Hardly the attitude of the next poet laureate
April 26, 2024 1:11 PM Subscribe
I have this huge FPP swirling in my mind about TTPD and swift but the general premise is that she’s now a multi-media artist-novelist that co-creates the novel with us: the songs can’t be taken out of context of the broader narrative of her life, but she shapes the narrative all along the way including incorporating people’s feedback (track 5 is now the emotional track because people noticed it is). Like we are all collectively psychoanalysts of her psyche via song and action or what.
Is the album good? That’s the wrong question. Consensus is the songs are zzzzz but it was never about the music this time. TTPD is like spoken word poetry set to chill wave background to serve basically to say: FUCK YOU I WANTED TO DATE MATTY HEALY AND YOU DIDNT LET ME and also I CAN BE EDGY LIKE OLIVIA RODRIGO SO THERE. But also so much more than that… so many call backs to previous songs and imagery and symbols with a clutch of actually decent and deep songs make for an album that is deeply rewarding to continued viewers. It’s like watching the sopranos or game of thrones: once you’re in you’re IN. This isn’t an exciting episode but a lot has happened. Even the video for fortnight. She looks the viewer dead in the eyes with anger. Then go back and watch the video for “you belong to me”. What a metamorphosis!
Anyways the album is messy and bloated and lacking in her signature precision and more importantly ANGRY; it’s the album reputation wanted to be but still didn’t have the courage. So I’m here for the messy mean girl era. It’s like watching someone self actualize in real time. It’s watching them get burned and grow up and get strong; watching an idealist turn into Kim Kardashian.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:45 PM on April 26 [12 favorites]
Is the album good? That’s the wrong question. Consensus is the songs are zzzzz but it was never about the music this time. TTPD is like spoken word poetry set to chill wave background to serve basically to say: FUCK YOU I WANTED TO DATE MATTY HEALY AND YOU DIDNT LET ME and also I CAN BE EDGY LIKE OLIVIA RODRIGO SO THERE. But also so much more than that… so many call backs to previous songs and imagery and symbols with a clutch of actually decent and deep songs make for an album that is deeply rewarding to continued viewers. It’s like watching the sopranos or game of thrones: once you’re in you’re IN. This isn’t an exciting episode but a lot has happened. Even the video for fortnight. She looks the viewer dead in the eyes with anger. Then go back and watch the video for “you belong to me”. What a metamorphosis!
Anyways the album is messy and bloated and lacking in her signature precision and more importantly ANGRY; it’s the album reputation wanted to be but still didn’t have the courage. So I’m here for the messy mean girl era. It’s like watching someone self actualize in real time. It’s watching them get burned and grow up and get strong; watching an idealist turn into Kim Kardashian.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:45 PM on April 26 [12 favorites]
(She broke all the streaming records and a lot of internet ink is being written about it so… musically not pushing boundaries but not a shrug)
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:46 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:46 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Isn't it like art.? Anything can be poetry iif I say it is.
posted by Czjewel at 1:56 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 1:56 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
"So you found a girl who thinks really deep thoughts; what's so amazing about really deep thoughts?"
posted by Kitteh at 2:17 PM on April 26 [22 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 2:17 PM on April 26 [22 favorites]
"Boy, you'd best pray that I bleed real soon... how's that thought for ya?"
posted by hippybear at 2:20 PM on April 26 [9 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:20 PM on April 26 [9 favorites]
Alright, if you want me to take you seriously as a critic of poetry, you can't say stuff like this: " But these aren’t poems; they’re songs. They have choruses. They rhyme".
Every single stanza in The Raven ends with "nevermore" - that's the chorus. Plenty of poems have choruses. O Captain my captain has a chorus ("fallen cold and dead") I'm not even going to engage with the 'they rhyme' thing. Come on.
Yeah, Taylor Swift writes poetry. Maybe you think her songs are not that great (I do), maybe you don't care that much about the deeper meanings (I don't), maybe you don't care about her interactions with her fan base (I don't), or her boyfriends (I don't) and maybe you think her poetry is bad (I don't) but she writes poems.
And to Debevec-McKenney: “There are fun lines in here that are very sweet and sound nice, but they don’t contribute meaning.: Again, come on. Not one line in a TS Elliot poem could be cut? Every single one contributes meaning? I disagree.
Does Taylor Swift put stand-alone poems to music? No, but as far as I know, only the Blue Aeroplanes do that.
Is poetry having some kind of identity crisis? It's like "HI I'M STILL OVER HERE!!! STOP WITH THE PIANO AND DRUM AND LISTEN TO THESE WORDS. NO I AM NOT SONG LYRICS WITHOUT MUSIC! THAT'S DIFFERENT FOR REASONS THAT EXPERTS CANNOT EXPLAIN"
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:30 PM on April 26 [9 favorites]
Every single stanza in The Raven ends with "nevermore" - that's the chorus. Plenty of poems have choruses. O Captain my captain has a chorus ("fallen cold and dead") I'm not even going to engage with the 'they rhyme' thing. Come on.
Yeah, Taylor Swift writes poetry. Maybe you think her songs are not that great (I do), maybe you don't care that much about the deeper meanings (I don't), maybe you don't care about her interactions with her fan base (I don't), or her boyfriends (I don't) and maybe you think her poetry is bad (I don't) but she writes poems.
And to Debevec-McKenney: “There are fun lines in here that are very sweet and sound nice, but they don’t contribute meaning.: Again, come on. Not one line in a TS Elliot poem could be cut? Every single one contributes meaning? I disagree.
Does Taylor Swift put stand-alone poems to music? No, but as far as I know, only the Blue Aeroplanes do that.
