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Taylor Swift is awful (and her music isn't even very good)
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Anonymous
Football is boring. Taylor makes it more interesting. |
Anonymous
Let me refresh your memory of your exact words by cutting and pasting them for you: 1) “This current tour is something else. She dreamed up and executed something that has impressed and amazed her peers. It’s dazzling ( I’m married to a scenic carpenter and he is floored by it)” You are saying her show is dazzling, no? How should we interpret that? What is a scenic designer if not someone who works on scenes? Please explain. 2) “I work in the industry and understand very well how shows are designed and produced.” Please do tell…. and 3) “Oh. We didn’t pay for the show. We don’t pay for shows.” Why didn’t you pay for her show? Did you steal the tickets? Or do you know people who work with/for her? And last but not least the most poignant words of all: “I’m beginning to think you guys (specifically ) …..can’t understand language… I’m concerned about some of you.” Ditto, I’m really worried for you. Do you have dementia? Or are you just a liar? |
Anonymous
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The OP is obvi a Beyonce fan and upset that Taylor is out-performing her (despite their friendship).
Let Taylor have her day, already you effing haters! |
Anonymous
Not for people who actually like football. Taylor at games, and the broadcast focus on her, might be good for ratings and thus the NFL, networks, and advertisers. But it's a net negative for football fans. I sincerely wish she's lay lower at games and that she and Kelce hadn't driven up this interest in their relationship. And yes, they 100% encouraged the interest in the way they did the "rollout" (Taylor's word choice). Taylor, specifically, made a series of choices to drum up as much interest in her relationship as possible, from the interactions with his mom to the SNL appearances, to showing up to the Jets game with a group of at least 4 other big name celebs to ensure maximum focus. The backlash in this thread and elsewhere about Taylor is linked to those choices. I just don't get it. her tour was already hugely successful, she didn't need the exposure or the PR. Kelce benefits from it no doubt (gearing up for his retirement from football and almost certainly aiming for a career in entertainment) but I don't see why Taylor would go to those lengths? It's obnoxious AF and is really making me dislike Taylor as a celebrity, separate from any feelings about her music. This is Kim&Kanye level stuff. |
Anonymous
Lol, these responses make me wonder how many actual teenagers frequent DCUM. |
Anonymous
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For all of you posting about Taylor Swift’s awfulness, I am genuinely curious about what artist who is contemporary to Taylor that you would suggest we listen to!
I’m a 57 YO female and enjoy the many Taylor Swift songs that include strong imagery. Songs I would cite include Mirrorball (don’t love the song but think the “tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, shining just for you” is a lovely image) along with songs like “Cardigan”, “Champagne Problems”, “Seven”, and her collaboration with Lana del Rey, “Snow on the Beach” are all well worth listening to. I have fairly diverse musical tastes IMO, and also enjoy James McMurtry, Jason Isbell, Maggie Rogers, U2, Tyler Childers, Sza, Nelly, Lana del Rey, St. Vincent, Car Seat Headrests, Jim White, Nelly, Brockhampton, Beyoncé, Lorde, Sleater-Kinney, Bon Iver, Wussy, Sufjan Stevens, Hand Havits, Neko Case, X, Wilco, Beck, Father John Misty, Big Thief, Sharon Van Etten, The National and many others. Typically there is always music on in my house. I know two of the things I look for in music is strong visual imagery (Taylor delivers) and interesting riff (not necessarily Taylor’s strength) There have been a lot of posts on this thread about older groups like U2 that are ‘better than Taylor’ that people believe influenced various TS songs. My question for all of you is which artists that are peers of Taylor you believe are superior. Genuinely curious. I enjoy many of Taylor’s recent releases but would not characterize myself as a Swiftie. I do know that statistically I listen to much more music than most people my age. Really, most people of any age based on my Spotify stats. |
Anonymous
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Btw Spinning in [your] highest heels is a reference to another artist’s song.
