Day 67: The Stadium Tour

Earlier today, Taylor Swift's recording of the Dallas leg of her Reputation stadium tour premiered on Netflix. Naturally, I watched it as soon as it was available. It was 100% worth it even though it completely ruined my sleep schedule, which was already doing less than great. I've gotta say it was pretty dang good and I have a lot so say about it so you should really try to make the time to watch it. It's two hours long, so if you were planning on listening to Better Than Revenge 33 times in a row and have already allocated a chunk of time for it, I would consider re-purposing that slot for this. To be totally honest you'll probably get the same level of enjoyment from both, but you won't be able to fully enjoy this post until you watch it so you would be seriously missing out.

I actually have so much to say that I'm splitting up my review into two parts. The first will be today, and the second half will be two days from now. There's a gap day so that I have more time to do the post justice, and because I already have a post planned for tomorrow. Today's post will mostly be focused on the production as a whole, with the next half being focused on Taylor specifically. So, now would be the time to go watch the tour on Netflix.

First, I want to acknowledge the absolute scale of this operation. It may just be a result of how I've never been to a concert anywhere close to this size in the past but holy shit this whole thing is huge. The have essentially built a multi-story stage with huge props that they cart around all around the world. Just try to think about the logistics of that. Once the concert has finished you need to completely disassemble everything we saw, pack it all into trucks, drive it a few hundred miles, get it all into the new stadium, assemble everything, test it, run a rehearsal, and then actually accommodate the thousands of people who show up. Even if the actual concert ended up being a complete shitshow you have to give props to the people who actually make that happen. Taylor probably had the largest role in making this happen (no album, no show), but she was still a tiny part in the whole process of making it all happen.

Real quick, just imagine being the person who designed the carts that Taylor flew around in. How safe do you have to make that before it will get approved? You're literally carrying around someone with a 9 figure net worth at a height where a fall would definitely kill her. How do you insure that? I literally want to know. Plus they played Delicate during this section, which only makes me question the structural integrity of the contraption.

You better hope it's not delicate Taylor!

I'm a big fan of the backup dancers and singers, and how the whole production brought them into the light. Lots of the time for an artist like Taylor the goal will be to make them stand out as much as possible, which certainly was part of the goal here. But each of the dancers and singers were given time to shine, which really made the whole production feel more like a musical theater production with only Taylor Swift songs than just a concert. It's cool!

I'm also think they did a good job with the set of songs performed, and especially how they wrapped them together. I don't know how they made one set of outfits and props work for Look What You Made Me Do, Endgame, and King of My Heart, but each seemed fully natural and this was one of the best sections of the show. My absolute favorite part was those hilariously huge-ass drums. They looked like a fucking blast and I want one. If I had money I would hire one of those dancers to be my alarm clock by hitting that giant drum to get me up in the morning. 

"GET UP ASSHOLE, YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE"

I think that's enough for today! I have tons more to say so hopefully I can fit it all in the next post. I'll be talking a lot more about the music and specifically Taylor's performance in some of the songs. I hope you're as excited as I am, because things are about to get crazy.

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 66: I Don't Get This Song

Today's song is about Begin Again, the final song in Taylor Swift's 2012 album Red. Now, I already know what you're thinking. "Two Red songs in a row? What the hell dude, that album stinks!" And yeah, that's fair. Thing is, I've been tallying up which songs I need to talk about in the final month left in this blog and there are way more from Red than I expected, so I need to get started now!

So anyways, Begin Again. Like I said yesterday, the entire Red album is centered around the theme of pursuing relationships with red flags. So how do you end an album like that? Ideally the final song on an album with a strong theme would give a summary of previous events and give some suggestion for what the future holds. After all these toxic relationships, what do you expect Taylor to see in the future? I would guess that her experiences would have soured her and made her more cynical towards love at all.

Begin Again is such a genius song because it gives you the exact opposite while still feeling like it belongs on this album. The song is about Taylor going on a date while being unable to get her ex out of her head. The tone of this song is equal parts downtrodden and hopeful which makes it an interesting listen.

It's a good song on it's own with many lines that make Taylor's paradoxical position more relatable, but here's one that I like a lot. 

"And we walked down the block to my car and I almost brought him up
But you start to talk about the movies that your family watches
Every single Christmas and I want to talk about that
And for the first time what's past is past"

There's a lot going on here for such a short section, so let's break it down. First, let's recognize how bad of an idea it is to bring up your ex on a first date. I'm sure Taylor knows this, so we can infer that she only wanted to do it because it's such a dominating thought in her mind; she can't resist talking about him. She's having trouble fully being present, but then the silliest thing wakes her up. Something as charming and trivial as a family's Christmas traditions for some reason brings her into the moment and lets her move on.

A tiny important details is how she specifically says she wants to talk about it. It's not just distracting her, she actually feels compelled to pursue this conversation instead of internally contemplating her past relationships. The word choice in this song is very particular; every sentence is crafted with a purpose. This means that some sections feel a little overwritten, but it definitely works in it's favor on the whole.

There's also a small bit of dramatic irony here. For all we know this relationship will be just as toxic as the previous ones. Just because this dude is chivalrous and has more similar interests that doesn't mean we can assume it will automatically be a healthy relationship. So is Taylor just falling in the same trap she has over and over again? Maybe so, and that could be where the title comes from. After all, if this was really a new start then wouldn't she choose something implying novelty rather than repetition? Begin Again isn't a very good sign for a song title if you're just repeating something toxic. We can never fully know! It's just as ambiguous to the audience as it is to Taylor herself. She doesn't know how it will turn out, so we don't get to either. All that she can do is try to learn from her mistakes and hope for the best.

