Finding a moment of 'Epiphany'

(Editor's note: Tuckahoe Middle School seventh-grade English students recently wrote editorials designed to persuade Henrico citizens to read, listen to or watch a story or book that reflected their individual cultures, as a way to help others better understand them. This is one of those editorials; click here to read others.)

For our marking period 3 performance task, we were asked to write about our community and culture. To be honest I was having a hard time figuring out what that even means. I had a mindset that my culture and community were where my family comes from and where we live. I know now that's not correct. A more effective way of defining would be what makes you and your family different or unique. Since this year has been extremely unusual, I thought about the world and the people that have been aiding us through this pandemic. I think that they could also be my community. These people are the front-line workers that have been risking their lives every day are a significant part of that. A song that I think captures this perfectly is epiphany by Taylor Swift from her album, folklore.

Taylor Swift is a singer/songwriter known for her brilliantly written music. She has won album of the year three times and is the first female to do so. Epiphany is the 13th track on folklore. A basic summary of the song is it features a story of her grandfather (who was a soldier) and how he couldn’t talk about the things that happened while he was at war. The song is also a tribute to front-line workers during the COVID-19.

Epiphany starts with the lyrics, “keep your helmet, keep your life son, just a flesh wound, here’s your rifle” This is referring to the death and determination of soldiers. It then continues to, “crawling off the beaches now, sir I think he’s bleeding out, and some things you just can’t speak about” This is probably one of the most crucial lines in the song because of the “and some things you just can’t speak about’ verse. In folklore long pond studio sessions (where she performed the full album) she said that during quarantine she wanted to learn more about her grandfather but it was difficult because he hadn’t been able to talk or speak about all the different things going on around him.

The other lyric that I want to tell you about is “something med school did not cover, someone's daughter, someone's mother, holds your hand through plastic now.” This is a reference to doctors and patients in the COVID-19 pandemic. The song as a whole is comparing doctors and nurses to soldiers in a war. This is a comparison that I would have not have thought about. This song opened my mind even more to what the doctors and nurses have to experience every day. I think everyone should listen to this song because it's not only an excellent song but it’s an eye-opener to the state of the world right now.