maanvinderpilania

[maanvinderpilania]

Taylor Swift folklore: Review

hi and I’m back with another review of Taylor Swift’s album and the album is called “folklore”, full of folk songs about losing childhood innocence, summer love triangle, living a life when world in a crisis and running away into a new world just to sit near the lakes where old poets died in the Lake District and hear the folk stories that once started and will continue to pass down from one generation to another. Folklore (stylized in lower letter) is the sister album of “evermore” album and both of them were released in the year 2020. The best part about the music catalogue of Taylor’s is that not only you hears her song based on your mood like you are sad, happy, in love, grieving but she also loves to play with the genres. Now I know Taylor as a girl who once used to make country music then rock and then changed to pop music but with the folkore and its sister album evermore, she totally shifted from pop to indie folk . That is one of the things which makes her the biggest artist, a cultural phenomenon of the 21st century. I’ve been a fan of folkore ever since it came out back in 2020 when she surprise released it. What I love about this album is that this album will passed down like folk songs for ages. I love how she connected her life, the challenges she faced in her life to fictional stories that were written by Taylor Swift about what happened in her imaginary world, in that escapism from the chaos in the world, she found tranquility; a new way of storytelling and told us the summer love triangle of Betty, Augustine, and James.

 Let’s start by the most important part of this album “The Summer Love Triangle”. The song cardigan, august and betty are the three songs that are connected to each other. Cardigan is a song from the perspective of Betty about James that how he cheated on her with another girl Augustine, Betty is a song from the perspective of James who is apologizing to her for not realizing what he really wanted and now he knows he loves betty and the song august is from the perspective of Augustine which is basically about the nostalgia she is feeling after James got back with Betty. She recalls her summer love story with James. In simple terms, if one would describe Augustine then it would be a “home-wrecker” but I love how Taylor had put the feelings of Augustine, telling us even if she did was with James but it doesn’t mean she was not in love with him. The song clearly suggests how Augustine felt in the void of James but she also knew that “he was never her to lose”. She has feelings too.

If you ask me about my favorite song off this album then it must be “mirrorball”. When someone says they are a mirroball that means they changed their personality for other person to be happy so that they would notice them. I love the idea that Taylor put into lyrics as “i’m still trying everything to get you looking at me” is itself the summary of the entire song. I think of this song as like when you try your best for someone, just to get their attention but they never really cares about you. You just feel like a mirrorball who is dancing in the air, just like you with the hope that they will look at you, they will love you the same the way you do them.  The other song from this album that is listens the most is “seven”. To be honest, when I first heard this song, I cried. This song is one of the heart melting song for me that Taylor has ever wrote. I was watching the Heartstopper the other day and in the final episode of S2, there is a scene between Tara and Darcy where they say “I love you” to each other many times and this song plays in the background. I cried so hard at that scene and I believe it was the best scene in the series too.

Another song that I can relate to the most and I believe is the most brutal is “this is me trying”. I totally get this song. It certainly is for everyone who is going through hard times and have to prove themselves to everyone, it is for anyone who were made felt bad just for being someone they want to. As a student, I can relate to this song  because at each step we have to prove to our parents, teachers, society that we are good enough but still we are not, we are always being compared with the other kids. The next song that I wanna talk about is “the lakes”. Its giving everything. It’s giving Taylor as a poet, a tortured poet and her new album The Tortured Poets Department is full of songs like this one. I’m always amazed to see how she can come up with the lyrics like that. With no doubt, I can say she is the biggest poet of our century. My bow to the mother for giving us such a masterpiece. This song uses metaphors, imagery to express the most deep emotions that are stuck under one’s skin. To be honest, even I had to open my dictionary to know what this word means. She’s truly a mastermind.

The next song is called “the1”. As the lyrics suggests, “but we were something don’t you think so, roaring 20s, and tossing pennies in the pool and if my wishes came true, it would’ve been you” , the song reminisces about an old lover and how things would’ve been so good if that person was the one. In another words this song is nostalgic remembering the old, forgotten, lost loves. The song could also be interpreted as the long lost friend because it all comes down to one’s feelings and how they react to it. The next song I want to shed light at is called “epiphany”. The word epiphany in literature means ‘a sudden realization that struck to a person about the world around them and how they will use it to create changes around them or adapt into’. So the song epiphany could be interpreted as “living in your dreams in a world of chaos” and as the song itself was written during one of the hardest times, COVID-19; the song could be a nod to all the healthcare and other workers who were working to save lives while putting theirs at risk. Another main thing about the song is its connection to swift’s grandfather Dean’s experience in military during the World War-II. A photo of her grandfather is also appeared in the “cardigan” music video, only music video off this album.

