Taylor Swift - Speak Now (Oct 2010) - hype, anticipation &c

Taylor Swift’s highly-anticipated third studio album will be released worldwide on October 25th, Taylor herself announced this afternoon during a web chat with her fans.

Entitled SPEAK NOW, the album will be released on Big Machine Records and contains 14 tracks, all written solely by Taylor. Taylor co-produced the project with Nathan Chapman, and the first single from the new record, “Mine,” will be released on August 16th.

“Saying the right thing at the right moment is so crucial that most of us start to hesitate, for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But lately what I've begun to fear more than that is letting the moment pass without saying anything,” Taylor says of the very personal collection that is Speak Now. “These songs are made up of words I didn't say when the moment was right in front of me. These songs are open letters. Each is written with a specific person in mind, telling them what I meant to tell them in person.”

Starting on August 20th, Speak Now will be available for special pre-sale on the site www.SpeakNow13.com.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2qnqqn4.jpg

i am so so so so so excited about this

^^^^

“These songs are made up of words I didn't say when the moment was right in front of me."

do you think there's one about the VMAs?

lol just posted on twitter re: "Each is written with a specific person in mind" that i hope one of those people is kanye

same producer as the other two albums = good thing! she's on a winning streak, why change it up now?

also looking at the producer's credits, I see a bunch of Taylor Swift productions, a Train remix, and:

2008 John Oates 1000 Miles of Life (Acoustic Guitar)

which I thought was amusing given all the talk about Hall & Oates on ILM recently.

'speak now' is a great title

same producer as the other two albums = good thing! she's on a winning streak, why change it up now?

In retrospect the stylistic/tonal shift between the first two albums was handled really organically, I'd like to think the further increases in fame/fortune/pressure since then won't have caused her to start second guessing her approach.

'speak now' is a great title

...or forever hold your peace

it's very swiftian

I fantasized that this would be solely solo-writes because obviously she kept the co-writers around as a favour before.

Can't wait, but a little pissed that none of the zealous webchat-participants asked about the musical side of the album and if there's the same development as s/t -> Fearless in the shift Tim F describes.

Is this a concept album?

Article about filming her new video. Pics also confirm we still have the same bland twerpy taste in boys.

Speak Now is a great title that sounds way concept, doesn't it? Can't wait for 8/16

Listening to "Mine"...

Listening to "Get Off The Stage (It's My Turn Now)."

Self-diagnosis: "flight risk with a fear of falling"

this is great. taylor how could i have doubted you.

lol @ how she makes it Very Clear that she's not in high school any more, toto - the very first line = "you were in COLLEGE", and then talking about BILLS TO PAY in the second verse.

the chorus is incredible - "you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter" made me gasp.

^^^that line is incredible. her writing is definitely maturing.

and I love the switch of p.o.v. to him at the end with the rising backround vocals.

i just love her phrasing. she always knows exactly where to put emphasis on words.

i haven't taken this off loop yet :/

didn't see this thread for now, but like everyone else I thought Fearless is great, so I'll definitely check this out

until now, obv

I hate to say it, but I'm a little disappointed. There are some great lines, but it seems like Taylor is on autopilot. Its Love Story, or Our Song all over again, down to the POV shift. The major change seems to be an insertion of more mature signifiers.

Of course, Taylor on autopilot also means great melody, bridge, and performance. I just hope she pushes herself in more surprising ways on the album.

you learn my secrets and you figure out why i'm _____?

i mean i could keep on hearing it as "gartered" i suppose...

guarded?

tarded?

guarded, of course.

wordy little cow

hmm gonna have to agree with brontosaur here :\

Right. Wrote this accidentally in the other thread first, but since then I've listened to 'Mine' about 15 times or so, so I guess she's still got it.

Seconding the hope that she pushes herself musically a little, but there's more texture in the production here to some extent, and she's pointing the finger back at herself more than she sometimes did on Fearless.

It might be 'Mary's Song' redux but I'm sort of ok with that.

i just heard this one the radio

it's fun! i mean, it sounds like a taylor song -- i'm not mad

u mad. (jk, it sounds fine to me too)

Downloaded this yesterday, listened a few times and thought "Oh, it's good, very Taylor, but I wish there something more to it."

Then it came on in the car and I was all HELL YES.

"Mine" is great -- seems a bit like Taylor on autopilot, though.

Looking fwd to the album!

a.) like the song, love the chorus -- sets itself up to need a big hook and delivers
b.) i don't think it's autopilot, the lyrics are carefully crafted. and there's more obvious invention than before, which was always going to be the challenge here -- she can't keep writing seemingly-autobiographical teen-girl stuff, she has to imagine her way into grown-up characters who aren't giant pop stars.
c.) nothing about this song makes me anticipate the album any less

it is selling shit-tons pretty much instantly, btw, like very very likely going to be a #1 record just based on early sales.

read something about how it was rush-released after the leak, and it took six hours to get to no 1 on itunes.

they didn't bother putting it up on uk itunes. i hate this country.

what i love about the song is that it feels like she has to be convinced again and again, like the first rush of optimism doesn't quite take properly, which rings v true w/r/t the character. the second iteration of the chorus ("you saw me start to believe for the first time") is clearly some time after "you put your arms around me for the first time", and THEN comes the big fight at the climax of the song. it's love as an adult process rather than love as a high school dream.

also "there's a drawer of my things at your place" is such a fantastically casual way to put those purity ring accusations to rest.

One of the things I like about it, at least like to think about while listening to it, is that this guy who's "the best thing that's ever been mine" is, even so, now DUMPED.

what i love about the song is that it feels like she has to be convinced again and again, like the first rush of optimism doesn't quite take properly, which rings v true w/r/t the character. the second iteration of the chorus ("you saw me start to believe for the first time") is clearly some time after "you put your arms around me for the first time", and THEN comes the big fight at the climax of the song. it's love as an adult process rather than love as a high school dream.

Haven't heard this yet but really like this description lex.

this would make more sense as an album track than a single to me tbh, but i think it's just the right amount of maturing from fearless

"Mine" is great -- seems a bit like Taylor on autopilot, though.

Looking fwd to the album!

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, August 5, 2010 3:19 PM (Yesterday)

lol did you purposefully try to hit on all the consensus points in the ten posts before yours? not picking on you or anything

yep, this is pretty much exactly what i want to hear right now

lol did you purposefully try to hit on all the consensus points in the ten posts before yours?

Nope, I actually didn't read those posted before mine, just listened to the song and posted my thoughts. Pretty simple. I take it others said the same thing, then?

Taylor is ALMOST ready to write Degrassi episodes

Don't we need to wait for the songs about lesbianism and abortion first?

(I mean. Don't really keep up with anything post-80s incarnation of Degrassi, but last I checked we Canucks still made our corny teen soaps with extra 'controversy'.)

yeah, Taylor is tackling divorce right now. She'll get to diet pills on the next single.

"you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter" made me gasp.

no clue how this rings as profound, haven't you seen a teen film?

this song's narrative = the narrative of claire and eli on degrassi as of last thursday's episode, fyi (and it was a narrative of, like, every teen soap ever)

Tape Store has exposed a tragic gap in ILX's familiarity with Degrassi story arcs!

stfu, i'm just using degrassi as a v current example

lol, no, it's fine, and totally appropriate for the Taylor Swift thread (she's pretty clearly mining similar material since she has a similar audience), but i'm not surprised that people aren't super familiar with what constitutes a tired trope in teen dramas.

lmfaoooo i think i watched ~4.5 consecutive hours of back-to-back degrassi a few weeks ago. i felt like i'd just had unprotected sex w/ an hiv+ hooker or something (probably because that was somewhat similar to the plot of at least 3 episodes i had just seen).

I was just looking at the Amazon.com Top 100 CDs and noticed this:

67.

