Is Taylor Swift incredibly twee or does she just act incredibly twee for profit? When she’s alone and at home and all of the polka dots have died, does she sit around and read the Wall Street Journal while listening to Bach? Does she ever take down her Alice in Wonderland decorations and hang up some Rothko prints? Does she ever think, “I should get away from these teenage boys, maybe Clive Owen is the ticket”? Probably not. While I do think there is an element of twee-for-profit happening with Swifty, I think she probably is genuinely girlish and immature in a lot of ways. That being said, I did enjoy Swifty’s “What’s on your…” list from Marie Claire. Just add “What’s on your…” at the beginning of all of the all-caps words. I know that was idiotic of me to explain, but you never know:
What’s on your… VANITY: Red lipsticks and lip stains; daily contact lenses; face wash; moisturizer; cat treats; and my new fragrance, Taylor by Taylor Swift.
FEET: Red Keds and red polish.
MIND: Why the remote in my hotel room won’t work.
NIGHTSTAND: My glasses.
WORKOUT PLAN: Running, hiking, jumping on my trampoline, crunches.
PLAYLIST: Music from the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, like “Just One Look” by Doris Troy and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys.
WISH LIST: Contentment, a mint-green bike, and the ingredients to make Shirley Temples.
SH-T LIST: Exes.
FANTASY ITINERARY: A marathon of previously unwatched Law & Order: SVU episodes.
BUCKET LIST: Get a college degree… somehow, someway.
REFRIGERATOR DOOR: Magnets of places I’ve been, and there’s a Grammy nominee medal hanging on it—because, why not?!
TOP-FIVE-FEARS LIST: 1. Sea urchins 2. Googling myself 3. Earwigs 4. Cynics 5. Getting arrested
IDEAL DINNER-PARTY GUEST LIST: Will Ferrell, Conan O’Brien, and Ina Garten (she could help me cook, too!).
BIGGEST-REGRETS LIST: Every one of my regrets has produced a song I’m proud of.
QUOTES-TO-LIVE-BY LIST: “Why don’t you tell me that ‘if the girl had been worth having she’d have waited for you’? No, sir, the girl really worth having won’t wait for anybody.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise
HEADSTONE, IF YOU COULD WRITE IT: “Love is a ruthless game unless you play it good and right.”
It’s nice to hear her say something about a college degree. Maybe that’s her Plan B for when the “girlish” thing fades away in a few years. As for her fears… sea urchins? Okay. Googling herself… I think she does that. “Cynics” made me roll my eyes. And of course she drinks Shirley Temples. OF COURSE.
What are the thoughts on “Every one of my regrets has produced a song I’m proud of”? That goes along with the Swifty Meme that I love, “Maybe I’m the problem.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Ugh. I feel like the dinner party guest list was a case of trying too hard. I can’t picture sweet little butterfly and rainbow Taylor really enjoying all that much Will Ferrell.
The problem with this girl is that she tries so hard to make her life ‘epic’.
Interesting because I basically regret every one of her songs.
+1
OMG this was funny!
Well she is still very young and has many more regrets to live through so that should be good for her song catalog.
Her image is so ridiculously crafted by a PR machine and this list is no exception. The ingredients to Shirley Temples? Seriously? She’s 23. At some point, the whole “virginal nymph bruised by the big bad world” crap is going to start looking more insane than it already does.
End of mini-rant.
Why does the world hate and try to tear down anything that is decent in this world. It is only the ones that see blatantly sexual or songs with cussing that escape this. She wears modest clothing and she is ridiculed then madonna who barely covers here wrinkling old part is celebrated. I don’t get it
Because it plays as a gimmick, lacking genuineness.
It’s because she’s so over processed. She seems to really try and calculate how she can come out looking like some virginal goddess who just loves kittens and rainbows and sunshine. She pushes that naive image to the nth degree. It’s so contrived and obviously so.
Her fame exists based on her relationships.
^This to kiddo, mata, and erinn; i know a local musician that knows someone in the music industry that actually worked with her/and her team, and this individual said her live unedited singing voice is awful. People dislike because her image is so crafted, it’s almost sugar overload, I’ll bet behind closed door she and her team and calculating, cynical, and the opposite of the pr image; something like Reese WItherspoon, perhaps.
She doesn’t present herself as virginal and never has. Her very first single was about fucking a guy in his truck on deserted roads. In Treacherous, on her latest album, she tells a guy she will do anything if “you say it with your hands.
There are 1 million unedited live Taylor performances on youtube. No one is arguing that she’s a powerhouse vocalist. She got where she is because she’s a fantastic songwriter.
LMAO!!! you’re giving strong vibes of “Please leave Taylor swift alone!”
+1000 to the song suggestion “Maybe I’m the Problem”. I really hope NOBODY ever dates or talks to her before she sorts her attitude.
I think people are too hard on Taylor. She is a result of the generation of helicopter parenting. She was probably sheltered and protected by her parents but she is probably a nice girl. She probably played on a soccer team as a little girl where they didn’t keep score and everyone got a trophy. So what if she likes Shirley Temples and puppies and boys. It could be a lot worse. What’s so great about being cynical and jaded and wearing black all the time?
