Is Taylor Swift an Anti-Hero? A literary analysis
Taylor Swift’s song “Anti-Hero,” has been streamed almost 1.5 billion times on Spotify at the time of writing this. The song, which was released in 2022 on her album Midnights, tells the story of a narrator coming to terms with the fact that she is her own worst enemy.
That’s a familiar literary and entertainment trope that has been used to tell some of the most popular stories in recent memory.
Is Swift using the anti-hero trope correctly? In this article, I will take a literary approach to answering that question by analyzing the lyrics to her popular song.
Disclaimer
You'll see phrases like, "Swift explains her..." or "My very good person friend Taylor is saying that she...."
In other words, phrases that connect the song lyrics to Swift's personal behavior. It's just short hand. The lyrics could be in reference to her professional persona. They could be a product of the fact that she just had to find something to sing about in the Fall of 2022. Don't know. Don't care. I'm more of indie-folk person myself, anyway.
First, what is an Anti-Hero?
I wrote an entire article on the concept of anti-heroes in an earlier piece. You can find that here. Shows like Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, The Sopranos, Dexter, etc. have led audiences to assume that anti-heroes are villains who also happen to be the protagonists of their stories.
That is a fun way to use the anti-hero concept, but it’s not the only way. Strictly speaking, an anti-hero is simply a character who lacks conventional heroic merit. Perhaps they are cowardly, ungenerous or mean.
Here are some literary anti-heroes who are flawed, but not so flawed that they start a crystal meth empire.
- Jay Gatsby: Pursues wealth and status through questionable means, engaging in illegal activities to win back his lost love in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- Meursault: Emotionally detached and indifferent to societal norms, leading to morally ambiguous actions, including murder, in The Stranger by Albert Camus.
- Holly Golightly: Lives a superficial and amoral lifestyle, relying on charm and manipulation to navigate relationships in Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.
- Jake Barnes: Struggles with a sense of purpose and direction, engaging in self-destructive behaviors and complex relationships in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
Anti-heroes can transition into villain status. We see that in Breaking Bad as Walter White slowly loses sight of anything other than his desire for wealth and ego-validation. My favorite anti-hero transitioning into a villain sequence is from The Shining.
It’s easy to forget that the book starts with Jack Torrance truly trying to be a good man. He has demons. He hopes desperately that he can beat them. That conflict is what makes anti-hero stories so compelling in the first place. We are all flawed. We all hope we can beat those flaws for the people we love.
Jack, unfortunately, could not.
All of this is to say that the concept of anti-heroism is complex and rich. Let’s see how Swift managed to do it justice.
Failure to Progress
I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift
All of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room
Swift opens with a reflection on her failure to develop. Right away we have ventured into clear anti-hero territory. Remember that the defining attribute of any anti-hero is simply that they lack traditional protagonist qualities.
Overcoming personal flaws is the foundation of the heroes journey. I'd say we are off to a good start, Tay.
Self-Destructive Tendencies
I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
I end up in crisis (tale as old as time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I'll watch as you're leaving
'Cause you got tired of my scheming
(For the last time)
Oh man! A great anti-hero follow up. Anti-heroes almost without fail drive the people closest to them away precisely because they can't overcome their flaws. So far, Swift is covering the basics well.
Her Own Worst Enemy
It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
At tea time, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
Not a clue what she means about tea-time. The rest of that is surprisingly good. An anti-hero bold enough to stare at the sun but too ashamed to look at themselves in the mirror tracks.
I'm analyzing these quotes in real-time. So far I'm pleasantly surprised.
To summarize--It's me, hi, I'm the problem it's me--is the slogan for the annual anti-hero conference, hosted in Toronto each year. Good pull, Tay.
Ummm
Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby
And I'm a monster on the hill
Too big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite city
Pierced through the heart, but never killed
Hahahahaha WHAT?! Ok. So people who talk about, think about, use the phrase "sexy baby," generally fall directly into villaindom. They don't pass go. They don't collect their $200.
I gave it a Google. Apparently the line is a reference to a minor beef Swift had with Tina Fey back in 2013.
Either way, this passage falls flat for me, both lyrically and in the anti-hero context. Anti-heroes are not monsters--that's kind of the whole point. And they are often killed. What do all of your favorite television anti-heroes have in common? They died before they were eligible for Medicare.
Huh.
I have this dream my daughter in-law kills me for the money
She thinks I left them in the will
The family gathers 'round and reads it and then someone screams out
"She's laughing up at us from hell"
Not a lot to go on here. Nothing very anti-hero about estate planning.
Conclusion
Say what you want about the song, Swift captures the trope pretty well. We definitely venture into weird territory toward the end of the song when Swift chooses tea times with sexy babies and contested wills over seeing the trope through.
Ultimately, though, I'd say it was close enough for government work.