#Taylor gave us AMAZING VAULT TRACKS

[narryamor]

“You kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever.” “Cause you kiss me and it stops time.”

[sophielovestaylor]

CALLING ALL SWIFTIES!! PLEASE READ THIS 🫶🏼🫶🏼

hey y’all!! this is an extremely big ask but i’ve been trying to get in touch with taylor and her team for ever, to hopefully one day try and meet her and i know it might not be likely but even if it isn’t i hope this message reaches her somehow!! let’s try make it happen swifties!

hi taylor!!! im not sure if this message will ever reach you or not seeing as you propably get loads of messages each day, but i’m gonna try and shoot my shot and see if by literally a miracle you’ll be able to read this message im gonna write to you!!

firstly, i’ve literally thought about writing this letter to you so many times (like SO MANY TIMES) but somehow my words always felt like they weren't enough to express the gratitude, admiration, and deep connection i feel toward you and your music but today i have FINALLY decided to just let my heart speak, and so therefore im writing to you! but no matter how hard i honestly don’t i could ever truly write how much you actually mean to me, how much your music has impacted my life, or how your presence in the world has been literally a light during some of the darkest times l've ever experienced (im so sorry if this letter might seem really creepy or weird i promise im just a normal 15 year old girl who loves her cat!!)

tbh i can't exactly pinpoint the first moment i discovered your music (i think it was around like 2017 and i was like 10) but when i first started consciously listening to you and knew who you where which is around when rep was released i remember how it felt and god was reputation such a good fucking album (rep tv or debut tv when because i am ACHING for those vault tracks ma’am!!!!) when i first listened to folklore when it came out it was like someone had finally put into words all the emotions i was too afraid or unable to express, your lyrics spoke directly to my heart and and it felt like for the first time, someone understood me and to me it was more than just listening to music it was like you were a friend who was there for me when I needed someone most, and your music even though you literally didn't know me at all helped me so much more than you could ever imagine

third off i just want to say thank you for being such an amazing person, you have one of the most genuinest and kindest souls i have ever seen, and beyond the music, i have to tell you that who you are as a person has been an equally important source of inspiration for me, i’ve watched you navigate your career with such strength, and an unwavering sense of self, even in the face of incredibly difficult situations (scooter braun they could never make me like you) and you as a person has shown me and so many others that it's okay to stand up for yourself, to speak your truth, and to own your story, even when the world tries to silence you.

your bravery in standing up for your rights as an artist, your dedication to us swifties, and your ability to remain authentic in an industry that often values image over substance has been nothing short of inspiring, you’ve faced public betrayal and criticism, yet somehow you continue to rise above it all with such resilience and this is something i honestly respect so much and you are honestly so so brave and such a role model for people all over the world (especially me) and watching you navigate those challenges with such literal amazingness gave me the strength to face my own challenges with a little more courage and to be myself no matter what anyone thinks and i will forever appreciate you for teaching me life lessons sometimes that nobody around me could

i have never felt more love and genuine happiness for literally anyone ever, i’m so proud of how far you’ve come in life and that you finally find someone that treats you with all the love and respect that you ma’am deserve (mrs kelce when????)

anyways tay i don’t want to bore you but thank you for being such an inspiring role model in my life, you’re music was always there for me when i needed it and even if you don’t know me i will always and forever be in your corner and will always root for you! when i stayed up watching the vmas i literally SCREAMED when you won!!!

when i first started secondary school, i used to go through a ton amount of bullying and people coming at for over nothing everyday over literally just the way i looked and i used to get added to so many group chats and get mugs of me posted alllll over peoples snapchat stories just because i was a little bit different to everyone, but through all of that who was there for me? FOLKLORE AND EVERMOREEE 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️!! you’re music and a lot of the things you’ve said about mental health and empowering women has helped me find my voice and my confidence and to be myself no matter what and i’ve made every single moment since then to embrace myself as a person and make the most out of my life!

this year i’m about to sit my gcses which i honestly find so freaky! but to end this off, hopefully if you ever see this i’d love to one day be able to meet you and i know you propably get a thousand of messages a day of people asking the same thing, but to me meeting you would literally be a life long dream, i would love nothing more than to actually just sit and talk to you and hang out with you and literally just be two normal people having a conversation, so maybe if you do happen to see this..maybe it’ll work out 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

i love you tay, and i’ll always always be in your corner rooting for you!! <3

- sophie 🫶🏼

here’s my socials for any of y’all that want it!! :)

insta: sophiegrrce

snapchat: sophiegrxce12

twitter: sophsversionx

[oh-cramity-its-amity]

real! I used to love her (ts) but she feels very different than she used to. I’ve listened to phoebe bridgers a bit, she was good just not the type of music I usually listen to. Boy genius and Lucy Dacus are both amazing tho. They for sure deserved to win Aoty, or sia

sorry for how long this got??? i just started writing and oh whoops....

anyway- THATS what ive been saying about her unfortunately. its like after folklore/evermore things genuinely changed because of all the fame and popularity. people werent criticizing her anymore and instead overly praising her.

which isnt bad! i do think she deserves praise over folklore. the marketing of it being a suprise album was very clever too. but i think before those folklore there was a sense of criticism that people had with her music that kept her wanting to innovate it.

i have a strong believe that social media's algorithms are failing artists to innovate pop music in the same way than 00's pop music did just because of how much less artists have to lose now with their brandings. i once again bring up artpop by lady gaga and how much she lost for her idea???? and now??? gaga was really fucking killing it. her music had such creativity and passion put into it that you can SEE her drive in that. (also to know i didnt understand artpop as an album until MUCH later in my life)

but taylors lack of needing to innovate her sound due to her popularity and lack of criticism really has just shown how much her music has come to decline in quality. if you see the transition between fearless and speak now. those two albums. she TOOK the criticism that she "couldnt write her own songs" and literally flipped that narrative to write that entire album herself. and to me? arguably speak now is MY favorite taylor album.

