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Gen Xers - Do you find Taylor Swift’s music bland?
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Anonymous
Haha, she has an album named 1989 (her birth year). That’s when she officially left country for full blown pop. The country audience abandoned her after 1989. It’s when she moved to NY and became a high falutin NY elite |
Anonymous
This. And I’m not knocking what worked for her to become the bazillionnaire that she is. After all, save for the first couple of bubble-gum songs like “Lucky Star” and “Holiday” even Madonna went with a theme (sex, sex, and more sex with a female empowerment angle) that worked and she stuck with it! But it aged a bit better on Madonna (even though at 65+ now it’s becoming a bit…off. But when your brand is teen drama romance, it was cute and catchy from 16-25, but becomes more “concerning” at 34. |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Gen X and love her music. That said, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the music had I not been steeped in it via my young daughters.
At first I thought it was fluff, but then I watched her Netflix documentary and was surprised to see that she’s a truly talented lyricist and songwriter. More importantly, she’s overtly kind and generous, self assured, hard working, and she uses her public platform to benefit others and to champion causes she believes in. [/quote] And she makes great Kool-aid too! Oh Yeah![/quote] I guess I will never understand this sort of negativity. Maybe it just irks certain people that so many see Taylor for the positive force and talent that she is, because they can't see it. [/quote] Comfort yourself with the thought that I’m a member of the to be pitied, ‘other group’ composed only of ‘certain people.” Don’t worry, you won’t catch the evilness of negativity and gen X snark.[/quote] I actually love snark. I was a card-carrying member of TWOP. (RIP.)[/quote] I have no idea what that is, but you seem excited by your membership or former membership. To be not snarky for a minute- I hate hearing Taylor because her songs are so boring and it feels like the same 3 notes are being drummed into my head. She has zero melody. If she is giving her money away- great but I don think that makes her “generous, hard working and blah blah blah. I love certain artists but I know nothing or little about what they do in their personal lives. She made a cult of personality out of her music and you (already a card carrying fan member of another group) appreciate that . I don’t care one way or another EXECPT I can’t just walk away when I’m in giant or at target or even the gas station. All places where I have heard her in the past 2 weeks and her 3 notes over and over again. I can’t walk away from work where my boss quotes her in staff meetings. “If you're horrible to me, I'm going to write a song about it, and you won't like it. That's how I operate.“ -Taylor swift She said that and I don’t think that is generous or kind or a role model or who I would want to be like. You say I’m negative, I say I’m tired of people thinking someone who trains her fans to look for Easter eggs and operates by writing mean songs is kind generous and nice. [/quote] TWOP was ground zero for Gen Z(+) snark more than 2 decades ago. Truly some masterpieces there. I guess your post did make me realize that you (general you) have to give up some level of cynicism (the mark of Gen Z) and snark to fully embrace Taylor and her music. At least I did. Until TTPD, there was a certain level of awkward to her. I didn't appreciate her until, and I hate to admit this, I listened to Ryan Adam's cover album of 1989. I saw her writing in a whole new light. It think it was some level of internal misogyny mixed with doubt that a pretty blonde girl in her 20s could be that deep/talented but also pop. Right now the talented women ARE in pop - Taylor, Chappell, Charli, etc. Taylor was country first because it aligned better with her songwriting skills and age. [/quote] I’m not really sure how to respond about the TWOP as 2 decades ago i was well into adulthood and starting my career (born 1977) when it came out so Im gen X not gen z. I can’t get to the genius of her lyrics because the melodies are so so bad. She isn’t fun to sing along to for me. The talk sing crap she does isn’t musical enough for my particular tastes. I can dislike her for not have real harmonies or melodies. I also don’t want to be part of the cult. It isn’t just putting down the snark to extol about her her lyrics. It is putting aside beliefs about how people should treat each other. Generous and kind people don’t seek revenge and she does. You don’t beat misogyny by using the same power hungry, vengeful tactics men have used on women. You beat it back by making sure power isn’t used oppress or put down anyone including people who piss you off. Of course you can establish boundaries. But “I’m gong get you and you