3 Taylor Swift Songs About Anxiety
There’s a reason Taylor Swift “is the music industry” and popular with so many people! (Yes, I am a self-proclaimed Swiftie) She writes and sings songs that really connect with people’s experiences, and her songs can relate to a lot of areas in people’s lives. A major theme throughout Taylor Swift’s music is when she is vulnerable with her mental health. Her relationships, being famous, or just human experiences are some of the things that have impacted her mental health and have come out in her songs. Listed here are three of her songs that have some themes around anxiety. Take a moment to listen to each song and see what other connections you discover yourself… as Taylor is known for all of those hidden messages!
Out of the Woods
“Out of the Woods” immediately jumped to my mind when I think about a song that represents anxiety in Taylor Swift’s songwriting. In the song, she sings about being in relationship that was unhealthy, and how she had to keep pushing to make the relationships work. The lyrics “are we out of the woods yet?” and “are we in the clear yet?” get repeated A LOT, and this is similar to when we feel anxious or worried, we feel trapped, lost, overwhelmed, and stuck in those thinking patterns. We also wonder when we will feel better, feel safe, and secure. Then, as she is looking back on the relationship, the lyrics “Looking at it now, it all seemed so simple” and “The monsters turned out to be just trees” just like when we are feeling anxious in the moment, the problems and worries can feel so powerful and scary. Then, when we look back on it, we can see things clearer. She also sings “I walked out, I said ‘I’m setting you free’” which can mean it’s about someone or something we are letting go, and the power we can have over those stories that are connected to triggering our anxiety.
Delicate
In this song, Taylor Swift appears to be singing about being in a new relationship, and is having anxiety about wanting to do everything perfectly so it continues to go well. This can tie with anxiety/perfectionism when we are trying to do our best with something new, or something that is important to us. In the refrain she says “Is it cool I said all that? / Is it chill that you’re in my head? / ‘Cause I know that it’s delicate” which is similar to the overwhelming pressure about not wanting to make any mistakes. Our anxiety can make us doubt how we see ourselves and how others see us, and anxiety wants reassurance in-the-moment that everything is “chill”. Taylor tries to be in the present moment with this person and set aside her worries about what could potentially happen with being vulnerable in this new relationship, which works for anything new or scary we are embarking on!
Anti-Hero
In Taylor’s most recent hit single, she sings about how her life has become so big and overwhelming that she no longer feels like a person. I think this song is definitely about a lot of different areas of mental health such as depression, low self-worth, anxiety, imposter syndrome, etc. In the end, with all of those pieces going on, it would be very anxiety triggering to feel so exposed to other people. Even though this song is Taylor directly saying how she feels about herself and her own insecurities as an international pop-star, I think we can empathize with some of the lyrics she sings in the song. Lyrics such as “I wake up screaming from dreaming / One day I'll watch as you're leaving / And life will lose all its meaning” which relates to the things and people we hold dear to us, and the fears we might be abandoned, we could lose something precious, or the person has this sudden realization they no longer want to be in our lives. The lyric, “I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror,” is also about the fears of looking at ourselves and seeing what is reflected, and not liking ourselves.
What other Taylor Swift songs stand out to you that might have themes around anxiety? If you’re not a Swiftie, or Taylor Swift isn’t your jam, what other artists or songs do you connect with when you experience anxiety? Any artist or songwriter can not only help us identify what we are feeling and help us feel validated, but they can be healing as well.