Taylor Swift: Trying Too Hard?
Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge fan of Taylor Swift, more commonly know to me as T-Swizzle. She's fab. Her music, her face, her Instagram, her quotes, her videos. Love them. And so we should, she's doing pretty well for herself, isn't she? As her hair slowly got shorter and straighter, Tay Tay made her mark on the world with a nice little collection of awards; 7 Grammy awards, 16 America Music Awards, about 40 other awards, as well as being honoured by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. NICE. Oh, and by the way, she's only 25. What have you assholes done?
It's only natural that celebrities evolve, they're human too. As they get older and grow, so do their image and music. And how Taylor's has grown. Back in the day, Tay Tay was a country singer. I KNOW. A country singer with long curly hair, usually found singing with a guitar. She was known for songs about lost love and friends, with a country twist. Basically, back then she used instruments in her music. She definitely had a signature style, and thrived in her niche. There is definitely an old Taylor, and a new one in my eyes. Now unfortunately, I never got the pleasure to see her live, in what I consider her prime, so I can't really comment. However from my extensive YouTube creeping, it seems to me that her concerts were different too.
I went to see her 1989 Tour in Dublin a few weeks ago, and I was hella excited. She put on a fairly flawless show; I can't complain. The outfit changes, her dialogue, her dancers were all seamless. But something about the show didn't sit right with me. I've been to a few concerts in my time (Westlife R.I.P), and the one thing that always happened in them was crowd interaction. While the artist was singing, they would usually point and wave to people in the audience, accompanied by their spiel about how they love coming to Dublin and it's their favourite place to play etc...There was none of this in Taylor's show. Because it was a show, not a concert. Everything was rehearsed, even down to what she said to the audience. You could tell that when she was talking about how special each of us were, that it was a script. And there's nothing wrong with that. She's an artist who puts on a show. I just wasn't expecting it.
But maybe I'm just being too nostalgic. Maybe it's like Miley Cyrus. Artists who grow up in the spotlight need to actually grow up, personally and professionally, and when they do, they get shit about how they do it. I'm not trying to give her shit. I just wonder whether this drastic change in image was her decision, or a marketing one.
It just all felt a little false for me. Which made me sad. Everything was so rehearsed and perfect, that it didn't feel real. AND she didn't play any of her old songs (Mean, anybody?) That was a disappointment. Maybe I was just disappointed because it was her old stuff that made me a fan, and I'm not too keen on the style (heh) of music she makes now. Because I love T-Swizzle, still do. But I can't say that there isn't something about her now that annoys me.
I can't quite put my finger on it. Take the most recent Swizzle Saga, for example. I'm sure you all know about the Nicki Minaj and Taylor Twitter "feud", i.e. Taylor thinking Nicki was indirectly tweeting about her. If not, lemme fill you in here. Basically, Taylor saw a few tweets that could have, in all honestly, been about her. But they weren't. And she apologised because she's a nice person.
BUUUT let's not forget that like every other celebrity in Hollywood, this isn't Taylor's first drama. Her new song Bad Blood? (Which, by the way, is MUCH better on the album, without all the rapping) That's apparently about Katy Perry, after she allegedly stole some back-up dancers from Taylor's tour. Nothing has been confirmed, of course, it never is, which only angers us poor plebs because we want to know the real gossip. But it's pretty obvious it's about someone. Katy joined in on Twitter sending a cryptic tweet which kinda points the finger at Taylor.
There's lots of evidence that means the tweet could be about T. Bad Blood, video included, is all about Tay Tay and her all female crew working to bring down that someone who wronged her. Which also, isn't as empowering as it makes out to be. The whole song and message feels a little more like the cool bitches girls in school who go after the weak one. Not quite the message you want to send.
BUT IT GETS WORSE. Remember Katy's Superbowl performance, and the famous Left Shark meme? In one of Taylor's most recent concerts, Left Shark, disguised as one of Taylor's back-up dancers (DING DING DING), made an appearance during......BAD BLOOD.
https://youtu.be/-0HSjTN1wRg
Hmmmm. Kind of a low blow. The plebian equivalent of this would be someone making a bitchy status or Instagram post about that friend they're fighting with. Something you just don't do. I don't know how I feel about this now.
I feel like Taylor is trying hard to be modern, relatable, sexy, quirky, and funny all at the same time. And yes, she's nailing it. But it just feels false for me. She is never one to shy away from details of fights, whether it's in her songs or not. But some things should stay private, no? Of course, music is her jam and the way she expresses herself so who am I to say what she can and can't include in her songs? I'm only a lowly student who stills listens to Our Song.
You have to admire her, though. Her reputation for being a "serial" dater, and not keeping her personal details private are exactly what got her to where she is today. Because being a celebrity is all a game. And Taylor knows how to play it. She was very clever in what she wrote about in this new album. Endorsing exactly what is written about her, not only silences the haters, but also puts a fair few of those dolla dolla bills in her pockets. So, who's really the winner here?
But if Taylor were to ever grow her hair long, curl it, whip out the ol' guitar and play a few classics, I'd be the first one there in the queue. Because that's the Taylor I miss.