See you tomorrow,

-C

Day 65: Pennsylvania

What is the difference between a good song and a great song? I'd argue that it comes down to message. I love reading way too much into everything (if you didn't already notice), but that doesn't mean I like doing more work than necessary. If you can't tell what a song is really about after the first minute then it's not doing a very good job. This is how you end up with songs like State of Grace from Taylor Swift's 2012 album Red. I enjoy this song a lot but it just doesn't measure up to Taylor's best work because it lacks a distinct tone.

Maybe I'm just being lazy. Red has a lot to offer as an album, but you really have to put work into listening and interpreting the songs. They sound good and have solid stories, but the music itself doesn't do anything to further the message behind the song. In this way I actually think it shares a lot in common with Reputation. Both of these albums have a common thematic thread running all the way through them, though these threads are by no means the same. The difference is that Reputation's production did a better job of taking it's theme into all aspects of the songwriting process, which is why I think that most of the songs are higher quality on average.

No small part of this difference comes from the themes these albums chose to explore. Reputation's is roughly an album about the difficulties of starting and maintaining relationships while under extreme public and personal scrutiny, which really lends itself towards a darker tone. Red, on the other hand, explores all the paradoxical aspects of relationships with red flags but still are irresistible. These are both extremely compelling themes for an album, but Red is more of a challenge to write a tone that will work across an entire album, which is why I think it falls short more often.

Let me make it clear that not every song on Red suffers from this challenging tone; not every song even takes it into account. 22 and I Knew You Were Trouble are great examples of songs I would point to as great songs from this album. 22 mostly ignores the thematic elements from the rest of the album and does it's own thing, and totally rocks at it! Meanwhile, I Knew You Were Trouble might as well be the thesis for the entire album and manages to work the theme of the album into the tone of the song in a way that doesn't get in the way of how catchy the song sounds.

Anyways, I want to talk a little more about State of Grace, since that is the song I'm pointing to as an example of how this songwriting process can fall a little short. I should probably try to back up my claims with evidence, right? This is a little difficult though, since like I said the song is written well and the music is composed well so on their own nothing will appear to be wrong because nothing is wrong! This makes my usual strategy of highlighting certain lyrics a lot less useful, so I have something to try instead.

I'm just going to assume that you haven't listened to this song a million times like I have, so here's what I propose. Listen to State of Grace a few times, then wait a few days, listening to whatever else you normally do Then, go look up the lyrics online and see how well the music comes back into your head. If you're trying to get really scientific then mix in a few other songs and see how each of them compares. If my hypothesis is correct then you probably won't be able to remember the actual song as well as some of the others. Maybe I'm totally wrong and being a total Grinch here, so let me know in the comments how it goes. Or don't. See if I care.

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 64: She's Gone Too Far This Time

If you could choose just one song to represent Taylor Swift's 2017 album Reputation, which one would it be? Maybe one of the lead singles like ...Ready For It? or Look What You Made Me Do? After all those were the first songs that Taylor revealed to the public. Or maybe you should go with the critically acclaimed Delicate? All good choices, but out of all the songs on the album that are emblematic of the whole I would probably go with Don't Blame Me.

I said just a few days ago that Reputation is one of my favorite Taylor Swift albums, and now I'm following that up by claiming that Don't Blame Me is one of the best few songs off the album. There's a lot going for this song, but my favorite aspect is how this song just works on every level. Let me explain what I mean.

At it's simplest, Don't Blame Me is a very catchy song. It's just the kind of song that's so easy to sing along with in the intense chorus without thinking about at all. It also does a great job of introducing huge amounts of variability to the intensity of the music without sounding unnatural at all. The tension that builds during the bridge makes the beat drop at the start of the chorus actually feel earned, which just adds to how satisfying it already is. The first 30 seconds of the song is so quiet and reserved compared to the last 30 seconds that it's hard to imagine getting there in a way that makes sense but somehow Taylor pulls it off.

When you dig a little deeper and look at what the song is trying to say, it's also a very nuanced look at a relationship. There are some songs that it borrows certain thematic elements from like I Knew You Were Trouble, Blank Space, and The Way I Loved You, but make no mistake: Don't Blame Me has as much unique flavor as any of Taylor's other work.

But doesn't that contradict what I said at the very beginning of this post? If this song is nuanced and unique then doesn't that disqualify it from being the platonic ideal of a Reputation song? Haha, you stupid idiot, of course it doesn't! What, have you been listening to Red again? One of the ways that Reputation distinguishes it from other albums is how each song perfectly evokes a specific emotion without being so specific as to make it unrelatable. Each song on the album has it's own unique personality, so the way that Don't Blame Me represents the whole is not through theme, but tone.

So what even is the tone of this song? That's a surprisingly difficult question that I won't be fully able to answer today. But we can get close! First, it's important to recognize how this song is, in some regards, as abstraction of a common relationship trope. Taylor is living her life being a regular fella killer when she meets a beautiful husbando and falls mad in love. It's a story as old as time; the player being subdued by some pure new love interest. But we see a different telling of this story here. Instead of being purified by this new love, Taylor is corrupted.