The next song in this review is “exile”. It is a song about seeing your ex after a long time, realizing that they have moved on while you still stands in the hall which haunts you, wondering how did this all happened. In my opinion, this song has a deep connection with the song evermore and right where you left me off her next project “evermore”. The only difference here is that in the song exile it is the male character who is watching her go while she keep saying “she gave so many signs but you chose to ignore them to make her think everything is fine”. While in the other two songs that I told you have connection with, Taylor writes letters, trying to understand how did all that happened, that she is still at the same restaurant, same place where they used to have dinner.

“illicit affairs” is track no 10 on this album and talks about a secret affair without getting caught, doing things in secrecy. The song captures the idea that no matter how hard you try to protect it, it will end someday. I believe it’s another song from the perspective of betty who found about it from Inez, a close friend. The song is about the secret love affair of Augustine and James while Betty was crying and spent her summer alone. “invisible string” is the track no 11 and talks about the popular red invisible string myth which ties two soulmates to each other. I bet you have heard about it or seen before in many dramas and anime.

In this series, the next song are “the last great american dynasty and mad woman”. These two songs are related to each other. The earlier is about the story of Rebekah Harkness and her Rhode Island mansion which Taylor Swift now owns since 2013. Rebekah was called “mad woman” of the town. Her husband died and she became the sole owner of a big oil company. She threw loud parties, and when her neighbor companied she dyed his dog lime green. As it is a folk song now, it can also be interpreted as the life of Taylor herself that how media scrutiny made her a “mad woman” from “america’s sweetheart”. Her image was ruined. And in the song, Taylor herself sings about how the Rhode island mansion sat 50 years quietly on the beach and later bought by her. The song “mad woman” also follows the story of a mad woman. Taylor herself has used this idea in her previous work like “Blank Space” music video where she is seen hitting a car bonnet with a golf stick. She uses this imagery of a mad woman and connects it with her personal life.

The next song is track no 5 and is called “my tears ricochet”. All track 5 of Taylor are the most personal songs that she has ever wrote whether its White Horse or All Too Well or the newly released “So Long London”. This song talks about a betrayal from a friend, a person trustworthy but a coward, a liar who stabbed her in the back. Yes I’m talking about the inFamous act of the toxic male who sold her entire music catalogue to someone else. She trusted him. In an interview, she herself said, “she had the idea he will sell her music and he did it”. The line “and if I’m on fire, you’ll be made of ashes too” suggest the departure of Taylor from her old label and later finding out about her music being sold to Scooter via news channels. While he is roaming freely gaining support and she was once again tormented by the peoples and major celebrities who she thought were her friend. The line you’ll be made of ashes too suggests that how she chose to fight and re-record her old albums will bring down that one person. The final song is called “hoax” is about a toxic relationship, betrayal from a lover while the writer still has hope that they can work things out and is the final song on the standard edition of the song acting as an end to a story but a beginning to something new ‘evermore’. It’s a perfect ending!!

#taylor swift #folklore #album review #folk music

[maanvinderpilania]

Taylor Swift 1989 (Taylor's Version): Review

Hello everyone, 

Maan here and welcome to my another review of one of my favorite artist Taylor Swift. This review is about her re-recording album 1989. My favorite tracks off the album are: Shake It Off, Wildest Dreams, All You Had to do was Stay and This Love. And if you start questioning about the other songs then the answer is I do love them. I mean who doesn’t. The entire album is flawless. The first ever song of Taylor that I ever heard was Wildest Dreams and Look What You Made Me Do (from reputation). So yeah, I listened to her music in 2017 and before then I had only heard about her and never listened to any of her songs. In conclusion, wildest dreams brought me into the swiftie universe. I can relate to the songs off this album and I also wrote a song about someone who made me feel worthless plus i trusted that person than i did anyone else. I don't know when I will be able to release the songs that I wrote about how I felt. Okay let’s not get into that, so two of my favorite songs from this album are This Love and All You Had to Do Was Stay. Let’s start with This Love. The best part of the song that I believe in my opinion is its intro. And the part from “in silence screams, in wildest dreams, I never dreamed of this” always makes me emotional. The second song from this album that is always stuck in my head is AYHTDWS and I believe the best part of the song is also in the intro, “all I know is that you drove us off the road” and then the “stay, hey all you had to do was stay…..”.