Is poetry having some kind of identity crisis? It's like "HI I'M STILL OVER HERE!!! STOP WITH THE PIANO AND DRUM AND LISTEN TO THESE WORDS. NO I AM NOT SONG LYRICS WITHOUT MUSIC! THAT'S DIFFERENT FOR REASONS THAT EXPERTS CANNOT EXPLAIN"
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:30 PM on April 26 [9 favorites]
It's not a masterpiece by any stretch but that's actually why I like it. It's messy and unguarded. It's self-indulgent, absolutely, but it's also like, why not? Why shouldn't it be? I think she's earned it.
There's a lot of this that feels like she's closing a significant chapter in her life -- not just her recent relationships, but going all the way back to the beginning of her career. It feels like she just needed to get all of this out in one last burst so she could move on.
posted by edencosmic at 2:31 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
There's a lot of this that feels like she's closing a significant chapter in her life -- not just her recent relationships, but going all the way back to the beginning of her career. It feels like she just needed to get all of this out in one last burst so she could move on.
posted by edencosmic at 2:31 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
Ok clearly I’ve got a lot more to say about this so acknowledging in advance I’m sucking some air out of the room.
But what also fascinates me about this album is how it is positioned, at the height of her fame influence and fortune, the album comes from a place of utter insecurity and weakness. This is a woman who will forever more be mentioned along side such names as Michael Jackson and The Beatles. And it’s not “insecure” with a cute bow on it, it is deeply personal and insecure and some songs are downright needy, weak and lovesick but also messy and angry, and turning a fair portion of that anger back on her very fans. (By contrast Beyoncé on her new album couldn’t bring herself to sing Dolly Parton’s Jolene as intended; she changed the language to be a position of power and threat, not begging. Because Beyoncé would never place herself there! )
TTPD is rife with insecurity, fear of losing her position to new starlets, aging out of the industry, a sense of time running out; some lines are downright paranoid and lots of persecution and battle imagery. The sheer vastness of her power fame and influence contrasted with this weak lovesick insecurity is downright napoleonic. And makes even more fascinating to us the viewer (and co creator of a sort.)
So then you’re thinking: is this for real? Or another shrewd marketing tactic? (She was friends with Kobe Bryant who notably called her sweet AND a shark after all). what is next? For the person that has EVERYTHING, the money adoration and influence, what happens now? Descent into more madness? Graceful exit? Will she actually be happy with a St. Bernard of a himbo boyfriend or go back to those rejecting artsy weenies forevermore? Stay tuned folks!!!
Like she said in her times person of the year interview: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:37 PM on April 26 [11 favorites]
But what also fascinates me about this album is how it is positioned, at the height of her fame influence and fortune, the album comes from a place of utter insecurity and weakness. This is a woman who will forever more be mentioned along side such names as Michael Jackson and The Beatles. And it’s not “insecure” with a cute bow on it, it is deeply personal and insecure and some songs are downright needy, weak and lovesick but also messy and angry, and turning a fair portion of that anger back on her very fans. (By contrast Beyoncé on her new album couldn’t bring herself to sing Dolly Parton’s Jolene as intended; she changed the language to be a position of power and threat, not begging. Because Beyoncé would never place herself there! )
TTPD is rife with insecurity, fear of losing her position to new starlets, aging out of the industry, a sense of time running out; some lines are downright paranoid and lots of persecution and battle imagery. The sheer vastness of her power fame and influence contrasted with this weak lovesick insecurity is downright napoleonic. And makes even more fascinating to us the viewer (and co creator of a sort.)
So then you’re thinking: is this for real? Or another shrewd marketing tactic? (She was friends with Kobe Bryant who notably called her sweet AND a shark after all). what is next? For the person that has EVERYTHING, the money adoration and influence, what happens now? Descent into more madness? Graceful exit? Will she actually be happy with a St. Bernard of a himbo boyfriend or go back to those rejecting artsy weenies forevermore? Stay tuned folks!!!
Like she said in her times person of the year interview: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 2:37 PM on April 26 [11 favorites]
I'm a big-tent poetry person so sure, I guess it's fine to consider it poetry. But I will say the title is fucking dumb.
posted by axiom at 2:38 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
posted by axiom at 2:38 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
The album title and several of the song titles are really off-puttingly cringe. I trust Taylor to be a professional and write a decent song, but this stuff really undermines that trust and takes away from my enjoyment of it.
Especially when I must admit that a song called "Fresh Out the Slammer" (ughghgh) is actually pretty good at capturing a certain ~feeling~.
posted by knotty knots at 2:49 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
Especially when I must admit that a song called "Fresh Out the Slammer" (ughghgh) is actually pretty good at capturing a certain ~feeling~.
posted by knotty knots at 2:49 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
When I first listened to Midnights, I was stuck by how lonely it sounded. Yes, she's a beautiful, young , talented, rich white woman so clearly she has a lot of privilege, but it didn't come across as "please feel sorry for me" but just how isolated she is. Which is kind of why I've enjoyed seeing her out and about this year, hanging out with friends. It's probably as close to a normal life as she can have.
I have a decade on her but I certainly went through a very messy year when I was in my early 30s after a breakup (and it was one I initiated but that doesn't change the loss I felt). I'm just lucky I didn't have the whole world watching me be chaotic (I know a few friends did drop me in this period and I can't blame them).
(The title is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. The title song contains the lyric "we're modern idiots" rather than, you know, tortured poets. I also think a lot of people have neglected to discuss just how funny and self-aware this album is too.)
posted by edencosmic at 2:51 PM on April 26 [8 favorites]
I have a decade on her but I certainly went through a very messy year when I was in my early 30s after a breakup (and it was one I initiated but that doesn't change the loss I felt). I'm just lucky I didn't have the whole world watching me be chaotic (I know a few friends did drop me in this period and I can't blame them).
(The title is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. The title song contains the lyric "we're modern idiots" rather than, you know, tortured poets. I also think a lot of people have neglected to discuss just how funny and self-aware this album is too.)
posted by edencosmic at 2:51 PM on April 26 [8 favorites]
I had heard or read that the title was a take-off on a group chat that some of her ex-boyfriends had called "tortured poets society", but I can't place that reference now so regard it as rumor until I can find the source.
