You Need to Calm Down

You Need to Calm Down 

Taylor Swift is one of my all time favorite artists. And even though she has a large amount of people who don't like her, her fame is undeniable. While she has had a few controversial topics surrounding her (think Kim-Kanye drama and the sexual harassment lawsuit), she has usually been quiet about her personal life, excluding the boyfriends. Regardless, she only recently came out to talk about her personal views surrounding political policies including supporting the Equality Act which would amend the Civil Rights Act to include the prohibition of discrimination based on sex-stereotypes. With the release of her new album, Lover, Taylor tackles discrimination against the LQBTQ+ community in her song "You Need to Calm Down". While the majority of her latest album is love songs about her latest beau, Taylor speaks her mind about other societal issues like the current state of our political world in "Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" as well as gender stereotypes and discrimination in "The Man". Since I love Taylor so much, those deserve their own posts. So let's dive into the colorful world of "You Need to Calm Down".

You are somebody that I don't know

But you're takin' shots at me like it's Patrón

And I'm just like, damn, it's 7 AM

Say it in the street, that's a knock-out

But you say it in a Tweet, that's a cop-out

And I'm just like, "Hey, are you okay?”

This first verse highlights how people hide behind online profiles when they call or bully other people. Taylor calls out how ridiculous it seems that people can say offensive and rude things over the internet but in real life they would never say that; and it happens all the time. 

And I ain't tryna mess with your self-expression

But I've learned a lesson that stressin' and obsessin' 'bout somebody else is no fun

And snakes and stones never broke my bones

Her response to people who are so upset over people who are different than them: we're not hurting anyone. People waste so much time bringing others down for no good reason; plus the people that they're trying to bring down are already above that and it doesn't break them down like they might hope. 

So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

You need to calm down, you're being too loud

And I'm just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh)

You need to just stop

Like can you just not step on my gown?

You need to calm down

I love that in the chorus she changes the pronouns. Look at the emphasis on "my gown", in the next chorus verses she uses "his" and "our". She is unifying herself and taking a stand with people, acting like a good ally.  

You are somebody that we don't know

But you're comin' at my friends like a missile

Why are you mad?

When you could be glad?

Sunshine on the street at the parade

But you would rather be in the dark age

Just makin' that sign must've taken all night

This verse is a pointed reference to people who protest Pride Parades. It's such a positive event to celebrate people and protestors wallow in their negativity and refuse to see the times changing. 

You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace

And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate

'Cause shade never made anybody less gay

Protestors are wasting their breath trying to bring people down. 

So oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

You need to calm down, you're being too loud

And I'm just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh)

You need to just stop

Like can you just not step on his gown?

You need to calm down

Emphasis on "his". 

And we see you over there on the internet

Comparing all the girls who are killing it

But we figured you out

We all know now we all got crowns

You need to calm down

She shifts a bit from specifically LGBTQ+ and calls out people who tear others down, specifically women. Taylor empowers women, by saying "we all got crowns” because all women are queens. 

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh

 You need to calm down (you need to calm down)

You're being too loud (you're being too loud)

And I'm just like oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh)

You need to just stop (can you stop?)

Like can you just not step on our gowns?

You need to calm down

Emphasis on “our”. Taylor shows that she stands united with the LGBTQ+ community.