Taylor Swift Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Socrates, Jan 18, 2018.

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  1. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    Now, if you were an alien from another planet - or something -
    and somebody said: one of those two writers is the greatest songwriter of all time....

    How do you like my new truss rod cover?

    [​IMG]Meow by Mike Jones, on Flickr
     
  2. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    The cat on the right doesn't seem too happy about being held.... I'd gladly trade places with him! ;)
     
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  3. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    I'm the weird cat. There are two different kinds..
     
  4. Rocker

    Rocker Senior Member

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Well, she certainly has enough singles and big hits to make up a GH album... a double-CD comp, at that!
     
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  5. Memph

    Memph Forum Resident

    Location:
    Thunder Bay, ON
    A lot of fans think that if she does a GH album she'll either make it acoustic versions of past hits or remixes. She definitely has had songs that she's changed up in interesting ways, like Forever & Always Piano Version which mostly sounds sad compared to the angry sounding original. Or the acoustic version of State of Grace. Or the remixes of Love Story, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and I Knew You Were Trouble for her 1989 tour. I've seen many fans gain a newfound appreciation after hearing Gorgeous as an acoustic song from her Making of a Song series before Martin & Shellback added their touches.

    She could put out her next album of original songs soon after since there's less songwriting time involved and she could skip the touring so I don't think it would need to delay her next album by more than a year.

    If she wanted to give some of her old songs a music video and put that on a GH album that could help it sell copies too. I Know Places is definitely music video worthy. Don't Blame Me, I Did Something Bad and Getaway Car are all interesting music video concepts but I doubt she'll release all of them as singles this era.

    And I'm pretty sure she could throw in a few new songs on a GH album too?
     
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  6. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    As long as she keeps shaking her bum like Mick Jagger shakes his bum, rock 'n' roll will survive. We need to dance our way out of our constrictions. I believe in equal opportunity dancing.

    Memph, what's on your version of T.S. GH? For me: 1989 and REP. If she calls her next album FALCONS that would rule.
     
  7. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    There are two catty English women who troll Jennifer Lawrence and Jennifer Aniston in the “entertainment” section of a popular online newspaper: rhymes with Laguardia if you add an “n” at the end. What are the computers doing to human beings? IMHO people have tried to drive Taylor Swift over the edge. Some people like to play games with me.

    I wrote on the internet 16 years ago that I hate snakes. Other people might be able to handle the snake energy, in the same way T.S. handles a falcon. The Plains Indians were unusual, 95% of all of the indigenous tribes in North America were peaceful. They all loved snakes. I’ve killed snakes with my bare hands. That’s true. I’ve had several snakes bite me at the same time. That’s the honest to God truth. And Bill Maher, way above “pretty good.” OMGoddess.

    I should have never brought up Bill Maher on this thread. I think I hurt his feelings now. I meant all 20-somethings have OCD because of their computers. I’m totally out of threads, so I have to put all of this stuff on one thread..apparently... Good afternoon Hollywood, down my gaslight street....My life is in Hollywood’s hands. Why do we pick on each other, and why do the computers make us do it? I’m updating the truss rod cover btw. Will report back soon, hopefully.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2018
  8. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
  9. Memph

    Memph Forum Resident

    Location:
    Thunder Bay, ON
    I'd include a mix of her mainstream hits and some of her top album cuts.

    1. Should've Said No: Fun energetic song that's great to blast in the car. Most of the songs on her debut were co-writes, except for 3, one of those she wrote when she was 12 and the other two were her only #1s on country radio and my two favourites from her debut.

    2. Love Story: I'm not a teenage girl so this is not my favourite, but I still can't deny that as far as songs that cater to that audience go, this is really well done and can still get me moving and stuck in my head.

    3. Mean: A critic predicts that her career is over. Taylor writes and song about it and it wins her two Grammys. She sells it well in her live performances and music video too. She paints a pretty good picture with the lyrics in the verses and bridge too. Fun listen when someone's giving you a hard time.

    4. Back to December: This song caught me off guard when I first heard it as I was going through similar feelings but hadn't vocalized them the way she did. Before this I didn't listen to pop much (and definitely not country), but on the occasions that I did tune by car radio to the top 40, songs like Style and Blank Space were some of the few that actually stood out. However Back to December is the song that convinced me to check out what else she had.

