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

[Cranberry]

Taylor Swift Documentary 'Miss Americana' to Open Sundance Film Festival

Quote

The new doc, directed by Emmy winner Lana Wilson and produced by Academy Award winner Morgan Nevill, is described as a "raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time." Throughout the documentary, the audience will get an inside look at the singer's "transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice." 

[UYI]

Yep, that's the documentary she had mentioned for Netflix. I guess it's going there after Sundance. All the music from Big Machine got cleared for it, too. 

There will also be a Christmas song/homemade video released at midnight tonight called "Christmas Tree Farm." Taylor, of course, grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Reading, Pennsylvania (and as I said recently, I have actually seen the house in person). 

Edited December 5, 2019 by UYI

[27bored]

Yeah, I’m good.

[UYI]

"Christmas Tree Farm", complete with lots of video of Baby!Taylor, Toddler!Taylor, and LittleGirl!Taylor at the title place at her childhood home in Reading, Pennsylvania.

[UYI]

And the lyric video:

I mean, it's not the second coming of "All I Want for Christmas is You" (then again, what is?), but still, I like it. *shrug*

[27bored]

Dude, isn’t Cats coming out in a few days or something? Why isn’t Taylor promoting that film instead of releasing annoying Christmas music? I haven’t heard her say one word about cats. She hasn’t said she likes cats, she knows cats, she needs some kitty litter, she can be catty, one of her friends got catfished, she smells cat food, she wants a Kit-Kat bar, nothing. Instead she’s just out here singing Shake It Off with Ashley Frangipane and Cameltoe Cabezo or whatever her name is.

Edited December 6, 2019 by 27bored

[UYI]

I think it's on Christmas Day, actually, so that's probably still coming (also, her 30th birthday is a week from today). She did release the song "Beautiful Ghosts" recently, though, which is on the movie's soundtrack, plus she's on the cover of the new British Vogue, where she was interviewed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who co-wrote BG with her:

So she's done SOME publicity for the movie, and there may be more to come. 

[UYI]

Also, for those who missed it: here's her greatest hits medley from AMAs on November 24th, where she received the fan-voted Artist of the Decade award, which was presented by Carole King. And yes, that's Camila Cabello (I know you were probably just being facetious, @27bored, but just in case, that's her name--always wanting to help someone out 🙂 ) and Halsey singing "Shake it Off" with her. 

And here's "Christmas Tree Farm" again, this time just as the audio clip with the single cover.

[UYI]

Today is Taylor Swift's 30th birthday.

[shantown]

5 minutes ago, UYI said:

Today is Taylor Swift's 30th birthday.

And she got her own little emoticon on Twitter for it! Fun!

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, UYI said:

Today is Taylor Swift's 30th birthday.

She shares the same birthday as my mom. Cool :). 

[Cranberry]

Her Billboard Woman of the Decade speech was pretty great (if you don't want to watch a video, you can read the transcript here).

[UYI]

The trailer for Miss Americana is here:

And Taylor's interview in Variety, which also discusses the documentary, as well as the fact that her mother Andrea, who is battling cancer, now is suffering from a brain tumor, too:

https://variety.com/2020/music/features/taylor-swift-politics-sundance-documentary-miss-americana-1203471910/

[UYI]

And another Variety article about her new song "Only the Young", which will premiere at the end of the documentary.

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/taylor-swift-political-song-documentary-miss-americana-1203473948/

[Pickles Aplenty]

On 12/5/2019 at 9:37 PM, 27bored said:

Dude, isn’t Cats coming out in a few days or something? Why isn’t Taylor promoting that film instead of releasing annoying Christmas music? I haven’t heard her say one word about cats. She hasn’t said she likes cats, she knows cats, she needs some kitty litter, she can be catty, one of her friends got catfished, she smells cat food, she wants a Kit-Kat bar, nothing. Instead she’s just out here singing Shake It Off with Ashley Frangipane and Cameltoe Cabezo or whatever her name is.

I know this comment is over a month old, but I can't really blame Taylor for not promoting Cats.  It looks terrifying, and it didn't perform well, so she probably wants to bury it.  Cats is basically Taylor's Glitter.

