#and for Taylor swift creating a song that has been on repeat in my brain for the last two weeks

[goldenwilmon]

Inspired by, in honor of Omar’s iconic tweet…

[sophietv]

The Multidimensions Of Taylor's Art

I wrote this piece on Twitter back in May when people were very loud about the fact that trying to attribute a song to a muse was disrecpectful and was diminishing Taylor's art.

I think today is a good day to repost it:

Taylor Swift's art is multidimensional. She said it herself and as we keep repeating over and over again, she's a Mastermind.

The message she conveys with one song is larger than just being a good song with beautifully written lyrics.

I see a lot of people talking recently about how when people talk about the muses of the song they are "reducing" Taylor's art to her muses. And how gaylorism was somewhat "better" before because the focus was less on this.

(I would like to differ on this, but it’s a whole other conversation). 

But Taylor's art is multidimensional and intentionally directed to her fans. ALL her fans.

In one song, she manages not only to create a masterpiece with incredible lyricism.

She also manages to include deep queer references, ingrained in queer history. 

She also managed multiple times to reference queer arts, books, poems, artists etc.

Acknowledging all of it and appreciating it is, yes, very important. I mean, it's the core of her art and a beautiful part of gaylorism.

Who hasn't learned a lot about our own history all thanks to Taylor?

But while this part is very true. Taylor also manages to make sure in every song that we can identify the muse.

It has always been an important part of her artistry. Remember liner notes from Debut to 1989?

She even decided that it was not enough, and starting with reputation, she started including Taymojies, making sure you knew very well who and what that song was about.

But she doesn't even stop there. For most of her songs starting with 1989 all the way to Midnights, she's also making sure that you can identify said muse through her lyrics.

Ever wonder why, for most of her songs there's parallels you can easily make with social media posts, articles, interviews, videos etc?

She's making sure that she references things in her songs that will point to the muse and that you'll be able to track back with some simple google search. 

All of this is very very clearly intentional.

She also uses the same imagery that she knows very well her fans can recognize since 1989 while talking about her muse.

Using recurring themes that she's well aware her fans (us) will associate with the person (Sun, gold, New York, daisies etc.)

But the depth of her work doesn't even stop there. She'll even use timestamps in her songs to communicate certain messages or references to certain persons. And this is when the length of the song is not simply intentionally referencing one person:

Ex Sweet Nothings: Karlie's birthday

And so much more…

This can clearly be qualified as pure genius. But she pushes it even farther. 

If we take Midnights for example she even samples her songs to older ones to help you identify the time, the event or the muse this song references.

Lavender Haze - I Think He Knows

Question…? - Out Of The Woods

Maroon - King Of My Heart

And it's not even the end of the massive amount of information that she manages to put out in a 3-4 minutes song.

This is simply astonishing. 

Her brain truly is amazing.

Her lyrics videos are made to help you identify what and who the song is about. With visual clues and very intentional uses of capital letters and comas.

For example: "Your Midas touch"

Making sure you know she's referencing king Midas who turned everything he touched into gold (gold again, interesting).

Or: "some name dropping sleaze tell me what are my Wordsworth"

From The Lakes, referencing the poet William Wordsworth.

And it still goes further. She will include small details in her songs that you'll pick up on if you pay attention but will fly right past most listeners. A sort of secret message for those who really pay attention.

Ex: in Getaway Car, when she sings.

"Ain't a circus, ain't a love story and now we're both sorry (we're both sorry)"

This is two girls singing "we're both sorry. Meaning the relationship she was trying to protect with this getaway car was with a girl. Once again pointing to the muse.

I already wrote a novel and I haven't even touched the music videos and tour visuals…

But her genius in songwriting doesn't even end there.

Because, if you don't know the muse or refuse to see it. She'll also manage to buy some plausible deniability in her songs so it kind of points to her PR relationships too.

Not much, just enough so that if you really want to believe those Hollywood stories, you can hold on to these lines/visuals and be happy.

But she manages to do so, while staying true to the real muse and not so much to the PR relationship.

A good example is Invisible String and the famous Yogourt shop line with the wrong shirt color.

If your life depends on Toe, it's enough to make you happy and you won't search much further.

However if you search a bit, you'll find out how she intentionally messed up the lyrics.

I could still go on and on about the depth, the genius and the complexity of her songwriting, but I think you see my point now.

She said it herself, her songwriting is painfully autobiographical. And she puts an immeasurable amount of effort in it to make sure you get the story right.

Dismissing the muse of the song to not reduce her work is just as bad as dismissing her queerness and all the references she does to it, to not "speculate" on her.

In both, of all the multidimensional approaches that she uses in her art. You are keeping yourself from enjoying and dismissing about 50% of her hard work. If not more when you include music videos.

Acknowledging her muses to the songs is not reducing anything but more embracing as much as you can the genius and hard work she puts behind every song and every artistic decision she makes.

And I'm not saying that you HAVE to acknowledge the muse or else you are not a true fan. Art is meant to be enjoyed differently by every person and at the end of the day you take what makes you happy, simple as that.

My point is to say that acknowledging the muse in her music is not reducing anything. Quite the contrary. 

[grimelords]

My April playlist is finished! Please allow me to take you on a journey from the heaven of THP Orchestra to the hell of Inter Arma over three action packed hours. Specially sequenced for maximum enjoyment, there’ll be at least one thing in here you’ll love - I guarantee it. Listen here.

Good To Me - THP Orchestra: I've said it before and I'll say it again, the number one way to find good songs is to go through the whosampled page for Duck Sauce's 2013 album Quack because every single thing they put into that album is a bonafide classic.

I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & The Sunshine Band: I saw Jungle last week and they were absolutely amazing, and the venue started playing this song as soon as the house lights went up after the show which is an extremely good way to get people to not leave your venue and boogie instead. My favourite part of this is near the end of the second verse where he gets even lazier than normal with the lyrics and just says "I want to love you.. ah.. from sundown.. sunup".

Work It Out - A-Trak: I love this new A-Trak song that sounds like a secret lost bonus track from Discovery right down to that specific wah sound on the guitar.

Starlight - The Supermen Lovers: There was all this news last year that Music Sounds Better With You by Stardust was getting remastered and rereleased for its 20th anniversary and was going to finally be on streaming services that seems to have just.. not happened. It never materialized so now I'm stuck listening to the 2nd rate but still extremely good Music Sounds Better With You knockoff, Starlight by the worst named band ever The Supermen Lovers. The songs aren't even that similar particularly but that's just my personal feelings.

Girlsrock - Siriusmo: A friend of mine is a sort of expert on the whole Ed Banger mid-late 2000s electro scene and it's extremely good because he'll just send me songs like this every now and then that are totally sick and make it feel like there was somehow thousands of hours of this kind of music produced at that time and only the tip of the iceberg made it to public consumption.

11:17 - Danger: Somehow I didn't even notice that Danger had a new album in January but I'm finally listening now and it's a proper return to form and really, really good. This song sounds like if the haunted VHS tape from the The Ring was taped over an 80s workout video.

Ultrasonic Sound - Hive: I went to a 20th anniversary screening of The Matrix at The Astor and great news: that movie still kicks ass and rocks completely and has possibly gotten better in the two decades since its release. Someone had curated a really good mix that they were playing in the foyer after the movie and this song was in it. A heady mix of drum and bass and nu-metal guitar crunch that feels like a 1999 calendar picked up by a strong wind and slapping you in the face.

Homo Deus VII - Deantoni Parks: STILL loving and finding new things to love about this Deantoni Parks album for the third month in a row. I'm repeating myself but this music is just so good and feels so completely original to me. It's a great mix of complete technical mastery and the self imposed limitations of a restricted sample palette. Forcing himself to do absolutely everything he can with the sound and fairly well exhausting it over the course of 9 minutes.

