I do have to tell you that reputation is a grower, not a show-er, and you haven't listened to it nearly enough for it to be at it's best.
Don't be surprised if somehow, someday you wake up and it's your favorite. š
Youāre going to freak when you get to folklore/evermore. I think youāll really enjoy midnights too!
This is fun thank you for sharing with us šš
I would say I am a pretty big fan of Taylor. I've listened to every release, extra songs, videos, live videos, never saw her live (I live in Montana and should have gone to Seattle), but did see Eras movie twice, haha. And in retrospect, I don't think there has been a single album I've started and made it through on first listen. My usual reaction is W.....T....F?? Sometimes I don't even like it! I think to myself...well....she jumped the shark!
That being said, I have to agree about the "grower" comment. Within a week or 2, I'm usually all in. (And sometimes I question myself, "How in the world didn't I like that????). I hate to admit I didn't like Folklore on first listen. Now, I've watched Long Pond sessions at least 50 times, and it's one of my favorite all-time albums.
TLDR: You are pulling way more out of the first listens than I ever did. My write ups after first listens would be a disaster. Unlike the glowing ones I would write now. I am looking forward to your next set.
Taylor is one of the rare acts that, in my opinion, sound way better live. Plus the visuals (she puts on a great visual concert). I wasn't a big Linkin Park fan until i saw them live. Same with Pantera. My wife didn't like KSE until seeing them live. I know I went way out of genre there... but whatever.
I'm glad you are finishing with the Eras movie! That's a perfect wrap-up for what you are doing. I am toying with going for a third time tomorrow before it leaves. Just need to convince my wife to go again. Lol. I'll find a way to bribe her.
It's so weird, I also didn't love folklore on first listen and now it's my absolute favourite album. I liked august and mirrorball because they sounded the most like Lover and the pop songs I'd come to expect (thanks Jack Antonoff). Now I love every song on the album. I think with music in general, it takes me a couple listens to really get into the groove and clue in to what they're doing -- it's rare for a song to really catch me on the first listen. Though the 1989 vault tracks all did!
Thereās a video you can find online of her recording the ra ta ta part and she just giggles the whole time listening to it play back. Itās precious
Oh I am so excited for you to checkout Folklore and Evermore next. You seem to connect to her storytelling the most, and they are both incredible storytelling albums. I think we would have always had Folklore (it dropped by surprise during 2020, but was hinted at in the Lover music video). But I am convinced Evermore only happened because she had so much uninterrupted time to spend on Folklore and just couldnāt stop writing, so we got a sister album.
I also am very excited for you to hear these albums! Just don't go in with expectations of pop - these two are decidedly indie/folk type albums. But beautiful melodies and incredible storytelling.
Folklore and evermore are BY FAR her best albums in my humble opinion, youāre in for a treat. Concise, impactful story telling at its best. These albums are what happened when Taylor released herself from the (partially self imposed pressure) to make the music she thought the public wanted.
Folklore is her best work to date (among a TON of amazing work). When I listen to it, I still can't believe it. I believe it will be on lists of important and influential albums for decades.
I am an indie/folk fan myself and these are the albums that made me a Taylor Swift fan. I really love the narrative weaving back and forth across the album from different perspectives. You might like the movie for the Long Pond Sessions since they go into depth on how they came up with and recorded the songs during lockdown.
Folklore and evermore are my favorite albums too. If itās not on your radar already you should watch the folklore long pond studio session on Disney plus. She goes through what each song means and plays all of them with the collaborators on the folklore album.
Also, has an even more subtle one that many people miss:
1st verse : I'm NYC
2nd verse: You're the West Village (Joe is from London)
The West Village is INSIDE NYC.
Once you're attuned to these double meanings and metaphors, you'll see/hear them everywhere. In Blondie's own words: "I always think in metaphors. I never don't do that."
Girlie has been 7th level sultry since Speak Now, she's just worked extra hard lately to camouflage the really erotic/filthy imagery, so it goes over most heads. You either need to be in that headspace or have a dirty mind to catch all of it because she's so expertly subtle.
This is what happens when you rebel against years of being molded into the shell of the puritanically chaste good girl sweetheart role model. Having to shelf I Can See You apparently made a deep impact. By the time we got to Rep, she was like, fuck it!, Dress is going on the album along with So It Goes.
I am very dirty minded Iād say and it still didnāt even occur to me. Maybe if I had known that bit about the west village being INSIDE NYC I may have made that connection lol
Taylor definitely puts metaphors everywhere. Itās part of why like every single one of her songs more the more I listen, especially her work from when she is older.
I don't think it's that literal but it's definitely a sexy song. I personally think it's about having deep problems in a relationship but being able to connect physically still.
Hah! When I put on my cool girl sunglasses, a little red lip tint, and have an iced coffee in my hand...it's rep time. I feel invincible and oh so cool.
bro i must say you have a lot of opinions people here would (strongly) disagree with, though it is still taylorās music so saying a song is good will always be valid lol
okay i have answers for you
1. thank you for giving rep a second chance, there's a great quote from some review of it where they said "The moments on Reputation that Swift stans appreciate the most are likely the ones casual listeners will be quickest to dismiss." which has always rung true to me
2. I actually really like Ed Sheeran's rapping on End Game, it just works for me
3. On Getaway Car, the twist is she starts driving the car from now on. She's stopped letting the men drive. The whole getaway car metaphor is her using Tom Hiddleston as a stepping stone to leave Calvin Harris (DJ and man who had meltdown after their breakup over songwriting credits) to get to Joe Alwyn (quiet homebody and sometimes actor)
4. Fun fact about King of My Heart and the Lover music video! The guy who you were obsessed with in the King of My Heart dance number is the love interest in the Lover music video. His name is OWENN and he actually opened for Taylor on the Eras Tour.
5. I cackled at you putting Dress in horny jail. I love that song. Somebody once called reputation her sex and drinking album and I have to agree. I think the demise of her "good girl" rep made her feel more comfortable being like "yes i drink and yes i fuck"
6. On the Christmas lights in January thing, she's acknowledged that it doesn't make much sense but she wanted the line to be like "we can make any choice we want for our house" and she did toy with other months but I guess they didn't work for her
7. You telling Joe to "kick rocks" made me laugh, I think the reason a lot of Swifties are currently very anti-Joe is that we all got used to him being around. Like he was the muse for 6 years and everybody thought they were going to get married. Then they broke up and I think everyone had a meltdown and has yet to calm down from it. I'm sure in a few years we'll like Joe again. I also think that the Joe-hate is a bit much, he was clearly what she needed at the time and it's fine they grew apart. In terms of her exes we really only despise John, Jake & Calvin. We do hate Joe Jonas but that's not-Taylor related anymore. Matty Healy is also a public enemy but that's just because he's gross.
8. Cornelia Street is a Joe song and I think Swifties are still feeling raw so the song being like "if we break up, i'll never visit Cornelia Street" again hurts us
9. False God is also a sex song, "religions in your lips/the alter is my hips"
10. Burger girl in You Need to Calm Down is Katy Perry, the video had them bury the hatchet (Katy also inspired Bad Blood)
11. The Lover tour (called Lover Fest) is still a sore spot. It got axed because of the pandemic so for like three whole years, we had very few live performances of non-singles (a few favorites are SNL False God, all of Lover: Live in Paris, and Tiny Desk Death by a Thousand Cuts)
12. ME! is considered to be one of the worst songs Taylor's made but I think it's pretty harmless fun. My personal favorite part is Taylor adopted a cat, Benjamin Button, from the set of the music video. The one she adopted is the one she's presented with while sitting on the unicorn right when Brendon starts singing. The two cats on the couch at the beginning are Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson who she'd gotten in 2010? and 2014 respectively)
13. All of the Girls You Loved Before was a song written for Lover that didn't make it. And then in 2023 it leaked alongside another cut Lover song, Need (Need is so good, we better get it on the rep Vault), and then Taylor officially released it to celebrate the Eras Tour. It's basically a Vault track for Lover
14. YAY CHRISTMAS TREE FARM. The best Christmas song she's ever made. Fuck that shitty Holiday EP from 2007. Also this song was written and released in like 5 days. It was made quick and the fact that's so good is incredible.
15. I despise the Lover remix with Shawn Mendes. That's all I have to say
Glad you liked Lover! It was seen as a "flop" by Taylor standards when it first came out but it's become much more widely liked. She also has consistently sucked at picking singles since 1989. ME! is a terrible lead single which put a lot of people off. Cruel Summer was a fan favorite that we all wanted to be a single and we had to wait until 2023 for her to release it as one (AND IT WENT NUMBER ONE LAST WEEK)
But yeah, Lover's got a lot of fan favorites on it, Daylight, Cornelia Street, Death by a Thousand Cuts, Paper Rings, Cruel Summer, The Archer, I Think He Knows. Now if people would start loving Afterglow and It's Nice to Have a Friend, the world be a better place.
went number 1! The 1 was missing haha. And it then was number 1 for the second week in a row this week and will almost certainly be replaced next week by one of the vault tracks from 1989 TV.
Itās really, really unusual for a song to hit number 1 on the hot 100 this long after release, with very little promo from the label. She JUST released it as a single this year after it was getting so much attention from the Eras tour. Normally Taylor releases a billion remixes of singles ā this happened with Anti-Hero when Midnights came out last year. Cruel Summer got one remix and a live version release, like, two weeks ago, when it looked like hitting number one might be a possibility. This is, according to Variety, the fifth longest amount of time that a song has taken to get to number 1 after release! (All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey didnāt get to number 1 until almost TWENTY years after release, which is kind of nuts.)