If you ask me about the other songs, then I would say Clean and You are In Love. It’s not I don’t like the remaining songs, I like them but these are the ones that are stuck inside my head and I keep hearing them. I love the idea of Clean and YAIL because one is about getting over someone and moving on and another one is about falling for someone’s charm.

And the best part of Taylor’s Version is that we get to re-live those eras and for those of you thinking that they are the same albums so they must sound same but no they don’t. You can clearly tell which is Taylor’s Version(TV) and which is original. And make sure you stream Taylor’s Version only because these are the albums that mother has masters of, in simple terms right over her work.

Moving forward another good thing about TV is that you get to listen never heard before songs because they didn’t made the final cut at the time of the production of original album. I don’t know why they didn’t let her release those songs. I’m happy she has signed to a label which believes in her and now mother is the CHAIRMAN. She gets to decide what she wanna release and what she doesn’t. So yeah, those unreleased songs are called “From The Vault” tracks because they are deep in the vault waiting for her to unlock. So far, she has released 26 of these tracks on different re-records of like Fearless TV, Red TV, Speak Now TV and now the 1989 TV. 1989 TV has a total of 5 “From The Vault” tracks and they are:- Is It Over Now?, Now That We Don’t Talk, Slut, Suburban Legends, Say Don’t Go. And to be honest none of these Vault tracks are so called “bad, worst, too much songs,” as the haters would describe.. They are so addictive thanks to the bridge of these songs. You just cannot compare these tracks with each other. So yeah, that week was pretty amazing, the excitement that comes from the release of new music by your favorite artist is different and also the happiness of someone getting right over their own work is just amazing. What made that week more interesting and amazing was not just the feeling and excitement you get from thinking about the release of the 1989 tv but also that Taylor dropping the Cruel Summer [Live From The Eras Tour] version. It was all what i needed at a time when I couldn't go to the eras tour as she is neither coming to India and also you are not rich enough to buy her concert's ticket. So you don’t feel left out and can scream the cruel summer bridge all you want. I also love the feature that Taylor did to generate your own 1989 covers and i enjoyed playing the puzzle she released in collaboration with the Google. One more thing about this Album & Taylor that i love is how Taylor never let anyone look down on her. Life is not easy for me. She gives me the confidence to be who i want to be because 'Haters gonna hate hate hate, baby i'm just gonna shake shake shake!'

Note- This review was first published on October 27, 2023; the day 1989 TV was released. It was published at my work blog, which is totally different blog about climate crisis and environment. So i decided to make a personal blog.

#taylor swift #1989 taylor's version

[maanvinderpilania]

Taylor Swift Midnights: Review

So I’ve been listening to the Midnights album of Taylor Swift a lot lately, since midnights era is coming to an end with the release of TTPD. This is basically my first ever review of Taylor’s album that what I think, which song I most relates to and other things. I just love writing . I love writing poems, songs, stories and sometimes I even writes a script of a short film but I always scrap that because its not like I’m gonna be a writer for a film. Whatever, this review is basically the result of the urge to write something because whenever I’m bored, I don’t feel like doing anything else except I wanna write something whether it’s a poem or a song. And that’s is how I ended up writing three album worth songs which in my head are part of a same universe like as a Trilogy. I have only shared those with my friend and he loved all those.

Taylor has officially ended the Midnights era by announcing a new album at the Grammys in LA, which is “The Tortured Poet’s Department”, which I’m so excited about. It’s slated for the release on April 19th, 2024 and it’s a very good time to hear because at that time I will be preparing for my CUET exam and I would love to hear new songs during that time because it’s gonna be so hard but as the mother said, “you’re on your own kid”. Yup! On my own in this!