The idea that Taylor's exes have a group chat doesn't feel that far outside the bounds of reality, TBH.
posted by hippybear at 2:54 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
The idea that Taylor's exes have a group chat doesn't feel that far outside the bounds of reality, TBH.
posted by hippybear at 2:54 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
TTPD is rife with insecurity, fear of losing her position to new starlets, aging out of the industry
She's always written songs about that. "The Lucky One" off Red from 2012 was about how disposable she considered herself (or really starlets in general) to be.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:55 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
She's always written songs about that. "The Lucky One" off Red from 2012 was about how disposable she considered herself (or really starlets in general) to be.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:55 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
But I will day the title is fucking dumb.
Title sucks. I don't think this author has a point about poetry that's worth our time.
I liked Fortnight. It sounds almost exactly like a Cigarettes After Sex song with the amazing lyrics "Your lips, my lips, Apocalypse" which in my household is pronounced "Your hips, my hips, Apoca-hips."
I'm a songwriter and I like poetry (big tent version). I've always felt that the purpose of art is how it is woven into our daily lives. Hearing T Swift on a work car radio, forcing my wife to hear it later in the evening, marveling at her musical journey from country pop to synth pop, laughing about apocalypse hips, and finally the Youtube stream ending with Taylor informing us to purchase the clear vinyl exclusively at Target was all part of the poetic experience. Love it.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:55 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
Title sucks. I don't think this author has a point about poetry that's worth our time.
I liked Fortnight. It sounds almost exactly like a Cigarettes After Sex song with the amazing lyrics "Your lips, my lips, Apocalypse" which in my household is pronounced "Your hips, my hips, Apoca-hips."
I'm a songwriter and I like poetry (big tent version). I've always felt that the purpose of art is how it is woven into our daily lives. Hearing T Swift on a work car radio, forcing my wife to hear it later in the evening, marveling at her musical journey from country pop to synth pop, laughing about apocalypse hips, and finally the Youtube stream ending with Taylor informing us to purchase the clear vinyl exclusively at Target was all part of the poetic experience. Love it.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:55 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
I have a decade on her but I certainly went through a very messy year when I was in my early 30s after a breakup (and it was one I initiated but that doesn't change the loss I felt). I'm just lucky I didn't have the whole world watching me be chaotic (I know a few friends did drop me in this period and I can't blame them).
Yeah I wish I'd gotten even a mediocre album out of my worst couple of years in my late 20s/early 30s.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:56 PM on April 26 [8 favorites]
Yeah I wish I'd gotten even a mediocre album out of my worst couple of years in my late 20s/early 30s.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:56 PM on April 26 [8 favorites]
I started reading the article and the second "expert" said it can't be poetry because it rhymes and I stopped there because poetry can certainly rhyme, even though it's not the dominant mode right now.
posted by goatdog at 2:57 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
posted by goatdog at 2:57 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
TSwift is not my thing but I ain't gonna knock her either. I just think it's funny that her devoted fans are calling it poetry and I just want to hand them a Tori Amos CD
posted by Kitteh at 3:02 PM on April 26 [9 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 3:02 PM on April 26 [9 favorites]
By contrast Beyoncé on her new album couldn’t bring herself to sing Dolly Parton’s Jolene as intended; she changed the language to be a position of power and threat, not begging. Because Beyoncé would never place herself there!
Oh man, I'm going to need to veer from the Taylor discourse for a moment to talk about that song. On the one hand, obviously Beyoncé was never going to sing a song about how she's worried that some white lady is prettier than her, nor should she. On the other hand, man I wish that otherwise excellent album had fewer lines about Beyoncé wanting to fight women over her trash sad rap dad of a husband.
Writing "I raised that man" about a dude twelve years her senior is not the flex that she seems to think it is.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:07 PM on April 26 [18 favorites]
Oh man, I'm going to need to veer from the Taylor discourse for a moment to talk about that song. On the one hand, obviously Beyoncé was never going to sing a song about how she's worried that some white lady is prettier than her, nor should she. On the other hand, man I wish that otherwise excellent album had fewer lines about Beyoncé wanting to fight women over her trash sad rap dad of a husband.
Writing "I raised that man" about a dude twelve years her senior is not the flex that she seems to think it is.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:07 PM on April 26 [18 favorites]
The fact that Beyoncé felt somehow required to even do Jolene feels me a lot about her feelings of insecurity within the country music milieu, after she'd been treated pretty harshly for her Lemonade track Daddy Lessons. It really wasn't necessary that she do this, but somehow she felt like it would contribute to her bona fides. I'm not sure it did.
Back to Taylor, I think the main comparison I agree with, again from the Keep It guys, is Alanis' second album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which is sort of a similar lyrical gurgitation over musical textures. There's a certain density of lyrics in there....
It is difficult to make other comparisons. The Tori Amos thing upthread [sorry not many recognized I was completing the couplet from the song], but like Alanis, Indigo Girls... Maybe the best comparison for me in my own musical pantheon for Taylor would be Melissa Etheridge, who also writes songs about relationships and is generally musically same-ish.
posted by hippybear at 3:18 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
Back to Taylor, I think the main comparison I agree with, again from the Keep It guys, is Alanis' second album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which is sort of a similar lyrical gurgitation over musical textures. There's a certain density of lyrics in there....
It is difficult to make other comparisons. The Tori Amos thing upthread [sorry not many recognized I was completing the couplet from the song], but like Alanis, Indigo Girls... Maybe the best comparison for me in my own musical pantheon for Taylor would be Melissa Etheridge, who also writes songs about relationships and is generally musically same-ish.
posted by hippybear at 3:18 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
I just think it's funny that her devoted fans are calling it poetry and I just want to hand them a Tori Amos CD
I'm basically your age and also a Tori Amos fan, and when I was a teenager feeling like Tori Amos was poetry my older friend rolled her eyes and handed me Kate Bush. When my older friend was a teenager feeling that way about Kate Bush her older friend rolled her eyes and handed her Stevie Nicks.
