"Tear Drops on My Guitar" by Taylor Swift
Reviewed by: Josh Meares
Note: We focus on reviewing songs, and therefore cannot comment on the appropriateness of the album in its entirety. Please use your best judgment whenever purchasing or listening to music.
The Artist
Taylor Swift was born in 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her family recognized her gifts early and moved to a suburb of Nashville in order to give her the access to musicians, songwriters, and studios that she needed. Signed to Big Machine Records in 2006, her first single, "Tim McGraw," was an instant success and her self-titled debut album followed suit. Taylor Swift writes (or co-writes) all of her own songs.
The Album
"Teardrops on My Guitar" is one of three top 10 hits from her debut album. The others are "Tim McGraw" and "Our Song." Taylor writes catchy tunes with good lyrics. She admits that her favorite type of song to write is "bittersweet." If you enjoy that type of song, you'll like this album.
The Song
"Teardrops on My Guitar" is a new rendition of the age-old "girl loves boy who loves another girl." The song has a poignant flow to it, and Taylor's breathy vocals make it believable. She describes where the song came from: "I used to have a huge crush on this guy who would sit there every day talking to me about . . . another girlÑhow beautiful she was, how nice and smart and perfect she was. And I sat there and listened, never meaning it any of the times I said, 'Oh, I'm so happy for you.' I guess this is a good example of how I let my feelings out in songs, and sometimes no other way. And I've never been afraid of using names. I love this song because of its honesty and vulnerability. To this day, they are still together and he has no idea about this song."
Being a teenager is almost synonymous with having strong emotions: love is passionate, breakups devastating, and betrayals epic. And that is all okay; it is part of life. The problem with "Teardrops on my Guitar" is that Taylor spends all of her energy on a crush.
Lyric: "Drew talks to me, I laugh 'cause it's just so funny,
But I can't even see anyone when he's with me"
Lyric: "He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar,
The only thing that keeps me wishin' on a wishin' star,
He's the song in the car I keep singin', don't know why I do"
Whenever a guy (or a girl) becomes your primary reason for doing anything, your life has fallen out of balance. Listen to Jesus' words: " 'Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?' Jesus said to him, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.' " (Matthew 22:36-38)
Being obsessed over a crush is a widely accepted part of our culture, but that does not make it right. The teachings of Christ are revolutionary! God should be our primary motivation for everything we do. Whenever we "fall in love" so deeply that we are distracted from Christ, we are committing the sin of idolatry (worshiping something other than God).
We need to concentrate our passions on God and his kingdom, not on the cute boy or girl sitting in front of us in Chemistry. If you want to value the kingdom of God the most, then spend yourself serving it. My encouragement to you is this: Be passionate! But do not use up your strength and passion on things that will not last.
Proverbs 31:3 says, "Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which ruins kings."
Instead, be passionate about Christ. Be passionate about spreading the gospel, about helping the poor. Be passionate about using your gifts in the church. And God will take your passion and use it to do something amazing.
Questions
- Are you in a relationship with someone or obsessing about someone right now?
- Is that costing you a lot of time or energy?
- Is it distracting you from your true mission: to love God with everything you've got?
- Is it possible to stop having a crush on someone? How? Does Matthew 6:19-21 help?