whole Thing in itself.
I confess I have very White Liberal Person taste in music. I love myself some indie / folk / rock sounds (which is why I favor the folklore and evermore albums, followed by Midnights, yes). I could just stay in my little white person bubble and forget about other music that exists. And ya know — even if I don’t enjoy the other music in the same way, I can at the very least appreciate its cultural significance and what it means to other people.
Seeing god in all things
There’s plenty of ways to draw negative comparisons — or just talk negatively in general — about Swiftism and evangelicalism. But I’m curious what we might find if we focus on what these cultural movements say about us as humans — as beings living on this planet, having some kind of spiritual experience, whether we acknowledge it or not.
I think we can see that we crave connection with others. There is something magical about group gatherings with a united purpose. We long to have our experiences be known and named. And our feelings, subjective as they are, can drive much of what we think and believe.
And possibly — it’s possible to find g/God, the holy, the sacred, the transcendent — in the notes of a song, the lyrics that bring you to tears, or in the screams of concertgoers. Just maybe.
Not gonna lie, if someone would like to converse with me in the comments about YOUR favorite song… some of my current favs are ivy and evermore and how they seem to both be referencing Emily Dickinson, especially ivy and its gay love story ugghhh so good!!!!
One of the first posts I read about this topic was by
about the Taylor Swift Shrine, which I read before I was a Swiftie and now I love it even more. 100% recommend you flip over to it if you’re into this stuff!If this makes no sense to you, don’t worry… I can be an unusually quirky and intense individual at times, and my foray into Old Testament / Torah biblical criticism was a fierce hyperfixation for a little while!
See, for instance, the recent Code Switch podcast: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1197954664
Do I mean “cult” in the pure sociological use of the term?? Or… do I not? (I bet you know)
Very perceptive article, Christine. You really get to the heart of a powerful spiritual topic in your last paragragh: "There is something magical about group gatherings with a united purpose." Highly spiritual people say spiritual energy flows powerfully among the crowd and performer at any event where people's emotions or spirit are engaged, especially when music is performed. (Barbara Brennan, Hands of Light, pg. 91))
I love this. I’ve just begun to be Swift-curious (I’m late to every party), so I’ve been watching YouTube videos (my algorithm is now 90% Swift) and I’m like “ah, I get it! Why is her persona affecting me like this?”😂
I love the way this piece illuminated my evangelical experience though. I had powerful social desires that I attached to the church, and served the church passionately for more than 20 years, before I finally realised, down to my bones, that my desires were not the same as the dominate social desires that formed the church. And I’m still working it out—what was it I wanted? Why did the church seem like the perfect receptacle for these desires? And what was it everyone else wanted? Why did we want such different things, but share so much of the same language?
while I don’t shy away from critique of the movement, I love approaching these questions from a place of curiosity, rather than assuming my desires were uniquely pure and everyone else’s were corrupt.