SFJ piece in a nutshell: "Swift is not an agent of revolution; she, much like Beyoncé, is a preternaturally skilled student of established values. Her precociousness isn’t about her chart success, but lies in the quality of her work, how fully she’s absorbed the lessons of her elders and how little she seems to care which radio format will eventually claim her. Change the beat and the instruments around the voice, and her songs could work anywhere."
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:40 (fourteen years ago) link
55. GWEN STEFANI "Hollaback Girl" (2005) [265.5 points, 12 votes]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgjkth6BRRY
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:41 (fourteen years ago) link
oh love story is great. but its one of the only big taylor swift singles that I didn't vote for.
also I'm really glad to see Oh on here. forgot all about that jam but I loved it when it came out.
― gman59, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:42 (fourteen years ago) link
When the redheaded best friend, Abigail, is disappointed by a boy, Swift drops back, underplaying a sorrow that probably felt like surgery without anesthesia: “Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind, and we both cried.” In weaker hands, this song would be littered with broken hearts; Swift’s boy just “changed his mind.”
^^love this - love the way this motif recurs on "breathe" even more. "people are people and sometimes we change our minds/but it's killin' me to see you go after all this time" - such an awareness of how breakups happen all the time, to everyone, for the most insignificant reasons, and her pain isn't special, it's just what being human entails - but how that doesn't stop it hurting.
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:43 (fourteen years ago) link
lol "hollaback girl", the quintessential "so much silly fun at the time, haven't thought about listening to since" song. got a lot of affection for it.
~ain't no houellebecq girl~
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:44 (fourteen years ago) link
hahaha
― ksh, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:45 (fourteen years ago) link
the quintessential "so much silly fun at the time, haven't thought about listening to since" song.
Kinda like Robyn, then, eh?
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:45 (fourteen years ago) link
I remember back around the time it came out, but before I'd heard it, all my friends were punctuating just about every statement with "that shit is bananas" and I had NO IDEA what they were talking about.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:46 (fourteen years ago) link
it was just weird, have a friend over to watch the tennis and we were JUST talking about michel houellebecq
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:46 (fourteen years ago) link
Right, because I've never heard that euphemism for breaking up used before. Ever. What insight, what genius.
― emil.y, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:47 (fourteen years ago) link
it is a pretty misogynistic paragraph now that i re-read it
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Er, what?
― emil.y, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:49 (fourteen years ago) link
taylor swift is like the polar opposite of GAPDY on the ilm lovefest spectrum, seems like you can't enjoy both without enjoying absolutely everything else too
― ciderpress, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:52 (fourteen years ago) link
never really got into "Oh," to me it's a dope hi-hat pattern in search of a good tempo/melody/synth/vocal/etc.
― some dude, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:54 (fourteen years ago) link
54. STUDIO "Out There" (2006) [269.5 points, 12 votes]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StkvW5v2tVQ
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:55 (fourteen years ago) link
classic there
today's run has been really great
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:56 (fourteen years ago) link
dog latin, the best "explanations of what makes taylor swift special" are these singles jukebox reviews of "you belong with me" - http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=596 - and this sasha frere-jones profile of her (scroll down to where he starts discussing "our song') - http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/11/10/081110crmu_music_frerejones
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, July 2, 2010 3:33 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
"You Belong With Me" is quite a track and like SFJ says a lot of us would like the tune if it were played by a bunch of greasy guys with guitars. Just don't hear it with the one just posted here though, and to a lesser extent "Our Song". "YBWM" is much more complex musically than either of those, both in the songwriting and production. The buildup to the chorus is great and there are lots of effective, unexpected chords and instrumental choices. "Our Song" especially feels thrown-off, I-ii-IV-V wham bam thank you ma'am with almost no rhythmic interest until the very end of the chorus. "Love Story" is kind of half hearted and weak all the way through. IMHO.
― skip, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:57 (fourteen years ago) link
"You Belong With Me" is quite a track and like SFJ says a lot of us would like the tune if it were played by a bunch of greasy guys with guitars.