[aradia22]

A perfect example of another artist giving life to a Taylor Swift song. Lover is still not a great song but with a better vocalist than Taylor and without Antonoff's dreariness, at least there's some passion in it. The music matches the content of the lyrics more. 

[shantown]

To each their own. I rather enjoy the slow, steadiness of the original. Bean's version is interesting, but the flourishes added aren't really my jam.

[UYI]

"The Man" is her newest single. First, the lyric video from a few weeks ago, then the official video released this morning.

 

[Bastet]

Ha!  I don't really care for the song (I like the lyrics, but not the music), but that video made me laugh in several scenes: the subway (the manspreading and the newspaper are perfect), "World's Greatest Dad" at the park, "58 years later", and being asked to be sexier and more likable in the next take.

[Cranberry]

The behind-the-scenes videos are great -- it's fun to hear her voice coming out of "The Man."

 

 

[methodwriter85]

She really did look like Tom Cruise. LOL.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Lol, I always thought Taylor reminded me a bit of Kim Wilde. 

[truthaboutluv]

Surprised this hasn't been posted here. She did a "surprise" album. Will be released on streaming tonight at midnight. 

 

[shantown]

Listening to it this morning, which is a fitting time considering the more "chilled out" vibe of the album. No huge pop/radio hits like previous albums. I'm enjoying it so far!

[shoregirl]

I'm really enjoying it to. Working with Aaron Dessner from the National was really good collaboration. I love the song with Bon Iver . Never thought I'd see a Taylor Swift with an explicit label. 

[incandescent]

I'll definitely call this album a step up from Lover (and a hundred times better than Reputation).

[Cranberry]

I like it. My favorites so far are my tears ricochet, august, and cardigan. It was also refreshing to have an album drop with something like 12 hours notice instead of the months of promo, "Easter eggs," secret session misinformation, and whatnot.  

[methodwriter85]

It feels like a more somber album, in step with the current mood of the world. Good job, Taylor. It's like Safe and Sound grew up and birthed an entire album.

[pinkandsparkly13]

I haven't listened to it yet but I need to. She's a must for me. Lol but man we're not going to get Cruel Summer as a single?! I mean I don't know how well it would have done since pop isn't as big right now, but still. I feel like that's what most people wanted.

And what is the deal with not capitalizing any of the songs? I'm a little annoyed by it now. Ariana Grande did it for 2 albums so it's not original. 

[methodwriter85]

I feel like "Cruel Summer" was probably going to happen this summer, but then the pandemic happened so she no longer had a tour to promote with a new single, and then she inexplicably made an entire album that completely clashes stylistically with her Lover era so yeah. This whole album was totally unplanned as Taylor doesn't do back to back years and now she's got a new(ER) album to promote. Maybe it'll still happen, but I'm really liking "Cardigan." People are doing mashups of it with Harry Styles "Falling."

 

[Pickles Aplenty]

This is rough:

https://www.ibtimes.com/taylor-swift-speaks-out-after-scooter-braun-sold-her-master-recordings-300-million-3083500

Granted, I don't know jack-shit about the music industry and the business side of things, but if what Taylor says is true, it still sounds rough.

 

[methodwriter85]

Taylor Swift has dropped a Folklore "Sister" album called Evermore. 

Damn, I was really hoping for a "Last Great American Dynasty" video.

Edited December 11, 2020 by methodwriter85

[Pickles Aplenty]

I listened to "Evermore" this morning.  I liked a few tracks, but ultimately, I thought it was a snoozefest.  But, she's getting positive reviews for it, so I must be a philistine who doesn't know what they're talking about.

[truthaboutluv]

4 hours ago, Everina said:

I listened to "Evermore" this morning.  I liked a few tracks, but ultimately, I thought it was a snoozefest.  But, she's getting positive reviews for it, so I must be a philistine who doesn't know what they're talking about.

Nah, it just means art is subjective. Taylor has never not gotten positive reviews for a single one of her albums. And that's not to say her music has ever been outright bad but honestly at this point, I don't even pay attention to reviews for her stuff because critics been up her ass for years and seem happy to stay there. 

As for the album, like you I didn't love it. Frankly it sounded to me like the leftover tracks most artists tend to have when they complete an album. The ones that were okay but not good enough to make the final cut. And frankly since I thought Folklore would have been better served with at least 3-4 songs removed, we really didn't need Evermore. 

