Taylor Swift – “…Ready For It?” • Page 2

I liked "Look What You Made Me Do." I like this, too. Neither song is great or anything, but both are fun and not worthy of the hyperbolic hot takes that we're being inundated with.

Like, yeah, she's embracing a style with these songs that doesn't cater to her strengths as well as previous albums, including 1989, have (though that likely won't be the case for the whole album). And, said style is one that other pop stars do better than she does. So, sure, I can see why a lot of people would be uninterested in this direction for her. Cool. I'm not gonna pretend this is great and everyone is missing it, but like, it's pretty innocuous.

Oh well. As someone who's been a Taylor fan for about a decade now, I kinda like being able to hear her voice and style peaking out here and there. It's a fun little contrast in pop styles. Hopefully some of the album's deeper cuts do something more interesting with that contrast, but if not, I'll still dig this for what it is.

 

This feels just like she's trying to find a new trend and stay relevant with other artists rather than do her own thing. Hell, it doesn't even really sound like Taylor to me.

 

Great chorus

 

What about Taylor Swift's career up to this moment feels like it needs any help to stay relevant? Where in the past 5 years is there any hint that she and her people have anything to worry about in that regard? lol.

And, like, this song's chorus with different instrumentation could've been on Fearless. And the verses follow a pretty clear stylistic shift that can be traced back through 1989 and Red. I'm not gonna debate quality 'cause I don't think it's anything great or special, but if this doesn't sound like Taylor Swift to you, then honestly, you just don't know Taylor Swift.

 

I never doubt Swift's popularity. But relevance in the mainstream music scene is more so what I mean.

 

What else do I need to know that I don't? besides that she's taking huge leaps with her music that polarize fans simply just to follow current trends with other artists? I think her older work is great, she's super talented. This doesn't suit her at all in my opinion.

 

What do you exactly mean by "relevance," though, if not popularity? Creatively, she's not really a trendsetter. And, outside of her initial decision to go full pop, she doesn't really chase the current trends, either. She kinda just has her own brand that she rolls with, one that's neither super unique nor without her immediately recognizable personality.

I don't think it's that big of a leap, though, which is why the conversation around her right now is so weird. The path from her self-titled to Fearless to Speak Now to Red to 1989 to Reputation is pretty easy to follow. I'd argue that Red to 1989 was a bigger shift than what we've seen so far here. With literally every album's lead singles being less country and more pop than the last, I don't know what people were expecting after "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," and "Bad Blood." I don't think we've heard the last of country-flavored Taylor (heck, we could still get a song like that somewhere on Reputation), but it's not like career trajectory has given us any signs yet of that happening.

I agree that this isn't best suited to her strengths and said so in an earlier post, but I don't think it's some complete rejection of her strengths to pursue what's popular, either. As much as "Look What You Made Me Do" emphasized the "old Taylor" being gone, that song was blatantly the same Taylor that we saw on "Bad Blood," "Blank Space," "Shake It Off," "We Are Never Getting Back Together," "22," "Mean," "Better Than Revenge," and "Picture to Burn." She's always loved doing petty, corny anthems. A lot of those other songs fit better on her, but they all tap into something that's just as much a part of her as the ballad songwriter that's also been present on every album (including probably Reputation, which still has like a dozen songs left to reveal).

Honestly, at this point the bizarre backlash is a lot more surprising and interesting to me than the songs themselves, lol.

 

It's not bizarre backlash, I expect better from somebody who has done and is very capable of doing much better mainstream music. I mean I don't really follow many mainstream artists anymore, but i've grown up listening to her get transformed from album to album. This is like shallow corny dance music or just easily dismissible radio music.

 

If you put "Look What You Made Me Do" side-by-side with "Bad Blood," "Shake It Off," and "We Are Never Getting Back Together," it's really not all that shocking. Same amount of shallow, corny, and pop, just with slightly different flavors. (Heck, that corniness was what got me listening to her a decade ago, before I came to love her more mature pop songwriter side.) And, "Ready For It" is cut from the same cloth as "Out of the Woods," "I Knew You Were Trouble," and "New Romantics."

I don't know if you and others have been in denial for years or if this relatively small shift in pop style is just the straw that broke the camel's back. But, regardless, sorry that you somehow didn't see this coming. Hopefully some of the deeper cuts fit better into your understanding of who Taylor Swift is.

 

Has she learned to sing live yet? These new songs will def help her be a better live performer...theres not much going on vocally. Anyone remember that Grammy performance with Stevie Nicks, still the worst vocal performance in the history of the Grammys

 

lol. its not like this song is MORE pop than her last record. its just her last record was GOOD pop and this is trash. when i hear these two new tracks i dont think "oh there ya go there taylor moving closer and closer towards pop music" - that literally makes no sense. when youre arguably the biggest pop artist, you cant really get more "poppy sounding". you either put out better music than you ever have before, or you dont. this isnt a question of "was her last album pop? is this more pop?", this is a question of "why is she writing bad songs now"

 

This song rules.

 

I feel like I should like it, but it just hasn't connected with me. I also struggled to get into 1989 so maybe I just need to let it sit longer.

 

I actually really dig the verses on this one

 

Look What You Made Me Do™ has grown on me.

 

I read this title and think of Drake's "...Ready For You" which is a much better track. That was back when Drake made good music (and yes, I know this wasn't originally his song).

 

This track is fire! Y'all haters gonna love it tomorrow! Keep listenin'! Doze verses doe! #taytay4lyfe

 

Both tracks are great. Album is gonna be solid!

 

the bridge in this song is fire

 

damn i think this is a dropoff. It's only redeeming quality is that heavy drop sound at the chorus. The rest is just a throw away pop song. The verses bore me.

I loved look at what you made me do, this is meh.