AIBU to say Taylor Swift is a once in a generation songwriter?

Would you say that you know it, 'all too well'? Haha

The thing is that, for people who just aren’t into her, it’s never enough for them to just say they aren’t into her. They have to just shit on her from a great height, she’s crap, she’s average, she doesn’t write her own stuff, she only writes vapid pop for 9 year olds, she’s no <insert name here>. All she’s written is Shake It Off, I’ve never even heard her music (then how do you know if it’s good or not?) she’s just a generic blonde pop singer, etc etc.

Taylor fans do exactly the same thing when trying to argue about how amazing she is, though. So far on this thread, people have been told:

You must not have listened to her enough
You can't have heard XYZ song or album.
Her lyrics are hard to distinguish from Shakespeare so she must be some kind of musical genius.
Because you can't name any of her songs, you can't offer a judgement on her.

I think Taylor fans get criticism because (to me anyway) they're very "in your face" and take any criticism of her as some kind of personal attack. Why not just say "I really like Taylor Swift" without trying to persuade everyone that she's some kind of musical genius?

I'm not familiar with her work really either though have heard of her. May check her out on YouTube

Erm, plenty of people have said they’re just not that into her in this thread! They’re been told they just haven’t listened to enough.

for the record I think she is “ok”. She doesn’t offend me. She doesn’t set me alight. I certainly don’t consider her groundbreaking but I don’t mind her existing.

I hope that most of us can agree that Kanye being 'once in a generation' can only be a good thing.

(I'm not talking about his music, which I really don't know. I couldn't name one of his songs, but I wouldn't say I've never heard any as I would be very surprised if that was the case)

The thing is that, for people who just aren’t into her, it’s never enough for them to just say they aren’t into her. They have to just shit on her from a great height, she’s crap, she’s average, she doesn’t write her own stuff, she only writes vapid pop for 9 year olds, she’s no <insert name here>. All she’s written is Shake It Off, I’ve never even heard her music (then how do you know if it’s good or not?) she’s just a generic blonde pop singer, etc etc.

Imagine if someone started the same thread about Freddie Mercury, and a load of nay sayers piled in with

Freddie Mercury, lyrical genius?? What, you mean the guy who wrote

”Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like”

That guy? He just writes cheesy pop crap for children.

They don’t. Because everyone knows he did so much more than that. But nobody ever wants to admit that about Taylor, they seem determined to reduce her down to one or two songs and say that’s all she’s done and because it’s cheesy pop, that’s all she’s capable of. And for people who know the rest of her work well, that kind of sneering snobbishness is really bloody annoying.

" I wouldn't start a thread and copy and paste their writings as that would probably be a bit crass."

I wouldn't either. Not sure why you aimed that comment at me tbh...

Each to their own! I've just got tickets for Liam Gallagher and Blue (not together). I'm waiting for David Essex to be released

I don't think people saying 'I'm not a fan of her music personally' get a lot of ire?

No - they just get told they must be a fan, they just don't realise they've heard her songs on the radio, or they haven't realised how deep and profound her lyrics are. It's like they think anyone who doesn't like her just hasn't listened to enough of her music.

I mean, someone upthread even posted a BuzzFeed quiz which apparently shows that it's hard to distinguish Taylor Swift from William Shakespeare - as though that's some kind of argument for her being a good song writer

YANBU
She's a genius megastar and I love her
(and finished high school the year she was born!)

That's fine - people can enjoy whatever music they want to enjoy.

But if you start a thread claiming someone is the "greatest songwriter of her generation" then you're going to get people disagreeing with you.

The thing with Taylor fans is it's very all or nothing - they don't seem to like hearing that people don't like her without taking it all very personally.

They are great! My 9 year old son loves them too now. When he was younger he would write his name as “Liam Howlett” on his notebooks.

DD has grown up with rock/indie/grunge but there’s something about TS she adores. Tbh, I love the fact she embraces it rather than the some of the kids I teach who just wear Nirvana t-shirts because “they’re cool” and not even know who Kurt Cobain is.

Anyway, carry on with the Tay-Tay love all. One old rocker here has been converted!

Thank you for this thread. I usually stick to the TS songs I know but now I've listened to some new songs and love them.

She is talented, and I like some of her songs but can not stand Anti Hero. The lyrics appear to be written via a formula in the same way Ed Sheerans song Perfect is where they are trying to be too clever with it but it's awful.

That and the fact "quirky" unfunny women kept posting cringe tik tok videos of themselves miming "it's me, hi, I'm the problem it's me!" As though they are some badness.

Both Taylor Swift and ed Sheeran are pretty crap and dull
they have money behind them and amazing marketing
apparently ed Sheeran regularly takes unknown song writers work and passes it off as his own and they get a nominal fee
i think both are pretty average

@MrsMurphyIWish yesssss the prodigy. That has passed down a generation for sure in our family, my parents used to play them all the time when I was growing up they’re in their 50s now and still listen. They used to go to see them when they started out in small clubs. Honestly I love them they are another phenomenal live show more like a massive rave! People will always recognise fire starter etc and they stay close to their musical roots which I love

Every thread about her on here follows the same pattern. Posters saying:

She's only famous as her parents paid for her career

Her songs all sound the same and are boring and about boys

She doesn't even write her own songs

I haven't ever heard any of her songs they're just for kids

People then respond and yes get a bit defensive because these aren't objective opinions but are based on the boring articles and assumptions made about her. I don't think people saying 'I'm not a fan of her music personally' get a lot of ire?

It was the once in a generation songwriter bit that I thought to, if it hadn't mentioned that, I would have ignored it as she is just one of many pop singers that some like and some don't

MN is hilarious. 'Like Kris Jenner'. I can only assume most people on here are trolls.

Someone mentioned that radio is a dead medium, and that is part of the problem.
If you listen to spotify and the like sit will only ever suggest the same styles of music that you put in.
Most people are just listening to an echo chamber.

I'm probably not the best person to respond because I'm still angry at the 6 hours of my life I lost trying to get tickets for my daughter's to her Dublin gigs.

I didn't know much about her music but I've 3 teen girls who are fans. We did a couple of long drives over the summer and my daughter's were playing her music. There were a couple of good songs but in the main I found them boring and samey so would definitely not consider her a once in a generation songwriter. I think to win that accolade you would need to resonate with people across the generations imo.

It's all a bit 'leave Britney alone' isn't it. Taytay 😬😬😬😬

"She's not widely known outside her very young demographic."

I'm 41 and DH is 52..... we love Taylor Swift 🤷🏼‍♀️

Love TS

Seeing her in Cardiff in June!