Catacomb Kids - Aesop Rock: There's a good line to trace between this and Acid King by Malibu Ken where Aesop Rock's been thinking about Ricky Kasso for like ten years now which is interesting. There's lots of just very nice sounding lines in this like "Crispy the godsender who thunk over a quarter plunk to local Mortal Kom vendor". Just good weird word combos painting a very impressionistic picture of growing up. "deplanting cadavers" "zoo-keeper facelift". Very nice.

Mask Off - Future: I've never listened to Future much which is weird because he's very good but this is a song that just comes into my head pretty often. Metro Boomin's brain is huge and the vibe he created on this is just amazing. Wringing this sort of atmosphere out of the sample without sacrificing any of the trap beat at the center of it is such an achievement.

Old Town Road (Remix) - Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus: Everything that could ever be said about Old Town Road has probably already been written by now but my favourite part is finding out that the sample is from Ghosts by Nine Inch Nails which means it's also Trent Reznor's first writing credit on a #1 song. Absolutely praying for Trent and Atticus to join Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus on stage at the Grammys to perform this.

Claudia Lewis - M83: Every so often I remember just how good Hurry Up We're Dreaming is and listen to it on repeat for a while. It's absolutely amazing. Start to finish (except for Raconte-Moi Une Historie which SUCKS) it's just fantastic. I looked up why this song is called Claudia Lewis and it turns out that has an extremely good answer "I was surfing the web & found this website with space poems – Claudia Lewis had 3-4 space poems on this site. They were pretty bad space poems but I found it super moving, there was something very innocent about it. She’s probably super young like 12 or 14 but I don’t know her or how she looks or anything about her. I just know that she writes cheesy space poems."

OK Pal - M83: Every single musical element of this song is just perfect. I love the huge broad chords, the synth bends, the massive drums, the inverted Dead Flag Blues monologue. It's just beautiful.Little Secrets - Passion Pit: Passion Pit is currently on a 10th anniversary tour for Manners and I feel age 100 which is no good. But this song is good and it contains in my opinion one of the all time greatest drum fills after the first chorus. Huge, super air-drummable, and very functional: perfect.

Blood - City Calm Down: I think "I'm the one who wants your blood" is just such a great an evocative refrain and I wish he said it one million times more in this song.

Television - City Calm Down: Absolutely love the idea of writing a song about how bloody TV is the bloody opiate of the masses that sounds like a Clash cover in 2019 and sounding so deliberately out of the zeitgeist and doing it so well and with such conviction that it’s absolutely great.

I Am The Resurrection - The Stone Roses: We went to Andrew McLelland's Finishing School and he played this as his last song in honour of Easter Sunday and described it as the greatest piece of acoustic dance music he's ever heard which is honestly not a bad description - it's an absolute jam.

Daisy - Pond: It's very cool that there's like an evil, mirror version of Tame Impala that exists in Pond. I think every band should have that.

Crying Lighting - Arctic Monkeys: Basically the reason this song is on this list is because I got stuck in a loop of saying "your pastimes, consisted of the strange and twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called "crying lightning" in a Werner Herzog voice to myself and I thought it was funny.

Keeping Time - Angie McMahon: Angie McMahon is so damn good at songs and I cannot believe it! She's only got like 5 and they're all incredible. She’s gonna be huge!

The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids: Sterogum had a really good writeup the other day about Post-Nothing turning 10 years old that turned into a wrap up of why Japandroids are such a good band and why Celebration Rock is a perfect album and it really crystallized a lot of my feelings about them. They're number one on my list of Bands That Make You Want To Start A Band for a good reason and this article really nails the whole young men figuring it all out feeling of Japandroids' music. I really think both Japandroids albums should be called Youth And Young Manhood but Kings Of Leon already took that name. I remember when my friend first turned me on to Post-Nothing he said he didn't want to tell anyone else except me because it was so good and it was Best Friends Music and I really believe that. It’s best friends music through and through. When I saw them a couple of years ago it was as part of a sort of impromptu road trip with my best friend and I think that was the best context I could have given it. It's absolutely one of the best shows I've been to in my life and also Osher Gunsberg was in the crowd behind me but that's not part of the story. https://www.stereogum.com/2041439/japandroids-post-nothing-turns-10/franchises/the-anniversary/

Motor Runnin - Pist Idiots: The pub rock revival just keeps getting better and better. At the minute it's basically just Bad//Dreems, West Thebarton and these guys but I'm sure there's a million other bands bubbling under that are just about to break as well. I love this song, it's just straight up old fashioned pissed off rock and roll that somehow doesn't feel old fashioned at all.

Chains - As Cities Burn: As Cities Burn have reunited and have a new album coming out and I'm extremely wary of it because they're potentially ruining their previously discussed perfect streak. This is the first single and it's.. good I guess. It's kind of just normal and sort of outdated, a little bit of a step backward into safety for a band that was always changing and moving forward. I think I have a worm living in my brain though because I keep listening to it just because I really love the drum sound. They're very nicely mixed. Some very nice sounding drums.

Whacko Jacko Steals The Elephant Man's Bones - The Fall Of Troy: I was talking with some friends about young musicians because of Billie Eilish, and so we were talking about how Alanis Morrisette won a grammy when she was 21 and Taylor Swift won a grammy when she was 20 and Lorde made Royals when she was 17 and all that but what people don't realise is Thomas Erak wrote Doppelganger when he was 20 and it was his second album. He's 34 now and his music sucks badly. That's insane. What will happen to me when I'm 34? Chilling to think about. 

A New Uniform / Patagonia - Tera Melos: I think Patagonian Rats is still my favourite Tera Melos album. Toss up between that and Untitled actually. But I love this one for how cohesive it feels. For a band whose whole ethos is chaos it's amazing how well it all comes together as a complete work tied up with a bow by the Skin Surf reprise near the end. I love this song because it's two sketches of songs tied together into one little chaotic lump and the big Primary! Secondary! finale is just so satisfying.

Talking Heads - Black Midi: Black Midi finally have actually proper recorded songs on spotify! The way Black Midi is getting talked about at the moment really feels like the days of blog buzz are back, it's crazy. If you haven't seen it yet here's the KEXP session that's rightfully getting them so much attention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMn1UuEIVvA I've watched it so many times and it's really something. The best part is the comments are full of music dudes just naming every band ever. "this sounds like if slint, polvo and hella did crack and had a gangbang" yuck "imagine them opening for Swans and/or Daughters" yuck "they're like if Minute Men and Frank Zappa had a baby and that baby dated the child of Talking Heads and Can but then got dumped for their best friend who was adopted and raised by their single parent Voivod but they were cool and stayed friends and listened to Tortoise and Thelonious Monk and got stoned and started a band and conquered the world." yuck "Slint meets Sonic youth meets Pere Ubu meets drive like jehu meets Beefheart...these guys took all that is deranged and twisted in rock and made one big soup of it!" yuck. Anyway the point is they rock completely and here's my addition to the band names: the way he sings sounds like Sting lol.

Walking On The Moon - The Police: This song makes you dumb I think. It's like the dumbest song in the world and listening to it makes your brain mushier, which makes you dumb and stupid. It's very good.

Rubber Bullies - Tropical Fuck Storm: I saw Tropical Fuck Storm opening for Kurt Vile the other day and it was absolutely incredible. My first time seeing them properly, not counting the live soundtrack they did for No Country For Old Men which was was a whole different kind of amazing. It feels like Gaz has finally put together a band that can keep up with is ferocious energy and the result is scary - they basically tore the place apart which makes them a funny opener for Kurt Vile who was as chilled out, relaxed and fun as you'd expect. They played this song near the end of their set and somehow I hadn't really noticed it when I listened to the album but now I can't stop listening to it. It's so good. I love the increasing paranoia of the backing vocals, especially in the last verse as it builds and builds.

