The Taylor Swift Topic: Teen Country Sensation to World-Dominating Pop Star

[aradia22]

@UYI Not at all. :) I'm just saying I think that movie's going to suck. It may not be clear if you're not on the theater thread as much but I hate Cats and I'm not so hot on Andrew Lloyd Webber except for Evita.

[Neko]

Hoo, that sounds awful.

[JustaPerson]

Has anyone seen Taylor's Netflix special? They just filmed one of her concerts on her tour I think. For all of us who can't or won't buy tickets to one of her concerts lol

Edited January 5, 2019 by JustaPerson

[methodwriter85]

19 hours ago, JustaPerson said:

Has anyone seen Taylor's Netflix special? They just filmed one of her concerts on her tour I think. For all of us who can't or won't buy tickets to one of her concerts lol

Watching it right now, but it makes me wish I could watch a 1989-era concert. Definitely my favorite era of hers.

Now that Taylor's getting very close to the 30 label it'll be interesting to see what happens with her. A lot pop acts seem to stumble a bit once they hit 30, but one thing I've noticed is that she's done a really good job with retaining her loyal fans that are also edging or hitting 30-something while also still appealing to current tweens/teens which is kind of incredible.

Edited January 6, 2019 by methodwriter85

[UYI]

15 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Watching it right now, but it makes me wish I could watch a 1989-era concert. Definitely my favorite era of hers.

Now that Taylor's getting very close to the 30 label it'll be interesting to see what happens with her. A lot pop acts seem to stumble a bit once they hit 30, but one thing I've noticed is that she's done a really good job with retaining her loyal fans that are also edging or hitting 30-something while also still appealing to current tweens/teens which is kind of incredible.

Mileage varies on this one, but I'm not sure how "young" much of her audience really is anymore. I'm not saying she doesn't have any tween/pre-teen/teenage/younger college age fans anymore, because I'm sure she does, but I really wouldn't be surprised if the majority of her audience is now within the mid-to-late 20s/early 30s-ish range, as that's who she was aiming towards from the very beginning when she was 16/17 in 2006, and that's the age range they are in now.

I do wonder if she's going to continue in a more electronic pop framework as she gets older, or if she's going to eventually go back to a more acoustic, folk sound, the kind of thing she focused on during Speak Now (her best album, IMO) and Red (minus the three big singles). There's a lot to like about 1989, but honestly, when you compare it to her earlier albums, I really think it's lacking in terms of lyrical and instrumental content. I know I might get my ass kicked in some circles for saying that, but whatever.

And notice that I didn't say anything about her going back to country. Despite the songs she gave to Little Big Town and Sugarland, I am not anywhere NEAR as convinced that she will eventually go back to being a full-time country artist as some seem to be, the way Dolly Parton did after her flirtation with pop-country (but not full-blown pop) with "Here I Come Again" and "9 to 5." Dolly is a country girl from East Tennessee; that's who she IS. I'm not saying that Taylor doesn't have a genuine affection for the genre, or that she doesn't still fondly about the (pop leaning) country women who inspired her so much growing up in the 90's--I mean, her primary residence is still in Nashville, after all!--but I do feel like she identifies a lot more with pop music now, enough that going back to country may not feel all that natural to her anymore--and frankly, a lot of the claims her country music was never all that "country" to begin with were dead on, and I DO think it's annoying that Red was listed as a country album when it clearly wasn't, with the exception or two or three songs AT BEST. And I feel she, more than anyone else, contributed to the idea that you can't be considered a crossover artist in country without taking away a lot of your/any country sound in the process (yes, even Shania Twain didn't go that far in comparison). Because God forbid a person become popular as a country artist by actually sounding country these days.

*ahem* 

Sorry.

Lastly, I've mentioned this before, but like Taylor, I was also born in 1989. I'll admit, it's hard sometimes, because while like her, I also blonde hair and blue eyes, unlike her, I'm not tall, thin, or leggy like she is, and my eyes are big and round, instead of small and cat-like. I know you should never compare yourself to other people, famous or otherwise, and I know she's gained some weight these last few years/possibly gotten breast implants (that's one other area where we differ--mine are naturally big), but it's always been hard, because she is probably the one celebrity I love to look like for even one day/have plastic surgery to look like if I could (don't worry, though--I would NEVER do that!), especially if I could her cat-like eyes and be able to have a great smoky eye, which seems to work better on smaller eyes than bigger eyes like mine. I'm also a lot more shy and introverted, and haven't dated as much, so there's that, too. 