Fearless ~ Taylor Swift
4.3 out of 5 stars (274 customer reviews) | 10 customer discussions
In Stock
List Price: $18.98
Price: $9.99
You Save: $8.99 (47%)
64 used & new from $7.83

666 days in the top 100

http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx61/NateSuxx/30ble6h.png

YESSSSSSSS

will buy

That is like the greatest Stevie Nicks cover that never was.

i love how the swooping dress connects back to the swooping hair of the 'fearless' cover

swoop there it is

ok, so are we buying the glitter package, the sparkle package or the diamond package?

wilco never offered me a glitter package ;_;

seriously considering watching her cmt special tonight. if the kids will tolerate it...

i dont even know if i get cmt but that sounds dope

Holy moly thanks for the CMT update, that sounds awesome.

Oh wait, it's just a video premiere. Meh...

From EW interview:

The title track, indeed, is about “the moment in a wedding where you speak now or forever hold your peace.

+

The last two years of your life have been so nuts. Is there a song that reflects the business and change of your last two years?
There is, actually. The last song on the album is about looking back on the last two years and how I feel when I do that.

Expectations for that one^

The reporter actually goes into 'critical' mode as well and asks whether Mine is just a Fearless rehash: http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/08/27/taylor-swift-speak-now-new-album/

Oh wait, it's just a video premiere. Meh...

it's a half-hour live video premiere. when your friday night prospects are yo gabba gabba or half of monsters inc. for the 6th time this week, that's exciting enough.

Watched this video on my local mtv site, and it's a de-countrified version! Ridiculous, considering how mild the country touches are on the original.

Video's pretty good, I think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Dje28sFeY

Can someone make a looping .jpg of the ridiculously cute Taylor head-bob thing from 1:52-1:53 btw??

i wonder if the other artists in the country music world are viewing this CMT special like lebron's "the decision"

video taken down

Video's on the front page of her website. Doesn't seem attached to any "de-countrified" mix either.

Oh shit I totally didn't know they shot videos for "Fearless" and "White Horse." Rest of night: planned.

fyi both of those songs are only like 4 mins long

ah cool, i'll have to check out her site

fyi both of those songs are only like 4 mins long

― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 29, 2010 3:46 PM

haaaa!

fyi both of those songs are only like 4 mins long

planning to pass out drunk afterward, always be livin' the fearless life.

Actually I think I could seriously watch the "White Horse" video for hours because I am killed by the moments when Taylor stops lip-syncing. The song alone already sailed me into nervous-breakdown-territory.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l52cavwcj11qcsy9co1_500.jpg

that is not disturbing at all

this chorus is a rush

"mine" btw don't want to freak anyone out like there is a new song or something

yeah, and it's even more of a rush every time she switches it up

this bridge is a rush

lol

Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson handed out his opinion on country starlet Taylor Swift recently, branding the blond "horrible."

"I find it embarrassing that adults are like, 'Taylor Swift is very talented.' She's not. She might be cute, but she's horrible," Robinson told Nylon Guys, according to Contact Music.

It seems that Kate Hudson's ex-husband takes issue with the production style employed by Swift and her popular counterparts.

"They have stylists who dress them, they make records with producers who play a chord ...
... into the computer and it all comes out the same ... when you have computers doing it all for you ... there's no individuality. Singing isn't always about being on key; it's about emotionality (sic)," he argues.

Does Robinson make a point, or is he simply staking Swift? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/09/chris-robinson-slams-taylor-swift.html

salient points from an important person

emotionality

loooooool

"mine" is totally unremarkable apart from the bridge

also the music video is so lollllllll bad

"Mine" is what I'd like to start calling Vintage Taylor.

And it's fantastic.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0133f387da1a970b-pi

He is such a loser on every level you can lose in life.

"Mine" is dope -- looking forward to the record

as of now, I don't think it's as good as "You Belong With Me," "Change," and probably some other songs on her previous record, though

<3 this phot of her

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8ev6sgsnD1qb6b1k.png

damn

!!

wdyll post terry richardson

damn

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, September 8, 2010 4:23 AM (11 hours ago)

also the music video is so lollllllll bad

agreed it reminded me of like wilson phillips or something

idk why though

Video's pretty good, I think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPBwXKgDTdE

Can someone make a looping .jpg of the ridiculously cute Taylor head-bob thing from 1:52-1:53 btw??

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Saturday, August 28, 2010 2:02 PM (2 weeks ago)

Can someone make a looping .jpg of the ridiculously cute Taylor head-bob thing from 1:52-1:53 btw??

i would just like to note that laura marling is younger than taylor swift.

laura marling writes better lyrics and better songs. <3 <3 <3

this kinda thing always goes really well

my main point is that taylor swift's lyrics are good for a 14-yo, but now that she's 21 she should consider reading a book

or 20, whatever

idk man i think "mine" is pretty obviously a song written by a much more mature person

Flash forward, and we're takin' on the world together
And there's a drawer of my things at your place
You learn my secrets and figure out why I'm guarded
You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes

But we got bills to pay
We got nothin' figured out
When it was hard to take
Yes, yes

This is what I thought about:

^^ this is a great lead in to a chorus about remembering meeting someone imo

the structure isn't awkward, but it's a song about two really boring, poorly-sketched characters. there's really nothing remarkable about any of the lyrics.

i guess if i cared that much about well-sketched characters i would read books

'made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter' packs a lot into it, imo

I do agree that 'mine' is a retread, structurally, of the narrative tropes she was using on Fearless and maybe the s/t

like putting the chorus into the boy's mouth - pretty sure she's done that at least once or twice before?

anyway i don't think they're poorly sketched -- i think the "you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter" line does a lot of the legwork in a way that a line in a three minute pop song should

not to mention that this seems like an odd criticism of taylor in general -- i mean, you love that lady antebellum song right? you can't find two more basically sketched characters than the two in that song -- the-dream isn't exactly writing novels out there either, but it doesn't mean that the songs can't still be affecting & amazing

laura marling comes from a completely different songwriting tradition and is trying to do completely different things with her music (and doing them very well) (to be slightly reductive, individual catharsis vs. relatable normativity).

i just read that t-swift sang a song about kanye at the vmas last night lol. tell me about it, people who watched! is it on youtube? i don't have time to read thge whole vmas thread.

lady antebellum song isn't a character sketch, it's a song about a specific moment--where one is totally lonely and pathetic and drunk and longing--and it's much more relatable than Taylor's "uptight girl falls in love w/ boy and remembers when he said 'i love you'" narrative, which is dull and anonymous and doesn't ring true. there is nothing 'affecting' about "mine" at all.

the-dream isn't a girl with a guitar.

comparing swift to marling is a bit like comparing, idk, carole king to pj harvey.

lex, it's a decent song that would be better w/o the stigma of it being about kanyegate

well, it's a really good song actually

what's it called? every news report i've read so far has neglected to mention this detail

"mine" is about a specific moment too! notably the one sung about in the chorus -- it's just a bit fleshed out with background than "need you now" -- i don't think it attempts to be a 'character sketch' tho

it's called "innocence" i think

taylor swift needs to use some different narrative arcs imo

& i don't really see the point of judging taylor's music as character sketches, seeing as she's not writing movie scripts -- she's writing pop songs

it's like the 'feminist' arguments against taylor as if female music should be judged 100% on how feminist it is

the-dream isn't a girl with a guitar.

― christopher dullan (Tape Store), Monday, September 13, 2010 3:00 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

i also don't see what the difference is -- you only care if girls w/ guitars write songs that are good character sketches?

you really don't listen to any female singer-songwriters do you

that movie script line is such bullshit

taylor's songs aren't interesting enough for the lyrics to be bad.

i don't think taylor is as monolithic a writer (subject-wise) as you're paint her to be, dayo -- her huge singles are maybe, but shit like "white horse" & "breathe" are much different than "love story" & "you belong with me"

also i think "mine" is is enough of a switch up in subject matter to still seem fresh -- i would at least hear the whole album first

taylor's songs aren't interesting enough for the lyrics to be bad.