"And baby, for you, I would fall from grace
Just to touch your face
If you walk away
I'd beg you on my knees to stay"

This song is so tonally cohesive that you could literally pick and line and it would support this point. So that's exactly what I did! This new love isn't making Taylor's life any better, it's making her fall from grace. The imagery she evoked doesn't make her sound infatuated, it makes her sound absolutely obsessed. She's completely losing her mind! And don't make my word for it; here's Taylor.

"For you, I would cross the line
I would waste my time
I would lose my mind
They say she's gone too far this time"

And then there's the lines making her sound like an addict.

"Don't blame me, love made me crazy
If it doesn't, you ain't doin' it right
Oh, Lord, save me, my drug is my baby
I'd be usin' for the rest of my life"

I've dissed on comparing love to drugs in the past because of how cliched it is, and I completely stand by that. That said, people do it because it resonates with listeners when done right, and this is a perfect example of how to earn a comparison like this. This relationship is completely eating away at Taylor's psyche and she just can't tear herself away. I don't even know if she wants to leave or can truly recognize how it's affecting her. Now that sounds like actual addict behavior! Well, at least that's true for the version of herself that Taylor is presenting in this song. In reality of course she was aware of this going in, otherwise it would be pretty tricky to write this song. 

So I hope you can see now why I like this song so much. It works on every level and you can tell there was a lot of care put into every part of it. Crazy thing is, I still think this is like the 5th best song on the album or so. This is exactly what I'm talking about when praise Reputation's consistency. But more on that later.

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 63: Tim McGraw

Even as Taylor's music has improved over the years, it can be really hard to beat the classics. Today's song, Tim McGraw, is just about as classic as it gets. It certainly isn't Taylor's most popular or best song across her career but it may have been the most important in getting her where she is today.

Among Taylor's good songs none are more country than Tim McGraw. It drops all those great country buzzwords that the people just can't get enough of, while also mixing just enough of Taylor's unique style to stand out.

"He said the way my blue eyes shined
Put those Georgia stars to shame that night"

It's hard to get more "country music" than "Georgia stars", and when you combine this with a line about beautiful blue eyes, which Taylor loves writing about, this one line really sums up all of Taylor's early career. The fact that Taylor put this song at the very beginning of the song really serves to show how she knew exactly what kind of artist she wanted to be and made sure people saw it right away. The very first line of the first song on your first album might be the most important line to get right out of all them, and Taylor really nails it here. 

Like a lot of songs on Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw knows exactly what it wants to be and just gives it everything it's got. However, unlike most of the other songs, it manages to follow through and more importantly be unique. Most of this song's contemporaries fall short upon repeated listens (something I am very familiar with) because they just don't do enough to make themselves stand out. Taylor tried to make up for this in her second album, Fearless, but ended up swinging a little too far in the opposite direction. This is why we went from a song like A Perfectly Good Heart that is way too vague to a song like Fifteen that gets a little too specific to be relatable (but for the record Fifteen is way better). 

I don't have a ton more to say about this song. It's a solid entry that is pretty high on my list. It's not my favorite but I do like it a lot.

See you tomorrow,

-C

Day 62: Now Go Stand in the Corner

Ever since I first heard it I've been completely enamored with Taylor Swift's 2010 song Better Than Revenge. Do I think it's the best song Taylor has ever released? No, definitely not. Can I even honestly describe it as a good song? Well...let's just dive in and see.

"Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did"

The starting line of any song is vital, as it sets the tone for how the entire song is framed. Her slightly crackled voice may be unclear upon first listen, but they really do a good job of contextualizing it during the stadium live performance. Here, take a quick gander. 

Let's just not talk about the dancing here.

Ohhh, it's a voicemail! I'd never questioned the decisions behind the intro since it works so well in context, but this makes it that much better. It really clues you in on thesis of the song, which is basically just "You bitch, you're such a slut!" (and not in the playful way).

I have no grand delusions; I know that this song is far from a masterpiece. Even so, I still just can't resist how much fun I have while listening to it. It's just pure emotion articulated exactly the way everyone imagines they could if they really tried. It reminds me of how everyone thinks they would be absolutely viscous and unstoppable in a "real fight".

This song is such a beautiful contradiction, something it shares in common with this blog. If you go by her tone then Taylor has never taken herself more seriously, but there's just no way that's true. Taylor is so hilariously petty and dismissive in some of these lines and I really have a hard time believing she doesn't know what she's doing. It's not like Blank Space which is clearly satire on how the media sees her, since at the time of Better Than Revenge's release the public perception behind Taylor Swift was very much that she was "America's Sweetheart". No one was accusing her of acting this way so it's difficult to believe that this is 100% satire. But still, just look at this.

"Oh they didn't teach you that in prep school so it's up to me
But no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity"

"Soon she's gonna find stealing other people's toys 
On the playground won't make you many friends"

"She thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things"

I don't even know how to react to these lines! They're so childish! I'm not sure if Taylor is being annoyingly catty or giving hilarious social commentary, but honestly I don't really care. I get a real kick out of this song and I see no reason to change that.

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 61: Merry Holidays!

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas to all you wonderful Michaels and Mandys out there in the world! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, happy December 25th plus whatever holidays you do celebrate! As always, I'll be doing a noice holiday retrospective of the current state of the blog and myself. And I've gotta say, things are going pretty well.

I'm at about the point where I've become very familiar with about 90% of Taylor Swift's music, maybe even up to 95% depending on what you count as canon. Right now I usually listen to her default albums, meaning I'm less familiar with the deluxe editions. I've listened to all the deluxe editions multiple times but they don't usually come to my mind right away when I think of Taylor's songs. There are only a couple music sources I haven't dived into at all, and I will be doing that soon.

