What really stood out to me was her lack of accountability and empathy. I expected more from the person who wrote this is me trying in folklore and happiness in evermore. The way she spoke of depression and substance abuse of her former partners really bothered me. Those are serious health problems and her approach was simplistic - to put it mildly. She could have said "that was a lot for me and I decided to walk away", but opted to call her former partners "coward", "the smallest man who ever lived", etc. The moment I heard the "why did you let me give you all that youth" was the last straw for me. That can ring a lot of true for teenagers that are learning to navigate love and romantic relationships, but at our age (I'm also in my 30's) we should be able to admit that we WILLINGLY gave that youth in exchange for something else (affirmation, security, etc.). And we could have stopped at any time - it was nobody else's responsibility but ours.
Taylor didn't make this album for us. She made it for herself. I've been a Swiftie since Debut and this album has knocked evermore down to second place in my ranking. I, for one, wanted more evermore...so "no one" is ME!) I'm a singer-songwriter myself and can definitely handle criticism about Taylor (and myself, for that matter!) That being said, sometimes it is ok to "languish in melancholy". Taylor's songwriting has always been confessional. Diary entries, if you will. This album is a snapshot of a moment in time and I'm ok with it. I will however agree that the Anthology tracks are a bit too much this time around. The initial 16 are the ones I listen to the most (I've listened to the Anthology tracks exactly twice) Thanks for your thoughtful critique. (and for the record, I'll happily take Jack)
You mentioned something along the lines of the melancholy never going anywhere and that this is for sad girls that just want to sit in the sad. I genuinely think if that's your opinion (and i get it - musically, I hear that), you've never been deeply deepy hurt by someone. Betrayed by someone. Lied to for sport and then spit out like ikd gum. I'm glad to those who can't relate to that experience. For those of us who have had people treat us this way (and not just by boyfriends) THIS ALBUM is what that feels like. You feel like a crazy person who's thoughts swirl round and round never really going anywhere. You become the friend who can't shut up about how you were wronged years ago. You feel, to quote a different album, "stuck in the restaurant" and never really sure you'll get up from that metaphorical chair. If this album doesn't resonate with you, that means you've never been betrayed and stopmed on and I love that for you
Yeah i think it’s really unempathetic how people are saying she’s immature on this album. They should be thankful they haven’t gone through the experiences she had. We know Taylor is also a very passionate person and most likely processes her emotions differently than most. Even in multiple songs she mentioned growing up as a precocious child. She’s laying her soul bare for us to see. We shouldn’t shame her for it. And in regards to the track about kim, I’m not gonna tell someone when it’s time to get over their trauma. Trauma can be life long. I know Taylor isn’t perfect. She’s human and she can be messy, so let’s not act like we’re any better because we all screw up sometimes. Also I’m sorry had to go through a situation like that. Sending you love 💕
Though you're right about people who are deeply hurt holding onto that for longer periods of time, I'm sure many of the reviewers who didn't like the album felt this way in their lives. I doubt Taylor is the only person to feel deep hurt/ be able to journal and write about it. I personally love a sad song or angry song that lingers(if done correctly!) but just because the subject matter is deeply sad in itself doesn't make the song good. Folklore works better because of the sharp concise editing and beautiful instrumentals behind those dark songs. And it felt like the subject matter was fiction and somewhat fresh. I can't say the same about TTPD
Honestly I do love the album, but I swear to god if the next album is more Jack Antanoff pop synths I’m gonna throw a fit. The sparkly synths on the title track literally sound copy and pasted from Is It Over Now? And the Folklore/Evermore aesthetic is cute, but not enough to have a third part that’s also nowhere near as interesting as the first 2. Just give us a rock album already! Or more hip hop type songs like Ready For It and End Game. Something new and fresh for her
Seriously if she doesn’t break up with Jack for the next album I’m rallying the pitch fork mob because they. all. sound. the. same. this sounds like midnights sonically, like other than the Aaron Dessner tracks, this sounds like a continuation of midnights. She played it up as a wild departure from her current sound, but it’s just another Jack antonoff productions album
first of all: there can be too much of a good thing. 30 ish songs?? it's a LOT to digest even for a swiftie. 2: it all blends together too much. i hardly remember any songs that stands out in tone. melody. 3: it is starting to feel too much like UNLESS you know what she is talking about, as a super fan, who knows how to piece all songs together and is looking for threads and clues, then you don't really know what she is even talking about. she gives excruciating details about her own specific situation, and so it becomes hard to put it into your own life and connect with your heart. cause it's SO taylor specific. she doesn't leave room for me to apply it to my own life. 4: i personally feel the lyricism is starting to decline? the metaphors are always dramatic when it comes to taylor, like when she made a lot of us believe she was talking about losing a child, but it turned out to highly likely just have been a metaphor for her ended relationship (bigger than the whole sky) but this time, i don't feel like i understand half the metaphors because it is so SPECIFIC to her own life, that i get lost. and it feels to me like she is stretched a bit thin this time around. with how she words things. 5: not that every album needs a bop, but it was a lot of negativity ,and extreme sorrow and vengeance to get through. with 30 songs. i don't see myself listening to half of it more than once. 6 and final.... it's ok to not like an album or connect to an album. if someone else thinks this is her best, and LOVES the amount of songs and thinks the more inside scoop and details the better, cool. i'm glad you are enjoying it. but it's ok if it's not for other swifties. 7: p.s ..... i am just over being in my thirties and taylor being 34, and she still describes breakups as life or death, and always a villain and a victim and then romance as fairytale teenage high school things. it comes across like she is not mentally 34. i can't relate to feeling like a teenage girl, just because i have a new love, you know? and i think it's so dramatic to always view an ex as this giant monster. a 6 year ended was not even the song that was the LOSS of her LIFE, that title went to a guy she was with for a few weeks.. which just makes it all seem so dramatic like really?? matty is the loss of your life? ok... what about joe then.... it's just a lot. ok bye
I only really got into Taylor Swift music in 2022 with the release of Midnights, and have 0 knowledge (or care) about her past relationships. I disagree with your point that you need to be a superfan who keeps up with her life to understand the lyrics of TTPD. My favourite part of Taylor Swifts music is that she takes moments from her own story, and translates them into song in a way that's applicable to a wide audience. Talking to Swifties is a little depressing - it doesn't seem like they fully connect to her music because they're constantly trying to decode lyrics to figure out how they apply to Taylor's life instead of their own.
