I think every girl has heard Taylor Swift’s “Never Grow Up” and has cried to it at least one time. If you haven’t heard it or haven’t listened to it in a while, please do because you won’t regret it. However, you may just a tiny bit only because there’s a pretty good chance you’ll either be tearing up or fully crying.
I remember hearing this song for the first time while I was in 8th grade. Throughout the song, Taylor tells the story of the life of a young girl and Taylor is telling her to never grow up because things could stay so simple so no one can hurt her or break her heart. In the beginning of the song Taylor sings about a baby who has not a care in the world because she has no regrets and everything is funny to her. Then she proceeds to the next verse talking about how the girl, now 14-years-old, is embarrassed at her mom dropping her off at the movies and I could completely relate to this at the time. At this age, the part that would touch me is when she says “Don’t make her drop you off around the block. Remember that she’s getting older too.” I would listen to this song periodically throughout high school and it would hit me this same way each time.
In the second half of the song Taylor sings about how the girl should memorize what her room looks like and what it sounded like when her dad got home because one day she will realize that everything she has is going to be gone. I could never really relate to this part but of course, I knew what it meant. I never thought that day would come where I needed to do that, memorize what my room looked like and what it sounded like when my dad got home from work every day.
In the final verse she sings, “So here I am in my new apartment in a big city, they just dropped me off. It’s so much colder than I thought it would be so I tuck myself in and turn my night light on.” This part of the song also never resonated with me until when I recently played it. Just months ago I was dropped off in a dorm to live on my own and study in the city of Philadelphia. In a few short months I will be moving into an apartment there and then I really will be alone in a big city.
It’s scary to me that I’m now at the point in my life where I can relate to this song in its entirety. Just as Taylor says, life now is not so simple. I have been hurt and had my heart broken. I do wish I never grew up. I’m having the time of my life but while I’m at school I do miss hearing my dad come home every day. I do miss going up to my room at night and being in my complete comfort zone.
Every time I see my little cousins I wish I could tell them how important and sentimental their childhood is. I would also tell them to cherish each second, but looking back now, there’s no way of understanding how important a moment is until after it happens. Everything that is important to us becomes a memory and to me, my childhood is something I hold so near and dear to my heart, that I would go back in a heartbeat if I could. It’s okay though because the days must pass on and we all must grow up. Taylor eloquently sends the message that what lies behind us are the memories we will never forget and those that are after us will inevitably learn the same lessons on their own even if we don’t want their hearts to be broken and their lives to become complicated.
