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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

606 replies

HomeatRoseCottage · 27/10/2023 19:33

I’ve had 1989 TV on all day and she’s just magic 🥰

OP posts:
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9
Ktime · 29/10/2023 21:29

AllegroConMoto · 29/10/2023 21:27

I don't believe that popularity will ever dwindle again.

I actually like her, but do people really think this? No one remains super popular forever.

Think some people are deluded

DueyCheatemAndHow · 29/10/2023 21:47

I'm trying to imagine someone saying 'I can see why she' d appeal to the masses but I...' in real life. I can't. Thankfully.

Panaa · 29/10/2023 22:00

NeverTalksToStrangers2 · 29/10/2023 20:43

Yes in 2018 they were giving away some free tickets to the reputation tour in Dublin and the UK as a direct result of her 2016 cancellation. It was cool to hate her and so reputation the album didn't get the recognition it deserved. In contrast, the 1989 tour sold out immediately (smaller venues though, admittedly). The rep tour was still a massive success though because it was an incredible show (it's on Netflix, you should watch it).

The tour added to her popularity a lot, it was a genius move really to come back fighting. Lover was big too in 2019, but it was really folklore and evermore in 2020 that cemented her popularity. I don't believe that popularity will ever dwindle again.

It was cool to hate her? She just wasn't as popular as she is now. My daughter liked some of her songs but never asked to see her back then, she did ask to go to other concerts though. Same with lots of people, they just weren't bothered.

Now it's full on Taylor Mania and that only started because of the tour. She'll always be a superstar but the mania will die down.

It's not a 'genius move' to come back and tour again, it's just a normal thing for artists to do!

NeverTalksToStrangers2 · 29/10/2023 22:25

Panaa · 29/10/2023 22:00

It was cool to hate her? She just wasn't as popular as she is now. My daughter liked some of her songs but never asked to see her back then, she did ask to go to other concerts though. Same with lots of people, they just weren't bothered.

Now it's full on Taylor Mania and that only started because of the tour. She'll always be a superstar but the mania will die down.

It's not a 'genius move' to come back and tour again, it's just a normal thing for artists to do!

Edited

Yes it was cool to hate her back then.
Reputation wasn't a normal album and tour. It was very much a response to everything that happened regarding her cancellation. Kim Kardashian called her a snake and so people flooded her timeline with snake emojis and hate. She turned it around by embracing the snake and making it a big part of the album and tour.

Her popularity rose with folklore. Before the tour. Nobody had seen the tour when Ticketmaster crashed went into meltdown in US.

But you obviously know more than I do.

NeverTalksToStrangers2 · 29/10/2023 22:27

AllegroConMoto · 29/10/2023 21:27

I don't believe that popularity will ever dwindle again.

I actually like her, but do people really think this? No one remains super popular forever.

I meant that I don't see her ever fading into obscurity like a lot of artists do. Her tours will always sell out now.

Greatbigfluffytrousers · 29/10/2023 22:56

Reputation is the only Taylor Swift album I don’t really like. She seems so driven and up for new challenges, I wouldn’t be surprised if she got more involved with other enterprises outside music.

TheaBrandt · 30/10/2023 06:45

We saw Reputation at Wembley it was incredible. Our best family night out ever.

Quite funny that some dim wits think they “cancelled” TS when you look at her global position now !

JustAnotherDayWorkingAtHome · 30/10/2023 06:53

My daughter is a HUGE fan. We awere lucky to get a code and get tickets at a decent face value price. I’ve now listened to most of her albums and think she is amazing. Her lyrics are so clever and such a range of genres.

AmytheDancingBrick · 30/10/2023 07:05

DueyCheatemAndHow · 29/10/2023 21:47

I'm trying to imagine someone saying 'I can see why she' d appeal to the masses but I...' in real life. I can't. Thankfully.

I suppose what I was trying to clumsily say there was that I can see why she appeals to people / why she has mass popularity, she has a general pop sound that loads of people seem to like.

She doesn’t appeal to me though - I didn’t find a song that I’d want to add to my playlist, same goes for Ed Sheeran. My general music taste tends to be very different - I’d be far more likely to listen to Nick Cave (definitely not everyone’s cup of tea) than Taylor Swift, but I wouldn’t ask that everyone on here agreed with me.

DeeCee77 · 30/10/2023 15:17

NeverTalksToStrangers2 · 29/10/2023 20:43

Yes in 2018 they were giving away some free tickets to the reputation tour in Dublin and the UK as a direct result of her 2016 cancellation. It was cool to hate her and so reputation the album didn't get the recognition it deserved. In contrast, the 1989 tour sold out immediately (smaller venues though, admittedly). The rep tour was still a massive success though because it was an incredible show (it's on Netflix, you should watch it).

The tour added to her popularity a lot, it was a genius move really to come back fighting. Lover was big too in 2019, but it was really folklore and evermore in 2020 that cemented her popularity. I don't believe that popularity will ever dwindle again.

I don't think it was cool to hate her, I just dont think she was on the radar. She just wasnt talked about that much. She was an Ariana Grande level star, so maybe a #1 here and there but with low sales, not astronomical Adele level.

Her sales are still not astronomical (individually not collectively), but it seems the volume of songs she (and her team of songwriters) keeps putting out has raised her to the next tier of stars, and her current tour is her first groundbreaking achievement.

DeeCee77 · 30/10/2023 15:37

Panaa · 29/10/2023 22:00

It was cool to hate her? She just wasn't as popular as she is now. My daughter liked some of her songs but never asked to see her back then, she did ask to go to other concerts though. Same with lots of people, they just weren't bothered.

