Nothing New by Taylor Swift

Context

Nothing New is a pop song by Taylor Swift that was released in 2021 within the album Red (Taylor’s Version). The song discusses Taylor’s journey through her quick instant fame in the music industry. Through the lyrics key messages like insecurities, jealousy and the feeling of being underestimated are conveyed. This makes us feel as if we are not alone in this journey as others including Taylor Swift can relate.

Insecurities

In the song Nothing New, the psychological theme of insecurities is constantly repeated. In each chorus Taylor uses the line, “And will you still want me, when I’m nothing new.” This lyric being repeated throughout the song emphasises the idea that the insecurity of being replaced with something new is following Taylor around. This feeling of insecurity is a common psychological theme seen throughout many humans. Everyone has some sort of insecurity and in this case it is the fear of being replaced by someone newer and better. With an insecurity we often feel as if we must conform to our fear. As someone who has a huge insecurity about their style, I find myself always trying to improve my style. Whenever going out I always plan my outfits ahead of time with an influence from people on social media. Although conforming to our insecurity is not necessarily bad, it is draining.

In Taylor’s example, she prevents herself from being replaced by reinventing herself to seem like something new. Although it is a draining process, it seems as if this reinvention is necessary to keep up as a female artist in our society. We have seen many female artists not reinvent themselves resulting in them being quickly discarded by the music industry and being replaced. So is the reason that artists like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish are so popular due to them constantly changing their appearance and vibe of their music? In this case insecurities seem to benefit the artist and keep them wary of their changing status of fame. However ,should female artists really have to conform to this insecurity or should the music industry just change their perspective on female artists? And should we have to keep conforming to our insecurities or should society change to cater to our insecurities?

Jealousy

As the song is hugely based on insecurities, the lyrics also carry around the feeling of jealousy. Taylor discusses her jealousy based on her experience seeing younger artists become so successful. In her song, she talks about her jealousy for a young female artist, “She’ll know the way, and then she’ll say she got the map from me/ I’ll say I’m happy for her, then I’ll cry myself to sleep.” This young girl finds inspiration in Taylor while Taylor finds jealousy in her. This is a regular occurrence as older artists become ‘outdated’ and feels as though the younger artists have acquired a better grasp on the audience. Taylor feels grateful to be the inspiration for success but she also feels jealousy as younger artists start to catch up with her success that she has worked so hard and long for.

I find this reasonable and relatable as although I am not famous, I do participate and compete in sports. For athletes, watching younger kids who were inspired by you start to compete at the same or even higher level than you, can be very disheartening. I often feel jealous watching younger girls start to compete at the same level as me, this is because I feel as if I have worked harder and longer than them just to be at the same level. Although jealousy is a common psychological emotion, it can be quite toxic. Jealousy often roots from your own insecurities. The feeling of jealousy can sometimes be small like being jealous of someone’s phone, but it can also be a scary emotion which can disrupt your mental health or others.

Being Underestimated

Taylor also addresses the problem of young people not being taken seriously in her song, Nothing New. This is a common incident in society as many adults underestimate adolescents just because they have not had the same amount of life experience as them. Taylor discusses her treatment as an adolescent in the spotlight saying she feels as if society expects young celebrities to know nothing but everything at the same time. Although this is a common feeling for adolescents throughout society, it shouldn’t have to be. I know many teens find it very frustrating when they try to have an important conversation with an adult but they just dismiss them due to their age.

For some conversations as young people, we may not have all the appropriate experience or knowledge to participate but there are many conversations where our opinions are valid. The stereotype for teens is also very off putting and incorrect when trying to start a conversation with adults. Since teens are known for being ‘moody’ and ‘overdramatic’, our opinions are often pushed aside due to inaccurate portrayal of our emotions. The feeling of being underestimated is very frustrating and makes us feel incompetent. Overall being underestimated gives people low self esteem due to constantly having your emotions and opinions invalidated.

(@taylorswift)

I found this song to be very relatable as a teen as it discusses many common events through the journey of growing up. Nothing New was beautifully written to convey the ideas of insecurities, jealousy and underestimation in a new light. I think many people who relate to these ideas will like this song as it will help them feel less alone knowing others relate including Taylor Swift herself.

How did you interpret this song?