If it helps to think of Taylor Swift as our generation's kids' kids' version of Tori Amos it's ok to do that.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:21 PM on April 26 [20 favorites]
I'm basically your age and also a Tori Amos fan, and when I was a teenager feeling like Tori Amos was poetry my older friend rolled her eyes and handed me Kate Bush. When my older friend was a teenager feeling that way about Kate Bush her older friend rolled her eyes and handed her Stevie Nicks.
If it helps to think of Taylor Swift as our generation's kids' kids' version of Tori Amos it's ok to do that.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:21 PM on April 26 [20 favorites]
Really bad video, but Taylor Swift briefly covering Tori Amos' "A Sorta Fairytale" in 2011. This was also at the then Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. That's significant because Amos got her start playing in DC bars. Given this is the only instance I could find of Swift covering Amos (to be fair, she doesn't do a lot of covers), I suspect she's somewhat of a fan.
Having listened to a lot of both Tori Amos and Taylor Swift, I suspect a young Swift heard some Amos and went "ok, dramatic bridges, got it."
posted by edencosmic at 3:22 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
Having listened to a lot of both Tori Amos and Taylor Swift, I suspect a young Swift heard some Amos and went "ok, dramatic bridges, got it."
posted by edencosmic at 3:22 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
Maybe the best comparison for me in my own musical pantheon for Taylor would be Melissa Etheridge, who also writes songs about relationships and is generally musically same-ish.
Just for the record:
ETHERIDGE: It was probably 15 years ago when I first met [Taylor Swift]. She was just starting out. That’s when she told me that she came to see me in Reading, Pennsylvania when she was 11 years old and wanted to play guitar. That meant so much to me.
Have you run into Taylor much since then?
ETHERIDGE: Other places I’ve seen [her], it’s been hello and a hug or a wave from across the room. At this point, I’ve realized that the more I do, the smaller my world gets, and it’s just a matter of sanity. Your social calendar gets small. So, I don’t expect for her to give me tons of time whenever I see her, but a wave and a hug is all one needs.
Did you catch the Eras Tour?
ETHERIDGE: Oh my God, [my daughter] and I, we met in Chicago and saw it and just had a blast.
What were your impressions of the production, as a fellow stadium performer?
ETHERIDGE: It is such an incredible feat to fill a stadium with sound and lights and performance. You feel so small on a stage in a stadium, and it’s almost like you can’t get bigger than the audience, even with amplification and video. The way she arranged her tour, the way the thrust went all the way out, the stage went all the way out in the middle. The way the video support was — it was all so amazing.
She made it feel personal and intimate. She got down to just her and the guitar. Dynamics are so important in a thing like that, and she absolutely took the moment. She made the big things big and kept people’s attention for three hours. I do a two-hour plus [show], but I’m not a three-hour girl.
posted by chavenet at 3:24 PM on April 26 [10 favorites]
Just for the record:
ETHERIDGE: It was probably 15 years ago when I first met [Taylor Swift]. She was just starting out. That’s when she told me that she came to see me in Reading, Pennsylvania when she was 11 years old and wanted to play guitar. That meant so much to me.
Have you run into Taylor much since then?
ETHERIDGE: Other places I’ve seen [her], it’s been hello and a hug or a wave from across the room. At this point, I’ve realized that the more I do, the smaller my world gets, and it’s just a matter of sanity. Your social calendar gets small. So, I don’t expect for her to give me tons of time whenever I see her, but a wave and a hug is all one needs.
Did you catch the Eras Tour?
ETHERIDGE: Oh my God, [my daughter] and I, we met in Chicago and saw it and just had a blast.
What were your impressions of the production, as a fellow stadium performer?
ETHERIDGE: It is such an incredible feat to fill a stadium with sound and lights and performance. You feel so small on a stage in a stadium, and it’s almost like you can’t get bigger than the audience, even with amplification and video. The way she arranged her tour, the way the thrust went all the way out, the stage went all the way out in the middle. The way the video support was — it was all so amazing.
She made it feel personal and intimate. She got down to just her and the guitar. Dynamics are so important in a thing like that, and she absolutely took the moment. She made the big things big and kept people’s attention for three hours. I do a two-hour plus [show], but I’m not a three-hour girl.
posted by chavenet at 3:24 PM on April 26 [10 favorites]
OH OH OH I FOUND IT!
It's not quite what I reported upthread, but I'll just post the headline and the article link here: Taylor Swift’s Ex Joe Alwyn Is a Member of a “Tortured Man Club Group Chat” [Marie Claire]
posted by hippybear at 3:27 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
It's not quite what I reported upthread, but I'll just post the headline and the article link here: Taylor Swift’s Ex Joe Alwyn Is a Member of a “Tortured Man Club Group Chat” [Marie Claire]
posted by hippybear at 3:27 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Tori Amos […] Kate Bush. […{ Stevie Nicks
It’s either cute convenient confusing or referential closure that one of the newer candidates is St Vincent. Because for me, EStV Millay.
posted by clew at 3:37 PM on April 26 [6 favorites]
It’s either cute convenient confusing or referential closure that one of the newer candidates is St Vincent. Because for me, EStV Millay.
posted by clew at 3:37 PM on April 26 [6 favorites]
St Vincent. Yes. boy genius. Yes. Taylor Swift. Yes. Beyonce. Yes. Billie Eilish. Yes. They're all poets. They're all musicians. We're lucky to be here to hear them create and grow.
The "poetry-worthiness" is just click-baity bull shit. It is all, on its face, lyric, verse and poetry. What else would we call it?
(St Vincent's new album is AMAZING!)
posted by kneecapped at 3:55 PM on April 26 [6 favorites]
The "poetry-worthiness" is just click-baity bull shit. It is all, on its face, lyric, verse and poetry. What else would we call it?