    5. Dear John: She might accuse her critic of using words like knives in Mean but for a lesson on lyrical evisceration, look no further than this song. You can almost hear her rolling her eyes in the over-the-top poetic opening to the song. As the song progresses, it becomes clear it's not a 19 year old John should've known not to mess with, but someone with the willingness and ability to write songs like Taylor. You might initially think this song is going to be her complaining about how cruel he's been to her, but as she approaches the bridge it increasingly takes the tone of "don't you realize how much of a ********* loser you are? Why on Earth did I waste my time on you?" The fireworks for the bridge of the song were absolutely necessary in the live performances. Knowing the lyrics to Dear John feels pretty empowering as you now know how to give the verbal middle finger the way Taylor does.

    6. Enchanted: Really captures that feeling of insistently needing someone you just met to feel as strongly about you as you do about them. At almost 6 minutes in length I'm not surprised that she decided not to release it as a single but I wouldn't want it to be a second shorter.

    7. State of Grace: Her and her producer's first attempt at making this kind of rock song. Hopefully not the last. I love the way the song builds and how it's powerful without being overpowering. What's that word for when you use a word in a way that doesn't make sense in its context? "Pierce the room like a cannon ball" is my favourite example of that. Apparently this guy made an indescribably strong impression on her but you know she's still going to try.

    8. All Too Well: Great imagery at the start of this song as she's being nostalgic about the good times she had and she perfectly captures the anger of having your emotions messed with as your ex tries to provoke you into wondering you might have that back when the logical part of you knows that it's clear that there's a reason why the relationship ended. And after letting out that anger she realizes how sad it's all left her.

    9. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. Someone thinks she might still get together with Mr. All Too Well, but she's finally gotten over him and this is a jubilant celebration of that. As someone else commented, the fact that the relationship's main problems were that the guy was flaky and was embarrassed about being with her with his friends is much more relatable than the sadistic psychopaths described in other artists' songs... even if she's embarrassing for reasons that are not quite so typical (being an artist that sells out stadiums when the guy's friends think someone who's sold more than a dozen records is already too mainstream). But often those relationships can be quite heartbreaking because it's harder to hate the guy and you're left questioning yourself wondering if you're doing the right thing pushing him away and not giving him another chance even though it's clearly not working.

    10. I Knew You Were Trouble: Seems like this song has a mixed reception here but I think it's really catchy, and the chaotic sound of it matches the theme of the song.

    11. Begin Again: My favourite of her country songs

    12. Shake It Off: Not her most high-brow song but still really fun and catchy. Don't take it too seriously and maybe you can enjoy it as much as Taylor enjoys dancing awkwardly at concerts and award shows. It's her most popular song and pretty iconic, and does a pretty good job of encapsulating that part of her personality that cares more about having fun even if makes her look kinda silly.

    13. Blank Space: Am I into crazy possessive girls? I'm not sure but I'm really into the lyrics in this song. Maybe it's just that I'm a little insane myself. My favourite pop radio hit of the decade.

    14. Style: I love the melody at the start of this song. I was born in 1991 so I'm not that familiar with the 80s music this record allegedly took inspiration from but this song somehow feels very nostalgic. Maybe it's because her voice feels a bit echoey like she's singing through a tunnel connecting you to an alternate reality where it's the 80s again?

    15. New Romantics: How did this become a bonus track? Well at least she doesn't have it in a drawer, even now. My favourite Taylor Swift song changes every couple weeks but right now, this is it.

    16. Don't Blame Me: Remember Taylor from her 2010 ACM performance of "Change" with her choir singing "Hallelujah" and her 15 second note? The choir chants are back here and she's showing how her vocals have evolved since then in a display of passion for a certain someone. "My name... is whatever you decide, but I'm... just gonna call you mine" - okay Taylor.

    17. Delicate: Very chill and dreamy, which it kind of needed to be after the first 4 bombastic songs on Reputation. By the time I get to the second half of Delicate I'm usually moving to it the same way as Taylor is in her Making of a Song video for it.

    18. Dancing With Our Hands Tied: Love the verses and the shouts as the song climaxes in the last minute or so. Listening to it puts me in a certain state of bliss...


    Other successful singles: Picture To Burn, Tim McGraw, Our Song, Teardrops On My Guitar, Fearless, You Belong With Me, White Horse, Fifteen, Mine, Sparks Fly, Story of Us, Ours, Red, 22, Everything Has Changed, Wildest Dreams, Out of the Woods, Bad Blood, Look What You Made Me Do, Ready For It, End Game
    -the ones in bold would probably have to be included in a GH album just because of how iconic they are, regardless of how much I like them. Our Song, Mine and Wildest Dreams are my favourites from those 7. I also like Fearless, Sparks Fly, Story of Us and Red quite a bit.

