Tag: Taylor Swift

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Tay-Tay, we love you, ok?

Taylor Swift’s latest single, “You Need To Calm Down” is the lyrical equivalent of her puting some random Twitter troll with a few followers on blast. It is a deeply weird song.

She explicitly responds to some pretty dumb criticism against her…I think?..from some of the darker corners of the Internet. Musicians are notorious for running around naked on an emotional level in their music and this latest single from Swift is a prime example of that behavior.

It’s almost as if she, like, uh…needs a hug?

So, the song is a response to some gay haters who think she’s….what? Not gay friendly enough? (In hindsight, I think I may have misinterpreted the meaning of the song. I took the lyric “casing shade doesn’t make you any less gay” to mean she was telling her gay critics to cool it. But the lyric is probably meant to be more about homophobes who are generally assholes. )The deeply weird thing about the song is if she’s responding to one specific person on Twitter that got into her craw.

I simply have no explanation for how this song got produced in its current form. Generally, the idea for pop songs is to be timeless and universal and use subtext. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are pretty good at this.

But Swift has a history of writing songs about and or directed at one specific person. Usually, in the past, it’s been boyfriends. This song, though, whoa buddy. I don’t get it. Weird, man, weird.

I think it’s safe to say that Swift is an extremely — EXTREMELY — sensitive person. She still needs to go rock in my opinion, though. But I think that says more about my craving for main stream rock music more than anything else.

Anyway, I generally like Swift’s latest stuff. I just wish she would chill out a little bit and have a little bit more self-confidence. We love you, ok? We really do.

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I’ve mentioned this before, but feel like talking about it again. While I generally think of myself as a moderate liberal, some of the people on the Left who absolutely hate someone like Taylor Swift for what she symbolizes — the center — really bug me. I’m empathetic to these Leftists and I understand what bothers them about Swift and The Center, and, yet I rather like having some sort of “center’ (both politically and culturally) that we can use as a frame of reference.

Swift is the last vestige of the America I grew up in, in her own way. It is understandable why insane Nazis thought she was some sort of idyllic Norse demigod. Thankfully, she put their beliefs to rest. But the fact that even Swift, of all people, can’t simply be in The Middle without both the Left and the Right hating on her for what they believe she is — or isn’t — is a sad testament to where our nation is headed.

What’s even more interesting about this is America is hurdling towards a moment when it’s going to be minority majority. And, as such, the very thing that Swift represents middle brow centrist white America, will, in itself, be a thing of the past. We risk, of course, having no center at all and if that happens then, well, the United States collapses for lack of shared values, if nothing else.

We’ll finally be two countries — rich, young multicultural Blue States on the coast, and poor, old white Red States in the interior. At that point, the question will be how many people die when “purple” states like Virginia tear themselves apart. But that’s still a ways down the road.

I guess what I’m trying to say is the Left is doing itself no favors long term by hating on the Center. We need a Center as a place where our shared values come together long enough for us know, well, what they are. If we all simply worry about intersectional this or that cultural / political “ism,” then the Right — which has a much more uniform ideology — will grow only more and more powerful for no other reason than many people who would be empathetic to the Left will be turned off by its shrill nature and bank Right.

I don’t know. These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. No one listens to me and when they do they usually get mad.

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Absolutely no one listens to me. All I do all day at this point is work on a scifi novel. But I do find myself — again — thinking that Taylor Swift needs to cover the great old rock song Would I Lie To You. She’s got the pipes to cover it well and it would be a perfect way for her to go full boar rock star on us.

But I’m just daydreaming. No matter how much I want rock to come back before I drop dead, it just doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. And, yet, if Taylor Swift came out with a rock album it might be a game changer. The reason why that particular song might appeal to her is she obvious has some serious hang-ups about people having the goods on her and she apparently thinks everything thinks she some sort of snake.

Anyway, Tay-Tay, I think you might single-handedly bring back rock music for a least a cultural moment if you were to plug in an electric guitar and freak the fuck out on stage with a great rock song like Would I Lie To You.

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I’m not breaking any new ground here and really this just me idly rambling for no other reason than I have nothing to write about, but I’m watching a lot of Taylor Swift videos these days and something is really fucked up about that girl. Take the video for “Delicate.”

She gets to fulfill her wish of being invisible. If she got to be invisible for a moment what would she do? Bounce around dancing weird. Add to this that she has the worst luck with guys and it makes you wonder. She’s a gorgeous woman at the height of her creative powers and all she wants to do is be invisible.

Artists are notorious for psychologically streaking in the most conspicuous manner possible. Michael Jackson is a prime example of this. Prince also on occasion would do something weird that would make you think. But Ms. Swift seems like the only thing stopping her from going the full Britney Spears 2007 is her mental and emotional bolts are significantly tighter.

Meh.