Fiona Apple singing Alanis Morissette. Granted, the only Taylor Swift album I have seriously listened to is Folklore, and, at my daughter's insistence I have watched the film Long Pond Sessions. And, my gut insists this is Fiona singing Alanis. The cadence, the writing, some intonation, the emotion, the controlled anger. Listen to track 6; Mirrorball. “I --- want --- you to know.” And after verbalizing this epiphany I went online and discovered the Alanis / Taylor duet of “You Oughta Know” from August 24, 2015. And I was intrigued by the similarities between Fiona’s “Criminal” video and Taylor's “Lavender Haze” video. Not to take away from Taylor. From my limited exposure I have gained respect and I am looking forward to one day listening to Evermore. But I believe my discoveries might help substantiate the argument that in some ways Taylor Swift is overrated. Or perhaps I just want to make that argument.

I have long maintained there is too much credit and too much blame and not near enough accounting for circumstance. It is circumstance that leads to opportunity. And yes, there is readily available anecdotal evidence for bootstrap pulling but big picture, with more than 8 billion statistics, it is anecdotal: i.e. “based on personal observation, case study reports, or random investigations rather than systematic scientific evaluation.” I hate to say what I am about to say, so I will preface that with this: within my limited exposure, Taylor Swift appears to be serious about what she does and (if this is consistently the case) she deserves credit for it. Now for that: Taylor Swift provides hope to those with very little hope. The reason I hate to say that is because I may be interpreted as attacking her fan base and I may have created an adversarial dynamic in which, if I had any readers I would likely lose some. But I know very little of Taylor's background and I believe that a great many, (a fairly large majority) of us, not just Taylor Swift fans, (whether we will admit it or not), have very little active hope. I believe what I am actually working to do, whether Taylor is a product of her circumstance or an anecdote, is to contrast her work ethic with her acclaim. The fact, (again, if it is a consistent fact), that she is serious about what she does, for me substantiates a small degree of her accorded devotion. And because all 8 billion plus of us are confused and divided humans seeking answers, there are far worse products/anecdotes in which we could invest our hope-filled energies. A vicarious sort of hope is better spent following serious effort than it is flocking to rabble-rousing rhetoric. But better yet would be that aforementioned active hope working to change the status quo. Perhaps Taylor could use her swiftie sway to refocus energies toward wider-reaching Beauty, Truth, Wisdom, Justice. Wider-reaching…

Of course it is absolutely easier to jump on a bandwagon than it is to stand up to a bully; meaning it is easier to become a fan, a groupie, an acolyte, than it is to independently work to save the world. And if you can be a successful musical artist, like, say, I don't know, for example, Taylor Swift, why would you want to trade that comfort and security for the headaches and heartaches of fighting villains? Yet I can't help but imagine what might happen if Taylor traded her singer / songwriter Cape for that of a Superhero, and called for Swift Justice.

Enough of dreaming the (if not impossible) highly unlikely. Whether Taylor began as a product or an anecdote, I am comfortably confident she has become a product and will remain so. I will never be a successful musical artist, I will (likely) never have a fan base or groupies or followers (and if I did I would have to seriously question my direction), and though I am also (so far) completely unsuccessful in my efforts to save the world, like Taylor, I am serious about my work. And that counts for something. Right Taylor?