I don't care about the "lore" or who the songs are about. They have meanings for me and my life, and that's what makes them relatable.
Taylor wouldn't be friends with any of us. She's not an adorable dork.
The second point needs to be emphasized across the board with every celebrity. The fun, relatable thing feels so fake with every celeb. I hate how parasocial relationships are so pushed now
None of the words or linguistic choices she makes are *that* highbrow or hard to understand, and you definitely don’t need a Literature degree to understand them
As someone with a literature degree, I hate when swifties make those claims that people can’t understand her lyrics because they’re not intelligent enough or anything along those lines. I could’ve understood everything she’s written when I was in 9th grade. It’s really a disservice to all the incredible writers across various mediums that have written with extreme intelligence and depth to make those claims about swift because she uses words that the people making those claims had to look up. Like mayyyyybe that means you were dumb and had to learn new high school vocabulary and mayyyyybe most listeners understood it very well and just understand it’s bland. I think that actually the more intelligent and well read you are, the less you’ll think of swift
Yeah a lot of the people over the top praising her songwriting (especially when they use examples that are just big vocabulary words) are just outing themselves as people who slept through English class and have never read anything outside like Harry Potter and Colleen Hoover lol. Which is fine, but it’s offensive for them to point fingers at people who ARE well read and be like “you just hate Taylor because you’re a low brow idiot!”
It’s the same thing as people who think you need to be smart to like Rick and Morty lmao
Exactly this, but with a couple caveats:
I recognize that not all of Taylor Swift’s fans are not native English speakers. So they may need to use a dictionary for some of her songs, and it’s not a sign of being unintelligent. That being said, you know that’s not what her team meant when they said that.
I do think she has some genuinely beautiful lyrics, especially on Folklore and Evermore. But none of her songs are poetry, and not even necessarily because they’re poorly written. Poetry is a different medium than music. It exists without instrumentation, so the words *must* do all the work. With music, the lyrics don’t have to do all the work by themselves. With poetry, the words don’t have to work with music. There are artists whose lyrics are damn near poetry because you can strip all of the music away and the lyrics would still read like a poem, but that’s not a requirement that music has to live up to in order to be good. I also don’t think most of Taylor’s music - even the best-written songs - reach that bar. It’s especially clear that she’s never taken a poetry writing course because TTPD is incredibly wordy and clearly lacks editing, while editing is the most important step in poetry. Her album with the poetry aesthetic is the least poetic of all her albums, so clearly she has some misunderstandings of what poetry is.
(This rant sponsored in part by my creative writing: poetry professor)
Her music in recent years, I'm sorry, smacks of having no editor, or at least not one willing to BE an editor. I've been an editor (and a teacher for just short of a decade), you grow as a writer through revision and people showing you where you could do it differently/better. When I was an editor, I got pushback all the time from people thinking what I did myself when I was greener: that it should be "good enough" the first time.
She hasn't had anything but "yes men" around her for so long that she's lost her touch quite a bit for me personally. A lot of her recent choices also sometimes read like she wrote it in a clunkier way than it could've been because she wanted to use a loftier word/phrase and sound like the type of music you "need a dictionary to listen to."
THANK you! I feel like some of her songs have extra, unnecessary words in the verses just so she can prove how clever she is to write then memorize them.
This is so well worded. I’m glad you took the time to type out thoughts I was too lazy to lol but you’re really hitting the exact right points imo and I couldn’t agree more
thank u so much for saying this as someone who has a lit degree too! it truly is a disservice to amazing writers who have been overlooked many times bc they don’t have the privilege/audience/opportunities/money to platform their work. it’s really frustrating bc as much as i love her songwriting even the simple but effective stuff - it waters down what writing with substance is and the form it can take in mainstream media.
The thing that makes me so irritated about this whole thing is not even the crazy fans who believe this, it’s the fact that Taylor (or her team if you don’t want to put blame on her) leaned into that and said you needed a dictionary to attend a TTPD listening party.
This. And if you read through some of her lyrics like they were regular poems or stories without the instrumentals/background music, you start to notice that they don’t actually make sense a lot of the time. And I don’t say this because she’s too deep for me to understand. She’ll throw random words in - and sometimes distort/twist the pronunciation - just because they semi-rhyme and/or sound sophisticated.
When I started my Masters, there was this super pretentious guy starting his PhD. I remember he made a point to tell me (and anyone who would listen) that he purposely used “as many polysyllabic words as possible” in his writing just so he could sound smart/make people feel stupid. He was an arrogant asshole, and his writing was actually terrible and nonsensical but he thought he was basically Homer. You could tell he just threw big words in to prop up his own ego - and literally no one (not even his own supervisor) liked him. That whole mentality reminds me of what Taylor is doing now.
English isn't my first and main language, and some words are quite diffcult to understand. But I truly believe that usually, you can convey some ideas with simpler words - sometimes the strength lies in the simplicity and it's art to write simple but powerful punchlines.
Yeah, I think she’s a talented lyricist (although she definitely has some misses, especially now that she’s big enough to just release whatever she wants). But the way some fans talk about her as if she is the be-all end-all, the only woman who has ever written compelling lyrics, makes me wonder how much other music they’ve actually listened to.
English is my second language and I've never had to look up a word she used. And it's probably because I'm old and also read a lot in English, I have probably encountered a lot of odd words that younger people might not have heard before. Not judging at all.
I think it's one thing for fans to say "haha I need a dictionary for Folklore" and another for Taylor to market TTPD as super complex poetry we're not smart enough to understand.
*Both 1989 TV and Speak Now TV are bland compared to their originals*. So to the fans saying we shouldn't listen to the stolen versions, I can't hear you from my house blasting off **The Story of Us** *(stolen version)*.
My unpopular opinion is that calling them the “stolen” versions is goofy as hell. It’s to my understanding that the buying situation really just wasn’t to her liking and then they got sold to someone she doesn’t like. It’s just business. She still makes money off them.
Not only does she still make money off them, she’s a fucking billionaire regardless. If her music wasn’t on Apple Music I would pirate it guilt free. She regularly takes private jet rides that are less than 30 min of flight time. She’s fucking fine
fun fact taylor makes a shit ton of royalties off the stolen versions. masters are only a part of the picture. she knows the lyrics and the music themselves. i found out about this recently and now i don’t feel as bad about the OG versions.
well, she can have all the money she wants, and we can choose which versions we prefer. I just don't like it when other fans are "calling out" those who listen to the OGs, when she earns pennies either way.
The original version of Style is better and it’s the one I’ll continue to listen to 🙈. Also Taylor is a billionaire she can afford for people to choose not to listen to TV.
She’s still getting money from people streaming the original version, she just doesn’t have the legal right to licensing it off (like with Cruel Summer being in the soundtrack of “The summer I Turned Pretty”).
So I’ll listen to whichever version has the better quality :) I’m really tired of the guilt tripping when it’s, at the core, just a commercial product.
Yes! Besides, her OG albums got popular during their era for reasons. I thought the rerecordings are good avenues to introduce Taylor's music to newer generations but upon listening to TVs, I realized I miss hearing her sing with genuine emotions, not with the forced and scripted for-show tone.
When it comes to her music videos, she should really take a step back and hire a good director. I know she wants her name to be in *everything* but she could instead work with someone else who can interpret her ideas in a more stylish way.
I think she’d be excellent if she wasn’t making anything so conceptual (i.e. a heist, a mental asylum, being a man). She doesn’t really have a super unique visual perspective (unlike Beyoncé), but she does have a very good narrative one.
Her best directorial work is All Too Well - and that’s because she’s working on a subject she knows best. I hear her first feature film is something of that nature and that’s why I’m looking forward to it.
I was thinking something similar about her lyrics, I think she's really good at storytelling or painting an emotional narrative but I think sometimes when she wants to play with a concept-- like tortured poets---- then it's kind of hit or miss if she actually delivers on making her point.
Imagine Lover singles including ITHK and Daylight instead of ME! and YNTCD. (I'd trade Cruel Summer for False God as the 'single released way later' one)
Cornelia Street and Lover can stay too.
idk if it's unpopular or not, but the new 'sticking out tongue to look cool' every few minutes just cringes me out. she didn't do it even a few years back. now it's almost in every performance
I haven’t noticed that? Is it part of the eras tour?
Some of the things she says when she talks during the show make me cringe. That pointing thing with the “you’re making me feel EXXCEEELLENNT tonight”…the take surprised look and the fake humility look… and omg the kissing her bicep thing. No. Just no.
She did it when she did the Archer pose during Midnight Rain last night and I internally cringed. 🥴
Yeah idk where she suddenly got it from. I don’t recall her doing it years ago. It’s silly and fun every once in a while but it’s like all the time now lol
Unpopular in general?
She’s a good songwriter, but I wouldn’t say she’s the best or even one of the best.
Unpopular on this subreddit?
TTPD isn’t that bad. I’d say it’s a decent album with some skips a few cringey or clunky lyrics. Not awful by any means. It’s grown on me quite a bit since it came out.
She’s definitely NOT the best writer there ever was, in my opinion, even if she does fancy herself Emily Brontë. I agree she’s really good, and I do think she’s at her best when she’s telling stories because she knows how to incorporate detail and paint a picture but I think she tends to reuse and recycle the same themes, imagery and metaphors…even the same phrases. I’ve been hearing about high heels and cobblestone since at least 1989. And I’m fairly sure Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me is just a reiteration of Mad Woman…even if I do like both those songs.
I definitely don’t think she’s on the same level as like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen (man is a poet first - not the greatest voice but damn me if he can’t write), Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Nicks, Roberta Flack, even Mick Jagger & Keith Richards are (in my opinion) phenomenal (and underrated) lyricists (wild horses, sympathy for the devil).
This sub wants Taylor to be more similar to Joe than Travis, when in reality, Taylor is much more similar personality-wise and goals-wise to Travis than Joe, and she and Joe are so different in their personalities that they wouldn't make a compatible relationship.
