As I'm reading this, The Fate of Ophelia has just come on in the University alumni building, and a bunch of college students are dancing and lip syncing along to it. Boring Barbie Autumn indeed, and I'm here for it!
Also, the GQ profile of Travis was interesting, and I even asked my kids to read it as a model of a good relationship? Like, two members of a couple talking about how they're interested in each other's interests and work? That's ... lovely?
thank you for this exceedingly normal take on travis ... as someone who is an avid football enjoyer, i do want to say that it's a really complicated sport that requires a lot of savvy in addition to physical ability (perhaps esp. when you're on the offense, like he is) ... and also football players are ultimately entertainers. travis is not the taylor swift of tight ends but he is, i would argue, maybe the katy perry of tight ends. (as in, i think he's on his way out... probably going to retire after this season.) but anyways!
"it’s not okay to use 'starving' in a metaphorical sense because some people are actually starving elsewhere in the world."
Didn't realize the haters were taking an angle from The Giver lmao. Appreciate your insights as someone actually talking about the music, not talking about talking about the music, coming from a non-invested person who just sees posts.
Re: "Elizabeth Taylor" and musical theater vibes: that stripped-down video you posted made me realize "Be my NY when Hollywood hates me" is a bad lyric in the exact same way that "I want to be a part of BA, Buenos Aires, Big Apple" (from "Evita") is a bad lyric. No one calls it "NY" (as opposed to "NYC") and I'm pretty sure no one calls Buenos Aires "BA, Big Apple"! So it's forced, and hard to understand on an initial listen, and takes you out of the song.
“It is sort of funny that what it means for this album to be reputation vol. 2 is that it’s like… ‘I bet my life looks pretty great to you.… And you know what? It is great. 10/10 life.’”
I was thinking about how the title track sort of retells the story of “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” complete with the same twist ending. “This industry is brutal, it will chew you up and shatter your dreams and throw you away… but not me though! I am built entirely different.”
I also have mixed feelings about the album, but the hyper-negativity I’ve seen in some takes is not surprising to me. The internet discourse cycle of hating popular thing > actually, popular thing lowkey slaps? > omg do you guys like popular thing too? > wait, now popular thing is too popular > hating popular thing is unstoppable, but so is Taylor, as she’ll be the first to tell you.
On a different note, we went to see the release party “movie,” and although there wasn’t a lot of there there, I was impressed that she managed to present songs like Wood and Father Figure in a way where the group of seven-year-old girls doing a coordinated dance routine in front of us didn’t feel *too* wrong. No clean version of “my father whored around like all men did” though.
I would listen to her take on Patlabor. I think “Vroom Vroom” indicates a sensitivity to techno-psychological sympathy that would give her unique insights there.
re: Travis's intelligence... I have a friend who's an accomplished football player/coach, and she recently told me that to play at the level Travis has for the length of time he has you have to have a lot of "niche" smarts, ie the sports kind, plus it's undeniable that he's also pretty business savvy. I also think he has a level of awareness about the stereotype (see his "straight guy friend" SNL sketch), and in the New Heights interview with Taylor where he says it's hot that she knows big words — he's making a joke!
I agree! A fun album but not a great album. I’d like to go into a Taylor related bunker and emerge in 3 to 6 months to listen to the album then. But as it is.
I was a hater when TTPD first came out but now I listen to quite a few of the songs over and over again and I think it contains some of her best work. Curious to see how this album will look in hindsight. Also lol at “here at BDM industries, we live, we laugh, we love”.
As I'm reading this, The Fate of Ophelia has just come on in the University alumni building, and a bunch of college students are dancing and lip syncing along to it. Boring Barbie Autumn indeed, and I'm here for it!
Also, the GQ profile of Travis was interesting, and I even asked my kids to read it as a model of a good relationship? Like, two members of a couple talking about how they're interested in each other's interests and work? That's ... lovely?
thank you for this exceedingly normal take on travis ... as someone who is an avid football enjoyer, i do want to say that it's a really complicated sport that requires a lot of savvy in addition to physical ability (perhaps esp. when you're on the offense, like he is) ... and also football players are ultimately entertainers. travis is not the taylor swift of tight ends but he is, i would argue, maybe the katy perry of tight ends. (as in, i think he's on his way out... probably going to retire after this season.) but anyways!
"it’s not okay to use 'starving' in a metaphorical sense because some people are actually starving elsewhere in the world."
Didn't realize the haters were taking an angle from The Giver lmao. Appreciate your insights as someone actually talking about the music, not talking about talking about the music, coming from a non-invested person who just sees posts.
Re: "Elizabeth Taylor" and musical theater vibes: that stripped-down video you posted made me realize "Be my NY when Hollywood hates me" is a bad lyric in the exact same way that "I want to be a part of BA, Buenos Aires, Big Apple" (from "Evita") is a bad lyric. No one calls it "NY" (as opposed to "NYC") and I'm pretty sure no one calls Buenos Aires "BA, Big Apple"! So it's forced, and hard to understand on an initial listen, and takes you out of the song.
“It is sort of funny that what it means for this album to be reputation vol. 2 is that it’s like… ‘I bet my life looks pretty great to you.… And you know what? It is great. 10/10 life.’”
I was thinking about how the title track sort of retells the story of “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” complete with the same twist ending. “This industry is brutal, it will chew you up and shatter your dreams and throw you away… but not me though! I am built entirely different.”
I also have mixed feelings about the album, but the hyper-negativity I’ve seen in some takes is not surprising to me. The internet discourse cycle of hating popular thing > actually, popular thing lowkey slaps? > omg do you guys like popular thing too? > wait, now popular thing is too popular > hating popular thing is unstoppable, but so is Taylor, as she’ll be the first to tell you.
On a different note, we went to see the release party “movie,” and although there wasn’t a lot of there there, I was impressed that she managed to present songs like Wood and Father Figure in a way where the group of seven-year-old girls doing a coordinated dance routine in front of us didn’t feel *too* wrong. No clean version of “my father whored around like all men did” though.
>If I were Charli, which I’m not
Thanks heavens, I bet her take on Patlabor would suck.
I would listen to her take on Patlabor. I think “Vroom Vroom” indicates a sensitivity to techno-psychological sympathy that would give her unique insights there.
re: Travis's intelligence... I have a friend who's an accomplished football player/coach, and she recently told me that to play at the level Travis has for the length of time he has you have to have a lot of "niche" smarts, ie the sports kind, plus it's undeniable that he's also pretty business savvy. I also think he has a level of awareness about the stereotype (see his "straight guy friend" SNL sketch), and in the New Heights interview with Taylor where he says it's hot that she knows big words — he's making a joke!
I agree! A fun album but not a great album. I’d like to go into a Taylor related bunker and emerge in 3 to 6 months to listen to the album then. But as it is.
I was a hater when TTPD first came out but now I listen to quite a few of the songs over and over again and I think it contains some of her best work. Curious to see how this album will look in hindsight. Also lol at “here at BDM industries, we live, we laugh, we love”.