Image credit: The Telegraph
Happy Era's tour era! This is possibly the best era ever; I am getting so excited seeing all the pictures, and July cannot come fast enough. Also, when this post comes out I will only have 15 more days of my Freshman year of college which is so exciting!
To celebrate the Era's Tour starting, I knew I had to write this week's post about Taylor herself.
Image credit: Pinterest
I originally couldn't decide whether to avoid all mention of the Era's tour to stay surprised, then the opening night I looked up the entire set list. Which is actually so exciting because I am absolutely dying about the fact that I get to see some of these songs live. One such song is "The Last Great American Dynasty," which I played on repeat last summer. It becomes an even more interesting song when you know what it's about.
The first line is "Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train."
Image credit: House Beautiful
Rebekah, also known as Betty, Harkness moved to "Holiday House" in Rhode Island in the 1950s. She owned the house for over 30 years, and was known for her glamorous parties. And then the neighbors' rumors started.
"They picked out a home and called it "Holiday House"
Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud
The doctor had told him to settle down
It must have been her fault his heart gave out"
Her husband, Bill, had a heart attack, which the neighbors rumored was Rebekah's fault because of all her parties.
And they said
'There goes the last great American dynasty'
'Who knows if she never showed up, what could've been'
'There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen'
'She had a marvelous time ruinin' everything'
Image credit: Vogue
Rebekah was idolized as a crazy, rich woman who threw impressive parties and yet was unwanted by those around her.
We also learn that she gave up making friends with her neighbors in Rhode Island, and instead flew in her pack of friends. They continued to throw insane parties, such as filling the pool with champagne to swim in, and invited extremely famous people to join them.
And then comes my favorite part of the song:
"50 years is a long time
Holiday House sat quietly on that beach
Free of women with madness, their men and bad habits
And then it was bought by me"
After 50 years of being empty, we learned that this is Taylor's vacation home in Rhode Island. The same one she threw yearly Independence Day parties at with her so-called squad of friends.
Image credit: The Telegraph
It's so cool once you realize that this song is showing the similarities between Rebekah Harkness and Taylor Swift.
"Who knows if I never showed up what could've been
There goes the loudest woman this town has ever seen
I had a marvelous time ruinin' everything"
As soon as Taylor bought "Holiday House" in 2013, locals began complaining about change of traffic when fans would crowd around Taylor's house just to catch a glimpse of her. They then became even more angry when Taylor wanted to rebuild a seawall on her own property. Their complaint was that her construction, which would only repair damage done due to erosion, would impede public access.
Image credit: Fun 107
Then came the Taylor Swift tax. In 2015, the Rhode Island governor proposed a tax on second homes worth over $1 million. This tax was popularly called the "Taylor Swift tax." Try to imagine a less-welcoming community.
The parallels between the two women are insane, and it's really cool that Taylor discovered this history of her home. After researching the house's previous owners, she became entranced by their lives and wrote the song to share the uncanny similarities.
Comments