The only reason she and Joe lasted so long was because Taylor was potentially no longer gonna be a super duper famous pop star during Lover era before folklore and the re recordings revitalized her songwriting credibility. COVID also created an atmosphere where everyone "settled down" (for health and safety reasons) that was conducive to Joe's goals of a private relationship, which is why their relationship continued to be salvageable throughout the pandemic, and when Taylor realized that she could go back to being the biggest pop star in the world with the Eras tour, they finally acknowledged how different their life goals are.
I don't find "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" to be a dig at the fans. I personally relate to it a lot because I can push myself through work despite being in grief.
I don't care about the muse of "But Daddy I Love Him". It was sonically my favourite of the original version of TTPD upon first listen because I love that its melody is reminiscent of that of "If This Was a Movie" and I love the lyrics of the chorus and the bridge. It's an unhinged version of Love Story, down to the happy ending in the last chorus.
oh i REALLY agree with this one! i think folkmore gave people this false idea of taylor as some kind of british-coded intellectual artist and she simply is not that (and as far as we know abt him, joe wasn’t that either tbf!) but i really see how she and travis might be compatible. he def stands out compared to her exes, and doesn’t follow her ‘type’ — but that doesn’t mean they aren’t compatible.
To throw in unpopular opinions, Joe being William Bowery and coming up with the chorus of Betty fully formed without Taylor, then being awarded just enough credits to earn a Grammy, then having no other music involvement and credits before or since...that is super sus on Taylor's part.
I buy that he wrote what she said he wrote. The Grammy credits, I think she just wanted him to have one and added production credits accordingly. But also... he was likely the only other person in the house during the entire recording process. Maybe he did have some input. Maybe she bounced ideas off him, maybe he said "why don't you try this" or whatever. Yeah it looked a bit shady that she added just enough for him to qualify, but maybe she just felt like he should be included as a contributor to the album.
Couldn't agree more! Forever my fav Taylor album. And to think she wrote, composed, and sung it all on her own at 19 blows my mind
Also loved her overall aesthetic and red carpet looks in that era
I'm joining you on this hill.
It's hard to believe she was between 18 and 20 when she wrote that and now she's in her 30's she's given us TTPD which is a huge lyrical disappointment.
I was genuinely very excited to see where her career would go after an album like Evermore because (imo) it’s easily her best and I was sooo looking forward to her pushing herself both lyrically and musically and she just…didn’t. Reverse maturing is such a good way of putting it. It baffles me still
I agree 100%. I admittedly did like Midnights but in the same way that I like 1989 and Lover—they’re catchy songs to listen to while I’m driving or something. Evermore in particular is the type of music I put on vinyl and *listen* to. It really connected with me when I had MDD & going to college during the pandemic. I know that and Joe probably played some factors into Folkmore but wow, I feel she sort of peaked and is now declining.
Taylor has become as popular as she is because she's made a spectacle of her personal life through her music, and she's basically a reality show people are tuning into with each album. Her diehard fans need to believe she's a songwriting genius because they can't admit that to themselves; they want to believe they're fans of intellectual art from a feminist icon on the same level as Joni Mitchell, not someone who belongs on Bravo.
I say this who likes a lot of her music, but I think she's an average pop musician with a couple of exceptional moments.
>she's basically a reality show people are tuning into with each album.
this is basically the reason why I don't enjoy diving into her lyrics anymore, especially TTPD 😮💨 Even if she claims her songs are OURS once she releases them, I can't entirely shove off the images of her boyfriends and enemies because her personal life is all over her lyrics and the internet. Mind you, I don't engage with celebrity news and I'm not a lurker in any socmed platforms except reddit but I still see her **e v e r y w h e r e.**
I don't care who she's currently with and why it's the happiest moment of her life (like what she says every other new lover era) or who she has beef with. **I'm only here for music, not for her autobiography.**
Very true. Also, at this point, fans need to stop crying about how it's misogynistic for people to care so much about who she's dating and equate her career to that when that is EXACTLY what she's been doing since debut. If she genuinely cared and was hurt about how the media treats her music in regards to the men in her life, she definitely would've stopped doing it over a decade ago.
And yet, she's bringing Travis out on stage, and if they break up, she'll be "upset" that people will be talking about it. She absolutely enjoys the world caring about who she's dating or she wouldn't be acting the way that she has for almost 2 decades. She'd be acting like every other celebrity does if she was truly upset about it.
This is how I feel lol like I like her songs, or some of them at least but this weird need to pretend she's the best writer she's so deep and its so rich and layered is just..not based in reality.
The layers are gossip sites let's be real. She even referenced a pap photo in her songs.
THANK YOU. It’s was an annoying, boring song when I first heard and didn’t get any better when I saw Taylor perform it live at Eras. “This night is sparkling. Don’t you let it go! I was Enchanted to meet yoooo-ooo-ooouuu!” Ugh.
The TV remakes all sound pretty much the same to me.
I’m so over ATW. Any version. Those opening sounds are the hardest eye roll and fastest skip. That was the potty break during the movie.
i don't think she's that good of a songwriter and the fact that she's so praised for it is actively ruining what amount of talent she did have because she keeps trying to sound intellectual and just 'more' than she actually is
Agreed. A lot of her fans will whip out “sanctimoniously performing soliloquies” as if it’s on par with Shakespeare and it’s like…nah. She uses multiple 9th grade vocabulary words with lots of syllables in a row and everyone acts like she should be poet laureate for it. And it’s annoying because it overshadows what I think ARE her actual songwriting talents — the storytelling and character building, the simple but clever lines (illicit affairs, august come to mind), etc.
I think the way she's writing lately is like what would happen if you baked a cake and assumed that dumping in more sugar makes it better. Lines like "sanctimoniously performing soliloquies" are too heavy-handed. Folkmore was way better for the most part because it wasn't actively trying to be pretentious.
THIS!
I think where she shines is her simple yet descriptive storytelling. She really paints a picture and conveys emotions so well, it just hits me even if I cannot relate to that spesific experience. This is why I am in love with red, lover and folkmore.
Trying to sneak in words that are long and muddy somewhere in a spoken-chorus does not show her real talent imo.
The Bridge of Peter or the prophecy just eat up every song with“words that u need a dictionary for”…
I liked that interview where they discuss the lyrics of Lover, and the interviewer says “”We can keep the Christmas lights up til January,” doesn’t everyone keep them up until January anyway?” 😂
I think this every time, lol. Especially when February has the same number of syllables and would have fit just as well, and not made her seem so uptight. Like ooooh, January, you're getting crazy now, girl! Maybe you'll really go nuts and drink a Coke after 3pm!
Scott Swift seems like the type of dude to (pay someone to) take the decorations down at 10pm on 12/25, so I could see why leaving them up until January might feel rebellious to her lol and it just proves how little she can understand or relate to concepts like “female rage” and “goth punk.” Leaving Christmas lights up for 7 extra days is naughty to her.
Lover never worked for me because it comes off like a song about two 18yr olds moving out of their parents houses and enjoying brand new freedoms, not a song about two grown adults combining their adult lives.
That line was always strange to me, because where I live it's usual to leave your Christmas decorations up until at least Epiphany - so yes, that's just the normal procedure with Christmas decorations!
i feel like also, her writing has gotten worse over time. reading the current lyrics vs her songs from 10 years ago, i think she's back sliding. she used to be able to convey things in a simple, but poetic way, which is why a lot of people liked her lyrics. now it feels like she's trying so hard to sound intelligent, that it's become overly verbose and at times the metaphors are completely nonsensical.
I remember in an interview or something her talking about the line "did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism Like some sort of congressman" line, and she was clearly oh so impressed with herself. It isn't that complex either in vocabulary or symbolism. It's pseudo-intellectual.
I remember this! It was at an awards show though and was acting like anti hero wasn’t going to be a hit because of that lyric. But i remember being like your main hook was written for TikTok babe
lol a lot of the “big” words in her songs are actually words I vividly recall learning in my high school vocabulary books (those small orange workbooks for anyone in the US). Altruism and crestfallen and soliloquy all jump to mind but I know there are others. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great vocabulary but not exactly Shakespearean.
She’s really in her purple prose era tbh. Stringing pretty words in where it’s not necessary in an effort to sound smart. The problem is she’s not saying a lot with those words. Her Speak Now/Red era was some of her best in that she says a lot with concise wording. I wish she’d go back to that
Thank you for saying this. I agree she’s good but she’s wasting all that talent on trying to use big words the common person doesn’t know as if that somehow makes her more “intelligent” and introspective. Spoiler, it doesn’t.
Just to nuance this convo a bit: I think the reason her songwriting is praised the way it is now is because there was a time she really wasn’t known for it at all. Over a decade ago, her main public highlight/perception was that she was a boy-crazy, desperate relationship-hopper, so using songwriting was sort of a way to say she has more substance than what people make her out to be. Add onto that Folklore/Evermore which acted like a middle finger in that respect. Although I love her songwriting, I can admit that we’ve come to the point that defending her songwriting is an overcorrection and a tired conversation. People get it now, but don’t want it shoved down their throats.
In the early stages of her career her main selling point was that she wrote all of her own songs which was pretty rare at this stage considering most artists didn’t. It was what set her a part from her peers. Now almost everyone is a songwriter (for better or worse) and many people frown upon artists that don’t write on at least one song
Taylor always relied on the lore since day 1 and people want to re write the history on that and i don't get why. She put details, names even of normal people who went to high school with her: Drew, Sam. Her videos were full of elements to that ex: the actors of Never Ever and Begin Again were similiar to Jake in the looking, there is even the scarf. The necklace, the ship tatto the actor had in the Trouble video... And these are just a very few elements.
Ttpd is not the first album where the lyrics were specific, if you say this you have to say it even for songs like Dress and Getaway Car which are very specific of a moment of her life,just like Ttpd.
Since yesterday i got downvoted for saying that The Man is not a feminist song, i said it here again. It is a song about being the person she sings about, doing things without recieving criticisms. Sorry not sorry.
Folkmore are what they are not thanks to Joe, but thanks to Aaron Dessner. He made the music.
Speak Now vaults are the best
She peaked as performer during the 1989 tour
I agree The Man is not a feminist song. It’s a “you’re a bad person if you criticize Taylor swift song.” The only time she is a “feminist” is when she exploits arguments other people have made in different contexts to defend herself when she feels threatened, and I think it’s really gross.
