It is impossible to have a 15-minute conversation with Rob Sheffield If Taylor Swift. Don’t even try. It takes at least an hour.
The Rolling Stone journalist has covered Era’s Tour superstar since the start of her 18-year career, and his encyclopedic knowledge of her personality, stardom, business savvy and record-breaking albums takes time to unpack. And that doesn’t explain too much rumination on his Easter egg-based theories about when she might release “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” or “Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version).” He jokes that he’s been wrong before.
In Sheffield’s new book “Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music,” the author writes the singer’s story similar to one of her albums and tells a cohesive story with many layers, emotions and characters. Every detail is considered. The book is a rollercoaster to be devoured in one sitting, and by the end he somehow leaves you wanting more.
The book’s title refers to a lyric in “New Romantics”, Sheffield’s second favorite song behind “All Too Well”.
“She has this unique ability to write deeply personal songs that also feel universal,” he says over Zoom. “The idea of ’heartbreak is the national anthem’ is a community rallying behind the flag of total devastation, total isolation and total loneliness. The song creates a kind of sensibility where people who feel rejected and discarded and ignored can come together as the nation. , a mythic Taylor Nation.”
In 244 pages, Sheffield sums up Swift’s career and foreshadows her legacy.
“Nothing like Taylor Swift has ever happened before,” he writes. “There is no equal to her in history. In 2024, she is at the peak of her fame, her cultural and commercial impact, her amazing output, her artistic powers. But she has been at this level for eighteen years.”
The 6’5″ author is hard to miss at concerts and can be self-conscious in front of kids, but no matter what he looks like, he captures the magic with his reporter’s notebook and blue Bic ballpoint pen.
“The same one I’ve been using since high school when I carried a notebook in my pocket all the time,” he says. “And of course I carry around six of them in my pocket until they explode and leak and turn my keys blue.”
Sheffield’s thoughts are brought to life in Rolling Stone magazine. He is covered each of Swift’s albums and concerts. Before an album is released to the masses, Sheffield is one of the few writers who gets to hear the songs, and the Brooklyn native has done so in Swift’s Tribeca home. When an album comes out, he buys the cassette version and walks the streets of Manhattan.
“She released ‘Folklore’ on cassette – it sounds good on tape because side one ends with ‘This Is Me Trying’, so right after the music fades out, with the finale ka lump of the band that ends dead,” he writes.
The book contains laugh-out-loud moments and stories that will make you go, “Aww.” One in particular is the vulnerability he shares when writing about “The Archer.” The song reminds him of his mother who passed away shortly after the album “Lover” was released.
“You hear a song like ‘The Archer’ and you’re like, ‘How did she do this? How did she know? Is it that obvious?’” he tells me over Zoom. “She has this uncanny ability to find these emotions in anyone with a song.”
Readers may be surprised to learn that even Sheffield has no idea about the singer’s next move. Swift moves like an enchanting enigma, always leaving her fans in a constant guessing game about when she’ll make announcements and what’s next. He also self-deprecatingly admits that with each era, he believes Swift may have peaked. But she somehow continues to find a new Everest in the Swift realm.
“When will I learn?” he laughs. “I’ve been adjusting my expectations throughout her career.”
“Heartbreak is the National Anthem” is released on Tuesday. You can pre-order book for $27.99.
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