One of the bigger projects I've been working on is a ranking of all of Taylor's songs. It's a pretty big undertaking and I want to make sure I get it right, so don't expect it for another few weeks. No doubt some of the rankings will move around, plus the way I evaluate "best album" is highly subjective, meaning that trying to rank albums from a list of ranked songs is pretty difficult. That said, even in the early stages there are some pretty clear result that I feel confident will remain true throughout the rest of the process. I can pretty easily split Taylor's albums into two groups that I like to refer to as "The Good Albums" and "The Great Albums". The order withing groups is still being decided, so without further ado here are "The Good Albums", in no particular order.

• Fearless
• Taylor Swift
• Red

These albums are all good and have some great hits between them! They actually all have very different reasons for not breaking into the next group that I will give the most basic summary of now.

• Fearless: This album has a few great songs and a bunch of below average songs. Interestingly, Fearless has the best worst song out of any of Taylor's albums, but also has the second worst best song. What I mean by that terminology is that the lowest ranked song from Fearless is ranked higher than any of the other album's lowest ranked songs, while it's highest ranked song is lower than all but one other album's highest ranked song. Make sense? Good, me neither. Anyways, my big takeaway from my initial look at the data is that most of the songs on this albums are "good", but it takes a lot more than "good" to be one of the top Taylor Swift albums.
• Taylor Swift: The better half of Taylor Swift is on par with most of the other albums, but the worse half is by far the worst of any album. The biggest issue with Taylor Swift is that it has so many duds that fall so far short of the good songs on the album. That said, there are more great songs on this album than Fearless, so that's at least something.
• Red: I know I said this was in no order, but Red is the only album that I see any chance of moving between categories from now until when the final list is unveiled. There aren't as many bad songs on this album as I first thought, and some songs are a lot better than I first gave them credit for. That said, there are still some issues I have with the songwriting in Red that I will be addressing in future posts that make it outclassed by the future albums.

Here are what I call "The Great Albums", again in no particular order. However unlike the previous category (the order of which I don't see changing much), the albums in this category are incredibly close in quality.

• Reputation
• Speak Now
• 1989

• Reputation: There is a very serious argument for this being the best Taylor Swift album, and no I'm not kidding. There aren't as many big hit stunners as there are on Taylor's other albums, but the average song quality of this album is by far the best. There are only 1 or 2 songs that can even be argued to be bad, and the rest fall into the category I refer to as "very good". If you value consistency then this album is outclassed by none.
• Speak Now: This is tricky, because you're basically about to read the same paragraph twice. According to their distribution in the rankings, Speak Now and 1989 are the most similar albums out there. These two albums have the majority of my top 10 songs but are also way more represented in the bottom 10 compared to Reputation. This makes trying to choose between them extremely difficult, since it comes down to pure opinion more than any of the rest of the rankings on this list, and that's really saying something.
• 1989: This is tricky, because you're basically about to read the same paragraph twice. According to their distribution in the rankings, Speak Now and 1989 are the most similar albums out there. These two albums have the majority of my top 10 songs but are also way more represented in the bottom 10 compared to Reputation. This makes trying to choose between them extremely difficult, since it comes down to pure opinion more than any of the rest of the rankings on this list, and that's really saying something.

Again, I will be going into much greater detail when I reveal my finalized list but that is at least 3 weeks away. Also, I failed to recognize this 11 days ago but I am more than halfway done and that's pretty insane! I have pretty much gotten accustomed to my life at this point and as much as I want to listen to podcasts and other music, 39 days doesn't even feel like that long at this point. It feels especially short considering how many more topics I want to cover before February! Here's a short list of topics that you'll have the privilege of looking forward to in the next few weeks.

• The aforementioned Taylor Swift song ranking list
• Taylor Swift's role in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
• Reviews of some of Taylor's biggest hits (I Knew You Were Trouble, Tim McGraw, Mean, Gorgeous, and more!)
• Some fun in the YouTube comments section 
• Taylor Swift's stadium tour on Netflix which will be available in less than a week!

When people hear about my blog, they always ask how many Taylor Swift songs there are (I usually say 86), then immediately ask if I am doing one song a day plus a few other posts. If you have been keeping up with me then you will surely know that this isn't the case, and as we enter the final third of this blog it has become more clear than ever that I won't be able to talk about all of Taylor's songs, or even likely come close.

Because of this, I think I will be focusing more on songs I like in the remaining 40 days rather than critiquing ones I don't enjoy. There are still some major songs that infuriate me I have yet to mention but for the most part I would only be repeating myself. So, unless I feel there is real purpose behind it I will be trying to shit on Taylor's less good work a little bit less.

Oh man, there is so much to talk about and I can't wait! I hope you're excited as I am! I have stumbled across some pretty incredible stuff the last few weeks and I can't wait to share it with all of you. 

See you tomorrow,

-C

Day 60: The Last Christmas Post

This is it folks. We're finally here. The post looking at the final entry into Taylor Swift's 2007 Christmas album. This song is, of course, Last Christmas and really acts as the only good song on the entire album. I've actually heard a few of Taylor's Christmas songs on the radio while riding in other people's cars (I'm not the one in control of the radio so it's okay). Of these songs on the radio, Last Christmas is the one I hear the most, by far. It's the only one I've heard multiple times for goodness sake!

So what is it that makes this song decent while the rest of the album falls short? Well, first of all this song fits Taylor's country songwriting style almost perfectly. If I didn't know better I might have guessed that this was a Taylor Swift original song.

