Welcome to another edition of #MyMusicMonday! (I’ve been having some problems learning WordPress so you’ll have to forgive me for missing the past couple Mondays.) I decided for this week’s post I would give a little bit of a review of Taylor Swift’s new album, as well as name my favorite songs from the album. I’m a Swift fan, but this new album is definitely a bit of a culture shock when you first listen to it.
It is definitely nothing like her previous albums at all. This is Swift’s first ever album categorized as a “pop” album — and that is pretty clear with the style of the songs. Lyrically, she has kept her dignity in sharing personal stories behind some pretty clever words in the songs. “You got that James Dean/ daydream/ look in your eye/ and I got that red lip/ classic/ thing that you like/ and when we go crashing down we come back every time/ cuz we never go out of style/ we never go out of style” are the lyrics to the chorus of the third track of the album appropriately named Style. Taylor references this song in her foreword as “love that never goes out of style” — a vintage state of mind that Taylor is known for. Another great feature that is on the Target Deluxe version of the album are the three songwriting voice memos. Taylor walks her listeners through her (actual) recordings of her songwriting processes. This is a great way to get into an artist’s mind and see the process that goes into how Taylor writes her world-famous songs. My favorite thing to do when I buy a new Taylor Swift album is read the foreword that she writes in the CD booklet. (Yes, I still buy CD’s. There’s nothing like having that physical album in your hands.) This one in particular explains her change in the style of music she produced. “For the last few years, I’ve woken up every day not wanting, but needing to write a new style of music. I needed to change the way I told my stories and the way they sounded. I listened to a lot of music from the decade in which I was born [1989] and I listened to my intuition that it was a good thing to follow this gut feeling. I was also writing a different storyline than I’d ever told before.” There you have it, the reason that Taylor Swift’s music style changed. She changed and she grew up. This album is reminiscent of that of an almost 25 year old who is having the time of her life in a city where she is able to follow all of her wildest dreams. Below I have left you with my top 5 song picks from the album! Enjoy!
- Shake It Off (Because who doesn’t love a great song to dance like crazy with or to sing off-key in the car on your way to a late night diner with your best friends.)
- Style (Featured on the Target commercial for the album.)
- This Love (Starbucks is actually giving this song away for free this week!)
- Welcome to New York (Simply because it’s a great NY anthem.)
- I Wish You Would (A wonderfully produced song for the new TSwift style!)
St. John Fisher College Student Concert Committee 