― christopher dullan (Tape Store), Monday, September 13, 2010 3:12 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

well i disagree with the idea that her songs aren't interesting and that her lyrics are bad, so \(o_O)/

Then, you took me by surprise
You said, "I'll never leave you alone."

You said, "I remember how we felt, sitting by the water.
And every time I look at you, it's like the first time.
I fell in love with a careless man's careful daughter.
She is the best thing that's ever been mine."

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring
And said
Marry me Juliet you'll never hae to be alone
I love you and that's all I really know
I talked to your dad go pick out a white dress
It's a love story baby just say yes

I guess it just annoys me that her latest big song kind of apes her last big song

because there's a POV change? that also happens in two of her 30 other songs? i guess it's not that big of an issue to me

notice the part where I said "her last big song"

i don't think it's bullshit to say that arguing that a pop singer's songs aren't good enough 'character sketches' might be missing the point of the music in the first place

which reduces the set to 'love story, you belong with me, mine'

her last big song was "you belong with me"

i'm not gonna disagree that "mine" is structurally a lot like "love story" -- it's just a lot less fairy tale enough for me for it to not come off as a total retread

also it seems taylor has an awful lot of fights @ 2 am in the morning

i love the recurring taylor motifs - fights at 2am, kissing in the rain, tuesday nights &c

*sigh*

pop singers: rihanna, kesha, katy perry

girls with guitars: alanis morrisette, joni mitchell, taylor swift

is taylor swift dueting w/ b.o.b. or john mayer?

damn dude, that is a fucking archaic way to view pop music

lol @ the idea that kissing in the rain is a specific taylor motif, rather than just a terrible cliche

tape store,

laura marling (and joni mitchell) comes from a completely different songwriting tradition and is trying to do completely different things with her music (and doing them very well) (to be slightly reductive, individual catharsis vs. relatable normativity).

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Monday, September 13, 2010 7:45 AM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark

i mean, if you're gonna sit here and argue that taylor swift -- literally the highest selling musician in america -- isn't a pop musician, then you're kind of insane

was alanis morrisette not pop?

yes...

you're the one who seemingly set up the dichotomy between "pop musician" and "girls with guitars" -- alanis & taylor aren't (or weren't, in alanis' case) both?

alanis morissette's songs are mostly even more "simplistic" than taylor's

basically what i'm saying is that taylor is a part of the, um, let's say 'auteurist tradition,' and she's a p unremarkable auteur

as opposed to someone like rihanna, whose main job is (often) to be a great interpreter

lol my argument is getting v murky right now but taylor's lyrics still suck

idk i think what you're doing is setting up like two totally different criteria with which to judge taylor or any female pop artist who plays an acoustic guitar

well that makes more sense xp

what i was trying to say is this:

taylor comes from the tradition of picking up a pen/piece of paper/guitar and writing/recording, and lyrics are an important part of this tradition. i think her lyrics are bland.

like what separates taylor from coffeehouse performers?

the auteurist tradition isn't as homogeneous as you're making out tho, TS

because if we're going to start talking about taylor as a pop artist, then let's discuss the production.

no, you're right, it's not. that's what i meant by 'murky argument,' since plenty of non-girls w/ guitars play the role of auteur.

idk i think it's pretty obvious what separates taylor swift from colbie callait & sara barelies (too lazy to look up the spelling) let alone 'coffeehouse performers'

what are your beefs w/ the production

If she's a pop star, the production is what counts? Ridiculous.

lol never thought I'd see someone try to use rockism to argue against taylor

personally her lyrics are what make her for me - sure they're about bog standard things, but the way they play out in lockstep with the music, how she almost seems to write the music to fit the lyrics (instead of the other way around which is what I feel like happens most of the time), that's what's special.

lex (and anyone else who didn't hear it), here's the VMA song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF0x2_mXjM4

i've heard it now, she's still not good at hitting notes live, huh

Nope... not quite, haha.

She sounded much better at the live show I saw earlier this year than she does on live TV, fwiw.

I like the NYT line about the song being "an extremely savvy insult masquerading as the high road," totally OTM. But whatever she's a bland sucky simplistic writer, blahblah.

I'm w/ jordan, I think the song's great but wish it didn't specifically have to be about last year's VMAs. I love that it sounds like her open-hearted sweetheart thing but manages to also showcase her insanely petty side

Yep, the song would've been a hell of a lot better without the more explicit Kanye references ("32 years old" and whatever else) and NOT performed on the VMAs, just put onto the album. She should've played "Mine"!!!

taylor's songs aren't interesting enough for the lyrics to be bad.

― christopher dullan (Tape Store), Monday, September 13, 2010 4:12 AM (8 hours ago)

http://i52.tinypic.com/20p7fnk.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/2gydor6.jpg

http://theangryblackwoman.com/2010/09/13/white-women-tears-and-coded-images/

Except she’s not expressing those emotions in a vacuum, and she’s well aware of the racial subtext after a year of her fans using racial epithets about Kanye at every turn. She’s had a year to debut this song (especially since according to her camp she wrote it in her diary last year) but she held onto it for a publicity stunt last night. There’s some complicated historical and social subtext tangled up in the use of tears this way, and in the reaction to those tears. It’s a subtext that makes the phrase “White Woman’s Tears” a convenient shorthand for a situation that boils down to a white woman wielding her tears as a weapon against a POC. We’re back to intent and the question of whether those tears (genuine or otherwise) and their ability to derail and/or escalate a situation can be separated out from the emotions that may be prompting them.

I suppose when the two people involed are "innocent little white girl" and "angry black man" it's hard not to view the whole ordeal in a racial context, but honestly I don't really see it that way. Swift-gate had more to do with people being fed up with Kanye's antics over a prolonged period of time than it did with some sort of racialized, "know your place black man" thing. And I don't necessarily think Swift was playing on her race in last night's performance (at least not consciously anyway).So yeah, OFFTM

...than it did with some sort of racialized, "know your place black man" thing.

i read a whole shit-ton of stuff saying exactly this?

http://i54.tinypic.com/2vs5fgj.jpg

I think there's a difference here between "Know your place KANYE" and "know your place BLACK MAN," because Kanye had a history of acting like this. Obviously Kanye is a black man, but I don't think the backlash against him was racial (for the most part, I'm sure you can find examples of Swift fans saying racist shit, or Fox News commentators or something...)

ok well the exact wording wasn't "black man" either

i have a tough time saying that taylor was playing the victim when she was being so patronising

yeah true, but the way the performance was framed (the somber intro replaying the vid from last year and then *sad serious taylor face*) was very "HEY GUYS REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED FEEL SORRY FOR ME"

ok i just read the lyrics to the song and nowhere in it does she play the victim or express feeling even mildly wounded or hurt! not one line! she tries to present it as simpatico but the entire song is basically a slightly pitying "oh, grow up kanye".

This verse in the lyrics:

Wasn’t it easier in your firefly catching days?
And everything out of reach someone picked up and brought down to you
Wasn’t it beautiful running wild ‘til you fell asleep
Before the monsters caught up to you?

Super smart reference going on here?

totally noticed that! wonder how long it's been industry knowledge that kanye had a new song called "monster".

"the other side of the door" is awesome! haven't got mentioned on ILM.

Cosign!

