So you are overwhelmed by all of the Taylor Swift coverage in Good lord, this is a book

I didn’t have any original sense for Taylor Swift at all, and the first thing which became clear about her as I (arrived years late to the seeming party) was that she is absolutely grand at selecting guest performers for her concerts.

Of course the key to luring big stars who might be willing to pause at your concert for just a single song, is to become really big yourself, so that helps her. But still, lots of the guests you might see in YouTube videos from Taylor Swift concerts really hit the spot for lots of people.

Then you pause to wonder just how/why it is that she appears to be so nice to everyone, and observe that everyone is so moved by (nearly everything Taylor Swift does). (certainly not limited to the eyewitness accounts of those super-fans occasionally invited in well-choreographed groups to one of Taylor’s homes - also to be found on YouTube)

Well I just saw this ancient YouTube video today, for the first time ever… about teenage Taylor Swift being somebody’s surprise Prom Date at his own senior prom in Tuscaloosa, Alabama: (ostensibly because Taylor never got the “Prom” experience at her own school)

Long before “Travis Kelce”, and even before the “redhead named Abigail” became semi-famous as a central character in the almost-campy early-Taylor tune called “Fifteen”, that video (42 minutes duration) chronicles the path of some lucky guy who auditions and wins a (seemingly random draw done by Taylor) to be his prom date. Ever-present Abigail even tagged along and got a date herself.

The core take-away from the video is that Taylor Swift really IS that nice.

(and the video, filmed in 2008, serves as a line in time which lets you witness her on film long before most of her fame arrived)

She was raised in rural-ish Pennsylvania and didn’t move to Nashville until she was about 14, so it is probably more solid Swift family upbringing than it was “southern hospitality” which her fans can thank for her genuine ways. Although it probably didn’t hurt to be in Tennessee when her popularity began to really rise.

I can only imagine that those merely in attendance at that prom made what is essentially an “investment” (of the non-monetary sort) IN Taylor Swift, and that they are nearly all still elated by the experience they had more than 15 years ago.

Just sayin’…

Last updated December 27, 2023