#I’ve seen ‘unpolished’ floating around a bit and finally have been able to put my finger on why I disagree with it as a descriptor

[jamestaylorswift]

I think I wanna push back on the notion that some people have developed that midnights is “unpolished,” because I think what they really mean to say is “I don’t like it, it’s bad (to me).” in reality those are two separate things. sure, Taylor’s song usually sound very polished, and that’s part of what makes them so her, but unpolished songs aren’t inherently worse. it’s just most of what we listen to (especially if you listen to popular music made by professionals) does have a certain perfection about it that many people strive for; thus, we value and are made to value “perfection” and equate it with “good.” (or maybe, imperfections are not something we’re used to looking past, so it’s harder to judge an “imperfect” song for its actual musical qualities.) however, there are certain artists who strive for imperfections, and that’s what makes their sound. and we might consider music from other cultures to be “imperfect” because we lack the cultural context to appreciate what we hear. it mostly comes down to a matter of preference, which is developed and ingrained. plus, who’s to say that Taylor won’t experiment with sounding relatively “unpolished” later?