American Shame: Pageantry and Politics in “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince”
Six years on, this song is more relevant than ever.
Going into 2019’s Lover era, Taylor Swift made a point of speaking out on American politics for the first time and aligning herself with the Democratic Party. “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince” is a complex and layered song that situates Trump’s America in the metaphor of high school relationships and social structures. Speaking about the song in a Rolling Stone interview, Swift said:
I wanted to take the idea of politics and pick a metaphorical place for that to exist. And so I was thinking about a traditional American high school, where there’s all these kinds of social events that could make someone feel completely alienated. And I think a lot of people in our political landscape are just feeling like we need to huddle up under the bleachers and figure out a plan to make things better… It’s about the illusions of what I thought America was before our political landscape took this turn, and that naivete that we used to have about it.
There is a lot to unpack in this song, with most lyrics offering multiple simultaneous interpretations. The double narrative that the speaker relays follows a taboo high school relationship while also revealing Swift’s introspection regarding her community’s place in the unstable and oppressive political climate.
On the Bleachers
The first verse sets up the premise of a speaker and romantic muse in an American high school setting: “You know I adore you, I’m crazier for you / Than I was at sixteen, lost in a film scene / Waving homecoming queens, marching band playing / I’m lost in the lights.” The words “adore” and “crazier” reference love and infatuation with a high intensity that reflects the speaker’s reliance on this bond. Much of the imagery throughout the song is reminiscent of the American high school movie genre, as “sixteen” and “film scene” suggest. Symbols such as “homecoming queens” and the “marching band” represent the typical iconography of the performative aspects of this setting. The speaker, using the word “lost” twice, is out of place in this seemingly picture perfect story. Through this metaphor, Swift establishes a political landscape that appears superficially positive and patriotic—a representation of her “naivete” as a young celebrity. American high school imagery is prevalent in some of Swift’s most famous early songs, such as “You Belong With Me.” The phrase “lost in the lights” characterizes her relationship with fans and fame in America shifting over time.
The speaker explains that seeing the true nature of her environment left her disillusioned: “American glory faded before me / Now I’m feeling hopeless, ripped up my prom dress / Running through rose thorns, I saw the scoreboard / And ran for my life.” Swift’s perception of “American glory faded” with the turn toward discriminatory policies in the United States, leaving her “feeling hopeless” in the wake of election results on the figurative “scoreboard.” The speaker’s act of “ripp[ing] up [her] prom dress” represents the destruction of the iconography of the idealistic American high school as she tries to physically free herself from this environment. Swift has often used the symbol of “rose thorns” to describe the dangerous aspect of something beautiful.1 As a celebrity, she has a difficult path to navigate online and in the public eye, so she “ran for [her] life” out of fear. More generally, this lyric acknowledges that the people closing in want to take away human rights from many marginalized groups. In her interview, Swift clarified:
it’s also the idea of people who live in America, who just want to live their lives, make a living, have a family, love who they love, and watching those people lose their rights, or watching those people feel not at home in their home.
In the pre-chorus, the speaker finds a moment of relief amidst her anxiety: “No cameras catch my pageant smile / I counted days, I counted miles / To see you there, to see you there / It’s been a long time coming.” There are “[n]o cameras” because she has run away from the “lights” of the social gatherings and school crowds, where she would have to put on a “pageant smile” to mask her feelings.2 In the context of Swift’s fame, this lyric suggests hiding from paparazzi and public events in search of a break from the constant performance and pageantry of celebrity. The subsequent countdown reveals that the speaker is running towards someone and something good, away from the negativity of the rest of the world. The secrecy aspect further hints at a socially ostracized relationship. Swift notably used this song, and specifically this pre-chorus, as the opening to the Eras Tour—she found solace in this community of fans coming together with love and joy.
Reputation
Swift continues to weave together the two narratives in the chorus: “It’s you and me, that’s my whole world / They whisper in the hallway, ‘She’s a bad, bad girl’ / The whole school is rolling fake dice / You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.” The speaker shuts out “whisper[s] in the hallway” by making the muse her new definition of the “whole world.” People at “school” are gossiping about her—perhaps about her reputation as a heartbreaker. She is unfazed, however, linking their “fake dice” to “stupid games” and “stupid prizes.” All of their hatred is built off of false premises for values and morality that do not leave anyone better off in the end. This notion translates directly to the political setting, where politicians toy with real people’s lives as if playing a game. Superficial desires and corruption are not conducive to a productive democracy. With a reputation that is constantly dragged through the mud, Swift has often been called a “‘bad girl’” for various reasons, from her personal life to assumptions about her political affiliations prior to coming out as a Democrat.
Swift recognizes and cherishes the singularity of her relationship with her fans: “It’s you and me, there’s nothing like this / Miss Americana and The Heartbreak Prince / We’re so sad, we paint the town blue / Voted most likely to run away with you.” The titular lyric points to a sapphic interpretation of the relationship between the speaker and muse in the high school narrative. Following the parallel syntax with “you and me,” the muse is “Miss Americana” and the speaker is “The Heartbreak Prince.” As social outcasts, they are “sad” and “paint the town blue” in line with that feeling, and they go against the grain in a play on “paint the town red.” The phrase “most likely to” is a nod to school yearbook superlatives, reiterating that the couple wants to escape their restrictive environment and “run away.” Zooming out again, blue is the color of the Democratic Party. Swift’s degree of social influence is unique; in fact, she explores this tenuous relationship with fame and her country in her documentary titled Miss Americana, after this song. She is also perceived as “The Heartbreak Prince,” as her public reputation has so often been associated with failed romantic relationships.