and the transition between speak now to red to 1989 to reputation. theres SO much that happened in that sense of time. theres different sounds that make those albums what they are. 1989 was such a creative endeavor for her because it was her first step into pop music. i think was also her first time working with jack? now people say her decline on music is his fault as a producer but i dont believe his role had gotten bad until midnights. (i saw people discussing clairo's sling album because he produced it. but THEYRE WRONG. SLING IS GOOD AND HIS ERA OF BAD PRODUCING HAPPENED IN 2023(?) i forget when midnights came out ugh thats how many taylor albums we have gotten ffs)

but the breakaway and challenge 1989 gave really set up for reputation. she disappeared because of all the hate. and i think while I DONT SUPPORT that type of treatment because no one should go through that type of mental low... that really set her into a space to create more fluidly and with more passion?

lover- people will say was a flop.. and ill admit too... cruel summer?? shouldve never ever became a single. it was better as a hidden gem. but lover was good for the majority of songs!! there's still passion in it.

it was just that after folklore/evermore it felt very.... underwhelming and not like her at all. the quality slipped so so off the page. it just feels very recycled and unnecessary. especially like i said the fandom doesnt help with overconsumtion and she really truly should use her platform for more. the economy being in shambles and yet she wants to charge $700 for a concert ticket. (nothing bad if like someone WANTS to go but its genuinely ridiculous because inflation shouldnt BE like that).

not to even cover merch??? why is it so high?? shouldnt you want it to be accessible to your fans since you have so many?? vinyl prices are ridiculous but WHY is a hoodie almost $100. im sorry but like why 😭. cant we just charge $60 again?????

anyway all that to say that after the evermore era her music genuinely slipped off. im just thankful that the speak now rerecord didnt get BOTCHED as high hell. i have opinions about the vault tracks because the entire reason was to include tracks from that era and yet its like your smearing shit onto a perfectly wonderful painting and saying "look yall!! i added to this!!" wrong. wrong wrong wrong. idk. 1989's vault tracks just made me mad. it felt so unlike the vibe of what 1989 was???? and slut was NOT written at the time of 1989. come on.

timeless though off of the rerecord for speak now.... i will defend that one with my honor. i genuinely am glad speak now's vault tracks didnt get horrible treatment. i like that she kept the solo writing with the entire album. adding on fob and hayley's collabs as a callback because i really remember seeing videos of her singing sugar were going down and thats what you get during the speak now tour. it just felt like a full circle moment for that. fob's collab couldve been better but im glad it wasnt like... bad.

stilllll think matty's collab couldve been iconic on slut. even if i hate 1989's vault tracks as a whole... the 1975 does have good music. I KNOW. controversial yeah. anyway. hes got talent tho.

i found phoebe during 2020 when i was listening to a bunchhh of different artists (the 1975 too yeah). but punisher found me and i used to not be able to sleep due to anxiety/insomnia back then and i would listen to that album for months to just SLEEP.

i have a closeee bond with it. its like my favorite if not a close second of my favorite album of all time. its just really interesting?? also really valid that its not your type of music either. i just hold her stuff close. also did a english assignment on smoke signals' lyrics. i remember that. i got to say "fuck the cops" in the assignment and felt very proud of myself LMAO.

in terms of lucy- i for some reason never have gotten around to listening to her stuff?? even though i know i need to and should?? i just always somehow forget. many people have told me to but oh man i forget.

glad we can agree that they deserved album of the year btw.

sorry for the LENGTHY reply but yeah!! i might be forgetting to talk about something but askinf about my special interests (music) will always give you a lengthy answer.

[rjtaylorsversion]

1989 TV Impressions in Album Order (after a few listens)

welcome to New York - first listen sonically it sounded wildly different to me, and the intro still does, but I like it! It feels so crisp and clean, but still so fun. Perfect intro to 1989 as always.

blank space - similar consensus it sounded so different on first listen, and I’ll be honest I don’t love the new click sound, but the little giggle when she says nightmare is adorable. It’s a classic!

style - somehow this is the one that sonically feels the MOST different to me. The base line is heavier throughout than in the original, and the iconic electric guitar intro takes a bit more of a backseat. In the chorus her voice is more elevated above the music and sounds so crisp, I love that! Overall everything production wise sounds better IMO. To me it sounds just like it does when she sings it in the Eras Tour!

out of the woods - hearing the iconic intro “oh oh ohs” SO CRISP was mind blowing, it’s even better than the original, I will take no shit over this. OOTW TV is better than the OG. The bridge still goes just as hard, and the background vocals are heavenly.

all you had to do was stay - those super high “stay”s still slay for sure. This one sounds to me very much like its OG counterpart, the harmonies do seem better blended throughout though than in the OG and I love that you can hear all the layers of her voice!

shake it off - perfect as always! Even though this song was so overplayed once upon a time, Taylor’s Version is making me love it again!

I wish you would - another intro like style where the guitar intro seems to have been toned down slightly, which doesn’t sound bad, I just wish it was more forward! Other than that, very similar to OG, but still sonically clearer and better! The little synth in the pre-chorus towards the end is amazing.

bad blood - YESSSS. Still sounds so angsty, the “heys” are SO GOOD. I’ve still always loved the version with Kendrick the best, and I’m so glad they didn’t make us wait too long for that!

wildest dreams - this one has already been out for a while, and it’s always sounded good and very much like the OG!

how you get the girl - I’ve always freaking loved this one, and it doesn’t not disappoint. I love the poppy baseline just as much as I did when it first came out, the chorus still slaps 100%. And I love the little electronic synthy swoop additions we get on the second round of the end of the chorus, and her squeaky “yeah-ah-ah”

this love - this one has also been out for a while, but her vocals are stunning and I love when the drums kick in on the second verse!