As a swiftie who genuinely doesn’t give a crap about what’s going on in her personal life, she’s been losing me with the level of lyricism on her past 2 albums :/ I’ve been a swiftie since debut, but my adoration for her ART skyrocketed with folklore and evermore , and it’s been a bit sad to see the artistry of her words seemingly decline as she moved back into pop :/
"People get stuck at the age they got famous at" she even says that in her own documentary. Plus I also think that when writing you loose like 5 years of maturetiy, at least for me thats the case i process things well but then I write about it and then i end up sounding much more petty, and I also think that she is serving her audience what they want a lot (to a fault). I think growth isn't something Pop Stars are all that empowered to do, not personally or Musically. I love that Album even though I cant relate to it curently at all, but I am also teenager who likes to get heart broken and knows way too much about her personal life. I also agree that you don't have to love everything she does, every artists has their weaknesses and will inevitably have their downfall ir flop era
"its so taylor specific" yet youre mad a song YOU interpreted , for YOURSELF about a miscarriage... isnt? and how do you even know she didnt have a miscarriage? she doesnt discuss things that traumatic publicly and she shouldn't have to.
@@livdafish1165 that's two different things. her "Taylor specific" details are all those random and small details where she describe things so, unless you too was in that very same experience, it's not going to apply to your life ever. which is fine for some songs, she has always painted a picture i know. but it gets VERY detailed and with so many songs, so overall most songs i can't apply it to my own life. i am not mad that a song was not about losing a child. but the amount of thousand comments of women who were convinced it WAS, it was to point out that she can dramatize her romantic life to such life and d3ath scenarios that it can sometimes be too much. comparing a romance to what thousands were convinced was the type of pain that only relates to losing a kid, is just a bit much if you ask me. i can this opinion, and you can have yours.
The older Swifties (35+) in my circle don't like TTPD for all of these reasons explained in the video while the younger ones love it. My theory is that Taylor seems to be processing things on this album in a way that people in their early 20s really connect with. But to elder millennials like me, it comes across as immature and a regression in the kind of growth in emotional intelligence we've seen over her whole career.
31 songs is very overwhelming. Midnights I listened to four times on the first day. TTPD I could only listen to once and had to wait another day and a half to have a second go. But it definitely grew on me.
Why is that? I’ve always wondered that because the first time I hear just about any song with some exceptions over the years, and I don’t mean T S. I mean any songs, I don’t necessarily like them at first until I hear them a lot. It seems like it’s a strange phenomenal. But every once in a while, there’s one that will just strike me immediately few and far between.
@@50toinfinityatleast It does take time for the songs to become a part of me, or not. Some are love at first hear, but most keep replaying in my mind and they either move in or move out over time.
I guess it's the artist's essence: some pieces for the audience's embrace, others, a soul's soliloquy. May brighter tunes bloom with love's gentle cost! :)
Thank you for your playlist! I only recently started becoming a “Swiftie” after hearing what an amazing person she was by both Ed Sheeran and Post Malone. My husband and I are also football fans and fell in love with the “Kelce Family” after the brothers played each other in the superbowl. My husband got Shake it off stuck in his head and then started watching videos, then concerts and we loved it. I downloaded the album and got too depressed trying to take on the 31, so thank you!! I really loved who she seemed to be as a friend to Ed Sheeran daily during his struggles and agree with you on the Kim/North diss…
Happy to!! I cross-referenced my Top 13 w/ several friends who are die-hard Swifties to make sure we were mostly on the same page. I’m confident those are a good place to start for you!
As someone else said in the comments, the lack of accountability from her is crazy! The first time I heard But Daddy I Love Him! i felt gross at her calling her fans vipers and creeps for calling her out for quite VALID reasons. Said reasons are part of why they didn't work out in the end but her insulting fans came off as insensitive. Like you said, the victim mentality is tired at this point. She knew how Matty Healy was and all her fans reminded her, but nooooo who could've known he would do that to her!
I think you’re absolutely right!! Everything you said is so true. Everyone is too much of a fan to say it. Taylor is a person and she is flawed, just like all humans 👏👏👏
Really like the honesty. I personally still have mixed views about the album, this being said after listening to it a number of times. But anyway, I hope to hear more of these honest takes.
Thanks. I can’t stand group-think and am usually Taylor’s biggest cheerleader so when there’s opportunity for fair and honest criticism, I think it’s healthy to share and discuss.
6:13 Fans play it as an attacked coz it’s a hidden message. But keep out Kim of the narrative, Its a girl thanking the bad experience to be strong & heal her as a person. “Gave me hell but brings me heaven”
3:25 I think almost all tracks fits in her narrative of “tortured poets” the ones that were out of the narratives are just ice breakers, which are necessary coz the whole album is about tortured heart
Havent listened to the whole album but if you are saying its like a sad girl or melancholy malaise album then i guess that's why its named the tortured poets department album then 🫥 also like you said she was in the break up period during those times so i guess the 31 songs just flowed out of her that time..so her albums are just like a journal of the phases of her life..guessing her next album would be up tempo being she is so inlove now 😅
I'm glad I wasnt the only one that thought bring up North was uncalled for. Now i'm not a Kardashian fan but that girl is goong to know that Taylor wrote that about her mom.
Knowing how close tay and ice spice are recently and knowing that North loves ice spice I kinda thought that maybe ice spice had a song out that I was actually a Kim diss track , like I thought it was suggesting that there’s another popular song out there shitting on Kim that nobody knows about haha
I agree so much with you, my love and hate on this album is "The smallest man who ever lived" from 2:25 and out; prior to that, its what I don't like about the album...
