On Monday, Taylor Swift finally revealed her super-secret secret SECRET news: a new album, a new single, and a new music video. Every single person who even had a casual interest in Taylor Swift knew that she was releasing a new album, so the only real surprise was her straight-up pop sound (no country!) and her video’s oddly tone-deaf racial issues. Here’s another surprise: this album, 1989, is not about breakups or boys who cheat or boys who are hipsters or boys who wrongly want to date brunettes who put out. This album is about being a single girl and living out loud and go sisterhood. Or something.
Taylor Swift says she’s no longer “enamored by romance.” In an interview with Fusion, following the premiere of “Shake It Off” and announcement of her new album 1989, the singer notes, “[RED] was a devastating record. It was about dealing with an intense heartbreak,” while “1989” is about “the phase after that where you brush yourself off and you’re ok.”
Swift reveals her priorities have changed now that she is 24.
“At this point, I just want to be with my friends and I want to make music and I want to play shows,” she says. “I want travel the world and I want to define my life on my own terms. That’s my list of priorities now, which is different than it was a couple of years ago.”
The pop star also adds that she doesn’t want her new song “Shake It Off” to be about her critics.
“I want [this song] to be about the girl who’s criticizing someone in the 11th grade because she thinks her hair looks stupid, and then that girl goes and cries in the bathroom because of it,” explains Swift. “These are the things that we go through in every stage of our life.”
Oh, it’s about the 11th grade?! Thank God she’s progressed a bit from middle school, I guess. Maybe the next album will be about the girl who rolled her eyes at you during your freshman year in college. OMG, that bitch!! As for Tay-Tay’s shifting priorities… okay. I actually believe her because she’s been practicing what she’s preaching for more than a year. She hasn’t had a major boyfriend (that we know of) and she’s been hanging out with her girls and living her life on her terms, Sex & the City-style. And all of that is preferable to some confessional blind-item-baiting album belittling all of her exes.
Also: Star Mag claims that Swifty has kept a “little black book” full of info/details about what certain exes were like in bed. Swifty reveals (in this diary or whatever) that Jake Gyllenhaal was sweaty and “shy in bed.” And apparently John Mayer is totally world-rocking in bed. GROSS.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Seriously scream laughed at the 11th grade comment. I guess that’s her core audience but geez, I’d hate to have to still be writing about teenagers at the age I am now (a year old than dear swifty).
I believe her to an extent. I think she’s still hoping for a Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet at any moment, but she’s also aware that the public thinks she’s a wee bit desperate regarding her love life. So she’s saying this partly to help her reputation.
On another note, I hate her new song.
She’s a forever tween. Every music video is the school skit she wanted to put on. The op-ed in NYT (or was it WSJ?) about art was the graduation speech she always wanted to give (“Art is good. Art should be protected.”) The pizza parties. The ribbons in the hair. The girl dancing to the fiery beat of her own drum.
I am so HASHTAG Over IT!
*bitchily slams locker door*
The song is terrible. Sounds like it could have been written by an 11th grader (in about 5 minutes). Maybe she’s not using her songs to talk about boys anymore, but she’s still basically gossiping to music. All she does is repeat a bunch of words that ryhme and call it a chorus. I cannot deal with this woman child.
That song is a “woo woo girl” song (meaning a song for the type of woman who screams “woo woo” every time she goes to a club).
Girlfriends be doing it for themselves, hmm-mmm. *snaps fingers* (Don’t ask me what just happened there.)
I don’t listen to her music, but I really started to like Taylor in the last couple of months. She seems nice, smart and I like that she embraces her weirdness.
And that little black book is total nonsense.
How are her songs more teenage than 90 % percent of other love songs in mainstream pop today?
I like her too! I never listened to her before Red came out, but I actually really liked that album. Her songs are not any less mature than most pop music out now, she just gets picked on for it. Not everyone can (or should) be Adele. Pink, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, etc all have fun, fluffy songs like “Shake it Off” too.
She is the definition of arrested development at times. Although, I guess it is good that she takes her position as a role model seriously and does consider her younger fans?
I really think that celebs stop developing mentally once they are famous. At least Taylor, unlike the Beibs, has gone twee instead of being a nightmare of a human being. If the worst thing we can say about her is she is stuck in middle school, she’s doing ok.
I cannot believe that people still think her video clip is ‘racially tone deaf’. For God’s sake, she has white AND black people tweaking in that one segment of her video!
*rolls eyes* Stop being so overly sensitive to racism when there isn’t any!
*twerking
Yeah, and black women were also in the ballet and gymnastics segments, doing it properly while Swiffy made a fool of herself. That was the whole point of the video, wasn’t it? Why am I analyzing a Taylor Swift MV so much?!
There were only whites doing ballet, because y’know, only white people dance ballet. 😒 And all of the segments, except the twerking segment, had no or only one black girl (the token black girl) but @Josefa doesn’t want to understand why it’s wrong so it’s a waste trying to explain it.