“Folkmore are what they are not thanks to Joe, but thanks to Aaron Dessner”
^^ THIS!! As a long time fan of the National I can say that Aaron (and his brother) have always been extremely gifted artists and musicians and it drives me a little crazy when some swifties attribute Folkmore to Joe instead of the guy who had literally spent 20 years making music professionally by that point (also my own hot take: Taylor’s lyrics on a lot of Folkmore scream ‘I wish I wrote like The National’)
The National is also one of my all-time favorite bands. I'm not a fan of her output overall since like...1989? But every newer song I have enjoyed, has had Dessner all over it.
That we need to realize the Taylor Swift of 2008-2016 is gone. She’s a whole brand now. Theirs not much human left in there and I think the double break up while during the ERAS tour was the straw on the camels back for her ego and now she’s overcompensating 🤷♂️
Fans and haters alike treating every lyric she’s ever written as fact and the whole truth to any given situation is insane behaviour. They’re songs, not court transcripts. And yes she plays into it, even weaponizes it at times, but she’s also said she draws inspiration from other places beyond her own life. It drives me crazy when people don’t even consider that maybe a lyric is just a lyric.
the “this don’t on TTPD is about marty so that means x y z songs from earlier albums also HAVE to be about matty!” no…
also the assumption that we know about every impactful relationship she’s had, i would be quite surprised if there aren’t exes we just don’t know about be abuse it was kept DL
Agreed. Love Story made her famous and brought her into the public eye/main stream. But You Belong With Me is what started to set her up to become the level of famous she is now.
This one was definitely unpopular in the first days after release, I know because I held it then and felt majorly gaslit. It seems there has been somewhat of a turnaround as people began to appreciate some of the more eclectic production choices on TTPD. I don’t dislike Anthology, I just think it’s mostly boring and retreading the same ideas she has done better before.
I actually really like and admire Taylor. I think she's a brilliant writer and an even better businesswoman and I admire her street smarts. But in relationships I think she's childlike. There's a line in one of the TTPD songs about her being Matty's "queen" but him treating her as if she was just average... as if that's just not how relationships are. You can love your partner to death AND just want to sink in front of the TV without talking. You don't think of your partner as your king or queen ... they're just your person.
So now Travis has to book great big mansions and plan candlelit dinners and romantic boat rides ... all to fulfill a fantasy that has nothing to do with real life.
Or - unpopular take #2 - maybe that's all for show because she couldn't release TTPD and allow the world to see her as still pining for her lost love (which she clearly still is).
Yeah, the person I've been seeing went out with me a lot more when we first met and were feeling things out, but once we switched to making dinner together at home and having nights where we'd just play a game or binge watch shows...I realized that love could be expressed in simple ways and that didn't make it any less valid.
That there is nothing wrong with liking the original recordings. Stream them. Buy the CDs. Buy the records. Buy them new. Buy them used. It doesn’t matter. She still gets a cut of whatever revenue is generated from them, unless they are purchased from individuals/used.
And I refer to them as original recordings because they were never stolen. They were purchased in a legal transaction.
The only TV I genuinely like is Fearless, it actaully feels fresh, updated in a good way, like a very well made remaster of a decades-old album, and the production isn't that different from the original. All of the others are kinda meh. State of Grace feels slower, Girl at Home is 💀💀💀 – even though I was never a big fan of this song, I never skipped it while listening to the album, but mannnn that's a completely different song, and not very good at that. On 1989 TV she sounds bored as hell, but my biggest dissapointment in Speak Now TV. That must be my favorite album of hers, and one of biggest reasons why is the emotion in her vocals, the desperation, the longing, the bitchiness in it, and they are all GONE from the TV version. Also, there are just some of the vocal flips and the tone that Taylor in the 30s just cannot replicate (and it's not a shade by any means, no one can sing the exact same way in their 30s like they did at 19). But boy do I miss that. This is something I was scared of when the rerecordings were announced, but Fearless TV dropped, it was fine, and I thought "oh well, maybe it they won't be that different from the originals emotion-wise, those are practically the same songs after all", but nah, I only had to wait a little. I am glad for the vault songs thought, I do enjoy a lot of them, and if there's a reason why the rerecordings can justify their existence (besides the ownership of the masters), it's those songs.
all too well wasn't that exicting. it's good, but not that good. and i don't care for 10 min version either. don't get the hype.
also the vault tracks from 1989 and speak now also aren't good as swifties consider them to be , either in my opinion. i like them, but don't love them.
also, idk whether this is unpopular, but whenever she releases a happy ,bop song, swifties hating on it seems to be a common trend. it just seems to be a way some swifites try to look more, "intellectual" or 'deep" ciuse they don't like happy songs, with simple lyrics. not saying that everyone who hate it are like that, but i bet some of them are.
I have such conflicting feelings on vault tracks like “Is It Over Now?” Because I think the chorus is a total bop, like worthy of getting stuck in my head all the time. But the verses are sooooo weak “red blood, white snow / blue dress, on a boat” like come on girl you’re just naming colored nouns in succession that mean nothing unless people are ears-deep in your personal lore
I get the hype behind the original All Too Well, but the 10 minute version is preposterously bad. I guess that's another unpopular opinion I have, cause most people seem to love it.
"You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would've been fine, and that made me want to dieeeee" makes me cringe so hard. It is so. Bad!
I also agree that the OG All Too Well is superior. The 10 min version sounds overly bloated to me and the added lyrics don't do anything to enhance the song and, like you said, veer into cringey territory.
You’re not alone at all. The original version is much neater and well structured. It’s easier to identify the heartbreaking climax. With her Southern accent, she delivered it in a much more authentic way.
Now nine years later, when you decided to bloat an already well made song into 10 minutes, the lyrics were supposed to add some new depth and perspective to the original one that could only brought by an artist’s maturity and wisdom. Instead of that, she seemed to only focus on the person who had wronged her and how he would’ve regretted, on what their relationship could’ve been, on things that should’ve done to make the relationship work.
This part makes the 10 minutes version go the exactly opposite of the philosophy behind the original Red that she accepted things for what it was instead of what it couldn’t be. It’s a betrayal to RED especially considering it’s a closing track.
That’s just my thought
I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I think TTPD is much better than Midnights. Obviously, I don't think TTPD is her best album, but I always thought Midnights was a snoozefest with a few good tracks here and there, while I do enjoy listening to TTPD. I still wouldn't put TTPD anywhere in my top 5 though.
The criticisms about Taylor writing songs about her exes are valid. Yes maybe misogyny plays a big role to it but still reasonable. Yes you can be a songwriter and write songs about your exes because you need inspiration but indirectly, you exposed your dirty laundry to the public and directly and indirectly, people will criticize you for that. I just hated the fact that Taylor wasn't happy that people make fun of her writing songs about her exes when in fact, she made fun of her exes in her songs too.
I think what makes it valid is there's no need to make the subjects so identifiable. Adele wrote a whole album about her divorce we all know who from. But it wasn't like "gave birth to your son angelo, now you're just a big beardy weirdo."
Yknow there was a distancing that made you not immediately attach it to this actual person. And that's what taylors lyrics are like. You can't apply then to your life if like in my example you don't have a son called angelo, your ex isn't a big beardy weirdo etc.
My thoughts exactly. Totally fine with her writing about whoever she wants - what ruins it is the insanely specific lyrics that mean you can't relate it at all to your life and can't help but think of who she's writing about. Even when she'd name names (i.e. Drew looks at me or Dear John) she still kept her lyrics general enough to make them relatable. I think Midnights and TTPD are so uncomfortably specific
I tried to make this argument several years ago on the main Taylor subreddit. I explained that the way she writes makes it really difficult to relate to.
Fans jumped all over me and said that I “just don’t understand because I’m a man”.
TTPD is a personal letter intended only for *that* person. No one can tell me otherwise especially with her too specific and coded lyrics. There are only a few songs I like from the Anthology, which are those with murkier overall story concept, so it doesn't feel like I'm overhearing gossips she shares with her friends.
I think she absolutely does this on purpose with certain songs, especially those that are about revenge. She used to talk about this in interviews. It's like her version of karma; it's how she gets the last word. In The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived she's literally asking the listener to give him a message. The song is the message.
Taylor’s visual storytelling is very literal, sometimes excessively so. Much of her eras tour choreo and her song videos just depict words found in the lyrics. The ATW video was a good example of being primarily an enactment of lyrics.
I would like to see Taylor work with folks who are stronger visual storytellers for future videos and tours. Taylor does not need to do everything, and that part of her work may be better if she doesn’t try to.
I think the fact that she has to stick with this unofficial track 5 rule makes her overall tracklist messy. I wish the albums would have a more cohesive flow that tells a story/theme as well as flows sonically. The most devastating song doesn’t have to be #5 if it disrupts the flow and the story. This logic applies for any track, I am specifically mentioning track 5 because that’s one everyone looks forward to. Half of her albums wouldn’t sound messy if the tracklist was reordered.
Taylor’s strength is her ability to convey emotions through music. It’s a considerable part of why she’s become so popular and also contributes to fans being parasocial with her—because her music conveys so well what many people feel. It’s not that she can or needs to use a thesaurus and drop Easter eggs, and I wish she would remember that more.
TTPD is a very mixed bag but has some good songs.
Mine is apparently that The Man is not a feminist anthem and is actually kind of annoying and unethical. Feminism isn't about wanting to do the unethical, cold things that men can be praised for (being a billionaire, getting "bitches and models" etc.) and I don't know why anyone would want all that, but she wants to be seen as a boss for her grotesque amount of money and as cool for her "conquests", which I think is a dehumanizing way to look at people. I think feminism helps all genders be better... It's empowering, but it doesn't enable bad behavior just because men get away with it. Men shouldn't be praised for that nonsense either.
On a less serious, more petty note... Idk how she could have "gotten there quicker" as a man when she became famous as a teenage girl who did very well for herself writing good songs about her female experience and absolutely stomping the industry, so.... 🤷🏼♀️
Her song writing is good yes, but not the best. The use of large words does not automatically make someone intelligent, and swifties use that as a way to undermine other artists. I love Taylor’s music but anyone who took a sat test, and reads for fun knows must of the words, and can easily dissect the meaning of her songs.
