In the year 2023, Taylor Swift has dominated the world with the Eras Tour and releasing the Taylor’s Versions of Speak Now and 1989 (my top two favorite albums of hers). Because I believe that the Lord longs to speak to us in the things that we love, I decided to take thirteen songs (her lucky number) and give suggestions on how we can pray with some of the lyrics that have religious imagery in them.
From the Album Fearless
“Come In With the Rain”
Relevant song lyrics: "Talk to the wind, talk to the sky, talk to the man with the reasons why.” + “Talk to yourself, talk to your tears, talk to the man who put you here.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: In our lowest moments, a lot of people turn to the Lord in prayer, asking why. This song paints a vivid picture of the desperation that can come with unexpected hurt and how that often leads to asking God why things played out the way they did. What we can learn from this song is that even though we do not have all of the answers as to why we suffer, God holds us in the palm of His hand and has a way of using our own suffering to draw us closer to Him in love. Sometimes, what we thought was a major setback was actually a wake-up call to change something in our hearts to be able to be receptive to what the Lord’s perfect plan for our life actually is.
From the Album Speak Now
“Enchanted”
Relevant song lyric: “This is me praying that this was the very first page. Not where the storyline ends.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: Even though God knows every last thought we have and hears the desires of our hearts daily without us saying anything, there is great value in bringing these petitions to prayer. No matter how seemingly insignificant, He longs to hear from us. In this song, Swift sings about a first meeting that is so striking, she cannot help but pray that there is more to this story. In our own lives, we can take the time to reflect on how every person is placed there with careful intention by the Lord and how nothing is ever a mere coincidence. This line brings to light how our deepest desires are often brought to God in petition, because He is the one who writes the story of each of our lives.
“Long Live”
Relevant song lyric: “But if God forbid, fate should step in and force us into a goodbye.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: Swift sings about a concept that can be a challenge to master: spiritual detachment. It is important to remember that everything we have is on loan from the Lord. Even the people we love. All of God’s gifts to us ultimately belong to Him. This lyric is a reminder that while we should love the people in our lives, we are also called to surrender them to the Lord, especially if they do not belong in our lives anymore.
From the Album Red
“State of Grace”
Relevant song lyrics: “So you were never a saint and I’ve loved in shades of wrong; we learn to live with the pain. Mosaic broken hearts.” + “This is a state of grace.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: In the Catholic faith, being in a state of grace can be defined as the, “condition of a person who is free from mortal sin and pleasing to God. It is the state of being in God’s friendship.” While Swift writes about how being in love is similar to a state of grace, this song is a reminder that we can never know the exact intricacies of God’s plan. Sometimes we do not see the blessings coming our way because our Creator loves to surprise us. Furthermore, the imagery of not being a saint on earth and “loving in shades of wrong” with “mosaic broken hearts” paints a picture of the reality that all humans are wounded and broken because of Original Sin and our actual sins that we commit. Left to our own devices, we would not be able to enter Heaven because of how sin separates us from God, but it is God’s grace that saves us from our own “mosaic broken heart.”
“Holy Ground”
Relevant song lyrics: “And right there where we stood, was holy ground.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: In the story of Moses and the burning bush, the Lord says to Moses, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5) This passage is a great example of how the Lord desires intimacy with each one of us, so He meets us exactly where we are, such as going about our daily tasks. All we have to do is say yes to His invitation. In Swift’s song “Holy Ground,” she sings about how a place she shared with an old flame is holy ground, but we can take that and apply it to our relationship with the Lord. A lot of us experience God more profoundly when we are in nature. Something about looking at His creation has a way of making us feel even closer to Him, despite being on Earth. Sometimes, our holy ground is a certain Adoration chapel that we frequented during a specific season of our life. This song reminds us to take the time to examine the holy grounds that the Lord has met you at, just like He did with Moses and the burning bush.
“Everything Has Changed”
Relevant song lyrics: “All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed. All I know is a newfound grace; all my days, I’ll know your face.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: I love the metaphor of comparing rain to God’s grace. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines grace as “favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and eternal life. Grace is a participation in the life of God” (CCC §1996-1997). In this song, one of Swift’s most hopeful, she describes the grace that comes with meeting someone new who is a reminder of hope. We know that God makes all things new (see Isaiah 43:19). Everything hopeful is a reminder of God’s love for us. Sometimes, that hope can come in the form of another human being. When we receive blessings or when our prayers are answered, we can mistakenly believe that we had anything to do with it—that we deserved that gift. But God’s grace operates out of His love for us because of who we are and not because of what we have done. There is no way to earn grace. It is a gift freely given by the Lord to remind us of the good He wants for us, in Heaven and on Earth.
From the Album 1989
“Style”
Relevant song lyrics: “And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt.”
How this can apply to the spiritual life: We communicate a lot about ourselves based on the clothes we choose to wear. In this lyric, Swift highlights how her good girl faith is part of her ensemble that “never goes out of style.” There are a myriad of ways to use our own personal style to get closer to the Lord. One way to do this is to match our outfits with the liturgical colors for feast days within the Catholic Church. For example, wearing rose on Gaudete Sunday, white on Transfiguration Sunday, and blue or red on Divine Mercy Sunday. In a world of fast fashion and trends that go in and out, we can remind ourselves that choosing the Lord and dressing up for Him will never fade into oblivion.