...Anyway, y'all don't want to hear about that. I've made this too long, anyway. :) 

[methodwriter85]

5 minutes ago, UYI said:

Mileage varies on this one, but I'm not sure how "young" much of her audience really is anymore. I'm not saying she doesn't have any tween/pre-teen/teenage/younger college age fans anymore, because I'm sure she does, but I really wouldn't be surprised if the majority of her audience is now within the mid-to-late 20s/early 30s-ish range, as that's who she was aiming towards from the very beginning when she was 16/17 in 2006, and that's the age range they are in now

I'm saying this because going by the concert special, she still has a lot of young fans. There were a lot of kids there, along with the fans that were 16 in 2006. My niece is 12 and also listens to her.

I tended towards loving 1989 because she was heavily influenced by the pop music from that year and I absolutely love that era. "Style" especially felt like something that could have been a hit in 1989.

Edited January 6, 2019 by methodwriter85

[UYI]

43 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I'm saying this because going by the concert special, she still has a lot of young fans. There were a lot of kids there, along with the fans that were 16 in 2006. My niece is 12 and also listens to her.

I tended towards loving 1989 because she was heavily influenced by the pop music from that year and I absolutely love that era. "Style" especially felt like something that could have been a hit in 1989.

Oh I do, too, but I'll admit that as I've become more of a country music fan, it hurts to see how few people are willing to give it a chance unless it's clear that someone's crossing over into pop music, so even if the majority of the mainstream music doesn't sound all that country--as Taylor's never really did outside her first album--that stigma still exists. And it's frustrating.

And while there are a lot of great songs off 1989, it's still hard to look back on that time sometimes, because it was a more difficult time of my life, and seeing her--again, who was born the same year as me--look so good/be in the media SO. OFTEN. made me feel kind of ugly and fat and loser-like in comparison. :'( (This is part of the reason Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass"--which came out at the same time as "Shake It Off"--still holds a big place in my heart--it made me feel a LOT better about myself during that period of time.)

Anyway, I'm sorry, I don't want to cause anymore trouble than I already have. I just so many complicated feelings about her, in large part because we're the same age. -_-

[UYI]

Hey guys, sorry about earlier. I DO sometimes feel insecure next to Taylor about my looks/weight/etc. and I'll admit that some of my memories of the 1989 era are clouded by personal issues that made those insecurities flare up more, but I know I shouldn't let that get in my way or anything. I was in kind of a crappy mood earlier but I feel a lot better now. :)

I will say that, because of the fatigue I've felt recently about her music recently, I haven't really listened much to her these days unless one of her songs that I really like comes on the radio. Even Reputation, despite not having QUITE the same amount of success as 1989 (outside of "Delicate" and the tour itself, that is), has become something that I need to put on hold for a bit.

Nonetheless, I am planning on watching the Netflix special soon. 

[DeLurker]

@UYI - genetics are a lottery and she got a pretty sweet score, but remember she also has a TEAM of professionals paid to help put her together.   What we see is a very carefully maintained and managed image.

Who among us wouldn’t look better if we had access to personal trainers, nutritionalists, stylist, make-up & hair whenever we wanted?

[UYI]

So I watched the Netflix concert special last night, and I'm AMAZED (well, not really, given how extra she can be) that she had an entire video introduction for "Getaway Car" that somehow did NOT end up as an actual music video for that song as a single! Then again, the first three singles were so botched before "Delicate" was released that I could see why she just decided to move on once the latter finally died down in popularity. That's about the only theory that makes sense there to me.
 