Taman Shud - The Drones: This might be the best Drones song. It's a list that's constantly being revised in my head but it's top 5 definitely. It's nice listening to Feeling Kinda Free now knowing what he was going to do with Tropical Fuck Storm because it's all here. Fighting against the constraints of his regular sound and regular songwriting and eventually finding the solution in forming a whole new band. I love this song for a million reasons but the escalation of the disregard is very good. “I don't care about Andrew Bolt or Ned Kelly or the southern cross or the union jack” and you're nodding and then he says ‘I don't really care if you're a pedophile’ and you're nodding but slower. I get what he means in terms of media hype and whatever but it's still a very funny line. Anyway "why'd I give a rats about your tribal tats? You came here on a boat you fucking cunt" is grade A.

Dawn Patrol - Megadeth: The best thing about Megadeth is the sort of half baked politics. Dave Mustaine is the best kind of moron, he engages with everything at a gut level but believes he's being very cerebral about it at the same time. This little intro song about a nuclear post-apocalypse is so good because it's a legitimate warning and a response to legitimate worries but it's also like.. wouldn't that be sick if we had to wear gas masks and carry assault rifles around because all the nukes exploded and everyone was dead. What if there was zombies.

Rust In Peace... Polaris - Megadeth: The story behind Holy Wars... The Punishment Due is so good. "Mustaine has said that at a show in Antrim, Northern Ireland, he discovered bootlegged Megadeth T-shirts were on sale. He was dissuaded from taking action to have them removed on the basis that they were part of fund raising activities for "The Cause", explained as something to bring equality to Catholics and Protestants in the region. Liking how "The Cause" sounded as was explained to him, Mustaine dedicated a performance of "Anarchy In The UK" to it, causing the audience to riot. The band were forced to travel in a bulletproof bus after the show" I just love him. I'd like to share a Dave Mustain quotes about this song also. "I was driving home from Lake Elsanon. I was tailgating somebody, racing down the freeway, and I saw this bumper sticker on their car and it said, you know, this tongue in cheek stuff like, ‘One nuclear bomb could ruin your whole day,’ and then I looked on the other side and it said, ‘May all your nuclear weapons rust in peace,’ and I’m going, ‘'Rust in Peace.’ Damn, that’s a good title.‘ And I’m thinking like, 'What do they mean, rust in peace?’ I could just see it now – all these warheads sitting there, stockpiled somewhere like seal beach, you know, all covered with rust and stuff with kids out there spray-painting the stuff, you know." Goes ahead and writes a kick ass song from the perspective of a nuclear warhead containing the line "rotten egg air of death wrestles your nostrils".

Planet B - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: King Gizz are Megadeth now and I love it! The cold war is global warming now and we desperately need new thrash metal about it to save us!

Primodial Wound - Inter Arma: If you can't tell by me including three of their songs on this playlist I'm still having an absolute time with Inter Arma. Something I really love about this band is their ability to sit in a vibe for so long and expand on it. They're not songs with narrative arcs and multiple contrasting sections, they're songs that just kind of dig deeper on themselves. This one starts deep and then by thinning out entirely at around 6 minutes in only gets darker.

Howling Lands - Inter Arma: This song made me dream of a Dark Souls game where Inter Arma does the soundtrack. It's a peabrained thought but it's one that really got me thinking. This is boss music of the highest order: a song seemingly about itself and the hellbound denizens cursed to perform it in the arena of hell.

Sulphur English - Inter Arma: It's extremely funny to listen to this song a bunch of times and be completely blown away by the total power and ethereal majesty of it and then look up the lyrics to find out that it's about Trump in that very good way of putting normal thoughts through a metal lyrics filter "The charlatan sets his eyes towards the throne / tongue adrip in revolting ecstasy" "Sever the corrupt tongue of the imperious fool / silence the gangrenous root of his abhorrent voice"

Peepin' Tom - Courtney Barnett: When I saw Kurt Vile he brought out Courtney Barnett to play Over Everything as an encore and it was so good to see just how much a hometown crowd loves her. Everyone lost their shit! We love our good friend Courtney! I think I've written about this before but Peeping Tom is one of my favourite Kurt Vile songs and I think Courtney's version is even better. Her voice is perfect for it and she really has to show off her range to do it which I love. The super deep 'peeping' to the high cascading 'tom' is a perfect musical moment to me.​

listen here

[lovetheplayers]

Taylor's interview with Ryan Seacrest on 102.7 KIIS FM (April 30, 2019)

Ryan: That is new music from Taylor Swift called ME! Brendon Urie there too on 102.7 KIIS fm. Just announced that Taylor will be at Wango Tango and look at the phone ringing. It’s Taylor Swift. Good morning, Taylor.

Taylor: Oh, hi. Good morning.

Ryan: How are you doing?

Taylor: I'm so good, and it's so good to talk to you. Yeah, the new song and video are out and it just feels really great to have such amazing feedback from the fans and have them combing through the video trying to figure out details.

Ryan: Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, you are like the brainteaser the teacher would give me in school. There’s all these, I mean, I know they call them Easter eggs but, like, it’s there’s almost too much for me to decipher, you know?

Taylor: Yeah. There's so, so, so many little clues in the video and some are clues that are immediately revealed to them and then there’s kind of different levels to the crypticness. Like, some of these—some of the symbolic references they’ll understand in, like, a couple months and then some they’ll get, like, when they really go through the album. Like, some are lyric references. I’s just the whole thing. But it’s really fun to put that stuff together because I’ve been doing stuff like this for like 15 years on my first album. I started off with capitalizing letters in my lyric book and then when people put together those letters it spells out a code. so they liked it, so I kept doing it.

Ryan: But just to understand the DNA here of your brain: so do you—you’re obviously very clever, but do you ever say, "Okay I’m gonna go obvious because they’re gonna think I’m being clever so I’ll go counter-intuitively backwards." Because I’m trying to figure out some things for this next album. I need to know the answer to that.

Taylor: Yeah, definitely. It takes a lot of planning and really, like, it's just basically a flex on planning. Like, this is how far ahead I planned this album. But it’s also just a way for it to become more of a—more of an experience rather than just.. I think that so often music can just be so ephemeral these days. Like, it comes out and we talk about it for, like, a second and then we move on to the next thing. And I think it’s fun for us to create an event and kind of put an experience back into just, you know, a song or a video. That’s what I’m trying to do is make it more more fun for them to talk about it and think about it. And they’re awesome about it, so I guess as long as they have fun with it I’ll keep doing it.

Ryan: So we’ve got Lover. You said awesome—you just said awesome, wait. Did you just—Tell me, does the title of the album rhyme with possum?

Taylor: I'm definitely going to tell them everything about the album in due time.

Ryan: Does it rhyme with saleidoscope? So you’re going to be opening the Billboard Awards which is very exciting.

Taylor: It's exciting. I've been in rehearsals all week. It’s really, really exciting. It’s also so much fun with this song because the song is so—it's just such a celebration and it's just so playful and mischievous, so that's been one of the most fun elements of creating the performance.

Ryan: Well the video has had, I mean, 65, 70 million views and our own Tanya was very excited to—I am not a good mover. I don’t know if you know that about me so I couldn’t partake in the dancing that she did. I think that you commented on it.

Taylor: Oh, yeah I commented on it. It was like the most adorable thing ever. That's like a really, really nice house you're in.

Tanya: I have to say I have listened to this song on repeat, literally, I think I’ve, and I’m not even exaggerating, a thousand times.

Taylor: Really?!

Tanya: Yes, Taylor. It is so fantastic. I feel like everything is right in the world again because we have new music from you and, like, I’m living through it and I just feel like I’ve been living through your music for so many years now and every single time you come out with something it, like, speaks to me at that moment and I’m just so grateful for ME! I just feel like it’s the perfect song for right now.