I know places - oh my god the distortion on the intro “I—I—I”s is EVERYTHING. It sounds so freaking good. And the “WE RUUUUN” in the second chorus gives me literal chills. 10000/10 Taylor’s Version really gave us this one 100%. SHE ATE THIS ONE UP.

clean - the vocals are clear and sparkling, and the song is emotionally devastating us as it always did before. The layering of the harmonies and different voices is absolutely heavenly especially in the pre-chorus and chorus

wonderland - I have no words for how good this is. The same as I’ve said before on the other songs, the production is so clear and crisp and her voice sounds so mature and insanely good.

you are in love - one of my favorites from the OG deluxe version, I remember listening to this at night in my car as an 18 year old dreaming of a love like that, and being completely swept up in the lyricism and gentle melody of the song. TV brings back all those feelings and then some, especially now being married to the love of my life. This song is so freaking special to me. 🤍 the “ahhhhh ahh ahhhhh”s at the end of this song are angelic, especially with headphones!

new romantics - a certified BANGER as it has always been. Literally no notes, her voice is CRISP and the song is amazing.

vault tracks

slut! - I absolutely love the lyrics of this song, although I definitely expected a different vibe like everyone else I think. I love the color visualizations laid throughout and the laid back sound of the song in general. I like this song a lot, but it’s not my favorite of the vault songs’

say don’t go - the lyrical twin to all you had to was stay in my opinion, the flipped perspective. Love the use of the heavy baseline in the verses and pre-chorus while the chorus itself is more elevated. We also get the vocal echoes on “say….don’t….go” during the chorus and echoes on the bridge which sonically is very cohesive with 1989 as a whole!

now that we don’t talk - the hook is SO GOOD. I love the chorus, and I just in general love the feel of finally starting to feel yourself again after getting out of a relationship and realizing all the things that weren’t good about it. All in all, great addition to the album!

suburban legends - this song fits the sound of 1989 extremely well, but also somehow feels like it could be from Midnights? But I love the vocals especially on the chorus! I love the sparkly synth in this song too!

is it over now? - this is it, this is THE vault track. So far it looks like this is the fan favorite and I certainly don’t divert from that opinion. The LYRICS ARE GIVING and I am overall just obsessed with this. It sounds amazing and fits in the album perfectly, I can’t believe we didn’t get this on the OG album. “Let’s fast forward to 300 take out coffees later” has me in a chokehold as well as the “oH lord.” 18 years old of me would have had this on repeat in 2014, and 27 year old me is no different!

bonus

bad blood ft Kendrick Lamar - YES YES YES. it’s everything I wanted, I always loved this remix and it still gives everything. on repeat, nonstop.

If you made it through all of that, thanks for reading and share your thoughts/emotions/anything about 1989 TV below!

[anothermansjeans]

pls pls pls share your thoughts on speak now tv babe we’re all waiting 👀

THANK YOU FOR ASKING BESTIE BECAUSE THOUGHTS HAVE BEEN THUNK

okay SO speak now is literally my favorite taylor album ever so to say this rerelease was so anticipated for me is an understatement and i have mixed feelings but most of them are super good!!

also all of my notes are below the cut because this is gonna be long

my first note: the enunciation in taylor’s version makes my heart SOAR because although i will forever still love the og (not enough to stream), it’s amazing how actually hearing the words more clearly makes the song 10x better???

and now i’ll go into better than revenge bc let’s be so for real that was probably the most anticipated song for everyone— but, i don’t hate the lyric change. it’s very folklore of her which does take away the vibes of speak now, but i understand her reasoning for wanting to change it. i think i’ve listened to btrtv enough times though to fully accept and appreciate the lyric so maybe that’s why i’m so okay with it.

onto the main thing i felt was lacking throughout the entirety of the album— that feminine rage and teenage angst. that’s one of the reasons why speak now is one of my favorite albums as a whole, and i feel like because taylor grew up and has a different mindset towards everything that had happened at that point in her life, she wasn’t feeling as vengeful and you could tell when she was singing.

i still absolutely love all of the songs and the production is also very different but also gives that same feel so i appreciate that as well, but again, i think because taylor matured with not only her writing but her feelings it feels as though the anger is lacking.

(i also want to say that i saw some theories about how j*** m****’s team had written emails towards taylor regarding the songs when speak now was first released and that’s why she told people not to attack him, and if i’m going by that then it would make sense that songs such as haunted sound more frustrated and helpless than angry)

BUT NOW ON TO THE VAULT TRACKS…

I CAN SEE YOU IS THAT BITCH !!!!!! literally my fave out of all of them. when emma falls in love is also so good im obsessed because same, i see someone fall in love and admire that and literally want to be them and just love everything that they have!!

castles crumbling hurt like a bitch and to have long live on the same album is fucking insane it’s makes so much sense— like, same taylor, i love to acknowledge people loving me but i also love to acknowledge people hating me!!

and don’t get me started on foolish one….. i am that bitch BUT ALSO IF ANYONE HASN’T READ how i met my husband by alice munro YOU NEED TO BECAUSE EDIE IS ALSO THAT BITCH AND DESERVED BETTER AND I THINK READING THAT STORY AND LISTENING TO THE SONG WILL KILL YOU

timeless and electric touch are also so incredible! they aren’t my favorites but i still appreciate them very much 🩷

and finally my favorite song is still speak now, miss taylor gave us that little giggle and i thank her for that because the shaky breath in last kiss is gone </3

thanks for asking my thoughts bestie 🫶

[finnickodaiir]

Share them bestie

Okay!

Journey to Fearless >> 1989 Tour movie

Vigilante Shit is... bad...

The re-recordings overall are an improvement, but there are a few exceptions (WANEGBT, IKYWT, Holy Ground and Girl at Home)

Reputation didn't deserve album of the year. It's not as bad as some of the critics who disliked it claim it is, but it's also not as amazing as the fandom thinks it is imo. It has some great songs (Getaway Car, Dress, Call It What You Want, Gorgeous, King of My Heart, Delicate), but also a lot of meh songs (So It Goes, Don't Blame Me, LWYMMD) and some of her worst songs (This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things and Endgame). It's a 7/10 album for me.

LWYMMD gets too much hate (I know, I just listed it as a meh song, but I don't think it's a bad song, it's just one that I don't really revist that often. And plus it gave us the best music video from the Reputation era)

Karma the lost album theory is not real.

Shake It Off should have been the single from the 1989 era that got a tour video, not New Romantics, because that song has a lot of imagery while Shake It Off doesn't. But it served its purpose as a lead single, which was to create a lot of hype around 1989, but still.

