Taylor Swift and Shakespeare Top 5 Reasons to Sing at the Top of Your Lungs with Your Aging Loved One:

1. We always remember song lyrics from our youth.

2. We remember song lyrics even when we forget to take our meds (even us Gen Xers).

3. Singing is done with reckless abandon.

4. Lyrics capture feelings and time periods we may have forgotten (again, even us Gen Xers).

5. Songs transcend ages and stages.

“You were Romeo and you were throwing pebbles…”

Intergenerational aging has become a big deal. And why not? Take the wisdom that comes with age and put it in the same room as the curiosity, strength, and big-hearted instincts of kids. Same campus. Co-housing. Maybe even the same living room.

Take my mom, for example.

Mom taught middle school English in her twenties in the 1960s before she had me. She knew a thing or two about Shakespeare and canonical poets. In fact, I buried her with her book of poetry — one of the only books she took with her to her final place of residence.

In the early aughts, Mom lived near her sister outside of Boston. That’s where a few of my bestie first cousins live. They each have a daughter — two of Mom’s grandnieces (GNs), J and J, born in 2005 and 2008. Gen Alpha through and through. They’ve already lived through several Taylor Swift eras.

When Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” (the Romeo and Juliet one) was in heavy rotation, Mom gathered the girls.

Mom: Girls, let’s break down the lyrics to this Taylor Swift song.

GNs: What does that mean?

Mom: The lyrics are the lines of the song. Breaking down the lyrics is the same as breaking down the lines of a poem into their little parts.

GNs (very young): Huh?

Mom (not breaking stride): Then you interpret the little parts. Then you interpret the whole.

GNs (down for this game): Uh, okay.

Mom: To wit — “You were Romeo and you were throwing pebbles.” Do either of you know why a young person would throw pebbles at another young person’s window?

GNs (giggling, wide-eyed): Because he likes her?

Mom: Yes! And?

GNs (exchange a look, shrug).

Mom: This is what people do when they are in love. They go to the window and toss little rocks to get the person’s attention. They don’t want to break the window. They just want to signal without waking up the parents.

The girls were spellbound.

GNs: Like wow, Aunt Phyllis, you REALLY GET TS!

Mom: Well, I “GET” human nature in poetry. And songs are poetry.

GNs: I bet you were a really good teacher, Aunt Phyllis.

Mom: Hmmm. Yes, maybe. Now, onto the next song.

GNs: Aunt Phyllis, can we break down these lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well”?

Time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it

I'd like to be my old self again

But I'm still trying to find it

After plaid shirt days and nights when you made me your own

Now you mail back my things and I walk home alone

But you keep my old scarf from that very first week

'Cause it reminds you of innocence

And it smells like me

You can't get rid of it

'Cause you remember it all too well, yeah

Mom:  maybe in a few years…

I do wonder why we remember song lyrics. They transcend space and time. They can soothe and immediately bring joy to any situation. The lyrics can last through the ages, somehow imprinted in our DNA. Bringing us together, from all walks of life to snap, and sway, and sing. Music helps us make sense of our lives. Life is, in fact, kind of like a mixtape. 

Welcome to anecdōtes, our weekly writing prompt for those of us taking care of aging loved ones while simultaneously googling “am I having a midlife crisis or is this just Tuesday?”

This Week’s Writing Prompt:

If your week was a mixtape, what would the title be? 

What songs would you include?

dōt.age exists because we’re all navigating the uncharted territory of caring for aging parents, and we need to share our stories.

This isn’t about being a writer—it’s about being human and sharing our messy, unfiltered truths of eldercare. 

• Each week, we’ll drop a prompt. 

• You write for five minutes. 

• No polish, no pressure—just permission to be gloriously imperfect. 

• If you want to share what you wrote, send it our way and we’ll share it on our Substack (with your permission of course) so we can all feel a little less alone in this wild mixtape that is our lives.

SEND TO: LNahmie@gmail.com

dōteworthy:

and why do we remember all the lyrics from songs anyhow?

The intricate relationship between music and memory - ABC Classic