1. Mine 03:49
2. Sparks 04:20
3. Back To December 04:53
4. Speak Now 04:00
5. Dear John 06:43
6. Mean 03:57
7. The Story Of Us 04:25
8. Never Grow Up 04:50
9. Enchanted 05:52
10. Better Than Revenge 03:37
11. Innocent 05:02
12. Haunted 04:02
13. Last Kiss 06:07
14. Long Live 05:17

kinda excited by these long songs

i hope this album will be her tusk

"Mine" holds up very well indeed. Like the tracks on 'Fearless' that seemed slightly anonymous to me at first it's revealed its power gradually. Never going to doubt her again.

And here is her 'Mine' performance at the All for the Hall thing with Kris and Emmylou & Co, proving again how much better her vocals are when she's just on stage with her guitar and not in an award show setting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFnO4NaMh3Y

Yeah, my issue with Taylor Swift has always been this over-eager effort to craft her into some sort of young Faith Hill crossover monster, when she seems to be at her best at her most comfortable, which is to say, at her most low-key. Getting caught up in this awards show/what-is-she-wearing frenzy is doing her no favors.

if I may speak now about the debut briefly, I bought a karaoke video game last week with "I'm Only Me When I'm With You", which is from the "deluxe" version of the debut & thus I'd never heard it before. & it's great! It's a bridge between the twangier material of the debut & the streamlined pop of Fearless: it has the quiet/loud dynamics of "Love Story" & "You Belong With Me", but the pedal steel is more prominent than's typical on Fearless as is the fiddle riff after the burst of the chorus. I can see why she left it off the debut: the lyric is more trite than anything on the album (or on Fearless). But it's still a great rush.

in a similar vein, I have been really jamming 'untouchable' which is off the deluxe edition of Fearless

Seconding the love for "I'm Only Me When I'm with You" which is fantaaaaaaaaaaassticcc!

Also that performance of "Mine" upthread a bit is frickin' awesome.

From the same show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg556inyAFw

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhXUQg1_qe4

So..."Speak Now"

Not sure what I was expecting after 'Mine', but it wasn't this? There's something about this that feels quite different from her other stuff - not sure if it's a production touch, or vocals or something, but there's something kind of demo-ish or live about this. It's a nice sound for her.

LINK

the fuck is wrong with you

iTunes.

It's the single, not the album, to clarify.

They are doing the same sort of countdown to the LP they did w/ fearless. one song a week until the release date

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnalIapimec

word thankig u

(i wouldn't ask for a link to an album link btw -- not on the board at least)

this does sound like a demo!

i'm not sure what i think of it

Lyrics:

I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl

I sneak in and see your friends
And her snotty little family all dressed in pastel
And she is yelling at a bridesmaid
Somewhere back inside a room wearing a gown shaped like a pastry

This is surely not what you thought it would be
I lose myself in a daydream
Where I stand and say

Don't say, "Yes"; run away now
I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door
Don't wait, or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak Now"

Fond gestures are exchanged
And the organ starts to play a song that sounds like a death march
And I am hiding in the curtains
It seems that I was uninvited by your lovely bride-to-be

She floats down the aisle like a pageant queen
But I know you wish it was me,
You wish it was me, don't you?

Don't say, "Yes"; run away now
I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door
Don't wait, or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak Now"

Don't say, "Yes"; run away now
I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door
Don't wait, or say a single vow
Your time is running out
And they said, "Speak Now"

I hear the preacher say speak now or forever hold your peace
There's a silence
There's my last chance
I stand up with shaking hands
All eyes on me.

Horrified looks from everyone in the room
But I'm only looking at you

I am not the kind of girl
Who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion
But you are not the kind of boy
Who should be marrying the wrong girl

So don't say, "Yes"; run away now
I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door
Don't wait, or say a single vow
You need to hear me out
And they said, "Speak Now"

And you say, "Let's run away now;
I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door.
Baby, I didn't say the vow
So glad you were around
When they said, "Speak Now"

I like the live feel. The melody seems sort of blah at first, but like Mine is grows on you. This is far more awkward charm of Taylor 1.0 than polished Taylor of Fearless - I like this look for her. Also, while some lines are wordier than they might have been with a pro backing her up on songwriting, I quite like "rudely barging in on a white veil occasion."

*but like "Mine", IT grows on you.

is it feminist to steal another chick's dude?

is it holy and puritan and christian to interrupt a wedding? and to take the groom's tux off in the parking lot?

...and other future posts on Jezebel.

"And the organ starts to play a song that sounds like a death march"

Oh that is great.

Ugh. That giggle after the recapitulation of the first verse. Not quite as effective as it is when deployed in Hey Stephen, etc. but still delightful.

well i've played this once and have to dash off to a breakfast meeting and this will be going round and round in my head throughout it

I liek it.

have listened to the youtube 5 times already. love it

taylor did the 'boy says the chorus' trick again though

It's one of her go-to's.

yeah, I complained about it upthread

pretty much sets up a video sequel to "you belong with me," with bubbly blond taylor stealing boy from bitchy brunette taylor.

oh, this is way more interesting than "mine". <3

more = less 4 me :(

this is already #1 on itunes. i don't think anyone else right now has her selling power.

Her new album's the #4 top seller on Amazon right behind Dylan, Clapton, Young -- and it's not even out for 3 weeks!

this song is so, so great. and (not to beat a dead horse) i love that it's about an "i'ma let you finish" public interruption moment of her own. she shoulda played this one at the VMAs!

Some of the lines, and her delivery of them, are downright hilarious. She's so snide, I love it.

lol i love how itunes sales right now are basically a taylor v kanye battle

love the giggle near the end

I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door.

hoping for a shirtless scene in the video

esp knowing taylor's taste in boys

have not heard this, but the lyrics are p interesting. what's the delivery like? -- the story as-read kind of suggests the dude does get married ie it's all in her head and remains there?

it's quite light and playful - like a scene in a rom-com, in the verses taylor's more laughing at the pomp and ceremony than tearing her heart out. i guess there's definitely an element of "all in her head", with the song mostly in a higher register that taylor's rarely used, but the last iteration of the chorus is pretty clear that dude does run away, so the overall effect is more that she knew from the start that she'd get him.

But it's just a daydream, so she won't.

the acoustic clips are nice. she does write good songs, i'd love to hear her music recorded in a non horrible fashion, god those drum sounds on "mine" and all the compression, barff

Back to December is out, in which we learn that Taylor Lautner was dumped quite suddenly, even as he tried to prop up the relationship with roses. If he had the musical talent of the other Taylor I can imagine how his song would've been. "I respect your space and never make you wait, and I call exactly when I say I will".

also it's gorgeous

So John Mayer DID get his way with Taylor. "Dear John":

"My mother accused me of losing my mind/But I swore I was fine..." "You'll add my name to your long list of traitors who don't understand/And I'll look back in regret, I ignored what they said/'Run as fast as you can'.", plus a line about "all the girls that you run dry" and "I'm shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town," :-0

Thoughts on Mean?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H_a3pOCV2Y

I clicked "Play" about 20 minutes ago and didn't think much of it... but that hook's still in my head 20 minutes later, so...

"mean" is kind of bad :/

it definitely shouldn't have been released ahead of the album

(we didn't seem to cover "back to december" much though? that is incredible.)

I really like 'Mean'. Sorta in the 'Tell Me Why' vein, which I thought was an underrated album track. She has a carefree way with those kinds of jovial country melodies.

at this point I'm imposing a moratorium on pre-released tracks so I can get a proper 'album feel' when it finally comes out

Taylor did Mine on the Great British Songbook today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bprwq
Coldplay cover: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bprvs

leaked.

ok i'm listening - the leak seems to be an international deluxe edition, what the shit is this version of "mine"?? "pop versions" ruin everything

Pop versions are true evil -- it doesn't even seem like plausible good business to make them less distinctive..??

But doesn't the deluxe edition also feature US versions of those singles as bonus tracks?

i presume the US version of the album wouldn't feature "US versions" as bonus tracks!

oh god "back to december" has been fucked up as well

oh man, didn't realize this is being released this Tuesday!

xp No, the deluxe european version... isn't that what you've got? All the proposed singles (three of them).

