Taylor Swift won the coveted Album of the Year Grammy for Folklore last night, an album on which Swift sings about Los Angeles, Nashville, and even St. Louis. Yet one city remains noticeably absent from Swift’s discography—DC. But why? Here are all the reasons why the District should be Swift’s next landing spot—and the inspiration for her next album.
Swift is interested in politics, hello.
Swift famously stepped into the political arena (especially the all-important battleground that is political Twitter) in 2018, tweeting her support for March for Our Lives and endorsing two Tennessee Democrats during that year’s midterm elections. Her advocacy continued in 2019 and 2020. She voiced support for the Equality Act, baked cookies for the Biden-Harris ticket, and refuted Trump on Twitter. All that’s left? Moving to the center of the action, obviously.
It’s close to her childhood home (the Christmas Tree Farm!).
OK, yes, technically, Philadelphia is the closest major city to her hometown of West Reading, Pennsylvania. But DC is a mere two-and-a-half-hour drive away, thereby making it the perfect distance. You never want to be too close to your hometown, but you want to be close enough for holiday visits—as Swift aptly points out in “’tis the damn season.”
DC is actually a very ~romantic~ city.
Drunkenly walking around the monuments at night with your beau, strolling hand-in-hand along the Potomac, or sharing a Jumbo Slice at 2 AM—who says the District isn’t romantic? Swift is famous for her love songs. Therefore, DC presents the perfect opportunity for Swift to find new songwriting material while exploring with her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn (“this is me trying,” Taylor, ok?).
We have so much nature.
Swift sings about the natural world frequently on her last two albums, referencing grassy fields, wrapping vines, and urban parks. Luckily, the District is close to many very excellent hiking trails. If Swift doesn’t want to venture too far (which we completely understand after the busy year she had), we recommend an urban outing to the National Arboretum or Rock Creek Park—their fall foliage is impressive enough to inspire the next Red.
We love cats.
Home to numerous cat cafes, including Crumbs & Whiskers (which also has a Los Angeles location and which our writer characterized as looking like “the set of a Taylor Swift music video”), the District is very pro-cat. Though it may take a little while for Swift’s three cats—Meredith Gray, Olivia Benson, and Benjamin Button—to get acclimated to DC’s slightly-colder temperatures, an outdoor kitty cottage (cats can participate in the cottagecore craze, too!) should help them adapt quickly.
We have flights to London and trains to New York.
We get it—London and New York are Swift’s two loves. The cities each merit their own song in Swift’s discography—”London Boy” and “Welcome to New York.” But, between daily non-stop flights to London from Dulles and multiple daily Acela trains from Union to Penn stations, Swift can get to her favorite destinations without the hassle of connecting flights or slow trains (ahem, Nashville).
Just, please, consider it.
Yeah, DC may not have the musical reputation of Nashville, the sex appeal of New York, or the Euro-charm of London. But hey, FedEx Field is only a 30-minute drive from downtown—an ideal commute for the future Folklore/Evermore stadium tour.