Some people need to stop acting like Folklore and Evermore are the only times Taylor has had great songwriting on her albums. Red, Speak Now, Love Story, The Best Day, Fifteen, White Horse, Clean, Dancing with Our Hands Tied, Clean, Soon You'll Get Better, Cornelia Street, YOYOK and WCS are right there.

None of her pop albums are underrated. Some get more criticism than others (Lover), but like her pop albums are still very popular and have a lot of people who love them and discuss their songs.

Her country ones (especially Debut and Fearless) are very underrated and are slept on.

Lover is my least favorite album. It has some of her best pop songs (Cruel Summer, Cornelia Street, I Think He Knows), but it also has some of her worst songs (Me!, YNTCD, I Forgot That You Existed) and the tracklist is messy and it's the one TS album that I'd say that the tracklist needs some adjusting for sure.

I really don't get why some people say she couldn't possibly have written the 10 minute version of All Too Well back in 2011, just because of the "fuck the patriarchy " line. She was just quoting what was written on the keychain, not just randomly saying it for the sake of saying it.

If This Was a Movie deserves more attention

The Fearless vault tracks are overall good (except Don't You and Bye Bye Baby)

As much as I'd like to believe Speak Now TV will be out in March, I doubt it now, because we're only 1 month away and no announcement yet.

I'd be perfectly fine with Shake It Off, Bad Blood, Me!, YNTCD getting cut from the tour setlist for other songs (aka Holy Ground, Enchanted, State of Grace, Wonderland, You're in Love)

Everything Has Changed and Run are good. Yes, Ed's music has declined quality wise from his earlier work, but these collabs are still good.

Mary's Song and Today Was a Fairytale are cute and I don't get why people hate on them.

Starlight deserves more attention too. Yeah, it's a bit weird that it made onto Red, but it's still a good song

I like August, but I don't think it's the best song of the love triangle songs on Folklore.

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

So I’m stealing this from @tayloralisonswift and you should definitely check out their version, but I’m going to listen to and rank all of Taylor’s songs album by album (and then maybe her non album songs at the end). You can also see my debut rankings and what I’ve changed here + my Fearless, Speak Now, RED, 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore and Evermore rankings here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

So with that in mind, it’s Midnights’ turn. As per usual, I’ll put a content warning here and say that I mention mental struggles (including addiction and suicidality), family issues and religious trauma. They are just mentions, but read at your own discretion. Also I am giving a warning that I am more a 3am vault track girlie here so don't be too shocked at the difference in scores.

Lavender Haze: This song has never clicked, I'm sorry. Like I just find it so uninteresting despite certain lines (particularly the arguably feminist ones) really having the potential to say something. 3/10.

Maroon: You're gonna hear this again before the end of this album, but anthem of 2022 me's life in a nutshell... really anthem of 2022 - mid 2024 me more than I'd like it to be. Also if you catch me singing this and singing "the rope is there. I gave up" instead of "the rubies that I gave up" don't correct me, I know; I just like my misheard lyrics more lmao. Anyway, I really like this song. 8/10.

Anti Hero: Listen, you may think as a The Archer girlie, this is my favourite from the album... but no. It is just very mid to me. I will give it that the narcissism line felt like the most relatable line for me until recently (when I healed more), but yeah, not something I actively seek out. 4/10.

Snow On The Beach: I'm using the more Lana version for this ranking because it's my preferred one. Lyrically I actually like the second verse, but as a whole the song just does not appeal to me. 4/10.

You're On Your Own Kid: We're ranking the standard album version here. This song having 'it's okay we're the best of friends anyway' and 'just to learn that you never cared' in the same verse did numbers on me when the song dropped out of relatability to a past situation ngl. Overall I don't think I love this song as much as everyone else, but I do like it a lot. 8/10.

Midnight Rain: So unless you're counting being in a local newspaper as fame, I've never been famous. But from the first listen, this song hit deep as a 'regrets over how my mental illness impacted how I treated relationships' song and it has haunted me since. Amazing song though. 8.5/10.

Question: A bop! A bop that has been too relatable since this album's release (as opposed to the past situation I originally tied it to), but a bop nonetheless. Also, it has unintentionally become queerer to me through me talking about Fortnight and making connections, which is lowkey funny because I am team 'this song is not and never was about Matty' whereas Fortnight clearly is. But yeah Fortnight is super queer to me so I guess this is now too lmao. 8.5/10.

Vigilante Shit: Let the record show that I did not need Taylor to show her ass to love this song. Like it's appreciated, but I loved it from the beginning. Remember when I said Maroon was 2022 me's most relatable song? Yeah so was this. So call me a cringey millennial all you want, but I will always love this song. 8.5/10.

Bejeweled: Eh, this is another mid song that never clicked for me, sorry. 4/10.

Labyrinth: This was my favourite song from the album... for the three hours before the 3am tracks came out. As a fellow formerly (as in over a decade ago now) suicidal girlie who got into a relationship that helped me change everything and turn it all around and love life again + who would always push through everything with a 'it's only this bad rn' attitude, Taylor ate with this one. Still praying for a mashup of this and The Alcott on tour, but I know it's likely not gonna happen. 9.5/10.

Karma: This is one of those songs that rarely hits (sorry, karma seems to have forgotten that it's my friend a lot over the years), but it's had its moments. I do like the remix just as much and would list that as my favourite music video of the album, but god do I wish Ice's verse didn't just like drop out like that. It sounds so awkward to me. The irony to all of that is that I actually would call it the centrepiece of the album; it's just not one I'm into. 5/10.

Sweet Nothing: We're ranking the Lavender version bonus track for this one. Much like Cowboy Like Me, I do appreciate that this song can be seen as a love song or a (heading towards) break up song, but it's just not something I'm drawn to most of the time. 6/10.

Mastermind: My grower of the album. Like I liked it well enough on first listen, but it's so catchy and fun and relatable. 8.5/10.

Hits Different: Again, I don't feel like I love this as much as everyone else, but I do like it. 8/10.

The Great War: My stan song of the album. It was my favourite from the first listen and to be honest, that has only grown with time; especially this year after a loved one of mine labelled it as one of their 'us' songs post them getting help for addiction issues that could have torn us apart. I know people are currently seeing the lyrics through a different lens due to what happened with Taylor and Joe, but yeah, it'll always be a purely love song for me. 10/10.