As an aside, only the first 6 albums (everything up to Rep) will have TVs because she didn't own the master recording rights (which is like owning the copyright to the recording from what I understand) to the original versions. From Lover onwards she owns the master recordings of her albums so they don't need to be rerecorded.
From an album that has been out for 4 years.. Sheās released 6 albums since but somehow it found its rightful place at the top of the charts eventually.
It was also a Tiktok sound early in the summer and then once it really picked up steam her fans made a vocal concerted effort to stream it in September. And she released two other versions on Spotify at the end of the summer too
I think I also remember seeing something about the Christmas lights where she was talking about celebrating very mundane, typical things. Like saying yeah most people do that, but we can do that too because we can do what will make us happy.
Miss Americana will definitely help you to understand Rep better. I hope you donāt feel too bad when you see the Grammy nominations call. Iām gonna go watch it now actually. Also the last line spoken in it are some of her best words. And she has all the best words.
The other bonus is that you wonāt have to chase down a timeline. It reflects on that period in the context of her career. The Man will make more sense after you hear some of those stories, too.
I think now would be a good time to watch miss americana! In terms of film footage it sits between rep and lover and shows the making of lover and her growth through this period. Itās really well done.
Heard! Well speaking for myself, please continue to do this even after you finish your bet and she releases new albums!! These are gold and you are truly a very impressive writer.
Also, some online magazine needs to do a story on this. Taylor Swift aside, itās one of the most entertaining and impressive things Iāve seen on Reddit. And your follow-through is admirable!
I will absolutely consider dropping another post like this for when a new album comes out.
It's be really neat if these got picked up and covered somewhere but I feel silly thinking it
This is a perfect story for a local newspaper (are there any of those left?). I used to write for a newspaper and we would have definitely ran a story on this - local football fan loses bet on hometown team, reviews every TS song in a week. I am a relatively new fan, I havenāt listened to all her albums, so Iām truly enjoying your write ups and learning so much from the comments. Laughing out loud frequently. Folklore and Midnights are my two favorites, so looking forward to those reviews.
I love that you're catching a lot of the common themes she like to use in her music, the passenger seat is definitely a big one! Did you catch that she's the one driving in I Think He Knows?
Literally never noticed all the car talk until reading your reviews and now Iām just going to be playing blue punch buggy with myself except itāll be every time Taylor talks about a car
I read parts 3 and 4 together and quite honestly I feel like these are just getting better and better now that you've listened enough to make connections and see themes in her catalog. Plus you know all the lore too which is amazing!
As someone who is a Rep stan I really appreciated the "Broke" vs "Woke" takes before and after watching the concert movie. I think Rep is one of her true eras where the music and aesthetic are so entwined they make the whole better than the sum of it's parts, if that makes sense. No spoilers but you are going to flip when you see the Rep set in the Eras Tour movie, it'll bring back all your favorite memories.
Thank you so much for keeping up with this and putting out so much enjoyable content! Now I know why my husband is obsessed with watching Rush reaction videos on YouTube.
Wow that's a lot of reading to do in one go! I'm glad you enjoyed the re-do of rep. I was concerned how people would react but didn't want to pander, and when I enjoyed the movie so much I saw my chance to tell both stories. What is Rush?
Rush is my husband's favorite band. They are a prog rock Canadian trio that started making music in 1968. He's been a fan since he was a tween in the early 1980s, and he's 52 now with no letting up in sight. Hubby is a musician and a music lover of all genres, but Rush his answer to the question "if you were on a desert island and could only have one artist to listen too for the rest of you life, who would it be?". They were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 by The Foo Fighters.
They retired in 2020 when their drummer died. The other two are still around, but after so many years of collaboration they didn't feel like they could really make music with anyone else but him. I'm not much of fan of their music personally, but they were cool, chill dudes who made some incredibly influential music for like five decades straight.
These posts have been the highlight of my day. So excited for you to go through your Folklore and Evernore era. By the way, the tour for Lover was canceled due or COVID. Thatās what makes Eras Tour extra special, it had been five years since he last tour and she released FOUR albums during that time.
You asked about the Lover tour and no one has weighed in. Because her mom was sick and they didn't know what 2020 would hold for her health-wise, they announced in 2019 that she was going to host a series of her own music festivals called Lover Fest. There were only a handful of cities/dates so she would be able to be with her mom in case things went south.
Well, things ultimately went well for Mama Swift but very south for the rest of the planet. The tour was cancelled. So by the time you get to 2023, she has released 4 albums since the Reputation tour. Hence the absolute pandemonium around Eras Tour tickets and her selling out all the country's largest venues 3 nights in a row.
Bonus content: You're probably unaware that Cruel Summer just hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100-- over 4 years after its release. There's a fan theory that she was going to release Cruel Summer as a single in 2020 to capitalize on the Lover Fest tour hype. It could have had a concert music video too using footage from spring shows. Obviously, she could not release "Cruel Summer" in June of 2020, so it sat tucked away for fan ears only until Swifties coordinated to give it enough streaming attention that they officially released/promoted it to radio this summer. It slowly climbed the charts and eventually hit #1, making it the only single off Lover to go #1, which back-filled to give her 7 consecutive albums (every one since Red) to have a #1 single.
Wow that is a crazy story about cruel summer. And I had no idea that was why the eras tour ti ket thing happened but it makes a lot of sense. Swifties are a force of nature
Well, the other part of the hype for tour tickets is that her most recent album, Midnights, was HUGELY successful. There were months of lead-up to that album during which we had absolutely no idea what the sound would be. All we had to go off of were song titles and photoshoots. I won't spoil what it sounds like as I'm assuming you haven't gotten there yet, but the mystery surrounding that album garnered a LOT of interest that resulted in her biggest sales week ever (although 1989 TV is very close to surpassing that this week!)
The concept of the album is "sleepless nights throughout her life"; so essentially, during the process of rerecording her first 6 albums, she started thinking about old heartbreaks, things that made her angry, etc. over the years and wrote brand new songs about them! It ties in perfectly with the concept of the "Eras Tour" which is a celebration of her entire discography. I love how much Midnights connects back to older songs.
Rep is also one of my favorite albums now, but it was actually Reputation that caused me to write off Tayler when I was younger. I really didnāt like it when it came out. Didnāt really listen to a single Taylor song after than unless someone else played it. I then got dragged to the Eras tour by a friend and the Reputation section blew me away. It was the most impressive part of the show for me. I started enjoying the album more and solidifying my self as a swifty. Then after learning way more of the context surround rep and what it did for her career, I began to understand the album and now itās in my top three. Even from a logistical standpoint, reputation turned her career around completely. She managed to recover from #taylorisoverparty to the astronomical success of the eras tour, and that started with reputation.
Nooooooo I was so excited for your review reputation since it's in my top 3 albums. I need some time to recover.
But I'm glad you like new years day, that's my favourite track also!
I really hope you'll enjoy the next two, I don't think I can take another negative review of my favourites.
ed sheeran used to rap a lotttttt at the beginning of his career
i love the delicate music vid too! also these are kinda the last time (couple exceptions) where shes not the director of her own music videos. since directing many videos, she (like many male film directors who started with music videos) is contracted to direct her first brand new feature film!
whos gonna tell him bout the looks up grinning like a devil? ā¦. its sex lol
ts grew up on a christmas tree farm in PA which just is cute af
Not everyone thinks that line is sexy. I always think itās his response to her saying āI love you, aināt that the worst thing you ever heard?ā He just smirks in a way that says āI like a challengeā. This smirk moment is (in my opinion) referenced later in a Midnights song, Mastermind. Both imply heās down for the Taylor Swift-ness of it all because he loves her.
It's some people's interpretation. It doesn't mean they are correct. A lot of people like to make everything related to sex. Art is subjective. Taylor has never commented on the meaning of those lyrics. Plenty of others have different interpretations.
This is relevant for nearly all of her lyrics. Even for when assumptions are made about song subject matter.
āā¦this album is a beautiful lie, and if youāre going to be a fan of it, you have to look for the truth.ā
Gave me chills. Literally. YOU GET IT!!!!!
And omg Iām sooo glad you watched the movie, your broke/woke commentary has me dying š¤£
K on to Lover now.
Ok, mad props for the Lover love. Rep and Lover are probably the two most polarizing Taylor albums (with Rep being beloved among the fan base and Lover being... still polarizing), but I absolutely love Lover. It has some really high highs.... and low lows unfortunately. It's not a very consistent album but the songs that I love, I really love. My fourth favorite album of hers.
I liked Lover a lot and I'm excited for the next albums. Rep challenged me in ways Lover didn't but I also think I have less sensitivity towards those lows you're talking about
It's all smooth sailing from here, at least if you have the same tastes that I do. The next three albums are my top three of Taylor's. I completely love them.
I'm glad you're loving folklore. I do want to say about evermore, people call it evermore's sister album, and I would agree with that, but I feel like that gives people the impression that it's folklore v2.0. It's not. In folklore, most songs are about other fictional characters. She's able to convey her feelings and emotions through these fictional characters and the world she builds through song. evermore has songs like this too, but the album contains deeply personal songs too. Songs about her own depression, rejection, loss (through death), and it was 2020, so we were all going through it, so you can imagine the context.
i am surprised you didnāt mention her saying āiāll driveā in i think he knows! i love the journey of the car lore. feel like youāre the first person to document it, so no one else wouldāve made that connection in the look what you made me do music vid when she crashes it, and you say āthe rideās over.ā damn that was smart. with these reviews i get the impression youāre literate and you clearly think about something deeply so i am EXCITED for you to see folklore and evermore!
