Inside the Freezer

Want to hear something sad? I’ve had it for agesssss and still haven’t read it yet!!! But will report back when I do. (I do respect that they’re trying to branch her out to a broader historical genre than just romance…but I’m pretty sure this is just a more deeply researched historical romance lol. Very much like Sarah MacLean just did with her contemporary, which they tried to push as broader fiction but was just…romance in hardcover. 😂)

I know I have not been around these parts much lately, so it’s really kind ♥️♥️

I think “Wood” is still the one I enjoy most, just from a pure silly bop standpoint. Even if it’s Sabrina’s schtick, Taylor’s not doing it badly. But “Ophelia” is growing on me too!

I don’t mind repetitive motifs. But I mind when you don’t have anything new or different to say about them.

I’ve seen this criticism a lot and agree too—the actual motif of a showgirl and that zazz is not really present. Which, I mean—it’s not like she’s ever REALLY done album work like that. So in some ways I don’t really expect it. But it is a very specific homage to bring in and then not really engage with outside visuals and a staccato sound.

But I don’t think it has anything to do with her writing or not writing by herself—her other songs she’s done with Shellback and MM are not afflicted with this type of froth writing. This was a choice by her. Or a tunnel she burrowed herself into and couldn’t see out of. Idk. Probably a direct response to the fact that everyone said Poets was overwritten, actually—as previously mentioned, she really does deeply internalize criticism like that and then try to whiplash back. But this one was not as successfully pulled off as Speak Now, imo.

It’s actually one of the songs that has grown on me most. I think the mob motif is fun. The writing isn’t as frothy. And obviously that’s a great beat, bless George Michael.

I don’t know that I can do a full ranking yet—it’s moving around too much now. But the ones I enjoyed most straight off the bat were “Wood” and “Life of a Showgirl.” And digging in more “Father Figure” and “Fate of Ophelia” are clicking more.

Idk. Get me talking about this writing and I get more spun up about it. But the songs are still fun, so lol I’m still playing it. 😂

My gripe with TTPD is and always has been that it’s just not fun to listen to. With the exception of maybe 6 songs out of the 31. It grew on me more. I can squint at the writing and appreciate it. But I almost never pick it up, and it was like that from the start. I’m still at least picking Showgirl up right now. I like a bop as much as the next girl. I think I am profoundly disappointed in the writing, which is a huge mark against it, but it’s not a painful listening experience overall. So that’s why it has the edge over TTPD right now. We’ll see if it stays there.

TTPD

100% the profanity came off cringe every single time. And I can’t figure out whether she was trying to be in on the joke with that or it’s somehow going over her head. I’m leaning toward what you’re saying in that she tried and just isn’t succeeding at it, because she CAN do it. Folklore and Evermore were a masterclass in how to use profanity in songs for maximum gain. She knows how to write songs. I just…can’t figure out where the disconnect here was yet lol.

Or worse, wasn’t even trying to? I can’t get a gauge on it yet. I can’t tell if she was trying to be clever with playing with the idea that she’s obsessed with being cool and misses the mark every time…but she’s missing the mark every time. So it doesn’t come off clever, it comes off as cringe. It comes off like she’s massively online and very Steve Buschemi with a skateboard.

Loool, I, like my foremother Taylor Swift, strive to teach a new SAT word with every entry of my writing lexicon. 🤓