I wouldn’t start by saying this album is amazing. Blah blah blah but I will say this album is the most amazing album of Taylor I’ve ever heard. It might change in future as mother loves to change genres haha. The greatest thing about Taylor’s albums are like you just can’t have a one favorite album. That’s what I personally thinks about because it all depends on Seasons, your mood, the whole mess of feelings You are feeling. So if someone says their favorite album is Midnights, make sure you check on them. We all are great actors in our personal lives when it comes to expressing what we are really going through. We don’t like others to know what is bothering us as it takes a lot to explain to them and their reaction to what we say to them is a whole lot scary thing to think about. So most of us likes to keep things up to us only. The hardest part in the 24 hours is the Midnights, when you know everyone else is sleeping and you just know it is your time. You are now free to Cry alone in your room, nobody will ask you anything. As the album’s concept itself is about the 13th sleepless nights, the album is a sea of emotions. You Cry listening to THAT song which you relates to the most. Midnights is an escape from the feelings that is keeping a hold on you. You cries and you let those emotions out but still some things can’t be replaced so there’s obviously that will keep you hold onto the memories of a person. The most relatable song on this album are: You’re On Your Own Kid, Bigger Than the Whole Sky, Dear Reader. If you don’t know the last two songs, they’re from the 3 AM edition of Midnights which is different from the Standard edition of Midnights.

The song Bigger Than The Whole Sky reminds of a person who was the most important in my life and I never got to say goodbye to her. I miss her in my dreams and I never got to tell her how much I Loved her. I think of my mother whenever I listens to it. The song You’re On Your Own Kid makes me wanna hug a pillow and cry myself out because its not just a song, it is basically a story of every that person who was made feel bad, whose ideas were undermined or who was being hurt by the words of other’s. I had friends who were kind in front of others but loved to talk shit about me, spread rumours about me and made fun of me, always making me feel like an outcast when I was trying to fit in. I wish I had never known them but the scars are here to stay and all you can do is move forward and never let anyone down again. The song Dear Reader, is clearly a letter from the Mother to her fans and there is no reason to hate it. It would be stupid of you hate it. The line “greatest of luxuries is your secrets”, hits me every time. Do not share your deepest secrets with anyone, even if you trust them. That’s what I always interpret this line as. And the most amazing part of the song is the bridge, “so I wander through the nights……”. You always don’t need someone to dedicate a song to. The best time to listen the Midnights is obviously the Midnight when the songs blast in your ears like a book full of messages to learn from every song. The album is for everyone who made feel that they’re the problem, that they’re the villain of the story, everyone who was made feel bad about themselves, everyone who was hurt from other’s views. As I earlier said, Midnights is a sea of emotions.

The collaboration between Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift on this album is like a dream come true. Snow On The Beach never fails to make your feel you’re in love while listening the dreamy voice of Lana & Taylor The song is magical itself and you feel like standing on a beach with cold breeze of air touching your face and you feel happy from inside with that one person. This interpretation is all based on imagination because I don’t have anyone to stand with someone on the beach and also like beach is hundreds of kilometres from the place I live in, funny haha. If you are a real swiftie, you surely would have listened to all the remixes of the Lavender Haze just like me and it gives you a party vibe every time you listne to it where you are dancing with someone. For a delusional person like me, it’s enough to feel those feelings in my imagination. Every song on the album is like a story and in your head you can see them happening like a movie. Like in the song Maroon, when Taylor sings, “and I chose you the one, I was dancing with in New York, no shoes” never fails to give the feeling of how much that person is in love at that time and at the same time bringing us out of the feeling by singing “The rust that grew between telephones”.

If you ask me which songs should have had a music video then on my list Midnight Rain is at the top. Imagine Taylor standing in the Rain and singing this song like in the Delicate music video. The song is magical in itself, it expresses all the feelings without having any music video. Another song that I think should had a mv is Maroon. I just love everything about this song. There are still so many songs on this album that are left for me to talk about but I won’t do that. Sometimes good things should always be left for the interpretation of other peoples. Taylor makes us feel things, even if you have never felt those before. I can go on and one but I feel like I’m expressing too much about love which is basically not under my own right! So bye from me now..i’ll see you soon with another story when the urge to write something will be high that I will end up writing about TTPD??

#taylor swift #midnights