Bigger Than The Whole Sky: This song has had so many meanings for me, some of which I am not comfortable talking about yet/may never be, but god, what a song regardless. Much like Ronan and Soon You'll Get Better, I understand completely why people cannot rank this song, but I love it so much. Definitely a top 3 song from the album for me. 9.5/10.

Paris: What a cute song. No further thoughts past I really like it. 8.5/10.

High Infidelity: Again, I don't really have thoughts on this song past really liking it. Her singing it with Gorgeous for Eras was wild given everything though lmao. 8/10.

Glitch: I am a glitch lover. Nothing further to say: 8/10.

Would've Could've Should've: So I forgot to mention this during my Folklore post, but this song and My Tears Ricochet both came on while I was writing about my thoughts on my religious experiences a couple of years ago and god did they make me realise how much religion played a role in everything 15 - 17 year old (worst years of my life) me went through and I've never seen them the same since. I don't have much else to say about this song. Like I feel like everyone loves it, and I'm included in that lmao. It's just that good. 9/10.

Dear Reader: Do you know how much damage 'to a house not a home all alone because nobody's there' did to me, someone who was single at the time and who still is estranged from their family, on my first listen of this song? Like yeah.gif x100 tbh. Overall, as devastating and untrue (both to Taylor and I nowadays) this song is, I love it. I love that it's a trap (as per the first line), I love that it's brutally honest about the downsides of the parasocial relationship/idolisation of a person, I just love it all. 9/10.

You're Losing Me: The fact this song can just as easily be read as a mental illness or complacency/'he's just not that into you' song is one of its strengths. Like I think of one of two very different circumstances from my experiences whenever listening to this song purely based on my mood on that listen. I once thought about a Soon You'll Get Better/You're Losing Me mashup based on my experience and boy did that take me out just as much as a just say Haunted/You're Losing Me or Tolerate It/You're Losing Me mashup would; for very different reasons of course. In saying all of that, it's not a favourite of mine... which of course meant I got it as my surprise song for Eras lmao (I will say that I will always appreciate that I got to hear a song live the first time it was ever played though, because being Australian/at the end of most tours, that does not happen often), but it's alright. 6.5/10.

Final score: 162/220 - 73.6%

[anakinskywalkerog]

omg oli hiii! no worries at all hehe, i was sorta worried because of the oli drought lol

actually me and eli broke up like last week lmao. my friend was the one who suggested it - he was like, "dude. you dont seem interested in your relationship at all anymore. hes dating you thinking you still like him, which is unfair. i genuinely think you like han more than eli at this point; if what you said about getting the feeling of him not really keeping to himself is true, then break up, for both of your sakes."

so i did 🤷‍♀️

but yes i love 'I Can See You', all of the vault tracks are so good! foolish one was written for me lolol. and timeless is so perfect. "in the 1500s in a foreign land"??? ma'am, queen taylor has slayed again. or should i say, queen slaylor?

lmao i agree with the seasoning part. existence is too boring indeed. although i disagree with using the crush thingy. i don't REALLY like him, sort of just an attraction. in fact its over too lol. he texted me and we talked for a little bit and everything has gone back to how it was before anything turned up 💀 i get the ick quite easily

oh no! im sorry! im sure it will, but in the meantine, if you ever need, i'm always here :)

he did lmao! it took a lot of begging, and a lot of flat out refusal ("i cant write that! thats objectification! "consensual objectification!" "... no way i can do that. id be scarred." "its fine just do just do it pleaaaaase!" "lmao i cannot write smut about you both, thats too far, even for me, canberry." "...what about all of the smut you read then-") (not sure what gave him that impression but i am a college student, what am i, mary jane? i could, but i wont 🤭) cranberry asked after i wrote a sort of drabble for his friend (who also asked, but he gives highkey gay vibes lol. he and his gym bro and both crazy) back in january, but i flat out refused. and then something my friend posted on her story after one of our finals made me go "... no way, but i actually have a great idea"

ergo it happened!

but its definitely platonic lolol im sort of their only friend with such *amazing* writing skills ;) their exact words were "but youre the only person we know who writes fanfiction, please please please"

lmao i have no clue, just being crazy with their boys i guess lol.

hopefully! definitely did not seem that way from his messages, but maybe im wrong. ill give it a couple of months? plus, i have not been blocked, or removed from his stories, and he did enjoy reading it (bros was laughing so hard he couldnt even read)

lmaooo me too! we would be so iconic. feel free to drama dump anytime lmaoo. i am officially a *tumblr user who gets asks* (proud smiling) hehe 😈

i also cooked my own curry for the first time today hehe that was interesting

lmao i will try, thank you for the tip <3

love, sythe <3

sorry it took me so long to reply, sythe!!

1) don’t be worried about oli droughts, I just get busy but everything is fine!

2) sorry to hear about eli 😭 damn. but also rip and thank u next, you know what I’m sayin

3) foolish one was written for all us tumblr girlies!! lololol. but also, you don’t have to have a CRUSH just to have a lil crush. like, just a lil makin eyes on occasion makes life less boring hehe

4) truly CANNOT imagine anyone in my real life asking me to write them fanfic let alone a BOY let alone SMUT that is a crazy story

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡 (ps have you watched Ahsoka yet)

[four-blue-eyes]

Ok so my final thoughts on my first listen:

1) Mine - true to the original but also a big improvement

2) Sparks Fly - true to the original but kind of lacking? I think her voice sounds less passionate then the original

3) Back to December - fucking awesome, everything I ever wanted, you can hear every single instrument

4) Speak Now - blows the original away, I had 0 expectations for this but she really gave it everything you could tell she was having fun, love the little hand claps

5) Dear John - perfect no notes I cried

6) Mean - very fun, I like the hand claps and the drums

7) The Story of Us - good true to the original

8) Never Grow Up - sobbing

9) Enchanted - this whole album has incredible production but I feel like it especially shines here