--
'Dear John' is on some next level.

yeah i presume the deluxe european edition is what's leaked? if the US version's leaked too do tell me so i can listen to that instead

Yeah, I've got one with the pop versions on 'disc 1' and the US versions on disc 2 along with some acoustic tracks and bonus tunes.

they've put handclaps on "speak now"

whyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Terrible buzzing synth in the "international" version of "Mine" inspires xenophobia in me forever, God bless the USA.

lol @ "no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity"

i've just moved the original versions onto Disc 1, and removed the awful Euro mix versions. I hate how they think people outside the US are unable to listen to banjos are steel guitars.

*and.

wow @ dear john.

Yeah holy fuck.

"dear john" is amazing yeah

"never grow up" is...what is going on in that song o_0

the album's definitely a LOT denser than she's done before

You come out the other side of that song really exhausted and tore up but softly euphoric. It's a motherfucker.

xpost, I was talking about "Dear John"

Ann Powers on "Mean" -- and Taylor in general:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/10/taylor-swift-lessons-in-being-mean.html

Also "Mean" is fucking awesome in the context of the record. Do you still dislike it, lex?

yes that powers piece is really great

do people seriously think "mean" is about rock critics though? i mean really. she couldn't situate it more obviously in her pre-fame days. hey egomaniac critics, you're almost certainly not the only people to have told taylor swift she can't sing in her life.

and a second listen to "mean" didn't warm me up to it, it's just so gauche

Oh my god "Enchanted."

Hard not to read synth-pop into the keyboard work here but it sure kills me.

Yeah Mean is a pretty perfect fit in this context and sound-wise it breaks up a couple of heavier tunes really nicely. I think it's too successfully humorous to be gauche.

this album feels a lot less country than her previous work.

All right, this record's a little long. Which is fine, I'm just emotionally spent after every other song.

Love how effectively she uses breaks, pauses in 'Last Kiss'. Whatever your position, you can't say this is a Fearless retread, that she makes use of the same tricks.

so which of these songs are the terrible non-US ones? "mine" & what else?

back to december & the story of us.

so i guess they want to make them the singles.

'Dear John' is on some next level.

OFL, this is her best album.

I thought of the Corrs' great "Breathless" upon hearing the intro to "The Story of Us."

I agree that "Dear John" is a pretty great point of maturation, but the lyrics are incredibly cliché.

"Mean" is the standout for me after a couple listens--glad to hear her stick to her roots when she could have made a Kelly Clarkson album. Without a doubt, this is an excellent record, and maybe her best. Certainly not a disappointment.

"sparks fly" is a banger

firing this up now, kinda excited

mine still sucks
sparks fly is nice
Back to December is great!

wow back to december is really great

so, so in love with "enchanted".

swag me out

http://i54.tinypic.com/qyzsyc.jpg

fucker! How'd you get it?

ha, i don't actually have it :(

that's my record store employee friend's copy

Took me a while to notice the banjos in 'Story of Us'.

they think people outside the US are unable to listen to banjos

Bangos are not sexy.

record of the year! luv this 4eva!!

"Back to December" and "Dear John" are both jawdropping, perhaps her best attempts at ballads yet (the latter in particular being like a much much better version of "White Horse" - as a general rule she is so much better working in specifics rather than archetypes).

"Back to December" in particular though is just... A++ songwriting. Like (and it may be counter-productive to break it down) the shift between "I go back to December..." and "I'd go back to December" is so subtle and yet so important to the narrative arc of the song, and she's so good at picking up on things like that.

dear john is fucking DEVASTATING

Been writing essays and haven't found time to listen to this properly yet, but on background listens...initial thought:

Back to December took some time to hit me, but once it did it was completely devastating. Dear John is a tad overlong, but equally affecting. The Story of Us is wonderful - all backbeat and sass, and Better Than Revenge....wow. Didn't know she had it in her. It's like some Kelly Clarkson 'My December' shit but with a proper dancebeat and that random hip hop drum bit at 2:20 or so.

has the us version leaked yet?

the deluxe has the US versions on it

eh, think I'll just wait a day for the retail.torrent

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/arts/music/24swift.html?pagewanted=all

I love this.

but Caramanica's insistence on autobiographical parallels is bullshit.

so, so in love with "enchanted".

― prolego, Saturday, October 23, 2010 6:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

All those songs with one-word titles in the back half blur together.

The back half is surprisingly intense! Rock opera-ish.

"Better Than Revenge" is terrific though.

All those songs with one-word titles in the back half blur together.

"Enchanted" and "Haunted" are my two favorite songs on the record!

on a couple of listens, the ones that really impressed me were the last two - pretty incredible double-header to close the album with.

("back to december" was already a favourite, love that track)

"Better Than Revenge" is like Paramore (or second album Ashlee) rewriting Madonna's "Thief of Hearts". Love it, but def. was not expecting it!

"no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity" <3

on a couple of listens, the ones that really impressed me were the last two - pretty incredible double-header to close the album with.

Which ones? The deluxe edition is replete with songs.

Assume lex means "last kiss" and "long live" - both great, I was dubious of "long live" at first but loved it by the end.

Yes, I like "Last Kiss" a lot. I'm impressed by how she sustains these five-minute-plus song lengths.

yeah, the ones that close the album proper - haven't actually got round to the bonus tracks yet. the only ones i'm actively dubious about are "mean" and "never grow up". i'm hungover and have no further thoughts about anything though.

Mixed review from Slant, perhaps raises some interesting points:

She often comes up with a great, revealing line, but there isn't much in the way of emotional depth or maturity to these songs. If there's something of the modern "No, I'm right, and you should just shut up" zeitgeist reflected in Swift's perspective, it's also easy to wish that a writer of her obvious smarts delved into more substance and developed a more fully informed take on matters of life and love.

To that end, it's also troubling that Swift's songs still uniformly build an artistic persona that is defined exclusively by her relationships with men. A song like "Enchanted" or "Speak Now" may work brilliantly on its own merits, but over the course of three albums, Swift hasn't shown that she can write authoritatively about anything other than how great boys are or how much boys suck or how dreams about boys will take her somewhere better than where she is now.

Swift hasn't shown that she can write authoritatively about anything other than how great boys are or how much boys suck or how dreams about boys will take her somewhere better than where she is now.

gee I wonder how Slant feels about those big boys Springsteen and Neil Young - can't stop writing about cars and girls and stuff.

RIP Slant ~~~~miss u~~~~

Fuck Slant. Also no need to listen to the bonus tracks, they don't fit in (on a great long album that certainly doesn't need more music) and they're not that good on their own either. Sorta same-y, been-there affairs.

I can't really fathom the insistence in reading her songs autobiographically. Who cares if she herself insists on these readings? The Slant and Caramanica reviews stop being interesting when both get smug about the parallels between her art and life.

Though she does vary her phrasing in ways that attempt to mask her limited voice (the way she sneers, "She looks at me like I'm a trend/And she's so over it," on "Better Than Revenge" is especially effective), Swift is still noticeably off-pitch at least once on every song on the album. The simple fact that she's written a song that uses juvenile ad-hominem attacks to dismiss anyone who might say so doesn't make it any less of a liability

what on earth?!

"dark twisted games" = ~~~~~obviously a Kanye reference~~~~~

review from Slant, perhaps raises some interesting points

http://cdn.best.complex.com/assets/images/lists/hip-hop-gifs/29-Camron-NP.gif

lollllll

that guy's review of fearless was even worse - passive aggressive attacks throughout & then at the end was like "she's a terrible a singer, sooo imma give this 2.5 stars, k."

Oh, is that the dude who's eternally pissed Miranda Lambert doesn't outsell all other country artists?