Actually, K, there were plenty other people of colour in the video. There were plenty of people of all shapes and sizes in the video as well, now that I think about it.
I don’t want to be politically incorrect, because racism is one of the biggest, most vile issues in today’s society. But Swifty herself said that the video was supposed to be her with a group of really professional dancers and she just wanted to throw herself in there and see what happens. Also, most professional ballet dancers ARE white. The 1st African American woman to join the American Ballet Theatre is Misty Copeland. I really don’t think Taylor wanted anyone to be offended.
I suppose, if she got a bunch of white girls to twerk in her video, it would’ve been cultural appropriation. She had 6 backup dancers, 3 of which were white. One was mixed race. Two were black. Still wrong. (I guess the whole segment could’ve not been in there at all. Pretty useless in my opinion)
I can see you point. I can also see why one could think it’s wrong. I’m personally a lot more annoyed by the likes of Miley Cyrus and Lily Allen (who both profusely use black women as props, say “I dont have to shake my arse for you cause Ive got a brain” with a bunch of black girls twerking on cars in the background etc etc, but oh well.) ((ALSO IGGY AZALEA AND THE VIDEO WHERE SHE DRESSED UP IN TRADITIONAL INDIAN WEAR HEAD TO TOE. WHO’S TALKING ABOUT THAT? TALK ABOUT IT PLEASE.)) But this video was more “I’m having fun and dancing through life even though I suck at it!” IDK Swifty is pretty harmless to me.
“Also, most professional ballet dancers ARE white.”
It mind sound hurtful, but it’s true. A LOT LOT LOT are Russian, because ballet is serious business where I come from. A lot of French people too. Europeans dominate the ballet world. But no one is inherently excluded. It’s not that they’re naturally better, they just come from cultures where ballet is still put on a pedestal – in the US, ballet isn’t as celebrated. I think in future years we’ll see more people of color dominating in ballet though.
@K
Sheesh. I simply don’t share your point of view, which doesn’t mean I find your arguments invalid. I dont know you, but I’m most certain you’re not a cyber-telepath so don’t dictate what I want or don’t want to understand.
@Nina
Yeah, that’s my take on the whole thing. There were people of all races in all segments of the video.
There was a whole debate about it on this site, go back and read it.
Good for her. She’s young, beautiful, talented (debatable) and very rich. She should just enjoy her life being single and have fun hanging out with her friends for now.
I’d say calling her beautiful is debatable too. She’s thin, tall, and blonde. That doesn’t necessarily point to beautiful to me
Agree.
I think her face is stunning. And I do think she’s talented, at least she writes her songs.
Agree. She’s pretty, but beautiful to me implies remarkable looks, and Taylor is just very pretty in the way a lot of mid-20’s women are pretty.
Beauty is a very subjective thing. That said, I think she’s beautiful and her eyes make her unique looking (in a good way).
She really is stuck in high school huh? I would love to know how she was raised. As a precious little princess perhaps? Her dad and mom read fairytales before bed for her until she was sixteen. At least that’s how I imagine it.
Most people are successful because they develop a persona that appeals to their fans, I doubt she is quite so twee in person.
Taylor Swift is the ScratchNSniff sticker on the trapper keeper of Celebritidom. Is Celebritidom a word? It is now. Celbritidom™
Say what you will about Taylor but she’s an extremely smart business woman and talented musician. Everything else is just PR chatter……..not to mention she’s beautiful and has a killer body. This gal has it all, including a head on her shoulders.
Is that YOOOUUU Taylor Swift’s mother?
While she’s permanently in high school, I have to say I appreciate her stepping away from the boy drama and living differently. It was old, it was boring, and it was a crap message. And no way is Mayer good in bed. I’d bet anything that guy is more into receiving than anything.
Yeah, the idea of Taylor Swift with a little black book turns my stomach. I would seriously like to know who the heck Star would like us to believe actually found and (gasp!) read this book?
Anyway, the reason we all know this story is fake is because clearly the book would be pink with glitter and have stickers of beatboxes and twerking unicorns all over it.
Swifty is ultimately one of the most harmless pop stars out there, but for God’s sake woman, get out of high school already.
Well, she’s trying to grow up. I mean, I was proud of her until she said that crying in the bathroom because someone made fun of your hair is something we all go through in every stage of life. Uh, not really. I sort of quit doing that. Of course, it’s been awhile since anybody made fun of my hair, but I still think I could handle it. I guess we grow up in stages, and at least she’s ok being by herself now.
Really dude? You don’t remember locking yourself into the bathroom in the law firm at thirty because the senior partner said they thought you looked like an ugly lapdog with bangs? smh 🙂
You just can’t let go of that one incident can you? *sob*
I think she’s doing it right, and she has grown up. Most of the commenters here it seems, call her untalented/stuck in high school and aren’t interested in buying her music. These aren’t really the people she’s talking to in the interview.
