Taylor Swift, world renowned singer and performer, has yet again released another album, certain to top the charts. Swift has had a rough few years-battling approved content usage with celebrity couple Kim Kardashian and Kayne West, dealing with a crazed stalker on multiple occasions and being ridiculed by the public and her own peers-enough to make one surly and mad. However, that is the opposite of how Swift’s new album comes off as. Instead, while listening to her latest tracks, I felt like I should be flying on the back of a unicorn, eating pink swirled cotton candy and talking to a cartoon bunny. I felt lively. I felt soft, gentle and free.

Swift’s target fan base consists of middle school kids, which would explain why many of her lyrics take such a juvenile turn. She sings in  “Paper Rings” about how she “likes shiny things, but [she] would marry you in paper rings.” It’s not to say that her songs contain childlike material, but they often have a youthful spin. One of the singles off the album, “ME!, featuring Panic! At the Disco’s Brendon Urie, Swift sings a line saying, “Hey kids, spelling is fun,”, a jovial childlike line that song’s meaning is promoting self-confidence. Now, there are other songs on the “Lover” album that take a childlike tone to show the story they’re telling, and they do so quite well. In “It’s Nice to Have a Friend,”- the simplicity of the starting lyrics, “School bell rings, walk me home, sidewalk chalk, covered in snow,” use those child like tenses to create a  picturesque tale of two kids spending their lives falling in love with each other that’s backed by an incredible score. Even though “Lover” contained lots of material that had me feeling like I was back in sixth grade, without question there were many tracks that I was fond of. 

“London Boy” had me starry eyed, thinking of handsome British boys with sweet accents, cute smiles with dimples and bright, forest-like eyes. I also enjoyed track No. 5, often quoted to be the most emotional; “The Archer” swept me up into a whirlwind-to yearn, to dream, to wonder if you’re good enough or even able to truly feel love; Swift hit all of those emotions in one. She has a secret storm hidden within her, full of creativity and strength. While there is absolutely no denying that Swift nails being a sparkly, pink fairy princess, you can tell there is more to her. In truth, if you dig a little bit deeper, you’ll find an artist who bares a soul of deeper, more powerful skills and a force of lyrical intensity.