Was thinking about which songs Taylor has written not about boys/relationships, and off the top of my head the list was: "Coming Undone", "The Best Day", "Revolution", "Mean", "Never Grow Up", "Innocent".

The fact that most of these are about growing up and/or the difficulties of adolescence is not terribly surprising. I think she is writing from what she knows (though not necessarily strictly autobiographically). I'm not sure what things Taylor should be writing about, or be expected to write about, apart from these topics. I'm not sure who we're supposed to be comparing her to in this regard.

That Slant review is so defensive -- as if he was personally under assautled by Swift.

*under assault

He probably thinks "Mean" is partly about him due to his Fearless review, which is much worse IMO.

Agree with Lex that "Mean" doesn't strike me as being about critics except as a kind of side benefit.

NB. when I mentioned "Revolution" I was of course referring to "Change".

^_______________^

So are the pop versions on the UK version or something? The version of the album I'm listening to now has all the proper versions?

Also for those who say she can't sing, she kinda kills it vocally on "Dear John", which is awesome.

She nails it all over the place: "Better Than Revenge," "Back to December." Lots of unexpected growls and slurs along with her usual half-note ascensions.

hoping the VV gets someone good to write a solid review of this

I have a feeling they will.

Yeah, this is kinda incredible so far (I'm up to "Mean" now).

I have a feeling they will.

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, October 25, 2010 5:08 PM (13 seconds ago) Bookmark

lol

I've never heard the supposedly awful singing, that's just her girlish voice right? This is not meant as a defence, I'm just genuinely not sure what's being referred to specifically. The two times I've seen her live she sounded fine. I remember the long sections of "doe-eyed" contemplation of the crowd (Caramanica is definitely spot-on about that) but no bad notes.

In terms of her ability to write an indelible melody, Swift rivals power-pop acts like Fountains of Wayne and Guster

I agree with you, Tim. I never thought Taylor was anything less than a good singer, which I really believe she is. She's not a traditional belter, but so what.

Ann Powers.

^^^ xx-post yeah loved that line.

"The narrative complexity and nuanced characters of Mad Men are comparable to prior classics of the form such as Caroline in the City."

She didn't sound as strong as Stevie Nicks live when they sang together on an awards show, and on Saturday Night Live her voice was kinda weak once. I see she told Caramanica that she works with a voice coach.

She did sound terrible in that Nicks appearance, but it's been cited so often -- used as a cudgel -- that I'm meh about it now.

I heard so many meh punk rock singers in my 20s that Swift's vocals didn't bother me that much with Nicks. Yes, they were weaker, but it wasn't that big a deal.

Just bought tickets for next year's tour. Watched some Fearless tour special the other day and it sounded great.

I've ordered this but it's not coming until the first week of November because of something else I've ordered with it. So anyway, I am going to try to avoid checking it out until then, but I just wanted to say I am in, in terms of caring about it.

if any of the teenpop crew is still bouncing around on livejournal or tumblr or whatever & are writing about the album, someone plz link

^^

weak pop/country singing >>>>>>>>>>> average indie whine

just made a cup of coffee, putting this on for the first time, so excited

:-D

My take.

haha 'mean' is great

feel like I need to give 'dear john' a few more listens before it sinks in

"dear john" is really great, the last minute or so is just a hammer

it's nice to see taylor add some new production tricks to her songs. the l/r whisper/wail on 'enchanted' is omg

'she thinks I'm psycho because I like to rhyme her name with things'

hahahaha <3

this is such a burn

But I took your matches before fire could catch me so don't look now.
I'm shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town.

hahah yeah, list of things I don't want to ever do in life
1. lose a limb
2. piss off taylor swift

3. Be one of John Mayer's tattoos.

4. Be one of John Mayer's fingers

5. Be John Mayer

eh

what, you want to be John Mayer?

boinked taylor swift iirc

great reason to want to be someone else

i would put up with john mayer's discography & tattoos (and the adulation of jann wenner) if i could have his bank account

just got done, don't know if there's anything as instantly massive as 'you belong with me' but I feel this may be a slow burner compared to her last one

Wouldn't mind having a drink and a grope with Mayer tbh.

lol

omg @ "Long Live" <3<3<3<3<3

http://i51.tinypic.com/o6kzft.jpg

just listened all the way through for the first time. my list of outright winners: mine, sparks fly, back to december, dear john, mean, the story of us, never grow up, better than revenge, last kiss. songs i like and might get to like more: enchanted, innocent, haunted. songs i feel pretty eh about: speak now, long live. and there's a good chance of upward revisions of at least a few of those. good record. now i'm going to listen again.

xpost: really? "long live" feels pretty victory lap-ish to me, and not just in its lyrics. it's ok, but reminds me of "change" in being a sort of empty, crowd-pleasing closer.

it is a total victory rap! and it's not empty at all to my ears! it's triumphant!

uh, victory lap

would buy a Taylor Swift rap record tho

it'll sound good in stadiums, for sure.

the timpani drums on 'enchanted' are a great touch

I adore "Change" too, fwiw

How could you not want to smash

http://www.drfunkenberry.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/john1.jpg

He's okay from the neck up, honestly.

oh man "enchanted", holy shit

holy shit holy shit

that kelly shit in the chorus - tay how long have you been able to do that, what the fuck

who is "long live" to, anyway? all i can think is maybe hayley williams?

and i have thought this about her before, but the new album reinforces that she could really teach a master class in bridge-writing. even the weaker songs have great bridges.

i'm never gonna finish this album if i keep repeating "enchanted"

god she fucking goes for it all here huh

"never grow up" i think is a pretty sophisticated piece of writing, the way it slowly reveals that she's talking to/about herself. and, i mean, it ends pretty darkly otm: "i just realized everything i have is someday gonna be gone." word.

OTM about "Never Grow Up" except the chorus is a bit too one note and the production on the entire song feels very thin compared with its surroundings. I dunno. It's not bad, it just doesn't entirely work. Haunted is another grower. Otherwise, this is all leaps and bounds, pretty much.

i like how "story of us" steals all the good parts from "mr. brightside." (which is mostly the chorus. her verses are better.)

(predict eventual massive-hit status for that song, btw.)

Um...also

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvRq_bbgmWg

The O.G. version of Sparks Fly is apparently a bit more risque? Noticed a comment somewhere about how she'd rewritten the lyrics, and the original seems to be about a hotel bar hook up? The writing and imagery on this version are probably stronger - not sure why it got rewritten, but nonetheless, an interesting look at her creative process either way.

"dear john" is just...

But I took your matches before fire could catch me so don't look now.
I'm shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town.

^^the drawing out of the last syllable & the rest of the song is the mot wrenching thing she's ever written

"never grow up" pretty much nullifies that slant article completely

But I took your matches before fire could catch me so don't look now.
I'm shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town.

^^the drawing out of the last syllable & the rest of the song is the mot wrenching thing she's ever written

This, but also that blues guitar line that tears it up underneath this entire last bit, which reminds me of...well...Try/Continuum-era Mayer, tbqfh, but actually emotionally affecting.

"better than revenge" reminds me of fall out boy

you guys, taylor swift is coming to hong kong!

guess I need to find someone to go with me so that it doesn't seem I'm being a perv by going alone

On the season premiere of The Simpsons, there was a gag where surly, misanthropic bartender Moe shows up at a coffeehouse open mic night. Taking the stage right after the Flight of the Conchords guys, he strolls out with a guitar and says, "If you have kids, you may want to take them out. I'm going to be getting into some very dark areas here." That's kind of what the songs I've heard here remind me of, not in a jokey way, but this young woman is clearly working through some very personal shit on this record, in ways that are sometimes profoundly uncomfortable to listen to! "Dear John" and "Never Grow Up," you almost need a double shot of whiskey while you're listening to those, because holy crap.