And thank you @DeLurker. Like the woman this thread is for, I too need more chill sometimes. I just need to calm down and know not every guy looks at me and is disappointed that I don't look like Taylor Swift, and some--hopefully--think I might actually even be prettier than her for whatever reason. :)

[UYI]

So album #7 may be sooner than anyone would usually think, based on Taylor's recent Instagram posts. She usually waits until late summer/early fall for a lead single, followed by an album by October or November, but with the movie Cats coming out later in the year and her starring role in it, there is a possibility she could break tradition here. Forgive the ass-kissy/fan girl heavy article here; it was the most recent one I could find that includes most or all of the clues given so far.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/eleanorbate/taylor-swift-new-album-ts7-theories

She's also going to be on the cover of the April issue of Elle UK, but due to the fact that she hasn't been giving interviews since the Reputation era began, she instead wrote an essay about music that has meant a lot to her in her life. This article includes portions of it, but I don't think the full version has been released yet.

https://people.com/music/taylor-swift-songs-healed-bad-breakups-elle-uk/

I am curious how she'll do this time around, though, especially with Ariana Grande absolutely KILLING IT these last few months (in terms of chart/radio/streaming/album sale success, that is; obviously the quality of the music is another issue entirely). Taylor was basically on her own during the 1989 era; Adele's 25 came out as the former's tour was winding down, and this would be a real head to head match. I can see this album doing better than Reputation, but not anywhere NEAR as well as 1989 (which isn't really an insult--that would be hard for ANYONE to top!). Maybe somewhere close to where Red did/performed? But with Ariana doing so well right now, I'm curious how this could go. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by UYI

[BuyMoreAndSave]

On 1/6/2019 at 12:55 PM, UYI said:

Lastly, I've mentioned this before, but like Taylor, I was also born in 1989. I'll admit, it's hard sometimes, because while like her, I also blonde hair and blue eyes, unlike her, I'm not tall, thin, or leggy like she is, and my eyes are big and round, instead of small and cat-like. I know you should never compare yourself to other people, famous or otherwise, and I know she's gained some weight these last few years/possibly gotten breast implants (that's one other area where we differ--mine are naturally big), but it's always been hard, because she is probably the one celebrity I love to look like for even one day/have plastic surgery to look like if I could (don't worry, though--I would NEVER do that!), especially if I could her cat-like eyes and be able to have a great smoky eye, which seems to work better on smaller eyes than bigger eyes like mine. I'm also a lot more shy and introverted, and haven't dated as much, so there's that, too. 

Even Taylor doesn't look like Taylor. What you're seeing is her with heavy professionally applied makeup, flattering lighting, filters, the best dermatology money can buy, plastic surgery/Botox, etc. If she had never gotten famous she would still be good looking but she wouldn't look perfect. Also many people suspect she had plastic surgery around her eyes and also a nose job among other things, so probably she even isn't 100% satisfied with her appearance. And FWIW a lot of guys don't find her attractive.

[UYI]

17 minutes ago, BuyMoreAndSave said:

Even Taylor doesn't look like Taylor. What you're seeing is her with heavy professionally applied makeup, flattering lighting, filters, the best dermatology money can buy, plastic surgery/Botox, etc. If she had never gotten famous she would still be good looking but she wouldn't look perfect. Also many people suspect she had plastic surgery around her eyes and also a nose job among other things, so probably she even isn't 100% satisfied with her appearance. And FWIW a lot of guys don't find her attractive.

Yeah, that was not a good day. It's not easy having a celebrity who shares the same birth year as you also be both very telegenic AND perhaps the most famous pop star of this past decade, but I needed to chill there. Yikes.

Speaking of which, Taylor recently made the cover of the US version of Elle. In it, she wrote an article about the 30 lessons she's learned before turning 30 (which she doesn't even do until December 13th, but whatever--I just turned 30 on February 28th), and while there's still some eye roll-worthy moments in there (mainly involving the snake stuff and Kim/Kanye), I will say that it's pretty good.

https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a26628467/taylor-swift-30th-birthday-lessons/

And, despite speculation to the contrary, there has yet to be any announcement to be made about her seventh album and/or a lead-off single. 

Also, here's the full Elle UK essay she wrote, too:

https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/a26546099/taylor-swift-pop-music/

[UYI]

She has updated her profile pictures on her social media, and there is a countdown clock for April 26th--which is in 13 days, and of course, her obsession with the number 13 is world famous at this point.

I am curious how she'll do compared to Ariana, though. Ariana has made it really difficult to keep up, as has Billie Eilish, for that matter. 

 

I should say, though, that I have noticed that her new aesthetic looks very similar to the one used by Kacey Musgraves since the Golden Hour era began (especially the use of butterflies/some rainbows), and if she rips that album off and winds up with more attention...well, I hope that's not the case.