It's a little hard to describe, but the songwriting in Last Christmas is just so "Taylor Swift". The word choice is very similar to what you would expect in one of her songs, so when she sings it she really makes it her own. It's difficult to adequately explain this; it's the kind of thing you really need to have an ear for.

And boy, have I developed an ear for Taylor Swift's style. I'm two months into this project with a little over one more to go and I have grown very familiar with how Taylor likes to write music, as well as how this has changed over time. When I started talking about this Christmas album I vocalized my yearning for a modern Taylor Swift original Christmas song. The more I listened I realized that what I really want is an album with Christmas songs spanning Taylor's career. I can so clearly hear what each one sounds like in my head and if I knew anything about music creation I might even try to make them a reality.

But that's just a cray pipe dream. One thing that I know is real is the cover of this song. It's really no wonder it's the first song on the album. If she led off with Silent Night I can't imagine anyone staying for very long. But the presence of a single good song on the album makes the rest even more disappointing. Maybe it doesn't impress, but Last Christmas is certainly promising. So, when the rest of the songs fall short it feels like wasted potential rather than just a Christmas flop. Let me address Taylor directly here, since I know she is a daily reader.

I know you don't need to make a Christmas album but just hear me out. I know it's too late this year to write one but you just have to do it next year. By that point you'll probably be starting to think about your next album, so why not get the creative juices flowing by satirizing your own style throughout the years with a bunch of bad original Christmas songs mimicking their styles? Think of how hilarious it would be! Think of what a splash it would make! But most of all think of your fans like me who have been following you relentlessly for over fifty-nine days! Do it for us Taylor!

So uh, yeah. Anyways I promised an updated list of the songs on this album, so here goes.

1. Last Christmas
2. White Christmas
3. Santa Baby
4. Christmas Must Be Something More
5. Christmases When You Were Mine
6. Silent Night

A few spots have moved, but it's all the result of a single change. The more I listened, the more I realized just how bad Silent Night is. I can stand her original songs (barely), but what she did to that beloved song is honestly just painful.

I think this post should end on a sour note, just like the album itself, so I'm ending it here. Remember, tomorrow is a holiday so it will be the first retrospective in a while! Oh boy!

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 59: Shake It Off

For some reason, Taylor Swift's song Shake It Off from her album 1989 tends to be pretty controversial. It seems like people either love it or hate it, probably because of how it was absolutely everywhere when it first came out. Another theory of mine involves how Shake It Off was the lead single for 1989, making it the poster child for people hating "The New Taylor".

Seriously, put yourself in the year 2014. Taylor hasn't released any notable music in a while, and most of her recent activity has been via the big screen, through roles in The Lorax, The Giver, and a cameo in New Girl. Her previous album, Red, wasn't quite as country as her origins, but neither was Speak Now and that was 4 years ago by this point. Taylor has solidly cemented herself as the nation's most popular country-pop artist, and then Shake It Off comes out.

To put it gently, this song is not country. To put it a little less gently, this song is so not country that it may have alienated some of her audience. Just to be perfectly clear, I really like this song. But to fans who were more interested in Taylor's country music, this song was the furthest she had ever strayed from the genre they had grown used to.

On it's own, I don't think that would have made this song so divisive. But take it's subject matter into account. Most songs could have just been ignored, but this song actively makes a target out of the haters. So if you, my hypothetical straw-man 2014 Taylor Swift country music fan, would have a much harder time simply moving past how different this song is from her previous work. Plus, the music video has people doing hip-hop dancing! Taylor, how could you??? (/s)

So yeah, for someone like me who enjoys this style of music just as much as country, I love this song! The songs on 1989 do an excellent job of choosing a message and sticking with it. Not having a clearly defined thesis makes a song much less compelling and is Red's greatest weakness. Even if you disagree with what she's saying you have to recognize that this song is trying to say something, does it effectively, and sounds good the whole time. In terms of tone and sound this song has a lot in common with Red songs like 22, but in terms of theme and message has a lot in common with Reputation. I'll be talking more about the specific strengths and weaknesses of Taylor's albums in more detail in the future, but these two borrowed aspects take the best from their respective albums.

Plus, the music video is a lot of fun. The way that Taylor includes so many different dancing styles makes it visually a treat, even if I think it is one of the weaker music videos from 1989 (that's mostly just because the other ones are so good though).

So overall, I think this is a great song! There are a couple ones out there that have a similar goal and execute a little more cleanly, but really not many. At the end of the day this song is yet another great entry in 1989.

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 58: White Christmas

Here we go. Time to review Taylor Swift's rendition of White Christmas she did for her Christmas album back in 2007. This is the second to last song I have to review from this album. If you've been keeping up then you'll know that this means I think this is the second best song on the album, which is technically true. It's a little misleading though, and I would probably rather phrase it as saying it's the fifth worst song on the album.

I mean, it's not awful. This song, along with Santa Baby are hard to really say anything insightful about because they are just so freaking boring. They're not the worst Christmas covers of all time, for that just listen to Silent Night, but they do absolutely nothing to make me excited about Christmas. Getting people hyped about time with family, lovin' Jesus, and opening presents is what Christmas is all about and this song doesn't do any of it! Playing in the snow is great too, but this song doesn't even make me want to do that.