[Pickles Aplenty]

29 minutes ago, truthaboutluv said:

As for the album, like you I didn't love it. Frankly it sounded to me like the leftover tracks most artists tend to have when they complete an album. The ones that were okay but not good enough to make the final cut. And frankly since I thought Folklore would have been better served with at least 3-4 songs removed, we really didn't need Evermore. 

Yeah, these are just "Folklore" castoffs. That's what I thought this album would be once I heard it was going to be released.  

There is talk of her releasing a third album, which would make this some kind of folk trilogy, but obviously, I have no idea if that is true.  Fans say they're seeing it in one of her Easter eggs. 

[cmahorror]

On 12/12/2020 at 7:49 PM, Everina said:

Yeah, these are just "Folklore" castoffs. That's what I thought this album would be once I heard it was going to be released.  

There is talk of her releasing a third album, which would make this some kind of folk trilogy, but obviously, I have no idea if that is true.  Fans say they're seeing it in one of her Easter eggs. 

TS debunked this theory - they were using fake titles during the album mock-ups and simply forgot the word was there when it went into pressing.

Now for the albums:

Folklore - Loved this on first listen. I know I am in the minority but I would have cut "mirrorball", just doesn't click for me. There are songs I loved and just really liked after that. The only ones I may skip are "peace" and "mad woman" and that is only once in a while. "at least i'm trying" is my favorite song and contains the great lyric "They told me all my cages were mental/so I got wasted like all my potential".

I work in an ER, just the secretary, but given what I have seen over the course of this pandemic, "epiphany" hit me hard. I know it is not a lot of people's favorite but between the war imagery (my Grandpa was a WWII vet and had a hard time talking about it) and the hospital imagery, it just worked.

 

Evermore - I was scared that this would be too much of a good thing but, honestly, this is just as good as Folklore, it just took me a few listens to really get into it. "willow" is a great transition song between the two albums. I also think she took more chances with her sound on this one. The sirens and storytelling of "no body, no crime" helped it become one of my favorites, and the work on "evermore" and "coney island" with The National and Bon Iver are great collaborations. The only time it really didn't work for me was on "closure". I get the point, the drumming of her ex invading her space, but I would love a second version without that damn backing noise. Don't care for "gold rush", just not my kind of song.

The two songs that had me in tears, no I am not kidding, were "tolerate it" and "marjorie". I have been in that situation where I felt like the person I loved just seemed to want me around to take care of things and not because they loved me. It is devastating and each line hit harder and harder. I am a widow so, even though the song "marjorie" was about her grandma, it still resonated with me. I especially loved that she had recordings of her grandma and was able to incorporate her singing into the song.

YMMV as always but I am loving singer songwriter TS and hope she stays in this lane for awhile.

Edited December 19, 2020 by cmahorror

[GaT]

Taylor Swift Says 'Fearless' Re-Record Has New Songs Too

Quote

The singer made a surprise announcement Thursday on 'GMA' that the first big step in her full album do-over -- "Fearless: Taylor's Version" -- is her new version of "Love Story" ... which drops at midnight, just in time for Valentine's Day.

That track was also the lead single when the OG "Fearless" album dropped in 2008, and Taylor says it was her favorite to re-record because she feels her voice is more mature now.

The bonus news is the full album remake will be different, because she's including never-before-heard "songs from the vault" ... 26 tracks total. The initial release of "Fearless" was 13 songs, and the platinum album had 19.

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by GaT

[Cranberry]

That's so smart. If she includes a few unreleased songs on each of these re-recorded albums, she's going to make a killing. 

[aradia22]

I was very lukewarm on folklore. A lot of the songs seemed half-baked. I haven't gotten to evermore yet because I'm trying to find more joyful new-ish pop music (an almost impossible endeavor). 

Just popping in to say that ME! has worn me down. It's still not great but there's something so catchy about it. 

[shantown]

I wasn't that into folklore because I wasn't really looking for a quiet, folk-pop sort of album so I didn't really connect with it. It wasn't bad though, something I'd put on in the background when I wanted music playing but didn't necessarily want to LISTEN to music, if that makes sense. Evermore seemed like a bunch of tracks that weren't good enough to make the cut for folklore. All power to Taylor if that's the direction she wants to go in, but I'll be sticking with the 1989/Rep/Lover eras when the music was a bit more poppy fun.