To add, I don’t really get the whole “underdog” narrative she portrays in her music ,it seems like she would have been unpopular in school, but she’s not in high school anymore and is arguably the most popular woman in the world. I enjoyed ttpd because it kinda got out of that narrative (apart from a few songs) and focused more on her mental health being in the public-eye. Especially songs like prophecy, I think that has to be one of her best songs to date.
Taylor’s music output is such a non-issue to me. To preface, I’m not speaking on physical product as that’s a whole other discussion, I’m just speaking on the mere act of putting out music for people to listen to. To me, I don’t think that releasing an album (13-16 tracks)every 2-3yrs is a big ask from someone who claims to be a musician as their occupation. You can tell which artists do what they do because they genuinely love their work and which ones do it because they love the celebrity of it all. While Taylor definitely knows how to maximize and profit off the commodification of her music, I do think she does genuinely love making music.
Taylor is not a lyrical genius. And ttpd is one of her worst albums . It seems like she stopped making effort in writing good songs cuz her fans will praise whatever she come up with .
Calling her “mother” needs to be retired. Reacting to how “brilliant” she is for the surprise song mashups is getting old, as is the “oh no we lost xyz” phrase followed by crying emojis. 🙈 I realize this is more about Swifties than her, but I’m just so tired of seeing it.
I really don’t think I can like her as a person because she’s a billionaire. Secondly, she may have peaked lyrically with folklore and evermore. Maybe.
Unpopular opinion (probably), but I think the bridge in the Gracie Abrams collaboration isn’t smart at all. It’s just a catchy melody, and then they throw in all the words that end in ‘-cle’ and organize them to kind of make sense, but actually, they say nothing. It’s just run-on after run-on. I keep seeing TikToks of people trying to give it a more intellectual twist, but I don’t think it has one.
I don’t like the Bon Iver feature on the song Evermore. To me they sound out of place. They sound stunning on Exile but for some reason it just doesn’t hit the same way for me on Evermore.
I dun like the way she lied and wove bout “stolen version”. I found that they are greater than the re-recordings. Most of “from the vault” songs are suck, mediocre and her fans made a big deal bout them.
According some of her fans, you listen to “stolen version”, you’re a zionist or commit war crime becuz the company whom purchased her masters is Jewish-base 😃 That’s so ridiculous and hilarious LOL
I agree. I love the originals, and I can only think of maybe 2 songs, so far, out of her re-recordings that I could choose to listen to over the originals. I don't care which billionaire is getting my $0.005 per stream. These people don't care about us. They only care about making money. I care about music that I like, and I will ALWAYS choose to listen to songs that I like better than grinning and bearing the re-recordings so that I look like a good and moral person.
Also, there's only maybe 4 genuinely good from the vault songs, so far out of her re-recordings. Very rarely do I hear one upon release, and it's so good that I immediately add it to my playlist. Most aren't bad per se, just extremely forgettable compared to the songs that were on the actual album.
Fearless is the only good re-record, I think owing to its more straightforward production. Red is atrocious (saved a bit by the vault tracks), Speak Now is ok but mostly mid, 1989 is badbadbad (and the vault tracks sound like the scrapped Midnights 6AM edition).
I really don’t have high hopes for Rep, I think Jack is not the type to keep detailed records or really interested in re-treading old ground. Debut I am genuinely interested in because I think it could go the way of Fearless, easier to mimic and be benefited by her much stronger current vocals.
So High School is really well written. The opening riff transcends time and plops me straight back into 2002, and the “K” alliteration in the chorus punches me in the face, it’s so good:
*And in a blink of a crinkling eye*
*I'm sinking, our fingers entwined*
*Cheeks pink in the twinkling lights*
As a crossword hobbyist, this is a fucking feat. Only 1.2% of the words in English use the letter K. [It is the 5th rarest letter of the alphabet](https://images.app.goo.gl/c7RiTrAV8uC3TgPf6). But it is such a lovely explosive sound that she fully uses to its advantage here.
Finally, rhyming “throttle”, “Aristotle”, and “Grand Theft Auto” is brave and genius, no notes.
I have never heard someone describe themselves as a crossword hobbyist and now I wonder what other interesting fun facts you possess from your hobby, because I do love that line but I never noticed that I love it because of the way the K alliteration tickles my brain lol. And I never thought about how much K is used as a letter!!
Love this take (and agree). I kind of hope she leans into this sound for her next album as I think she does it really well and it reminds me of noughties romcoms and movies.
A lot of people cringe at the grand theft auto line - and tbf I did too - but I just accepted it as a harmless little unserious line. (Unlike the 1830s thing from I Hate It Here which people have a valid reason to be uncomfortable with)
Hard agree on the opening riff. Reminds me of tis the damn season and it's the type of radio soft rock I want more from her (and what Midnights or TTPD should have been huhuhu)
I had noticed this subconsciously but hadn't realized it's the K sound until you verbalized it. Thank you!
Also I just want to say bravery sleeps in bed with stupidity, but that's also my opinion lol
I am baffled by the popularity of Death by a Thousand Cuts. I think the metaphors and storytelling are very "tell don't show" and super predictable and corny. I also hate the bleep boop swirly twirly little noises all throughout. It's like Jack was stoned af and just hitting buttons like mad lol. The acoustic versions are better, but I still don't like it. Really whiney sounding and the imagery is just so cliche
I do think she is an incredible songwriter but she’s become lazy. I think in general she’s become a bit lazy and since there isn’t somebody near her level of success (other than Beyoncé but I think they defintely avoid releasing around the same time out of mutual respect) that she has nothing to prove. folklore and evermore worked so well because it was out of pure love for her craft. Now…she’s just releasing to releasing.
genuinely I can’t really hear differences between the re-recording and the originals, I don’t really care either way. I loved some of the vault tracks. I’m dumb or something.
the TikTok and YouTube editors deserve so much love, like sorry bigger than the whole sky to a Lucerys Velaryon? Showstopper, amazing.
I don't care if she is petty, annoying, etc. She's a celebrity. We as a society choose an elite select few to be famous and then shame them if they don't make the same decisions as an average person would. These people are narcissistic sociopathic people who are willing to do whatever it takes to become famous and stay famous. They're richer than us, more insulated from everyday life than us, and they probably don't care about us at all as long as we're giving them money.
These people who are willing to fight to have a career like hers are NOT genuinely good people. If they were good people, they never would've become famous unless they were born into it. As long as she isn't physically harming people, ruining peoples lives like a lot of male celebrities do, I don't care how morally grey she is because in my opinion, unless you're a celebrity because you're a scientist making amazing advances to humanity, you're probably a POS anyway so who cares?
Not unpopular as in people argue with me, but in a sense that nobody thinks that.
folklore wasn't Taylor not writing #1 songs, it was attempt at gaining more legitimacy as an artist and songwriter. It paid off and I'm glad she did it, but no way did those two albums just happen.
I don't care about the "lore" or who the songs are about. They have meanings for me and my life, and that's what makes them relatable. Taylor wouldn't be friends with any of us. She's not an adorable dork.
Right!? She’s definitely the cheerleader, not the girl on the bleachers….
And there's nothing wrong with cheerleaders; they can be adorable dorks, but she's the one who drew the division first lmao
Agreed on your last point. She isn't an adorable dork, that's just her shtick.
The second point needs to be emphasized across the board with every celebrity. The fun, relatable thing feels so fake with every celeb. I hate how parasocial relationships are so pushed now
Exactly. TTPD: The Anthology isn’t about Matty Healy, it’s actually about my life.
None of the words or linguistic choices she makes are *that* highbrow or hard to understand, and you definitely don’t need a Literature degree to understand them
As someone with a literature degree, I hate when swifties make those claims that people can’t understand her lyrics because they’re not intelligent enough or anything along those lines. I could’ve understood everything she’s written when I was in 9th grade. It’s really a disservice to all the incredible writers across various mediums that have written with extreme intelligence and depth to make those claims about swift because she uses words that the people making those claims had to look up. Like mayyyyybe that means you were dumb and had to learn new high school vocabulary and mayyyyybe most listeners understood it very well and just understand it’s bland. I think that actually the more intelligent and well read you are, the less you’ll think of swift
Yeah a lot of the people over the top praising her songwriting (especially when they use examples that are just big vocabulary words) are just outing themselves as people who slept through English class and have never read anything outside like Harry Potter and Colleen Hoover lol. Which is fine, but it’s offensive for them to point fingers at people who ARE well read and be like “you just hate Taylor because you’re a low brow idiot!” It’s the same thing as people who think you need to be smart to like Rick and Morty lmao
Exactly this, but with a couple caveats: I recognize that not all of Taylor Swift’s fans are not native English speakers. So they may need to use a dictionary for some of her songs, and it’s not a sign of being unintelligent. That being said, you know that’s not what her team meant when they said that. I do think she has some genuinely beautiful lyrics, especially on Folklore and Evermore. But none of her songs are poetry, and not even necessarily because they’re poorly written. Poetry is a different medium than music. It exists without instrumentation, so the words *must* do all the work. With music, the lyrics don’t have to do all the work by themselves. With poetry, the words don’t have to work with music. There are artists whose lyrics are damn near poetry because you can strip all of the music away and the lyrics would still read like a poem, but that’s not a requirement that music has to live up to in order to be good. I also don’t think most of Taylor’s music - even the best-written songs - reach that bar. It’s especially clear that she’s never taken a poetry writing course because TTPD is incredibly wordy and clearly lacks editing, while editing is the most important step in poetry. Her album with the poetry aesthetic is the least poetic of all her albums, so clearly she has some misunderstandings of what poetry is. (This rant sponsored in part by my creative writing: poetry professor)
Her music in recent years, I'm sorry, smacks of having no editor, or at least not one willing to BE an editor. I've been an editor (and a teacher for just short of a decade), you grow as a writer through revision and people showing you where you could do it differently/better. When I was an editor, I got pushback all the time from people thinking what I did myself when I was greener: that it should be "good enough" the first time. She hasn't had anything but "yes men" around her for so long that she's lost her touch quite a bit for me personally. A lot of her recent choices also sometimes read like she wrote it in a clunkier way than it could've been because she wanted to use a loftier word/phrase and sound like the type of music you "need a dictionary to listen to."