The music isn't all that bad, but at this point I'm really starting to realize how poorly acoustic guitars go with Christmas music. Despite this, my favorite aspect of this song is how it actually sounds like it's in the country music genre without sounding awful, something none of the other songs on this album quite manage. The chosen instruments go well not only with each other, but also with Taylor's voice and the pacing of the song. It's not enough to make me actively enjoy listening to it, but I can easily tolerate it.

I really wish I had more to say, but my lack of input mostly is a result of this song not giving me much to work with, good or bad. And remember, a boring song is worse than a bad song! At least you'll remember a bad song and maybe even get a kick out if. So I guess today's post will be a short one! By the way, my ranking for the songs on this album has changed since I started listening to it, and I'll be posting the updated list on the final song review in a couple days. Until then, have a good one.

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 57: Oh My My My

In general, I prefer Taylor's newer music to her older stuff. She's learned to keep her most of her greatest strengths around while also improving her weakest aspects, making for much better songs on average. But there are just some things a modern Taylor Swift can't do and I'm fine admitting that. Mary's Song (Oh My My My) is one of the few songs that makes me feel this way. It's pacing, tone, distance from Taylor's life, and optimistic tone gel so much better with the country style than Taylor's more modern approach to songwriting.

Mary's Song is a pretty basic song from Taylor first album about a couple who have known each other for literally 80 years, an amount of time five times longer than the lifespan of the girl who wrote this song. Hmmm. Anyways, it's just an honest look at young love in a small town. Does it get any more country than that? There are so many lines like this that really show off the innocent, almost pure, nature of this relationship.

"Take me back when our world was one block wide
I dared you to kiss me, and ran when you tried
Just two kids, you and I
Oh, my, my, my, my"

Well golly-gee-willikers, isn't that just adorable? It's not just a story about kids though, it takes a couple honest looks at relationships later too. It doesn't try to challenge anything, but still lets us know that even the best relationships aren't 100% roses.

"Take me back to the time we had our very first fight
Slammin' of doors 'stead of kissin' goodnight
You stayed outside till the morning light
Oh, my, my, my, my"

It's really not much, but I like this line because it is accurate. Fights are inevitable and this is literally the kind of action that results in a healthy, long lasting relationship. Well, I guess we really don't know quite enough about the circumstances to say for sure, but the fact that Taylor is recalling it in a positive way shows mutual appreciation rather than holding grudges.

This song is exactly what it sounds like, and it does a good job of being what it is. It's both nostalgic and optimistic, something difficult to achieve outside the country music style. It's not exceptional by any means, but it certainly is good. And it definitely isn't one of the worst Taylor Swift songs as the Rolling Stone claimed in their list where they ranked every Taylor Swift song.

That's 107th out of 126. Ouch.

I may have to talk about this list at some point in the future. I only stumbled upon it while researching this post and they made some pretty big moves. You can read it if you want but I would recommend holding off if you can resist. If I ever get to it, it's going to be ugly.

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 56: I Just Wanna Know You Better

It's always a treat for me when Taylor Swift collaborates with another artist. Usually the songs end up being pretty good, but they're especially nice for me because I don't get to hear other people sing that often anymore. I don't have that many nice things to say about Taylor Swift's 2012 album Red, but I will gladly admit that the song on the album where she worked with Ed Sheeran, Everything Has Changed, is one of my favorites. I'm so glad I can embed this video because it is so freaking adorable. You should definitely watch it, but first i should warn you it's one of the few Taylor Swift music videos that she doesn't actually appear in. Okay that said, go ahead and watch it.

Gotcha! You should see the look on your face. You did watch it, right? Okay, good, because otherwise I would look really stupid right now. But yeah, both Taylor and lil' Edward appear at the end of the video, presumably as the older siblings of the kids in the video. I don't know if I would call it a "twist" but it works as a nice cameo at the end, and actually fits the lyrics of the song much better than the video. I've criticized other songs like Delicate for having songs too separated from their music videos, but I think this video stays close enough not to warrant this complaint. The lyrics describe a situation where two people barely know each other but nonetheless are completely infatuated with one another. Since the kids in the video know clearly know each other much better by the end it may seem like they are disconnected, but the way that you see them bond really fits with the lighthearted yet earnest way that the song depicts how the two people want the relationship to progress.

The thumbnail shot of the boy playing guitar with an unruly class in the background is just so precious. There are so many points in this video that are like that. Another one that I like it the beginning where the boy is sitting on the bus reading comics and drinking from a thermos. It's directly adjacent from being an adult action but it's still comics and what's likely either water or juice, so it ends up being a brilliant way of framing this young boy in a comedic situation without saying a single word.

Seriously, just look at this adorable little nerd!

The last thing I want to say about the video specifically is this weird moment when they start dancing in the gym. Notice anything familiar?

That's right! Those lights in the background aren't lights at all, but are actually a swarm of the mysterious Pokemon Unown! What this reference is trying to say is beyond me, but it does confirm my suspicions that Taylor Swift will be a DLC fighter in the new Smash Bros.

Anyways I like this song as a whole. It's one of the few songs I have nothing bad to say about at all. The cadence of the lyrics is fantastic throughout the entire song, and Taylor and Ed's voices go together extremely well.

This is yet another example of how ambiguity can work in a song's favor. It's unclear whether this song takes place after a first date or if these people literally just met once. Either way the song works and lets people fill in the details with situations from their own lives, or imagined thoughts. This song is the paragon of good songwriting and especially good collaboration. Ed Sheeran has a similar style to Taylor Swift in some regards, and this song does a great job of highlighting both of their strengths both as lyricists and vocalists. 10/10, would listen again. In fact, I think I'll go do that now.