(NP) |
Anonymous
PP re: what bands contemporary to TS do you recommend? Not opposed to referential music and will always believe that Tom Petty accidentally pulled his “rebel without a clue” lyric from “Into the Great Wide Open” from The Replacement’s “I’ll be You” from when they were on tour together. I mentioned I love the riffs and I constantly hear songs that reference each other. Don’t know how often it is accidental vs intentional vs there are some musical conventions that are universal and end up in many songs. Re Tom Petty, obviously “American Girl” inspired The Strokes “last Night” riff-wise. |
Anonymous
I haven't said her music is "awful" but I don't really like it. I have quite a bit of overlap in your musical taste otherwise, but I'm picky. I'd add Jenny Lewis, Sylvan Esso, Tune Yards (Merrill Garbus), Vampire Weekend, Dehd, boygenius, Last Dinner Party, Wet Leg, Santigold, Yo La Tengo, off the top of my head. My issues with Swift: A lot of her music sounds the same to me. A lot of her earlier work has a singsongy quality that I actively dislike (I really can't stand that Romeo and Juliet song, or the short skirts/t-shirts song). I do think her music has gotten better, but it just sounds... self-indulgent to me. The lyrics and the music itself. I am not someone who usually minds navel gazing in music but with Taylor it does bug me. Even back when I was single and "unlucky in love," something about the way she sings about these themes grates on me. I think it's the degree to which she is the main character of every story, to a degree that feels stunted to me. I relate for a minute but then it gets old, at some point I feel like you need to turn the picture on its side and offer some perspective. A note: I have a degree in poetry and while music is not the same as poetry, what aggravates me about a lot of Swift's music is the stuff that would aggravate me in a poem. Her perspective is fine from a teenage poet, but it is immature. Some of her imagery is evocative but lacks subtext, and her work doesn't hang together in a way that tells a story about the world, only her. The song Antihero is the first time I've ever felt a bit of that shift, but it still feels amateurish to me. And look, not all music has to be super deep, and like I said, lyrics are not the same as poetry. But I think the issue is that it feels like Swift is *aiming* for that level of poetry in her lyrics. Like what you see in lyrics by people like John Prine, Joni Mitchell, and Dylan, or more contemporaneously, Courtney Barnett or Kurt Vile. I feel like I hear the attempt, and it falls short. It's okay, I don't have to love every artist. But it is a bit strange the degree to which some people think not liking Taylor Swift is just not allowed. If someone said they didn't like one of the artists I mentioned above, I'd be fine with it. People have different taste. But with Swift, for some reason, people get mad if you just say "not my thing" or "eh, she's seems mediocre." It's just an opinion. people like different music. I don't get it. It's okay to not like Taylor Swift. I think she'll be okay without my fandom! |
Anonymous
It would be better for you to critique the actual poetry, than to compare her songs to other ones that aren’t at all the same. The first would be interesting, the second is pointless. |
Anonymous
| PP with scenic carpenter DH, what was amazing about the set? I really liked the lifting up platforms, glass cases and The Man office. But I don’t know enough about concert set design to know if it is truly out of the box. |
Anonymous
I'm not the one who compared a Swift song to that Bono song. I don't like U2 and am not familiar with that song, and I thought that "analysis" was pretty dumb. From a poetry standpoint, neither song is particularly interesting. I was trying to share why I, personally, don't like Swift's music. Is that allowed? Ever? |
Anonymous
God you are embarrassing yourself. A scenic CARPENTER is not a designer. And you don’t know the difference. Which is fine and understandable. If you don’t work in technical theatre you probably wouldn’t. But this thread is about language and you really don't seem to pick up on much of any of it. Words have meaning. And those are completely different jobs. |
Anonymous
Sorry, I thought you were that PP! I thought their analysis was dumb too. I am interested to hear your perspective as a poetry major. |
Anonymous
Of course there is. What is it specifically about this tour that is groundbreaking? I don't get it. Yes, sounds like they went all out with the set design, lights, and video. Great. Arena tours are always one-upping one another on that front with special effects and visuals. Not saying it's not a great show -- it is. But it's not some massive departure from this kind of tour. Beyonce did a more stripped down tour for Renaissance this year, I think because her tour is very focused on that album and so she kept the aesthetic very focused as well. Past Beyonce tours have been more expansive like Taylor's Eras show. Some other artist will top Eras soon, too. A lot of it has to do with the technology they use for these shows, and the innovation by the people behind the scenes, including designers, technicians, choreographers, etc. It's like a Cirque du Soleil show -- they are always looking to create something different and amazing that will wow audience (and justify ticket prices). But that's not unique to Taylor. Bey, Gaga, Harry Styles, and Elton John have all had absolutely amazing shows in the last decade or so. Actually, the best show I've seen in the last 10 years was Guns & Roses and I'm not even a big fan of that band. That that show was bonkers it was so good. Taylor and Bey were the hottest tours this year. Another year it will be another artist. Her show is not some unique departure. |