Now it's full on Taylor Mania and that only started because of the tour. She'll always be a superstar but the mania will die down.

It's not a 'genius move' to come back and tour again, it's just a normal thing for artists to do!

Edited

Agree with this. She was never disliked (quite the opposite really). She's a pleasant girl with genuine talent who sings harmless songs. This "wholesome" normal image is perhaps why she is so popular...she's relatable to so many.

She's not otherworldly/extraordinary ala Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, Prince, David Bowie.

Seen a video yesterday of a fella trying to explain her popularity and he posits that it's her normalness in such a wacky world we are now in that makes her appealing. I can definitely see that.

SweetBirdsong · 30/10/2023 22:44

MrsJamin · 28/10/2023 12:44

"The Beatles were once in a lifetime songwriters of their generation"

We all live in a yellow submarine
A yellow submarine
A yellow submarine
We all live in a yellow submarine
A yellow submarine
A yellow submarine

Yep!

The Beatles wrote/produced some amazing stuff but they did produce some fluff and a few crap songs too...

Not only 'Yellow Submarine.' I also give you 'Hello Goodbye.' Utter garbage.

You say, "Goodbye" and I say, "Hello, hello, hello"
I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello, hello, hello"
I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello"
I say, "High", you say, "Low"
You say, "Why?"
And I say, "I don't know"
Oh, no!
You say, "Goodbye" and I say, "Hello, hello, hello" (hello goodbye, hello goodbye, hello goodbye)
I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello, hello, hello" (hello goodbye, hello goodbye, hello goodbye)
I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello" (hello goodbye)
Why, why, why, why, why, why, do you say, "Goodbye, goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye"?
Oh, no!
You say, "Goodbye" and I say, "Hello, hello, hello"
I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello, hello, hello"
I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello, hello, hello"
I don't know why you say, "Goodbye", I say, "Hello, hello, hello"
Hello-ooh!
Hela, heba-helloa
Hela, heba-helloa (cha, cha, cha)
Hela, heba-helloa (wuu-hu)
Hela, heba-helloa (hela)
Hela, heba-helloa (cha, cha, cha)
Hela, heba-helloa (wuu-hu)
Hela, heba-helloa (cha, cha)
Hela, heba-helloa (cha, cha)
Hela, heba-helloa

Anyone saying Shake It Off by Taylor Swift is pop fluff - it IS Shakespeare compared to that gobbledygook! 😆

SweetBirdsong · 30/10/2023 22:46

Also. 'Love Me Do.' A 7 year old could have written this in their 15 minute playtime at school!

Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please
Love me do
Whoa, love me do
Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please
Love me do
Whoa, love me do
Someone to love, somebody new
Someone to love, someone like you
Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please
Love me do
Whoa, love me do
Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please
Love me do
Whoa, love me do
Yeah, love me do
Whoa-oh, love me do

Id02242730 · 30/10/2023 22:54

London AND Edinburgh?!
Grrrr… sadly I’ve been unable to get tickets.
😔

NotAnotherPylon · 31/10/2023 00:34

Well I suppose quoting other artists' lyrics makes a welcome change from the endless swathes of Taylor Swift lyrics that are supposed to change everyone's minds about what a genius she is.

You love her. A whole lot of us don't. It doesn't matter.

haribosmarties · 31/10/2023 03:15

I like Taylor Swift a lot and I think she's very talented. But YABU. There's lots of just as talented songwriters out there. Taylor Swift is also a very very good business woman. If you said she was a once in a generation business woman I'd have agreed.
But there are many many songwriters just as talented..they just havent been as successful in terms of marketing

RiderofRohan · 31/10/2023 04:46

Please listen to Dermot Kennedy or Cap Carter if you want really good lyrics. I'm a Swifty but no, she is definitely nowhere near the best out there.

ButDaddyILoveHim · 03/11/2023 19:14

I really like and admire TS. Only got into her recently, after dismissing her for an age as a plastic pop princess, and then changed my mind after actually listening to her. She's smart, talented and takes no shit. She's also now a billionaire. Fucking good on her.

(Also, I have to say I am baffled by the 'Cheshire baker' jibes. Yes, Harry Styles had a Saturday job in a bakery whilst at school. What of it? I guess your beloved Freddie Mercury emerged from the womb playing the piano in a skin-tight lycra catsuit, did he?)

I'm clearly in my pop era, as the kids would say. After years of devotion to serious indie and rock, it's kinda life-affirming.

DC1888 · 16/11/2023 21:28

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_by_Taylor_Swift

Its interesting how her career has progressed she had written fewer and fewer by herself. Her last album had just one.

myotherkidisacassowary · 16/11/2023 21:43

YANBU, absolutely love her. The depth of her lyrics perpetually surprised and delights me.

HighlandCowSaysBooNotMoo · 16/11/2023 22:41

I do not get this Swift thing at all

BillieTheFish · 29/04/2024 13:15

I thought she was overrated and put a post up today saying so and I got some real stick for it. I like some of her stuff, not all, not a real fan just the odd song I've heard on the radio I like and the odd one I've heard on the radio I don't. I don't agree that the current Fortnight single is amazing, the lyrics are about affairs, hardly edifying stuff.

peakygold · 29/04/2024 13:25

A woman who writes about how she burns through relationships, and seemingly finds it impossible to stay on good terms with here exes, does not impress me much. Not at all a good role model, either.

Martinisarebetterdirty · 29/04/2024 16:39

How is she not a good role model? She gives millions to charity, is pro women’s rights and pays her employees a fair wage. She’s self made and sticks up for herself - if my DDs end up like her I’d be congratulating myself on top parenting.