Where are your top 13 listed? I have a top 7 so far but have not heard all the songs. I pre-ordered the CD and it doesn't;t include the songs on the 2 AM release, so I haven't worn the others out listening in the car (hey, I'm an 80-year-old Swifty still driving a 1996 car, no digital connections included.) My top 7 are LOLM, Fortnight, So Long London, Little Old Me, Prophecy, Clara Bow and Peter.
I disagree with your points, but I respect your opinions. I think this is one of Taylor’s best albums, if not her best. I was hoping that TTPD would be similar to folklore and evermore because I LOVE those albums, so I was very excited when she released The Anthology!
I will say, hearing the songs with a live band in Paris and seeing her live performances… adds an energy and edge that makes me appreciate those song so much more.
I think the whole argument surrounding Kim Kardashian is very unfair. Kim and Kanye made what Taylor herself described as 'revenge porn'; literally a nonconsensual naked model of her body that is STILL ON TH-cam TO THIS DAY! One of the most sickening photos I've seen is the picture of Kim K looking down over this pornographic model of Taylor and smiling whilst she takes a photo of it. They made a naked model of her body, lied about her consent in the lyrics of said music video where she is referred to as a 'bitch', and they conned the whole world into turning on Taylor which made her go into hiding for a YEAR and drove her to deep depression. I really don't think it's fair to say that she should simply 'get over it' and 'move on' given how deeply it affected her. As a woman, that is something I would never let go of, especially if it was another woman who did that to me. Calling it 'disingenuous' or 'tacky' for Taylor to write a song about how she built something on that foundation of Kim's hateful actions is what is actually tacky.
2:10 I think the destination is to let it all out and close this chapter of her life where in she admit is about lost love & doing self harm for a rebound which is as problematic as it could be from the start.
Thank you for being honest. Taylor Swift should never be exempt from criticism especially from us Swifties. This was such an underwhelming album for me. I forgave Midnights because it did have some bops, Would've Could've Should've saved the entire 3am tracks! But after Folklore and Evermore, I thought that finally we had grown up and matured, and those two remain my favourites. Then TTPD comes out and I'm like👁👄👁 It's so petty and boderline immature. The production is uninspired. Miss Swift here, as she stews in her sadness, outs herself as not being that nice where in So Long, London she blames Joe's depression on himself and sees it as a mere inconvenience that denied her desire to get married. But anyway, we'll never know the full story, we can only glean such clues from her unreliable narration. I think overall, pre-TTPD we indeed had a good run what with the pop culture phenomenon that was the Eras Tour, and some of the re-recordings. But I'm calling it a day now and trading in my bejeweled heels for my Cowboy boots🎉
Thanks for such a well thought out opinion. “Uninspired” sums up TTPD nicely. I'm glad we agree on fair and honest criticism - pretending everything is amazing just cheapens the truly great moments. So Long, London a top 5 TTPD track for me so l hope you didn't just ruin it. As for Midnights - I think it's a truly excellent body of work and think most of the 3am tracks are top tier (Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve, The Great War, Paris and Dear Reader being my faves). I've barely scratched the surface of Cowboy Carter. Same with Ariana’s new album. Let me saddle up and join ya! 🤠🐴🪩🎉
@@blakingnews Haha, you're welcome! Well to tell you the truth, So Long, London has been a favourite of mine as well. Sonically and lyrically, it's superb! She sure does know how to paint with words such vivid imagery. What I was pointing out specifically are the implied meanings behind the lyrics, and since it's the sole song I've listened to above the others, I have a slightly more informed comment to make. Hope I didn't ruin it for you fr😅 Eternal Sunshine is very cute, sweet and short, and I like it very much. Didn't know Ariana could write that well! But YES, Cowboy Carter surprised me in more ways than 1. Beyoncé has tapped into something truly special which act ii. It's a vast and and sprawling epic, yet manages to balance those big moments with quiet and reflective ones. It also feels like a capsule of sorts into music history. The pop girlies are just not giving us a break this year!! 2025 is gonna launch with a bloodbath at the Grammys, then it will be one looooong drought. Hopefully it will give smaller artists a time to shine.
This album was basically Taylor unhinged not giving a flying fuck what anyone thinks. I wouldn't say it's my fave T. Swift album, but I do love it and I am happy she feels she is in a place where she's comfortable to return to her core diaristic songwriting style again that we really haven't seen since Red. I do think that some of the extra songs on the anthology are not songs I find myself returning to, but I think she's in a very creative place in her life right now where she simply just wants to release content. I don't really even try to speculate WHO the songs are about and I more look at the songs through my own perspective and experiences which is what I think Taylor wants us to do (just my opinion though)
Thank you! I’ve loved her since debut and have been to multiple concerts and honestly I think this is her worse album for all the reasons you mentioned.
Totally agree!!!!!!! Also her vocals sounded so tired, breathy and blahhhh. It feels like she likes to bring pain on herself so that she can keep playing the heartbroken victim and I’m getting tired of it… can she write about anything else?!
Post Malone and Florence + the Machine gave me so much hope. I do love Florida!!! but you’re right - zero bops. At least we still have Rep TV this year (fingers crossed)🤞🏼
@@blakingnews Out of curiosity, what were the bops from Folklore for you? All of the promotional imagery and lyrics we were given beforehand was not screaming to me that this was going to be the next 1989. I feel like people let their expectations get in the way of just appreciating what's there.
The difference is folklore songs have great productions that are each unique and memorable, and the lyrics are well edited, quick and know when the run-on sentences should end @@candlesandcloth
@@50toinfinityatleast I can appreciate that take, for sure. Folklore songs contained more crafted lyrics designed to tell a story. TTPD is more stream-of-consciousness, like setting her diary to music. My question was more about what is being considered a bop. I'd argue My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys is more of a bop than anything off Folklore, which was the tone I was getting from all the promotional imagery we had gotten for TTPD. So I was actually pleasantly surprised by the diversity of production on this album.
It’s definitely grown on me. I just like most of her other albums better. But that’s what’s great about Taylor - she’s always pushing herself and never makes the same album twice. There’s something for everyone.