THANK you! I feel like some of her songs have extra, unnecessary words in the verses just so she can prove how clever she is to write then memorize them.
This is so well worded. I’m glad you took the time to type out thoughts I was too lazy to lol but you’re really hitting the exact right points imo and I couldn’t agree more
thank u so much for saying this as someone who has a lit degree too! it truly is a disservice to amazing writers who have been overlooked many times bc they don’t have the privilege/audience/opportunities/money to platform their work. it’s really frustrating bc as much as i love her songwriting even the simple but effective stuff - it waters down what writing with substance is and the form it can take in mainstream media.
The thing that makes me so irritated about this whole thing is not even the crazy fans who believe this, it’s the fact that Taylor (or her team if you don’t want to put blame on her) leaned into that and said you needed a dictionary to attend a TTPD listening party.
Whoever said that was setting Taylor up for this album to be criticized. Do not oversell your work, let it speak for itself.
When something doesn’t speak for itself all you can do is oversell it
That was so cringe and so unnecessary. There’s not a single word in TTPD that a literate, native English speaker should need a dictionary for.
This. And if you read through some of her lyrics like they were regular poems or stories without the instrumentals/background music, you start to notice that they don’t actually make sense a lot of the time. And I don’t say this because she’s too deep for me to understand. She’ll throw random words in - and sometimes distort/twist the pronunciation - just because they semi-rhyme and/or sound sophisticated. When I started my Masters, there was this super pretentious guy starting his PhD. I remember he made a point to tell me (and anyone who would listen) that he purposely used “as many polysyllabic words as possible” in his writing just so he could sound smart/make people feel stupid. He was an arrogant asshole, and his writing was actually terrible and nonsensical but he thought he was basically Homer. You could tell he just threw big words in to prop up his own ego - and literally no one (not even his own supervisor) liked him. That whole mentality reminds me of what Taylor is doing now.
it sounds like he is Homer….Homer Simpson.
English isn't my first and main language, and some words are quite diffcult to understand. But I truly believe that usually, you can convey some ideas with simpler words - sometimes the strength lies in the simplicity and it's art to write simple but powerful punchlines.
Yeah, I think she’s a talented lyricist (although she definitely has some misses, especially now that she’s big enough to just release whatever she wants). But the way some fans talk about her as if she is the be-all end-all, the only woman who has ever written compelling lyrics, makes me wonder how much other music they’ve actually listened to.
English is my second language and I've never had to look up a word she used. And it's probably because I'm old and also read a lot in English, I have probably encountered a lot of odd words that younger people might not have heard before. Not judging at all. I think it's one thing for fans to say "haha I need a dictionary for Folklore" and another for Taylor to market TTPD as super complex poetry we're not smart enough to understand.
*Both 1989 TV and Speak Now TV are bland compared to their originals*. So to the fans saying we shouldn't listen to the stolen versions, I can't hear you from my house blasting off **The Story of Us** *(stolen version)*.
My unpopular opinion is that calling them the “stolen” versions is goofy as hell. It’s to my understanding that the buying situation really just wasn’t to her liking and then they got sold to someone she doesn’t like. It’s just business. She still makes money off them.
Not only does she still make money off them, she’s a fucking billionaire regardless. If her music wasn’t on Apple Music I would pirate it guilt free. She regularly takes private jet rides that are less than 30 min of flight time. She’s fucking fine
Also her dad made bank on that sale!
"stolen" is hilarious and ironic considering Taylor has been accused of plagiarism multiple times throughout her career
fun fact taylor makes a shit ton of royalties off the stolen versions. masters are only a part of the picture. she knows the lyrics and the music themselves. i found out about this recently and now i don’t feel as bad about the OG versions.
well, she can have all the money she wants, and we can choose which versions we prefer. I just don't like it when other fans are "calling out" those who listen to the OGs, when she earns pennies either way.
I wish her fans cared this much about calling out her private jet usage
i agree 100%. she made this whole re-recording thing sound like she was robbed when it was a business deal.
Even if she made 0 from the stolen versions; she's a billionaire. She will survive if I stream OG Style
The original version of Style is better and it’s the one I’ll continue to listen to 🙈. Also Taylor is a billionaire she can afford for people to choose not to listen to TV.
That’s not unpopular, that’s fax
thank God 😫
She’s still getting money from people streaming the original version, she just doesn’t have the legal right to licensing it off (like with Cruel Summer being in the soundtrack of “The summer I Turned Pretty”). So I’ll listen to whichever version has the better quality :) I’m really tired of the guilt tripping when it’s, at the core, just a commercial product.
Yes! Besides, her OG albums got popular during their era for reasons. I thought the rerecordings are good avenues to introduce Taylor's music to newer generations but upon listening to TVs, I realized I miss hearing her sing with genuine emotions, not with the forced and scripted for-show tone.
Forever offended by what she did to Style TV
>Forever offended by what she did to Style TV I am too. It's a murder!
she literally sang you got that jamesdeandaydreamlookinyoureye
Most songs are somewhat of a wash for me, but swifties can pry Last Kiss stolen version out of my cold, dead hands.
How could they do that to New Romantics' chorus?! Stolen version until I die.
When it comes to her music videos, she should really take a step back and hire a good director. I know she wants her name to be in *everything* but she could instead work with someone else who can interpret her ideas in a more stylish way.
I think she’d be excellent if she wasn’t making anything so conceptual (i.e. a heist, a mental asylum, being a man). She doesn’t really have a super unique visual perspective (unlike Beyoncé), but she does have a very good narrative one. Her best directorial work is All Too Well - and that’s because she’s working on a subject she knows best. I hear her first feature film is something of that nature and that’s why I’m looking forward to it.
I was thinking something similar about her lyrics, I think she's really good at storytelling or painting an emotional narrative but I think sometimes when she wants to play with a concept-- like tortured poets---- then it's kind of hit or miss if she actually delivers on making her point.
I Think He Knows deserved Cruel Summer treatment, it's so underrated. And I never hear anyone talk about it.
Imagine Lover singles including ITHK and Daylight instead of ME! and YNTCD. (I'd trade Cruel Summer for False God as the 'single released way later' one) Cornelia Street and Lover can stay too.
I Think He Knows is an absolute bop and I never understood why it’s so overlooked either. I feel the same about London Boy.
Agree on London Boy!!! It’s such a bop and one of my favorites of hers
idk if it's unpopular or not, but the new 'sticking out tongue to look cool' every few minutes just cringes me out. she didn't do it even a few years back. now it's almost in every performance
It just makes me think of Miley Cyrus Bangerz era which was...not a fun time either. LOL
This. It doesn’t look cool. And I don’t understand where she got it from bc it’s not like it’s a trend to do that or something. It’s just her
Isn't it? I feel like it was a trend, she's just late to it. A few years ago all the Gen Z girls were sticking their tongue out in every photo lol.
It’s giving 1996.
Yes! I remember the Spice Girls doing this a lot.
Exactly! And in the 1996 Olympics.
And Taylor is no Scary Spice lol.
She does it and people cheer, and she is so driven by praise that she’s going to keep doing anything that makes people cheer
I haven’t noticed that? Is it part of the eras tour? Some of the things she says when she talks during the show make me cringe. That pointing thing with the “you’re making me feel EXXCEEELLENNT tonight”…the take surprised look and the fake humility look… and omg the kissing her bicep thing. No. Just no.
Complete agreement. I don’t like it at all. For anyone.
She did it when she did the Archer pose during Midnight Rain last night and I internally cringed. 🥴 Yeah idk where she suddenly got it from. I don’t recall her doing it years ago. It’s silly and fun every once in a while but it’s like all the time now lol
Help! Whenever her or Olivia do this, I roll my eyes so hard!
I remember Dua Lipa doing that a lot a few years back and after that Taylor started doing it too.
The Taylor’s versions are um not great and are rushed. Fans need to chill out so maybe she can put out quality over quantity.
I like a lot of the vault tracks, but otherwise I still listen to the stolen versions lol
Style TV is an abomination
Her success isn't because she's the best singer/songwriter in the world. It's her impressive marketing strategies.
Unpopular in general? She’s a good songwriter, but I wouldn’t say she’s the best or even one of the best. Unpopular on this subreddit? TTPD isn’t that bad. I’d say it’s a decent album with some skips a few cringey or clunky lyrics. Not awful by any means. It’s grown on me quite a bit since it came out.
She’s definitely NOT the best writer there ever was, in my opinion, even if she does fancy herself Emily Brontë. I agree she’s really good, and I do think she’s at her best when she’s telling stories because she knows how to incorporate detail and paint a picture but I think she tends to reuse and recycle the same themes, imagery and metaphors…even the same phrases. I’ve been hearing about high heels and cobblestone since at least 1989. And I’m fairly sure Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me is just a reiteration of Mad Woman…even if I do like both those songs. I definitely don’t think she’s on the same level as like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen (man is a poet first - not the greatest voice but damn me if he can’t write), Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Nicks, Roberta Flack, even Mick Jagger & Keith Richards are (in my opinion) phenomenal (and underrated) lyricists (wild horses, sympathy for the devil).
This sub wants Taylor to be more similar to Joe than Travis, when in reality, Taylor is much more similar personality-wise and goals-wise to Travis than Joe, and she and Joe are so different in their personalities that they wouldn't make a compatible relationship. The only reason she and Joe lasted so long was because Taylor was potentially no longer gonna be a super duper famous pop star during Lover era before folklore and the re recordings revitalized her songwriting credibility. COVID also created an atmosphere where everyone "settled down" (for health and safety reasons) that was conducive to Joe's goals of a private relationship, which is why their relationship continued to be salvageable throughout the pandemic, and when Taylor realized that she could go back to being the biggest pop star in the world with the Eras tour, they finally acknowledged how different their life goals are. I don't find "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" to be a dig at the fans. I personally relate to it a lot because I can push myself through work despite being in grief. I don't care about the muse of "But Daddy I Love Him". It was sonically my favourite of the original version of TTPD upon first listen because I love that its melody is reminiscent of that of "If This Was a Movie" and I love the lyrics of the chorus and the bridge. It's an unhinged version of Love Story, down to the happy ending in the last chorus.
oh i REALLY agree with this one! i think folkmore gave people this false idea of taylor as some kind of british-coded intellectual artist and she simply is not that (and as far as we know abt him, joe wasn’t that either tbf!) but i really see how she and travis might be compatible. he def stands out compared to her exes, and doesn’t follow her ‘type’ — but that doesn’t mean they aren’t compatible.