    Other album cuts I really like: Forever & Always, Hey Stephen, Last Kiss, Haunted, Speak Now, Treacherous, Holy Ground, Sad Beautiful Tragic, I Know Places, You Are In Love, Clean, King of My Heart, Getaway Car

    I think that some of the changes she made for live performances made the songs even better. I like the bell intro for Haunted and the 1989 tour versions of I Knew You Were Trouble, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and Out of the Woods more than the originals.
     
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  10. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    New Stuff.

    nuff said
     
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  11. Scopitone

    Scopitone Caught the last train for the coast

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    You could call it. . .Lilith Fair.
     
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  12. Garthb

    Garthb Forum Resident

    Location:
    portland,oregon
    I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!!
     
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  13. ralph7109

    ralph7109 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Franklin, TN
    From 2006 - 2012, I believe Swift was one of the best lyricists of a generation.
     
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  14. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    .

    I was once banned from my own Miley Cyrus thread for suspicions of proselytizing. And I was also banned from an entire website recently on the grounds of conspiracy to commit witchcraft or something....
     
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  15. Peachy

    Peachy Forum Resident

    She got three releases for record store day coming....
     
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  16. Scopitone

    Scopitone Caught the last train for the coast

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    How's that piano key necktie business working out for you?
     
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  17. Remote Control Triangle

    Remote Control Triangle Forum Member Rated 6.8 By Pitchfork

    Location:
    Las Vegas
    She's a great marketer. Her singing/songwriting skills are one thing, but her marketing prowess is probably genius level.
     
  18. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England


    I want to mention “Delicate” — that’s a song by Taylor Swift, just in case anyone is reading this thread and they don’t know what’s going on. Btw Troggy, you hurt my feelings by liking the post.

    Anyway, I love listening to “Delicate,” especially in the car. There’s a video out there, and it’s the ‘The making of “Delicate” video.’ I think I can only post one video per post...

    Well, ‘The making of “Delicate” video’ rocks. Taylor is lounging in a room full of keyboards in the video. She does the vocal in hushed whispers. And then they take her voice and make it come to life on the keyboards. What do you call that thing, where they take somebody’s voice and turn it into synthesizer sounds? That whole thing in general is an interesting process....

    “Delicate” is great in the car, when I’m thinking of delicate situations, and I want to be in delicate places. It’s my ‘quiet time’ song. The song is very calming. Makes sense that she whispers the vocals... The ‘making of’ video is great....... look on the YouTube...
     
  19. augustwest

    augustwest Forum Resident

    Location:
    los angeles, ca
    Don't really know much about her music but she seems to be one of the few in the music industry that has any backbone anymore.
     
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  20. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    Taylor talking about Delicate in Reputation secret session • r/TaylorSwift
    Thanks for explaining what the “vocoder” thing does. :D

    Another great video was posted last night with “Shake It Off” playing in the background. The video featured the dancing away of constrictions. Beyonce working with Jack White created that dancing-energy of the real blues. It’s like they went full-circle with everything. I would like to hear a T.S./ White collaboration in the same vein as Beyonce’s “Lemonade.”
     
  21. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    Taylor Swift v Keith Richards

    Keith, you’re not being very nice. And this new interview looks like a laundry list of complaints about my posts, right down to the Instagram cats.. I can’t even read the whole article. You have to have a UK email address to register with that site? I have some stuff I want to write about you and Quincy later on. I might. So let’s just stop this now.
     
  22. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    No, I’m not crying right now while I’m listening to 1989. I have something in my eye....
     
  23. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    Taylor is a powerful woman. I woke up this morning wondering if Keith Richards was trying to ruin me (just joking) Did I turn into Mick Jagger overnight? My life on the internet again... This stuff is usually part of my free entertainment life.

    Keith likes Ed Sheeran, too — one degree of separation — just saying. I think Keith is being mean. But look what Keith says about Mick. And he also says, “Mick is my best mate.” Maybe Taylor should think of this stuff as a badge of honor?

    Taylor has tried a new approach with her writing and image. Taylor is addressing the power imbalance of a patriarchal society’s darker side. I feel uncomfortable for Taylor on the cover of the REP CD. Does that hurt? It looks like it does.