Like I replied to another poster – it’s not that she likes those thing. I love puppies, and boys and Shirley Temples are pretty tasty. But the way she portrays herself is so contrived. She defines herself by those things and her relationships. It’s not genuine seeming at all.
I see what you are saying, but I can’t think of one artist that doesn’t shove their image down our throats. Rap artists for instance or Rhianna, nobody seems to give her crap for constantly being a bad girl. It’s all a game. Taylor isn’t as good at granted, but I would rather look at her than Bieber or Lil Wayne all day long.
I know quite a few people in their mid-20s. None of them are like this. This isn’t some “helicopter parenting” thing — this is a grown woman who knows what side her bread is buttered on. She’s totally calculated. That in itself wouldn’t be that terrible, but she uses the sexist “virgin vs. whore” dichotomy to pretend she’s on the “virginal” side vs. all those evil “whore” brunettes in order to make money. Not okay.
She doesn’t present herself as virginal and never has. Her very first single was about fucking a guy in his truck on deserted roads. In Treacherous, on her latest album, she tells a guy she will do anything if “you say it with your hands.
@Anna
The song Tim McGraw wasn’t about doing a guy in a truck. It was about saying goodbye to an older boyfriend who left for college.
She slutshames other girls in her songs often. The whole “she’s known for what she does on the mattress” or whatever it was. And the you belong to me one was slamming the girl who was sexier and made her ‘character’ in the song to be the dorky, purer girl next door.
There are other songs where she’s the victim of these men taking advantage of her as well.
Her relationships are trotted out as a big show of antiquing, getting coffee, holding hands and walking through the park.
@Erinn – You need to listen to Tim McGraw again:
“Just a boy in a Chevy truck/
That had a tendency of gettin’ stuck/
On backroads at night/
And I was right there beside him all summer long/
And then one time we woke up to find that summer gone”
Better Than Revenge was unfortunate but it’s just one song and she no longer plays it live. Do slut-shaming comments come up in every single Beyonce post? Because Nasty Girl is way more unpleasant than anything Taylor has recorded.
You Belong With Me is a song about unrequited teenage love. She’s positioning herself as the awkward girl in the shadows and is envious of the glamorous, popular cheerleader. She’s not slut-shaming.
she used to bother me like no one else but I think that it was good for her to kind of lay low after that one interview (the “special place in hell” one) because she doesn’t bother me that much now. except she WOULD put “exes” on her sh-t list.
I hate that I know this, but through a connection they saw Connor Kennedy at a party last weekend with a bunch of prep schoolers. He was getting texted by Taylor non-stop. Complained a bit about her and then hooked up with a random girl.
Taylor is young, but at this point she really should know that she’s only dating jerks and being too needy.
Conor is supposed to have a girlfriend so I’m not sure if that could be true. Although he is a Kennedy..
Girl was not his girlfriend, but one of a few girls he was flirting with and kissing that night. Too bad he’s going down that untouchable money/kennedy path, but maybe he will be fine.
This news only left the party because he was complaining about taylor and on his phone so much.
I said that you’re a jack ass
how you were so crude and crass and
then I play the princess
how many times can you witness
me playing the innocent
lass who has to run away
from all that strife and all that pain
when there is so much money to gain
from all the heartache that I feign
Maybe I’m the problem
need your help to solve some
gotta give me bubblegum
then you wait till I say yum
then you get to see my bun
Maybe I’m the problem
need your help to solve some
gotta have some bubblegum
if don’t make me go yum
I’ll write another crappy song
Thanks Kaiser for the title.
Incidentally, she did write a song about how she is the problem, it’s called Back to December
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUwxKWT6m7U
I don’t know if her having a thing for barely-legal boys is necessarily twee. I think it’s that she has a thing for barely-legal boys.
She definitely doesn’t have a “thing” for a certain age. She has dated more men in their mid-30s than teenagers.
“SH-T LIST: Exes.”
what a shocker! hahaha
but seriously, she doesn’t bother me, even though it’s easy to make fun of her and she’s way overexposed. she has some really nice songs. or maybe i’m just 25 going on 13 -_-
Her innocence was exterminated by John Mayer. Her PR team is trying to still trying to portray her as a victim. Then the fauxmance of Jake. Its bloody weird and demented.
I don’t get the hate for this poor girl either.
If you are pretty + successful, people will hate on you. They don’t do the same for men. If you are a pretty + successful girl, expect the shizfaced jealousy hate from the overweight, unhappy crowd of girls who gave it up at 16 to a 30 second, limppenis goofball dweeb and now they are angry.
I do think she’s talented but think her creativity is sadly limited by an obsession with a very narrow focus, past relationships. Imagine what this girl could do if she thought with something other than her v*****. Or I guess, she doesn’t have thoughts about anything other than clothes or boys? I suppose that is also fairly likely.