Taylor: Thank you so much for saying that. That means a lot. That’s so, so sweet of you to say. And literally, like, my heart just, like, starts beating so fast when people say things like that because I think the main purpose of this song—like, when I thought of this melody I was like, "Okay, this is one of those melodies that, like, we could do so much with this, and it’s so catchy that, like, what do we want to get stuck in people's heads?" And what I wanted was to make people happy about themselves because I think right now there’s just such—literally everyone is so—we’re all just so neurotic and insecure and and anxious about things, you know, and I think that we can, you know, I think there should be, like, a way for us to kind of, like, have a song stuck in our head that reinforces the fact that we're individuals. We’re different. And obviously there are a lot of songs about "I'm special", but I hadn’t heard one recently that was about "I’m special because it’s who I am", you know? There are examples where you can find someone being like, "I’m special because of how I look"; "I’m special because of what I can buy" or whatever, and there’s definitely a place for those songs, but I think there’s also a place for a song that’s like "No, it’s Who I am. it’s intrinsically my individuality that makes me a irreplaceable and not anything else." So thank you so much for saying that.

Ryan: You should know that Wango Tango—Taylor is going to be there. This is her first Wango Tango. She's done Jingle Ball but not Wango Tango. And there was there was a young student that lives in Iowa, Taylor, that called in to this show a few weeks ago and she just said that, like, she is trying to do her own show there for a college radio station and she listens to this show on a regular basis and she called in to say that and, you know, it was great. And then I said, "Well, if there’s one person that you and your town of—I think it’s Dubuque, Iowa—if there’s one person that you would want to ask a question to who would it be?" And she said your name and at the time I wasn’t sure if we’d talk to you—I was hoping we would. And I said, "If we ever get her on the line I’d love to patch you together to ask her one question." And she’s on the phone. Could I let her ask you something?

Taylor: Yeah, of course.

Ryan: Audrey?

Audrey: Hey, Ryan? How's it going? Hey, Taylor!

Taylor: Hey, Audrey!

Audrey: It's such an honor to talk to you! I don’t know if you remember me but I reached out to you when I was in high school when I did high school radio and you were busy playing on the Red Tour, which by the way was awesome. I’ve seen three of your concert tours. But yeah, It's been a crazy journey with my radio stuff. I’m a student at Loras College which is a small private school in Iowa and honestly right now it’s raining and you’re brightening up my day, seriously.

Taylor: Aw, congratulations on everything with your radio show. That’s awesome.

Audrey: So I have a question for you. I think a lot of people want to know it. What are you the most proud of in your career? Your career is—your lucky number, 13 years now and you’re about to put out another album. What is the one thing that just stands out to you that you're the most proud of?

Taylor: Oh, wow, that is—that’s a good question. That is such a good question. I think that—I think that what I’m proud of is having a consistent, really wonderful relationship with the fans who have put me here getting to do the job that I love because I think that reminding—you know I don’t ever have to be reminded. I’m reminded every single day; you guys are literally the only reason why I get to do something that I love so much and I think that a lot of the time people can lose sight of what got them where they are and I think that that’s something that every every day since I started doing this I made sure to, like, remind myself you never ever forget the people who got you here. So thank you for saying that.

Audrey: I will say that when I took my aunt and my mom to the first Chicago show of the Reputation Tour, the one thing that really stood out to the three of us, like, the minute we walked into Soldier Field was the engagement from your merch stand to the videos that you would see to the pre-show playlist. You had everything planned out.

Taylor: Thank you so much for noticing the planning! You have no idea how happy that makes me because, like, I really feel like we have the opportunity to create, like, a party. Like, when we plan it we try to plan every single element of a person’s day and so that just—like, that’s validation. Like, you have no idea. I really appreciate you saying it.

Audrey: I also will say when you played Our Song—I was sitting there sitting in the second across from the B-stage and when you said, "This is a song I wrote in ninth grade," I looked at my mom and I was, like, "Oh my god, this is the one song that I haven't heard yet."

Ryan: Audrey, you are the best. Thank you so much.

Taylor: You are the best.

Audrey: I also wanna ask Taylor. I'd love for you to listen to my show if you want to. I can definitely send the link to Ryan and I'll play any song you want. I was listening to your video blog from, like, over the years, and I was like, "I know a playlist for Taylor."

Ryan: I will make sure that we get her the link. Alright, Audrey?

Audrey: Okay, I love you Taylor. You're the best! Bye, Audrey.

Taylor: Good luck with everything.

Ryan: Oh, my god. That was just—that's what it's about, right? Isn't that what it's about?

Taylor: She's the best.

Ryan: Thank you so much for calling today. We will see you June 1st at Wango Tango, and we'll be following the puzzle, so.

Taylor: You guys better cater the whole day for them. You better pick a pre-show playlist and all that stuff.

Ryan: I know. You're making me feel complacent.

Taylor: Thanks for much for talking to me and for everything over the years. You've always been such a great friend and, yeah, I'll see you at Wango Tango. I'm really excited.

Ryan: We are too. You're the best, Taylor. Thank you again. See you soon.

Taylor: Thanks, guys, and thanks for the dance video.

[tailahjanbash]

What I Learned About Being a Whole When I Was a Half

I fell in love once. It was a time of raging teenage hormones and an unrealistic view of love due to my Taylor Swift obsession. It was the ultimate pining-for-your-bestfriend-80’s film-love that would ensure disaster on my naïve heart.

Looking back now, it was like a John Hughes movie on repeat—but every time you thought the happy ending was coming, I just kept getting my heart broken over, and over, and over... you get the idea.

Eventually the movie ended. After it was all said and done, I remember crying on the bathroom floor, wondering if the pain would ever leave. I remember praying every night that God would just make it easier. That I would wake up the next morning and feel just a tiny bit less than what I felt the night before. Am I resonating with any romantics here?

Well, it’s been a few years since then, and those wounds have healed—but I’ll never forget the priceless lessons I learned throughout the healing process.

Today I want to share with you some of the things I learned about being a whole when I was a half.

1. I believed the lie.

I believed the lie that I would never find love or connect to another person as much as I did when I fell in love. I fueled this fear with what I thought was “logic” and “reasoning”, but in reality, I was just letting fear bully me.

That was the furthest thing from the truth. It doesn’t align with God’s promises or nature.

2. There’s a natural way to deal with heartbreak, and there’s a supernatural way.

The truth is, when you find the person that’s right for you, it will make complete sense why it never worked with anyone else before.

When glass breaks, it’s natural to pick up the larger shards first in order to clean up the mess. The bigger pieces are easier to identify, pick up, and throw away. Breakups kind of happen the same way. Once everything has fallen apart, it’s easy to spot the big issues, like bad communication or dishonesty. But after those big pieces have been cleaned up, we are still left with the small shards; the ones that are not always visible that contribute to the brokenness.

The smaller pieces take longer to clean up. They require precision, careful attention, caution, and accuracy.

Anyone with decent eye sight can spot large pieces of glass. Meaning—it’s common knowledge that cheating is wrong, ghosting is immature, and lack of communication is the kiss of death. Even Cosmo can give you sound advice on this.

Then we get to the shards.

This is where the world gets the healing process totally wrong.

The sin, behaviors, and emotions underneath the surface that aren’t so easy to spot— those contribute to our broken condition.

Let me put this into an example: A lot of people think that getting into a new relationship will help you forget about your old one.

This is using another person to distract you from your pain and emptiness. Not only is this unfair to the person you are dragging along with you, but you can’t heal properly this way. You need to face your demons instead carrying them into your next relationship!

That rejection, fear of vulnerability, anger, loneliness, sorrow, depression, bitterness, resentment, pain, and allll the other negative emotions that accompany heartbreak— are the shards.

