Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" – A Very Important Discussion

[Mike Powers]

Whatever happened toThe Outlaws,Marshall Tucker Band,Molly Hatchett......

[Tom Campitelli]

Britney Spears should be suing for "persona appropriation".

I don't know that I see many parallels between the two. They both have blonde hair, however.

Whatever happened toThe Outlaws,Marshall Tucker Band,Molly Hatchett......

The early 70s was a while back now. Several of the guys in Molly Hatchet are dead now. Including Dave Hlubek who apparently just died today.

[Katherine Bickford]

In her case, are the conditions you refer to boyfriend drama?

She's always had "boyfriend drama" (a term I use loosely, as many of Taylor's relationships are very obviously fake) but I think what made 1989 so good is that she'd done excellent prep for it with a partial pivot on Red, which got critical acclaim and moved her slightly away from her country base. This allowed room for the 1989 album, which was a definitive shift in her creative partnerships and her direction as a star. You can pick specific references to her contemporaries out of each one of the songs, so the album channeled 2014 (not a bad year for pop in general) extremely well. To make the album, she moved away from Nashville to reside in NYC, in order to deliberately change up her image, influences, and collaborators. It's hard to recreate that kind of monumental shift, especially when it comes along with intense superstardom.

At best, reputation is going to be a solid album of good pop, but there's no way it'll be a revelation like 1989 was, and if the album gets too "I'm grappling with fame" it'll flatline, because there are few things less compelling than rich and famous people complaining about the fact. In a way, reputation is more of her sophomore pop album, her self-titled debut through Speak Now being solidly country, Red the middling wild card, and 1989 a true pop debut. Sophomore albums are always tricky. reputation is, however, off to a good start.

[Maties Hofstede]

This community never ceases to amaze me.

Think I just read the most critical comprehensive guide in understanding the means of such a paradigm shift I didnt even know happened.

Truly amazing.

[Kregna]

This song probably needs to grow on me a bit but I do like like Taylor

Shake It Off is deadlifting music

[Kregna]

That reminds me...

[Katherine Bickford]

Britney Spears should be suing for "persona appropriation".

Britney and Taylor have less in common than you'd imagine, as Britney's career began in the Disney factory and Taylor's in Nashville. A better analogy could be made to Selena Gomez or Ariana Grande, both of whom started as Disney stars and have shifted to pop, with the accompanying teenage "rebellion" of "embracing" their sexuality after breaking from their enforced wholesomeness. Even Miley would be a better comparison than Britney, though Miley's rejection of her Disney channel past was far more aggressive than Britney's.

And we'll see which of these young kids, if any, will deal with stardom as poorly as Britney did. I doubt they'll have the same issues, as there are more of them and they are accustomed to their lives being in full view. Britney came of age in the very beginnings of internet gossip, and by the time she had a breakdown, online tabloid culture was in full swing. She didn't have a chance to grapple with the new level of scrutiny that came along with social media. These younger stars, including Taylor, are better able to manipulate their stardom because they can use these platforms to their advantage (see Taylor's aggressively curated tumblr that says "I'm relatable" and her recently-wiped Twitter and Instagram, being used to roll out her new album.)

[Charlocity2]

Full disclosure: turns out I have 2 Taylor Swift songs on my playlist:

1. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
2. Begin Again [I was pulled in by the twang of the steel guitar, and the plucky banjo licks].

Swiftamine - Saturday Night Live - YouTube

[Tom Campitelli]

Full disclosure: turns out I have 2 Taylor Swift songs on my playlist:

1. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
2. Begin Again [I was pulled in by the twang of the steel guitar, and the plucky banjo licks].

Swiftamine - Saturday Night Live - YouTube

That SNL clip is great.

[madmaxaus]

As a connoisseur of the finest heavy metal, I am a Taylor Swift fan. I did not have high hopes for her forthcoming album, largely because the conditions that produce great albums (of which 1989 certainly qualifies) are often impossible to reproduce. I am cautiously optimistic after hearing Ms. Swift's latest single. It is not perfect, but it is a decent tune. Annoyingly catchy. Spare in some parts and big in others. If I have a complaint, I feel like the chorus is a little anticlimactic. It has an incredible pre-chorus that is begging to be followed by a full-on, huge, pop chorus that never quite happens. However, it is good and stuck in my head at this point, so mission accomplished, Ms. Swift. We shall see what she delivers on her full album. The video for her new tune is also nothing short of impressive. The money that was spent putting it together was undoubtedly significant. Each scene is a testament to the team of pros that put it all together. It would have been cool to be on set to see how the thing was shot.

Thanks for bringing up this important issue, Tom.

First, we can all agree that T-Swift's '1989' was brilliant. A perfect mix of sass, catchy lyricism and good production. A rival to Queen's 'A night at the Opera' to be sure.

Now, the new song, I'm sorry but I can't help thinking of 'I'm too sexy' during the chorus, and I know I can't be the only one?!

Now, Miley Cyrus' new song? That is a hit my friend.