(Also at 411Mania.com)
On October 27, Taylor Swift will release her fifth studio album 1989. It’s being promoted as her first major pop album, although longtime Swifties will tell you that she’s been more pop than country for at least two albums now.
Taylor Swift started as “the little country artist that could” and has since transformed into one of the biggest solo acts in all of music. She’s done this with a little help from her (ex-boy)friends, catchy tunes and song-writing ability, and plenty of self-awareness and confidence.
The greatest singer/songwriter of our generation isn’t everyone’s cup of tea because some people are weird and don’t like tea. But for those of us who do enjoy a cup, or in my case a barrel, of tea then we recognize just how amazing Ms. Swift is.
Swift has that rare ability to connect with people through her music. She’s a world-famous singer, but she brings herself down to the level of a common person with everyday problems. Famous people have problems too. Their nude pictures leak online, they constantly have a camera in their face, their every word and movement is put under a microscope, but regular Jane and Joe can’t relate to those problems. However, we can relate to relationship woes, wanting to be remembered and famous, and just hanging out with our friends. Swift captures those every day moments with her music and she does it with such passion and conviction that you feel like, despite being a billionaire, she’s just a regular person like you or me.
Does is come off a bit corny at times? Sure, but that’s also part of the charm. Taylor knows she can be a bit corny, but she doesn’t care. That goes back to the self-awareness that I was talking about earlier. She knows that her dance moves aren’t the greatest or that her songs can be a bit over the top, but she’s willing to make fun of those things while always having a smile on her face.
There are also times when it’s not corny. There are times that what you’re hearing and seeing is real pain. I’d like to say it’s forced pain, but maybe it’s because I’m bias, or maybe it’s because I’ve seen her “acting” in Valentine’s Day, but it certainly sounds like real pain to me when she sings about a break-up or a having a bad day as a kid.
Alright, so let’s discuss all the break-ups that Swift has become infamous for. If you listen to the critics, she’s slept with just about everyone in Hollywood, but can’t keep a boyfriend for more than a month or two. The reality is that she dates like a normal person in their teens and early 20’s.
Maybe she gets attached to and falls too fast, but some people can’t help that. I speak from experience. Maybe Swift exploited these relationship failures in her music, but since when is that such a big deal? The best musicians write and sing about what they know. She knows about break-ups. Whether they are her fault (and contrary to popular belief, she has taken the blame for a relationship failure or two) or the fault of someone else. I highly doubt she was dating around just to get her heartbroken so she could write about it. Once again, she’s not that good of an actress.
She is that good of a song writer though, which is something that attracts people to her music. Fans and critics know that she writes all of her own stuff, which should be praised given this day and age of multiple writers and ghost writing. Most of the pop songs you hear on the radio today have at least four writers with the actual artist contributing very little to the song. Hell, most of the pop songs you hear on the radio were actually written for someone else, but that artist didn’t want it so someone else picked it up. So when you hear Iggy Azalea singing about being a Black Widow, just know that Katy Perry was the original Black Widow.
So what can we expect from 1989? My guess is the usual Swift greatness.
Even though she was born just 18 days before the calendar turned to 1990, Swift knows her musical history. For this album, she’s experimenting with a lot of different things. As mentioned, this is her first official pop album, which means she won’t be falling into the comfort zone of her country roots. She’s going to try new things and hope they work. And give the list of co-producers on the album, they probably will.
We’re going to hear her growth over these last two years as a person. Taylor releases a new album every other year and when you listen to the tracks, you can hear her story since the last album. Since Red, Swift moved to New York, had some relationship troubles, had some friendship troubles, had some friendship success, and much more. On Red she’s was feeling 22. Now she’s 24 and we’re going to hear how she’s grown these past two years.
Of course, we’re going to get the usual diss tracks. I’ve always maintained that Taylor is the greatest diss artist of our generation. While there is plenty of tongue-in-cheekiness to statement, there is also some truth. Look at all the people she’s mentioned, directly and indirectly, in her music. How many of them said anything in return? Not many. And that’s because it’s tough to attack a woman, especially a woman who is universally recognized by anyone who has met her as a sweetheart. It’s also tough to attack someone who is speaking the truth.
According to rumors, there might be a Katy Perry diss track on this album, which could lead to a fantastic feud between the two. Swiftie historians will know that this feud has been brewing for quite some time. The two were friends. There are pictures of them hanging out at events and even at Perry’s birthday party. Then Taylor kinda sorta dated John Mayer before kinda sorta splitting. Taylor penned “Dear John”, which outed Mayer as an even bigger douche than most already thought he was. However, that didn’t stop Katy from dating Mayer just months later. Whatever happened to girl code?
A potential Perry vs. Swift feud could do for pop music what Biggie vs. Pac did for hip-hop. Let’s just hope neither lady is caught on the Vegas strip after a Floyd Mayweather fight.
I’ve come to expect a lot from Taylor Swift albums and so far I haven’t been disappointed. I expect that 1989 will be no different. It was the birth year of Taylor Swift the person and it’ll be the re-birth album of Taylor Swift the musician.
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