{"id":5992,"date":"2015-11-03T22:45:29","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T04:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/?page_id=5992"},"modified":"2015-11-04T11:58:37","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T17:58:37","slug":"dear-john","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/music\/dear-john\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Dear John&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left\"><em>Written by Abby Bourland. 3 November 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Taylor Swift Dear John Lyrics\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a-YI_EXTi-w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>By now, it is safe to say that everyone has heard the name Taylor Swift. From the voluptuous, long, blonde, country curls to the short, straight, and edgy pop hair, her physical and musical changes have only earned her a larger fan base. The young, country Taylor has transitioned into a pop princess and has sold over 100,000,000 albums in singles, won 5 Grammy\u2019s in 2010, and received <a href=\"http:\/\/self.gutenberg.org\/articles\/list_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_taylor_swift\">179 awards<\/a>. The evolution of Swift\u2019s identity and sound as a pop artist still embody the stationary themes of her songs: love, hate and everything in between. In 2010, Taylor Swift released her first album that contained a bit more pop than country, <em>Speak Now, <\/em>which\u00a0included very successful songs about unsuccessful relationships. Her lengthy \u201cDear John\u201d song resembles an \u201copen letter\u201d to an ex-boyfriend and epitomizes the feelings of being manipulated by a person you love.<\/p>\n<p>Although a young artist, Taylor Swift reaches out to a wide range of people. All the way from elementary school kids singing \u201cTrouble\u201d on the playground to employees singing \u201cSparks Fly\u201d in the office, Taylor Swift magically relate3s to people of all ages. The original country star started her singing career in Pennsylvania by posting videos of her singing on YouTube. Her grit and passion relocated her family to Nashville, the capital of country music, and earned her a place on the Top 10 hits for her first single, \u201cTim McGraw\u201d in 2006. Swift\u2019s beauty and talent soon propagated throughout the country world as she won the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmaworld.com\/cma-awards\/2013\/11\/04\/taylor-swift-receive-cma-pinnacle-award-2013-cma-awards\/\">Horizon Award<\/a> during the Country Music Association in 2007. This captured the attention of many country fans and lovers. Country music had reached out to young people and was now being infused into teenager and kids\u2019 music playlists due to Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n<p>As Swift became more successful, the sound of her music altered. \u201cYou know, I don&#8217;t want to hurt people&#8217;s feelings, I don&#8217;t want to betray Nashville, whatever, but essentially it comes down to challenging yourself as an artist.&#8221; Swift told <a href=\"http:\/\/www.musictimes.com\/articles\/11421\/20141005\/why-taylor-swift-go-pop-1989-star-explains-new-interview.htm\">musictimes<\/a> in response to why she\u2019s changed music genres. From her first full album, Fearless, to her most recent album, 1989, one can easily distinguish the audible differences. The absence of violins was compensated by the presence of electric guitars in her songs over the past 7 years. This change didn\u2019t diminish her fan base, but instead exponentially increased it. Her old songs are played on country radio stations while her new songs are played on various pop stations.<\/p>\n<p>Swift\u2019s fame has led her to meet an overabundance of people, including potential boyfriends. With boyfriends come heartbreaks, and Swift is notorious for writing and singing songs about boys who have done her wrong. From Joe Jonas to Harry Styles, Taylor Swift has written a plethora of songs related to her <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seventeen.com\/love\/g291\/taylor-swift-breakup-songs\/\">personal breakups<\/a>. The hidden messages about these celebrity boys who teenage girls idolize allure young girls into Swift\u2019s compelling musical web.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor Swift is well aware that teenagers hold the highest portion of her fan base. Within the teenager subset lie the girls who are in or recently out of a relationship. Swift is more than cognizant of this and takes advantage of it by producing more and more songs about relationships. Swift shows empathy to her audience by directly and personally relating to their emotions by singing about her own. Her point of view is not only respected and revered in real life, but is also prevalent in a vast majority of her music, including \u201cDear John\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDear John\u201d, resting at 6 minutes and 48 seconds, is the longest song on Swift\u2019s album <em>Speak Now<\/em>. The long 24-second intro of slow strums on the guitar and steel guitar convey the melancholy tone and somber theme of the song.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor Swift plays the innocent young girl who romantically got her hopes up with a bad guy. The first and second verses of the song intertwine the insecurity and worry she feels with her relationship along with the emotional rollercoaster she\u2019s on. \u201cCounting my footsteps\/praying the floor won\u2019t fall through, again\u201d describes the caution she took while dating him because she didn\u2019t want to ruin their relationship. \u201cAnd I lived in your chess game\/ but you changed the rules everyday\u201d expresses the multiple changes she made for \u201cJohn\u201d to be exactly what he wanted. These verses both enhance the listener\u2019s ability to empathize with Swift. She also captivates the audience by making them sympathize with her and make them feel sorry for her with her lyrics, \u201cDon\u2019t you think nineteen\u2019s too young to be played by your dark twisted games\/ when I loved you so\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The way Swift blames herself for the end of their relationship in verse 3, \u201cwell maybe it\u2019s me and my blind optimism to blame\u201d, is another way for the listener to relate to Swift, and vice versa. Taylor Swift wants her intended listeners to recognize the change in chorus at the end of the song from \u201cI should\u2019ve known\u201d to \u201cyou should\u2019ve known\u201d. This stresses Swift\u2019s realization of \u2018John\u2019s\u2019 wrongdoing and her innocence.