Taylor Swift - Midnights

Iirc that's from her Netflix doc "Miss Americana," which is really good and

And ... scene.

So I feel a little tacky being the person to bring up the breakup, but does Midnights become more interesting if we think of it as an impending-breakup album? Because I found it pretty blah on a first listen, and honestly I still do, but in hindsight I guess you could put together "Anti-Hero," "Sweet Nothing," "Mastermind," and maybe "Bejeweled" as a (possibly unintended) portrayal of a relationship that's fallen into toxic patterns: she's the one ostensibly controlling everything, but also the one who's entirely to blame if anything goes wrong; he's a kind of faceless, blandly perfect, endlessly patient angel in the house, but also the one who constantly makes her feel like she has to apologize and diminish herself.

"Sweet Nothing" in particular is very pretty but the title phrase is double-edged: would you really want to be someone's nothing? And "Anti-Hero" picks up a pattern that started in Lover, of "If we ever break up it will be my fault because you do everything right and I do everything wrong, including failing to take responsibility for my actions" but makes it into a huge, gleeful hit; it may be lyrically about midnight self-loathing, but vibe-wise it's a long way from something like "The Archer" or "Peace."

Huh, I wasn’t aware she had a breakup (or that her ex apparently had a few writing credits on Folklore & Evermore).

Yeah, I don't think anyone treated it as a big news item at the time it happened, which is refreshing and makes me feel bad about being the person to bring it up.

Seems totally valid to bring it up in the context of analyzing the album!

Looks like it did get coverage as general “pop culture news”; don’t know why I’m not up on that stuff anymore.

Karma remix w/Ice Spice on the way. Don't know if I'm excited about it exactly, but I like the gesture anyway.

Um. SO much to tell you. I’m a massive fan of this brilliant artist and after getting to know her I can confirm: she is THE ONE to watch. So delighted to say that Karma Featuring the incredible @icespicee_ will be out TOMORROW night at MIDNIGHT ET as a part of the new Midnights… pic.twitter.com/OaRrHBWTUw

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 24, 2023

Also a new version of "Snow on the Beach" with a longer Lana verse (not that it will likely improve the song too much)

I guess she heard all the "We can't actually hear Lana" talk.

“hits different” on streaming is the real news

I hope that CD edition she mentions eventually gets a wider release with all these bonus tracks.

I wuz in a coffee shop last week when "Anti-Hero" came on... one of the barista bros said to the other: "I love this song, but I always forget about the 'sexy baby' part! Ugh, right?"

looool judging by the Reddit response even the Swifties are starting to turn on her over this constant milking the fans for different versions of the album

Terrible day for people that are me https://t.co/rd4wD4kHEO pic.twitter.com/ULz1DqCoSb

— MAStermind (@samisntokay) May 24, 2023

No copy of the debut, no credibility

Gotta click on the image. Looks like they have 6?

Taylor Swift Is Dating An Alleged Racist — And Is Now Using A Black Woman To Cover Her Ass
Her remix of "Karma" with Bronx rapper Ice Spice reeks of damage control and exploitative PR strategy.

By
Cambria Roth
May 25, 2023, 11:36 AM EDT

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/taylor-swift-ice-spice-karma-collaboration_n_646f6a21e4b0a7554f3d5b98

xp I stan corrected

my friend brought this up yesterday but i guess i am sorta disappointed that the guy who got greta thunberg to record an intro for his record is dating miss private jet plane

The Root is on it too.

https://www.theroot.com/why-is-taylor-swift-doing-a-song-with-ice-spice-1850475314

Reason #47 not to date Matty Healy. But I'm sure she'll get a lot of songs out of it.

Quite a thread here:

Before I leave for NYC, here is my thread on seeing Taylor this weekend while she is dating a racist, Islamophobic, anti-semitic overall problematic white man. While I don't necessarily "owe" anyone this thread, it is important to me to take my public leadership seriously.

— Holly Stallcup (@HollyStallcup) May 25, 2023

All that said I still think it's better for her to do a collab with Ice Spice than not, regardless and because of the circumstances.

putting aside how stuff like that huff post article reveals the extent of these ppl's disordered relationship w/ this celebrity, the logic doesn't even make sense. the "controversy" was completely dormant so why would she revive it and blow it up to massive proportions... as a PR strategy?

perhaps what she really cares the most about is money. no that can't be it

Not sure about PR strategy, but people were mad that Healy was yucking it up over jokes about Ice Spice being Eskimo on that cumtown podcast, so I guess doing a collab with Ice Spice would mute that?

well it has done the opposite

idk if i like this automatic assumption that swift's business decisions have anything to do with the reputation of the guy she's dating

this is an incredibly surface-level gotcha, which is why reputable outlets like the 2023 huffington post are running with it

people were mad that Healy was yucking it up over jokes about Ice Spice being Eskimo on that cumtown podcast, so I guess doing a collab with Ice Spice would mute that?

