The Big Swift

I've been contemplating Taylor Swift to-day. Every now and then, I feel I must make some gesture of connecting with the modern world. So I thought I'd give my attention to this new young sensation. Well, I guess her first album was almost twenty years ago now but that's new in my book.

Seriously, though, I haven't been totally ignorant of Taylor Swift all this time. I used to hear her music when I worked at JC Penney. Spending so much time at the mall did help me soak up some modern music. Dedicating some time to her works this morning, I was really more surprised by the songs I hadn't heard. I'd never heard "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "Anti-Hero", "Bad Blood", and others. I heard "Style" and "Blank Space" over and over again at JC Penney. "Blank Space" is my favourite.

She seems to have a reputation for "confessional" songs but "Blank Space" seems like the direct opposite of that. It's like a synopsis for an episode of Dynasty. It's bigger than life, pulpy, and neat as a confection. Its lyrics snap together as tidily as the frosting on a birthday cake, embellished by the sprinkle or gumdrop here and there of a clicking pen sound effect and coiling turn of vocal tone. It's fetishistic, a lot of her songs and videos are, though never really kinky. She's more Batgirl than Catwoman. It works because she's intensely pretty. Her face has the mathematical proportions of a face generated by computer from data on effectively attractive attributes.

Then there are some songs that do seem like they may be confessional, the best by far being "Anti-Hero".

I'm impressed to see she actually directed this video and did a decent job. Her shifting size recalls how Alice's changing size originally functioned in Lewis Carroll's books, as a reflection of emotional state and perceived position in society. The video stops for a funeral skit that's funny but goes on just slightly too long.

I'm still not sure if the song is truly confessional or just less pulpy. The lyrics also recall Alice in Wonderland:

It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me
At tea time, everybody agrees
I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

Whether or not it's actually Swift's psyche on display, she paints an insightful, psychological picture.

She also has a number of revenge anthems of which "Shake It Off" is the best. There's one called "Bad Blood" with such a god awful music video I felt embarrassed for her despite its millions of views (and likely millions in revenue). It apes Taratino but with terrible cgi and choreography and an endless conveyor belt of cameos from celebrities who all look weirdly uncomfortable, like they're only there because they didn't know how to say no.

Mainly, though, it was a pleasant excursion into the present, watching Taylor Swift videos.