And I've seen others notice this too, including Mark from the online music review show Spectrum Pulse, which is saying something because while he gave Golden Hour a positive review, he wasn't as over the moon about it as others were (I think his favorite album of Kacey's remains her first, Same Trailer, Different Park), so it's saying something when he says something like this:

[Snowball II]

Will this be her, "I'm older, and more mature" album?  Kind of like Miley Cyrus's Younger Now?

If she plans on returning to a more country sound, it could be.  I swear I hear that about every Taylor album, though.  So, if and when she actually does it, it will be anticlimactic.

[UYI]

11 minutes ago, Fiver said:

Will this be her, "I'm older, and more mature" album?  Kind of like Miley Cyrus's Younger Now?

If she plans on returning to a more country sound, it could be.  I swear I hear that about every Taylor album, though.  So, if and when she actually does it, it will be anticlimactic.

Maybe? Of course, she's also been sharing pictures of jewelry recently, which has led to speculation that she's actually leading up to a jewelry line.

I don't believe that at all, though. 

[UYI]

It's ME!

The video below.

And the audio above. 🙂 

[Snowball II]

Sounds like a Meghan Trainor song.

[truthaboutluv]

12 hours ago, UYI said:

It's ME!

The video below.

And the audio above. 🙂 

In the words of Eric Forman - "what do I do...yeah, I'll just walk away". Because um, yeah...

[GaT]

Not impressed at all by this song, it's completely forgettable IMO. Same thing with Madonna's new song. Lots of hype, barely any substance.

[BuyMoreAndSave]

It's trash.

Edited April 26, 2019 by BuyMoreAndSave

[Snowball II]

9 hours ago, GaT said:

Not impressed at all by this song, it's completely forgettable IMO. Same thing with Madonna's new song. Lots of hype, barely any substance.

Yeah, I listened to Medellín the other day, but I didn't even finish it.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good, either.

I didn't finish ME!, either, lol.  I got about halfway through when I realized this is a song for little girls.  That's fine, but pretty boring for middle aged me.  Thank u, next.

[GaT]

I saw the video/heard the song for the 2nd time, & I'm already over it. I figure in a couple more viewings I'll hate it. & after that it will be a rush to change the station whenever it comes on.

[vibeology]

It sounds like a reject from the Trolls 2 soundtrack. 

[Cranberry]

Song is... fine. I don't usually like her lead singles (I still detest "Look What You Made Me Do" even though the rest of the album eventually grew on me). Whatever.

Now what's more fun is how this woman's mind works. Nothing is unplanned. Apparently the names of her next single and album are hidden in the "Me" video. This is my favorite theory for the album name so far:

 

Back in October 2018, she posted this:

The scrabble tiles add up to 7, for seventh album. She started her countdown to the Me video on National Scrabble Day.  In the video, she says "Spelling is fun." Various words are shown in the video: Lover, I IN TEAM, and ME. 

An anagram for all of those letters is REVELATION, with MIEM left over -- or I'm Me.

Reputation and Revelation? Maybe. She apparently said the word "revelatory" in a recent livestream.

I wouldn't even call myself a Taylor Swift fan, at least not a big one, and I find this shit fun. Now, the actual fans... they kinda scare me.

[Cranberry]

It's mostly unimportant, but there are a couple of interesting things:

"This album is a pretty big story. There's a lot to say, there's a lot that is said. It goes pretty in-depth in lyrics that I'm really proud of." 

"There's a lot more on the album that's very different from that first single, which is something that I think the fans have picked up on at this point."

Glad to hear it. I hope this is a situation like with 1989 where I didn't much care for the simpler "Shake it Off" but really enjoyed the rest of the album.

[UYI]

I had never heard of this woman before I found this video, but she is SPOT. ON. 

[red12]

Did anyone see that sad drumline performance she did last night at BMA? Does she or her team have an original thought in their heads. The internet is on it though. #mayochella

Edited May 2, 2019 by red12

[UYI]

1 hour ago, red12 said:

Did anyone see that sad drumline performance she did last night at BMA? Does she or her team have an original thought in their heads. The internet is on it though. #mayochella

Oh yes. TBH I haven't watched Homecoming, and I thought Taylor's performance on its own was perfectly fine and colorful, but these memes are EVERYTHING. 