From the Album reputation
“King of My Heart”
Relevant song lyrics: “And all at once you are the one I have been waiting for, king of my heart, body and soul.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: When I think about God and the love languages, I love praying with how the Eucharist is the Lord’s way of exemplifying physical touch. One of my favorite talks on the Eucharist is from Father Mike Schmitz, in which he draws a parallel between the desire for physical intimacy in the human life between man and woman in marriage, and how the Lord desires to be one with each of us, His Bride, the Church. He explains that this is achieved through us consuming the Eucharist. Take some time to pray with John 6 in Eucharistic Adoration this week and how the Lord loved us so much, it killed Him to be separated from us, so He made Himself easily accessible in the form of the host.
From the Album Lover
“False God”
Relevant song lyrics: “Religion’s in your lips even if it’s a false god. We’d still worship this love.” + “Make confessions and we’re begging for forgiveness, got the wine for you.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: This song highlights the reality of idolatry with the metaphor of her relationship with her boyfriend as a religious experience. A misconception within the Catholic faith is that idols pertain to things that are “bad,” but we can make idols out of good things too. Even Swift herself knows that putting her romantic relationship on a pedestal is probably a bad idea because it is a “false god.” Through this song, we can take some time to analyze what the idols are in our lives. Is it the romantic relationship we are in? The job that we have? Money? What is your false god? Bring that to the Lord and ask Him to remind you that we should ultimately love Him, the giver, above the gifts that He gives us. Here is a link to a Catholic priest talking more about “False God” from a Catholic perspective. God put good things on this Earth for us to enjoy, but everything we encounter is ultimately supposed to point us towards Him, Who will never be a false god because He is exactly Who He says He is. Beyond that, when we make the Lord the center of our lives, we will not be disappointed because He is the only one who can fill every single void in our broken, human hearts.
“Soon You’ll Get Better”
Relevant song lyrics: “Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: This song lyric reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Venerable Fulton Sheen: “Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them.” The song “Soon You’ll Get Better” is about Swift’s perspective when her mother was diagnosed with cancer and she had to witness her battle firsthand. God does not cause suffering, but He permits it. As I have gotten older, I have seen how suffering can stretch the capacity of a person’s heart and make them more compassionate. Our most desperate moments have God’s presence in them because He is not only found on a mountaintop, He is also found in the valleys of our lives. Sometimes even more so.
From the Album folklore
“invisible string”
Relevant song lyrics: “Hell was the journey but it brought me Heaven.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: I like to think that this song lyric describes the concept of redemptive suffering, but in a simpler way. Redemptive suffering can be described as, “the Christian belief that human suffering, when accepted and offered up in union with the Passion of Jesus, can remit the just punishment for one's sins or for the sins of another, and/or for other physical or spiritual needs of oneself or another.” Throughout my life, I have seen how the Lord has taken my deepest wounds and made them the same place where His Love is abundant. Or how my past crosses have been able to be the same place from where I get my strength. This line from folklore expresses what many can relate to: going through many trials and finally getting to a part of the journey that is not riddled with pain. And the “hell” in the line can be understood more as “purgatory” instead of a place where those who reject God end up for all eternity. In the Catholic faith, we believe that Earth is not our permanent home and thus, we pick up the crosses that we have been given because one day, there is the promise of Heaven.
From the Album evermore
“marjorie”
Relevant song lyrics: “And if I didn't know better I'd think you were talking to me now. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were still around. What died didn't stay dead [ . . . ] you’re alive, so alive.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: John 3:16 says, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.” In the Catholic faith, we believe “not just in the survival of the soul, but in the resurrection of the body. We were created to live forever and find peace and satisfaction in a way that is fully human — in both flesh and spirit.” The lyrics of “marjorie” touch on this theme of what the afterlife might look like, from the perspective of someone who is still alive on Earth. This is a good song to pray with on All Souls Day and the whole month of November as we pray for those who have gone on to the next life and await when it will be our turn to be with the Lord in Heaven.
From the Album Midnights
“Dear Reader”
Relevant song lyrics: “These desperate prayers of a cursed man, spilling out to you for free.” + “You should find another guiding light.”
How this song can apply to the spiritual life: Swift loves to mention prayer in her lyrics, and who can blame her? Prayer is the source of all that is good in this life. Without it, we are left to our own devices trying to make sense of an incredibly broken world that needs God’s light more than ever. In this song, she tells the listeners not to take advice from her and to find another “guiding light.” Luckily, I know where we can find the only One we need. John 8:12 says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” In this song, we catch Swift in a rare moment of humility coupled with vulnerability, where she admits that she is also still trying to figure life out. We may never have all of the answers that we wish we had, but every single day, we have the choice to talk to the One who holds us in the palm of His hand. With His guidance and light, we will always have joy.
Patricia Valderrama hails from the big state of Texas with a degree in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin (hook 'em horns). When she was a freshman in college, she started her own personal blog, All Things Patricia. It has since grown as a way for her to connect with others and share the Catholic faith from the perspective of a college student and now a young professional. She often calls herself the "biggest liturgical year B fan" and when she's not working, she's planning her next trip. She credits the friendships she made in college as the anchor for her growing deeper in her faith, especially their emphasis on the Holy Hour/Eucharistic Adoration.
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