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

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?