(St Vincent's new album is AMAZING!)
posted by kneecapped at 3:55 PM on April 26 [6 favorites]
Halsey? Her album about the body horror of being pregnant was a pretty interesting artistic statement, and not one that is often heard.
posted by hippybear at 4:01 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 4:01 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
I have been listening to nothing but Taylor Swift for a 30 minute commute every morning for the past month because the coworker I carpool with is preparing to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of a major Swiftie who asked her to memorize her entire backlog and she is a woman who commits and I will not get in her way.
The only song that’s stuck out to me is Blank Space, but that’s because I watched a Death Note AMV set to it when it came out. The rest have not really resonated. I tried listening to some of TTPD and nothing hit me there either, but I saw someone describe it as yet another coming of age album and it made me realize TSwift and my own coming of age were so wildly different that I’m not sure that gap can be bridged. It makes a lot of sense though to think of her work as autofiction that resonates with a lot of people whose experiences are at least somewhat adjacent.
posted by brook horse at 4:03 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
The only song that’s stuck out to me is Blank Space, but that’s because I watched a Death Note AMV set to it when it came out. The rest have not really resonated. I tried listening to some of TTPD and nothing hit me there either, but I saw someone describe it as yet another coming of age album and it made me realize TSwift and my own coming of age were so wildly different that I’m not sure that gap can be bridged. It makes a lot of sense though to think of her work as autofiction that resonates with a lot of people whose experiences are at least somewhat adjacent.
posted by brook horse at 4:03 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Oh! And also Bad Blood, though that hasn’t come up on the commute yet. I also only resonate with that because it was set to a Captain America: Winter Soldier AMV shortly after it came out.
posted by brook horse at 4:08 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
posted by brook horse at 4:08 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
Brook horse name us your pain we will give you a swift song
~~Blah blah best songs aren’t in the main catalog blah blah ~~
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:15 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
~~Blah blah best songs aren’t in the main catalog blah blah ~~
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:15 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
I think that’s part of the “throw it at the wall see if it sticks” approach of TTPD having so. Many. Songs. There something for everyone.
My sister texted me her three favorite songs and was like “these perfectly express my abandonment wound” and I was like “wut!! Those suck they are all hard skips!”
(Yes I get the irony)
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:18 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
My sister texted me her three favorite songs and was like “these perfectly express my abandonment wound” and I was like “wut!! Those suck they are all hard skips!”
(Yes I get the irony)
posted by St. Peepsburg at 4:18 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
I imagine Lucy Dacus (the "Lucy" assumed as the one named in the title track) has probably had a week, so I am going to link to the "Hot and Heavy" music video. Despite that I'm 15 years older than she is and she grew up on the other side of the Richmond area than I did, our adolescence was the same. (Richmond girls gotta stick together. Plus, she's great! I know everyone knows her from boygenuis but don't sleep on her solo stuff.)
posted by edencosmic at 4:45 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
posted by edencosmic at 4:45 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Brook horse name us your pain we will give you a swift song
Growing up gay trans and disabled in a fundamentalist Christian cult, but unfortunately “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” didn’t do it for me like it apparently did the other ex-fundie kids, so if you can pull it off I will be impressed and genuinely touched.
posted by brook horse at 4:47 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
Growing up gay trans and disabled in a fundamentalist Christian cult, but unfortunately “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” didn’t do it for me like it apparently did the other ex-fundie kids, so if you can pull it off I will be impressed and genuinely touched.
posted by brook horse at 4:47 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
so I am going to link to the "Hot and Heavy" music video
Lordy, I love that song.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:53 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
Lordy, I love that song.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:53 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
FUCK YOU I WANTED TO DATE MATTY HEALY AND YOU DIDNT LET ME
I admit I'm baffled at the appeal of a racist jerkwad guy, and why she was soooooooooooo in love with him (secret pining for years + 2 months of dating), and she's openly angry towards her fan base (bad move?) for not also loving the racist jerkwad, and then he apparently ghosted her after all of this? Good lord, girl. I would have expected more reasonable drama over "dated guy for six years who likes to hide from the spotlight and still won't marry me," but that guy is the one who gets all the angst?
On the other hand, man I wish that otherwise excellent album had fewer lines about Beyoncé wanting to fight women over her trash sad rap dad of a husband.
Writing "I raised that man" about a dude twelve years her senior is not the flex that she seems to think it is.
Hear, hear. I've never liked Jay-Z, when I heard they got engaged I was all, "I know he's gonna cheat on her," and he was in his 30's and she was what, 19? And SHE raised HIM? I get that he's rich, but other than that, he is not a prize. I hate that version of Jolene, it Beyoncefies it and ruins it in a way it doesn't work. I also kinda wish Beyonce was really a "to the left, to the left, you're replaceable" with Jay-Z, but apparently she's standing by him. Sigh.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:27 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
I admit I'm baffled at the appeal of a racist jerkwad guy, and why she was soooooooooooo in love with him (secret pining for years + 2 months of dating), and she's openly angry towards her fan base (bad move?) for not also loving the racist jerkwad, and then he apparently ghosted her after all of this? Good lord, girl. I would have expected more reasonable drama over "dated guy for six years who likes to hide from the spotlight and still won't marry me," but that guy is the one who gets all the angst?
On the other hand, man I wish that otherwise excellent album had fewer lines about Beyoncé wanting to fight women over her trash sad rap dad of a husband.
Writing "I raised that man" about a dude twelve years her senior is not the flex that she seems to think it is.
Hear, hear. I've never liked Jay-Z, when I heard they got engaged I was all, "I know he's gonna cheat on her," and he was in his 30's and she was what, 19? And SHE raised HIM? I get that he's rich, but other than that, he is not a prize. I hate that version of Jolene, it Beyoncefies it and ruins it in a way it doesn't work. I also kinda wish Beyonce was really a "to the left, to the left, you're replaceable" with Jay-Z, but apparently she's standing by him. Sigh.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:27 PM on April 26 [5 favorites]
Do any of these fit?