10) Better Than Revenge - oh boy so here's the thing IT'S FINE i like the new line in theory but it sounds clunky in the chorus am I still going to listen to the original YES (also the added vocal effects kind of threw me off but i also kind of like them, going to have revisit this)

11) Innocent - this was really good, I kind of thought she might botch it because of everything that's happened with Kanye since but she served and it's actually really good

12) Haunted - I'm really not sure how I feel about this production yet, it's interesting with the echo and everything but I think I'm going to have to listen a couple more times to form an opinion

13) Last Kiss - the vocals were everything I needed, we got the little breathy shake and the emotion, but I feel like the production is almost to strong here? It kind of drowns out the vocals at some parts where they could really shine with a more simple acoustic production

14) Long Live - nostalgic and true to the original, this was everything I needed

15) Ours - something is different here and I don't know if I like it

16) Superman - this has never been my favorite but taylor's version is better

17) Electric Touch - what is happening here? Am I the only who thinks this production sounds really weird and like a dip in quality from the rest of the album? I also just feel like it's a weird one to have fall out boy on, it's almost like a fearless song. I think I would have preferred let's go (battle) with fall out boy, they'd even sound good on I can see you. This just seems like a weird choice.

18) When Emma Falls In Love - cute

19) I Can See You - Taylor you WHORE this is fucking amazing and a banger

20) Castles Crumbling- everything i ever hoped for from this song title, this is probably my favorite vault track, everything sounds great AND Hayley gets her own verse , it does make me really sad how insecure she was :(

21) Foolish One - ok FUCK John Mayer he was really playing games with here when she was already insecure,I do really like this song probably my favorite after castles crumbling and I can see you

22) Timeless - this is really cute and fun storytelling, good closer to the vault tracks

[bisluthq]

What’s your origin story, James? How did you come into the Taylor fandom? What brought you to Gaylor? What’re your fav official and unofficial ships? Have you ever seen Tay live? What era is your favourite? And what re-recording are you most excited for? 😊 ly tysm for stepping in for Nat and plz give her all our love! So happy for you two!

So as I said before I was a bit of a Taylor anti during 1989 era. There was a gal who worked in my office at the time who would just play the cd nonstop, and it just wasn’t for me at all. I thought Taylor was corny and she smiled too much, but that didn’t stop me from listening to Ryan Adams 1989 cover album for a whole year after it was released (yay misogyny). But listening to that album gave me huge respect for her songwriting. So Reputation rolls around and I miss it (minus LWYMMD which I thoroughly enjoyed) because I only use Spotify and without all the press/not working with that girl anymore I miss that there is an album release entirely. Truly my biggest regret because I would have immediately become a fan and gone to the tour and everything and the show I could have attended ended up being a rain show 😭

Fast forward to 2019 when I hear about the Taydar podcast through a Facebook group and am immediately intrigued. Shoutout to Sarah and Hattie for being my introduction to Gaylor. I binged all the episodes they had made at that point which was like three and start listening to Tay obsessively. When quarantine hit like a lot of other people I stumbled to tumblr, and got obsessed with a reading certain blog for entertainment, and made an account and jumped right into fandom. Consequently I’ve made some amazing friends and met the girl of my dreams. Like I’ve said before I just ship Taylor x happiness, but I have a huge soft spot for Tily after doing the masterpost. It makes me 🥺 to think that no matter what went on in their relationship, Lily was with Taylor at a time when a lot of people put distance between them, and she wanted people to know they were inseparable. I am so excited to relive all the eras through the re-recording process. Fearless TV was so fun, it was like being there at the beginning. Rep is my all time favorite era, musically and stylistically, so I am looking forward to it the most I think. I’m just thrilled for her to be doing this. I’m so pumped for Red and the vault tracks and Better Man 🤞 All I wanted this year was the covid shot and the 10 minute rendition of All Too Well and it’s actually going to happen!

[letsgetnutsclub-blog]

2017

Previously posted by LGN XYZ on Facebook

Hello there.

Proper writers and ‘bloggers’ and that will have done their 2017 write ups already. Fortunately, we’re crap, and so we’re doing it now. It’s not quite over, but it’s pretty much over. The year. And other things.

That was a terrible intro. Quick! Look to the past!

Chronology

We were going to just move through the year, like these things often do, but on second thoughts: balls to that. Our memory’s knackered and we’re tired, and some FUCKING CUNT IN ANOTHER FLAT is banging the floor like they do. So let’s just group things in vague themes and crack on.

Oh, this’ll be us talking about music, by the way. We should have said that at the beginning.

Making a bloody racket

We love a bloody racket in musical terms, and oh man do we miss going for a boogie to a bit of drum ‘n bass. It’s a great finisher. Back when dubstep was newish, it was fine and all, but a set had to finish with d’nb or it was a snore. Hip hop’s good and all, but in a club it’s a bit samey and mid-tempo unless you ramp up to a bit of d’nb.

Anyway, at the beginning of the year, Emeli Sandé – yes, Emeli Sandé – put out an absolute banger. Breathing Underwater (Matrix & Futurebound remix) is an absolutely euphoric belter. Love it.

And euphoric rackets brings us onto PC Music.

We were already grooving along to Charli XCX’s Vroom Vroom EP. It’s a massive smash of fairly aggressively old/new sounding rave-ups.

It was from there, we think, we learned of your SOPHIE. In what will become a bit of a theme in this ramble, late to the party we discovered the PRODUCT stuff SOPHIE put out in 2015. Most especially we fell deeply, deeply in love with JUST LIKE WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE, which is an absolute beauty of a track. A drumless banger. Listening to it daily. LOVE.

Back to Charlotte, 2017 was the year where she evidently was setting some self challenge of releasing a new track every week or so. Of her fifty-seven collaboration, the Mura Masa one is our fave. Whilst that steel pipe (drum? glockenspiel?) sound is so very now it’ll sound so very old in a year or two, 1 Night is an undeniable tune.

But Number 1 Angel – Charli’s album-in-all-but-artist-description ‘mixtape’ – was a bit of a revelation. In 2016, the people’s queen of x Carly Rae Jepsen won everything with her album-not-an-album Emotion Side B, and in 2017 Charles did the same. This prompted us to launch our catastrophic opening hour gambit for LGNXYZ02, but more of that later.

