to think Taylor Swift is our century's answer to William Shakespeare

[beastlyslumber]

She's such an incredible storyteller and lyricist (and her songs are ridiculously catchy. It's all about the hooks.) Listening to her album 'folkore' this afternoon - she wrote two whole albums in lockdown, you know. And they're both great, but 'folklore' is insanely good. As she moves away from autobiographical writing into character stories, her storytelling is getting even more emotionally direct, and even more fun. She's a total genius. Even on the rare occasions when her hooks and melodies don't grip you, her lyrics always get right to the heart of things.

If there's any justice in the world, Ms Swift will still be celebrated in 500 years for her original, moving, funny, perceptive and subversive writing.

YANBU = Obviously! She is the Bard of Pop
YABU = WTF? She's way better than Shakespeare

I agree with you OP.

We love TS in this house. I listen to her in the gym , in the car and everywhere else.
A constant loop of every album. Never get bored.
I stayed in the same hotel as her when we went to see her in Hamburg and spent most of the day trying to bribe staff members to let me get on her floor or tell me where she was.

She’s bloody brilliant.

@Sparklingbrook

Oh no, you're definitely free to go What and miss out on an education? 😮

Sometimes giving up is the strong thing Sometimes to run is the brave thing Sometimes walking out is the one thing That will find you the right thing That will find you the right thing And you know in your soul And you know in your soul When it's time to go ❤

Ooh is that the time? I think I’ve double Maths next.

For all the people quoting Shake it Off as 'proof' that TS is a terrible writer, don't you think there's considerable skill in writing something so simple and entertaining and fun? It's not stupid writers who write the most popular books, is it? Think about kids' books - the best ones are simple, repetitive, and endlessly readable. That's not a sign that the writer is an idiot - quite the opposite.

I think it takes real talent to write something like Shake it Off, or Yellow Submarine (as has also been mentioned). Instantly recognisable, upbeat, fun and entertaining. You definitely don't have to like it. But I don't think it's the "gotcha" that some of you seem to think it is.

Some Taylor Swift fans appear to be delicate little flowers. OP has posted this on AIBU. There are going to be pithy comments and low flying insults.

Taylor Swift was prancing around on my telly box a few years ago singing 'I shake it off (whoo-hoo-hoo)'. And it was awful. I haven't the time or inclination to listen to her entire back catalogue to find something I might relate to. Some posters have kindly quoted a few of her lyrics to save me the bother. It hasn't helped. It doesn't mean I think I'm better than anyone else or a 'towering intellect'. I just can't be arsed trying to make myself like Taylor Swift.

Sorry, that should have said 'towering intellectual'.

Shake It Off might not win any songwriting awards but it's still an absolute banger.

Ian McEwans novel Atonement will be on the English a level syllabus next year I read that a few years ago as just a novel to enjoy on holiday but looks like over time it will be elevated to a book “studied in school”. These things evolve and often takes time for the value to be appreciated. All those artists who died penniless and now their work is priceless!

Oh god @MsTSwift they're not adding more McEwan to the A-Level syllabus are they? Those poor kids, we had to do Enduring Love in Eng Lit A-Level 17 years ago and I hated it! I can't stand his writing.

Sorry for the de-rail but was skimming the thread and read this in horror 😂

Shake it off wouldn't normally be my
TS go to but because of this thread I have been singing it all morning. Now blasting in the kitchen having a wee dance while making brunch!

I quite like Style, which she wrote about Harry Styles.

I also like Two Ghosts, which he wrote about TS!

I do have Shake It Off in my head now though...

Not particularly a fan but as a lesbian I will forever love her for line “because shade never made anybody less gay”. It’s been sang at gay clubs ever since.

@NotAnotherPylon

Some Taylor Swift fans appear to be delicate little flowers. OP has posted this on AIBU. There are going to be pithy comments and low flying insults.

Taylor Swift was prancing around on my telly box a few years ago singing 'I shake it off (whoo-hoo-hoo)'. And it was awful. I haven't the time or inclination to listen to her entire back catalogue to find something I might relate to. Some posters have kindly quoted a few of her lyrics to save me the bother. It hasn't helped. It doesn't mean I think I'm better than anyone else or a 'towering intellect'. I just can't be arsed trying to make myself like Taylor Swift.

You don't have to like anyone's music! Do your own thing. I highly doubt anyone cares. I know I don't.