aren’t going to like it” is awful. I don’t care how old you are. Taylor wants to be The Man and she has accomplished it. I see it as a hollow victory for women because she is still using oppression and vengeance to reach the top. Just because that came from a female perspective doesn’t make it better because she is still operating out of a place of vengeance. It isn’t just anger, she wants to hurt people. Think about the award winning fortnight lyric “I want to kill her.” You can wave that off and say “fiction” but then how do you reconcile that with her she is so “kind, generous and hard working?” She isn’t kind to everyone, only those who are helping her at that moment. In the 90s the music was anti establishment and empowering women in a way that didn’t put everyone else down. Taylor isn’t about that - she would burn down those who cause her pain. Maybe Taylor bothers me because our politics are arriving at the same place: one guy wants to take down his opponents and make them not like it. I am specifically talking about the use of vengeance as a theme in their (Taylor and trump) brands not their overall policies. Right now, in the trump era, I need more uplifting music than vengeful so I guess Taylor won’t appeal to me. |
Anonymous
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Vengeance is certainly one theme in her music but she has many others. Just focusing on that to sum her up is pretty reductive.
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Anonymous
But one would have to like her music enough to be motivated enough to attend her concert. I have no doubt that she has good stage presence that make her shows entertaining, but that doesn't change the fact that the music herself is still bland. |
Anonymous
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Her concerts are a very expensive productions - so of course the production value is high. If her music was good, she wouldn't need such extravagant outfits and production on stage but for her audience, that is a big part of the show.
Apparently it cost about 15 million to initially produce and then you have ongoing venue fees, salaries, and all the equipment rental so probably 4-5 million a week for running costs. |
Anonymous
Right? The different criticisms are coming from such a narrow scope. |
Anonymous
| Gen X. I have always loved her music. |
Anonymous
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I don't love the music - but I think this is mostly about me getting old and losing interest in new music than it is about the music itself.
I'm 51 so the 80s and 90s were the big music periods for me - and I miss the messy, warbly stuff I loved in that period. It seemed like music was more fun and had more feeling to it. But, I am old. I always tease my parents that the last new band they listened to was The Beatles. |
Anonymous
| This is a very long thread, has anyone talked about the importance of social media in horizon to fame? She was able to use social media to seem very connected and approachable to her fans, were they felt they had a personal relationship and grew up as if she was their friend |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Gen X and love her music. That said, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the music had I not been steeped in it via my young daughters.
At first I thought it was fluff, but then I watched her Netflix documentary and was surprised to see that she’s a truly talented lyricist and songwriter. More importantly, she’s overtly kind and generous, self assured, hard working, and she uses her public platform to benefit others and to champion causes she believes in. [/quote] And she makes great Kool-aid too! Oh Yeah![/quote] I guess I will never understand this sort of negativity. Maybe it just irks certain people that so many see Taylor for the positive force and talent that she is, because they can't see it. [/quote] Comfort yourself with the thought that I’m a member of the to be pitied, ‘other group’ composed only of ‘certain people.” Don’t worry, you won’t catch the evilness of negativity and gen X snark.[/quote] I actually love snark. I was a card-carrying member of TWOP. (RIP.)[/quote] TWOP was ground zero for Gen Z(+) snark more than 2 decades ago. Truly some masterpieces there. +1. TWOP taught me one of the most useful words: "asshat." Just so useful in a variety of situations. I miss that and Fametracker, which introduced the very useful concepts of "2 Stars:One Slot" and "Hey! It's that Guy!" RIP. |
Anonymous
Yeah, this. Pop music is almost definitionally bland. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but by and large it's all unoffensive pablum. |
Anonymous
The big difference between these two, is TS understands business on a global scale and BS is both mentally unwell and intellectually challenged. |
Anonymous
| Yes, don’t get it at all. |
Anonymous
Given that a song on her latest album is about masturbation, I am not so sure about that. |