The Taylor Swift Thread

Well, she surprised the world today with a double album.

About time this exceptional artist gets a dedicated thread here in the music section.

Personally, I’m no Swiftie, but can certainly appreciate her hard work in music and the cultural impact she has worldwide.

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/takeaways-from-taylor-swift-new-album-the-tortured-poets-department/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_brand=p4k&utm_social-type=owned&mbid=social_twitter

I started paying attention to her with the 2 albums she released during the pandemic. As a huge The National fan, it was nice to see Aaron Dessner getting some recognition for his songwriting.

I like her folk songs. I think that’s where she sounds best.

Nobody deserves her level of success, it’s obviously crazy but at least she’s a hard worker and a true musician.

Saying an artist's music is the worst you've ever heard is, in a way, the mirror image of saying it's the best. Those are equally strong reactions, and, as Frank Zappa once said, the strength of the reaction is all that matters. Not that I agree completely, but it's a great point.
 
Taylor's music, for the most part, has never made any impact or impression on me at all. I've heard quite a lot of it at this point - a whole bunch of my musician friends fell in love with her Folklore album - but it goes in one ear, slides across my brain, and sails out the other. With 2 exceptions, all her music is forgotten by the music-processing part of my brain within seconds after it ends. Those exceptions are:

she has a song that has the couplet "She's cheer captain/I'm in the bleachers." The chord progression and melody both feel like they're perpetually ascending throughout, and I find that awesome. Not awesome enough to find out that song's name, but I'm ok with that. 🤣

"Shake It Off." All I can think when I hear that song is that everyone involved in making it must really hate music, or at least they did on the days they made their contribution to it. Truly pitiful.

...and so ends my contribution to this thread.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You actually had a fair amount to say. Four solid paragraphs.

She’s no Lana Del Rey, but there’s much to enjoy, anyway.

You actually had a fair amount to say. Four solid paragraphs.

Two, really. Opening and the 2nd one with list.

Figured I'd pass along a story I remembered a few minutes ago.

Back around 2004 (Taylor would've been what, 15?), a friend of mine's band was doing the semiannual cattle call for college gig bookings; these are on-campus performances, not bars and such. Taylor was also there auditioning/showcasing, and he found out later that she committed to 18 months worth of weekend gigs. A little over a year later, Taylor was nearing arena-level status, I think, but she played every last one of those college gigs for the agreed-upon fee. Didn't cancel or stiff a single one of those colleges. Her music may have made no impact on me, but that level of commitment to one's word gets maximum respect from me.  🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽

I started paying attention to her with the 2 albums she released during the pandemic. As a huge The National fan, it was nice to see Aaron Dessner getting some recognition for his songwriting.

I like her folk songs. I think that’s where she sounds best.

Nobody deserves her level of success, it’s obviously crazy but at least she’s a hard worker and a true musician.

The few excerpts I heard today sound very folksy.

I appreciate that story, IF. Integrity is everything.

I know nothing about her - so looked her up.

She is certainly prolific.

She is on her 11th studio album - only released her debut in 2006.

I know nothing about her - so looked her up.

She is certainly prolific.

She is on her 11th studio album - only released her debut in 2006.

Not to mention she re-recorded many of her early albums as a fuck you to the rights owner of her original work.

Hmm. Lovely song this. Might have to give this record a real listen.

Hmm. Lovely song this. Might have to give this record a real listen.

MPare I never knew we had a Swifite among us

I became a fan late last year. I prefer her pop stuff to the "folk" albums. I gave The Tortured Poets Department, for me, sounds a bit too much like her previous record for me to really get into it... makes me worry we're just getting more material for an extended Eras tour, and I've personally had enough of Taylor being so constantly in the spotlight in this "era" of her career.

And she ruined the NFL season being with Travis Kelce lol

The track MPare shared is a great one, so I'd have to recommend it to anyone wanting to try her out. But the whole project gets better as it moves along, and I'd recommend this as well:


As a whole, I think the album is overeager in pursuing big pop choruses on so great a number of songs, whereas Midnights showed some restraint. The track I shared kinda does that too, but once it gets to the second half, you'll maybe see what impresses me about her songwriting talents.

Quote from: MPare1966 on April 19, 2024, 11:49:35 PM

Hmm. Lovely song this. Might have to give this record a real listen.

MPare I never knew we had a Swifite among us

Nah. I don’t know much about her music. Just find her prolific output interesting.

I became a fan late last year. I prefer her pop stuff to the "folk" albums. I gave The Tortured Poets Department, for me, sounds a bit too much like her previous record for me to really get into it... makes me worry we're just getting more material for an extended Eras tour, and I've personally had enough of Taylor being so constantly in the spotlight in this "era" of her career.

And she ruined the NFL season being with Travis Kelce lol

The track MPare shared is a great one, so I'd have to recommend it to anyone wanting to try her out. But the whole project gets better as it moves along, and I'd recommend this as well:

As a whole, I think the album is overeager in pursuing big pop choruses on so great a number of songs, whereas Midnights showed some restraint. The track I shared kinda does that too, but once it gets to the second half, you'll maybe see what impresses me about her songwriting talents.

Me thinks the NFL was pretty happy about the whole thing.

New fans, more $$$