A Swiftie’s Guide to Legal Principles: The End of the Eras
Taylor Swift recently concluded her groundbreaking “Eras Tour” on December 8, 2024, in Vancouver, Canada. Spanning 149 shows across five continents and 51 cities, the tour captivated over 10.1 million fans worldwide and became the highest-grossing concert tour in history, earning an unprecedented $2 billion in ticket sales.
Throughout the tour, Swift performed for over 500 hours (517, to be exact), solidifying her status as a global icon. Adding to the tour's charm, she learned to say “Welcome to the Eras Tour” in 15 different languages, delivering personalized greetings to her audiences in packed stadiums.
This historic achievement serves as a reminder of Swift’s ability to connect with people on a deep, emotional level—a trait that extends beyond music. Her lyrics often explore themes of justice, morality, and personal agency, making them surprisingly relevant and relatable to law students and bar examinees alike.
Music, like effective study strategies, engages multiple areas of the brain, including those responsible for memory, emotion, and language. This multi-sensory stimulation can enhance retention and recall, making music a powerful learning tool. Incorporating Swift's songs into study routines can make legal concepts more approachable and even enjoyable.
Click on each blog post to read her songs might be applied to studying for the bar exam.
From “I Admit It: ‘I May Be a Swiftie’” (Jan. 21, 2023):
🎶 “no body, no crime”: Criminal Law—Homicide
🎶 “Vigilante Shit”: Criminal Procedure—Use of informants
🎶 “Message in a Bottle”: Contracts and Sales—Communication of Offers
🎶 “Anti-Hero”: Wills—Slayer statutes
🎶 “Bad Blood”: Torts—Abnormally dangerous activity
🎶 “Shake It Off”: Test-taking strategy
🎶 “Fifteen”: Constitutional Law—Fifteenth Amendment
🎶 “All Too Well”: Evidence—Prior statement of identification
🎶 “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”: Family Law—“No -fault” divorce
🎶 “Getaway Car”: Criminal Law—Conspiracy
🎶 “Snow on the Beach”: Contracts and Sales—Concurrent conditions and Criminal Law—Concurrence of actus reusand mens rea
🎶 “I Knew You Were Trouble”: Torts—Defamation
🎶 “Karma”: Torts—Proximate causation
🎶 “Mastermind”: Constitutional Law—Equal Protection Clause
🎶 “Maroon”: Criminal Law—Intoxication
From “’Fifteen’ + ‘Seven’ = ‘22’": Learning More from T-Swift's Songs (July 1, 2023)
🎶 “Me!”: Evidence—Excited utterance
🎶 “Daylight”: Criminal Law—Burglary
🎶 “Death by a Thousand Cuts”: Criminal Law—First-degree murder
🎶 “False God”: Constitutional Law—Free Exercise Clause
🎶 “I Did Something Bad”: Evidence—Statement by an opposing party
🎶 “Innocent”: Criminal Procedure—Presumption of innocence
🎶 “Sparks Fly”: Torts—Abnormally dangerous activity
From “(Tommy's Version): Connecting the Vault Tracks on ‘1989 (Taylor's Version)’ to Legal Concepts” (Nov. 4, 2023):
🎶 "’Slut!’ (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)": Torts—Slander per se
🎶 "Say Don’t Go (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)": Criminal Law and Torts—Consent defendant to kidnapping and false imprisonment
🎶 "Suburban Legends (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)": Constitutional Law—Obscenity
🎶 "Now That We Don't Talk (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)": Criminal Procedure—Fifth Amendment
🎶 "Is It Over Now? (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)": Civil Procedure—Final judgment rule
From “From 'Fortnight' to Finish Line: More Taylor Swift-Inspired Learning” (July 17, 2024):
🎶 "’Fortnight": Civil Procedure—Deadlines
🎶 "The Tortured Poets Department": Criminal Law and Torts—Handwriting versus typing on the bar exam
🎶 "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?": Constitutional Law and Torts—Defamation
🎶 "The Bolter": Criminal Law—Duty to Retreat
🎶 "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys": Family Law—Abandonment
Taylor Swift not your cup of tea? Don’t worry—if you’re not one to Shake It Off with Tay-Tay, I’ve also tied legal concepts to Duran Duran, The Beatles, Miley Cyrus, Fall Out Boy, Wilson Phillips, Dolly Parton, and the soundtrack to Top Gun.
