She discussed the metaphor of a mirrorball, which is broken many times to shine, illuminate and capture attention. She compared this to celebrity and how the more broken someone becomes, the more the media is fascinated by them and the more they capture attention. It made me think of people like Britney Spears and how her mental health became a complete media circus. And how artists are still in performative mode (on the tightrope) even during the pandemic, when the audience isn't looking in the same way anymore because live performance is no longer possible (the circus broken down). She also said everyone, not just famous people, are always performing because we have to put on different versions of ourselves depending on who we are with (work, family, etc.) It was seriously fascinating. She has thoughts on every line she wrote on the album! I loved what she said about this is me trying and how people with "potential" in school (star students) get used to being able to reach goals and get stars in school but then feel listless in "real life" post school when goals aren't so obvious and they can't get immediate feedback all the time. That hit home for me and is very relevant to my life!
The insights behind “this is me trying” and “the lakes” were most interesting to me. I thought “this is me trying” was more autobiographical, but her explanation makes total sense. And I liked how she drew a line between the sentiments of that song and the bridge of “Mirrorball.”
I like the lakes as much as many of the other track on the album. It's a shame it gets "othered" because it was a bonus track released later. It had a lot to live up to and it's not the best song or even top five so it gets seen as a let down.
This is me trying always sounded to me like it was from the POV of a middle aged alcoholic in therapy. The part about "I ended up here pouring my heart out to a stranger" framed the whole song as a person talking to their therapist for me.
We watched the long pond session last night and really enjoyed it. Left me with a better impression and more interested in the maturity the songs show. I always took her seriously before but really stopped following when it all seemed too much pop drama. Pleasantly surprised at this and am interested in what comes next. I'm also interested in checking out The National.
all new Xmas merch Dropped at midnight , Picture disc of her Xmas tree farm song , new snowglobe , shirts etc. Taylor Swift Official Online Store
OR until they run out , they must have them pressed already as it says ships in 2-3 weeks , looks like some stuff is already sold out .
The National are a fantastic band. Alligator, Boxer and High Violet are their best albums (IMO) but they've never made a bad one.
The labels were largely paid to license their catalogs in the form of Spotify stocks (and maybe same with other services). That way they can partake in the profiteering off the fact that Spotify is only paying "basically pennies" to the content creators.
Taylor is Re-selling all 8 of the colored Vinyl lps again on her site along with signed cds etc. today only for Cyber monday ......................
Thanks for the heads up @Davidmk5. Unfortunately the international customers CD option is sold out I've been keeping an eye on the website ever since the album came out but no luck with a second batch of the signed CD for intl customers. Bummer!
I’m actually tempted to buy a few more cover variants of the LP, but having gotten one good copy already on the pre-order, I think I’ll just stick with that.
I don't know where I stand regarding collecting variants, but since you already have a vinyl copy that plays fine, would you listen to the others, were you to buy them in order to collect them? I guess I might listen for the best one, but other than that I wouldn't be too fazed if they didn't all sound 100% perfect
Clearly I’d be buying additional cover variants to collect them. I like Taylor Swift, the “In the Weeds” pressing of the album I got is a gorgeous gatefold objet d’art, and I think several of the other cover variants and vinyl colors look super cool as well. Having a backup copy of a favorite record is always nice as well. At $26 a pop, these are also very fairly priced for a nice-sounding colored vinyl double LP with nice gatefold artwork, in my opinion. Just like some McCartney fans want to own all nine different color vinyl variants of his new album, if money were no object for me, I would have ordered all 8 variants of this album.
My vinyl has finally moved from USPS and is now due on 12/5. Criminy. I have honestly forgotten which cover I even ordered.
Mine was dated from 11/16 and just moved today. I wrote to TS Customer Service last week and they basically told me to give it another week and sure enough it has now moved so hopefully yours will too?
Totally agree with you. As I stated elsewhere, I am not a fan of these thousand variants. Yes, the industry is basically giving me the chance to choose the one I like best - and I am glad of it because I had the opportunity to buy a cover that I really like better than all the others for my one unsigned CD copy of folklore - but it's also exploiting real fans, the ones who want to have them all. In the end, it's a hobby, or better, a passion, and budget is the name of the game for me.
As with every other collectible record, or anything we choose to buy outside of clothes, food, and rent, no on is exploited if they choose not to be. I passed on this Cyber Monday sale because I don’t really need the other 7 cover variants. If I had more money, I’d order them all. I will say this in response to the accusation of Taylor “exploiting” her fans: by putting these 8 colored vinyl variants back up on her website today at $26 a pop, she undercuts the speculators on eBay who are currently trying to flip their pre-sale copies of the individual colored vinyl LPs for anywhere between $40 to $120. There are also quite a few lots of all 8 variants on eBay listed between $700 and $1,000, but today you can buy all 8 from her website for just over $200. She did the same thing with the autographed CDs she sent to indie record stores for free. The first batch of autographed CDs were inevitably snapped up and flipped on eBay, but she kept sending the stores more and more boxes of free autographed CDs, to the point that the price for autographed copies on eBay cratered.
keep checking , she usually has countdown to her birthday sales for a week prior to her birthday on dec. 13th so there will be more stuff coming , good luck !