[aradia22]

The thing is Taylor has always had some dumb lyrics ("you were Romeo, I was a Scarlet Letter") but I maintain that most of the songs on her early albums were internally consistent. The folklore songs sound like first drafts. I don't need pop songs but I want her to confidently say whatever she's trying to say. I feel like Kelsea Ballerini is writing the straightforward songs that Taylor used to write. I appreciate Taylor's ambition but it doesn't count for much if you don't add rigor and discipline to create a polished product. 

[Kromm]

I find it interesting that (so far at least) her re-recorded songs only have very basic lyrics videos. I understand both the expense of making a good video, and COVID getting in the way, but I'm surprised they haven't at least cranked out something for the really huge songs, like Love Story and You Belong With Me. 

I have to imagine that even though they reside on Taylor's own YouTube channel, that the same profit splitting exists with the original videos as does with the original tracks themselves.  Some portion of the profits still going to the master audio recording owner, I mean, since those are what's mixed into those videos. 

[RealHousewife]

I love Taylor. She makes great comfort music. 

[methodwriter85]

On 5/14/2021 at 3:11 PM, Kromm said:

I understand both the expense of making a good video, and COVID getting in the way, but I'm surprised they haven't at least cranked out something for the really huge songs, like Love Story and You Belong With Me. 

"You Belong with Me" would just be weird because of the high school setting, although "Love Story" could have worked transposed to an adult's world instead of college. You could pretty much change it to someone that she meets at her office or something. Or someone that she runs across at a local coffee shop near her work or something.

It's not like it's any unprecedented, either. Tiffany redid "I Think We're Alone Now" with an accompanying video.

I am bummed that we didn't get videos for "Cruel Summer", which was BEGGING for a video. I also would have loved a video for "Last Great American Dynasty", because it seems like it would have been a ton of fun.

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by methodwriter85

[RealHousewife]

On 4/21/2021 at 12:49 PM, shantown said:

I wasn't that into folklore because I wasn't really looking for a quiet, folk-pop sort of album so I didn't really connect with it. It wasn't bad though, something I'd put on in the background when I wanted music playing but didn't necessarily want to LISTEN to music, if that makes sense. Evermore seemed like a bunch of tracks that weren't good enough to make the cut for folklore. All power to Taylor if that's the direction she wants to go in, but I'll be sticking with the 1989/Rep/Lover eras when the music was a bit more poppy fun.

That's pretty much how I feel about her more recent work too. I like it, but in the way I'll play certain classical/instrumental music in the background. Her music is still pretty and cozy. It's just not "I love these songs and want to listen to them all the time."

 

[methodwriter85]

Dylan O'Brien and Sadie Sink KILLED it. What a great idea from Taylor. 

 

[Misslindsey]

I thought the actors were fine, but the All Too Well short film was so bad. It was like every cliche was thrown in it. 

[Pickles Aplenty]

I liked it.  Maybe it's because I've had past relationships like that, but I thought it was..."enjoyable" isn't the right word, but I don't want to say "true" either, because that makes me sound like a pretentious arthouse dick, lol.  Anyway, I could relate to it.  And I thought Sadie Sink's acting was fantastic.  I hope she goes on to have a long career.

It's funny, I was always a casual fan of Taylor's before she re-recorded these albums, but now I really like her, and I'm beginning to see why people liked her earlier albums so much.  So, I guess this makes me a Swiftie.  Oh, noes.

ETA: She's also releasing another video directed by Blake Lively.  I wonder which song it will be?

Edited November 14, 2021 by Pickles Aplenty

[peachmangosteen]

On 11/14/2021 at 11:21 AM, Pickles Aplenty said:

She's also releasing another video directed by Blake Lively.  I wonder which song it will be?

 

[aradia22]

Listening to Fearless (Taylor's Version) some of the tracks don't work that well coming from a mature singer but I'm actually surprised how many of them work because they're written from the POV of someone recalling the past. Like The Way I Loved You isn't terribly different from Katy Perry's The One That Got Away. The Best Day is still a very sweet tribute to a childhood memory of her mom.