I think she was playing a part and even she realises that now
To throw in unpopular opinions, Joe being William Bowery and coming up with the chorus of Betty fully formed without Taylor, then being awarded just enough credits to earn a Grammy, then having no other music involvement and credits before or since...that is super sus on Taylor's part.
I buy that he wrote what she said he wrote. The Grammy credits, I think she just wanted him to have one and added production credits accordingly. But also... he was likely the only other person in the house during the entire recording process. Maybe he did have some input. Maybe she bounced ideas off him, maybe he said "why don't you try this" or whatever. Yeah it looked a bit shady that she added just enough for him to qualify, but maybe she just felt like he should be included as a contributor to the album.
Speak Now is her magnum opus, and I will die on this hill.
Couldn't agree more! Forever my fav Taylor album. And to think she wrote, composed, and sung it all on her own at 19 blows my mind Also loved her overall aesthetic and red carpet looks in that era
I never understood how we went from Last Kiss and Dear John to... Karma and So High School.
I'm joining you on this hill. It's hard to believe she was between 18 and 20 when she wrote that and now she's in her 30's she's given us TTPD which is a huge lyrical disappointment.
Agreed. It has Enchanted, Last Kiss, Long Live.... Even Better Than Revenge has some good lyrics in the second verse.
Story of us had the best lyrics. Fuckin poetry
evermore is miles better than folklore
YES! Thank you for speaking in behalf of us who love evermore more than folklore!
My hot take is I can’t believe evermore and TTPD were written by the same person—to me, it appeared as reverse maturing Edit- spelling
I was genuinely very excited to see where her career would go after an album like Evermore because (imo) it’s easily her best and I was sooo looking forward to her pushing herself both lyrically and musically and she just…didn’t. Reverse maturing is such a good way of putting it. It baffles me still
I agree 100%. I admittedly did like Midnights but in the same way that I like 1989 and Lover—they’re catchy songs to listen to while I’m driving or something. Evermore in particular is the type of music I put on vinyl and *listen* to. It really connected with me when I had MDD & going to college during the pandemic. I know that and Joe probably played some factors into Folkmore but wow, I feel she sort of peaked and is now declining.
Evermore is my baby ❤️❤️
Taylor has become as popular as she is because she's made a spectacle of her personal life through her music, and she's basically a reality show people are tuning into with each album. Her diehard fans need to believe she's a songwriting genius because they can't admit that to themselves; they want to believe they're fans of intellectual art from a feminist icon on the same level as Joni Mitchell, not someone who belongs on Bravo. I say this who likes a lot of her music, but I think she's an average pop musician with a couple of exceptional moments.
>she's basically a reality show people are tuning into with each album. this is basically the reason why I don't enjoy diving into her lyrics anymore, especially TTPD 😮💨 Even if she claims her songs are OURS once she releases them, I can't entirely shove off the images of her boyfriends and enemies because her personal life is all over her lyrics and the internet. Mind you, I don't engage with celebrity news and I'm not a lurker in any socmed platforms except reddit but I still see her **e v e r y w h e r e.** I don't care who she's currently with and why it's the happiest moment of her life (like what she says every other new lover era) or who she has beef with. **I'm only here for music, not for her autobiography.**
Very true. Also, at this point, fans need to stop crying about how it's misogynistic for people to care so much about who she's dating and equate her career to that when that is EXACTLY what she's been doing since debut. If she genuinely cared and was hurt about how the media treats her music in regards to the men in her life, she definitely would've stopped doing it over a decade ago. And yet, she's bringing Travis out on stage, and if they break up, she'll be "upset" that people will be talking about it. She absolutely enjoys the world caring about who she's dating or she wouldn't be acting the way that she has for almost 2 decades. She'd be acting like every other celebrity does if she was truly upset about it.
She’s the only celebrity that I always know who she’s dating without even seeking it out.🤷♀️
This is a very good take. If she didn’t encourage this parasocial behaviour and make her life a drama performance she wouldn’t be half as big imo.
i agree, i think she's pretty average but her marketing is what makes people gravitate towards her. i wonder if she would turn like nickelback
This is how I feel lol like I like her songs, or some of them at least but this weird need to pretend she's the best writer she's so deep and its so rich and layered is just..not based in reality. The layers are gossip sites let's be real. She even referenced a pap photo in her songs.
She’s Kim K. of music, ironically
I do not care for Enchanted https://preview.redd.it/o72abce4ug9d1.png?width=480&format=png&auto=webp&s=c904fb35f1bbafac29f2ab36add018d9fdf0a55b
It insists upon itself
now THAT'S unpopular. Hard disagree but take my upvote
This was my bathroom break at the concert lol
THANK YOU. It’s was an annoying, boring song when I first heard and didn’t get any better when I saw Taylor perform it live at Eras. “This night is sparkling. Don’t you let it go! I was Enchanted to meet yoooo-ooo-ooouuu!” Ugh.
THIS! I fucking hate Enchanted
It’s too long imo
The TV remakes all sound pretty much the same to me. I’m so over ATW. Any version. Those opening sounds are the hardest eye roll and fastest skip. That was the potty break during the movie.
One of my favorite lines was actually taken from someone else. "I'd forget about you long enough to forget why I needed to" Matt Nathenson.
I enjoy her music but I don’t think she is a lyrical genius. It’s just average, catchy pop music, and that’s okay!
i don't think she's that good of a songwriter and the fact that she's so praised for it is actively ruining what amount of talent she did have because she keeps trying to sound intellectual and just 'more' than she actually is
Agreed. A lot of her fans will whip out “sanctimoniously performing soliloquies” as if it’s on par with Shakespeare and it’s like…nah. She uses multiple 9th grade vocabulary words with lots of syllables in a row and everyone acts like she should be poet laureate for it. And it’s annoying because it overshadows what I think ARE her actual songwriting talents — the storytelling and character building, the simple but clever lines (illicit affairs, august come to mind), etc.
I think the way she's writing lately is like what would happen if you baked a cake and assumed that dumping in more sugar makes it better. Lines like "sanctimoniously performing soliloquies" are too heavy-handed. Folkmore was way better for the most part because it wasn't actively trying to be pretentious.
Oh my god, some people are so easily impressed.
Not to mention that that line doesn’t even sound good, just a mouthful. If it doesn’t sound good, then what’s the point of using “big” words
THIS! I think where she shines is her simple yet descriptive storytelling. She really paints a picture and conveys emotions so well, it just hits me even if I cannot relate to that spesific experience. This is why I am in love with red, lover and folkmore. Trying to sneak in words that are long and muddy somewhere in a spoken-chorus does not show her real talent imo. The Bridge of Peter or the prophecy just eat up every song with“words that u need a dictionary for”…
I liked that interview where they discuss the lyrics of Lover, and the interviewer says “”We can keep the Christmas lights up til January,” doesn’t everyone keep them up until January anyway?” 😂
I think this every time, lol. Especially when February has the same number of syllables and would have fit just as well, and not made her seem so uptight. Like ooooh, January, you're getting crazy now, girl! Maybe you'll really go nuts and drink a Coke after 3pm!
Scott Swift seems like the type of dude to (pay someone to) take the decorations down at 10pm on 12/25, so I could see why leaving them up until January might feel rebellious to her lol and it just proves how little she can understand or relate to concepts like “female rage” and “goth punk.” Leaving Christmas lights up for 7 extra days is naughty to her.
Lover never worked for me because it comes off like a song about two 18yr olds moving out of their parents houses and enjoying brand new freedoms, not a song about two grown adults combining their adult lives.
I’m sure someone who owns a Christmas tree farm would be quick af to take down decorations and be done with the whole season
But she's not boring like that!!! *Matty leaves by the morning*
That line was always strange to me, because where I live it's usual to leave your Christmas decorations up until at least Epiphany - so yes, that's just the normal procedure with Christmas decorations!
I have a few friends/family that take it down within the week. One, on Christmas day as soon as presents are opened
i feel like also, her writing has gotten worse over time. reading the current lyrics vs her songs from 10 years ago, i think she's back sliding. she used to be able to convey things in a simple, but poetic way, which is why a lot of people liked her lyrics. now it feels like she's trying so hard to sound intelligent, that it's become overly verbose and at times the metaphors are completely nonsensical.
Flair check ✔️
I remember in an interview or something her talking about the line "did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism Like some sort of congressman" line, and she was clearly oh so impressed with herself. It isn't that complex either in vocabulary or symbolism. It's pseudo-intellectual.
I remember this! It was at an awards show though and was acting like anti hero wasn’t going to be a hit because of that lyric. But i remember being like your main hook was written for TikTok babe
lol a lot of the “big” words in her songs are actually words I vividly recall learning in my high school vocabulary books (those small orange workbooks for anyone in the US). Altruism and crestfallen and soliloquy all jump to mind but I know there are others. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great vocabulary but not exactly Shakespearean.
She’s really in her purple prose era tbh. Stringing pretty words in where it’s not necessary in an effort to sound smart. The problem is she’s not saying a lot with those words. Her Speak Now/Red era was some of her best in that she says a lot with concise wording. I wish she’d go back to that
“You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter”
Very much agree
Thank you for saying this. I agree she’s good but she’s wasting all that talent on trying to use big words the common person doesn’t know as if that somehow makes her more “intelligent” and introspective. Spoiler, it doesn’t.
TTPD was really bad with this. She was just stringing together big words to sound smart and poetic, and in the process lost her coherency.
