Swiftly Declining

Earlier this week, I commented on the responsibility of Christian parents to be gatekeepers not only of their own minds, but of their homes, as well.  We have to protect our own hearts and minds and reject the ungodly influences that our culture is offering us today.  This is a key to spiritual growth, so we are not corrupted by the ways and the ideas of this world. Proverbs 4 (ESV) contains these words:
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.

The first line of an article at USA Today is quite telling, and maybe even a bit surprising: "Parents may want to press pause before blaring Taylor Swift’s new album around young listeners."  These are the words of the publication's National Trending News Reporter, Melina Khan, who could be regarded as a pop culture expert.

Khan writes:

Eight out of the twelve songs on "The Life of a Showgirl" are labeled explicit, marking the most Swift has sworn on one album in her career.

Songs marked explicit mean their lyrics include swear words or other vulgarities. Generally, even if the original version of a song is explicit, artists will create a "clean" version without profanities so that it can be played on the radio.

This has been a progression for Swift; Khan writes, "Swift, whose fans span children and adults alike, excluded swear words on most of her early albums. She first cursed on 'Reputation' in 2017, with later albums like 'Folklore' and 'Evermore' including more explicit songs."  Swift has released a version of the album without curse words.  Of course, as Khan points out, there is sexual innuendo present, even in the "clean" versions of certain songs.

That's from a secular publication.  What did Plugged In from Focus on the Family have to say?  Reviewer Jackson Greer writes: "In tempering her characteristic poetic angst, Swift’s attention shifts to revealing admissions of what romance looks like now that she’s found 'the one.' This largely gives way to crude descriptions of how the two lovers carry out their romance behind closed doors."  Greer adds, "Swift’s romantic worldview has fully devolved into the explicit and profane, and in its reflection it’s easy to see what should evolve out of true love is the exact opposite."

Greer also stated: "Perhaps Swift genuinely attempts to point to the entertainment industry’s tendency to consume young women and profit from their artistic gifts until they no longer garner enough attention anymore. But what’s more evident throughout this album is Swift’s doubling down on an increasingly sexualized perspective of relationships and true love."  He continues:

To her, romantic love has always been the pinnacle of a young girl and young boy’s journey in life. Now that she’s claimed to finally find it, you’d be forgiven to think she might finally be done with her forlorn poems about heartbreak or the vulgar diss tracks aimed at ex-boyfriends and rival popstars.

But clearly not.

In case listeners and viewers have not witnessed Taylor Swift's decline into debauchery, it is apparently on full display here.  And, after snagging the hearts of young girls with her bittersweet pop melodies of so-called "love" gained and lost, those girls have grown up and are raising another generation of Swifties - and that's very concerning.  And, parents must take responsibility for the content that their tween and teen daughters are engaging with - and have the hard conversations, not to mention responding to the Holy Spirit's conviction about exposing oneself to that material.

But, the potent, lethal combination of abundant profanity, sexualized content, and the teen angst that apparently still exists in her music, has the potential to warp the minds of not only young ladies, but adults who still consume the corrupting material that is so readily apparent.  We have to allow the Holy Spirit to govern our entertainment choices - words and images do, I believe, carry spiritual forces and impressions - and if we have what is called a "check in your spirit," then it is important to hear what the Lord is saying.  Philippians 4 offers us the criteria for Biblical thinking - we must all consider if what we allow into our minds measures up.