Who does buy her music? High schoolers. Girls who are going through their awkward stages, have heightened emotions because of raging hormones. And yes, some people are sensitive to teasing and do cry in the bathroom.
It’s not that she hasn’t grown up, she’s just savvy enough to know who to direct her message.
Well, that’s true. I never cried at high school for someone mocking my hair, but I knew girls like that. And I guess “dont let anyone mock you for who you are” is a better message to young girls than “boys, boys, boys”.
She’s what, 24? I was not done crying over my hair and mean people at 24.
So the whole move to NY and being papped everyday was a new shtick, like: “See, I’m no longer a country girl. I’m really a city girl, who wears the highest of hills even when I go to exercise.,” facade. I must say though that I never really remember Taylor living amongst the cows, neither have any of her songs ever sounded like authentic country music to me. She was always a pop singer –minus the dance moves because that was the way her music sounded. I’ve liked just about every song she’s put out. Hope she doesn’t get all weird and try to be all strong woman Beyoncé/ Lady –Gagaesque while sexually objectifying herself on almost every track. I like her the way she is.
Yep….you called it! She moved to NY as PR prep for the rollout of her new non-desperate non-country image! It’s a great observation, but I guess not really all that surprising when you remember that she started wearing red lipstick and red accessories for months on end before the release of….what was that last album called?
@ WAMOS,
I haven’t the faintest idea of the title if her last album, I’ve only ever paid attention to the songs of an artist and never their album titles even when I owned the albums, lol.
I’m no genius but I sense it may have been called “Red.”
Please. It is not “a little black book”. It’s a giant, triple fold-out Trapper Keeper covered in unicorn stickers, glitter marker, and Bonnie Bell lipgloss kiss prints. That song is almost as bad as “Roar”, which is my musical arch-nemesis. Sigh…..
I don’t get why she’s still fixating on the high school stuff. Did she actually get to have a normal high school experience, or was she already famous and on tour by then? That might have something to do with it, she might feel like she missed out. I don’t know.
But her being happy and single and just doing what she wants is a good thing.
She reminds me of some people I know who left high school two years early. In those last couple of years things change quite a bit and the bitchiness and pettiness dies down a lot, but I find that people who didn’t experience that part are often stuck in middle school with all it’s juvenile bullying and ridiculous emotional outbursts.
Well, the image she sells isn’t even “real” high school – it’s a cheesy, faux CW high school image. Have you ever talked to a real high schooler? They will only listen to music you’ve never heard of and fancy themselves to be too mature for teen culture. It’s like… c’mon. The people listening to Taylor Swift and watching “Pretty Little Liars” and consuming “teen” culture are either YOUNGER than high school aged or much older.
Excellent point, when I was in high school, dinosaurs still roamed, and I listened to old music from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s or obscure local music, RKL, anyone?
I think this ‘it’s about the 11th grade’ thing has been taken a bit too literally – her major audience is young and female and the way she has always kept her fans is by writing songs that they can relate to – maybe she’s not entirely truthful about the fact it’s not about her critics to her, but she has said before that her songs can mean something different to everyone and if they can relate to them that’s what she’s aiming for. So if ‘shaking off’ can mean don’t let bullies in the 11th grade get to you or generally live life on your terms then so be it.
Personally I like the song, very catchy and even though it’s not country there are similarities to her older songs (the ‘mmm, mmm’ bits were very common in her first album). She certainly has strength in songwriting, much more than many out in the music business atm (especially probably all the biggest popstars in the world right now who don’t write or produce any of their own music) and I hope she doesn’t lose that in this album.
The thing is:
Some of her songs are very good – not this new single. But i cant listen without been sick bc of her voice. I cant stand her voice. Its like Ellie Goulding, i love Burn but i hate her voice … I know they are ‘great voices’ for a lot of people who really understand music but as average public,is not what i have pleasure to listen.
Some songs are so terrible but the beat is so catchy that i keep on repeat in my mind even if i found “haters gonna hate,hate,hate” stupid. Or ‘WEEEEEE are never ever ever…’ really sounds like the goat on youtube AND the lyrics are stupid but whenever i listen, i keep singing for 3 days…
The snowflake syndrom with ‘boys-are-so-wrong/girls-who-are-not-awckward-as-i-am are so mean’ and the slut shamming period -unffortunally only after taste her own poison – gone away in great time. I hope she stops doing PR with fake boyfriends too. That Haylor thing was such a nightmare, i think there isnt more than 2 songs – that could be – about it and is not gonna have so much relevance if OneDirection fans had already pass trough the drama. She needs to get away from that mess and the shitstorm she got after that about her work been mostly about trashing men.
I hope she get praised for a growing album and not just bc top selling-as we all know she will despite critics opinion
I can totally see Taylor keeping a “little black book” of the guys she’s been with. Though I agree it’s probably not black. And probably not little!
She’s definitely the kind of person who would make in-depth notations of every characteristic of every past ex. While I can’t see her getting graphic regarding the sexual stuff, I can see her making notes and comments about that aspect of her exes as well.