A playlist, going out with friends, a new bae, drinking until you forget, and all the other remedies that the world gives you… they don’t work.

The good news is, God is dying to heal you. (Quite literally)

He can’t wait for the night you put down the bottle or turn off of the T.V., whatever the distraction is, and turn to Him for the healing.

God doesn’t leave us alone in our fragmented state and expect perfection. In fact, He promises to get down in the mess and brokenness with us to find the solution and piece us together into a new and beautiful creation.

That’s exactly what He did for me. And I know He can do it for you.

3. You’ve gotta catch the foxes

“You must catch the troubling foxes, those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship. For they raid our budding vineyard of love, to ruin what I’ve planted within you. Will you catch them and remove them for me? We will do it together.” Song of Songs 2:15

When I read this scripture, the Lord made it very clear that my foxes at the time were guys and relationships.

The bible says that satan prowls around like a lion, looking for whomever he may devour. So, it should come as no surprise that he sends distractions and uses people and/or demonic principalities to keep us from effectively serving God.

I noticed that whenever I was minding my own business, crushing my school work, and super close to God… some gorgeous boy would pop out of nowhere and ask me out. I didn’t catch on at first. I was giddy and couldn’t wait to go out.

Okay so, what happens when you start talking to someone? Your brain goes from paying attention in class to planning the next date. Your hangouts take precedence over bible study and your mind and heart become filled with this person.

Eventually I would learn that these guys were great people, but simply not meant for me. And then I would remember the instructions God gave me and immediately want to slap myself in the face. How much time and energy did I invest in something that I could have avoided had I been obedient? I could have put that time into improving my grades or making new friends.

Maybe your foxes are ungodly friendships, being overly invested in a sport or celebrity, or a sin you always find yourself going back to.

A good indicator of your hearts priorities is seeing where you spend most of your time and money. Anything that takes precedence over God is not only a fox, but an idol.

I find it interesting that the word of God uses foxes to illustrate this picture. Foxes are sly and sneaky. They operate in darkness and in shadows, and they rob you of your crop. Spiritual foxes do the same.

They rob you of spiritual growth. The more time you spend binge-watching Netflix, the less time you have to read your bible and pray. Whatever you sow, you will reap. If you are sowing unproductivity—meaning putting your time towards sleeping, laying around, and watching tv, you are going to yield a crop of laziness, procrastination, and slothfulness. The fruit of your life will be marked by these negative characteristics.

I believe there are things God wants to continue to plant and grow in you and the beautiful thing, is that he says he will catch the foxes with us—we’re not on our own in the battle against sin and temptation. The Spirit of God helps us identify our foxes and gives us the strength to catch and kill those bad habits.

4. If you can make it past the first few months, you’re in the clear.

Just like breaking any habit, it’s going to be really difficult at first. Especially if you have never truly been on your own (romantically) like I had.

Relationships are wonderful—you have someone doting over you, laughing at your terrible jokes, and telling you how beautiful you are. But pull the rug out from under the relationship and you’re left with two seriously insecure people.

It’s human psychology—you’re used to receiving love and attention, so now that it is gone, you must fill that void with affirmation.

*downloads tinder*

Just kidding.

I wanted to break that habit because it never worked; I was never truly healed. Seeking male affirmation never satisfied my heart, soul, and spirit. I realized I needed to fill that void with God’s love instead of attention from guys.

And ladies, once I made that decision, I was unstoppable.

First, I had to set barriers for myself. I literally stopped everything related to relationships cold turkey... I was serious about getting the full and complete healing I needed!

I did not allow myself to go on dates, text guys that I liked, and on nights when I was particularly sad, I would turn everything off (tv, phone, laptop) and spend time with God.

Eventually, it got easier. Once the Holy Spirit started filling the holes in my heart, they actually began healing effective immediately. Getting over heartbreak became a million times easier because I wasn’t trying to duct tape DIY my heart back together. I was giving it back to the one who created it. It’s funny…we so easily forget that the master designer of our heart knows exactly how to heal it.

Looking back, I can’t believe how much of my heart was not only divided but broken. At the time, I didn’t think anything of it. God had to stop me in the middle of a rebound relationship, arrest my heart, and give me these step-by-step instructions like you would an unruly toddler.

My encouragement today, is don’t be hard-headed like I was. Don’t let your heart get so tangled up in its own will and desires that it forgets God’s.

And finally, I’m not selling you a foolproof step-by-step guide on how to get over someone. Your story and your heartbreak are different than mine. But I do know heartbroken people, more than anything, want to feel like they aren’t alone. That someone understands them. To that I say, “Have you considered the one who planned this long ago?” Isaiah 22:11

For more blogs and content check out my website!

http://www.thechosengirl.info/

[thebesttayswithyou-blog]

She’s back

I’ll never forget the first time I heard a Taylor Swift song. I was 8, riding in my dad’s truck down my street, and Tim McGraw came on.

Later I was watching CMT and the music video came on and I was in awe that a girl with curly hair sang that song I liked. I hated my curly hair and never had any idea what to do with it. But seeing Taylor rock her curls made me love mine.

Flash forward to middle school. Fearless had just come out, and I had the worst crush on a boy who literally would never notice me. I listened to Invisible on repeat on the bus, and You Belong With Me became my daily anthem. In a time of bullies and mean friends, I felt seen. The same feeling I had when I saw someone with curly hair on TV.

Speak Now came out in a pretty good time in my life. I was just entering high school. I was making friends. And Speak Now just seemed to encapsulate every hope and romantic daydream of my 14-year-old brain. I was in awe that Taylor wrote all of those songs, and started getting really into writing.

Red wasn’t my favorite at the time (now that I’m in my 20s I stan so hard) But my friends and I made up this stupid dance to IKYWT and we had no qualms breaking it out at prom. One of my favorite memories ever. So young. So stupid. So awesome.

1989 came out right after I’d moved states, away from all my friends. Having a new Taylor album to blast in the car when I felt alone kept me sane. It was an awful time in my life, and I was getting ready to graduate high school and I was terrified. Shake It Off became my anthem for every scholarship interview, every audition, and every scary step.

Reputation came in a time when I’d been seriously hurt by people close to me. I’d been manipulated and put down and I was so done. I was angry and I needed to not care what people thought anymore. I’d been told I was a bitch because I was driven and ambitious and strong. Reputation helped me embrace my strength and ignore the people who tried to tear me down because of it.

I graduated college this year. Everything has been changing and my anxiety is through the roof. And maybe it’s silly that Lover means so much to me. But Taylor has been there for me through every stage of my life. I can literally categorize every heartbreak and fond memory by Taylor Swift song. This period of my life is so hard and I feel like I’m flailing in most areas of my life. Having Lover to look forward to, and it’s whimsy and light and wonder, reminds me so much of that little girl on Cherry Street over a decade ago. Crazy, curly hair, so hopeful for the future. So in love with creating and discovering the power of music for the first time. And in my cloudy mind full of nostalgia, this album makes me happy to be here, in 2019.

I love this era so much already. I love Taylor so much. I know she’ll never see this and I’ll probably never meet her, but I just needed to put this blurb out in the world because I’m just so damn happy for her and for this era.

