Of all the Places in New York, I Choose Taylor

The board in the lobby of Madame Tussauds told me that the music zone of the museum was on the fifth floor. Little did I know that we had to get past all the other attractions and groups of celebrities to make it there. I thought the anticipation might be the death of me. As I made my way through the floors, getting closer and closer to her, my heart rate increased infinitesimally. Sure, the other figurines were eye-catching, but there was one in particular that I was here for.

The music zone was as bright as Times Square on New Year’s Eve. As the marketing description for the museum says, “Every day is New Year’s Eve at Madame Tussauds.” It certainly looked like it. Flashy billboards covered the walls, and poised around the room were figures of the people who had changed the music world. Visitors posed with and smiled at the statues, as if they were real-life people.

My eyes zeroed in on a 5’10” tall woman with straight blonde hair, bangs above her eyebrows, and iconic red lipstick. She wore a midnight blue playsuit embellished with fringe details, matching garter and crystal boots, and a multi-colored tinsel jacket. The legendary Taylor Swift, in her Midnights era!

Taylor has had a legendary run. At thirty-six, she is the only artist to win Album of the Year four times. She also holds the record for the most Song of the Year nominations in Grammy history. She is the most awarded artist in VMA and AMA history, holding the record for the most Video of the Year wins. The Eras Tour was the highest-grossing music tour in history.

It’s not surprising she is also a huge influence on teen girls and young women. I am no exception to the Taylor effect.

Okay, let’s back up a bit. What was an Indian college girl doing in the city that never sleeps – New York?

I had the amazing privilege of studying abroad, which led me to Texas. My dad’s well-placed best friend lived in New Jersey, just a half-hour drive away from the Big Apple itself. He invited me to spend Thanksgiving weekend with him and his family. I jumped at the opportunity.

Since my first visit back in 2015, this city has always fascinated me. Maybe it was the people who seemed to always have someone to talk to on the phone. They bustled around me but never hit anyone or anything. They lived in a place that I had only ever read about or seen in movies. Maybe it was the bright lights that seemed to shine through all hours of the day and night. Maybe it was the sounds of traffic that made you feel like you were never alone. I’m not sure what the allure was, but I knew I had New York fever.

Seeing the city was like love at first sight. This city I’d read about was right in front of me, free for the taking. I could explore to my heart’s content. I got to experience the city that so many of my favorite characters lived in.

During my first visit, I was a child of nine or ten years. I didn’t have a say in where I got to go or what we went to see. I was ferried along by my mom’s itinerary and my dad, who pushed my little sister in her stroller all through the city. I was taken to monuments like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. I got to go to places like the huge M&M and Disney stores in Times Square. I remember walking by the Madame Tussauds wax museum, with the gigantic hands sticking out of the side of the building, like they were unfurling the banner that presented the museum’s name.

I pulled on my mom’s shirt and told her I wanted to go there. She shook her head with a sigh and told me that we didn’t have time. She had a plan and knew exactly where to take us.

I’d heard of this museum, first established in 1835 in London. Now, it is the best-known name in this industry. I knew that it was filled with wax statues of famous celebrities. At the time, I didn’t even know half these celebrities. I didn’t really follow pop culture back then.

At ten, I thought the disappointment was about missing a chance to go to the wax museum. Maybe it was about something else instead. I was too young to understand it then, but maybe New York belonged to the adults around me. They chose the places, planned the hours, decided what was worth seeing and what could be left for another trip. I simply came along.

Ten years later, I was coming back with something I hadn’t had the first time: a say.

This time, I was determined to have some say in these matters. Earlier, it was the exterior that made me want to visit the museum. But now, it was her. Being a twenty-year-old girl from Chennai, I hadn’t been able to see the Taylor Swift: Eras Tour. However, I had been a Swiftie for as long as I can remember. She has always been there for me, when no one else really was. Her songs got me through bad breakups. She made me smile on the rough days. When I was happy, her songs were what I danced to. When I took long showers, it was her songs I sang loud and off-key.