A lot of us would also really dislike the tune if it were played by a bunch of greasy guys with guitars. Myself included.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:58 (fourteen years ago) link
'Oh' is good, just in a very average way
― blap...tremendo (deej), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:59 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm pretty sure it wouldn't be hard to illustrate this point
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 15:59 (fourteen years ago) link
you look like David Bowiebut you have nothing new to show mebabyyyyyyyyou belong with me
― ksh, Friday, 2 July 2010 15:59 (fourteen years ago) link
here you go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_D37Gap6vA
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:00 (fourteen years ago) link
Out There is 100% solid gold and everything from the soppy synth chords midway through is 150% solid gold. Amazing piece of music, every section is better than the one before.
― Vulvuzela (Matt DC), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:01 (fourteen years ago) link
Never heard this before, really good stuff.
― skip, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:02 (fourteen years ago) link
"walking the streets with you and those skinny jeans"
― ksh, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:03 (fourteen years ago) link
"he wears polos i wear t-shirts"
YOU ARE ALL WEARING POLOS IN THAT PICTURE
― I want to thank my psychiatrist (billy), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:05 (fourteen years ago) link
had I voted I would probably have gone for "Life's A Beach" over "Out There" but it's a toss-up, really. Album would have definitely been top 2 for me though.
― Gee, Officer (Gukbe), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:11 (fourteen years ago) link
53. R. KELLY ft. T.I. & T-PAIN "I'm a Flirt" (2007) [275.5 points, 14 votes, 1 first place vote]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPr4F8dplFg
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:12 (fourteen years ago) link
niiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeee
ooooooo 28's
― gman59, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:14 (fourteen years ago) link
r. kelly's verses in "i'm a flirt" have always been my least favorite by a wide margin
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:18 (fourteen years ago) link
the soca remix of "i'm a flirt" with lady saw is classic 4eva
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:21 (fourteen years ago) link
(xp)
Yay, my second vote! (Studio was my #5)
Everything so far today is pretty good, but Golddigga was better as George Bush Don't Like Black People.
― seandalai, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:22 (fourteen years ago) link
seandalia, are you intentionally trying to be a racist or?
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:27 (fourteen years ago) link
some loser called The Legendary K.O. did a Pazz & Jop-baiting version of "Gold Digger" called "George Bush Don't Like Black People"
― some dude, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:32 (fourteen years ago) link
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, July 2, 2010 12:18 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
this is insane, R.'s last verse is amazing and T.I. is easily the weak link of the song
― some dude, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:33 (fourteen years ago) link
"gold digga"
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:35 (fourteen years ago) link
T.I. is the weak link on most tracks he's on, tbh.
― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:35 (fourteen years ago) link
i know about the legendary K.O.
well t-pain has by far the best verse
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:36 (fourteen years ago) link
ban ilxor of course
Ok, sorry about how that came across. As some dude points out (xp) I was referring to the post-Katrina takeoff of Golddigga which I remember thinking at the time was powerful (from my desk in England), but obviously it brings in issues that make "better" in an ILM poll context pretty irrelevant.
― seandalai, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:37 (fourteen years ago) link
52. RADIOHEAD "Reckoner" (2007) [280 points, 12 votes]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uofQD-N6UI
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:38 (fourteen years ago) link
the thing with the legendary k.o. is that kanye saying "george bush doesn't care about black people" was already great, and "gold digger" was already great, and what on earth did they think they could add to either? it was so lame.
also lame: radiohead. ~HATE THIS BAND~~
― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:41 (fourteen years ago) link
really went off Radiohead after 2001 until that song. Quality stuff.
― Gee, Officer (Gukbe), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:41 (fourteen years ago) link
i intentionally left radiohead out of my album ballot to make room for less popular stuff but i still voted for that song, probably the best thing they've done in the past decade
― ciderpress, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:42 (fourteen years ago) link
Cosign on the George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People > Gold Digger, but I also love the rock-crit self-aggrandizement here. "That dude only made that song for the criticsz!"
― Parenthetical Grillz, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:43 (fourteen years ago) link
it wasn't a statement on the intent of the song, just that only corny critics gave a fuck about it
― some dude, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:45 (fourteen years ago) link
Ok, but that's not what you actually said.
― Parenthetical Grillz, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:47 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah i'm probably playing a bit loose w/ language here but when i call something critic bait or P&J bait i generally am talking about its critical reception and am not second-guessing what the artist might've been thinking, because that's kind of impossible
― some dude, Friday, 2 July 2010 16:49 (fourteen years ago) link
tbf, he probably made the song for corny rock critics
― hell hath no furry (J0rdan S.), Friday, 2 July 2010 16:50 (fourteen years ago) link