To not get the Taylor swift hype?

[StopBeingASquare]

I have my hard hat on.
Probably going to get my arse handed to me on a plate.

I really don't get all this fuss about Taylor swift, I just find her utterly boring. All this fuss about midnight / album / preorders / codes to then try and attempt to get tickets in Scotland when you live on the cliffs of lands end. Threads and threads about it and people planning their outfits when the gig is a year away, I thought gig attire was jeans and a tour T shirt?! From various YouTube videos I've seen of her singing live I have to say I wasn't impressed at all. Mediocre voice, dodging high notes. I'm obviously a minority here as there's people willing to sell a kidney to just get a code to be in with a chance of getting a ticket.

I saw Pink in Hyde park a few weeks ago where she was singing live, doing incredible acts, dancing, acrobats etc and it was incredible. I'm not trying to compare, but I just find Taylor so average!

Can anyone tell me why there's all of this hype. I'm fully aware my username is rather fitting.

(I'll get my coat..)

So two other people and you are incorrect about one of them as I don't think Billie Eilish wrote ocean eyes. Regardless nobody (quite rightly) calls Pink and Billie Eilish average..

@WomblingTree86

Many, many people call pink average. (They have on this thread)
And that's okay, that's their POV.

One thing that often gets said about pink is 'I'm surprised she's not a lesbian with her butch appearance and short hair cut.'
Stereotypical bullshit really..

TS gets called average. Pink does, Beyoncé does, ed Sheehan, coldplay. Every singer out there will get called average. I don't think TS gets much more criticism than any other artists. But TS fans will think this, because they know more about TS and what she gets criticised about than other singers they're not huge fans of. Of course certain (normally female) singers will get more flack than others, and maybe TS is in that group. But she won't be the only one.

“I don't think TS gets much more criticism than any other artists. But TS fans will think this, because they know more about TS and what she gets criticised about than other singers they're not huge fans of.”

Maybe... I might just not see it because I’m not a fan of theirs in particular, but I mean... I do listen to both of them, I would read stuff about them if I saw it pop up.

I don’t mean by individuals btw, I mean publicly.

That was Beyoncé and pink I meant btw 🤣 I deleted a line that didn’t make sense and managed to make the whole post not make sense

I think the more famous someone is, the more criticism they get. And Taylor Swift is one of the most famous people on the planet. The criticism she and her 'hysterical' fans get tends towards misogynistic contempt and dismissiveness of art that explores women's lives. I see it in all areas where someone who strikes a chord with girls and/or women is seen as silly, frivolous and of intrinsically less value than art that is created by men and that explores men's interior lives. The standards by which women are judged are very different.

I completely agree

I'm not a particularly big Taylor Swift fan though. I've only listened to her really because my daughter likes her but I was very surprised at just how much she has written, the lyrics and the diversity of the songs including lyrics. I haven't seen that so much with the other artists you mention and I also haven't seen them being called “average” as much .

Dunno, I think she does get more than people on a similar level... Damon Albarn wouldn’t name Beyoncé in an article as not writing her songs... people might tweet about it, but not give interviews like that. 🤷‍♀️

But men are absolutely judged differently.

Ed Sheeran - fairish comparison as there’s a crossover between their music, literally and stylistically... though he’s not as big and has less work and range IMO (vocal and musical range)

No complaints about his lack of dancing or that he performs in jeans an a t shirt, no questioning whether he really writes his own songs or not, no condemnation about only writing songs about exes, even when he does.

People have opinions on how good he is or not, or whether he’s to their taste, but not the same stuff women are judged on.

It’s like when books written by women that mainly women enjoyed were dismissed as “chick lit”

Well, hello thread on Taylor Swift. I'm looking for this.
I'm old. (I mean that.) I'd never knowingly heard a TS song until....yesterday! For some reason I just decided it was time I tried her out. So I went along to Youtube and tried one (sorry can't remember which one!) and I LOVE HER INSTANTLY. Now I've listened/watched five and loved three two meh.
So any advice on how to proceed from here would be amazing.
What MUST I listen to? I haven't RTFT yet, I'm only just through the first 100 posts. Just thought I'd ask!
Also she's really gorgeous to watch, very sassy and interesting. And yes great words. Impressed with her intelligence. God I might go all fangirl.
Big fan of Joni Mitchell, back in the day.

Taylor Swift wrote a few good catchy pop tunes….now the tunes are less popular & her shine has been dulled by the likes of Lizzo, she takes off a few more clothes & is seen ‘dating’ an ex junkie to get a bit of a ‘bad girl’ image. Few more years & she’ll have had a few facial surgeries & no doubt rented a few wombs….isn’t she just a 21st century Madonna but with more auto tuning?

Oh to be this negative and ill informed.

heldinadream

Go straight to her 1989 album. Every song is amazing.

Interesting article here about the attitude to 'stuff that young girls like' and how it's so often belittled:

fangirl

Yes, I was thinking of that! Books that are wise and witty and honest dismissed as fluff. But men writing about relationships or their feelings are being so brave and groundbreaking of course. I think Taylor Swift's lyrics are poetry and she encapsulates so much in a perfect phrase. The way she writes about insecurity, neediness, loneliness, fear, self doubt, loss, love and joy creates a connection that makes fans love her so intensely - it feels very real and relateable, even though she's a squillionaire megastar. It makes her very human and vulnerable. Other artists like Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush mentioned on the thread are very similar in that way I think.

She's breaking records all over the place at the moment; the Eras tour is enormous with unprecedented demand for tickets, her re-recordings of her old material have gone stratospheric, she has four albums in the Top Ten simultaneously - I think saying she's less popular or her shine has dulled is categorically untrue. You might not like her, but she's bigger than ever right now.

Ha yes. All this.
My DD loves TS and I think she's a great role model...as well as great performer. Her show is 3 hours too so I feel like the ticket (£75) is possibly better value than Harry Styles! (Who we also love)
Not sure if I'm going yet. I bought tickets for DD and friends but if they collectively have enough I'm on the reserve list!😄

She’s definitely in the same bracket as kate bush / Joni Mitchell / kirstie McColl singing about women’s lived experiences

Thank you! 😘

Depends what you like normally tbh.

Newer fans tend to work backwards, lol, most fans could give you a list of songs, but it’d be a different list from everyone of them and for different reasons.

Her first album is very country, fearless and speak now it’s still country but more poppy. Red is mostly pop with a bit of country. 1989 and reputation are definitely pop, folklore and evermore are more folk/indie inspired and midnights is back to pop again.

Thats all very loose categorising though, there’s a bit of country type storytelling in all the albums, speak now and red have a bit of a lean towards emo rock, reputation is influenced by EDM and rap.

@tabulahrasa excellent, your summary of the albums is helpful. Gotta start somewhere as a TS ignoramus! Can make my mind up as I go along but just need shoving in one direction or other. Thanks! 😁

I missed lover 🤣 that’s after reputation, and again definitely pop

I'm taking notes. Ta!

Totally agree, do not get the hype at all

Im no fan of Taylor but comparing her with Lizzo who is like a joke Kareoke artist is pretty terrible.