You Need to Calm Down

**Artist:** Taylor Swift

**Social Issue:** Hate and lack of acceptance towards the LGBTQ community

**Context:**

* LGBTQ individuals continue to face a lack of acceptance and support from their friends, family, and even society as a whole. Even today, many LGBTQ individuals are victims of hate crimes and other acts of violence, including sexual and physical abuse and assault, harassment, and experience mental and psychological damage from others solely based on their identity.
* Some LGBTQ youth who come out are bullied, isolated, and often are kicked out of their homes, ending up homeless and with serious mental health issues as a result of the hate they face from society. The LGBTQ community faces a lack of acceptance in the workplace, in their homes, in receiving medical services, and in attempting to adopt a child as well.
* Taylor Swift draws attention to the anti-LGBTQ sentiments that the community faces and encourages others to simply progress as a society and change their mindsets to accept people for who they are and support the LGBTQ community.

**Events:**

* First, the Stonewall riots of 1969 were one of the first gay protests against a police raid that led to the annual tradition of Pride that we have now.
* More recently, in the context of when the song was released, laws debating the rights of LGBTQ individuals in the workforce, as well as their ability to adopt, were being debated, which led Swift to create the Equality Petition to the U.S. Senate and raise awareness of it through the song.
* LGBTQ rights activists have continued to push for representation, awareness, and acceptance, as new proposed rules by the Trump administration could limit LGBTQ liberties, such as the ones concerning religious freedom in foster and adoption care agencies and the ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military.
* A surge in hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, such as the deaths of at least 26 transgender women this year, are also relevant to this song.
* Finally, many anti-LGBTQ sentiments are being moved to Twitter and other forms of social media, which Swift addresses with her lyrics: "Say it in the street, that's a knock-out. But you say it in a tweet, that's a cop-out... 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."
* Many anti-LGBTQ accounts, tweets, and hashtags have become more and more popular nowadays.

**Sample of Lyrics:** *“Why are you mad? When you could be GLAAD?; 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; ‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay.”*

**Interpretation:**

* Here, Taylor Swift talks about the people who're mad about the LGBTQ community and offers an alternative: supporting the community and being GLAAD, an American NGO that fights for the LGBTQ community in the media.
* She then moves on to talk about the pride parades and how many anti-LGBTQ protestors take time out of their day to create anti-LGBTQ signs and throw hate and shade at the community, and protests against these people, claiming that it's a lot easier to just come out and support the LGBTQ community at the pride parade and get out of their outdated mindset because hate won't change someone's identity or sexual orientation.
* Overall, these lyrics argue that it's a lot simpler to support the LGBTQ community instead of hating on them or trying to change them in some way.

**Relevance:**

* Although subtle, this song talks about the hate that the LGBTQ community often faces simply for being themselves and loving who they love. It argues that people should simply accept people for who they are and protests against anti-LGBTQ sentiments that many people have and how harmful they can be for these people, and how it's important to put an end to this and advocate for acceptance and support for the LGBTQ community.

**Date Produced:** June 14, 2019

**Significance:**

* You Need to Calm Down was nominated in nine categories at the 2019 MTV Awards. It won Video of the Year and Video for Good, and won Favorite Music Video at the AMA’s.
* It was nominated as the Best Pop Solo Performance at the Grammy’s and Most Empowering Song of the Year at the Girls’ Choice Awards.

**Contemporary Connections:**

* It was #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it also encouraged people to sign the Equality Act petition that she created on Change.org, which currently has over 500,000 signatures.

**Trivia!:**

* The music video was released on June 17, 2019 and it was directed by Taylor Swift and Drew Kirsch and executively produced by Swift and Todrik Hall.

* It premiered on Good Morning America and featured a large number of celebrities, many of whom are LGBT, including dancer Dexter Mayfield, YouTuber Hannah Hart, actress Laverne Cox, model Chester Lockhart, entertainer Todrick Hall, singer Hayley Kiyoko, actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, lawyer Justin Mikita, singer Ciara, Queer Eye's Fab Five (Tan France, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness), figure skater Adam Rippon, singer Adam Lambert, television personality Ellen DeGeneres, entertainers Billy Porter and RuPaul, singer Katy Perry, and actor Ryan Reynolds.

* It’s received mixed reviews and criticism for its portrayal of anti-LGBT protestors as just ‘country bums’, but she’s been praised for being an LGBT ally and raising awareness of LGBT issues and promoting love and acceptance.

* Although some people didn't like the song and how she brought her own personal feud with Katy Perry into the music video by showing them embracing and ending the well-known feud, others appreciated her effort in raising awareness of LGBTQ issues and advocating for rights, acceptance, and support for the community.
* The music video has over 169,007,206 views.
* She first performed the song live at the Amazon Prime Day Concert 2019.
* She also performed at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards and the Live Lounge, the Jingle Bell Ball, and iHeart Radio Z100.

**Why did we choose this song?**

* We picked this song because of how significant it has been in raising awareness and advocating for the LGBTQ community. Many mainstream artists refrain from taking stances on controversial issues, such as those dealing with the LGBTQ community, but Taylor Swift wasn't afraid to stand proudly by the community and remains a strong ally and supporter of LGBTQ people.
* The song is one of the first modern songs from a mainstream pop artist to directly address homophobia and its popularity and effectiveness at bringing the plight of LGBTQ individuals into the spotlight is truly incredible, as well as the attention and many awards and nominations it has received.

**Sources:**

Bruner, Raisa. “A Reference Guide to Taylor Swift's You Need to Calm Down.” *Time*, Time, 23 July 2019, https://time.com/5608341/taylor-swift-you-need-to-calm-down-references-explained/.

Gutowitz, Jill. “Who, Exactly, Is Taylor Swift Telling to Calm Down? An Investigation.” *Vulture*, Vulture, 14 June 2019, https://www.vulture.com/2019/06/taylor-swift-you-need-to-calm-down-lyrics-meaning-and-analysis.html.

McDermott, Maeve. “Taylor Swift Has Angered Many People with Her 'You Need To Calm Down' Release. Here's Why.” *USA Today*, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 21 June 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/06/21/how-taylor-swift-angered-everyone-you-need-calm-down/1512715001/.

Shafer, Ellise. “Here Are the Lyrics to Taylor Swift's 'You Need to Calm Down'.” *Billboard*, 3 July 2019, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/lyrics/8518720/taylor-swift-you-need-to-calm-down-lyrics.

“Sign the Petition.” *Change.org*, https://www.change.org/p/support-the-equality-act.