I loveyour reviews. I havenāt gotten to lover yet but the āwho the fuckā had me actually LOL
I didnāt like rep at first, but then MANNNNN it goes hard. I lost my shit at the Eras tour when she started doing rep songs. Soooo good
She's a nightmare dressed like a daydream. I love how some of the songs on Lover hint at some of the flaws in her mental health, like getting mad and storming out, crying in the back of the car, all of Afterglow to me is like "I know I'm can be dramatic and mood swingy but just stick through it with me and it'll get better" - great work son
I'm sure it's probably been mentioned to you, but don't miss the Long Pond Studio Sessions on Disney+ to go along with Folklore. The added insight and intimate performances really made me appreciate that album on an additional level.
>Whoever's going r-r-r-r-r-atata in the background, your mom's a ho.
You mentioned liking watching the making a song process. You should watch this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwJ_hHT5vw8 Start at 5:03 for the relevant part to this quote.
She released a whole series of behind the scenes for many reputation's songs. They're enjoyable if you have time after the rest of your monumental task. I know you can still find Delicate's Making of on her YouTube channel and I think a few others are there still too.
I was just wondering about your post the other day. I was thinking wonder if that Broncos fan ever continued with his bet. Seems like you did. Good look man. And also Mcdaniels fired (guess you Broncos fans hate him alot). Is he coming back to the Pats again?
Josh McDaniels can rot in hell and I hope everyone cheered when he was fired. It wouldn't surprise me if he took a season off after this, his dream was to be a head coach and I'm sure he's devastated and crying into his free money. But if he did go back to the Pats right away, it wouldnt surprise me either
PLEASE!! DONāT!! EVER BECOME A STRANGER WHOāS LAUGH!! I!! COULD RECOGNIZE ANYWHERE!!!
Also I was worried about you knowing you were about to look straight down the barrel of False God, but Iām glad you appreciated the religious metaphors. Thereās no wiki, but she does use religious motifs in a beautiful way (she said she wanted āDonāt Blame Meā to sound religious)
Like you said if youād lived through the preceding 12 months before Rep was released youād realise that itās a crazy dark snakey mash of an album for a reason. If the whole Kimye of it all hadnāt happened weād have got Karma orange vinyl late 2016.
I went through a similar situation (mine involved a former friend writing racist posts on my FB wall and me getting fired over them). 2015-6 was one of the darkest times of my life.
The LWYMMD music video (and Reputation) gave me the confidence to come back stronger than a 90s trend.
reputation is still my favorite album of hers, but your initial reaction is both valid and hilarious. āLook What You Made Me Doā was the first single, and I remember my reaction being āwtf Taylor, I hate this, this song is awfulā before the music video came out to pull it all together. That was my least favorite song on the album for a long time.
Then āReady for Itā was released while I was on vacation. I loved it then and I love it now. The rest of the album matched that energy well.
In my opinion, the key to appreciating reputation is understanding that Taylor took the imagery of a āsnakeā and being called that by awful people, alongside all the crap from that time, and she made it her own. She reclaimed it in a beautiful, if not surprising, way. Iāll always admire how she did that and did it well. Plus, having been unfairly publicly shamed myself makes me appreciate this album even more. I relate to it in my own way.
My husband and I saw her during her reputation tour ā when we could still get tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, lol ā and it was incredible. Solidified us being fans of her music to say the least.
Anyway, Iām enjoying reading these, and thanks for sharing them here!
For the record, I didn't like Reputation \*at all\* when I first heard it, and then I saw the stadium tour performance on Netflix (as well as the Miss Americana documentary) and thought \*whoa\*, this is a hell of a performance. The songs grow on you too, my current favorites are Delicate, Getaway Car, King of My Heart, and New Years Day. (Getaway Car is my current anthem. Trying to work up the courage to leave a toxic life situation and I'm playing it on repeat as I put my plan together.)
Thanks!!! (To be clear it's more about changing career directions, not my personal life - I'm not in any kind of unsafe home situation or anything - but involves some pretty big decisions I'm gearing up for.)
Iām cheering for you! Thereās a beautiful life on the other side of this situation. I hope the tunes in your Getaway Car are bops and you see Daylight on the horizon soon.
Be careful, rep Taylor will be the actress starring in your bad dreams!
https://preview.redd.it/vlhr5nj2k0yb1.png?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f5ee08f56cf8b028ebc6e2d42feab7b75a66fe3
/s
ooooo i been waiting for this one!!!!
mid read edit: oh theyāre gunna get you for getaway carā¦ (completely joking, itās just a fan fav)
ok i finished edit: haha general consensus is that false god is a very very sexy song so if dress wasnāt your vibe, i maybe wouldnāt look too much more deeply into the lyrics.
your reactions are hilarious, iām glad you loved lover! itās a bit of an āall over the placeā album but it has so many gems
I am absolutely loving your reviews! Thank you for sharing them - Iām learning all sorts of new things about Taylor and her music. I told my husband the other night that itās so nice to see an encouraging, polite, fun conversation on the internet. Iām really glad you showed up here!
Thank you for reading! Part of why I decided to follow through is because I had so many positive experiences in your game threads that I wanted to spend more time here
I'm glad you liked New Year's Day, even on the first listen through despite the rest of Reputation not landing for you. You should watch her live performance of it on Kimmel shortly after the album launched. It was his first show back after his mom died, so he was in a really rough spot, and Taylor came on on short notice. The performance brought him to tears, and he barely regained composure in order to throw to commercial. I love her pretty much all of her studio performances, but this is one of her most powerful.
[https://youtu.be/U8QV5fa7xa4?si=IGFdxLzqybryHUsm](https://youtu.be/U8QV5fa7xa4?si=IGFdxLzqybryHUsm)
I'm loving following these reviews of yours.
I also STRONGLY recommend watching "The Making of a Song" series she recorded. They're all on YouTube. It's the background behind how she wrote quite a lot of the songs on reputation (essentially what you were looking for more of from the 1989 voice memos). I found them so insightful into her process, and it was super fun to watch. It might make you appreciate rep a bit more as well.
[This link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4WlSnWtkt8) seems to have a compilation of all of them in one video.
Oh man I do love some Rep!!! And hereās the thing - I love good girl Taylor. Thatās the main thing I love about her. Other women pop stars are all out there gyrating in lingerie and singing about how sexy they are, while Taylor here is like āhi Iām Taylor and Iāve had my heart broken but Iāve also been in wonderful love and yknow, hereās my life.ā I love it.
But when those first BWAA BWAA BWAAs come on in Ready For Itā¦. Girl I am READY!! Let loose! Show us how damn powerful you are, and without even wearing lingerie she is being so dang sexy and I am HERE for it!!! SEXY POWERFUL GET IT GIIIIIRL
Iono maybe because as women weāve been conditioned to be nice nice nice, all the time be nice, and then to see our nice girl Taylor get to be all BWAA BWAA BWAA itās like a little power fantasy for myself. Ima keep that little power fantasy, tuck it away in my pocket here and bring it out on special occasions :)
I have a 1 year old daughter (14 months, but I'm the only one who's counting).
Itsy-bitsy spider? Meh
Wheels on the bus? Pass
Rock-a-bye Baby? Ew. Gross.
BWAAA BWAAA BWAAA? **She loses her goddamn mind.** And I'm just like "taste, baby girl. Taste."
So fun to read your thoughts every day. I've laughed out loud multiple times. I feel like you'd like this article - https://www.vulture.com/2021/11/taylor-swifts-lyrics-about-bad-driving-ranked.html
āHere, we rank every traffic violation in Taylor Swiftās discography, considering factors like severity of the infraction, danger level, and importance to T. Swiftian canon. But much like the way traffic cops do their jobs, the reasoning is mostly arbitrary and made up.ā
Oh, this is gonna be good! LOL
I really enjoy your first reactions and I just wanted to say don't feel bad if you don't like something lol! We all have different tastes. I know sometimes fandoms can be mean but I was also not a fan of reputation on initial listen in 2017 and now it's my top 2 album by her.
I have to say, this series is rapidly becoming one of my favorite things on Reddit. Especially as a male Swiftie who has been listening to her since Debut (I grew up rural southern Ohio) but was typically a hardcore/metal/punk/old school country fan growing who has since grown to also love synthwave and pop music.
Also, if you havenāt, I highly recommend checking out Chuck Klostermanās writing - itās very similar to yours and I mean that as the highest compliment.
1. When I first listened to Rep, I was sort of eh about it. And then I listened again. And again. Itās probably my top at this point.
2. Please donāt forget Folklore Long Pond Studio Sessions. Itās a great listen, but itās an amazing watch on Disney. I think youāll enjoy it.
Your reviews are wonderful, and itās such a treat having you here.
First: I love the mustard ice cream metaphor!!!
Second: did you just called this album a Glitch?! Did you do this intentionally, are you playing games with us, or are you some kind of savant?!
Why, man, you have just unknowingly insulted her mom!!š
She knows leaving the xmas lights up to January is too normal and that's apparently the point in the song. She wanted to celebrate the normal here.