From The Root:

https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/mayochella-professional-troll-swiftly-orchestrates-ba-1834469709?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=theroot_twitter

[red12]

26 minutes ago, UYI said:

Oh yes. TBH I haven't watched Homecoming, and I thought Taylor's performance on its own was perfectly fine and colorful, but these memes are EVERYTHING. 

From The Root:

https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/mayochella-professional-troll-swiftly-orchestrates-ba-1834469709?utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=theroot_twitter

I later remembered that she did a Formation-lite type of thing for a previous song. I'm wondering if she and her team are purposely baiting the hive because they know people who aren't even really into Taylor or her music anymore will reflexively defend her and keep her in the news.

It's not that I think Taylor has no talent. She just isn't great at this type of performance. Ice skater costumes and poses in leu of dance are actually beneath what I thought she could produce even as a country singing teen. Is she so risk averse that this is it or is this actually all there is?

Edited May 2, 2019 by red12

[truthaboutluv]

And I love her stans coming with "Beyonce didn't invent the drum line, Radiohead had drummers years ago in one of their Grammy Awards performances, long before Beyonce did Coachella". Yes, all very true. Hell, drum lines have been used many times at the SuperBowl Half-Time show. Go watch Prince's absolutely brilliant half-time show and you'll see it. 

But there is a clear variation in how the drum line was used by Radiohead and in Prince's half-time show and Beyonce's Coachella performance. And I'm sorry but anyone who doesn't realize that the way Taylor presented this was damn similar to Beyonce, down to the walking out in diva lights and posing like she's some badass queen, is a delusional stan. 

Now I get it, Beyonce is worth copying because love her or hate her, that woman is a fierce performer. But that's just it, she sells that shit. Mayochella is the perfect word for Taylor's wack self. Girl you're not fierce, you're not a badass on a stage and definitely not with that lame ass song. You're a mediocre vocalist and average performer. Accept this and we can all move along. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by truthaboutluv

[UYI]

[GaT]

It's official, I hate "Me". Me-e-e, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, NO

[Snowball II]

Taylor has lost everything that made her special.  I was never a fan, and I never thought she was some kind of lyrical genius, but I understood why other people liked her.  This mainstream pop stuff is very try-hard.  It's cringe-y. 

[UYI]

On 5/4/2019 at 1:04 PM, Fiver said:

Taylor has lost everything that made her special.  I was never a fan, and I never thought she was some kind of lyrical genius, but I understood why other people liked her.  This mainstream pop stuff is very try-hard.  It's cringe-y. 

You know what I think she's best at? More folk-pop sounding/light country-pop/Americana sounding singer-songwriter stuff. So basically, anything on Red that wasn't the three big singles. "Sad Beautiful Tragic" is a CRIMINALLY underrated song, even by her die hard fans, it seems ("All Too Well" is considered both the best song on that album, and by many the best of her career, but I feel it's somewhat overrated), and the title track is honestly one of her most underrated singles, and an example of a relationship song from her that DOESN'T feel like a three minute blind item set to music. I can understand wanting to branch out, and I don't see her EVER effectively pulling off a traditional/classic country sounding album (Carrie Underwood, yes, Miranda Lambert, yes, Kacey Musgraves, yes, Taylor, no), but I really wish she would re-explore some of her Red or even her Speak Now sound (confession: the title track of the latter is one of my favorite songs of hers ever--it super light and corny, but I love it), but at a more evolved, mature place. I think that would be the ideal career arc for her.

Edited May 5, 2019 by UYI

[Snowball II]

I just don't want her to dance, or act like Beyoncé.  She's not made for it.  Every time she tries, she looks like a flailing Muppet.  It's so sad.

[UYI]

35 minutes ago, Fiver said:

I just don't want her to dance, or act like Beyoncé.  She's not made for it.  Every time she tries, she looks like a flailing Muppet.  It's so sad.

She is the living embodiment of a pumpkin spice latte, which made her Diet Beyonce antics/outfits on her last tour even worse. 

Edited May 5, 2019 by UYI

[UYI]

Todd has just reviewed "ME!":

[Halting Hex]

Man, is Nathanson up his own ass or what?  After admitting that he irrationally overreacted to Taylor's last three lead singles, he does it again.  I'm starting to think he's a prisoner of his own shtick by now.  