Battered, Bruised, Depressed
In the second verse, the speaker continues to lose hope: “My team is losing, battered and bruising / I see the high fives between the bad guys / Leave with my head hung, you are the only one / Who seems to care.” Back in the world of high school sports, the speaker’s “team is losing” while the opponents are celebrated. With her “head hung” in shame, the “only one” who comforts her and “seems to care” is the muse. In the political narrative, this verse illustrates the gradual rise to power of more extremist Republicans in the United States. The “losing” team is “battered and bruising” as a result of literal and figurative violence against marginalized groups. Swift commented on this section in particular:
I have that line “I see the high-fives between the bad guys” because not only are some really racist, horrific undertones now becoming overtones in our political climate, but the people who are representing those concepts and that way of looking at the world are celebrating loudly, and it’s horrific.
Swift then alters and escalates lyrics from the first verse: “American stories burning before me / I’m feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed / Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men? / Darling, I’m scared.” Here the American high school acts as a mere jumping off point for Swift’s underlying message, with the phrase “boys will be boys” often originating in playground settings and later perpetuating patriarchal ideals in society. “American stories” refer to the ideals of the American dream and how, coming from the country music tradition, so many of Swift’s songs are “stories” rooted in this American imagery. Swift is “feeling helpless” in the wake of deconstructing her own beliefs about her country; even someone with a platform as large as hers can feel powerless in the face of oppressive legislation. In a play on “damsel in distress,” Swift observes that “the damsels are depressed.” Their helplessness is a result of the debilitating and bleak reality of women’s rights being stripped away by the US government. The “boys” that Swift criticizes never grow up to be “wise men,” but they hold dangerous power nonetheless.3
In the second pre-chorus, Swift makes two notable changes: “No cameras catch my muffled cries” and “now the storm is coming.” The “pageant smiles” were hiding these “muffled cries” as a second layer of censorship in addition to the lack of “cameras.” After speaking out about politics, Swift said: “I feel really good about not being muzzled anymore.” As she explores in her documentary, she previously felt pressured into silence by her management team and public expectations. Her remark that “now the storm is coming” is a response to the first Trump presidency and the repercussions that that had throughout and beyond the United States.4
Call to Action
In the bridge, Swift calls explicit attention to the double meanings in the song: “And I don’t want you to (go), I don’t really wanna (fight) / ‘Cause nobody’s gonna (win), I think you should come home.” The words “go,” “fight,” and “win” form a cheerleading chant on their own but also complete the other lyrics. In the high school setting, external discrimination is causing a strain on the speaker’s relationship with the muse, but she wants to work through it together. Despite everything, she still feels the expectation to conform to the socially acceptable chant, hiding her message within it. For Swift, “I don’t really wanna fight” is an expression of how tired she has grown from the pressures of getting involved in politics throughout her career. For years, she chose to keep the peace through her ambiguity in order to avoid conflict. Furthermore, it can seem like “nobody’s gonna win” in the context of the US two-party system, where both sides are constantly at odds with each other and there is no clear vision for a long-term solution.
Swift swaps out her pessimism for optimism, however, at the end of the bridge: “And I’ll never let you (go) ‘cause I know this is a (fight) / That someday we’re gonna (win).” In a landscape of political doom, she encourages listeners to remain hopeful that things will change for the better again. She instills confidence in this message with the phrase “know” that “we’re gonna (win).” By including her fans and the community built around her music, she leaves a political message of hope while rallying the troops to make their voices heard in elections and support important causes.5
In the final chorus, Swift circles back to her personal dilemma about speaking up and ends the song with the lyric, “she’s a bad, bad girl.” At the end of the day, no matter what she does, people are going to form their own opinions on her. Even if she does choose to run and hide from the attention, she will be left in negative public opinion, so she might as well stand up for what she believes in. It is impossible to please everyone in a country as divided as the United States was six years ago, and even more so now. Ultimately, despite the personal risks involved in taking a stand, Swift decided that it was important for her to speak out and act in alignment with her values. This song explores and reflects on that process as a whole, combining the personal with the universal.
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Some other examples are: "All my flowers grew back as thorns" ("Call It What You Want") and "Rose garden filled with thorns" ("Blank Space").
Swift has used the word “pageant” similarly in other songs: "Pageant queens and big pretenders" (“Midnight Rain”) and "skipping the prom just to piss off your mom and her pageant schemes" (“dorothea”).
In "The Albatross," Swift uses the phrase "wise men once said" ironically, to prove the men wrong. She deems them fools who claim to be but are not actually "wise men."
The impending doom feels even more dire this time around.
Yes, so true that it is even more relevant now! I wonder how many of her fans voted for him... Thank you for clarifying some of the lyrics.