Number 1 Angel is so great, we’ve conspicuously not listened to her SECOND bloody album-not-an-album Pop 2 – that she casually threw onto the stack at the end of the year, forming a pair of “I call them mixtapes” 2017 bookends – because we’re a bit scared and want to have time to appreciate it / holy fuck it’s got a standard to live up to.

Soz.

Anyway, the first of the two had a very snazzy website put together showing off the producers. A bunch of your PC Music sorts – SOPHIE, A. G. Cook, Danny L Harle...

Huge Danny is another we’d sort of let slip by. He did a song with Jeppo a while back, and we thought it was okay, but we’re NOT INTERESTED in anything Emotion-era that falls outside the Emotion and Side B+ sets (what Lil Yachty advert song? Huh?) and so we paid little more attention.

Anyway, he produced one of the best on N1A, called ILY2, and with a penchant for initialisms this year he released an EP called 1UL. We gave it a listen, and moved on.

But then later in the year, we moved back. And gave it many more listens. The title track (another with that bloody plonky percussion sound) is a great wee thumper.

It takes us a while to catch on sometimes. Soz 2.

Taking a while to catch on

Two big ones we got to late in similar fashion were songs by Tinashe and Dua Lipa.

Again, we listened to the albums when people were wanging on about them, and didn’t give them enough time. That’s one of the drawbacks of streaming. When we were kids, if we took a punt on an album, that fucker was getting listened to. It took us a good while to learn to love Breakbeat Era, but we put the effort in and got there. Now, we’re flighty and don’t give things the time.

But we love a good music video. And these two have absolute belters of music videos.

Company, by your Tinashe, is an incredibly impressive performance video. A single room, a few people, some cheaty edits to cover the joins in a sweatily energetic and near-relentless routine, it’s fucking great. She looks amazing. And the song, it turns out, is absolutely magic. A smooth-as-anything r’n’b thumper, with a very enjoyable bleepy noise thrown in there. From 2016, but for us it’s a 2017 jam.

And your Dua snuck in an all-conquering number 1 hit and vaulted from alt-pop to pop-pop on the back of an all-time great music video for New Rules.

The minor flaws of the slightly wonky head-nod bit and the girl getting accidentally whipped in the face by someone’s hair only make this gem shine brighter. It feels like a home-grown triumph – don’t spoil it for us by telling us it cost $1mil and was directed by someone super-established. The choreography is tremendous, the look is great, but more than anything the core concept is so strong, it’s hard to think of a narrative vid and a song that go together so beautifully. It’s so good. We rewatched it a zillion times.

And from love of the song and video came a love of the song. And going back to a few of her previous singles too. Well done, all involved.

Music videos are important

Maybe in 2018 we’ll get back into making them.

Dua became a big hitter thanks to that incredible music video. And some existing big hitters released some big videos too.

Katy Perry launched what is apparently now trad to call an ‘era’ with an astonishing music video for Chained To The Rhythm. A proper megabudget job, but really, really darkly bleak and upsetting. What with political things as they were and are, it is still genuinely affecting to watch. A big shiny pop video has never been so harrowing. It was a real “oh fuck, she means business” moment, and did the job in creating a massive wave of publicity for her doing ‘woke pop’.

She then followed it with a song making a blunt non-metaphor about fucking. Didn’t do so well.

We quite like Bon Appetit, though, and Swish Swish did a Sound Of The Underground whereby it grew on us a thousand percent thanks to hearing it sounding massive at a disco (Unskinny Bop, natch). Astonishingly bad video, though, providing a peculiar seesaw end to the ‘era’.

And unfortunately clashing with Taylor Swift bringing out her own megabudget megavideo.

Look What You Made Me Do is pleasing if only for the fact that it was another underline that big pop stars are still in the business of spunking big money on big videos. High score for spectacle, with odd grade slipping due to the fact the rush to get it finished evidently left the first half slightly out of sync.

The song’s alright, but Ready For It...? is the real banger. We dig it. Haven’t given the album more than one listen, though. Maybe we’ll come back to it.

Selena Gomez’s Bad Liar was a leftfield anti-pop pop smash that we liked and grew to like more. We’ve not given this video many rewatches because we find it faintly unsettiling in its own way (is she digitally de-aged in it? What’s going on?)

And switching musical directions in the reverse, Lorde came back with a surprise disco banger in Green Light. Again we weren’t sure at first, again it grew on us, again we played it at LGN. Our initial judgement is often pretty shaky.

What isn’t shaky however is our enduring love for Ariana Grande. LGN was in part built on a night round one of our houses, singing along to Spotify, accidentally playing Problem on loop and loving it. Confident outspoken feminist queen of casually shutting down douchebags whilst releasing banger after banger.

This year, the hundredth single off of Dangerous Woman, again an awesome video grew our love for a song. Everyday is a song that more or less passed us by on the album. But seeing her grooving around in her big puffer jacket whilst diverse snogging kicks off around her in the really fun video made it move up onto our faves list. She’s the best.

We’re not going to be able to say anything in this superficial and pointless ramble to do justice to the fucking awful nightmare of what happened in Manchester, so we shan’t try. It’s heartbreaking, and the One Love response had us in tears.

Memory

George Michael died last Christmas, and as with David Bowie and Prince, it shamefully took his death for us to dig back into his music. And in George’s case, fuck we remembered some belters. Freedom ‘90 is an incredible tune, and one we played to triumphantly finished LGN04. His cover of As with Mary J Blige is ace. Multiple Wham! megasmashes which should have been on our playlist all along, apologetically we remembered them.

We also reminded ourselves what an incredible album Music Box is. Can’t remember what inspired us to have a bit of a Mariah Carey dig – perhaps just closing with her as queen of Christmas in the last 2016 LGN, and then rehearsing the lyrics to Hero when we wanted to close with it this year. A very, very strong closer. So good we chose it twice.