Title track, though, is -- to me, a very casual listener of her stuff prior to now -- a pretty great lyrical and musical leap for her! It's almost a Merseybeat song. I could see The Bangles circa 1984 doing that song.

But I took your matches before fire could catch me so don't look now.
I'm shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town.

^^the drawing out of the last syllable & the rest of the song is the mot wrenching thing she's ever written

^^^^^^so otm. voice rising like a firework - aargh what is this device called, it's on the tip of my tongue. not quite onomatopoeia - where the voice mimics the meaning of the word. aargh.

noticed that the average song length on this album is a lot longer than on her previous albums - need to listen to it more to see if she's using the extra time effectively

what if she isn't. what then.

burn her at the stake I guess

you almost need a double shot of whiskey

lifted right now and this album sounds pretty damn fucking good tbh

this is making my day which was going badly feel a lot better. sure to be end of year top 5.

i haven't been able to listen to the whole album yet; keep hitting songs that just end up on repeat.

so finally listened to this thru. when this album is good, it's great (echo'ing other Dear John praises specifically), but sometimes it really feels same'y. more of the same from taylor swift is not necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely seems like the kind of album whose sound i'll get burnt out on in a few weeks.

trying to work up a coherent thought on the rhythm of her words. i think it's one of the hidden keys to her songs, why they hook and snag the way they do. she's very good at pacing and spacing and rhythmic dynamics, she does a lot of things like run a couple syllable-heavy lines together and then stretch out the melody over the next one or two lines. in the chorus of "back to december," there's this very deliberate dah-dah-dah/dah-dah-dah 16th-note rhythm in the first lines but then "back to de-cem-ber" is played as an 8th-note triplet that completely interrupts the flow and emphasizes the sadness of the lyric. anyway, i think it's something she does really well, it's one of the ways she builds tension and release in her songs.

in retrospect mine kinda blows, but all the songs after it are great

*thinks*

I still like "Mine," but I might like "Long Live" more

in retrospect mine kinda blows

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

i never minded it before, heard it on the radio a bunch, acknowledged it was worse than previous singles but still good enough

now that the album is out and has really great songs that are way better its like, i just dont need it anymore

ice cold

i think it's her best single after "love story" & "teardrops on my guitar"

"Last Kiss" and "Long Live" are a stupendous finale.

yeah i'm warming up to "long live." it's hard to resist. and "last kiss" is going to be cried to in the dark all over america.

you can plan for a change in the weather and time / but i never planned on you changing your mind

and then that long, drawn-out pause

and no way is 'mine' her third-best single, j0rdan.

it's not bad, it's just such a throwback compared to the other stuff on here. it's kind of taylor-by-the-numbers, signs of maturity and drawers-at-his-place aside.

i think it's her best single after "love story" & "teardrops on my guitar"

Something is wrong with this statement.

fearless (with my challops)

yeah mine/speak now are definitely taylor-by-the-numbers songs.

that 'fighting dragons' line in long live - !!!!! taylor come date me

"mine" is a fantastic single! surely the most fearless-like song on the record but that's not such a bad thing - can't really wrap my head around loving tay but not caring for "mine" (xp: cf dayo "by the numbers" - we like this!)

this album is def very good i think - i think it sorta runs out of steam after "enchanted" (which might be my favorite song by her EVER - why are we not all flipping out about this?) but i've only listened all the way through once

also shocker this is great on the highway

lol it's AiM by-the-numbers, credit where credit's due

Enchanted is wonderful, and I initially thought it ran out of steam at the end too, but they grow on you quickly.

But 'Better Than Revenge' and 'Last Kiss' kill. Innocent sort of saps all the energy out, though. I know it's her Kanye-response or whatever, and it's good for what it is, but it doesn't really do anything for me.

xp Oh, I mean...I like 'Mine' and I love 'Speak Now'. It's possible I just played them to death before the album came out and ruined them for myself? That could be it.

But I maintain that there's no way "Mine" is as much of an earworm as Our Song or You Belong With Me, or as affecting as Tim McGraw or Teardrops or Fifteen. And it's certainly not as well crafted as any of those five.

This is a silly argument. But it is 12:30 and I am reading about Faberge eggs and the legalities of art dealerships, so \(o O)/

"you belong with me" is her most overrated single, easily

j0rdan grillin some schallops tonight

Overrated, perhaps, but still good enough to squeak into my top five. Or it was until wikipedia informed me that 'White Horse' and 'Fearless' were both official singles.

Also, I could have sworn that "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" was a single, but wikipedia doesn't acknowledge it, and iTunes/etc. don't even seem to sell the Deluxe Edition of the debut anymore. Go figure.

she's on letterman right now and really zooey deschanel-ing it up afaict

"you belong with me" is her most overrated single, easily

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, October 27, 2010 12:24 AM (6 minutes ago)

http://i37.tinypic.com/vqqo8z.jpg

Innocent sort of saps all the energy out, though. I know it's her Kanye-response or whatever, and it's good for what it is, but it doesn't really do anything for me.

I didn't hear this until the album and kinda missed all the debate on it previously, it wouldn't occur to me just from listening to the tune that it's about Kanye, and I think I like it a bit less as a result. It makes more sense being sung to an older woman IMO, like "Coming Undone" 15 years on.

Re Taylor singles, I think objectively the answer is:

"Tim McGraw" = "Love Story" = "Our Song" > "You Belong With Me" > "Should've Said No" = "Fifteen" = "Mine" = "Fearless" > UP UNTIL NOW EVERYTHING BASICALLY HAS BEEN AWESOME > "Teardrops on My Guitar" = "Today Was a Fairytale" = "White Horse".

i wanna do a taylor singles poll v badly but i imagine they'll be putting singles out from this one for another year or so

btw

The Taylor Swift set-up—and it’s hard to get away from—has been a massive success.

Her new album, Speak Now, on Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine and the Lipmans’ Universal Republic labels, is exploding at retail in a way that has initial first-week sales estimates between 800-900k and could go higher.

Insiders are even giving it a shot at approaching the first-week numbers generated by Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III album two years ago.

And it couldn’t come at a better time for the record industry as it heads into the all-importhat fourth quarter.

Swift appears a lock to turn back the year’s previous first-week sales record, set by Eminem’s Shady/Aftermath/Interscope album, Recovery, in June, with 742k.

im enjoying this stuff on a level of like, a rando country/rock/folk record scott seward recommends me (aka A LOT) but i wd get put off if i realized how popular it is or dealt w/ it like its anything but headphones / private headspace-type music. dont see it as social music the way i think a lot of ppl do

idk im just listening on youtube tho

i dont really like that 'you belong w me' much though ... prefer the stuff where i could actual experience those feelings now vs. the hey im so obviously a teenager

i can't believe she's dating jake gyllenhaal.

not sure how well this'll do on country radio; as noted above, there's not a lot of the signifiers. programming this on country would be more out of allegiance and inertia and public interest and market share than it being country

i think "mean" is the most country-friendly song here?

that's my initial take. and maybe the one about how she wishes that cute baby would stay forever young that i couldn't quite finish.

not sure how well this'll do on country radio; as noted above, there's not a lot of the signifiers. programming this on country would be more out of allegiance and inertia and public interest and market share than it being country

I don't think there's any less country signifiers than on Fearless - how did that fare in terms of country radio play?

maybe less steel guitar/banjos, more rock opera sweep
i should probably not talk about this album until i can finish it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UasIa5neaOU

calling taylor swift "taylor smith" = professional journalism

apparently there's gonna be some sort of special on thanksgiving, they didn't mention what network tho

Universal City, CA, United States (AHN) - NBC will be celebrating the holiday season with Taylor Swift. Aside from the traditional favorites and original programming, the peacock network will be including a new Thanksgiving night music special with the pop country star.