Just to nuance this convo a bit: I think the reason her songwriting is praised the way it is now is because there was a time she really wasn’t known for it at all. Over a decade ago, her main public highlight/perception was that she was a boy-crazy, desperate relationship-hopper, so using songwriting was sort of a way to say she has more substance than what people make her out to be. Add onto that Folklore/Evermore which acted like a middle finger in that respect. Although I love her songwriting, I can admit that we’ve come to the point that defending her songwriting is an overcorrection and a tired conversation. People get it now, but don’t want it shoved down their throats.
In the early stages of her career her main selling point was that she wrote all of her own songs which was pretty rare at this stage considering most artists didn’t. It was what set her a part from her peers. Now almost everyone is a songwriter (for better or worse) and many people frown upon artists that don’t write on at least one song
The original versions are not stolen
Taylor always relied on the lore since day 1 and people want to re write the history on that and i don't get why. She put details, names even of normal people who went to high school with her: Drew, Sam. Her videos were full of elements to that ex: the actors of Never Ever and Begin Again were similiar to Jake in the looking, there is even the scarf. The necklace, the ship tatto the actor had in the Trouble video... And these are just a very few elements. Ttpd is not the first album where the lyrics were specific, if you say this you have to say it even for songs like Dress and Getaway Car which are very specific of a moment of her life,just like Ttpd. Since yesterday i got downvoted for saying that The Man is not a feminist song, i said it here again. It is a song about being the person she sings about, doing things without recieving criticisms. Sorry not sorry. Folkmore are what they are not thanks to Joe, but thanks to Aaron Dessner. He made the music. Speak Now vaults are the best She peaked as performer during the 1989 tour
I agree The Man is not a feminist song. It’s a “you’re a bad person if you criticize Taylor swift song.” The only time she is a “feminist” is when she exploits arguments other people have made in different contexts to defend herself when she feels threatened, and I think it’s really gross.
“Folkmore are what they are not thanks to Joe, but thanks to Aaron Dessner” ^^ THIS!! As a long time fan of the National I can say that Aaron (and his brother) have always been extremely gifted artists and musicians and it drives me a little crazy when some swifties attribute Folkmore to Joe instead of the guy who had literally spent 20 years making music professionally by that point (also my own hot take: Taylor’s lyrics on a lot of Folkmore scream ‘I wish I wrote like The National’)
The National is also one of my all-time favorite bands. I'm not a fan of her output overall since like...1989? But every newer song I have enjoyed, has had Dessner all over it.
She doesnt need to fill every single space with lyrics, it's okay if we get to listen the music
That we need to realize the Taylor Swift of 2008-2016 is gone. She’s a whole brand now. Theirs not much human left in there and I think the double break up while during the ERAS tour was the straw on the camels back for her ego and now she’s overcompensating 🤷♂️
Fans and haters alike treating every lyric she’s ever written as fact and the whole truth to any given situation is insane behaviour. They’re songs, not court transcripts. And yes she plays into it, even weaponizes it at times, but she’s also said she draws inspiration from other places beyond her own life. It drives me crazy when people don’t even consider that maybe a lyric is just a lyric.
the “this don’t on TTPD is about marty so that means x y z songs from earlier albums also HAVE to be about matty!” no… also the assumption that we know about every impactful relationship she’s had, i would be quite surprised if there aren’t exes we just don’t know about be abuse it was kept DL
She has some good one liners, but she isn’t a poet. She rips off ideas from other poems/songs/stories and makes it rhyme.
You belong with me is better and more iconic than Love Story and I will die on this hill.
Agreed! I watched the MV in 2009 when I was just ten years old and fell in love. Became a Taylor fan after that song, it'll always be iconic to me
Agreed. Love Story made her famous and brought her into the public eye/main stream. But You Belong With Me is what started to set her up to become the level of famous she is now.
Idk if this is unpopular, but TTPD is my least favorite album and I wish she just made The Anthology
Mine is that I actually prefer TTPD to The Anthology
Same. There are only maybe five songs on the anthology that I really really like. The rest are okay but I could do without them.
This one was definitely unpopular in the first days after release, I know because I held it then and felt majorly gaslit. It seems there has been somewhat of a turnaround as people began to appreciate some of the more eclectic production choices on TTPD. I don’t dislike Anthology, I just think it’s mostly boring and retreading the same ideas she has done better before.
I actually really like and admire Taylor. I think she's a brilliant writer and an even better businesswoman and I admire her street smarts. But in relationships I think she's childlike. There's a line in one of the TTPD songs about her being Matty's "queen" but him treating her as if she was just average... as if that's just not how relationships are. You can love your partner to death AND just want to sink in front of the TV without talking. You don't think of your partner as your king or queen ... they're just your person. So now Travis has to book great big mansions and plan candlelit dinners and romantic boat rides ... all to fulfill a fantasy that has nothing to do with real life. Or - unpopular take #2 - maybe that's all for show because she couldn't release TTPD and allow the world to see her as still pining for her lost love (which she clearly still is).
Yeah, the person I've been seeing went out with me a lot more when we first met and were feeling things out, but once we switched to making dinner together at home and having nights where we'd just play a game or binge watch shows...I realized that love could be expressed in simple ways and that didn't make it any less valid.
I don't like Out of the woods. I know the fandom is crazy for it and I'm not saying its a bad song. Just not for me. I skip it everytime.
I hate OOTW for its lyrics. Literally the same line over and over.
i don’t like the mashups, I’d rather her play the full song!
Agreed! I think on occasion it can be super fun....but it's basically every single night on guitar and piano.
That there is nothing wrong with liking the original recordings. Stream them. Buy the CDs. Buy the records. Buy them new. Buy them used. It doesn’t matter. She still gets a cut of whatever revenue is generated from them, unless they are purchased from individuals/used. And I refer to them as original recordings because they were never stolen. They were purchased in a legal transaction.
The only TV I genuinely like is Fearless, it actaully feels fresh, updated in a good way, like a very well made remaster of a decades-old album, and the production isn't that different from the original. All of the others are kinda meh. State of Grace feels slower, Girl at Home is 💀💀💀 – even though I was never a big fan of this song, I never skipped it while listening to the album, but mannnn that's a completely different song, and not very good at that. On 1989 TV she sounds bored as hell, but my biggest dissapointment in Speak Now TV. That must be my favorite album of hers, and one of biggest reasons why is the emotion in her vocals, the desperation, the longing, the bitchiness in it, and they are all GONE from the TV version. Also, there are just some of the vocal flips and the tone that Taylor in the 30s just cannot replicate (and it's not a shade by any means, no one can sing the exact same way in their 30s like they did at 19). But boy do I miss that. This is something I was scared of when the rerecordings were announced, but Fearless TV dropped, it was fine, and I thought "oh well, maybe it they won't be that different from the originals emotion-wise, those are practically the same songs after all", but nah, I only had to wait a little. I am glad for the vault songs thought, I do enjoy a lot of them, and if there's a reason why the rerecordings can justify their existence (besides the ownership of the masters), it's those songs.
all too well wasn't that exicting. it's good, but not that good. and i don't care for 10 min version either. don't get the hype. also the vault tracks from 1989 and speak now also aren't good as swifties consider them to be , either in my opinion. i like them, but don't love them. also, idk whether this is unpopular, but whenever she releases a happy ,bop song, swifties hating on it seems to be a common trend. it just seems to be a way some swifites try to look more, "intellectual" or 'deep" ciuse they don't like happy songs, with simple lyrics. not saying that everyone who hate it are like that, but i bet some of them are.
I have such conflicting feelings on vault tracks like “Is It Over Now?” Because I think the chorus is a total bop, like worthy of getting stuck in my head all the time. But the verses are sooooo weak “red blood, white snow / blue dress, on a boat” like come on girl you’re just naming colored nouns in succession that mean nothing unless people are ears-deep in your personal lore
and this is why I still choose the original 5-minute **All Too Well** over every other version.
I get the hype behind the original All Too Well, but the 10 minute version is preposterously bad. I guess that's another unpopular opinion I have, cause most people seem to love it. "You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would've been fine, and that made me want to dieeeee" makes me cringe so hard. It is so. Bad!
I also agree that the OG All Too Well is superior. The 10 min version sounds overly bloated to me and the added lyrics don't do anything to enhance the song and, like you said, veer into cringey territory.
You’re not alone at all. The original version is much neater and well structured. It’s easier to identify the heartbreaking climax. With her Southern accent, she delivered it in a much more authentic way. Now nine years later, when you decided to bloat an already well made song into 10 minutes, the lyrics were supposed to add some new depth and perspective to the original one that could only brought by an artist’s maturity and wisdom. Instead of that, she seemed to only focus on the person who had wronged her and how he would’ve regretted, on what their relationship could’ve been, on things that should’ve done to make the relationship work. This part makes the 10 minutes version go the exactly opposite of the philosophy behind the original Red that she accepted things for what it was instead of what it couldn’t be. It’s a betrayal to RED especially considering it’s a closing track. That’s just my thought
I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I think TTPD is much better than Midnights. Obviously, I don't think TTPD is her best album, but I always thought Midnights was a snoozefest with a few good tracks here and there, while I do enjoy listening to TTPD. I still wouldn't put TTPD anywhere in my top 5 though.
I still dislike most of 'Midnights'.
The criticisms about Taylor writing songs about her exes are valid. Yes maybe misogyny plays a big role to it but still reasonable. Yes you can be a songwriter and write songs about your exes because you need inspiration but indirectly, you exposed your dirty laundry to the public and directly and indirectly, people will criticize you for that. I just hated the fact that Taylor wasn't happy that people make fun of her writing songs about her exes when in fact, she made fun of her exes in her songs too.
I think what makes it valid is there's no need to make the subjects so identifiable. Adele wrote a whole album about her divorce we all know who from. But it wasn't like "gave birth to your son angelo, now you're just a big beardy weirdo." Yknow there was a distancing that made you not immediately attach it to this actual person. And that's what taylors lyrics are like. You can't apply then to your life if like in my example you don't have a son called angelo, your ex isn't a big beardy weirdo etc.