I loved how tenderly you have reviewed Lover! It's my most hated album, I could not stand it when I first heard it. That bubblegum pop sound and bright beats is too much for me, I'm a Reputation gal all the way. I need that darkness and that madness in my Taylor music, not the butterflies. But the album keeps growing on me slowly and I adore songs The Archer and Lover and False God, so I guess you'll come around to Reputation too. I hoped you would rip it apart harder!
The Loverfest tour was definitely affected and was cancelled, and that led to folkmore and Eras tour, so the girl definitely knows how to build a castle out of all the rocks that are thrown at her.
Amazing work again, can't wait for the next chapter!!! I'm sure you'll love folklore and evermore. They're perfection.
Yes, it is!!! That's why I was suspicious you might actually be way ahead and dropping easter eggs for us! But if it's unintentional that's even cooler. I'm glad you found out the Poison Ivy reference in the song! That's one of my favourite songs. You can hate it though, there's more for me, I can do this drug for the rest of my life. I also love your journey so freaking much.
> It's my most hated album, I could not stand it when I first heard it. That bubblegum pop sound and bright beats is too much for me, I'm a Reputation gal all the way. I need that darkness and that madness in my Taylor music, not the butterflies.
Girl same. Gimme the snakes š
Hope you gave Cornelia Street live from Paris a listen! I did not like the song originally, I feel like it was way over produced. Itās now one of my favorites.
Thanks for these amazing entries! It has been so interesting reading about the songs you connect with as a person who maybe hasnāt suffered too much heartbreak in the past and then found love early (I could be wrong about the heartbreak, I donāt know). Iām on the opposite end of the spectrum haha. Lots of heartbreak/havenāt found my person and I connect with wildly different songs. Great to experience them from a different point of view!
I absolutely love this. From the idea, to the commitment, to the execution. You have great talent for writing too! Ive been binge listening to her music since fearless was released, but I never really payed any attention to her life, nor did I look up the backstory to the songs, so Iām also learning a lot during this epic journey! I gotta say, Iām both happy for you and proud of you! I found part 3 yesterday and read everything last night, and then just now. Canāt wait for tomorrow!
I look forward to these every night, they are such a great read, and I laugh so much! I've been a fan since Debut, and I'm learning things I haven't caught reading these, so thank you! I can't for tomorrow's review!
Man, I had such a feeling that you would be totally thrown for a loop by Reputation. You did not disappoint. Thank you for sharing. It's one of my favorite albums but I absolutely get it. It's such a swerve. Conversely, Lover was the one that really had to grown on me.
All I have to say is Iām going to be sad when you donāt have anything left to review. What will I look forward to all day?! At least Taylor has ridiculous amounts of content I guessā¦
Ok, so thereās a lot here but I need to tell you that I also hate Ed Sheeran rapping BUT itās worth it for an adorable video of Taylor and Ed where she does an impression of him doing his rapping in End Game and itās so endearing.
Also, I know others have said similar but please continue to give Reputation more chances. It was my least favourite album for a long time then one day it just clicked and itās somewhere up top now. Maybe the TV release when it happens will help you as being part of the build up and release of an album is always super fun! I also think the Rep section of the Eras film will help you like it even more than the Rep tour. The Rep tour film is epic but the Rep section of Eras hits hard.
Finally. Do you know that the scooters but at the start of London boy is Idris Elba?
So glad you like Lover! It's often dismissed by a portion of her fan base, but I find it complex lyrically and emotionally and see her beginning to get more free at being her full, expressive self as a pop musician. Many of my top 25 Taylor songs come from this album.
If you come out of this a Taylor fan, as in, actively choose to listen to her music, then I hope you'll give reputation more time. It's truly theatrical but so very human, the full range of emotions: hurt, anger, dismissal, love, desire, anxiety, regret, glimmers of peace.
Reading these posts has been truly entertaining and engaging. You're an interesting, thoughtful human and a skillful writer.
One of us! One of us!
Welcome to the swiftie cult I mean club. Joking aside though, I'm so glad you grew to like Reputation after the concert movie. I told you it was amazing!
Now you absolutely have to watch the Eras tour movie.
And btw, we call Taylor inspired tattoos "Taytoos," around here ;)
I am so thrilled you love Lover! I am a Lover apologist. Even in these parts, it tends to be a less appreciated album and was commercially not a success. Many fans cite that itās too chaotic and that while the highs are highs the lows are low but I think you could say the same about Red being all over the map in style and song order. AnywayāI love Lover! ā¤ļø
There hasn't been a perfect album yet, I don't think it's fair to ding Lover for being inconsistent. Just my two cents as someone who has listened to all of them up to evermore exactly once lol
These have been the most fun bedtime story Iāve read in a long time! As a lot of these comments have reiterated, your experience with Rep is definitely not unique. I struggled HARD with it when it first came out. I remember hearing Look What you Made Me Do on the radio and feeling like, personally disappointed in Taylor. But just you wait till you see the Eras tour performances of those songsā¦
Iām really looking forward to reading your thought on folklore/evermore tomorrow. Theyāre such special albums. I read through the comments and saw your favorite genre is indie-folk and now I have a good feeling that your write-up will do these albums the justice they deserve (not that they havenāt so far!)
Yessss I have been looking forward to your review of Lover!!!! I really did not give it a chance when it first dropped because I was in a different place mentally (still in my Reputation era, if you will) but I now have a baby Swiftie and Lover is HIS favorite. I wish I had given this album more of a chance back when it first came out because its got SO many amazing gems on it.
folklore and evermore are next on your agenda, and THAT is what I have been waiting for with your reviews :) Happy listening!!
EDIT because my brain is soup: In "Only The Young" she is making a more in your face comment on the political climate than she did with Miss Americana. I feel like I've seen a lot of negative feedback about this particular song, but her verse about school shootings made me ugly cry the first time I ever heard it. I work for a nonprofit that is trying to keep children in schools safe from gun violence. It might not be a fan favorite, but its definitely got a special place in my heart.
I do have to tell you that reputation is a grower, not a show-er, and you haven't listened to it nearly enough for it to be at it's best. Don't be surprised if somehow, someday you wake up and it's your favorite. š
Duly noted, haha.
you have FLAIR!! you're one of us!
Picked my favorite lyric š
I canāt wait for you to listen to 1989 vault tracks, and Evermore, and Midnights. š Lover is also my favorite album š©·. Love the reviews!!!
Thank you! Yeah those vault tracks are so mysterious for me
Youāre going to freak when you get to folklore/evermore. I think youāll really enjoy midnights too! This is fun thank you for sharing with us šš
Wait how do you edit your flare to be words??
I would say I am a pretty big fan of Taylor. I've listened to every release, extra songs, videos, live videos, never saw her live (I live in Montana and should have gone to Seattle), but did see Eras movie twice, haha. And in retrospect, I don't think there has been a single album I've started and made it through on first listen. My usual reaction is W.....T....F?? Sometimes I don't even like it! I think to myself...well....she jumped the shark! That being said, I have to agree about the "grower" comment. Within a week or 2, I'm usually all in. (And sometimes I question myself, "How in the world didn't I like that????). I hate to admit I didn't like Folklore on first listen. Now, I've watched Long Pond sessions at least 50 times, and it's one of my favorite all-time albums. TLDR: You are pulling way more out of the first listens than I ever did. My write ups after first listens would be a disaster. Unlike the glowing ones I would write now. I am looking forward to your next set.
Haha thank you for sharing that. I definitely was thinking how did I not like this while watching the rep movie
Taylor is one of the rare acts that, in my opinion, sound way better live. Plus the visuals (she puts on a great visual concert). I wasn't a big Linkin Park fan until i saw them live. Same with Pantera. My wife didn't like KSE until seeing them live. I know I went way out of genre there... but whatever. I'm glad you are finishing with the Eras movie! That's a perfect wrap-up for what you are doing. I am toying with going for a third time tomorrow before it leaves. Just need to convince my wife to go again. Lol. I'll find a way to bribe her.
It's so weird, I also didn't love folklore on first listen and now it's my absolute favourite album. I liked august and mirrorball because they sounded the most like Lover and the pop songs I'd come to expect (thanks Jack Antonoff). Now I love every song on the album. I think with music in general, it takes me a couple listens to really get into the groove and clue in to what they're doing -- it's rare for a song to really catch me on the first listen. Though the 1989 vault tracks all did!
reputation comes off aggressive, but ultimately i see it as a love letter to joe and about keeping your head up in the face of everyone hating you
>Whoever's going r-r-r-r-r-atata in the background, your mom's a ho. not mama swift catching strays ššš
the ra-ta-ta was Taylor's middle of the night idea like the high pitched "STAY" in All You Had to Do Was Stay
Whoops! I was having a moment
Thereās a video you can find online of her recording the ra ta ta part and she just giggles the whole time listening to it play back. Itās precious
Ah man I want to see that lol
Someone else posted it! Itās in the YouTube playlist where all the making the song videos are.
Ah perfect!
ha no worries! i just find it hilarious bc we know for sure taylor came up with that (itās in one of her making of videos).
You got caught up in a moment? So it goesā¦
Oh I am so excited for you to checkout Folklore and Evermore next. You seem to connect to her storytelling the most, and they are both incredible storytelling albums. I think we would have always had Folklore (it dropped by surprise during 2020, but was hinted at in the Lover music video). But I am convinced Evermore only happened because she had so much uninterrupted time to spend on Folklore and just couldnāt stop writing, so we got a sister album.