[just-another-obsessed-fangirl]

I wasn’t really tagged bc the person who did it didnt tag anybody they just said anybody who wants to do it could do it but i guess @bri-notthecheese

Rule: Answer the questions and tag 10 blogs to get to know them better (but uhh im not gonna tag anyone cuz idk so if ya wanna do it then you can)

Nickname: my family calls me Sunshine, and Rosie is a variation of my name that i use on the internet, and on facebook im Tom cuz i didnt want strangers to find me Gender: Cis female Star sign: Sagittarius Height: 4′10″ ½ (oh my god the person i tagged this from is like exactly a foot taller than me) Time: 1:35 am Birthday: December 4, 2000 Favourite bands: Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco (emo phases dont fade out huh) Favourite artists: Taylor Swift (please don’t send me hate or make fun of me) Song stuck in my head: i saw a vine like a month ago of someone singing “ayyyy we want some pussy AYYYY WE WANT SOME PUSSY” and now a small part of my brain has been looping that on repeat since then and it hasnt stopped even when ive been crying Last movie I watched: Zodiac, but i stopped like 2/3 of the way through cuz i was getting upset cuz im a giant weenie Last show I watched: black mirror, cuz my brother wanted to hang out but again, i walked out halfway through cuz im a giant weenie When did I create this blog: 2012 Last thing I googled: “age of consent in america” but not cuz im interested, i just always thought every state in the us listed the age of consent at 18 bc im in one of those states but i was having a weird conversation with my friend and she said her home state had the age of consent at 16 so i just wanted to confirm Following: 260 Followers: 885 Average hours of sleep: what, like i honestly dont sleep normally so idk Lucky number: 7 Instruments: Voice, alto saxophone, soprano clarinet (but like barely), and technically ukulele and guitar, but im not very good at it i just look at chords for songs online What I’m wearing: oversized tee, joggers im gonna where again tomorrow at school, and a towel covering my wet hair How many blankets do i sleep with: at least 2, usually 3, sometimes 4 (like rn). i have some sensory problems and a lot of blankets help me sleep a lot better Dream job: something in entertainment - i really want to be a singer or an actress but ive been auditioning for almost every school play and musical since 8th grade and ive only gotten in one musical and just as ensemble so i dont think im even talented enough, so ive been considering stand up comedy or something in political satire, but also im good at my film class so maybe like a director Dream trip: Probably London or Rome Favourite food: Pasta Nationality: United States/American Favourite song at the moment: Dress by Taylor Swift (this song is so underrated and it’s just known as her first song that’s like definitely about sex but like it’s so much more than that and it’s really touching and it’s just a fucking masterpiece)

I’m not gonna tag anyone specifically, so anyone who wants to do it can do it! Please tag me cuz I wanna know bout yall!

[theanatomyletter]

here is a perfectly sane response to the climate emergency

Right so like 3 days ago once everyone found out a couple weeks too late that the literal amazon rainforest is on fire I went into a sort of anxiety/depressive spiral and it was terrifying!!! I was scared and shocked out of doing anything and kept thinking of all the bad things that are happening and how we are all going 2 die and kept thinking of how to make more ppl understand that climate destruction is part of the same racist project as white imperialism and I’m !!! Stressed !! And I was scared and freaked out!!! I remember as a kid one of my favourite things ever was the book Journey To The River Sea by Eva Ibbotson and I s2g that book made me a person it taught me so many things about what it means to love a place and to be alive in the world and how to sustain a sense of self and community in meaningful connection with that it means to be alive and here and breathing and it’s a book about the rainforest and the river and so I’ve just been,, thinking of it a lot, little blue butterfly from the cover floating thru my brain and all that. It’s hard!!! I thought I was afraid of not saving/earning enough money to do a masters next year but I was actually afraid of the consequences of the climate emergency. Pay more attention to your emotions and honour them for what they are and figure out what is at stake for you, what does it make you feel that the world is in crisis. I think that’s important

Depressing chat aside after I panicked and felt radicalised (what does that even mean?) I found this twitter thread which was basically like these are all the terrible things that can happen and here is how we stop them and at first I felt SO SCARED because there’s NO WAY we can actually organise mass strikes at this scale!!!! We have never had to organise at this scale before, I panicked and got really scared and went on a rant about how we have to use existing structures to fix things because we don’t have the time or resources to organise at this scale but like. I now think we actually do, I found this resource for organising strikes globally from 20TH TO 27TH SEPTEMBER and like, we have the Internet and we have a month to plan and prepare and if you are able to strike you absolutely should !!!!!! There are people smarter than me speaking to the urgency of this, I’m just having some feelings and writing this on my phone notes, but like. Read about strikes in your area. If there aren’t any, find resources to help organise one. Text your friends your colleagues your family whatsapp group the people you went to school with, spread the word and organise how you will sustain your community in that time

As a side note after I went on panic rants all over my social media I think I realised that terrifying people into frenzied action won’t work because it’ll often just scare them into inaction (that’s what it did to me) and I felt better only once I found that resource for actual organisation, the mass general strike felt like an impossible project until I found out it’s already being planned. So like, don’t be helplessly scared, we have multiple years to fix things, and I think this is important: REMEMBER TO BE ALIVE AND HERE AND BREATHING, it’s important to actually feel the absolute miracle that is consciousness otherwise all of the saving the world will have been for nothing. Take photos of your friends and give hugs to your pets and get drunk and go dancing and remember that what matters is that feeling of being so achingly alive and aware of your existence in the world when you look at the sky and feel dizzy with how small you are and how yet the whole universe is inside of your brain, remember to breathe and feel glorious and loud and bright and reckless.

On that note, I was having a hard time giving a shit about much but I copped on a bit after I talked to my friend Naoise Dolan (buy her book it is out soon !!!) I felt like calmer and more like I was allowed to enjoy things and write things (that’s why I finally pulled it together enough to do this) and so I LISTENED TO THE NEW TAYLOR SWIFT ALBUM ON REPEAT and I’ve decided I love it, here is my ranking of all its songs from worst to best, I have so many thoughts, the lyrics are golden, I’m so happy to be alive in the world at a time we can make things better and listen to music like this that’s tailor made (sorry) for us to forget about any guilt we may feel from bopping to boardroom produced songs about corporate feminism

18. Miss Americana and whoever the fuck

Idk what this obsession is with high school motifs (shout out Mike Dolan for pointing this out) like it’s just weird for a 29 yr old to use school as a metaphor for her love life. The “you win stupid prizes” bit sounds nice though. It’s like a low-key creepy obsessive song like why is she doing that funny voice? Is it meant to sound vaguely haunted? What’s going on

I’m also just tired of “America” (the white kind) as a cultural construct and it being used as an expression of identity in popular culture like we get it you built a nationalism out of “gas stations” and “hallways” and “whatever” but you’re still racist, Stop. Like it’s just an inherently violent construct and nobody white is reckoning with it responsibly so at least maybe stop romanticising it or just shut up. Heck yea I’m reading too much into this. I do what I want

17. You Need to Calm Down

This song is bad. It’s so bad. The lyrics are pointless, the ohoHHHH is annoying, her voice is irritating, it’s also just gross and patronising and tries to do twelve things at once (are we leading a parade to pat ourselves on the back for telling homophobes to “take several seats” or are we saying we “all have crowns” wtv that means?)

