Tortured Poet’s Department
Taylor Swift has broken the internet again with the release of Tortured Poet’s Department. The Swifties have brought the album into record breaking territory yet again and with that comes the hatred. Call it our collective “keyboard courage era” in which we hate in viral fashion. Like a virus, I’m thinking herpes or chlamydia, the contrarian mentality to hate what is popular spreads across social media outlets. In the past one might write a scathing zine review of how some artist isn’t punk enough or how they sold out. Gone are the once feared elitist record shop guys representing the vinyl version of comic book fascists. Even Pitchfork, the quintessential arbiter of music scene cool, has been left in ruins. The critics are now everywhere and more venomous than ever. Every opportunity to shit on something that has people expressing joy or excitement is the nature of our social media hivemind.
For me, Taylor Swift is representing more than her music. She is an icon, as is the Queen Bee herself—Beyonce. These women are giving girls and adult women someone to look up too, but more than that, to feel a sense of collective joy. As a queer person, who also spent a large amount of time in the House Music scene, I would say that the Taylor Swift movement is similar in theory. It is about feeling something through music that leads to expressing a collective emotional energy. There is a power in the community that transcends music, this is why religion is never not going to be popular. The sense of having a space to belong, existing as oneself but also as part of a greater whole is magnetic. Is it a cult? The Swities and the Beyhive? Maybe, a little, but a cult isn’t a bad thing unless that cult requires you to compromise your values or manipulates you into dangerous places. It’s no different than Deadheads really, people respond to music in very powerful ways.
My Review
As for the new Taylor record. I have listened and have some notes. First it is an ambitious release for the pop star who has now released 11 studio albums. This is not her best release, not her worst either. It isn’t full of pop bangers like ‘1989’ but as the last few releases has shown me, it is showcasing her songwriting skills. TS has her own voice; it is solidified in the canon of pop music history. It’s introspective, but maybe a little too much at points for a pop record? There are some places it certainly seems to fall into mediocrity, and few songs are jumping out like on previous albums. This seems more of a conceptual record anyway, so it is meant to be taken as a long piece, start to finish. I don’t feel a deliberate focus on any of these cuts as big pop singles, but Fortnight seems the most likely to be the push. I personally think Down Bad is my favorite track. It’s TS, it will be a record-breaking hit. There is no doubt this is a Taylor Swift album. What is different to me is her growing lyrical ability, just the writing. As a poet the name certainly struck me, but I am impressed with her continued growth as a poetically gifted storyteller. She might not be pleasing all her fans and further pissing off her haters, but I see growth here in an artist.
My favorite lyric:
I laughed in your face and said.
“You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith
This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots” – The Tortured Poets Department
The album seems to be another stop on her progression from pop country teen idol to mega-platinum pop idol into a more mature songwriter. This journey seems to me, (a 40+ year old Queer person non-Swiftie,) very natural as age changes an artist, creating new pathways to explore. The key to Taylor’s success is while she changes, there is consistency. Like Beyonce, she can try new things, change up her sound, bring on guest vocals that might seem odd, because her voice is still there. This is why I loved Prince throughout every stage of his exhaustive catalog. No matter what Prince did, he didn’t lose Prince in the process. We all knew that is a Prince record, even if it took a turn into different genres or style. Few artists have that ability to stay in the charts consistently but also move forward without losing a step. Taylor and Bey certainly have done that.
Speaking of Bey
Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ is again an example of taking chances with absolute confidence because no matter what, it’s still Bey. It’s not my favorite Beyonce record. That would be her last one, “Renaissance” which tapped into my house music roots, so I naturally put that one over all others. With “Cowboy Carter” Bey dives into country music, well pop country, which is something I loathe—but that’s another article entirely. What is great about this album is what was great about Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”, it forced country music to reimagine itself. For years country stars have adopted pop sounds into the music, even cringe worthy attempts at rapping on tracks, but Bey has walked into Nashville like the Queen she is. Carrying the blessing of Ms. Dolly Parton among other notable stars that represent an industry that is quite insulated and frankly quite racist in its history. Beyonce should win a lot of awards for “Cowboy Carter” because it’s a stellar pop album, with her signature vocals and attitude, but I suspect it could win a lot of Country Music Awards which will break new ground. The single “Texas Hold ‘Em” is a foot stomping anthem that should be a longstanding crossover hit.