TTPD on repeat, however I still haven’t given an honest listen to the Anthology because honestly idgaf , ill care about it next year cause 31 is too many new songs to have all at once I’ve gotta marinate with the first 16 for a hottie min before I can accept the anthology 🤣
I didn’t like any of the songs at first. But after listening to it a couple times over, there are 5 of the 31 songs that grew on me. I think the songs on this album are too slow. There’s not one song that is upbeat, that you could dance to at a club, wedding, or crank up in your car and get excited about (like 1989 album which I love). A majority of the album is sad throughout. This is my least favorite album. The title of the album is too long too?
Wow, you really missed her points here. She had great sadness but mostly rage! Rage that she only allows herself to express through art, not life. You don’t get to say to her when she has to be done processing her grief and pain and rage - about childhood, men, career, betrayal. Just because you are uncomfortable listening to a rager doesn’t mean it is poor expression or poor art. You are limited in your ability to empathize with female, simmering, blistering, sugar hot rage. A lot of men try to control women by telling them to just get over it and she shouldn’t feel what she feels or express what she feels. Nobody overcomes global attacks of lying, shaming, blaming, betrayal, fake porn, canceling,etc. easily, quickly or silently. Don’t you get that Taylor went through a type of reputation rape, a mental social rape? Then a betrayal by a “father” for money. Just money, like being sold as a slave. Then whatever happened with two relationships of long standing (no one knows full truth about any of it) that she was hard processing. So go through all that and then say nothing or have people tell you to get over it in a certain length of time. See how you feel. She can write a hundred songs about understanding childhood bullies mixed with KK and YE adult bullies and she’ll always be mining a new face of the bully mountain. You also missed that these songs were mostly written and produced before new relationship and billionaire status. Lastly, if you were offended by 31 songs, then just buy first batch and ignore the second until you’re ready for them. It’s on you, not her that you couldn’t digest it all at once. She didn’t force you to listen to extra album. I obviously love this piece of art. And having lived through hell in my life I so appreciate TSwift’s beautiful, poetical expression. Too verbose! Says a man to a woman expressing pain and rage and overwhelming exhaustion. SMH 🤦♀️
No hate. Just honesty. I love Taylor and truthfully, she doesn’t make bad albums. She’s among the best of what she does. That’s why this album is disappointing, in my opinion. Was hoping for more.
@@blakingnewsnot sure who you think you are to demand more out of one of the hardest working women to ever work in the music industry. I’m not even a “Swifty”, I just recognize the hard work that goes into creating art out of your emotions and then sharing it with others. Pop music is allowed to have more than one emotion (upbeat/happy). Give credit where credit is due… bc her album is leaps & bounds above this channel 👌
It's a grower album for sure. The first half of the production is dissapointing (for me, i really wanted some kind of alt rock, no sinth sound with real instruments). I think she had to get out all this crap from her mind to heal, but unfortunately she is always so naiv in her relationships (obviously i don't know her I just get this from the albums). Never learn. Hate to say it, but seems like she's searching for these awful men, cause as she wrote it in the album epilogue: she writes the best songs from the worst men. I hope this ends here, i think Travis is like Lautner: boring for her as time passes ( the alleged Travis songs imo very surfice level, i'm sorry, they're very boring). But hearing this album, maybe this is the relationship that she needs. BTW i hate talking about her personal life, i wish i know less, i think with a more objective view, i would like this album more. But everyone talking about the fu.king men, not about her writing. I really like Aaron Dessner's production on the second half, but i don't think it's going to be released on physical media.
I liked fortnight, my boy only breaks his favorite toys, guilty as sin, the alchemy but I HATED i can do it with broken heart and the rest of the album😅 and Jack needs to go somewhere else honestly his best songs was with Lana last thing I agree dissing kim was weak move if she was a mastermind she would save this song for the rep Taylor's version
You’re so right about Reputation (Taylor’s Version)! It would’ve been such a better place for these Kim diss tracks because it wouldn’t look so belatedly petty. I have high hopes for Rep. I hope we get some fun collabs (Nicki Minaj tops my wishlist 😍).
Don't understand the purpose of this banal video. It's like you're deliberately trying to annoy people which is a peculiar take. It's fine if you don't like TTPD but your analysis fell utterly flat. I don't think any of your 5 points are valid in a wider sense - they are only small opinions. I think, in time, TTDP will be seen as her finest work - but 31 songs is indeed a lot, and a week is insufficient time to process them all. The negative reactions were completely predictable - and they would have happened whatever the music sounded like - there's just too much of a backlash train happening at the moment, and so many 'fans' who joined in the last couple of years reacting to something they find inexplicable.
I agree that there is an overdue culling of the Swiftie fandom happening and some backlash was inevitable - but this album is far from her best work and the bright spots get diluted by the sheer volume of tracks, half of which are forgettable. I suppose only time will tell who’s right. But I don’t think this is an album we talking about 10 years from now.
Been listening to Taylor Swift since she broke out with Fearless, so I think I can speak as a fan in saying that the 5 points are valid ones. I think you may be forgetting that when Folklore and Evermore came out, they were met with nearly universal acclaim, and rightly so. It was Swift at the peak of her writing prowess, plus the superb production complemented it very well. TTPD was the most anticipated album of hers for many reasons (Eras Tour, AOTY win, her overall pop culture impact recently), and we were so ready to embrace it with open arms. However, it was a disappointment, and there's nothing wrong with honest criticism regarding her work, especially as fans.
What really stood out to me was her lack of accountability and empathy. I expected more from the person who wrote this is me trying in folklore and happiness in evermore.
The way she spoke of depression and substance abuse of her former partners really bothered me. Those are serious health problems and her approach was simplistic - to put it mildly. She could have said "that was a lot for me and I decided to walk away", but opted to call her former partners "coward", "the smallest man who ever lived", etc.
The moment I heard the "why did you let me give you all that youth" was the last straw for me. That can ring a lot of true for teenagers that are learning to navigate love and romantic relationships, but at our age (I'm also in my 30's) we should be able to admit that we WILLINGLY gave that youth in exchange for something else (affirmation, security, etc.). And we could have stopped at any time - it was nobody else's responsibility but ours.