<\/p>\n<p>Swift breaks out into a bridge with power and dominance towards the end of her song. \u201cYou are an expert at sorry\u201d informs the audience that she has been told sorry multiple times before. However, Swift uses a simile, \u201cI\u2019m shining like fireworks over your sad empty town\u201d, to highlight the recovery she made from being \u201cthe girl in the dress [who] cried the whole way home\u201d to a girl who is still fragile but strong. Following the bridge, Swift has a 20-second period of only vocals. The long 20 seconds of Swift\u2019s smooth voice accentuate the sadness of the song and also make the song enjoyable to listen to. Even without listening to the content of the song, listeners still cherished it. Michael Jenkins from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=a-YI_EXTi-w\">YouTube<\/a> said, \u201c\u2026 I am not going to talk about the content of the song, just want to say that this is a great song with even more amazing vocals.\u201d Even without words in the 20 seconds of vocals, Swift still manages to captures her audience through the pain and sorrow you can hear in her soothing voice.<\/p>\n<p>One of the evident appeals to this song is the fact that it is written as a letter. Taylor Swift assumes her audience is familiar with the \u201cDear John\u201d letter tradition. Since the 1940\u2019s, a \u201cDear John\u201d letter has revolved around the ending of a relationship by a girlfriend or wife through a letter addressed to her significant other. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LMueKWzG0WE\">\u201cA Dear John Letter\u201d<\/a> sung by Jean Shepard and Ferlin Husky was released in 1957 and depicted the woman in the relationship as cruel for breaking up with her faithful boyfriend and marrying his brother. Women writing these letters were negatively viewed and perceived as brutal and heartless. Swift modifies this letter and plays the heartbroken victim instead of the one who is breaking hearts. Swift twists the meaning and roles of the Dear John tradition while implementing it into a unique song form that engages the listeners. Swift also incorporates irony in this song in that it was released in 2010 after her breakup with John Mayer in 2009. Not only did Swift\u2019s fans infer that this song was in spite of her ex, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/news\/john-mayer-taylor-swifts-dear-john-song-humiliated-me-20120606\">John Mayer<\/a> did as well. The double meaning results in more discussion and controversy of the song, and thus making it more popular.<\/p>\n<p>Within the song, Swift appeals to her audience by painting a picture in their mind. \u201cYou paint me a blue sky, and go back and turn it to rain\u201d elaborates on the emotional change, from happiness to heartbreak, Swift was feeling in her relationship. Swift uses metaphors to enhance and convey her own feelings and thoughts she\u2019s trying to express. \u201cAll the girls that you\u2019ve run dry\/ have tired lifeless eyes \u2018cause you burned them out\u201d illustrates an image in the listeners mind and aids in the understanding of Taylor Swift\u2019s pain.<\/p>\n<p>Swift remarkably conveys her emotions and feelings through her songs by appealing to her audience. Her modification of the Dear John tradition, use of musical country conventions, and soothe, yet heartbroken, voice all contribute to the suffering felt in her relationship with \u201cJohn\u201d. Swift\u2019s empathetic songs have secured her an expansive fan base. It seems as though the more relationships she has, the more people she can connect with, and the more popular she becomes. Although broken hearts are inevitable, Taylor Swift has the resilience of a fighter and forms her pain into personable lyrics. As one door to a relationship closes, another one to a number one hit single opens.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table style=\"height: 63px\" width=\"456\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\"><strong>Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"117\"><strong>Form<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"139\"><strong>Listening Cues<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"172\"><strong>Discussion<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table style=\"height: 1626px\" width=\"457\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">0:00-0:24<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Intro<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">Guitar and steel guitar<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Introduces a slow beat and rhythm to the song<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">0:24-1:46<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Verse 1<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cLong were the nights when my days once revolved around you\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Describes her carefulness and worry with their relationship<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">1:00-1:46<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Verse 2<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cYou paint me a blue sky and go back and turn it to rain\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Discusses how she was toyed with and not treated