It should be mentioned that modern country has a 51% listener-ship of American adults, a percentage of that 51% include Black listeners. The country music world has historically limited the scope and visibility of Black artists in the genre despite having Black listeners. It has been between 1.5% and 3% of Black country artists being supported and gaining any popularity. The biggest Black stars in country music could be named on one hand. Most only could name Charlie Pride and Darius Rucker. The reality of this disparity makes the Beyonce record even more important to the smashing the patriarchy and the systemic racism that has been the foundation of country music since its inception.
A Joyful Movement
It’s funny to think several years ago Taylor Swift was just a country music darling, playing banjo on stage in pigtails, and now she is gathering notoriety amongst the indie singer/songwriter world. Then here comes Beyonce starting in a girl group then powering her way to R&B/Dance royalty, only to crash the gates of Music City belting out her own version of “Jolene”. This all is angering some, which is funny to me. Why be mad? Because these two artists have millions of fans, I mean huge rabid fan bases? Are they saturating your precious algorithm? First, if your hated less, you’d see less. It’s how the algorithms work, if you keep shitting on the artists you hate, you see a lot more of that artist. It’s cruel, I know. Just relax, take a walk, and maybe post about your favorite band. Talk up the new album by someone you love, instead of tearing down the fans of an artist you hate.
Yes, Swifties are very intense and somewhat scary, the BeyHive is also on that madness level a lot of the time. In their defense, they are mostly experiencing joy and they also are critical of the albums. The difference is they are in community with one another, and they aren’t thinking about you stewing over your phone or keyboard fishing for ways to engage in joy thievery. The Swift and Bey fans are generally women, young and old, who share in a common bond over iconic performers who make them happy. I do think in Taylor’s case they also make their fans quite sad, in a therapeutic way, relating to the trials of love and loss. In any case, let these folks have their thing. Go find your own thing that isn’t involving tearing people down. The emotions of the music are enough to wreck a person’s heart, no need to be a fucking shit weasel about it.
My Soapbox
My only criticism of Taylor Swift and Beyonce is that they are essentially billionaire brands, and personally so wealthy it’s unconscionable. I do not believe billionaires should exist, so even though I like these two, I can’t be anti-capitalistic while giving them a pass. The wealth of the music industry like all industries is disturbing and the wealthiest can and should be held accountable. I do not hate these women, I applaud them for breaking barriers, building something amazing and establishing themselves in a patriarchal system that needs more women icons. They are savvy businesswomen with great intelligence who make their art not only popular, but sustainable over decades. Truly they are doing amazing things for women, Queer culture, and overall positivity.
I am not a fan of the be a brand-corporate model or the hyper-capitalism that permeates our system. The hustle culture and focus on individuality as core values as Americans is my biggest issue. Tay and Bey are probably not rich heartless monsters, but they still should be examined and held accountable for their place in the wealth gap. The gap which affects more women and marginalized groups than anyone else. This is why people track the humanitarian work that rich people do as well as their political influence. I would love to see Taylor and Bey stand loudly for issues like Gaza as they have for LGBTQ rights, voting and women’s issues.
I am just saying this because they have that kind of influence, one that can change the world. Few artists in history have that voice and that iconic status to truly be influencers of change both here and worldwide. I think of a few who come to mind who could really impact culture in such profound ways. Bob Dylan and the Beatles in the 60’s, David Bowie in the 70’s, Michael Jackson in 80’s etc.
These artists had huge impacts on style, culture, and politics. I think Tay and Bey could do even more than all those artists combined in our new hyper-connected world. As women they have more power, influence, and ways to strike fear into the patriarchal systems than maybe they even know. I realize they are just artists and may not want to be the faces of revolution, that’s fair. I just know that these two magnificent women do have a certain amount of responsibility based solely on their wealth but also, some might argue, their extremely loyal following. Will they? I don’t know and if they don’t that won’t end the world. I just really hope they do because the world needs more heroes and less billionaires.
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