Taylor didn't make this album for us. She made it for herself. I've been a Swiftie since Debut and this album has knocked evermore down to second place in my ranking. I, for one, wanted more evermore...so "no one" is ME!) I'm a singer-songwriter myself and can definitely handle criticism about Taylor (and myself, for that matter!) That being said, sometimes it is ok to "languish in melancholy". Taylor's songwriting has always been confessional. Diary entries, if you will. This album is a snapshot of a moment in time and I'm ok with it. I will however agree that the Anthology tracks are a bit too much this time around. The initial 16 are the ones I listen to the most (I've listened to the Anthology tracks exactly twice) Thanks for your thoughtful critique. (and for the record, I'll happily take Jack)
You mentioned something along the lines of the melancholy never going anywhere and that this is for sad girls that just want to sit in the sad. I genuinely think if that's your opinion (and i get it - musically, I hear that), you've never been deeply deepy hurt by someone. Betrayed by someone. Lied to for sport and then spit out like ikd gum. I'm glad to those who can't relate to that experience. For those of us who have had people treat us this way (and not just by boyfriends) THIS ALBUM is what that feels like. You feel like a crazy person who's thoughts swirl round and round never really going anywhere. You become the friend who can't shut up about how you were wronged years ago. You feel, to quote a different album, "stuck in the restaurant" and never really sure you'll get up from that metaphorical chair. If this album doesn't resonate with you, that means you've never been betrayed and stopmed on and I love that for you
Yeah i think it’s really unempathetic how people are saying she’s immature on this album. They should be thankful they haven’t gone through the experiences she had. We know Taylor is also a very passionate person and most likely processes her emotions differently than most. Even in multiple songs she mentioned growing up as a precocious child. She’s laying her soul bare for us to see. We shouldn’t shame her for it. And in regards to the track about kim, I’m not gonna tell someone when it’s time to get over their trauma. Trauma can be life long. I know Taylor isn’t perfect. She’s human and she can be messy, so let’s not act like we’re any better because we all screw up sometimes.
Also I’m sorry had to go through a situation like that. Sending you love 💕
Though you're right about people who are deeply hurt holding onto that for longer periods of time, I'm sure many of the reviewers who didn't like the album felt this way in their lives. I doubt Taylor is the only person to feel deep hurt/ be able to journal and write about it.
I personally love a sad song or angry song that lingers(if done correctly!) but just because the subject matter is deeply sad in itself doesn't make the song good.
Folklore works better because of the sharp concise editing and beautiful instrumentals behind those dark songs. And it felt like the subject matter was fiction and somewhat fresh.
I can't say the same about TTPD
I loved it in my first listen itself and have zero complains. For me, it’s Taylor’s best album ever!
Honestly I do love the album, but I swear to god if the next album is more Jack Antanoff pop synths I’m gonna throw a fit. The sparkly synths on the title track literally sound copy and pasted from Is It Over Now?
And the Folklore/Evermore aesthetic is cute, but not enough to have a third part that’s also nowhere near as interesting as the first 2.
Just give us a rock album already! Or more hip hop type songs like Ready For It and End Game. Something new and fresh for her
Seriously if she doesn’t break up with Jack for the next album I’m rallying the pitch fork mob because they. all. sound. the. same. this sounds like midnights sonically, like other than the Aaron Dessner tracks, this sounds like a continuation of midnights. She played it up as a wild departure from her current sound, but it’s just another Jack antonoff productions album
first of all: there can be too much of a good thing. 30 ish songs?? it's a LOT to digest even for a swiftie.
2: it all blends together too much. i hardly remember any songs that stands out in tone. melody.
3: it is starting to feel too much like UNLESS you know what she is talking about, as a super fan, who knows how to piece all songs together and is looking for threads and clues, then you don't really know what she is even talking about. she gives excruciating details about her own specific situation, and so it becomes hard to put it into your own life and connect with your heart. cause it's SO taylor specific. she doesn't leave room for me to apply it to my own life.
4: i personally feel the lyricism is starting to decline? the metaphors are always dramatic when it comes to taylor, like when she made a lot of us believe she was talking about losing a child, but it turned out to highly likely just have been a metaphor for her ended relationship (bigger than the whole sky) but this time, i don't feel like i understand half the metaphors because it is so SPECIFIC to her own life, that i get lost. and it feels to me like she is stretched a bit thin this time around. with how she words things.
5: not that every album needs a bop, but it was a lot of negativity ,and extreme sorrow and vengeance to get through. with 30 songs. i don't see myself listening to half of it more than once.
6 and final.... it's ok to not like an album or connect to an album. if someone else thinks this is her best, and LOVES the amount of songs and thinks the more inside scoop and details the better, cool. i'm glad you are enjoying it. but it's ok if it's not for other swifties.
7: p.s ..... i am just over being in my thirties and taylor being 34, and she still describes breakups as life or death, and always a villain and a victim and then romance as fairytale teenage high school things. it comes across like she is not mentally 34. i can't relate to feeling like a teenage girl, just because i have a new love, you know? and i think it's so dramatic to always view an ex as this giant monster. a 6 year ended was not even the song that was the LOSS of her LIFE, that title went to a guy she was with for a few weeks.. which just makes it all seem so dramatic like really?? matty is the loss of your life? ok... what about joe then.... it's just a lot. ok bye
I only really got into Taylor Swift music in 2022 with the release of Midnights, and have 0 knowledge (or care) about her past relationships. I disagree with your point that you need to be a superfan who keeps up with her life to understand the lyrics of TTPD.
My favourite part of Taylor Swifts music is that she takes moments from her own story, and translates them into song in a way that's applicable to a wide audience.
Talking to Swifties is a little depressing - it doesn't seem like they fully connect to her music because they're constantly trying to decode lyrics to figure out how they apply to Taylor's life instead of their own.