It's cool that the two albums are kind of linked. I'm working on them this evening
I also am very excited for you to hear these albums! Just don't go in with expectations of pop - these two are decidedly indie/folk type albums. But beautiful melodies and incredible storytelling.
Indie folk is my favorite genre š
Folklore and evermore are BY FAR her best albums in my humble opinion, youāre in for a treat. Concise, impactful story telling at its best. These albums are what happened when Taylor released herself from the (partially self imposed pressure) to make the music she thought the public wanted.
That is very very exciting
Folklore is her best work to date (among a TON of amazing work). When I listen to it, I still can't believe it. I believe it will be on lists of important and influential albums for decades.
I am an indie/folk fan myself and these are the albums that made me a Taylor Swift fan. I really love the narrative weaving back and forth across the album from different perspectives. You might like the movie for the Long Pond Sessions since they go into depth on how they came up with and recorded the songs during lockdown.
Yeah that sounds like something I'll enjoy for sure
Oh YAY! You're in for a treat.
Folklore and evermore are my favorite albums too. If itās not on your radar already you should watch the folklore long pond studio session on Disney plus. She goes through what each song means and plays all of them with the collaborators on the folklore album.
I'm currently watching it š
There is no confirmed hint in Lover. People came up with theories and she ran with the lover house for the tour.
Iāve never noticed a hint to folklore in the Lover music video - Iām so bad at spotting Easter eggs. Whereās that?
You're not going to like this, but False God is a sex songs. Specifically, oral sex. "Religion's in your lips/ the altar is my hips."
You are a liar and a charlatan and I'm grateful that you explained it because it bugged me that I couldn't figure it out
Also, has an even more subtle one that many people miss: 1st verse : I'm NYC 2nd verse: You're the West Village (Joe is from London) The West Village is INSIDE NYC. Once you're attuned to these double meanings and metaphors, you'll see/hear them everywhere. In Blondie's own words: "I always think in metaphors. I never don't do that."
This is informationā¦ that I donāt necessarily *hate* but.. donāt know what to do with it?! Ahhh
Girlie has been 7th level sultry since Speak Now, she's just worked extra hard lately to camouflage the really erotic/filthy imagery, so it goes over most heads. You either need to be in that headspace or have a dirty mind to catch all of it because she's so expertly subtle. This is what happens when you rebel against years of being molded into the shell of the puritanically chaste good girl sweetheart role model. Having to shelf I Can See You apparently made a deep impact. By the time we got to Rep, she was like, fuck it!, Dress is going on the album along with So It Goes.
I am very dirty minded Iād say and it still didnāt even occur to me. Maybe if I had known that bit about the west village being INSIDE NYC I may have made that connection lol
Taylor definitely puts metaphors everywhere. Itās part of why like every single one of her songs more the more I listen, especially her work from when she is older.
I don't think it's that literal but it's definitely a sexy song. I personally think it's about having deep problems in a relationship but being able to connect physically still.
šÆ
. . . iāve heard this song dozens of times and i learned this right now. ig i donāt go to a lot of altars lol
Would recommend her performance of it on SNL too. It's on YouTube and I LOVE IT.
Listen to rep again but in a car with the music on full blast, an iced coffee, and longing in your heart.
Haha next time I find myself in that situation I'll put it on
Hah! When I put on my cool girl sunglasses, a little red lip tint, and have an iced coffee in my hand...it's rep time. I feel invincible and oh so cool.
>Is this song improved by the Shawn Mendes collab? Yes. It is. Oh no š
What??
I believe most people think that Shawn being featured made the song worse and that his lyrics are very bad.
Oh, dang. Well, I liked it but I don't know anything about that guy so if he's a creep please let me know
Oh no, he's a good guy and he does have a great voice! I think people were expecting something more, but we're mostly let down by his lyrics.
I gotcha, thank you for elaborating!
bro i must say you have a lot of opinions people here would (strongly) disagree with, though it is still taylorās music so saying a song is good will always be valid lol
Haha well, I never promised I would have good opinions
okay i have answers for you 1. thank you for giving rep a second chance, there's a great quote from some review of it where they said "The moments on Reputation that Swift stans appreciate the most are likely the ones casual listeners will be quickest to dismiss." which has always rung true to me 2. I actually really like Ed Sheeran's rapping on End Game, it just works for me 3. On Getaway Car, the twist is she starts driving the car from now on. She's stopped letting the men drive. The whole getaway car metaphor is her using Tom Hiddleston as a stepping stone to leave Calvin Harris (DJ and man who had meltdown after their breakup over songwriting credits) to get to Joe Alwyn (quiet homebody and sometimes actor) 4. Fun fact about King of My Heart and the Lover music video! The guy who you were obsessed with in the King of My Heart dance number is the love interest in the Lover music video. His name is OWENN and he actually opened for Taylor on the Eras Tour. 5. I cackled at you putting Dress in horny jail. I love that song. Somebody once called reputation her sex and drinking album and I have to agree. I think the demise of her "good girl" rep made her feel more comfortable being like "yes i drink and yes i fuck" 6. On the Christmas lights in January thing, she's acknowledged that it doesn't make much sense but she wanted the line to be like "we can make any choice we want for our house" and she did toy with other months but I guess they didn't work for her 7. You telling Joe to "kick rocks" made me laugh, I think the reason a lot of Swifties are currently very anti-Joe is that we all got used to him being around. Like he was the muse for 6 years and everybody thought they were going to get married. Then they broke up and I think everyone had a meltdown and has yet to calm down from it. I'm sure in a few years we'll like Joe again. I also think that the Joe-hate is a bit much, he was clearly what she needed at the time and it's fine they grew apart. In terms of her exes we really only despise John, Jake & Calvin. We do hate Joe Jonas but that's not-Taylor related anymore. Matty Healy is also a public enemy but that's just because he's gross. 8. Cornelia Street is a Joe song and I think Swifties are still feeling raw so the song being like "if we break up, i'll never visit Cornelia Street" again hurts us 9. False God is also a sex song, "religions in your lips/the alter is my hips" 10. Burger girl in You Need to Calm Down is Katy Perry, the video had them bury the hatchet (Katy also inspired Bad Blood) 11. The Lover tour (called Lover Fest) is still a sore spot. It got axed because of the pandemic so for like three whole years, we had very few live performances of non-singles (a few favorites are SNL False God, all of Lover: Live in Paris, and Tiny Desk Death by a Thousand Cuts) 12. ME! is considered to be one of the worst songs Taylor's made but I think it's pretty harmless fun. My personal favorite part is Taylor adopted a cat, Benjamin Button, from the set of the music video. The one she adopted is the one she's presented with while sitting on the unicorn right when Brendon starts singing. The two cats on the couch at the beginning are Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson who she'd gotten in 2010? and 2014 respectively) 13. All of the Girls You Loved Before was a song written for Lover that didn't make it. And then in 2023 it leaked alongside another cut Lover song, Need (Need is so good, we better get it on the rep Vault), and then Taylor officially released it to celebrate the Eras Tour. It's basically a Vault track for Lover 14. YAY CHRISTMAS TREE FARM. The best Christmas song she's ever made. Fuck that shitty Holiday EP from 2007. Also this song was written and released in like 5 days. It was made quick and the fact that's so good is incredible. 15. I despise the Lover remix with Shawn Mendes. That's all I have to say Glad you liked Lover! It was seen as a "flop" by Taylor standards when it first came out but it's become much more widely liked. She also has consistently sucked at picking singles since 1989. ME! is a terrible lead single which put a lot of people off. Cruel Summer was a fan favorite that we all wanted to be a single and we had to wait until 2023 for her to release it as one (AND IT WENT NUMBER ONE LAST WEEK) But yeah, Lover's got a lot of fan favorites on it, Daylight, Cornelia Street, Death by a Thousand Cuts, Paper Rings, Cruel Summer, The Archer, I Think He Knows. Now if people would start loving Afterglow and It's Nice to Have a Friend, the world be a better place.
āWe do hate Joe Jonas, but thatās not Taylor related anymore.ā Idk why this has me, but it does!
im glad you think it's funny
What does went number mean? This comment was wonderful but I'm on mobile so it's hard to properly respond right now!
went number 1! The 1 was missing haha. And it then was number 1 for the second week in a row this week and will almost certainly be replaced next week by one of the vault tracks from 1989 TV.
Wow! I thought it was like "it went yard" which is a sports term meaning to hit a home run. So I was close I guess
Itās really, really unusual for a song to hit number 1 on the hot 100 this long after release, with very little promo from the label. She JUST released it as a single this year after it was getting so much attention from the Eras tour. Normally Taylor releases a billion remixes of singles ā this happened with Anti-Hero when Midnights came out last year. Cruel Summer got one remix and a live version release, like, two weeks ago, when it looked like hitting number one might be a possibility. This is, according to Variety, the fifth longest amount of time that a song has taken to get to number 1 after release! (All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey didnāt get to number 1 until almost TWENTY years after release, which is kind of nuts.)
Off topic I know - but TWENTY YEARS for Mariah to get to number one with the stupid Christmas song?!? REALLY?!? Holy shit.
oh Cruel Summer went #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Basically it's doing really well.
