Playlist Prompt #4: "Shake It Off"

Hello, friends! Today's prompt, courtesy of Kelsey, is the song "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift.

I assume that, unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard this song before. If you're anything like me, however, you might have never really listened to the lyrics. I confess that even after listening to the song several times over the last four days and watching the music video for the first time this morning, I didn't really get it.

Then I watched some behind-the-scenes videos. In them, we get Taylor's commentary on the song and video, along with many takes of her trying out a variety of styles of dance. 

In the song, Taylor talks about how to respond when people say nasty things. In essence, her advice is "shake it off," but there's more to it than that. She talks about how important it is to dance to your own beat and not spend time worrying about what other people say.

The video itself goes into this on a deeper level, showing Taylor dancing with a variety of different groups (ballerinas, modern dancers, rhythmic gymnasts, cheerleaders, etc.). The catch is that she's not good at those types of dance! She stands out. She doesn't fit in. And that's the point. It's not until the very end that she finds her group where even her silly dancing looks cool, because no one is judging her. She can dance to her own beat without needing to impress anyone or worry about what they might say.

Here are my takeaways:

-Be yourself, no matter what others say.

-Be silly and have fun.

-Set your own goals and work towards them because you want to, not because you need to prove anything.

Here's my favorite Taylor quote from one of those behind-the-scenes videos I mentioned:

"A lot of people who I think will relate to this song are people who are dealing with not ever really feeling cool with themselves because other people make them feel like they don't fit in. ... I don't think it's the most important thing in life to fit in. I think it's the most important thing in life to dance to the beat of your own drum and to look like you're having more fun than the people who look cool, like they fit in. "