I’d heard about the thirteen wax figures of Taylor Swift displayed in thirteen locations around the world, in honor of her tour. The figures were dressed in Taylor’s iconic costumes from her tour, which helped me feel included, even though I hadn’t seen her in person. Lucky for me, there was one in New York. Sure, there were other ways I could show my Swiftie side, like going to Cornelia Street or Coney Island. But I decided I could save that for another time. This time, I wasn’t going to leave the city without seeing her.

When uncle asked me if there was anywhere in particular I wanted to go, the question felt strange. It wasn’t a question of which attraction was attractive to me. This time, no one had an itinerary. I got to make it. No one told me which New York I was going to see. They didn’t tell me that I would be seeing the Empire State where Rick Riordan placed his Olympus, or the Upper East Side from Gossip Girl. They were asking me what I wanted to see, and I had to work up the courage to tell them that I wanted to see her.

I was a little shy. You see, I hadn’t seen these people in years. I didn’t know how to ask them to take me to this place. I gathered up my courage and asked quietly, “Have you heard of this place called Madame Tussauds?”

Their son, Calvin, looked up and asked me, “Which figure are you really interested in?” with a smirk.

Now, I’d had a bad history with boys teasing me for liking Taylor Swift. For years, when I’d told them I liked Taylor Swift, they’d laugh and say, “Ohhh, her. She only writes about breakups,” or something along those lines. But right now, I couldn’t afford to hold back if I wanted to see her. “Taylor Swift,” I said boldly.

He started laughing, curling up and holding his stomach. When he eventually stopped, he booked tickets to take me there the next day.

The next morning, we went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade first, and then walked over to the museum. I ducked under tall people, squeezing past them to see the board that would tell me where I would find her. I rolled on the balls of my feet in excitement, swinging around like a happy penguin.

I kept looking out for the signs that would lead me to her, even when I knew that I was going to find her eventually. Every staircase felt longer than it should have. Every room I passed through contained another celebrity I had seen on screens, but I barely stopped to look. I had come for one person, and everyone else felt like an interruption.

When I saw her, I let out a squeal of delight. Calvin, who was standing in front of me, got pushed out of the way, my arms extending in front of me with grabby hands. I’m not embarrassed to say that I hugged this wax figure of my favorite singer. I was actually surprised I didn’t cry when I got to see this woman who had been such a big part of my life.

It was a bit strange to hug wax. The statue was a bit cold and very obviously solid. A part of me wondered if some security guard would tell me not to touch the statue. It was a good thing no one did, because I’m not sure I would have let go. I forced Calvin, who agreed with a roll of his eyes, to take pictures of the two of us. A normal person might have been embarrassed by their reaction, but I sure wasn’t. I didn’t really care what people might say. I was here for me – for the girl who grew up with Taylor.

For a few seconds, I forgot she was made of wax and that I was standing in a museum filled with other people around me who were probably wondering what was wrong with this girl. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Calvin laughing good naturedly at my reaction.

The ten-year-old girl who tugged on her mom’s shirt wouldn’t have understood what I felt at that moment. She might have wondered if Taylor’s statue was really as tall as she was in real life.

But really, I didn’t come back to the same city. This time, I walked through it knowing that if there was something I wanted to see, I could simply say so. Seeing Taylor was more than seeing a wax figure. I’d missed the Eras Tour and had spent years loving this artist from afar, through headphones, lyrics scribbled down on the back of school notebooks, and little pieces of my life that she helped me through.

When I thought back on the trip, I remembered the other places I had visited, too. But Taylor remained the person I had most wanted to see, the one who had made this visit feel particularly mine. Standing beside her felt like my own small way of thanking her for all the times her music had been there for me.

I was finally there, twenty years old, in one of my favorite cities and, for once, in a place I had chosen for myself. So yes, I held on to Taylor for a few more seconds without a care in the world. The girl who had tugged on her mother’s shirt ten years ago had waited a long time to be here.