As a swiftie who genuinely doesn’t give a crap about what’s going on in her personal life, she’s been losing me with the level of lyricism on her past 2 albums :/ I’ve been a swiftie since debut, but my adoration for her ART skyrocketed with folklore and evermore , and it’s been a bit sad to see the artistry of her words seemingly decline as she moved back into pop :/
"People get stuck at the age they got famous at" she even says that in her own documentary. Plus I also think that when writing you loose like 5 years of maturetiy, at least for me thats the case i process things well but then I write about it and then i end up sounding much more petty, and I also think that she is serving her audience what they want a lot (to a fault). I think growth isn't something Pop Stars are all that empowered to do, not personally or Musically. I love that Album even though I cant relate to it curently at all, but I am also teenager who likes to get heart broken and knows way too much about her personal life.
I also agree that you don't have to love everything she does, every artists has their weaknesses and will inevitably have their downfall ir flop era
"its so taylor specific" yet youre mad a song YOU interpreted , for YOURSELF about a miscarriage... isnt? and how do you even know she didnt have a miscarriage? she doesnt discuss things that traumatic publicly and she shouldn't have to.
@@livdafish1165 that's two different things. her "Taylor specific" details are all those random and small details where she describe things so, unless you too was in that very same experience, it's not going to apply to your life ever. which is fine for some songs, she has always painted a picture i know. but it gets VERY detailed and with so many songs, so overall most songs i can't apply it to my own life. i am not mad that a song was not about losing a child. but the amount of thousand comments of women who were convinced it WAS, it was to point out that she can dramatize her romantic life to such life and d3ath scenarios that it can sometimes be too much. comparing a romance to what thousands were convinced was the type of pain that only relates to losing a kid, is just a bit much if you ask me. i can this opinion, and you can have yours.
The older Swifties (35+) in my circle don't like TTPD for all of these reasons explained in the video while the younger ones love it. My theory is that Taylor seems to be processing things on this album in a way that people in their early 20s really connect with. But to elder millennials like me, it comes across as immature and a regression in the kind of growth in emotional intelligence we've seen over her whole career.
31 songs is very overwhelming. Midnights I listened to four times on the first day. TTPD I could only listen to once and had to wait another day and a half to have a second go. But it definitely grew on me.
Love love to hear Taylor critiques with lots of love !!
I didn’t like it either at first. But everytime I listen it gets better
Why is that? I’ve always wondered that because the first time I hear just about any song with some exceptions over the years, and I don’t mean T S. I mean any songs, I don’t necessarily like them at first until I hear them a lot. It seems like it’s a strange phenomenal. But every once in a while, there’s one that will just strike me immediately few and far between.
@@50toinfinityatleast It does take time for the songs to become a part of me, or not. Some are love at first hear, but most keep replaying in my mind and they either move in or move out over time.
@@kaiadenham3955 that’s a good way to put it.
We don’t hate it. Bye
Yes we do
I guess it's the artist's essence: some pieces for the audience's embrace, others, a soul's soliloquy. May brighter tunes bloom with love's gentle cost! :)
Thank you for your playlist! I
only recently started becoming a “Swiftie” after hearing what an amazing person she was by both Ed Sheeran and Post Malone. My husband and I are also football fans and fell in love with the “Kelce Family” after the brothers played each other in the superbowl. My husband got Shake it off stuck in his head and then started watching videos, then concerts and we loved it. I downloaded the album and got too depressed trying to take on the 31, so thank you!! I really loved who she seemed to be as a friend to Ed Sheeran daily during his struggles and agree with you on the Kim/North diss…
Happy to!! I cross-referenced my Top 13 w/ several friends who are die-hard Swifties to make sure we were mostly on the same page. I’m confident those are a good place to start for you!
As someone else said in the comments, the lack of accountability from her is crazy! The first time I heard But Daddy I Love Him! i felt gross at her calling her fans vipers and creeps for calling her out for quite VALID reasons. Said reasons are part of why they didn't work out in the end but her insulting fans came off as insensitive. Like you said, the victim mentality is tired at this point. She knew how Matty Healy was and all her fans reminded her, but nooooo who could've known he would do that to her!
I think you’re absolutely right!! Everything you said is so true. Everyone is too much of a fan to say it. Taylor is a person and she is flawed, just like all humans 👏👏👏
Really like the honesty. I personally still have mixed views about the album, this being said after listening to it a number of times. But anyway, I hope to hear more of these honest takes.
Thanks. I can’t stand group-think and am usually Taylor’s biggest cheerleader so when there’s opportunity for fair and honest criticism, I think it’s healthy to share and discuss.
The things is...if you get it you get it and if you don't you don't and there is nothing wrong with that.
6:13 Fans play it as an attacked coz it’s a hidden message. But keep out Kim of the narrative, Its a girl thanking the bad experience to be strong & heal her as a person. “Gave me hell but brings me heaven”
No, to your comments on Kim being over. Not until Taylor, and the fans, who Kim and Ye lied to hear their apology. ThanK you aIMee > Thank You aimEe
3:25 I think almost all tracks fits in her narrative of “tortured poets” the ones that were out of the narratives are just ice breakers, which are necessary coz the whole album is about tortured heart
Havent listened to the whole album but if you are saying its like a sad girl or melancholy malaise album then i guess that's why its named the tortured poets department album then 🫥 also like you said she was in the break up period during those times so i guess the 31 songs just flowed out of her that time..so her albums are just like a journal of the phases of her life..guessing her next album would be up tempo being she is so inlove now 😅
I'm glad I wasnt the only one that thought bring up North was uncalled for. Now i'm not a Kardashian fan but that girl is goong to know that Taylor wrote that about her mom.
Knowing how close tay and ice spice are recently and knowing that North loves ice spice I kinda thought that maybe ice spice had a song out that I was actually a Kim diss track , like I thought it was suggesting that there’s another popular song out there shitting on Kim that nobody knows about haha
I agree so much with you, my love and hate on this album is "The smallest man who ever lived" from 2:25 and out; prior to that, its what I don't like about the album...