See you tomorrow,

-C

Day 55: Santa Baby

That's right, it's the Taylor Swift Christmas album reviews part 4 of 6! Finally we've escaped the bad songs! Unfortunately none of the rest qualify as "good", not by a long shot. At best they're "competent" with today's song, Santa Baby barely even qualifying as "passable".

I hope I'm not coming across as too critical of these songs. It just gets frustrating; I'm used to listening to Christmas music on repeat and usually I like them more as time goes on. Even if they start to drive me out of my mind I can find things about them to make fun of and keep me entertained. But the songs on this album, especially Santa Baby just don't have anything to offer me. It makes me question why people even like this song. It's a pretty weird song! Does anyone even like it? I've never heard someone say that it's their favorite Christmas song. I can't even listen any other versions because of the rules of the blog, so I have nothing to compare it to!

From what I recall, this song's value is usually derived from how people become uncomfortable when they hear people talking sexually to Santa. Everyone in the room remarks on how odd the song is and they all get closer together from it. I literally see no other reason to listen to this odd song, but maybe I'm just a Grinch.

For a while people thought this was real

This song isn't even really about Christmas! It's about a woman getting her sugar daddy to buy her a bunch of expensive shit for Christmas and using some strange Christmas themed innuendos. 

"Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight"

hmmm. I wonder what she means by that.

"Come and trim my Christmas tree"

...what?

"With some decorations bought at Tiffany's"

Oh. That's...better? I guess? I was thinking of the other definition of trim.

I don't dislike Santa Baby on it's own. Done right it can be a pretty funny commentary on commercialism, but Taylor doe exactly nothing interesting in this version. She takes all the sexuality out of what's usually a very sexual song and adds nothing in it's place. I totally understand not wanting to do a sexual song but if that's the case then why not just cover a different Christmas song? There are so many to choose from and out of the four that Taylor decided to cover she chose Santa Baby? I just don't see why! Now I'm just confused and upset, in the true Christmas fashion!

See you tomorrow,
-C

Day 54: TS LIVE - PART II

This is the second part to a post I started yesterday. If you haven't read it yet, go do it here.I'm not giving any context before diving in so you will be very confused if you don't read it first. You good? Alright, here we go.

Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen, Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

I mentioned this one in yesterday's post, and it's pretty good. This is one of the few songs that everyone actually knew well enough for them to all sing along to, so when Bon Jovi comes on you can actually hear the whole audience. 

How To Save a Life - The Fray

Bad video but Taylor's performance towards the end is among the best of these covers. Usually she's all smiles but she gets pretty into it here and you can see some pretty serious emotion. Nice.

Bette Davis Eyes - Jackie DeShannon & Donna Weiss

I hadn't heard of this song before I heard Taylor's cover, but that's actually part of what I think makes this cover so extraordinary. Most of the songs she covered were extremely popular. Bette Davis Eyes was certainly popular, mostly known for the 1981 cover by Kim Carnes. I would love to listen to this version but alas, the rules of this blog forbid it. It'll have to wait until February. 

Taylor covered each song for a reason, and I highly suspect that for this song the reason was as simple as that she really likes it. This is one of the only songs she gives any backstory on beyond "[INSERT CITY HERE] has created a lot of amazing bands, did you know that?", a line all of them got. I'm sure that she liked plenty of the other songs but this song is so Taylor Swift. It's about eyes for goodness sake! Talking about people's eyes is basically the Taylor Swift. I can't find any decent video of the performance but I would love to compare it to her others. This is also one of the few covers that Taylor recorded and released the audio for, so it sounds much better than the crappy phone videos I've been watching. Anyways, moving on.

Drops of Jupiter - Train

This is another one of the few songs that has official audio, but I decided to go with this video because it actually isn't that bad ignoring the weird angles. Overall just a good performance. It stands out because unlike most of the other covers she did the entire song, weird lyrics and all.

"She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's a-room to grow, hey, hey, yeah"

Tae-Bo?! Isn't that those workout videos I was forced to watch in middle school P.E. class? Wait a second, I'll be right back.

Holy shit it's real! This is a gold mine guys. These memes will never get old. 

I could do this all day, but I think that's enough for today. There are a lot more covers I didn't talk about that have footage, so go watch those. Also, since today and yesterday's posts have been especially bootlegged, go consume some 100% legitimate Taylor Swift media. Or don't, I guess.

See you tomorrow,

C

Day 53: Taylor Swift - LIVE!

I certainly haven't been keeping it a secret, but for those of you who didn't know, Taylor Swift's 2010 album Speak Now is among my favorites. Taylor has gone on tour for all her studio albums except her first, and for the Speak Now tour she recorded and published the audio for the entire set. Pretty cool! It's way too much to talk about in just one post, so today I'll be focusing on just one cool tidbit.

The North American leg of the tour had well over 50 stops, so to keep it fresh for both the audience and herself Taylor decided to do something a little different. For each region she visited, Taylor did an acoustic cover from a well known artist from the same region. Only two of these covers, Bette Davis Eyes and Drops of Jupiter are published officially, but the complete list of songs she covered exists and there are even videos of most of them. Here's a short list of some of the notable songs she covered.

Livin' on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
Baby - Justin Bieber
Super Bass - Nicki Minaj

Hold the fucking phone. Taylor Swift has done a cover of Super Bass? I literally cannot believe that. I refuse to accept that this happened unless I see video footage of it.

