Mine by Taylor Swift (Song Analysis 1)

From the small town of Wyomissing,Pennsylvania, emerged one of the best country singers of the twenty-first century, Taylor Swift. Had she not have made that risky journey to Nashville when she was 11, the grace of her music would not have been enjoyed by the world like it so popularly is today.Both singer and song writer she started off her career playing at local businesses and singing national anthems like many others had started out but, something was special about her and that is why  Sony/ATV Tree publishing house signed her as the youngest staff member to ever be hired. Her hit song “Mine” was leaked to the public weeks before its arrival on the sound track Speak Now and within weeks became number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. She has a way of making her lyrics reach out to her listeners and many can relate the lyrics with experiences they have dealt with. Swift’s song, “Mine”, depicts the narrative of a young couple falling in love and how the girl learns that not all stories are bound to have the same ending along with rhetorical devices that help reinforce what Swift is saying.

Swift’s song starts out with the lyrics, “ You were in college, working part-time, waiting tables” (Swift, 1-3), which begins the narration of her story. Another subtle hint that it is a narration is when Swift says, “ This is what I thought about”(Swift, 6-23). She is using the first person point of view and she is prying into her own mind telling you of her past and what events have gone on before the point in which she is at in her life. Swift uses the persuasive device of alliteration to completely emphasize the meaning in, “ Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts” (Swift ,2-6). In her own personal opinion and through person experiences she cannot get a grip on why people put the effort in falling in love with someone when all she has seen is the decline of it in relationships as she was growing up. When talking about the beginning of the young loves romance, “You put your arm around me for the first time, You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter”(Swift,4-12), she is making sure there is emphasis on the words careless and careful. The words are of value because she has became a careful person due to the fact of how her father was careless and that tore the family apart and cause her to have trust issues.Another essential rhetorical device is that of Anaphora as seen in, “ You learn my secrets and figure our why I’m guarded, You say we’ll never make my parents’ mistakes”(Swift, 5-17). The repetition of you shows that she has on intent and that is to tell her story to whoever “you” is. They know of her families bad past with relationships and promise that this time things will be different and she will see that there is no reason for her to put up a guard.

Swift took a huge step away from her normal love story songs with happy endings and wrote with a whole new aspect. Instead of it being about her either having bad or good relations with a guy, she went into why, when she found the first perfect person she had to hold back and let fear get in the way of her being happy. It was risky for her especially because there was a change in her vocals and she had become a sensation to Americans due to her original vocal stylings.Even though she changed herself not only as a person and song writer but in her vocals, she still has the natural talent to win over the ears of all of her listeners.

lyrics-

Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh

You were in college, working part-time, waiting tables
Left a small town and never looked back
I was a flight risk, afraid of fallin'
Wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts

I say, "Can you believe it?"
As we're lyin' on the couch
The moment, I can see it
Yes, yes, I can see it now

Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?
You put your arm around me for the fist time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Flash forward, and we're takin' on the world together
And there's a drawer of my things at your place
You learn my secrets and figure out why I'm guarded
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes

But we got bills to pay
We got nothin' figured out
When it was hard to take
Yes, yes

This is what I thought about:

Do you remember, we were sittin' there, by the water?
You put your arm around me for the fist time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you remember all the city lights on the water?
You saw me start to believe for the first time
You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Oh, oh, oh, oh

And I remember that fight, two-thirty AM
You said everything was slipping right out of our hands
I ran out, crying, and you followed me out into the street

Braced myself for the goodbye, cause that's all I've ever known
Then, you took me by surprise
You said, "I'll never leave you alone."

You said, "I remember how we felt, sitting by the water.
And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter.
She is the best thing that's ever been mine."

You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter
You are the best thing that's ever been mine

Do you believe it?
We're gonna make it now
And I can see it

I can see it now