Page 5 | Taylor Swift

GinJarRogers · 2023-05-04T15:39:24+00:00

My girls are 10 and 8 and really into Taylor Swift. I’ve never really listened to her music before but her lyrics are amazing, she’s so talented and I’m just so happy that women like her are here to be role models for my girls.

TaraHill · 05/05/2023 13:34

Verigio · 05/05/2023 12:27

@beguilingeyes I’d say start with Red, it’s the most ‘crossover’ album in terms of sound so if you like it you should find something to like on all her others.

@TaraHill I’m struggling with Cornelia Street atm, my fave off the album too! ‘That’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend…’ 😭

💔 there are so many lyrics that are so sad. I think my favourite from that album is Daylight. Highly recommend the live version from Paris: “I used to think love would be burning red, but it’s golden” 😭

SummaLuvin · 05/05/2023 14:02

tabulahrasa · 05/05/2023 12:39

I think bigger than the whole sky is about a miscarriage as well, though I don’t take that to mean she had one, it could easily be for someone close to her.

My first thought with BTTWS was that it was about loss of self, and her mourning the person she would’ve been had she not gone through a trauma. Then I heard WCS and thought I was definitely right as they have some sister lyrics “what could have been, would have been, what should have been, you”. It was only after that I saw a lot of people saying they thought it was about pregnancy loss. And I can see that too.

WeWereInParis · 05/05/2023 14:54

I think what's brilliant about a lot of her songs, and probably part of the reason why she's so popular, is that they can be different things to different people depending on your own experience. Bigger than the whole sky is a good example - to me I thought it was about a miscarriage the first time I heard it, but I've heard other people relate to it being about loss of a loved one in general, and I've heard people talk about it being about loss of self.

This Is Me Trying is another one for me. I reminds me of how I felt when I had a tiny baby and severe PND/suicidal thoughts ("I've been having a hard time adjusting, I had the shiniest wheels now they're rusting, I didn't know if you cared if I came back, I have a lot of regrets about that") but of course it's not about that. Obviously it doesn't relate perfectly, since that's not the topic, but it always makes me think of it anyway.

tabulahrasa · 05/05/2023 15:49

“I think what's brilliant about a lot of her songs, and probably part of the reason why she's so popular, is that they can be different things to different people depending on your own experience.”

oh absolutely - the only thing definite about bigger than the whole sky is that it’s about loss, of something/one and loss is universal.

I suspect this is me trying is probably about the loss of her masters and re-recording them, but because the emotion is more universal than that, people relate to it about different stuff they’ve been through, I know I do.

and yes, I think that’s why she’s so good, her lyrics are like poetry (in more than one sense) they’re hugely personal but also capture bigger emotions.

Even the catchy glitter gel pen songs are deeper than they seem.

TaraHill · 05/05/2023 16:38

WeWereInParis · 05/05/2023 14:54

I think what's brilliant about a lot of her songs, and probably part of the reason why she's so popular, is that they can be different things to different people depending on your own experience. Bigger than the whole sky is a good example - to me I thought it was about a miscarriage the first time I heard it, but I've heard other people relate to it being about loss of a loved one in general, and I've heard people talk about it being about loss of self.

This Is Me Trying is another one for me. I reminds me of how I felt when I had a tiny baby and severe PND/suicidal thoughts ("I've been having a hard time adjusting, I had the shiniest wheels now they're rusting, I didn't know if you cared if I came back, I have a lot of regrets about that") but of course it's not about that. Obviously it doesn't relate perfectly, since that's not the topic, but it always makes me think of it anyway.

Completely agree. “Out of Woods” is meaningful for me from when I had my first baby, the birth was traumatic and I felt on edge for at least the first year. I love the video as well when she ‘finds herself’ again.

This is Me Trying reminds me of how I felt in my first year of uni, I really struggled to settle in and had my heart broken too.. I almost quit.

I selfishly would love her to have children so she can write songs about that! Although she did a very good job already with Never Grow Up.

CatMattress · 05/05/2023 17:05

EmmaEmerald · 04/05/2023 22:53

CatMattress "He's Iver it now,"

I like what you did there!

I don't pay any attention to her love life, but being a big fan of the 1975, I've also seen the latest rumour and don't think it's true. Wouldn't surprise me if they put it out there for a giggle.

Hah! I'm dreadful for typos, esp when tired.

I am massively over-invested in Taylor. If she and Joe are broken up then that makes me really sad. I love the songs she wrote with and for him and her music had provided a bit of a soundtrack to my marriage ending and then finding new love, so I want her to be in love too. It must be so difficult to try and create a safe, happy relationship in the kind of spotlight she endures.

It also makes me giggle that "I knew you were trouble when you walked in" was released the year DS was born. I tease him it's about him!

EmmaEmerald · 05/05/2023 18:03

TaraHill "I selfishly would love her to have children so she can write songs about that! Although she did a very good job already with Never Grow Up."

I posted that song on a thread about kids the other day.

Selfishly, I'd like her to be childfree like me.

aSofaNearYou · 05/05/2023 18:19

Taylor's songs about parent/child relationships have always choked me up. Can't get through Ronan or The Best Day without tearing up!