If you were numb the entire time and shut down to survive - I hate it here
hate it here so I will go to
Lunar valleys in my mind
When they found a better planet
Only the gentle survived
I dreamed about it in the dark
The night I felt like I might die
No mid-sized city hopes and small town fears
I'm there most of the year
Cause I hate it here
If you felt defiant about it all - but daddy I love him
God save the most judgmental creeps
Who say they want what's best for me
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see
Thinking it can change the beat
Of my heart when he touches me
And counteract the chemistry
And undo the destiny
You ain't gotta pray for me
…
But oh my God you should see your faces
If you feel sad but hopeful (and also want some pop beat) - you’re on your own kid
I didn't choose this town
I dream of getting out
You're on your own, kid
Yeah, you can face this
You're on your own, kid
You always have been
posted by St. Peepsburg at 5:36 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
If you were numb the entire time and shut down to survive - I hate it here
hate it here so I will go to
Lunar valleys in my mind
When they found a better planet
Only the gentle survived
I dreamed about it in the dark
The night I felt like I might die
No mid-sized city hopes and small town fears
I'm there most of the year
Cause I hate it here
If you felt defiant about it all - but daddy I love him
God save the most judgmental creeps
Who say they want what's best for me
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see
Thinking it can change the beat
Of my heart when he touches me
And counteract the chemistry
And undo the destiny
You ain't gotta pray for me
…
But oh my God you should see your faces
If you feel sad but hopeful (and also want some pop beat) - you’re on your own kid
I didn't choose this town
I dream of getting out
You're on your own, kid
Yeah, you can face this
You're on your own, kid
You always have been
posted by St. Peepsburg at 5:36 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Of course lyrics to popular music aren’t poetry; it’s not like they would ever give the Nobel Prize in Literature to a songwriter!
posted by TedW at 6:57 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 6:57 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
I double dog dare you to nominate Swift for the Nobel Prize.
posted by hippybear at 7:01 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:01 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Unfortunately I am not qualified. But on the off chance Bob Zimmerman reads MeFi, he could nominate her!
posted by TedW at 7:14 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 7:14 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
Oh little Bobby Zimmy... he's well remembered around the neighborhood, but that was so long ago.
posted by hippybear at 7:22 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:22 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
I just think it's funny that her devoted fans are calling it poetry and I just want to hand them a Tori Amos CD
Tori Amos was the soundtrack to my college years, but now I'm a huge Swiftie and have been listening TTPD obsessively since it came out, so I don't know what that says about me. I think I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) could have come off Boys for Pele (musically, lyrically it's a bit on the nose compared to Tori).
posted by dirigibleman at 8:00 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
Tori Amos was the soundtrack to my college years, but now I'm a huge Swiftie and have been listening TTPD obsessively since it came out, so I don't know what that says about me. I think I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) could have come off Boys for Pele (musically, lyrically it's a bit on the nose compared to Tori).
posted by dirigibleman at 8:00 PM on April 26 [3 favorites]
lyrically it's a bit on the nose compared to Tori
In response to someone saying that Swift isn't a poet compared to Amos, and then you mentioning a specific Amos album but then saying this about the lyrics...
You're sort of underscoring the point you're attempting to refute?
Like this post isn't about Swift's musicality, it's about her lyrics, specifically her claiming to be a poet in the title of the album.
You just literally said that her lyrics aren't poetry compared to Tori Amos.
I mean, like... er, um...
posted by hippybear at 8:12 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
In response to someone saying that Swift isn't a poet compared to Amos, and then you mentioning a specific Amos album but then saying this about the lyrics...
You're sort of underscoring the point you're attempting to refute?
Like this post isn't about Swift's musicality, it's about her lyrics, specifically her claiming to be a poet in the title of the album.
You just literally said that her lyrics aren't poetry compared to Tori Amos.
I mean, like... er, um...
posted by hippybear at 8:12 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
St. Peepsburg, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to pull those out for me. Unfortunately the first two were ones I had already listened to clicking random songs on TTPD trying to find one I liked and no dice. I hadn’t heard the third one but it retained the same problems I had with the others—primarily that they’re really heavy-handedly heterosexual, and that I feel like she’s been writing “I need to get out of this small town” adjacent songs long enough that it starts to feel like the small town is actually probably pretty comfortable for you, or at least not such that you will take active measures to leave behind the privilege of that community—which then rings hollow with those of us who been forced out with no choice. (Speaking only on the narrative of her songs; not on her as a person.)
I can see a lot why this resonates with its main demographic, as well as a number of others. But I just can’t get it to work for me.
posted by brook horse at 8:38 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
I can see a lot why this resonates with its main demographic, as well as a number of others. But I just can’t get it to work for me.
posted by brook horse at 8:38 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Oh, and she does definitely have some banger lines. It’s just the broader cultural context of the rest of the song doesn’t make it catch for me the way it may others or if it leaned less on those particular details.
posted by brook horse at 8:46 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
posted by brook horse at 8:46 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]
You're sort of underscoring the point you're attempting to refute?
I wasn't trying to refute anything.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:55 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
I wasn't trying to refute anything.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:55 PM on April 26 [1 favorite]
Tori for me peaked with Boys for Pele, which is absolutely poetry - sure a few of the songs actually have a recognizable subject, but lots of them are filled with lyrics that are playing with the sounds of words, more than expressing a clear meaning.
Mr Zebra is the most extreme, with this gem, for example:
"Ratatouille strych-i-nine,
sometimes she's a friend of mine
with her gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind."
But things like this are all over the album:
"And you showed me the meadow, and milkwood, and silkwood.
And you would if I would, but you never would.
So I chased down your posies, your pansies in my hosies,
Then opened my hands and they were empty then."