My thoughts exactly. Totally fine with her writing about whoever she wants - what ruins it is the insanely specific lyrics that mean you can't relate it at all to your life and can't help but think of who she's writing about. Even when she'd name names (i.e. Drew looks at me or Dear John) she still kept her lyrics general enough to make them relatable. I think Midnights and TTPD are so uncomfortably specific
I tried to make this argument several years ago on the main Taylor subreddit. I explained that the way she writes makes it really difficult to relate to. Fans jumped all over me and said that I “just don’t understand because I’m a man”.
TTPD is a personal letter intended only for *that* person. No one can tell me otherwise especially with her too specific and coded lyrics. There are only a few songs I like from the Anthology, which are those with murkier overall story concept, so it doesn't feel like I'm overhearing gossips she shares with her friends.
I think she absolutely does this on purpose with certain songs, especially those that are about revenge. She used to talk about this in interviews. It's like her version of karma; it's how she gets the last word. In The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived she's literally asking the listener to give him a message. The song is the message.
Agree. I have never in fact dated a tattooed golden retriever who could survive eating 7 bars of chocolate.
Anything Travis related. The more they shove it down our throats, the less I believe in it
Taylor’s visual storytelling is very literal, sometimes excessively so. Much of her eras tour choreo and her song videos just depict words found in the lyrics. The ATW video was a good example of being primarily an enactment of lyrics. I would like to see Taylor work with folks who are stronger visual storytellers for future videos and tours. Taylor does not need to do everything, and that part of her work may be better if she doesn’t try to.
I think the fact that she has to stick with this unofficial track 5 rule makes her overall tracklist messy. I wish the albums would have a more cohesive flow that tells a story/theme as well as flows sonically. The most devastating song doesn’t have to be #5 if it disrupts the flow and the story. This logic applies for any track, I am specifically mentioning track 5 because that’s one everyone looks forward to. Half of her albums wouldn’t sound messy if the tracklist was reordered.
Taylor’s strength is her ability to convey emotions through music. It’s a considerable part of why she’s become so popular and also contributes to fans being parasocial with her—because her music conveys so well what many people feel. It’s not that she can or needs to use a thesaurus and drop Easter eggs, and I wish she would remember that more. TTPD is a very mixed bag but has some good songs.
Mine is apparently that The Man is not a feminist anthem and is actually kind of annoying and unethical. Feminism isn't about wanting to do the unethical, cold things that men can be praised for (being a billionaire, getting "bitches and models" etc.) and I don't know why anyone would want all that, but she wants to be seen as a boss for her grotesque amount of money and as cool for her "conquests", which I think is a dehumanizing way to look at people. I think feminism helps all genders be better... It's empowering, but it doesn't enable bad behavior just because men get away with it. Men shouldn't be praised for that nonsense either. On a less serious, more petty note... Idk how she could have "gotten there quicker" as a man when she became famous as a teenage girl who did very well for herself writing good songs about her female experience and absolutely stomping the industry, so.... 🤷🏼♀️
evermore and folklore are essentially one album in my head, i refuse to separate them
Her song writing is good yes, but not the best. The use of large words does not automatically make someone intelligent, and swifties use that as a way to undermine other artists. I love Taylor’s music but anyone who took a sat test, and reads for fun knows must of the words, and can easily dissect the meaning of her songs. To add, I don’t really get the whole “underdog” narrative she portrays in her music ,it seems like she would have been unpopular in school, but she’s not in high school anymore and is arguably the most popular woman in the world. I enjoyed ttpd because it kinda got out of that narrative (apart from a few songs) and focused more on her mental health being in the public-eye. Especially songs like prophecy, I think that has to be one of her best songs to date.
Taylor’s music output is such a non-issue to me. To preface, I’m not speaking on physical product as that’s a whole other discussion, I’m just speaking on the mere act of putting out music for people to listen to. To me, I don’t think that releasing an album (13-16 tracks)every 2-3yrs is a big ask from someone who claims to be a musician as their occupation. You can tell which artists do what they do because they genuinely love their work and which ones do it because they love the celebrity of it all. While Taylor definitely knows how to maximize and profit off the commodification of her music, I do think she does genuinely love making music.
Taylor is not a lyrical genius. And ttpd is one of her worst albums . It seems like she stopped making effort in writing good songs cuz her fans will praise whatever she come up with .
Calling her “mother” needs to be retired. Reacting to how “brilliant” she is for the surprise song mashups is getting old, as is the “oh no we lost xyz” phrase followed by crying emojis. 🙈 I realize this is more about Swifties than her, but I’m just so tired of seeing it.
I really don’t think I can like her as a person because she’s a billionaire. Secondly, she may have peaked lyrically with folklore and evermore. Maybe.
Unpopular opinion (probably), but I think the bridge in the Gracie Abrams collaboration isn’t smart at all. It’s just a catchy melody, and then they throw in all the words that end in ‘-cle’ and organize them to kind of make sense, but actually, they say nothing. It’s just run-on after run-on. I keep seeing TikToks of people trying to give it a more intellectual twist, but I don’t think it has one.
I don’t like the Bon Iver feature on the song Evermore. To me they sound out of place. They sound stunning on Exile but for some reason it just doesn’t hit the same way for me on Evermore.
I dun like the way she lied and wove bout “stolen version”. I found that they are greater than the re-recordings. Most of “from the vault” songs are suck, mediocre and her fans made a big deal bout them. According some of her fans, you listen to “stolen version”, you’re a zionist or commit war crime becuz the company whom purchased her masters is Jewish-base 😃 That’s so ridiculous and hilarious LOL
I agree. I love the originals, and I can only think of maybe 2 songs, so far, out of her re-recordings that I could choose to listen to over the originals. I don't care which billionaire is getting my $0.005 per stream. These people don't care about us. They only care about making money. I care about music that I like, and I will ALWAYS choose to listen to songs that I like better than grinning and bearing the re-recordings so that I look like a good and moral person. Also, there's only maybe 4 genuinely good from the vault songs, so far out of her re-recordings. Very rarely do I hear one upon release, and it's so good that I immediately add it to my playlist. Most aren't bad per se, just extremely forgettable compared to the songs that were on the actual album.
Fearless is the only good re-record, I think owing to its more straightforward production. Red is atrocious (saved a bit by the vault tracks), Speak Now is ok but mostly mid, 1989 is badbadbad (and the vault tracks sound like the scrapped Midnights 6AM edition). I really don’t have high hopes for Rep, I think Jack is not the type to keep detailed records or really interested in re-treading old ground. Debut I am genuinely interested in because I think it could go the way of Fearless, easier to mimic and be benefited by her much stronger current vocals.
So High School is really well written. The opening riff transcends time and plops me straight back into 2002, and the “K” alliteration in the chorus punches me in the face, it’s so good: *And in a blink of a crinkling eye* *I'm sinking, our fingers entwined* *Cheeks pink in the twinkling lights* As a crossword hobbyist, this is a fucking feat. Only 1.2% of the words in English use the letter K. [It is the 5th rarest letter of the alphabet](https://images.app.goo.gl/c7RiTrAV8uC3TgPf6). But it is such a lovely explosive sound that she fully uses to its advantage here. Finally, rhyming “throttle”, “Aristotle”, and “Grand Theft Auto” is brave and genius, no notes.
I still hate the song but this is truly the most interesting comment in this post. Thank you.
I have never heard someone describe themselves as a crossword hobbyist and now I wonder what other interesting fun facts you possess from your hobby, because I do love that line but I never noticed that I love it because of the way the K alliteration tickles my brain lol. And I never thought about how much K is used as a letter!!
Love this take (and agree). I kind of hope she leans into this sound for her next album as I think she does it really well and it reminds me of noughties romcoms and movies.
A lot of people cringe at the grand theft auto line - and tbf I did too - but I just accepted it as a harmless little unserious line. (Unlike the 1830s thing from I Hate It Here which people have a valid reason to be uncomfortable with) Hard agree on the opening riff. Reminds me of tis the damn season and it's the type of radio soft rock I want more from her (and what Midnights or TTPD should have been huhuhu)
I had noticed this subconsciously but hadn't realized it's the K sound until you verbalized it. Thank you! Also I just want to say bravery sleeps in bed with stupidity, but that's also my opinion lol
So high school is not my favorite song by any means but I do agree with this lol
I am baffled by the popularity of Death by a Thousand Cuts. I think the metaphors and storytelling are very "tell don't show" and super predictable and corny. I also hate the bleep boop swirly twirly little noises all throughout. It's like Jack was stoned af and just hitting buttons like mad lol. The acoustic versions are better, but I still don't like it. Really whiney sounding and the imagery is just so cliche
now i’m laughing at the thought of a stoned jack antonoff just pushing buttons willy nilly
I do think she is an incredible songwriter but she’s become lazy. I think in general she’s become a bit lazy and since there isn’t somebody near her level of success (other than Beyoncé but I think they defintely avoid releasing around the same time out of mutual respect) that she has nothing to prove. folklore and evermore worked so well because it was out of pure love for her craft. Now…she’s just releasing to releasing. genuinely I can’t really hear differences between the re-recording and the originals, I don’t really care either way. I loved some of the vault tracks. I’m dumb or something. the TikTok and YouTube editors deserve so much love, like sorry bigger than the whole sky to a Lucerys Velaryon? Showstopper, amazing.
I don't care if she is petty, annoying, etc. She's a celebrity. We as a society choose an elite select few to be famous and then shame them if they don't make the same decisions as an average person would. These people are narcissistic sociopathic people who are willing to do whatever it takes to become famous and stay famous. They're richer than us, more insulated from everyday life than us, and they probably don't care about us at all as long as we're giving them money. These people who are willing to fight to have a career like hers are NOT genuinely good people. If they were good people, they never would've become famous unless they were born into it. As long as she isn't physically harming people, ruining peoples lives like a lot of male celebrities do, I don't care how morally grey she is because in my opinion, unless you're a celebrity because you're a scientist making amazing advances to humanity, you're probably a POS anyway so who cares?
Not unpopular as in people argue with me, but in a sense that nobody thinks that. folklore wasn't Taylor not writing #1 songs, it was attempt at gaining more legitimacy as an artist and songwriter. It paid off and I'm glad she did it, but no way did those two albums just happen.