I think it’s because she was able to cross genres like go from country to pop to slow songs to fast songs, rock and roll. Lots of catchy music and looks like her music videos are high budget.
My nephews and their partners are going to a Taylor swift concert in Rio. My nephew told me it was a lot cheaper than going to one in the US, counting airfare and hotel costs.
No doubt. But there are substantially costs (mostly invested time) in doing that, too.
Ok, I have now listened to Taylor Swift for about a week on my headphones as I work from home.
It’s growing on me.
Yes, it’s pop music, but it’s something I can actually listen to for a while without growing tired of it. That’s the problem I usually have with a lot pop music. It can be fun and gimmicky, but after listening for a while it’s seems shallow and tiring.
I was a religious and somewhat prudish teenager when Sex came out (I got better). I thought it was trashy, until I read a critic who pointed out that Madonna knew, as a young, attractive singer/dancer, that her sexuality would be commodified; Sex was her way of taking control of that process, to make it happen on her terms. If someone was going to profit on her sexuality, it would be her. (Not to mention publishing a book of explicit nudes would draw the sting of pretty much any leaked sextape or creep shot that would ever come out in the future.) That essay made me rethink her, and respect her more.
I also have respect for artists that are willing to take chances outside their comfort zone - like a pop diva singing Sondheim, or Keanu Reeves doing Shakespeare with RADA-trained actors (Much Ado About Nothing).
Ironically, so was I. but I had a single Aunt just thirteen years older than me, with single friends, whom I spent practically every weekend with as an adolescent (one of which was a gay man, and Madonna was a gay icon in those days.) It was non-stop Madonna, so I too came to respect her, and I developed a liberal view of sexuality despite my personal choices. I’m glad for that. I think a lot of people know Madonna the party girl but in reality a lot of her music was angsty and thoughtful. I danced to “I’ll Remember” with my Aunt on my wedding day and that song still makes me cry.
Ah-ha! So music does corrupt the youth!
A couple weeks ago we had a long road trip from Chicago to Hershey, then Binghamton, and back. My youngest daughter has become a Swiftie over the summer, so I got to listen to all 10 studio albums. (Favorites for me: 1989, Red, folklore.) Actually, three of those albums I listened to on my own as part of my own independent study.
As said before, she is a very good and solid songwriter, and she writes lyrics that her audience can relate to. I don’t find most of her music particularly daring musically, but it’s catchy enough and her craftsmanship is impeccable. I’d like to hear a bit more adventure, but, then again, plenty of the bands I like are of the three/four-chords and a guitar type, so I can’t really criticize slipping into harmonic cliches and chord loops. (And, hell, I like the blues, and that’s a relatively static form.) And, unlike most singers, I actually do listen to her lyrics. I’m terrible with lyrics and most of the time, I could care less about them, but her music very much draws me to her words, not just her music. (That’s definitely a “me” thing, I know.)
A not-so-bold prediction: five years from now (or less), we’ll have a thread “can someone explain the Olivia Rodrigo phenomenon to me?” Her second album GUTS was released today and is even better than her amazing debut. She’s like a bad-girl version of Taylor Swift, with comparable skills in telling stories and writing catchy pop hooks, but with a hint of 90s Riot Grrrl vibes. Here’s her album on Spotify.
Or just check out this banger (NSFW lyrics):
Funny thing about that…
Oh sweet! I’ll have to check that out in a bit. I really enjoyed her first album and songs like “Brutal” kinda touched those 90s alt rock stylings I grew up with.
Listened to it twice already. Goddamn, this is a solid album.
Hah, yeah, that whole saga and the concept of appropriating “stylistic influences” versus regular plagiarism is worthy of its own thread. As Elvis Costello said when questioned about similarities in Rodrigo’s song Brutal to his riff from Pump It Up, "it’s how rock & roll works. You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy. That’s what I did.”
This is a good read.
I never made the connection between the two songs. I mean, come on, it’s a little descending chromatic riff. Probably been done countless times in rock, and sounds different in her context, different vibe, different rhythm. I’m put more in the mind of Elastica with that song than Costello.
I think this is how all music works.
GUTS is great.
At my daughter’s insistence, I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift. I’ll never be a huge fan, but she is enjoyable to listen to. I think she captures the zeitgeist of her generation very well.
It’s … uh … definitely something. It’s making ginormous bank for her:
I’m not nearly a good enough musician to understand how Blurred Lines is close enough to Marvin Gaye to justify over half its take, over five million smackeroos. Was it just a different key, or was there more to it? Was this an uninformed decision? So I don’t know how music works.
I’m sitting here right now listening to Taylor’s Version of 1989. I may not be an avid fan, but I sure act like one. Olivia Rodrigo is more my speed for modern pop stars, but I so enjoy Taylor.
Me, too. That’s what reminded me to post.