These lyrics are at least ninety percent about the mouth-feel, and they're great!
posted by kaibutsu at 10:38 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Mr Zebra is the most extreme, with this gem, for example:
"Ratatouille strych-i-nine,
sometimes she's a friend of mine
with her gigantic whirlpool that will blow your mind."
But things like this are all over the album:
"And you showed me the meadow, and milkwood, and silkwood.
And you would if I would, but you never would.
So I chased down your posies, your pansies in my hosies,
Then opened my hands and they were empty then."
These lyrics are at least ninety percent about the mouth-feel, and they're great!
posted by kaibutsu at 10:38 PM on April 26 [4 favorites]
Why would anyone ask this? To me, the title of an album can be anything. Did the Beatles really need Help?
The scrutiny is confusing, and more than a little bit hateful, to be honest. Maybe it's just that Taylor Swift articles get eyeballs and everyone publishing things wants that.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:12 AM on April 27 [7 favorites]
The scrutiny is confusing, and more than a little bit hateful, to be honest. Maybe it's just that Taylor Swift articles get eyeballs and everyone publishing things wants that.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:12 AM on April 27 [7 favorites]
A title is a title. Did Taylor say, these are poems! I'm a poet! Or did she just name her album?
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:19 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:19 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
Is rap poetry?
posted by Jacen at 5:53 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 5:53 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️ I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours. 🤍But the scrutiny about “is she a poet or not” seems weird. Anybody who’s written anything intended to be a poem can call themself a poet, even if it’s bad poetry. Same with being a writer or an artist.
posted by brook horse at 5:55 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
Is poetry having some kind of identity crisis?
posted by The_Vegetables at 4:30 PM on April 26
Yes, perpetually.
posted by joannemerriam at 7:22 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 4:30 PM on April 26
Yes, perpetually.
posted by joannemerriam at 7:22 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
It's fine for her to call herself a poet, and I wouldn't argue. But also, she didn't do that. Here's where the title comes from:
You left your typewriter at my apartmentposted by joannemerriam at 7:25 AM on April 27 [5 favorites]
Straight from the tortured poets department
I think some things I never say
Like, "Who uses typewriters anyway?"
But you're in self-sabotage mode
Throwing spikes down on the road
But I've seen this episode and still loved the show
Who else decodes you?
And who's gonna hold you like me?
And who's gonna know you, if not me?
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"
Yeah, it's fine to call lyrics poetry and "pop song with chorus" a poetic form. Paul McCartney published his lyrics and new poems side by side without distinguishing between them in Blackbird Singing and that was 1999. Pretty sure I still have a copy of that somewhere. Here's a Yeats poem that uses a verse-chorus structure. Whether Taylor Swift writes good poetry is in the eye of the beholder. Same as it's ever been.
Since we're all doing Taylor Swift hot takes, I really wanted to like Tortured Poets Department but it turns out what I actually like is the one verse of a good Florence and the Machine song inserted into Florida!!!, a song I otherwise think is just okay.
posted by capricorn at 9:30 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
Since we're all doing Taylor Swift hot takes, I really wanted to like Tortured Poets Department but it turns out what I actually like is the one verse of a good Florence and the Machine song inserted into Florida!!!, a song I otherwise think is just okay.
posted by capricorn at 9:30 AM on April 27 [3 favorites]
I like Auden's definition of poetry: "memorable speech."
Anyone whose words get stuck in your head because of the way they wrote, said, or sang them is a poet.
posted by straight at 10:08 AM on April 27 [8 favorites]
Anyone whose words get stuck in your head because of the way they wrote, said, or sang them is a poet.
posted by straight at 10:08 AM on April 27 [8 favorites]
So are words that get stuck in your head because they are so bad good poetry or bad poetry?
Trick question. The definition is designed to thwart the attempt to label poetry as simply "bad" or "good" and force you to be more specific.
posted by straight at 10:14 AM on April 27 [2 favorites]
Trick question. The definition is designed to thwart the attempt to label poetry as simply "bad" or "good" and force you to be more specific.
posted by straight at 10:14 AM on April 27 [2 favorites]
but it turns out what I actually like is the one verse of a good Florence and the Machine song inserted into Florida!!!, a song I otherwise think is just okay.
My thoughts exactly!
My teens said about TTPD: “It’s giving folklore.” They’re way more excited about Lana del Rey having just performed at Coachella. I raised them on Cocteau Twins, Pet Shop Boys, Saint Etienne, Pixies, Alvvays, and The Killers.
“New Romantics” and “The Best Day” are my favorite TS songs. I guess I’m Swiftie-adjacent but not full-on (yet? I mean, life is long).
The title of TTPD is such a funny, sick burn to me. Fuck those dudes.
posted by edithkeeler at 12:01 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
My thoughts exactly!
My teens said about TTPD: “It’s giving folklore.” They’re way more excited about Lana del Rey having just performed at Coachella. I raised them on Cocteau Twins, Pet Shop Boys, Saint Etienne, Pixies, Alvvays, and The Killers.
“New Romantics” and “The Best Day” are my favorite TS songs. I guess I’m Swiftie-adjacent but not full-on (yet? I mean, life is long).
The title of TTPD is such a funny, sick burn to me. Fuck those dudes.
posted by edithkeeler at 12:01 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
I raised them on Cocteau Twins, Pet Shop Boys
There's a BRAND NEW Pet Shop Boys album just from yesterday!
posted by hippybear at 12:08 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
There's a BRAND NEW Pet Shop Boys album just from yesterday!
posted by hippybear at 12:08 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
HAPPY DANCE!