At least it used to take a few years for Todd to blatantly contradict himself in re Taylor:

"Fifteen":  "Who cares about songs about your redheaded best friend named 'Abigail'? That's only relatable if you have a redheaded best friend named 'Abigail'!  Too specific!"

three albums later…

"Shake It Off":  "Taylor's so generic now!  Where's all the detail work? I miss the songs about her redheaded best friend named 'Abigail'!"

Now he's doing it in the very same review:

"It's a total exercise in egotism!  I mean, it's called 'ME!' FFS!"

three minutes later…

"It's a total failure as an exercise in egotism! I mean, it's a duet! And it's about a guy! What's up with that?*"

*-Todd has apparently forgotten that we're supposed to hate Taylor because she "always" sings about "boys", never minding the fact that her song subjects have always been far more diverse than that.  (As opposed to, say, Adele, who's still going on about That One Guy Who Hurt Me, years and years after the fact. Must be rough on Mr. Adele, being married for so long and yet having her whine about the ex, constantly…)

His whole theory about the "I'm back, bitch!" single is stupid, too.  Where has Taylor been "away", exactly?  The album is being released ahead of her usual "every-other-year" pace, which would normally see an October release (Michael Jackson took 4.5 years between Thriller and Bad, one of Todd's cited examples) and reputation was (somehow) last year's top album and the tour broke Taylor's own record (from the 1989 tour) for highest-grossing tour by a female artist, despite playing fewer dates.  (And despite the album being, IMO, the weakest since the debut.) Poor Taylor, having to "come back" from that.

(I also like Todd citing the Black-Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" as a successful example of this hypothetical genre, given that the album [The E.N.D.] drew mixed reviews, the group broke up after that, and their solo careers have pretty much tanked over the ensuing decade.  "Success" such as that, Taylor neither needs nor will IMO find.)

And then there's Todd going into fantods [pun!] about the "talking" section of the song ("Hey, kids, spelling is fun!") and somehow forgetting that each of Taylor's last three lead singles has featured a similar break ("So, he calls me up…"/"My ex-man brought his new girlfran…"/"The Old Taylor can't come to the phone right now…") and Todd's bitched about each of those, in turn.  He might complain that this is formulaic, but to act as if Taylor has only now decided to "rip off" Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl", which came out when Taylor was 14, is nearly as stupid as the BeyHive loons being all "Beyoncé totally invented drumlines! Never mind how Taylor did an entire tour with her in 'band geek' persona long before Bey's [IMO ugly as fuck-all] Super Bowl show! Stay in your lane, white bitch! No, we're not being racist!" in their frothing.

(Maybe if Taylor wants to start copying "Queen" Bey, she can find a way to sell fewer albums?  reputation was hardly a smash by TS's standards, yet it still easily surpassed Lemonade.  Or maybe Taylor can start cancelling concerts due to poor ticket sales… [To be fair, Jay-Z showed similar problems during his 4:44 tour, so perhaps he was the one dragging Mrs. Carter down on their joint tour last year.  But still.])

It's a perfectly nice little song that spent four weeks in the Top 10 and which shows that this album will (hopefully) be blessedly-free of the ugly Max Martin production blatt that made half of reputation such a chore.  (Antonoff's songs were much better, IMO.)  As long as Taylor can avoid stupid single choices (how did "End Game" get on the album, much less get a single release?  Meanwhile "Gorgeous" was limited to promo duty, "Dress" never got released at all, and it took months for someone to realize that "Delicate" was a #1 in the making), she'll be fine. 

Or even if she doesn't, given that she prospered quite nicely last time, despite my quibbling.  Later, TitS!

[UYI]

................

Sir (Ma'am?), this is an Arby's.

................

😛

😉

(I'm just kidding. I DO disagree with some of the points you've made here, but whatever. It is what it is. 🙂 )

Edited June 2, 2019 by UYI

[Halting Hex]

4 minutes ago, UYI said:

..Sir, this is an Arby's. 😉

I don't do Twitter, so I didn't "know my meme" in this case.  It seems to be claiming irrelevance, whereas I'm critiquing a review that was already posted, so…

Then again, I only landed here because I was trying to find the Star Trek forum and Taylor is apparently the site's biggest "Star" and so came up first in the search.  You go, T-Swizzle! 🙂  Later, all.

