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

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