And you know who else we rediscovered this year? All Saints, mate. We saw them live (supported by Melanie C and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, thankyouverymuch) and it was everything. They looked incredible, they sounded incredible, they played the old hits and the new hits, they looked like they were having a fun old time of it, it was brilliant. We never saw them way back when, but this was pretty unbeatable. They played Chick Fit, which made us happy as that is an underrated smash. And they made us check out the new album. AGAIN, something we slept on when we first heard it, but One Strike is a top tier groover. Hurrah.

The joy of being part of a pop crowd

The All Saints gig was at Kew Gardens, and we were wary of it being a yummy mummy sitdown picnic fest. Which it was, but with a dancing area right in front of the stage, which meant we could get right in a wee crowd of heroes to boogie around like it was an awesome club gig.

AND SPEAKING OF AWESOME CLUB GIGS. We saw Yelle. For the somethingth time, always great, and this time in Canada.

We were a bit wary early on as the support DJs were kicking out some ace danceable tunes and the crowd was extremely sparse, an the venue inside was very swish and new which can sometimes be a bit of an atmosphere cooler. But when they came on, the crowd packed the dancefloor and it went off. Banger after banger after banger. Yelle chucked out a bunch of singles in 2017, all ace, all massive live, adding to a set of just the best fun jumping around pop joy. Love love love.

We were in Canadia for a hol, but deliberately coincided it with Tegan & Sara doing a hometown Con X show. This wasn’t a rave-up, was in a big modern concert hall, stripped down and partially acoustic-y. But was the joy of being a part of another sort of crowd. A crowd that love Tegan & Sara. T&S spent two albums doing the big pop thing, and it seems like they’ve had enough of it for now.

On stage and in interviews, they’ve spoken of how they wanted to be prominent queer voices in the mainstream, but now want to retreat a bit because the mainstream is gross. They spoke of playing big festival and support slots with the audience not really giving a shit. So here they were, playing a big small show for an audience who really gave a shit. It was wonderful.

Two days later, and well over a day without sleep, we were back in London, in another big modern concert hall, seeing Camille at the Barbican. Camille is someone you really should see live. Her albums are often beautiful, and floaty, and dreamily lovely. Live, she turns it into a big thumping dance performance. We can’t describe it without making it sound several times more shit than it is; it isn’t shit at all. It’s clatteringly, physically brilliant.

New love

In a not dissimilar fashion, Chela’s Bad Habit video is worth a look. It came out this year, and has the handclaps and odd clothing and weird dance moves that aren’t a million miles from Camille’s show. We’d never heard of Chela before, but liked this song and video. And it prompted us to look into what else she’d done.

And holy fuck, she’s incredible. No album, a bunch of scattered singles over a few years, but such tunes. And so captivating to watch. It helps that she’s beautiful, but it extra helps that she’s got fully awesome seemlingly-DIY dance moves. We watched the video to Romanticise a million times. More than New Rules. It’s just her grooving around in a single shot, a few digital paint splashes here and there, but it’s fucking great, and the song is an absolute bop. A megabop.

We were hyper obsessed with Romanticise for weeks, playing it pretty much daily. It’s SO GOOD. And in the past week or so, we’ve gone the same for Handful Of Gold. Go and watch it, again and again. We can only hope Chela decides to pop over to London this year, because we will be there with our shapes ready to be thrown. She’s fucking great.

Four discos

Oh aye. We put on some discos.

In 2016, there were three LGNs. In 2017, there were four.

For LGN04, Saturday 4th February, we moved to sunny Dalston and the Moustache Bar Dalston and had a good old time. The now trad quiet beginning, and hopeless flyering of the empty streets, gave way to a busy crowd by the end. Someone requested Martha and went nuts for it when we played it, which was ace.

LGN05 was just one month later, on Satuday 11th March. We felt bad for the few people who came early doors, and we made a real mistake running out to futilely flyer again rather than start a dancefloor amongst ourselves. But again it came good, chums arrived, and the crowd again filled in at the end and was so happy singing along we did a double finish (there’s little better than having a crowd belting out Hero AND It’s All Coming Back To Me Now one after the other).

And then the Let's Get Nuts crew had a bit of a crisis meeting. It’d become very stressful, three of us organising a disco together, and we were getting a bit narked with each other. We had all sorts of extra-disco things to worry about, and rather than break up as chums, we decided to break up as a disco. Or at least go on hiatus, like your One Directions or your Sleater-Kinneys.

But here at LGN XYZ, we really needed the continuing distraction, and so spun off to do basically the same thing, just with fewer people prepping it and poking at the iPad. Our LGN chums still chums, they thankfully came along to provide incredible and invaluable dancing support.

We approached The Victoria and they gave us a post-gig slot on Friday 19th May. Like absolute idiots, we figured we’d inherit something of a built-in audience – the venue being home to G R R L S and PINK GLOVE, and us following a Two Piece Records gig. We kind of didn’t, and had another harrowingly quiet beginning as people were spread out within the actually-pretty-big pub.

But again – AGAIN – it came good.

Our chums kept us going early doors. A heroic solo-discoer was there throughout and encouraged our riot grrly tendancies. And a trio of Charlotte and Jeppo lovers cheered our alt-pop hearts. By the end, we had people strutting to Shamir and raving it up to N-Trance.

You can read about LGNXYZ01 in a separate post where we blethered on about that, and about LGNXYZ02, which on Friday 10th November brought us back to The Star of Kings, in our follow-up jibber.

And so that was that

2017, in bits of music there.

Run The Jewels probably deserve a mention too, as they keep our ear into a bit of hip-hop, whilst we’ve drifted away from paying much attention otherwise. Kanye’s still on heavy rotation. Lizzo popped out a couple of new bops. And Fiona Apple’s 2012(!) album The Idler Wheel... remains our go-to when we’re not feeling big and poppy and want to feel some feels and sing along with something sadder.

And in fact, let’s finish with something really emotional.

Annie Hardy, from your Giant Drags, put out an album called Rules at the beginning of the year. It packs a fucking whallop. Her partner and baby died the years before, and some of the songs are about that. It’s a record that can really kick the shit out your heart.

Start 2018 as you mean to go on.

This was an odd way to end this long and rambling post, wasn’t it? Ah well, it’s happened now.

Happy new year. x