Taylor Swift on How a Sense of Humor Has Fueled Her Survival
It’s clear that Taylor Swift doesn’t like when people take cheap shots at her. Just last year, the Grammy winner used her Twitter platform to call out the Netflix show, Ginny & Georgia for making a “lazy, deeply sexist” joke at her expense. And in January of 2022, Swift called out Damon Albarn for claiming she doesn’t write her own songs. But Swift isn’t afraid to use other tactics to deal with the criticism she receives. The multimillionaire has used humor as a coping mechanism more than once.
Which one of Taylor Swift’s songs began as a joke?
Swift has certainly played with humor in her music. In fact, one of her most popular songs started off as a joke. Swift actually penned “Blank Space” in response to the media’s speculation about her dating life. During that time, the tabloids claimed that she was going through men at rapid speed, dumping them, and then writing a song about them. In response, Swift took back the narrative by writing a song from the perspective of the media’s portrayal of her.
The ‘All Too Well’ singer feels humor is important to her survival
Swift has been open about how important humor is for her. This is especially true since she’s spent most of her life in the spotlight. In an interview with Nashville magazine, the “hoax” singer got candid about why she has to find certain things funny.
“I think you have to really tap into your sense of humor in order to survive,” Swift shared. “Going through the amount of scrutiny that your life is looked at when you’re performing for millions of people, when you’re on TV, when you’re putting out records and everybody has an opinion about it, you have to think certain things are funny.”
Swift has experienced less criticism since she started poking fun at herself
Swift also revealed that she’s learned that if she pokes fun at herself, other people will do it less frequently. “And you have to be able to make fun of yourself, and that’s one of the things that I think is a new development for me: not taking things too seriously and when people make fun of me, just laugh at it,” she said. “And, thankfully, in doing that, I feel like lately less people are making fun of me.”
One way Swift invoked her sense of humor to lessen criticism was through her music video for “Shake It Off”. For years, Swift was occasionally mocked for the way she danced. So, the “Blank Space” singer made a video where she leaned into being a bad dancer. When she was mocked for the “surprised face” she made when she won awards, she included it as a bit in her music video for “Look What You Made Me Do.” Those are just two examples of how Swift has managed to utilize humor to flip the script. Clearly, she’s having the last laugh.
