Day 52: I Can't Help Myself

Taylor Swift's writing earlier in her career tended to state her feelings more explicitly (but not in the gross way). I've spoken many times on how this can hurt a song, but one song stands out as an excellent example of how this can go very well. Hey Stephen is the fourth song on Taylor's second studio album, Fearless, and is very simple but also very good.

In the song Taylor confesses her love to her love interest, who's name is Jack. Just kidding, it's Stephen. Try to keep up. The way she tries to convince him is so simple, but so damn compelling. Just take a look at how she describes him as the best Stephen in the Universe.

"The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name
It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change
Hey Stephen, why are people always leaving
I think you and I should stay the same"

I think he's a little young for you, Taylor

The first section here is well phrased on it's own, but I think the second half hints at what makes this song unique enough to stand out. Taylor says many things about ol' Steve that she loves, but she always phrases it around their interactions. This convinces the listener that not only is Stephen just the best, but also that he belongs with Taylor. You Belong With Me is from the same album, has the same topic, and is also a pretty good song! But giving it a listen shows just how different of an approach Taylor took between the songs, and actually makes me like Hey Stephen a little more.

You Belong With Me shows that Steve belongs with Taylor through contrast. Taylor points out all the bad parts of his current relationship while simultaneously explaining why she is better in those regards. Again, there is nothing wrong with this; it's a good song. But Hey Stephen manages to be just as effective without a contrasting character to Taylor. She only uses things about Stephen and herself to convince us they should be together. From a songwriting perspective this is more difficult since you lose the point of reference being his existing relationship.

So how does she do it? I've already pointed out a few ways, but here are another couple examples that I'm particularly fond of.

"Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain, so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
Mmm I can't help myself"

Taylor utilizes the "can't help myself" defense in this song a lot. To the listener this communicates that their relationship seems completely inevitable from Taylor's perspective, she can't even help how she feels about him.

"Hey Stephen, I could give you fifty reasons
Why I should be the one you choose
All those other girls, well they're beautiful
But would they write a song for you?"

Ha! Nice meta move by Taylor here. And it's a pretty good point! If an rising country star wrote a love song to me I would probably notice too. I love the way the music stops here momentarily, as if the whole song is saying "Gotcha!". Her giggle afterwards keeps it from getting too serious, but also humanizes her a little bit more. That said, I'm still not totally convinced she's human.

hmmm

See you tomorrow,

-C