Today I'll be discussing one of the greatest songs Taylor Swift has ever created. Ronan was released as a charity one-shot song to support cancer research. But we're a little ahead of ourselves, let's get some backstory.
Ronan Thompson died of neuroblastoma just before his fourth birthday in May of 2011. It's such a tragedy when a child dies that most people's reactions, including my own, is to distance themselves from it, at least mentally. How do you even talk about something so tragic in an authentic way? Well if there's anyone I would trust to talk firsthand about what it's like, it would be the child's mother.
After his diagnosis, Ronan's mother Maya started a blog, which she continued even after he died. Taylor Swift was a reader of this blog, and at some point in 2011 Taylor invited Maya to one of her concert and revealed the song she had been working on, Ronan.
This song is absolutely heartbreaking. The details about Ronan's life and Maya's grief seem so real, and it's because they are. Maya is credited as a co-writer of the song, and most of the song is based directly off details that can be found in her blog about her late son. This makes it so real that it hurts to listen to in the most visceral way. It's like looking straight at the sun, except it breaks your heart instead of your retina.
The amount of emotional intimacy required to make this song possible just makes my head spin. The amount of emotion between mother and child in this situation is completely unfathomable to me, but what is even more is documenting the whole experience in a way public to the world. This blog is dumb; I don't think I could do anything near that intense in a blog. I know it sounds corny, but you really do have to be incredibly brave to do that.
Why did Taylor write this song? My opinion is that the story of Ronan genuinely touched her, and she felt like there was a story to tell and good to do. Arguing that this is a cash grab or a publicity stunt wouldn't just be cynical but also just plain inaccurate. Not only do the proceeds for the song go to neuroblastoma research, but she's only preformed the song twice live, first for a cancer research fundraising telethon and another during a single show of the 1989 tour, which Maya attended.
Telling someone else's story, especially one like this, requires a lot of finesse so as to treat it with the merited respect. In my opinion, the song achieved this perfectly, and Taylor took all the right steps to make sure it was received as intended.
I know this is somewhat of a cop-out but I think that even more than any of Taylor's other songs, this one speak for itself. I'm usually quite the stonehearted monster, but this song even made me shed a tear or two. If you don't have the same reaction, I'm not going to think any less of you. Actually, I take that back, You better cry! Just let it out, this song is way too sad not to cry for! I promise, I won't tell anyone.
That's all for today, tune in tomorrow for something a little less sad (hopefully).
See you tomorrow,
-C
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