“Generations will come and go, but there's one thing for sure, music is our life's foundation, And shall succeed all the nations to come." -It’s Alright, Pet Shop Boys
posted by edithkeeler at 12:19 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
“Generations will come and go, but there's one thing for sure, music is our life's foundation, And shall succeed all the nations to come." -It’s Alright, Pet Shop Boys
posted by edithkeeler at 12:19 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
Generations will come and go, but Pet Shop Boys will continue releasing a new album every couple of years forever.
posted by hippybear at 12:26 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 12:26 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
Menu
J Sheekey
28-32 St Martin’s Court
London WC2N 4AL
New season asparagus x3 £73.50
Fried haddock fillet x3 £73.50
Green herb salad £7
Salted caramel truffles £6.50
Tomato juice £3.50
Diet Coke £4.50
Bottle Eira still water x2 £11.90
Macchiato £3.50
Flat white £4.50
Decaffeinated Americano £4.50
Total (inc service and cover charge) £224.94
The Pet Shop Boys have lunch with the FT. No, really.
posted by chavenet at 1:54 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
J Sheekey
28-32 St Martin’s Court
London WC2N 4AL
New season asparagus x3 £73.50
Fried haddock fillet x3 £73.50
Green herb salad £7
Salted caramel truffles £6.50
Tomato juice £3.50
Diet Coke £4.50
Bottle Eira still water x2 £11.90
Macchiato £3.50
Flat white £4.50
Decaffeinated Americano £4.50
Total (inc service and cover charge) £224.94
The Pet Shop Boys have lunch with the FT. No, really.
posted by chavenet at 1:54 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
Peculiarly, there is no "the" in the name of Pet Shop Boys.
posted by hippybear at 1:56 PM on April 27 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 1:56 PM on April 27 [1 favorite]
That's an excellent PSB interview, chavenet! Thank you!
They're being so really media forward and aggressing and, honestly, feeling more frank and open about their career and themselves than they've felt in a while. It's an interesting marketing cycle from them. I'm not complaining but they've been so guarded for a long time and suddenly their just putting it all out there.
I would love to have lunch with PSB. I don't know what I would talk to them about, but I'd figure out something!
posted by hippybear at 2:48 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
They're being so really media forward and aggressing and, honestly, feeling more frank and open about their career and themselves than they've felt in a while. It's an interesting marketing cycle from them. I'm not complaining but they've been so guarded for a long time and suddenly their just putting it all out there.
I would love to have lunch with PSB. I don't know what I would talk to them about, but I'd figure out something!
posted by hippybear at 2:48 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
How Taylor Swift Writes About Being Taylor Swift [The Ringer]
In Tortured Poets, Swift likewise asks a lot of her audience. The album begs a close read and rewards fourth, fifth, sixth, and 16th listens. Many songs have third verses, unusual for pop tune packaging. The double album runs over an Easter egg–packed two hours. Swift has more than enough fans who want to do this homework—and who feel rewarded by the excavation—to set streaming record after record. But for those outside her core fan base who don’t, it does become somewhat illegible. In the relatively lukewarm critical reception to the album, a main critique is its lack of concision. (Even as someone who enjoys the record, I tend to prefer its clear and declarative moments over its most intricate—I’ll take a line like “I hope it’s shitty in the Black Dog,” for instance, over the slant rhymes of “Fresh Out the Slammer.”) An album about the author’s own writing suggests some required reading to even make sense of the premise.
posted by chavenet at 4:27 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
In Tortured Poets, Swift likewise asks a lot of her audience. The album begs a close read and rewards fourth, fifth, sixth, and 16th listens. Many songs have third verses, unusual for pop tune packaging. The double album runs over an Easter egg–packed two hours. Swift has more than enough fans who want to do this homework—and who feel rewarded by the excavation—to set streaming record after record. But for those outside her core fan base who don’t, it does become somewhat illegible. In the relatively lukewarm critical reception to the album, a main critique is its lack of concision. (Even as someone who enjoys the record, I tend to prefer its clear and declarative moments over its most intricate—I’ll take a line like “I hope it’s shitty in the Black Dog,” for instance, over the slant rhymes of “Fresh Out the Slammer.”) An album about the author’s own writing suggests some required reading to even make sense of the premise.
posted by chavenet at 4:27 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
"You were so small in my hands
no shrapnel could hit you,
but the dust and smoke of the bomb
rushed into your lungs.
No need for any gauze.
They just closed your eyes.
No need for any shroud.
You were already
in your swaddle blanket."
--@MosabAbuToha
posted by graywyvern at 5:12 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
no shrapnel could hit you,
but the dust and smoke of the bomb
rushed into your lungs.
No need for any gauze.
They just closed your eyes.
No need for any shroud.
You were already
in your swaddle blanket."
--@MosabAbuToha
posted by graywyvern at 5:12 PM on April 27 [2 favorites]
This is just the latest battle in the war between poetry and Lyrics. The same question was asked of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, and I'm sure many others. It's beside the point. Do you like thses song lyrics, do they say something to you? Then you're allowed to enjoy them, without the permission of poetry gatekeepers. Maybe you like Poetry, AND Taylor Swift's lyrics and think that they're two seperate things. That's ok too. Be the art connoisseur you want to see in the world. It's time to unapologetically enjoy the things you love. Yes, even hippybear. I kid! I love you hippybear, and your unapologetic love of so many things.
posted by evilDoug at 2:35 PM on April 28 [3 favorites]
posted by evilDoug at 2:35 PM on April 28 [3 favorites]
OMG evilDoug, I've been waiting for you to say you love me for SO many years!!!
I've got the brains, you've got the looks... let's make lots of money!
posted by hippybear at 4:24 PM on April 28 [2 favorites]
I've got the brains, you've got the looks... let's make lots of money!
posted by hippybear at 4:24 PM on April 28 [2 favorites]
Boys only want poetry if it's tortured.
posted by Phssthpok at 4:07 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]
posted by Phssthpok at 4:07 PM on April 30 [1 favorite]
This Buzzfeed primer on the Matty Healy thing actually makes it make sense, as good as one can, anyway.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:22 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:22 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]
« Older The war between humanity and its oldest, archest... | “Our enemy is the Precautionary Principle.” Newer »
It does seem to have been met with a collective shrug.
posted by hippybear at 1:38 PM on April 26 [2 favorites]