PinkPlantCase · 05/05/2023 18:57

@aSofaNearYou Ronan gets me every single time 🥺

tabulahrasa · 05/05/2023 19:51

Tbh, I’m not hugely invested in her personal life in terms of relating to her music, I was already with my DP and had DC before her first album was even written 😂 I don’t think it matters from that perspective.

I mean, I hope she’s happy and it must be awful to have to go through a break up or have relationships with that level of fame and scrutiny, so, I hope she has children if she wants them and doesn’t if she doesn’t. ... but I don’t really have a lot in common with her that’s not just you know, being a person, lol.

Still love her songs.

IbbleDibbleDibble · 05/05/2023 19:55

Get your girls to listen to ‘fifteen’ and ‘white horse’ @GinJarRogers my DD is only a baby and I’m already planning to indoctrinate her with Taylor Swift when she’s a teen!

WeWereInParis · 06/05/2023 06:37

Ooh I've just seen she's announced that she's releasing Speak Now (Taylor's Version) in July so hopefully there'll be some previously unreleased songs on there.

toastofthetown · 06/05/2023 07:42

I read six vault tracks for Speak Now! I love Speak Now so much. She wrote the album all by herself and it is banger after banger. A line like ‘you made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter’ is such a deceptively simple line and the album is film of them. Sparks Fly, Dear John, Enchanted, Haunted, Last Kiss and Long Live all still sound as fresh to me as they did 13 years ago. Long Live will probably get me all emotional. I think I cried a bit on the Rep tour.

Flittingaboutagain · 06/05/2023 08:43

IbbleDibbleDibble · 05/05/2023 19:55

Get your girls to listen to ‘fifteen’ and ‘white horse’ @GinJarRogers my DD is only a baby and I’m already planning to indoctrinate her with Taylor Swift when she’s a teen!

Same here with my two!

TheaBrandt · 06/05/2023 08:46

We were the other way round. Our oldest got into her late primary then Dh and I listened properly and were blown away. Now we are a Taylor fan family. She’s the one artist we all agree on now they are older and like their cool teen stuff.

aSofaNearYou · 06/05/2023 11:08

toastofthetown · 06/05/2023 07:42

I read six vault tracks for Speak Now! I love Speak Now so much. She wrote the album all by herself and it is banger after banger. A line like ‘you made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter’ is such a deceptively simple line and the album is film of them. Sparks Fly, Dear John, Enchanted, Haunted, Last Kiss and Long Live all still sound as fresh to me as they did 13 years ago. Long Live will probably get me all emotional. I think I cried a bit on the Rep tour.

I always thought Speak Now was my least favourite album because I find Mine/Ours/Sparks Fly/Speak Now a bit boring and interchangeable, but looking back I've realised every other song on that album is a banger. Bit of a weak track listing order I think!

aSofaNearYou · 06/05/2023 11:11

PinkPlantCase · 05/05/2023 18:57

@aSofaNearYou Ronan gets me every single time 🥺

It's just absolutely devastating, so simple but effective.

Bit less of a tearjerker, but as someone who had a beloved grandmother who died when I was in my teens, Marjorie is also a very emotional family one.

EmmaEmerald · 06/05/2023 17:01

I've just spoken with a 40 something neighbour who knows nothing about Taylor but her teen made her listen to something and she is overwhelmed. Apparently she wrote her off because she thiught it was media hype

I don't do media so quite clueless, but what a pity.

maybe I can revive my social life with a Swift listening party!

TaraHill · 06/05/2023 18:11

@EmmaEmerald yes I think a lot of people think she’s a fairly generic pop star, rather than the greatest songwriter of our generation (in my opinion).

Someone upthread mentioned the lyric from Anti-Hero “can you see my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism, like some kind of congressman”.. I mean honestly, it’s not even anywhere near her best song but who else writes like that? So clever.

TheaBrandt · 06/05/2023 19:25

I once said on here I thought she was better than the Beatles and got torn apart. Stand by it though

EmmaEmerald · 06/05/2023 19:43

TheaBrandt · 06/05/2023 19:25

I once said on here I thought she was better than the Beatles and got torn apart. Stand by it though

True
after all the bricks they threw at her
watch from 2 mins if you just want the song

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0474w66uw&pp=ygUTVGF5bG9yIG1hcnkgaiBibGlnZQ%3D%3D

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 07/05/2023 16:05

I hated the Beatles. Taylor is way better.

beguilingeyes · 10/05/2023 15:01

Thanks for all the tips people. I decided to start at the beginning and work forward. I have the first album (love it) and just ordered the second.

CatMattress · 10/05/2023 17:44

beguilingeyes · 10/05/2023 15:01

Thanks for all the tips people. I decided to start at the beginning and work forward. I have the first album (love it) and just ordered the second.

Might be cheaper to get a Spotify subscription...

beguilingeyes · 10/05/2023 18:36

Probably but I'm not a fan of streaming. I know TS doesn't need the money, but I know too many musicians who are seeing their livelihoods disappear.
That and not being able to tour for the last couple of years...I'm not sure how new artists are supposed to survive.
Plus I like to have hard copies just in case everyone does a Neil Young and takes their stuff away.
gets down from soapbox