This song is actually just gross and it doesnt even SOUND GOOD

16. ME

It’s less problematic than you need to calm down and that’s the only reason it’s slightly less bad. It’s a garbage song idk why it exists i’m so mad at it

15. Paper rings

IM SORRY tHe mOoN is HIGH like your friends were the night that we first met I’m sorry WHAT miss swift we get it you have been near drugs, Jesus CHRIST this song is a juvenile childish self important mess. The lyrics r awful and her voice is sneaky and weird and she does weird noises and the chorus is dumb like the “uhuh that’s right” makes me want to give CHITTAR. Also she says darling WAY too much in this album like we get it you’re dating a Brit. It’s not The Worst song because if you pay zero attention to the lyrics or her voice it’s kind of fine sounding? It’s so bad tho lol, I remember when she wrote Mine and the video came out I was like wow wild this is weird and adult and why are you pregnant but this one is even MORE weird. I also HATE every time she says dreary mondays and “baby boy” (GROSS) and I hate that she keeps repeating it lol. The I hate accidents line is kind of fine

14. I forgot that you existed

I hate the lyrics and I hate the premise (we get it you’re indifferent that’s why you wrote a whole song about it) BUT it’s such a bop, it’s very /this feels like a perfect night to make fun of our exes/ vibes and I would be LYING if I said I didn’t enjoy that. Yes we exists

We are pretending her fake laughter and starting to talk in the middle of songs things isn’t real though. It wasn’t cute in we are never ever etc and isn’t cute now

13. I think he knows

I love the 16th avenue bit, it fills me with giddy happiness, the rest of the song is shit, and also lazy. Also stop being obsessed with being 17, it was weird in starlight and is weird now

The bridge is also sort of nice but not nice enough to redeem the rest of it

12. London Boy

Im sorry I promise I know this song is bad. It is bad. I hope it’s ironic? But it’s bad. It’s a weird colonialism complex fetishisation of posh brit whiteness and its even more gross when it’s like “btw IM american, DOUBLE whiteness”, it’s icky and bad. It is a bad song. I apologise for enjoying it and I promise I am ashamed but also u know what, if you ignore the lyrics entirely and pretend you’re 15 and un-enlightened about the violence inherent to the fetishisation of an english identity……….maybe a fun tune. I know. I know. I am sorry. I promise I enjoy it only ironically

11. The man

Corporate white lady feminism? With the word HUSTLE in it? In this economy? Yes obviously

The lyrics are a bit ehhhh but some of them are quite clever and I think she’s quite honest in this song in a rare sort of way without trying to exaggerate it for shock value and it’s a very like, this is my life, here you go, sort of tune, it doesn’t do anything for women’s rights but I think it sounds nice and is probably fun to dance to, and “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man” and “if I were a man, I’d be the man” are fUN lines !!! Idk how wild this comparison is but like, I feel this song is trying to deal with similar things as I know places (a very privileged rant, if you will, without much self awareness) but I think The Man does it better because it’s less self important and has less ambition about it solving or expressing the world’s worst problems.

10. False God

Ok, so, what is it with the religious motifs in this album, i don’t get it, though it kinda works a lot in this song? I wanted to rank this higher but after a few listens it got slightly grating, the beginning is a bit unecessary too? Like it’s trying to create this weirdly artificial aura of glamour and sophistication, it’s quite an unnerving and haunting song and I quite like that about it and it makes me a bit surprised and startled. This thing she’s doing with like slow, building, repeating tunes i think has worked the best in this song (we might just, get away with this, religion’s in your lips e-,ven if its a False gOd) also, THE ALTAR’S IN MY HIPS, OOF, the chorus does the trick honestly and i love when she’s like slightly laughing but in a wry sort of way. Love it tbh, something about it just makes me a bit stressed though and not in an intentional way (i think)

9. It’s Nice To Have a Friend

Miss taylor who gave you the RIGHT, to shove your hand into my chest and grab my heart and step all over it. I love it and it makes me cry and it’s so soft and sweet. Zero complaints abt it it’s a beautiful song. There r just MULTIPLE EXTREMELY GOOD SONGS that’s why it’s not like my absolute fav and im confused too as to why it’s so low but like. Idk. it is a very soft and sweet song. I love it. If anything maybe it’s a bit uncreative n lazy but i think that’s slightly on purpose so doesn’t rlly constitute a criticism

8. Death by a thousand cuts

I like this song a lot a lot. The lyrics are SO GOOD IM SO HAPPY SHES DOING GOOD LYRICS AGAIN. I love the “one for the agEs” line and i’m generally a slut for any mention of chandeliers in music or poetry (dont ask), her voice is delicate but proud and wild and i’m a fan, honestly, cannot wait to bop to this. The My my my bit is annoying tho

7. The archer

I HATE the bit where she says CoMbAt but otherwise this song is soft and lovely and gentle and I love it !!!!! I love the lyrics and I love her gentle restraint of how she slowly unfurls them and then let’s go in “help me hold onto you”, there is such a commanding frankness to it, it’s an ask for collaboration, an ask for honesty, an ask for I want to do this with you

I think it’s one of the strongest tracks lyrically and she also shows like great skill vocally which has been annoyingly missing from so much of what she’s recently produced. I feel like there’s a bunch of annoying stylistic choices (the they see right thru me bit is grating) but like the song overall is lovely, I think you can feel in her voice she knows she’s created something good and it’s not the usually insufferable IM A GENIUS vibe. WHO COULD EVER LEAVE ME DARLING, BUT WHO COULD STAY !!!

6. Soon you’ll get better

Made me cry. We’re not talking about this one

5. Lover

This song is soft loving, slow whispers, careful realisations that you can build a life with whatever you like and love will save everything, I love it, I love it I love it I love it, “can I go where you go?” moves me to tEARS it is such a soft and gentle expression of care, it is such a kindness, it’s such surrendering, such reckless care, I love it so much, it’s so hopeful and also sure, it’s so frightful but also unafraid. I think this is one of Taylor’s most earnest songs ever and it does the thing of combining that earnestness with brazen daring that doesn’t turn into embarrassment only because she commands her lyrics with such certainty, and that’s rare and often I think that daring has ended badly for her (LOL most of reputation) but here it’s done so beautifully and w so much happiness and LOVE, this song is truly just a beautiful lil piece of art with so much happiness dripping thru it

4. Cornelia Street

This song. This SONG. It builds up so beautifully with this ever so slightly hesitant fascination with its own emotions, i’m so obsessed with it, the lyrics are lovely and perfect, i was expecting it to feel slightly forced and oddly specific because wtf is a cornelia street anyway, but it WORKS. I think it wants me to think of like a glowy streetlighty street and it DOES THAT, “filling in the blanks as we gooooo” sounds so gorgeous and does that thing with her voice which literally is just showing off that Yes She Does Know How To Sing and it’s so certain and sure and restrained and open and bare (again in “i thought you were leading me onnnnn”). Also, “the city screams your name” should be a tired cliche but its just an excited expression of abandon im,, in love. The song is so shaky and uncertain but completely confident and relaxed at the same time and it FEELS EXACTLY LIKE COMING TO TERMS WITH BEING IN LOVE AND WANTING IT TO LAST FOREVER, also like, when did she learn how to write good bridges again because yEs

3. Daylight

Solely for the lines “i’ll tell you the truth, but never goodbye // i don’t want to look at anything else now that i saw you” she deserves a grammy it actually pierces my emotions and makes me want 2 explode, this song is sooooo lovely and it has the vibe that makes me feel like i’ve already heard it years ago (but maybe thats because ive had the album on repeat 2 days straight) but it’s just,,, very good and it feels like sunset and glitter and i think is a perfect ending to a great album i love how it builds intensity and then strips it down and just,,, love it.

2. Afterglow

This is i think, one of the most beautiful things this woman has ever produced, one of the loveliest and most powerful songs ever made, i love it so very much. She finally learnt how to do autotune properly lol, this song is like, a crescendo of emotion, everything is falling down around it and it’s like a little haven of bare, frank honesty and complete surrender, of complete vulnerability, the whole song sounds like an act of care and an act of expressing pure emotion, it’s so gorgeous. It moves so softly and doubles in on itself and she’s sorry and sad but so proud of this love and so certain of its importance, “i’m the one who burnt us down”, it’s such a zooming in on a very specific emotion and it’s done so well, i love it

1. Cruel summer

I LOVE THIS SONG. I LOVE THIS SONG. The lyrics are flighty and exciting and shivery, WHAT DOESNT KILL ME MAKES ME WANT YOU MORE- plug that shit into my VEINS. This song makes me feel like it’s 2015 and nothing is real yet and I’m living inside a YA novel and my biggest problem is my crush being mean to me and I’m RELISHING in that freedom and indulging every last drop of emotion because being alive and paying attention to it is incredible and Extremely Cool Actually (I DONT WANT TO KEEP SECRETS JUST TO KEEP YOU, dead right gal)

That said. Organise for the climate strike. Read up on what’s going on so you can answer questions in your family whatsapp group. Field those conversation, DO THAT EMOTIONAL LABOUR (again, what even), spread the word. But take care of yourself !!!! Listen to Taylor swift and remember that we are an absolute joke of a species, we went to the MOON, we can do this, I love you

[awkwardunicornblog-blog]

One thing that I’ve noticed about many students is that they have no idea how to take effective notes. It’s not their fault because it’s not like schools have room for classes specifically designed to teach students how to write notes. They expect kids to just know how to do it (even though most teachers’ PowerPoints are less than organized) and leave them with no idea of how to write notes that will benefit them later.

https://weheartit.com/entry/325386962

So, we just have a bunch of students writing down information they will never remember, care for, or look at again, and they do absolutely nothing for studying.