The "Taylor Swift, Speak Now" special will take the 20-year-old singer's fans on a whirlwind trip from New York to Los Angeles as she launches her latest album. She is set to treat viewers with multiple one-of-a-kind performances, including a concert held 30,000 feet in the air as the plane flies across the country.

Also included are features such as behind-the-scenes access to her recording studio and video shoot, autograph signings, appearances, paparazzi dodging, and every mayhem the Grammy Award-winning young singer encounters.

lol she starts signing autographs while in the middle of singing "love story"

I didn't hear this until the album and kinda missed all the debate on it previously, it wouldn't occur to me just from listening to the tune that it's about Kanye, and I think I like it a bit less as a result. It makes more sense being sung to an older woman IMO, like "Coming Undone" 15 years on.

i'm kind of amazed that anyone w/half an eye on popular culture could have missed that, esp you - i wish i'd missed it! i def wish i didn't associate "dear john" w/john mayer. i kind of think tying taylor's songs to specific people or situations erodes their magic a little - not that the magic entails ruling out specifics, but because her forte is how she inserts hyper-specific details and references into songs that thrive because they're universal and relatable. like, "dear john" isn't a great song because it's about john mayer, it's a great song because it could equally be about john mayer, or your own ex. to be fair to taylor this is the fault of the extraneous conversation rather than her songwriting.

did anyone else see that jezebel post about how the song basically PROVES that john mayer TOOK HER VIRGINITY? o_0

nabisco

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/10/taylor_swift_a_fans_best_frien.html

I am writing something about this right now, in response to a friend's senseless hate. (We're doing a back-and-forth all week over this record. Ah, blogging.)

I am pretty sure I am gonna hate this thing about 20 seconds after it is published, but if anyone's interested I'll link it here.

"Speak Now" on Letterman last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQVMlGOWx1Q

After hearing "Dear John," "Better Than Revenge" and "Mean," I think I realize her appeal for me -- she's like a younger, country-pop Kay Hanley. Clever with the lyrics and fast with a hook-y melody.

Guys, not a single copy was left in the Best Buy display. I happened to find one someone had mistakenly stuck in the (ha) Tim McGraw section.

did anyone else see that jezebel post about how the song basically PROVES that john mayer TOOK HER VIRGINITY? o_0

What...? I don't want to read that. Did it make any sense at all?

Are we talking about "Back to December"? Yeah, there's a line about how she "cried" for the first time time one night with a guy.

wish i'd missed it! i def wish i didn't associate "dear john" w/john mayer. i kind of think tying taylor's songs to specific people or situations erodes their magic a little - not that the magic entails ruling out specifics, but because her forte is how she inserts hyper-specific details and references into songs that thrive because they're universal and relatable.

dunno why it should matter? Until Friday my only Mayer-Swift association was on "Half of My Heart" -- had no idea they dated.

then again I'm Mr Intentional Fallacy Guy.

I dunno, a bad relationship with a self-obsessed arrogant older dude is pretty relatable, even if that dude is Mayer. I'm not sure that's there's anything relatable in the kanye incident.

one day 'Dear John' will be fun music trivia like 'You Oughta Know' -- "omg, did u know this song is about that fratty dude who sang 'Your Body is a Wonderland?'"

lol she starts signing autographs while in the middle of singing "love story"

For those not in the mainstream country loop, this is par for the course. In shows I've seen, everyone from Garth to Shania to Reba spends a hunk of their set making their way around the periphery of the stage signing autographs. It's like an extension of those fan-day events.

taylor sounds like she would be mental to date

I'm way behind on 2010 listening but I need to pick this up. I've not heard anything from it yet (staying away from youtubes so far). re. country radio: I've not been around to listen but I suspect it's getting played just out of inertia; Garth didn't really fit in either musically, at least not with what e.g. Randy Travis or George Strait were playing at the time, and they worked around him. I think the same'll happen with Swift.

right, "Mine" is currently #8 on the country chart

I just found out there's no such thing as the real world, just a lie you gotta rise above

i'm embarrassed to know this, but i think back to december is about the werewolf dude from the vampire movies

maybe the one about how she wishes that cute baby would stay forever young that i couldn't quite finish.

that song is worth finishing. (SPOILER: the baby is HER)

and, i mean, that song ends with her cold and alone in the dark contemplating death. i think it's one of the keys to the whole record.

goddamn i have been so busy this week and so many words and conversations about this record have all happened already

i think i actually feel more behind on them than on the record itself, which i've been happily listening to but haven't got anywhere near thought-out opinions on

xp okay, will go back to it

i'm trying to not let the emotional impact of "back to december" be blunted by the fact that it's about someone as boring & unattractive as taylor lautner

album is definitely a case of "I wish I didnt know who these songs are about"

in general im not really someone who wants to know that kind of stuff, though -- id rather just take the record on its own terms

i'm trying to not let the emotional impact of "back to december" be blunted by the fact that it's about someone as boring & unattractive as taylor lautner

ha ksh and sarge both otm

I like her reservation, that it's "probably mindless dreaming", but that her rational objections don't stop the outpouring of emotion. "It won't work, but what if it did"

Favourite line is "...so if the chain is on your door, I understand."

ugh i forgot she dated taylor lautner

i'm with jordan, that boy is not attractive at all. i was going to say "apart from the body" but i can't even bring myself to care about that. he looks like an illustration in a fantasy novel.

good casting on the twilight people's part then

i just think that he looks like a mountainous feline in the face

Something about his face makes me completely uneasy. It's more animal than human.

http://pdxsx.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/lautner-llama.png

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/09/14/svLYNX_narrowweb__300x434,0.jpghttp://blogs.bet.com/entertainment/whattheflick/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/taylor-lautner-b.jpg

swift has a ratface to be fair

she's gotten markedly less ratty as she's matured -- she might as well be nibbling on some cheese on the cover of her first album tho

now she's more mouse than rat -- p common

lautner's eyes are just waaaay too narrow, the rest of his face is almost like a parody of "good-looking features". then again i go for vertical faces, not horizontal ones.

I assume that the actress referenced in "Better Than Revenge" is Camilla Belle? Sort of strange, though natural I suppose, to blame the woman in this setup. Any other identifiers not mentioned yet?

My problem with this album is that Taylor appears blameless throughout. I'd like to see her turn her critical eye upon herself for once. Maybe a song about some of her faults, instead of the continual litany of how she has been done wrong. It was cute and Dawson's Creek-ish when she could write about riding around in pickup trucks and lusting after the quarterback, but I'm expecting a bit more self-reflection from her at this point.

"Dear John" is a very pretty song, but by posing as the victim Taylor relieves herself of any culpability, and the public nature of her self-identified victimization reads as a (passive) aggressive stance.

Um.. Back to December is about her faults. She dumped him, in a bad way, etc. And Mine too, in a different way. And in Dear John she also does get aggressive, warns of revenge with a "you should've known".

thought she was telling herself "you shoulda known" as well as telling John he shoulda known not to cradlerob

taylor is always more self critical than people realize

for instance, "fifteen"

Anyone seen the sales figures published the last few days?

Crazy.

Are they they same ones linked to in Nabisco's article? Are they expecting to hit 1 million?

uh if this doesn't go triple plat i'll be fuckin shocked

silly question, but is this out on vinyl? i'm curious.

My understanding is that a million is in sight

I had a dream last night that I bought this from a record store for only $8. O_O

there's pretty much no way that it doesn't hit 950k, will be super close to 1m too

or obv possibly over 1m

I'd like to see her turn her critical eye upon herself for once. Maybe a song about some of her faults, instead of the continual litany of how she has been done wrong.

Title track is about her stealing a guy AT HIS WEDDING.

oh we're talking week 1 haha

so how many songs are based on wikipedia synopses of shitty romantic comedies