Oh my god it's real. Not only is it real, but Nicki Minaj was actually there and performed with her. Thank god too, because Taylor was barely keeping up with the faster parts of the song she attempted. I am quite surprised to say that I think this pairing works really well, with Taylor taking the parts of the song that are more suited to her vocal style while still branching out in a way that everyone is sure to recognize. And after all, isn't that the point of a cover?

We could literally be here all day discussing the various covers she did on this tour and barely make a dent. So instead, I'm just going to link to the videos of the ones I like best that exist online while also lamenting the ones that I can't find video for. I'm also splitting this post in half, finishing it tomorrow so that I can talk about as many covers as possible without making any one post too long. Fair warning, all these videos are on YouTube but because of Taylor's tight hold of her copyright there's no telling if they'll be available forever. 

Lose Yourself - Eminem, Smile - Uncle Kracker

This is...a weird one. It's odd to see 2011 Taylor Swift try to sing a song like Lose Yourself and it's not awful but it definitely isn't the best. I think part of it is because it's on the acoustic guitar and the other is that she looks so darn happy and I don't think I've ever seen Eminem smile. The second half is perfectly good though, I guess.

Sugar, We're Goin' Down - Fallout Boy

I expected this to be a lot more weird than it actually ended up being. It's a perfectly competent cover and I definitely don't hate it. Although I will say that I agree most with this one guy in the comments.

Ha! Zing.

That's all we have time for today, make sure to tune in tomorrow to see more strange covers from this tour. I plan on covering (nice) as many as possible so don't expect as essay on every one.

See you tomorrow,

-C

Day 52: I Can't Help Myself

Taylor Swift's writing earlier in her career tended to state her feelings more explicitly (but not in the gross way). I've spoken many times on how this can hurt a song, but one song stands out as an excellent example of how this can go very well. Hey Stephen is the fourth song on Taylor's second studio album, Fearless, and is very simple but also very good.

In the song Taylor confesses her love to her love interest, who's name is Jack. Just kidding, it's Stephen. Try to keep up. The way she tries to convince him is so simple, but so damn compelling. Just take a look at how she describes him as the best Stephen in the Universe.

"The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name
It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change
Hey Stephen, why are people always leaving
I think you and I should stay the same"

I think he's a little young for you, Taylor

The first section here is well phrased on it's own, but I think the second half hints at what makes this song unique enough to stand out. Taylor says many things about ol' Steve that she loves, but she always phrases it around their interactions. This convinces the listener that not only is Stephen just the best, but also that he belongs with Taylor. You Belong With Me is from the same album, has the same topic, and is also a pretty good song! But giving it a listen shows just how different of an approach Taylor took between the songs, and actually makes me like Hey Stephen a little more.

You Belong With Me shows that Steve belongs with Taylor through contrast. Taylor points out all the bad parts of his current relationship while simultaneously explaining why she is better in those regards. Again, there is nothing wrong with this; it's a good song. But Hey Stephen manages to be just as effective without a contrasting character to Taylor. She only uses things about Stephen and herself to convince us they should be together. From a songwriting perspective this is more difficult since you lose the point of reference being his existing relationship.

So how does she do it? I've already pointed out a few ways, but here are another couple examples that I'm particularly fond of.

"Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain, so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
Mmm I can't help myself"

Taylor utilizes the "can't help myself" defense in this song a lot. To the listener this communicates that their relationship seems completely inevitable from Taylor's perspective, she can't even help how she feels about him.

"Hey Stephen, I could give you fifty reasons
Why I should be the one you choose
All those other girls, well they're beautiful
But would they write a song for you?"

Ha! Nice meta move by Taylor here. And it's a pretty good point! If an rising country star wrote a love song to me I would probably notice too. I love the way the music stops here momentarily, as if the whole song is saying "Gotcha!". Her giggle afterwards keeps it from getting too serious, but also humanizes her a little bit more. That said, I'm still not totally convinced she's human.

hmmm

See you tomorrow,

-C 

Day 51: Here's to the Birthday Boy

That's right everyone, we're back with reviews of Taylor Swift's Christmas album! Today I'll be talking about the second Taylor Swift original on the album, Christmas Must Be Something More. This song is much better than the other original song, but it's still honestly not a great song.

This song has some pretty lofty goals. The message is that consumerism is getting in the way of the true meaning of Christmas which is, of course, loving Jesus. Sure, why not? Well, I think it maybe goes a little too far in a couple places.

"You'd see that today holds something special
Something holy, not superficial
So here's to the birthday boy who saved our lives"

It's fine. No, really, I mean it. It's a good message! I say it goes too far because the way the thesis is presented makes this really less of a Christmas song and more of a straight up Christian rock-country song.

This is tricky to say the least. There are many classic Christmas songs that are way more explicitly Christian than this song, but don't feel that way while you're listening. Part of this can be credited to familiarity and repetition. Classic Christmas songs are so heavily associated with the holidays because they're played so often. Sure, they're usually about Christmas but that hardly makes them unique. So what are the fundamental reasons why this song can't be a Christmas classic but a simple song like Feliz Navidad can?

I think a big part is that simplicity. Too much complexity makes a song less accessible to the average person. Singing along to Feliz Navidad is so easy it's practically mindless. Or it would be if I could actually speak Spanish, but that's besides the point. Overall, this song is too generic to stand out, too complex to be relatable, and too religious to be readily accepted by the general public. It's a perfectly competent song, but I see why it never rose up the charts.

See you tomorrow,
-C