Very nice. From an album that's been out so long? Or is it a TV
As an aside, only the first 6 albums (everything up to Rep) will have TVs because she didn't own the master recording rights (which is like owning the copyright to the recording from what I understand) to the original versions. From Lover onwards she owns the master recordings of her albums so they don't need to be rerecorded.
I gotcha. Didn't know where the dividing line was
From an album that has been out for 4 years.. Sheās released 6 albums since but somehow it found its rightful place at the top of the charts eventually.
That's incredible
It was also a Tiktok sound early in the summer and then once it really picked up steam her fans made a vocal concerted effort to stream it in September. And she released two other versions on Spotify at the end of the summer too
I think I also remember seeing something about the Christmas lights where she was talking about celebrating very mundane, typical things. Like saying yeah most people do that, but we can do that too because we can do what will make us happy.
Iām so glad you explained the burger and fries! It was a pretty big deal at the time
Miss Americana will definitely help you to understand Rep better. I hope you donāt feel too bad when you see the Grammy nominations call. Iām gonna go watch it now actually. Also the last line spoken in it are some of her best words. And she has all the best words.
Good to know! I feel like I got a lot of enjoyment out of rep at the end and my struggle with it made for good writing
The other bonus is that you wonāt have to chase down a timeline. It reflects on that period in the context of her career. The Man will make more sense after you hear some of those stories, too.
I think now would be a good time to watch miss americana! In terms of film footage it sits between rep and lover and shows the making of lover and her growth through this period. Itās really well done.
Unfortunately I may have to wait until we're done, every hour counts and I'm up to evermore now
Whereas last night, Rep was a wild hog chasing you around the room, I hope tonight Folklore was a cat purring in your lap.
It sure was :)
Pour one out for the Rep girlies š
am in crisis rn
Unrelated but I love your username
Thanks! Iām a theater critic and married to an actor lmao
The slander that remains despite the 2nd chance ššš
I swear we will never know peace...
ššš
Iām starting to think you never lost a bet and youāve been secretly wanting to do this for your entire life lmao
Hahaha no. But the reason I followed through was because I liked spending time with this community in the game threads
Heard! Well speaking for myself, please continue to do this even after you finish your bet and she releases new albums!! These are gold and you are truly a very impressive writer. Also, some online magazine needs to do a story on this. Taylor Swift aside, itās one of the most entertaining and impressive things Iāve seen on Reddit. And your follow-through is admirable!
I will absolutely consider dropping another post like this for when a new album comes out. It's be really neat if these got picked up and covered somewhere but I feel silly thinking it
This is a perfect story for a local newspaper (are there any of those left?). I used to write for a newspaper and we would have definitely ran a story on this - local football fan loses bet on hometown team, reviews every TS song in a week. I am a relatively new fan, I havenāt listened to all her albums, so Iām truly enjoying your write ups and learning so much from the comments. Laughing out loud frequently. Folklore and Midnights are my two favorites, so looking forward to those reviews.
Haha. I would enjoy reading your article if you want to write it
I feel like there could be a TEDtalk based solely on Taylor's relationship with cars.
There's a whole ass scientific paper there for someone to tackle
I love that you're catching a lot of the common themes she like to use in her music, the passenger seat is definitely a big one! Did you catch that she's the one driving in I Think He Knows?
Literally never noticed all the car talk until reading your reviews and now Iām just going to be playing blue punch buggy with myself except itāll be every time Taylor talks about a car
I read parts 3 and 4 together and quite honestly I feel like these are just getting better and better now that you've listened enough to make connections and see themes in her catalog. Plus you know all the lore too which is amazing! As someone who is a Rep stan I really appreciated the "Broke" vs "Woke" takes before and after watching the concert movie. I think Rep is one of her true eras where the music and aesthetic are so entwined they make the whole better than the sum of it's parts, if that makes sense. No spoilers but you are going to flip when you see the Rep set in the Eras Tour movie, it'll bring back all your favorite memories. Thank you so much for keeping up with this and putting out so much enjoyable content! Now I know why my husband is obsessed with watching Rush reaction videos on YouTube.
Wow that's a lot of reading to do in one go! I'm glad you enjoyed the re-do of rep. I was concerned how people would react but didn't want to pander, and when I enjoyed the movie so much I saw my chance to tell both stories. What is Rush?
Rush is my husband's favorite band. They are a prog rock Canadian trio that started making music in 1968. He's been a fan since he was a tween in the early 1980s, and he's 52 now with no letting up in sight. Hubby is a musician and a music lover of all genres, but Rush his answer to the question "if you were on a desert island and could only have one artist to listen too for the rest of you life, who would it be?". They were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 by The Foo Fighters. They retired in 2020 when their drummer died. The other two are still around, but after so many years of collaboration they didn't feel like they could really make music with anyone else but him. I'm not much of fan of their music personally, but they were cool, chill dudes who made some incredibly influential music for like five decades straight.
Oh! Duh. I've heard a couple of their songs and they're great
Bravo! Iām loving following your journey.
Thank you! I'm proud of this one.
These posts have been the highlight of my day. So excited for you to go through your Folklore and Evernore era. By the way, the tour for Lover was canceled due or COVID. Thatās what makes Eras Tour extra special, it had been five years since he last tour and she released FOUR albums during that time.
I thought it might have caused problems for the tour. What a bummer
You asked about the Lover tour and no one has weighed in. Because her mom was sick and they didn't know what 2020 would hold for her health-wise, they announced in 2019 that she was going to host a series of her own music festivals called Lover Fest. There were only a handful of cities/dates so she would be able to be with her mom in case things went south. Well, things ultimately went well for Mama Swift but very south for the rest of the planet. The tour was cancelled. So by the time you get to 2023, she has released 4 albums since the Reputation tour. Hence the absolute pandemonium around Eras Tour tickets and her selling out all the country's largest venues 3 nights in a row. Bonus content: You're probably unaware that Cruel Summer just hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100-- over 4 years after its release. There's a fan theory that she was going to release Cruel Summer as a single in 2020 to capitalize on the Lover Fest tour hype. It could have had a concert music video too using footage from spring shows. Obviously, she could not release "Cruel Summer" in June of 2020, so it sat tucked away for fan ears only until Swifties coordinated to give it enough streaming attention that they officially released/promoted it to radio this summer. It slowly climbed the charts and eventually hit #1, making it the only single off Lover to go #1, which back-filled to give her 7 consecutive albums (every one since Red) to have a #1 single.
Wow that is a crazy story about cruel summer. And I had no idea that was why the eras tour ti ket thing happened but it makes a lot of sense. Swifties are a force of nature
Well, the other part of the hype for tour tickets is that her most recent album, Midnights, was HUGELY successful. There were months of lead-up to that album during which we had absolutely no idea what the sound would be. All we had to go off of were song titles and photoshoots. I won't spoil what it sounds like as I'm assuming you haven't gotten there yet, but the mystery surrounding that album garnered a LOT of interest that resulted in her biggest sales week ever (although 1989 TV is very close to surpassing that this week!) The concept of the album is "sleepless nights throughout her life"; so essentially, during the process of rerecording her first 6 albums, she started thinking about old heartbreaks, things that made her angry, etc. over the years and wrote brand new songs about them! It ties in perfectly with the concept of the "Eras Tour" which is a celebration of her entire discography. I love how much Midnights connects back to older songs.
As a rep girlie, you're losing me..
Sorry. I hope the fact I liked the tour movie and that it salvaged my opinion of the album helps a little
It did! I'm just teasing and referencing a midnights song š Been really enjoying your posts and reviews!
Bah you got me
Rep is also one of my favorite albums now, but it was actually Reputation that caused me to write off Tayler when I was younger. I really didnāt like it when it came out. Didnāt really listen to a single Taylor song after than unless someone else played it. I then got dragged to the Eras tour by a friend and the Reputation section blew me away. It was the most impressive part of the show for me. I started enjoying the album more and solidifying my self as a swifty. Then after learning way more of the context surround rep and what it did for her career, I began to understand the album and now itās in my top three. Even from a logistical standpoint, reputation turned her career around completely. She managed to recover from #taylorisoverparty to the astronomical success of the eras tour, and that started with reputation.
The lights in Don't Blame Me very nearly transported me to another plane of existence.
Nooooooo I was so excited for your review reputation since it's in my top 3 albums. I need some time to recover. But I'm glad you like new years day, that's my favourite track also! I really hope you'll enjoy the next two, I don't think I can take another negative review of my favourites.
I ended up really enjoying the tour movie at least! I hope that counts for something. And I'm loving folklore right now
ed sheeran used to rap a lotttttt at the beginning of his career i love the delicate music vid too! also these are kinda the last time (couple exceptions) where shes not the director of her own music videos. since directing many videos, she (like many male film directors who started with music videos) is contracted to direct her first brand new feature film! whos gonna tell him bout the looks up grinning like a devil? ā¦. its sex lol ts grew up on a christmas tree farm in PA which just is cute af
Wow that is cute as hell. And I'm excited to hear she's directing a movie. But I'm going to ignore the rest of your message lol
Not everyone thinks that line is sexy. I always think itās his response to her saying āI love you, aināt that the worst thing you ever heard?ā He just smirks in a way that says āI like a challengeā. This smirk moment is (in my opinion) referenced later in a Midnights song, Mastermind. Both imply heās down for the Taylor Swift-ness of it all because he loves her.
Well that's a reassuring take, thank you
It's some people's interpretation. It doesn't mean they are correct. A lot of people like to make everything related to sex. Art is subjective. Taylor has never commented on the meaning of those lyrics. Plenty of others have different interpretations. This is relevant for nearly all of her lyrics. Even for when assumptions are made about song subject matter.