― INDEPENDENTS DAY BY STEVEN SPILBERG (President Keyes), Thursday, May 25, 2023 1:43 PM (two minutes ago)

i just find this logic completely incongruous. maybe taylor swift is actually very dumb, but it's hard for me to believe that she does not understand the basic concept of the streisand effect. the idea that taylor swift would think "if i put ice spice on a remix, people will forgive me for dating someone who made racist jokes about ice spice" ... i think this reveals more about the critical thinking skills possessed by the writer than the celebrity, i'll just put it that way. you (not you specifically, president keyes) might think like a fifth grader but that doesn't mean taylor swift does too

& also what brad said. not only is she one of the biggest pop machines in music history but she is particularly famous for cultivating the idea that every little thing she does is carefully, deeply calculated. that she would make artistic/financial/reputational decisions based on a podcast controversy attached to a guy she's been dating for what a month? i find it fascinating that so many of her stans -- even (especially) the otherwise well adjusted adult ones -- seem to not understand a single thing about her

I also thought that, like, a foundational tenet of Swift fandom was that she shouldn't be judged by whom she is dating / has dated.

(I should never attempt using "whom," b/c I think I always end up using it wrong)

I also thought that, like, a foundational tenet of Swift fandom was that she shouldn't be judged by whom she is dating / has dated.

― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Thursday, May 25, 2023 2:06 PM (fifty-nine seconds ago)

yeah. well what's happening is that this story is causing a head on collision between two tentpole beliefs held by lots of (younger) pop fans these days. those positions are 1. women celebrities should not be defined by the men they date 2. good celebrities are deeply engaged w/ politics, speak out at any and all opportunity about oppression & those who don't are failing their fans and complicit in upholding said oppression. you can't have it both ways w/ this controversy

i just hope we get that "post-rock joni mitchell" collaboration matty talked about wanting to make a while ago

the "controversy" was completely dormant

was it though? i don't think the swifties have taken a break from melting down about matty's crimes on the adam friedland show since the news broke, but yeah i agree that if there's any calculation from swift here it's the streisand effect not some sort of weird damage control

i do wonder if matty's realised yet that getting him in hot water was the entire joke to friedland etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CnUYMmEHrs

"more lana del rey" does deliver on its promise and the new mix is a noticeable improvement too - the piano really makes it sound fuller

If Taylor Swift chooses to be in a relationship with a dummy who makes racist comments about blacks and Inuit, then yes, underneath the savvy business decisions, she is an idiot.

lol here we go

Taylor Swift might be an idiot, idgif either way, that Twitter thread made me jump out the window a couple days ago.

the correct response to it

"Karma is defenestration ... "

Can't we just all come together and blame Jack Antonoff for everything?

yeah. well what's happening is that this story is causing a head on collision between two tentpole beliefs held by lots of (younger) pop fans these days. those positions are 1. women celebrities should not be defined by the men they date 2. good celebrities are deeply engaged w/ politics, speak out at any and all opportunity about oppression & those who don't are failing their fans and complicit in upholding said oppression. you can't have it both ways w/ this controversy

― J0rdan S., Thursday, May 25, 2023 1:19 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

good post

Yeah. Partly explains why the Swifties in my life are perplexed (one thinks Matty is terrible, the other is a fan of the 1975 and gets that his current schtick is a bit, however bad a bit).

the friedland show stuff is about the only time i've felt disappointed in matty but the game of telephone with the swifties is really something

who is adam friedland and why are they trading in aughts-era "comedy" racism

former co-host of the podcast "cum town", vaguely chapo trap house-adjacent but not really political. the whole cum town/now friedland show schtick is juvenile ironic edgelord offensive humour shit, but somehow they've managed to keep it at that and not actually turn into frothing reactionaries? which is very unusual for vaguely left edgelord podcast hosts

really it's just completely absurd that it's at all relevant to explain any of this in the taylor swift thread lmao

Or that the Washington Post is covering it

yeah that's even more ridiculous

So apparently Matt Healy watches racist torture porn against black women....https://t.co/OqbyVPYXrN

— ⟭⟬ darth voider ⟭⟬ (@THISlSVOIDED) May 12, 2023

Was this all part of a joke or does Healy actually appreciate this vile form of “media.” Doing offensive accents or whatever is one thing, but I read this and felt confused and disturbed.

TW: if you read the whole thread, your day will be ruined. But I think it’s relevant to post this here bc *this* I think is why people are grossed out by him. Not the comments about Ice Spice.

Was this all part of a joke

i'm not listening to the podcast but i feel comfortable saying: yes, he was on cumtown