[ SECRET POST #3339 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3339 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[Taylor Swift]


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03.
(Hamilton the Musical)


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04.
[Pokemon]


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05.
[Supernatural - Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins]


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06.
[Pokemon]


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07. [titc]


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08.
[Battlestar Galactica]


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09.
[Fried Green Tomatoes]


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10. [TW: rape]






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11.
[Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman]
















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 025 secrets from Secret Submission Post #477.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I think she has phenomenal skill as a writer of country-pop and full-on pop music. I'm actually a little bit in awe of her, in that regard. And I say that as someone who mostly likes the kind of under-produced folk/indie/rock that tends to be regarded as "genuinely good art."

Pop isn't really my scene. I mean sure, I'll rock out to Gaga's "Bad Romance" or Pink's "Blow Me One Last Kiss" any old time, but pop is more of a side dish than a main course for me. Probably 95% of the pop songs I hear on the radio bore me. And yet Taylor Swift...fuck can that woman write a hit pop song like nobody's business. I've always loved what Jody Rosen from Rolling Stone said about her, which is that she has "an intuitive gift for verse-chorus-bridge architecture."

Is Swift anywhere near my favorite song writer? ...I don't think so? My MP3 player was on shuffle one day, and Bush's song "Straight No Chaser" came on immediately after Swift's "All Too Well," and it was jarring how much more raw and devastating the emotion in Bush's song was - despite the fact that I consider "All To Well" to be pretty near masterful in its own right, and I consider "Straight No Chaser" quite flawed, musically.

And maybe you don't like "Straight No Chaser," but whatever you like, you're bound to have a song that - when juxtaposed with one of Swift's best - cuts so much deeper. Which for me is the interesting conundrum of Swift's song writing: I would find it difficult to overstate how talented I believe she is in her ability to write a specific kind of song - the kind that keeps a lot of people on the hook for repeat listens without burning them out. A song that cuts just deep enough and no deeper. A song that isn't particularly challenging, but also isn't stupid. A song that is genuine enough, but where the emotions and images are all a bit cinematic, idealized.

As far as her singing goes...well, without the help of auto tune, I'd say she's barely passable. And yet the funny thing is that I'd rather listen to Swift sing her own songs badly, than listen to almost anyone else singe her songs well (exempting Ryan Adams, lol). Because she's emotive about them; she sings them - to the best of her ability - how she means them to feel.

[(Anonymous)]

I loved the point you made in that last paragraph in particular. I can't speak for Taylor's live performances, 'cause I haven't really heard her in a live setting, but I don't need a musician to be absolutely technically perfect when singing live. I care more about the emotional side of an artist's performance than the technical side, so even if someone's not completely "on" with the notes, if they can still get me with their rendition of the song, if they still sound sincere with what they're singing about, then that works just fine for me.

As for Taylor's songs in general, I've liked some of them, too, yeah. They're cute, they're catchy as hell, and she can spin a good story with her lyrics. She also seems pretty savvy when it comes to managing her career, and I respect and admire her for that as well (honestly, given she's five years younger than me, she makes me feel ridiculously lazy when I see all she's accomplished thus far :p). I've no problem with her.