right<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">1:46-2:16<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Chorus<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cDear John\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Now that John is gone, she see was wrong in dating him<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">2:16-2:24<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Instrumental Interlude<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">Guitar and steel guitar<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Resembles intro<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">2:24- 3:11<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Verse 3<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cWell maybe it\u2019s me and my blind optimism to blame\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Debating who\u2019s to blame for the failure of the relationship<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">3:11-3:35<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Chorus<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cDear John\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Now that John is gone, she see was wrong in dating him<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">3:35-4:02<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Chorus look alike<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">Dear John I see it all now it was wrong\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">He is the one who is wrong for messing with her to begin with<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">4:02-4:10<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Instrumental Interlude<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">Guitar and electric guitar<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Indicates change in pace and power in tone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">4:10-4:58<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Bridge<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cYou are an expert at sorry\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">He was a disappointment to girls in past relationships too. She left the relationship before he could hurt her too bad<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">4:58-5:18<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Vocals<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">Vocals<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Emphasizes sadness in song<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">5:18-5:46<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Chorus<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cDear John I see it all now that you\u2019re gone\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Now that John is gone, she see was wrong in dating him<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">5:46-6:08<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Chorus look alike<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cI see it all now that you\u2019re gone\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">She clearly sees he was the one who was wrong<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">6:08-6:13<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Instrumental Interlude<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">Guitar and steel guitar<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Resembles intro<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">6:13-6:32<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Hook<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">\u201cYou should\u2019ve known\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">He should\u2019ve known not to mess with her young heart<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"126\">6:32-6:48<\/td>\n<td width=\"117\">Outro<\/td>\n<td width=\"139\">Guitar and steel guitar<\/td>\n<td width=\"172\">Winding down of song<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Works Cited<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A DEAR JOHN LETTER ~ Jean Shepard &amp; Ferlin Husky (1957).&#8221;<i>YouTube<\/i>. YouTube, 20 Jan. 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Jenkins, Michael. &#8220;Taylor Swift Dear John Lyrics.&#8221;\u00a0<em>YouTube<\/em>. YouTube, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Laurence, Emily. &#8220;A Taylor Swift Song For Every Breakup.&#8221;\u00a0<em>Seventeen<\/em>. Hearst Communications Inc., 17 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Rolling Stone. &#8220;John Mayer: Taylor Swift&#8217;s &#8216;Dear John&#8217; Song &#8216;Humiliated Me.'&#8221;\u00a0<em>Rolling Stone<\/em>. Rolling Stone, 06 June 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Taylor Swift to Receive CMA Pinnacle Award at 2013 CMA Awards &#8211; 2015 CMA Awards.&#8221;\u00a0<em>2015 CMA Awards<\/em>. CMA World, 04 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Why Did Taylor Swift Go Pop? The &#8216;1989&#8217; Star Explains In New Interview [WATCH].&#8221;\u00a0<em>Music Times RSS<\/em>. Music Times, 05 Oct. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.<\/p>\n<p>World Heritage Encyclopedia. &#8220;List of Awards and Nominations Received by Taylor Swift.&#8221;\u00a0<em>Gutenberg<\/em>. Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing Press, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Abby Bourland. 3 November 2015. By now, it is safe to say that everyone has heard the name Taylor Swift. From the voluptuous, long, blonde, country curls to the short, straight, and edgy pop hair, her physical and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/music\/dear-john\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5992","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5992"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6173,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5992\/revisions\/6173"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/countrymusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}