    That’s what Taylor wanted me to feel, in my opinion. Pretty pic on The CD inset, she turns big images around. I believe REP is a statement about feminism. Women are totally ready to take over. All these chicks are going to rule the earth. And they’re still under the yoke, at this moment in history — weird time to be alive.

    Lots of other people thought the same thing I did, per comments on T.S. boards that I read. I think Taylor uses shock value to essentially do what Courtney Barnett did recently, when she tried a new approach with her own writing.

    They seem like a nice bunch of girls to me over on the T.S. boards. And sure, I don’t want to be the one dude hanging on Taylor’s message boards. Don’t call me Shirley. So here we are, Keith. You can talk about The Stones online all day, and people don’t think you’re weird. Well, maybe sometimes...

    I like posting about Taylor online. So I guess I’m weird. Keith, there are reggae influences on REP. You can still hear the blues behind the machines. Taylor writes about some deep stuff. Keith likes Lady Gaga. She wears a snake ring.

    You don’t have to worry about guys like Quincy, Keith and me. In my opinion, and I guess this is getting back to the metaphysics again: those other two guys are really complaining about the metaphysics and the music mixed together. Mmmm They didn’t complain when 1989 was the new music. They’re complaining about “the vibe.”

    The first thing I thought of when I looked at the official REP CD cover? Yeah, “That chain looks like it’s too tight.” A lot of the girls on the T.S. boards thought the same thing I did. Keith wears women’s clothing sometimes. Maybe Keith and me can think like girls. Quincy is the ultimate lady’s man, to the ladies who love him.

    “Look What You Made Me Do” is a vocal hook. Quincy Jones says, “we need songs - not hooks.” Well, “Satisfaction” is a hook. But here’s what happened: Taylor got too scary on track #6. The “Look What You Made Me Do” vocal-hook is an inverted “Satisfaction” hook, sort of...

    Without LWYMMD, REP is a safe follow-up to 1989. The LWYMMD-vibe also introduces a darker metaphysical content mixed-in with the art. For instance, without the ‘zombie in the graveyard’ pics, the Target exclusive CD / booklet, with all of the other color pics — that official T.S. merch — is incredibly nice, too — great overall package — then Taylor turns to “Thriller” for inspiration. Quincy Jones remembers how it went. Taylor, you're scaring everybody!

    Yeah, I think some of Taylor's critics are really saying: “Taylor got too scary.” It’s “the vibe” they don’t like. I don’t listen to “Dancing with Mr. D” all that often. ‘Goats Head Soup’ was what it was. I’m saying when you look at REP from another angle, it can all tell a chilling tale. The Target exclusive CD/magazine-thing, that whole thing... That tells another chilling tale, in poetry, paintings and pictures. Unintended use of alliteration there, with the p,p’s...

    “You’re gorgeous. I’m furious.” What could that mean? “This is the first generation that will be able to look back on their entire life story documented in pictures on the internet, and together we will all discover the after-effects of that.” - Taylor Swift REP liner notes.

    I think Taylor Swift is really schooling the boys right now. That’s what her new art is about. “Boys only want love if it’s torture.” Taylor uses big images to create paradigm shifts. She’s saying that boys are mean to her. Just like JLaw said recently that boys are mean to her too.


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2018
  24. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
  25. Socrates

    Socrates Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New England
    :) Woke up remembering how I used to enjoy posting about Beyoncé everyday. Then I remembered that dude named Jay-Z. I hope Taylor gets married to Joe Alwyn. They’re a cool celebrity couple, like Jay-Z and Queen B. It’s fun to check these people on the internet at times.

    Although the Dua Lipa stuff in the press, related to snake emojis, etc., did freak me out a bit. That’s what I meant about “vibes.” Seems like the world at large has become too dependent on checking computers, on different levels. Probably we could all ask ourselves questions about how many minutes a day we spend checking computers in our leisure time.

    I hope Taylor has a long career, no matter what Keith says, lol. I would not like to be on Jack White’s **** list. Damn computers - I would totally hate that if it was true. Everybody has different opinions! I fear no evil. I have a lot of respect for Jack White as an artist. I have respect for all of the artists listed in this post. :)

    Well, I may post a “Lemonade” and “Reputation” comparative analysis in the spring, after the thaw. What a long winter this is. Hopefully other Taylor fans will add to this thread. I will also post a REP tour update this spring. I’m taking a break from the message boards for a while!:) Here’s Taylor’s new video for “Delicate”:

     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2018
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