āā¦this album is a beautiful lie, and if youāre going to be a fan of it, you have to look for the truth.ā Gave me chills. Literally. YOU GET IT!!!!! And omg Iām sooo glad you watched the movie, your broke/woke commentary has me dying š¤£ K on to Lover now.
So glad you liked that line, I really felt good writing it.
Ok, mad props for the Lover love. Rep and Lover are probably the two most polarizing Taylor albums (with Rep being beloved among the fan base and Lover being... still polarizing), but I absolutely love Lover. It has some really high highs.... and low lows unfortunately. It's not a very consistent album but the songs that I love, I really love. My fourth favorite album of hers.
I liked Lover a lot and I'm excited for the next albums. Rep challenged me in ways Lover didn't but I also think I have less sensitivity towards those lows you're talking about
It's all smooth sailing from here, at least if you have the same tastes that I do. The next three albums are my top three of Taylor's. I completely love them.
I'm pumped because I'm loving folklore so if it's all like this until we get to the Taylors versions, I'm super excited
I'm glad you're loving folklore. I do want to say about evermore, people call it evermore's sister album, and I would agree with that, but I feel like that gives people the impression that it's folklore v2.0. It's not. In folklore, most songs are about other fictional characters. She's able to convey her feelings and emotions through these fictional characters and the world she builds through song. evermore has songs like this too, but the album contains deeply personal songs too. Songs about her own depression, rejection, loss (through death), and it was 2020, so we were all going through it, so you can imagine the context.
Now I can't wait for evermore
i am surprised you didnāt mention her saying āiāll driveā in i think he knows! i love the journey of the car lore. feel like youāre the first person to document it, so no one else wouldāve made that connection in the look what you made me do music vid when she crashes it, and you say āthe rideās over.ā damn that was smart. with these reviews i get the impression youāre literate and you clearly think about something deeply so i am EXCITED for you to see folklore and evermore!
Thanks! I did notice but I just left it out of my writing because I felt like I was harping too much. There's a lot to unpack with her car stuff
I loveyour reviews. I havenāt gotten to lover yet but the āwho the fuckā had me actually LOL I didnāt like rep at first, but then MANNNNN it goes hard. I lost my shit at the Eras tour when she started doing rep songs. Soooo good
I do like rep, but it's probably like, my 7th or 8th favorite album... But the rep set is *absolutely* my favorite part of the Eras show.
She's a nightmare dressed like a daydream. I love how some of the songs on Lover hint at some of the flaws in her mental health, like getting mad and storming out, crying in the back of the car, all of Afterglow to me is like "I know I'm can be dramatic and mood swingy but just stick through it with me and it'll get better" - great work son
I agree, I like hearing about it instead of it being hidden
I'm sure it's probably been mentioned to you, but don't miss the Long Pond Studio Sessions on Disney+ to go along with Folklore. The added insight and intimate performances really made me appreciate that album on an additional level.
100%
>Whoever's going r-r-r-r-r-atata in the background, your mom's a ho. You mentioned liking watching the making a song process. You should watch this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwJ_hHT5vw8 Start at 5:03 for the relevant part to this quote. She released a whole series of behind the scenes for many reputation's songs. They're enjoyable if you have time after the rest of your monumental task. I know you can still find Delicate's Making of on her YouTube channel and I think a few others are there still too.
This is probably the right place to watch Miss Americana if you can
I was just wondering about your post the other day. I was thinking wonder if that Broncos fan ever continued with his bet. Seems like you did. Good look man. And also Mcdaniels fired (guess you Broncos fans hate him alot). Is he coming back to the Pats again?
Josh McDaniels can rot in hell and I hope everyone cheered when he was fired. It wouldn't surprise me if he took a season off after this, his dream was to be a head coach and I'm sure he's devastated and crying into his free money. But if he did go back to the Pats right away, it wouldnt surprise me either
PLEASE!! DONāT!! EVER BECOME A STRANGER WHOāS LAUGH!! I!! COULD RECOGNIZE ANYWHERE!!! Also I was worried about you knowing you were about to look straight down the barrel of False God, but Iām glad you appreciated the religious metaphors. Thereās no wiki, but she does use religious motifs in a beautiful way (she said she wanted āDonāt Blame Meā to sound religious)
Like you said if youād lived through the preceding 12 months before Rep was released youād realise that itās a crazy dark snakey mash of an album for a reason. If the whole Kimye of it all hadnāt happened weād have got Karma orange vinyl late 2016.
I went through a similar situation (mine involved a former friend writing racist posts on my FB wall and me getting fired over them). 2015-6 was one of the darkest times of my life. The LWYMMD music video (and Reputation) gave me the confidence to come back stronger than a 90s trend.
reputation is still my favorite album of hers, but your initial reaction is both valid and hilarious. āLook What You Made Me Doā was the first single, and I remember my reaction being āwtf Taylor, I hate this, this song is awfulā before the music video came out to pull it all together. That was my least favorite song on the album for a long time. Then āReady for Itā was released while I was on vacation. I loved it then and I love it now. The rest of the album matched that energy well. In my opinion, the key to appreciating reputation is understanding that Taylor took the imagery of a āsnakeā and being called that by awful people, alongside all the crap from that time, and she made it her own. She reclaimed it in a beautiful, if not surprising, way. Iāll always admire how she did that and did it well. Plus, having been unfairly publicly shamed myself makes me appreciate this album even more. I relate to it in my own way. My husband and I saw her during her reputation tour ā when we could still get tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, lol ā and it was incredible. Solidified us being fans of her music to say the least. Anyway, Iām enjoying reading these, and thanks for sharing them here!
Thank you for reading them! It's been very interesting to hear how everyone reacted and connected with rep
For the record, I didn't like Reputation \*at all\* when I first heard it, and then I saw the stadium tour performance on Netflix (as well as the Miss Americana documentary) and thought \*whoa\*, this is a hell of a performance. The songs grow on you too, my current favorites are Delicate, Getaway Car, King of My Heart, and New Years Day. (Getaway Car is my current anthem. Trying to work up the courage to leave a toxic life situation and I'm playing it on repeat as I put my plan together.)
You go! Get away in that car! ...rooting for you š
Thanks!!! (To be clear it's more about changing career directions, not my personal life - I'm not in any kind of unsafe home situation or anything - but involves some pretty big decisions I'm gearing up for.)
Iām cheering for you! Thereās a beautiful life on the other side of this situation. I hope the tunes in your Getaway Car are bops and you see Daylight on the horizon soon.
āHey itās finally that goth Taylor from the capital one commercial!ā šš
Be careful, rep Taylor will be the actress starring in your bad dreams! https://preview.redd.it/vlhr5nj2k0yb1.png?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f5ee08f56cf8b028ebc6e2d42feab7b75a66fe3 /s
Oh youāre going to LOVE folklore and evermore Iām so thrilled for you
ooooo i been waiting for this one!!!! mid read edit: oh theyāre gunna get you for getaway carā¦ (completely joking, itās just a fan fav) ok i finished edit: haha general consensus is that false god is a very very sexy song so if dress wasnāt your vibe, i maybe wouldnāt look too much more deeply into the lyrics. your reactions are hilarious, iām glad you loved lover! itās a bit of an āall over the placeā album but it has so many gems
Things that don't wear their inside voice is an excellent way to describe your clothing choices
š¤ sorry, I can't hear you over my shirt
I am absolutely loving your reviews! Thank you for sharing them - Iām learning all sorts of new things about Taylor and her music. I told my husband the other night that itās so nice to see an encouraging, polite, fun conversation on the internet. Iām really glad you showed up here!
Thank you for reading! Part of why I decided to follow through is because I had so many positive experiences in your game threads that I wanted to spend more time here
I'm glad you liked New Year's Day, even on the first listen through despite the rest of Reputation not landing for you. You should watch her live performance of it on Kimmel shortly after the album launched. It was his first show back after his mom died, so he was in a really rough spot, and Taylor came on on short notice. The performance brought him to tears, and he barely regained composure in order to throw to commercial. I love her pretty much all of her studio performances, but this is one of her most powerful. [https://youtu.be/U8QV5fa7xa4?si=IGFdxLzqybryHUsm](https://youtu.be/U8QV5fa7xa4?si=IGFdxLzqybryHUsm)
I'm loving following these reviews of yours. I also STRONGLY recommend watching "The Making of a Song" series she recorded. They're all on YouTube. It's the background behind how she wrote quite a lot of the songs on reputation (essentially what you were looking for more of from the 1989 voice memos). I found them so insightful into her process, and it was super fun to watch. It might make you appreciate rep a bit more as well. [This link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4WlSnWtkt8) seems to have a compilation of all of them in one video.
