I don't think I ever rated this.
Year of the Swift.
08 Welcome to New York - At first I thought it was a bit bland and empty, then I gave it a few more listens on full volume and it really opens itself up. I like the placement of it at the front of the album because with the 'new soundtrack' it sets up the idea that yeah, she's still singing about boys, but she's come a long way in her take on love and feelings since Tied Together With a Smile and the rest of them.
It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat / The lights are so bright but they never blind me
10 Blank Space - I love it so much, and somehow the fact that it's pretty much been playing nonstop on my phone and on the radio for months hasn't altered that. It's great to see her toying with all of the crap people have been throwing at her for years (because nobody else out there predominantly sings about relationships and romance...) and being so self-deprecating about her interaction with men. It's relevant to anyone out there who does seem to jump head first into a series of reckless flings/obsessions before moving onto the next one when they get their heart broken. Yet there's also the reassurance that they'll come back each time they leave "cause darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream."
Got a long list of ex-lovers, they'll tell you I'm insane / 'Cause you know I love the players and you love the game
09 Style - Taylor Swift does slick and cool and yet retains her trademark air of desperation. This is a song that I did kind of play out after months and months of listening, but the video (which is fantastic) has brought about a wee bit of a resurgence. I feel like lyrically and musically it teeters the line between acceptance that this is never going to be a someone that will commit and complete wistfulness. She can talk about how she's 'been there too a few times' all she likes but he's completely in control of her emotions here.
And I should just tell you to leave 'cause I / Know exactly where it leads but I / Watch it go round and round each time
11 Out of the Woods - It reflects on so much of her previous songs for me but kind of exists to tie them all together in what I feel might be her best yet. It has the atmospheric and emotional punch of State of Grace and All Too Well from the previous album, whereas lyrically I think it draws upon the romantic regret of Back to December and also the regret of fame and being in the public eye that we saw in The Lucky One and Never Grow Up. The chorus is epic, I've seen complaints about it apparently being basic but the repetitive lyrics are perfect for the song and the male vocals punching it out at the end works perfectly before the final couple of choruses hit. "Clear yet? Good." The verses are reflective but the chorus brings us into the moment in that it feels like she's panicking in her efforts to save a brittle bond.
When you started crying baby I did too / But when the sun came up I was looking at you
09 All You Had to Do Was Stay - The little start of album run continues with this. I love the melody playing off against the more emotive harmony in the chorus, with the harmony becoming more and more prominent with each turn and almost taking over. The song raises the fairly obvious point that rather than putting one foot in and pulling it out again and playing so many games and being so ridiculously indecisive, the one truth is that all the heartache and the eventual 'no' could have been avoided with a simple, 'Yes, I want to be with you.' I think most people have experienced something like that.
Here you are now calling me up, but I don't know what to say / I've been picking up the pieces of a mess you made
09 Shake It Off - Obviously it sticks out like a sore thumb like most people who have listened to the album have picked up on, I'm sure. It does sound like it was written for the purpose of being a hit at the beginning of the campaign, but as much as it doesn't fit in in terms of sound, the lyrics tie it directly to Blank Space. People can moan about the subjects of her writing all they like, but she's going to write about her feelings and that isn't going to stop. I think most people have come around to this song now after the initial trepidation, haven't they?
I go on too many dates / But I can't make them stay / At least that's what people say
08 I Wish You Would - It's kind of an answer to herself in All You Had to Do Was Stay, isn't it? She's put her foot down and announced that the guy doesn't deserve her love after squandering it for so long, but now upon reflection she's having her doubts, noting that they're "A crooked love in a straight line down". Then there's the correlation between this and I Almost Do: "I bet you think I either moved on or hate you, 'cause each time you reach out there's no reply. / I bet it never ever occurred to you that I can't say hello to you and risk another goodbye" and "You're thinking that I hate you now 'cause you still don't know what I never said." Whatever the case it's fantastic.
I wish we could go back and remember what we were fighting for, and I / Wish you knew that I miss you too much to be mad anymore
06 Bad Blood - Er, the one song that I'd undoubtedly replace with one of the tracks that didn't make the main album. I don't dislike it - I actually am quite fond of it. It just struggles 'cause every other song is so strong. This sort of slips into childish territory that doesn't really filter into the other tracks regardless of the chanting and speaking that we see littered throughout. I think some of the lines are very strong, particularly in the middle eight, but then others are just so clunky and jarring. "Did you have to do this? I was thinking that you could be trusted / Did you have to have to ruin what was all shiny now it's all rusted." It just feels like a bonus track.
Band aids don't fix bullet holes / You say sorry just for show / But when you live like this you live with ghosts
08 Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift gets sexual seems to be the overwhelming consensus of the people who have listened to it. And it is about sex, but about the strings that by nature come with it and the emotional ties that are broken upon realizing that to him it wasn't as important. She hopes that he remembers her but the realization is that any revisiting of that night will in both his and her wildest dreams. She's almost trying to reassure herself that even though inevitably he'll be yet another guy who leaves, the memories will haunt him long afterwards. But ultimately she is begging him that he does remember her. It's quite sad.
You'll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night, burning it down. / Someday when you leave me I bet these memories follow you around.