Given how rare it is that I listen to any music, it’s exceedingly rare that I listen to an entire album from start to finish. But that’s exactly what I did while cutting and assembling a prototype on Friday afternoon.
I’m familiar with a handful of Taylor Swift’s songs–the big hits–but I haven’t dug any deeper. I’m really glad I listened to the entire album, though, as I may not have discovered some of my favorite songs from The Life of a Showgirl:
I find all three of these enticingly catchy, and I listened to them several more times over the weekend.
Do you have a favorite song from the new album? What’s your favorite Taylor Swift song that may have flown under the radar?
I think I want to be a Swiftie. My fiance is a much bigger fan of Taylor Swift than I am, as he started getting into her music around her Red album. For me, I had only listened to her through my family full of Swifties. When she released her album Midnights, I started listening to her discography more deeply to find quite a few songs that really spoke to me. However, the further I got, the more I wished I had loved her before her newer albums. The passion in her voice, music, and lyrics shine through so brightly and sometimes prophetically.
All of this to say that her newest album unfortunately kind of saddened me. Admittedly, I have only heard the first half, so I cannot say anything about the album as a whole. However, the first 6 songs have been an interesting mix so far. For me, what makes her a unique and quintessential artist are her amazing bridges (ask any Swiftie and they’ll tell you lol), and this album is no different. No matter what I feel about the song up until the bridge, it all suddenly fades away as the music and lyrics tie together the songs in such a perfect way each time she gets to that most perfect part. But here, it makes me wish the rest of the songs were treated with the same delicacy as the bridges. For me, the biggest example of this from the first half of the album was Eldest Daughter. The bridge is immaculate (“We lie back / A beautiful, beautiful time-lapse / Ferris wheels, kisses, and lilacs / And things I said were dumb / ‘Cause I thought that I’d never find that / Beautiful, beautiful life that / Shimmers that innocent light back / Like when we were young”). But then the rest of the lyrics are so off-putting to me (“But I’m not a bad b**** / And this isn’t savage” and “So we all dressed up as wolves and we looked fire”), that I don’t think I could make it to the bridge on repeated listens. However, it might just be a sign that I’m getting old if I don’t understand lyrics nowadays. These lyrics may have deeper meanings that I simply do not understand. But to me, it seems like they lack the emotion and multiple meanings that made some of her best songs (and the bridges of this new album) shine.
As I’m writing and reading this, I think I must just be getting old. I want her to sound like she did before, and I want her to write lyrics that made me feel the way they did before. But that’s not all she is, and that’s not all her music. She writes something for everyone, and maybe this album just isn’t for me. However, I will always hope she goes back to making music with artists like Bon Iver to craft what I feel like are nearly perfect songs. I don’t think I’ll ever stop listening to her new music either, because she always has those lyrics, melodies, and especially bridges that speak volumes to me.
P.S. Opalite is my favorite so far 😀
Thanks for sharing! You know musical composition way better than I do–I just know what sounds nice or catchy. 🙂
I personally think it’s her catchiest record! The melodies are definitely earworms for me.
Hi! Father of a Swiftie here. 🙂 I’m not sure I can call myself a Swiftie, but I have enormous respect for Taylor Swift, both as an artist and as a person, I have listened to her music quite a bit, and I have enjoyed a lot of her music. I went to see the Eras Tour Concert Film in the theaters with my daughter, and I never go to a concert (or, “concert”, in this case) unprepared, so I listened all of her albums in the weeks leading up to that show.
I like The Life Of A Showgirl, but it stops with “liking”. This is a fine album, but it’s a run-off-the-mill pop album, and she can do so much more. Even though I greatly enjoy her pop songs, I liked her best when she did folklore and evermore. When it comes to discovering tracks: hands down the favorite song for me is “All too well”, the 10-minute version. It might come over as very pretentious to make a 10-minute pop song, but it feels right, and it doesn’t feel so long. It’s one of the most intense songs I know, and I can play it whenever, wherever.
If you like the poppy sound of her latest album, I would recommend “I can do it with a broken heart” from her previous album. And when it comes to a song that was the perfect soundtrack to a perfect episode: “Love Story” was so, so strong at the end of episode 7 of season 2 of The Bear. It’s the episode “Forks” where Richie does the stage in the prestigious restaurant, and the song starts to play when he starts feeling good at the end, and when he drives off in the night. It’s so perfect. Other highlights: “Anti Hero”, but I’m going to assume you’re familiar with that one, and The Man (watch that video clip, the man in the clip is Taylor).
I agree with a lot of this! evermore and folklore were astounding to me! With “All Too Well, 10 Minute Version”, I really appreciate the artistry that went into crafting this song. If a song is over 6 minutes (let alone 10!) but it is as fleeting as a 3 minute radio hit, the artist is doing something special. I started the Bear (a few episodes into season 2), so I’m excited to hear “Love Story” in it! And The Man is one of my favorites. I agree that the album is good (maybe even just okay) but the main reason for that is I know she can craft so much better! Her talent is enormous, but an album like this makes me feel like she’s not honing it like she used to. All that being said, I’m still going to bop to each song when they come on even if I have to chuckle at the lyrics a little 😀
Thanks for these recommendations! I’ll listen to them now. 🙂 I love the Forks episode (and I really like “Love STory”).
A concert & a full album listen all in the same month – Whoa! Slow down. Just kidding.
Adding a little music to your life might be a good thing. Ride the sound wave.
I won’t pretend to be a Taylor Swift fan – I respect her ability and generosity with her crew. Happy she made it big.
If I may suggest one artist you might enjoy, then let me recommend Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts. They have a new EP releasing 10/17 called Troubled Paradise with 3 of the 4 singles having already been released, probably a 12 minute commitment. If you like it, then work backwards in his catalog. He writes catchy songs.
Ha ha, I agree! I like music–I just typically listen to podcasts. Thanks for the recommendation–I’ll check them out!