Where are your top 13 listed? I have a top 7 so far but have not heard all the songs. I pre-ordered the CD and it doesn't;t include the songs on the 2 AM release, so I haven't worn the others out listening in the car (hey, I'm an 80-year-old Swifty still driving a 1996 car, no digital connections included.) My top 7 are LOLM, Fortnight, So Long London, Little Old Me, Prophecy, Clara Bow and Peter.
I disagree with your points, but I respect your opinions. I think this is one of Taylor’s best albums, if not her best. I was hoping that TTPD would be similar to folklore and evermore because I LOVE those albums, so I was very excited when she released The Anthology!
I will say, hearing the songs with a live band in Paris and seeing her live performances… adds an energy and edge that makes me appreciate those song so much more.
Agree with every point
I think the whole argument surrounding Kim Kardashian is very unfair. Kim and Kanye made what Taylor herself described as 'revenge porn'; literally a nonconsensual naked model of her body that is STILL ON TH-cam TO THIS DAY! One of the most sickening photos I've seen is the picture of Kim K looking down over this pornographic model of Taylor and smiling whilst she takes a photo of it. They made a naked model of her body, lied about her consent in the lyrics of said music video where she is referred to as a 'bitch', and they conned the whole world into turning on Taylor which made her go into hiding for a YEAR and drove her to deep depression. I really don't think it's fair to say that she should simply 'get over it' and 'move on' given how deeply it affected her. As a woman, that is something I would never let go of, especially if it was another woman who did that to me.
Calling it 'disingenuous' or 'tacky' for Taylor to write a song about how she built something on that foundation of Kim's hateful actions is what is actually tacky.
2:10 I think the destination is to let it all out and close this chapter of her life where in she admit is about lost love & doing self harm for a rebound which is as problematic as it could be from the start.
Thank you for being honest. Taylor Swift should never be exempt from criticism especially from us Swifties. This was such an underwhelming album for me. I forgave Midnights because it did have some bops, Would've Could've Should've saved the entire 3am tracks! But after Folklore and Evermore, I thought that finally we had grown up and matured, and those two remain my favourites. Then TTPD comes out and I'm like👁👄👁
It's so petty and boderline immature. The production is uninspired. Miss Swift here, as she stews in her sadness, outs herself as not being that nice where in So Long, London she blames Joe's depression on himself and sees it as a mere inconvenience that denied her desire to get married. But anyway, we'll never know the full story, we can only glean such clues from her unreliable narration. I think overall, pre-TTPD we indeed had a good run what with the pop culture phenomenon that was the Eras Tour, and some of the re-recordings. But I'm calling it a day now and trading in my bejeweled heels for my Cowboy boots🎉
Thanks for such a well thought out opinion. “Uninspired” sums up TTPD nicely. I'm glad we agree on fair and honest criticism - pretending everything is amazing just cheapens the truly great moments.
So Long, London a top 5 TTPD track for me so l hope you didn't just ruin it. As for Midnights - I think it's a truly excellent body of work and think most of the 3am tracks are top tier (Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve, The Great War, Paris and Dear Reader being my faves).
I've barely scratched the surface of Cowboy Carter. Same with Ariana’s new album. Let me saddle up and join ya! 🤠🐴🪩🎉
@@blakingnews Haha, you're welcome! Well to tell you the truth, So Long, London has been a favourite of mine as well. Sonically and lyrically, it's superb! She sure does know how to paint with words such vivid imagery. What I was pointing out specifically are the implied meanings behind the lyrics, and since it's the sole song I've listened to above the others, I have a slightly more informed comment to make. Hope I didn't ruin it for you fr😅
Eternal Sunshine is very cute, sweet and short, and I like it very much. Didn't know Ariana could write that well!
But YES, Cowboy Carter surprised me in more ways than 1. Beyoncé has tapped into something truly special which act ii. It's a vast and and sprawling epic, yet manages to balance those big moments with quiet and reflective ones. It also feels like a capsule of sorts into music history.
The pop girlies are just not giving us a break this year!! 2025 is gonna launch with a bloodbath at the Grammys, then it will be one looooong drought. Hopefully it will give smaller artists a time to shine.
This album was basically Taylor unhinged not giving a flying fuck what anyone thinks. I wouldn't say it's my fave T. Swift album, but I do love it and I am happy she feels she is in a place where she's comfortable to return to her core diaristic songwriting style again that we really haven't seen since Red. I do think that some of the extra songs on the anthology are not songs I find myself returning to, but I think she's in a very creative place in her life right now where she simply just wants to release content. I don't really even try to speculate WHO the songs are about and I more look at the songs through my own perspective and experiences which is what I think Taylor wants us to do (just my opinion though)
You should make 5 things I love about the album next.
4:14 I feel like its overly verbose bcoz there are 31 songs
Thank you! I’ve loved her since debut and have been to multiple concerts and honestly I think this is her worse album for all the reasons you mentioned.
Totally agree!!!!!!! Also her vocals sounded so tired, breathy and blahhhh. It feels like she likes to bring pain on herself so that she can keep playing the heartbroken victim and I’m getting tired of it… can she write about anything else?!
Melancholy is how I would describe this album. I listened to the whole thing hoping for one smash pop hit...nope.
Post Malone and Florence + the Machine gave me so much hope. I do love Florida!!! but you’re right - zero bops. At least we still have Rep TV this year (fingers crossed)🤞🏼
@@blakingnews Out of curiosity, what were the bops from Folklore for you? All of the promotional imagery and lyrics we were given beforehand was not screaming to me that this was going to be the next 1989. I feel like people let their expectations get in the way of just appreciating what's there.
@@candlesandcloth I would almost argue that folklore and evermore were better lyrically in general. What do I know?
The difference is folklore songs have great productions that are each unique and memorable, and the lyrics are well edited, quick and know when the run-on sentences should end @@candlesandcloth
@@50toinfinityatleast I can appreciate that take, for sure. Folklore songs contained more crafted lyrics designed to tell a story. TTPD is more stream-of-consciousness, like setting her diary to music.
