2014 Holiday Countdown Song: Last Christmas covered by Taylor Swift

This isn’t a Christmas song.

I want to put that out there right away.

Sure, I know it has the word “Christmas in its title and in the opening line of the lyrics. And it basically only gets played this time of year.

But ostensibly, at its core, this is a song about a breakup and trying to move on from that sad circumstance.

What I wanted to do, though, was use the space I allotted today to talk about the artist, not the song. Because while this was a Wham! song originally, I chose the Taylor Swift cover version intentionally.

Please allow me a moment to say something that might turn some folks away from this space forever:

I love Taylor Swift.

(Hey, wait…where are you going? Come back!)

If you’re still here, please allow me a moment to expand on that thesis statement.

A lot of the bigger hits from the Taylor Swift oeuvre are, thematically, songs that I can identify with—especially the work that I did when I was in my teens finishing high school and starting college.

Now, I am not saying that I was the male Taylor; that would be highly egomaniacal and presumptuous on my part.

I’m just saying I can dig the vibe and the themes that she lays down. And the gumption that she has displayed in building up her brand is impressive.

(I can’t believe I just used the words “building a brand” in a non-ironic fashion. I feel ill.)

I can see why some are bound to have her or hate on her; some of it is that's just the world we live in, where hypercriticism and overanalysis pass for insight and it's easy for everyone to have an opinion and voice it—some more crassly than others.

Suffice to say, I've hit a point where I've started to not care what other folks think.

I'm going to rock out to "Shake It Off" or "Love Story" or "We Are Never Getting Back Together" and, quite frankly, I don't care what folks think.

All some of them are ever going to be is "Mean".