Swifti(ie) Judgement 1: "Taylor Swift"
Welcome to the inaugural review. Though I made my conversion by way of her later releases, it seemed fitting that I start at the beginning and work chronologically to see her progression through life and genres together.
The first thing I notice through all the songs is the faux southern accent. It slaps me in the face, probably because I have a real problem with hypocrisy. I know it’s hindsight that makes this evident, as clearly she doesn’t speak this way and newer music has no vocal twang. I guess it’s maybe that’s a bit unfair to call it hypocrisy or being inauthentic, I know that I myself have a tendency to affect changes in how I pronounce things depending on the feel of the song and what the original artist sounded like, so maybe she was simply imitating a genre she loved at the time and with which she wanted to fit in. It would have not been an issue at all when it was released and she was a newcomer and this was our only frame of reference. But it hits different now and, for better or worse, sours it somewhat for me. Since her re-releases have largely mirrored the originals instrumentally, it will be interesting to see if “Taylor’s Version” retains the fake southern flavor vocally.
A number of themes people associate with her more recent stuff (at least as far as I am aware) seem to have been there from the very beginning. The sass and attitude for which she’s now famous was already plenty present with “Picture to Burn” (I particularly like the parallel metaphor “strike a match on all my wasted time”), “Should’ve Said No”, and to a lesser extent, “Cold as You” (I’m REALLY disappointed she didn’t rhyme “great little story” with “nerve to adore ye”, but maybe that’s why I’m not a songwriter). Also well represented were her favorite subjects of people thinking she’s obsessive/crazy and plotting revenge. Notably the theme of old blue jeans didn’t seem to survive.
I didn’t notice any sort of “signature” melodic cues, though she was already doing the falsetto flips in “Place In This World”. But there were some metaphorical lyrical things I liked that hinted at things to come, like giving away spare change and hoping it will end up back in his pocket and the aforementioned picture representing wasted time. She probably won’t do it, but “Mary’s Song” cries out to be a duet for its next incarnation.
Stylistically, it isn’t really my cup of tea. I wouldn’t turn it off if it came on in my stream, but I probably wouldn’t seek out something this close to country. As a whole, the album feels like a teenage girl staring out the window and daydreaming during study hall. Maybe because that’s probably exactly what it is - even if it’s from a lyricist who’s better at 13 than I ever will be.
Favorite track: “Our Song” - I like the idea of not needing to measure our relationships by someone else’s standards.
Least favorite: “Teardrops On My Guitar” - The verses move in slow motion, and it’s feels like the most high-schooly of the bunch.