I've taken all the childish insults in good part because it's supposed to be a fun thread. But it is a bit annoying when people turn up at the end of a thread and repeat the same things that have been said 20 times already while thinking they're being clever or "pithy" or original. It's just got a bit old, that's all. Would be great if people read the thread so they could at least come up with a new insult.

Those poor kids, we had to do Enduring Love in Eng Lit A-Level 17 years ago and I hated it! I can't stand his writing.

Enduring Love is complete shit. If anything goes on to the syllabus, it should be The Child in Time. EL was such pretentious, overwritten crap.

How many times did he describe his wife and her lips as "beauteous"? I think I kept a tally. It would have made a good drinking game if you could find any other bugger prepared to read it.

The irony is that Shake It Off is actually a parody of what people think about her.

Would be great if people read the thread so they could at least come up with a new insult.

I can't believe none of these Shakespeare-loving intellectual titans have thought to use the Shakespearean Insult Machine or even just pull a line from somewhere ("The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!" would do nicely.). They've all been so crap and yet claim to be appreciative of wordplay and wordsmithing.

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Sounds like there are tonnes of Daily Mail readers on here devouring all its tripe about her boyfriends years ago. “The criticism that has been directed toward Swift has been riddled with sexism and the focus of backlash has been on her personal life rather than her storytelling skills.” - from John Lizano /The Hoya. It’s bang on for this thread.

It was awful @DrSbaitso, all of us in the class absolutely hated that book. I still have it somewhere with all my annotations all over it. We did some really good stuff- King Lear (I'm now smiling at what my lovely English teacher's reaction would be to the comparison between Shakespeare and TS), and The Worlds Wife by Carol Ann Duffy. But Enduring Love was terrible- why it was on the syllabus I have no idea.

@DrSbaitso

Would be great if people read the thread so they could at least come up with a new insult.

I can't believe none of these Shakespeare-loving intellectual titans have thought to use the Shakespearean Insult Machine or even just pull a line from somewhere ("The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!" would do nicely.). They've all been so crap and yet claim to be appreciative of wordplay and wordsmithing.

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

I'd love it if someone called me a cream-faced loon!

Challenge anyone to listen to champagne problems and still say TS is crap.

Dd and I read Shakespeare in the first lockdown it was pretty bawdy Dd then 11 found it hilarious when one character said to another “stick it up your bum” 😁

@Silenceisgolden20

Winning awards doesn't mean you know better than anyone else's opinion on TS though. Just saying.

I'd love to post a long comment explaining why I felt the need to comment on your post but it's not worth more than a teenage 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

I think 'Shake It Off' has some good lyrics, actually. For an artist with a massive fan base among tween and teen girls and young women, I think a song about learning to give less of a shit about what others might think and say about you, is pretty great.

I never miss a beat
I'm lightning on my feet
And that's what they don't see
That's what they don't see

I'm dancing on my own
I make the moves up as I go
And that's what they don't know
That's what they don't know

Always puts me in mind of dd, and of my own former self, and of many young girls I have known, shy and awkward and self conscious in public, but blasting the music and dancing and singing into the hairbrush behind the safety of the bedroom door, away from judging eyes. And what's more, asserting that the confident, dancing self making the moves up on your own is the cool person you actually are, and the fault is with the haters (gonna hate hate hate) for the fact that they don't see and don't know how awesome you are. It's their problem, fuck 'em. I think it's quite moving and I enjoy when dd sings along with it in the car.

@NotAnotherPylon

Some Taylor Swift fans appear to be delicate little flowers. OP has posted this on AIBU. There are going to be pithy comments and low flying insults.

Taylor Swift was prancing around on my telly box a few years ago singing 'I shake it off (whoo-hoo-hoo)'. And it was awful. I haven't the time or inclination to listen to her entire back catalogue to find something I might relate to. Some posters have kindly quoted a few of her lyrics to save me the bother. It hasn't helped. It doesn't mean I think I'm better than anyone else or a 'towering intellect'. I just can't be arsed trying to make myself like Taylor Swift.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

@Madwife123

Not particularly a fan but as a lesbian I will forever love her for line “because shade never made anybody less gay”. It’s been sang at gay clubs ever since.

🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

@DrSbaitso

Would be great if people read the thread so they could at least come up with a new insult.

I can't believe none of these Shakespeare-loving intellectual titans have thought to use the Shakespearean Insult Machine or even just pull a line from somewhere ("The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!" would do nicely.). They've all been so crap and yet claim to be appreciative of wordplay and wordsmithing.

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

I remember as apart of our gcse English handing to come up with such insults. It was the most fun we had in English.