[UYI]

22 minutes ago, Halting Hex said:

I don't do Twitter, so I didn't "know my meme" in this case.  It seems to be claiming irrelevance, whereas I'm critiquing a review that was already posted, so…

Then again, I only landed here because I was trying to find the Star Trek forum and Taylor is apparently the site's biggest "Star" and so came up first in the search.  You go, T-Swizzle! 🙂  Later, all.

Here's the definition:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sir-this-is-an-arbys

My apologies. I wasn't trying to upset you. I just think Tood has a LOT of complicated feelings about Taylor and her music/career...and frankly, so do I. I've talked enough about it here already, though, so I won't repeat myself. 🙂

[Halting Hex]

And, to be fair, I could have just left the comment on the original YouTube posting. But having seen the "she's ALWAYS playing the victim!" canard pop up on page 1, I probably was a bit defensive.  My apologies.

 

6 hours ago, UYI said:

Sir (Ma'am?), this is an Arby's.

I think, for purposes of the meme, I'm by definition a "sir".  Regardless of my actual gender identity.  But I'll admit I'm out of my depth on this.

(Goes to leave critique about blocking in a Star Trek episode.  Ends up discussing meme protocol in a music thread.  Oh, you weird and wonderful worldwide web…)

[Neko]

On 6/2/2019 at 10:44 AM, UYI said:

My apologies. I wasn't trying to upset you. I just think Tood has a LOT of complicated feelings about Taylor and her music/career...and frankly, so do I. I've talked enough about it here already, though, so I won't repeat myself. 🙂

Please do.  I love hearing you talk about Taylor. 🙂

I watched the Todd review, and I didn't have much of a reaction, to it.  Funny thing is, I can't remember a damn thing about ME!, even after hearing it over and over again, in Todd's video.  It's not a very catchy song, IMO.

[Cranberry]

I'm tired of Me!, but the things I'm reading about the new album are promising. This Entertainment Weekly cover story has some tidbits:

Quote

Swift confirmed that her seventh record (she hasn’t announced a title yet; the working nickname among fans is TS7) will include more songs than any of her previous releases. “I try not to go into making an album with any expectation,” she says. “I started to write so much that I knew immediately it would probably be bigger.”

...

“There’s a lot of a lot on this album,” she says. “I’m trying to convey an emotional spectrum. I definitely don’t wanna have too much of one thing…. You get some joyful songs and you get the bops, as they say.” There’s also, she adds, some “really, really, really, really sad songs,” but “not enough to where you need to worry about me.”

She gives us one more clue: The true distinction between TS7 and reputation is in the delivery. “This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

Red had 16 songs, so this one should have at least 17. If it's also more singer-songwriter-y like Red, sign me up.

[UYI]

The new album is officially called Lover, and will be released on August 23rd (the album cover is below). The second single, "You Need to Calm Down", will be released at midnight tonight. 
"ME!" dropped out of the top 10 after only a few weeks, so they're clearly moving on to single #2 very quickly. 

[truthaboutluv]

ME was bad enough (and its fast decline proves just how bad it was. Even the Swifties couldn't mobilize and make it a hit) but if that album cover is any indication of the quality of the album itself, then yeah, no. 

[UYI]

And I also wonder if 18 songs--the most she's ever had on a album--is going to make it wind up sounding VERY bloated.

Forget to add before: the song debuts at midnight, the video doesn't premiere until Monday. 

Edited June 14, 2019 by UYI

[Cranberry]

It's only two more songs than Red, and isn't that considered one of her best albums?

Four deluxe editions is... a little much. Luckily, I don't care about any physical extras, so I can skip those.

[UYI]

43 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

It's only two more songs than Red, and isn't that considered one of her best albums?

Four deluxe editions is... a little much. Luckily, I don't care about any physical extras, so I can skip those.

To me the three big singles hold it back (although I actually like WANEGBT best), but fair point. (Also, UO: I prefer "Sad Beautiful Tragic" to "All Too Well". That might get me executed in some circles.) And actually, the deluxe edition makes it 19 (minus two demos and one acoustic version of three standard edition songs), so never mind. 🙂 

If the deluxe editions had separate bonus tracks, I'd agree, but they have different posters/physical stuff instead, so while it's a bit much...I mean, look at who we're talking about here. 😉