My question was more about what is being considered a bop. I'd argue My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys is more of a bop than anything off Folklore, which was the tone I was getting from all the promotional imagery we had gotten for TTPD. So I was actually pleasantly surprised by the diversity of production on this album.
I actually love the album.
It’s definitely grown on me. I just like most of her other albums better. But that’s what’s great about Taylor - she’s always pushing herself and never makes the same album twice. There’s something for everyone.
TTPD on repeat, however I still haven’t given an honest listen to the Anthology because honestly idgaf , ill care about it next year cause 31 is too many new songs to have all at once I’ve gotta marinate with the first 16 for a hottie min before I can accept the anthology 🤣
I didn’t like any of the songs at first. But after listening to it a couple times over, there are 5 of the 31 songs that grew on me. I think the songs on this album are too slow. There’s not one song that is upbeat, that you could dance to at a club, wedding, or crank up in your car and get excited about (like 1989 album which I love). A majority of the album is sad throughout. This is my least favorite album. The title of the album is too long too?
Wow, you really missed her points here. She had great sadness but mostly rage! Rage that she only allows herself to express through art, not life. You don’t get to say to her when she has to be done processing her grief and pain and rage - about childhood, men, career, betrayal. Just because you are uncomfortable listening to a rager doesn’t mean it is poor expression or poor art. You are limited in your ability to empathize with female, simmering, blistering, sugar hot rage. A lot of men try to control women by telling them to just get over it and she shouldn’t feel what she feels or express what she feels. Nobody overcomes global attacks of lying, shaming, blaming, betrayal, fake porn, canceling,etc. easily, quickly or silently. Don’t you get that Taylor went through a type of reputation rape, a mental social rape? Then a betrayal by a “father” for money. Just money, like being sold as a slave. Then whatever happened with two relationships of long standing (no one knows full truth about any of it) that she was hard processing. So go through all that and then say nothing or have people tell you to get over it in a certain length of time. See how you feel. She can write a hundred songs about understanding childhood bullies mixed with KK and YE adult bullies and she’ll always be mining a new face of the bully mountain. You also missed that these songs were mostly written and produced before new relationship and billionaire status. Lastly, if you were offended by 31 songs, then just buy first batch and ignore the second until you’re ready for them. It’s on you, not her that you couldn’t digest it all at once. She didn’t force you to listen to extra album. I obviously love this piece of art. And having lived through hell in my life I so appreciate TSwift’s beautiful, poetical expression. Too verbose! Says a man to a woman expressing pain and rage and overwhelming exhaustion. SMH 🤦♀️
Tired of victim narratives maybe from a male perspective. Coz in my side I feel empowered
I love the sexy campy Lana vibes if I can fix him lol
the hate is soooo forced
No hate. Just honesty. I love Taylor and truthfully, she doesn’t make bad albums. She’s among the best of what she does. That’s why this album is disappointing, in my opinion. Was hoping for more.
@@blakingnewsnot sure who you think you are to demand more out of one of the hardest working women to ever work in the music industry. I’m not even a “Swifty”, I just recognize the hard work that goes into creating art out of your emotions and then sharing it with others. Pop music is allowed to have more than one emotion (upbeat/happy). Give credit where credit is due… bc her album is leaps & bounds above this channel 👌
It's a grower album for sure. The first half of the production is dissapointing (for me, i really wanted some kind of alt rock, no sinth sound with real instruments). I think she had to get out all this crap from her mind to heal, but unfortunately she is always so naiv in her relationships (obviously i don't know her I just get this from the albums). Never learn. Hate to say it, but seems like she's searching for these awful men, cause as she wrote it in the album epilogue: she writes the best songs from the worst men. I hope this ends here, i think Travis is like Lautner: boring for her as time passes ( the alleged Travis songs imo very surfice level, i'm sorry, they're very boring). But hearing this album, maybe this is the relationship that she needs. BTW i hate talking about her personal life, i wish i know less, i think with a more objective view, i would like this album more. But everyone talking about the fu.king men, not about her writing. I really like Aaron Dessner's production on the second half, but i don't think it's going to be released on physical media.
oh those losers at swiftie neutral are gonna love this one
I liked fortnight, my boy only breaks his favorite toys, guilty as sin, the alchemy but I HATED i can do it with broken heart and the rest of the album😅 and Jack needs to go somewhere else honestly his best songs was with Lana last thing I agree dissing kim was weak move if she was a mastermind she would save this song for the rep Taylor's version
You’re so right about Reputation (Taylor’s Version)! It would’ve been such a better place for these Kim diss tracks because it wouldn’t look so belatedly petty. I have high hopes for Rep. I hope we get some fun collabs (Nicki Minaj tops my wishlist 😍).
Don't understand the purpose of this banal video. It's like you're deliberately trying to annoy people which is a peculiar take. It's fine if you don't like TTPD but your analysis fell utterly flat. I don't think any of your 5 points are valid in a wider sense - they are only small opinions. I think, in time, TTDP will be seen as her finest work - but 31 songs is indeed a lot, and a week is insufficient time to process them all. The negative reactions were completely predictable - and they would have happened whatever the music sounded like - there's just too much of a backlash train happening at the moment, and so many 'fans' who joined in the last couple of years reacting to something they find inexplicable.
I agree that there is an overdue culling of the Swiftie fandom happening and some backlash was inevitable - but this album is far from her best work and the bright spots get diluted by the sheer volume of tracks, half of which are forgettable. I suppose only time will tell who’s right. But I don’t think this is an album we talking about 10 years from now.
Been listening to Taylor Swift since she broke out with Fearless, so I think I can speak as a fan in saying that the 5 points are valid ones. I think you may be forgetting that when Folklore and Evermore came out, they were met with nearly universal acclaim, and rightly so. It was Swift at the peak of her writing prowess, plus the superb production complemented it very well. TTPD was the most anticipated album of hers for many reasons (Eras Tour, AOTY win, her overall pop culture impact recently), and we were so ready to embrace it with open arms. However, it was a disappointment, and there's nothing wrong with honest criticism regarding her work, especially as fans.