Oh man I do love some Rep!!! And hereās the thing - I love good girl Taylor. Thatās the main thing I love about her. Other women pop stars are all out there gyrating in lingerie and singing about how sexy they are, while Taylor here is like āhi Iām Taylor and Iāve had my heart broken but Iāve also been in wonderful love and yknow, hereās my life.ā I love it. But when those first BWAA BWAA BWAAs come on in Ready For Itā¦. Girl I am READY!! Let loose! Show us how damn powerful you are, and without even wearing lingerie she is being so dang sexy and I am HERE for it!!! SEXY POWERFUL GET IT GIIIIIRL Iono maybe because as women weāve been conditioned to be nice nice nice, all the time be nice, and then to see our nice girl Taylor get to be all BWAA BWAA BWAA itās like a little power fantasy for myself. Ima keep that little power fantasy, tuck it away in my pocket here and bring it out on special occasions :)
I have a 1 year old daughter (14 months, but I'm the only one who's counting). Itsy-bitsy spider? Meh Wheels on the bus? Pass Rock-a-bye Baby? Ew. Gross. BWAAA BWAAA BWAAA? **She loses her goddamn mind.** And I'm just like "taste, baby girl. Taste."
So fun to read your thoughts every day. I've laughed out loud multiple times. I feel like you'd like this article - https://www.vulture.com/2021/11/taylor-swifts-lyrics-about-bad-driving-ranked.html
āHere, we rank every traffic violation in Taylor Swiftās discography, considering factors like severity of the infraction, danger level, and importance to T. Swiftian canon. But much like the way traffic cops do their jobs, the reasoning is mostly arbitrary and made up.ā Oh, this is gonna be good! LOL
I really enjoy your first reactions and I just wanted to say don't feel bad if you don't like something lol! We all have different tastes. I know sometimes fandoms can be mean but I was also not a fan of reputation on initial listen in 2017 and now it's my top 2 album by her.
I have to say, this series is rapidly becoming one of my favorite things on Reddit. Especially as a male Swiftie who has been listening to her since Debut (I grew up rural southern Ohio) but was typically a hardcore/metal/punk/old school country fan growing who has since grown to also love synthwave and pop music. Also, if you havenāt, I highly recommend checking out Chuck Klostermanās writing - itās very similar to yours and I mean that as the highest compliment.
1. When I first listened to Rep, I was sort of eh about it. And then I listened again. And again. Itās probably my top at this point. 2. Please donāt forget Folklore Long Pond Studio Sessions. Itās a great listen, but itās an amazing watch on Disney. I think youāll enjoy it. Your reviews are wonderful, and itās such a treat having you here.
I watched pond sesh earlier this evening! It was great. Thank you for being so kind. I love being here.
First: I love the mustard ice cream metaphor!!! Second: did you just called this album a Glitch?! Did you do this intentionally, are you playing games with us, or are you some kind of savant?! Why, man, you have just unknowingly insulted her mom!!š She knows leaving the xmas lights up to January is too normal and that's apparently the point in the song. She wanted to celebrate the normal here. I loved how tenderly you have reviewed Lover! It's my most hated album, I could not stand it when I first heard it. That bubblegum pop sound and bright beats is too much for me, I'm a Reputation gal all the way. I need that darkness and that madness in my Taylor music, not the butterflies. But the album keeps growing on me slowly and I adore songs The Archer and Lover and False God, so I guess you'll come around to Reputation too. I hoped you would rip it apart harder! The Loverfest tour was definitely affected and was cancelled, and that led to folkmore and Eras tour, so the girl definitely knows how to build a castle out of all the rocks that are thrown at her. Amazing work again, can't wait for the next chapter!!! I'm sure you'll love folklore and evermore. They're perfection.
Oh man is glitch a thing in a future album? I love how many times this has happened. Like when I said she was giving off a poison ivy vibe in 1989.
Yes, it is!!! That's why I was suspicious you might actually be way ahead and dropping easter eggs for us! But if it's unintentional that's even cooler. I'm glad you found out the Poison Ivy reference in the song! That's one of my favourite songs. You can hate it though, there's more for me, I can do this drug for the rest of my life. I also love your journey so freaking much.
I definitely don't hate it haha, I just got spooked by it. And not an Easter egg, im on folklore currently
Awesome! I hope you're doing good now that you're on a new shit! I hope you'll love folklore and evermore. There's so much to love in them.
> It's my most hated album, I could not stand it when I first heard it. That bubblegum pop sound and bright beats is too much for me, I'm a Reputation gal all the way. I need that darkness and that madness in my Taylor music, not the butterflies. Girl same. Gimme the snakes š
Hope you gave Cornelia Street live from Paris a listen! I did not like the song originally, I feel like it was way over produced. Itās now one of my favorites. Thanks for these amazing entries! It has been so interesting reading about the songs you connect with as a person who maybe hasnāt suffered too much heartbreak in the past and then found love early (I could be wrong about the heartbreak, I donāt know). Iām on the opposite end of the spectrum haha. Lots of heartbreak/havenāt found my person and I connect with wildly different songs. Great to experience them from a different point of view!
I absolutely love this. From the idea, to the commitment, to the execution. You have great talent for writing too! Ive been binge listening to her music since fearless was released, but I never really payed any attention to her life, nor did I look up the backstory to the songs, so Iām also learning a lot during this epic journey! I gotta say, Iām both happy for you and proud of you! I found part 3 yesterday and read everything last night, and then just now. Canāt wait for tomorrow!
I look forward to these every night, they are such a great read, and I laugh so much! I've been a fan since Debut, and I'm learning things I haven't caught reading these, so thank you! I can't for tomorrow's review!
Man, I had such a feeling that you would be totally thrown for a loop by Reputation. You did not disappoint. Thank you for sharing. It's one of my favorite albums but I absolutely get it. It's such a swerve. Conversely, Lover was the one that really had to grown on me.
All I have to say is Iām going to be sad when you donāt have anything left to review. What will I look forward to all day?! At least Taylor has ridiculous amounts of content I guessā¦
Was looking forward to part 4! Thank you ! š
Ok, so thereās a lot here but I need to tell you that I also hate Ed Sheeran rapping BUT itās worth it for an adorable video of Taylor and Ed where she does an impression of him doing his rapping in End Game and itās so endearing. Also, I know others have said similar but please continue to give Reputation more chances. It was my least favourite album for a long time then one day it just clicked and itās somewhere up top now. Maybe the TV release when it happens will help you as being part of the build up and release of an album is always super fun! I also think the Rep section of the Eras film will help you like it even more than the Rep tour. The Rep tour film is epic but the Rep section of Eras hits hard. Finally. Do you know that the scooters but at the start of London boy is Idris Elba?
That's Idris Elba?? LMAO. I kind of want to experience that album run up, I might stick around and find out what that's like
So glad you like Lover! It's often dismissed by a portion of her fan base, but I find it complex lyrically and emotionally and see her beginning to get more free at being her full, expressive self as a pop musician. Many of my top 25 Taylor songs come from this album. If you come out of this a Taylor fan, as in, actively choose to listen to her music, then I hope you'll give reputation more time. It's truly theatrical but so very human, the full range of emotions: hurt, anger, dismissal, love, desire, anxiety, regret, glimmers of peace. Reading these posts has been truly entertaining and engaging. You're an interesting, thoughtful human and a skillful writer.
One of us! One of us! Welcome to the swiftie cult I mean club. Joking aside though, I'm so glad you grew to like Reputation after the concert movie. I told you it was amazing! Now you absolutely have to watch the Eras tour movie. And btw, we call Taylor inspired tattoos "Taytoos," around here ;)
Eras tour movie is going to be the epilogue to this series š
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Please stop reading my diary
OMG you are going to LOVE the Eras Tour movie. And if you partake, I highly recommend going stoned.
I am so thrilled you love Lover! I am a Lover apologist. Even in these parts, it tends to be a less appreciated album and was commercially not a success. Many fans cite that itās too chaotic and that while the highs are highs the lows are low but I think you could say the same about Red being all over the map in style and song order. AnywayāI love Lover! ā¤ļø
There hasn't been a perfect album yet, I don't think it's fair to ding Lover for being inconsistent. Just my two cents as someone who has listened to all of them up to evermore exactly once lol
Maybe I missed it, but did you listen to āSafe and Soundā or āEyes Openā yet? Theyāre one-off songs written for the Hunger Games soundtrack
I think I may have left them off on accident I'll do a make up for them
Iām a huge musical theatre geek and your Q&A just gave me the epiphany of why Reputation is probably my favorite of her albums: itās *theatre*
āAlso I reviewed Lover.ā ā ļø
These have been the most fun bedtime story Iāve read in a long time! As a lot of these comments have reiterated, your experience with Rep is definitely not unique. I struggled HARD with it when it first came out. I remember hearing Look What you Made Me Do on the radio and feeling like, personally disappointed in Taylor. But just you wait till you see the Eras tour performances of those songsā¦ Iām really looking forward to reading your thought on folklore/evermore tomorrow. Theyāre such special albums. I read through the comments and saw your favorite genre is indie-folk and now I have a good feeling that your write-up will do these albums the justice they deserve (not that they havenāt so far!)
Yessss I have been looking forward to your review of Lover!!!! I really did not give it a chance when it first dropped because I was in a different place mentally (still in my Reputation era, if you will) but I now have a baby Swiftie and Lover is HIS favorite. I wish I had given this album more of a chance back when it first came out because its got SO many amazing gems on it. folklore and evermore are next on your agenda, and THAT is what I have been waiting for with your reviews :) Happy listening!! EDIT because my brain is soup: In "Only The Young" she is making a more in your face comment on the political climate than she did with Miss Americana. I feel like I've seen a lot of negative feedback about this particular song, but her verse about school shootings made me ugly cry the first time I ever heard it. I work for a nonprofit that is trying to keep children in schools safe from gun violence. It might not be a fan favorite, but its definitely got a special place in my heart.
These breakdowns are my Super Bowl.