The only way to rectify the situation is to tell you how I write my notes and hope that the techniques I use will help you write better notes (otherwise, what am I even doing this for?).

At the end of this post, there is a lovely little graphic I made that will illustrate each of the points as eloquently as possible.

1. Include a Title and a Date

I know this seems elementary, but it is VITAL to have a title and a date. If you don’t have a title, your notes all just fall into one big blob of words that could or could not be related (who knows?). If you have to go back to double-check information, it could take seventeen years just to read through your notes and find the one page you need. A title summarizes the content in a few words, which helps when you’re navigating through a stack of paper taller than yourself. As for a date, it helps you organize your notes better. If you prefer to organize your notes from oldest to newest, all you’d have to do is check the date and file it exactly where it needs to be.

Simple enough. I hope.

2. Use Headers

I cannot express to you how important headers are. Let me explain their importance through a scenario: you’ve got three whole pages of notes about, I don’t know, calculus (bleh). There are dozens of example equations that serve to explain different purposes and techniques. But, none of them are labeled. It’s just a jumble of equations, and you have to play a stressful game to figure out which equation explains which technique.

All your troubles could have been saved if you had just put some headers up. Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.

(I’m not done, though, so please keep reading.)

3. Use Color!

This is where note-taking gets fun (I know I sound like a nerd). COLOR is what makes your headers and important ideas POP (which is a point I will specifically address next). All it takes is a quick swipe of a highlighter or a pen with ink other than black to make everything a little more friendly to your brain when you’re re-reading later. Having one big blob of black ink on the page with every sentence running into another isn’t pleasing to the eye, but adding a pop of blue or pink could brighten up your paper.

Even if you don’t have time to use color during the time you’re taking notes, take a few minutes after you’re done to highlight and mark important ideas. You’ll thank me later.

4. Mark Important Ideas

IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS, I WILL HAVE A MENTAL BREAKDOWN. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Any main idea or vocabulary word (no matter how well you think you know it) needs to be highlighted, written in a different color, capitalized, or set apart in one way or another. These are the ideas that the teacher will repeat over and over and over again. There is a reason they repeat it a million times (usually) and you need to remember it. The best way to do this is to make it a focal point in your notes.

Here are some ways you can mark important ideas:

Highlight

If you want to go an extra step, use different highlighter colors for different things: vocabulary is yellow, important people are green, important places are pink, main ideas are blue, etc.

Write it in a different color

CAPITALIZE IT (make it seem like you’re shouting it out into the void)

[Use brackets], -> arrows <-, *stars*, or other accessories to point it out.

Put a box or other shape around it to set it apart from other information.

Layer colors to make it pop.

You could even come up with your own way to draw attention to main ideas. Be as creative as you want!

5. Organize It

Organization is key when taking notes. Everything that is related needs to be grouped together under a heading or some sort of indicator of their relation.

And I BEG OF YOU to not write your notes like they’re an essay. Please. That is all I ask of you. Each point made needs to have its own line, and the easiest way to do this is to use bullet points. You could always get more creative in how you arrange your notes, but bullet points are a student’s best friend. Throw a bullet point in front of a note, and guess what? Your notes are already 50% more organized.

If you’re feeling spicy, you can always change the look of your bullet point: •, », →, ⇒, ♦, ◊, ~, *, etc. You could even draw a little dinosaur as a bullet point, and that is perfectly okay.

I’m not sure how productive it would be, but you could definitely do that.

Here are a couple photos I found from Pinterest that give just a few handwritten bullet point examples you can incorporate into your notes:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/301881981265218801/?lp=true

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/383931936968668751/?nic=1

6. Relate Difficult Ideas to Familiar Ideas

This may be a little confusing or weird to explain, but this is one of my most sacred note-taking tips, and I have to share it with the world. Remembering everything you are taught is really, really hard. Impossible, even. Especially when you just cannot grasp the examples a teacher is giving.

As crazy as it sounds, make up your own examples, and relate hard-to-remember topics to pop culture, sports, or other things that you enjoy. You’re going to have to put some brainpower into this, so if you are one of those students who do the bare minimum, you’re probably going to skip over this point (please don’t, though).

For me, I listen to a lot of music and pay attention to the celebrity world far more than I should. However, since I know a lot about those topics, I will make jokes and reference those things when I’m taking notes. I’ll even throw in some memes for good measure to drive a point home.

Make jokes, reference your favorite song, relate a historical figure to Taylor Swift, put in some memes, make harmless fun, and call it day.

7. Use Shorthand

Now, I know there are guides online that show a long list of words to shorten, but I feel like those words are always weird ones to shorten, and their abbreviations make absolutely no sense. I once saw someone shorten “book” to “bk.” Like what? That’s two letters less, friend. You’re not helping much.

Anyway, in today’s age, we have adapted our own little version of shorthand, and I’m pretty sure everyone has used it at some point: text abbreviations. Like, omg, I’m totally LOLing rn. I’m sure you have your own favorite abbreviations that could work just as well in your notes.

Also, if there’s a name you just keep repeating, and it’s a long, annoying name to write out, give him/her a nickname. Learning about George Washington? Call him G. Wash. Reading Romeo & Juliet? Call them Dumb and Dumber. Easy Peasy.

Another tip: leave out articles like ‘a,’ ‘an,’ and ‘the’ when writing. It’s a small change, but it could make a big difference. Also, use symbols like & and # to shorten long words. There’s an endless array of possibilities.

Just do whatever feels natural. Don’t force yourself to shorten words, then come back later and not know what in the world “bk” means (does it mean “bacon king?”).

8. Have Fun!

This sounds dumb to those of you who hate note-taking, but anything can be made fun if you put your mind to it. I have the best time writing notes because it brings out my creativity and forces me to think of ways I could remember the information.

If you’re super creative and artistic, turn your notes into a piece of artwork. Find new lettering techniques to create variety among headers. Doodle relevant cartoons in the corner. Think of interesting and unique ways to remember information (I once remembered the name of a river in New York because of Wizards of Waverly Place, if that tells you anything.)

Just don’t think of notes as a world-ending, death-inducing practice that was created to torture young minds. Think outside of the box and make it fun for yourself.

Bonus Tips

Remember that all these tips can be applied to typed-out notes as well. Especially typed notes. If anything, these tips work phenomenally well in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and anything other word processing machine because all the colors, highlighters, fonts, and font sizes are right there for you to use. Not to mention, you can actually paste those memes into your document (which actually help if you find the right ones).

Also, if you’re as big of a nerd as me or have a bunch of free time, don’t completely void the idea of rewriting your notes. I know. I’m the crazy lady telling you to rewrite your notes like it’s fun. But just try it. During class, a teacher could be going far too fast for you to keep up and make everything as organized as you want it. If you’ve got the time, rewriting notes and organizing them better is actually very helpful. Not only does it make your notes more readable, but rewriting them is also a studying method. Writing notes has been proven to improve memory, so if you’re struggling to study for a test, rewrite your notes.

Look, I know I sound insane, but if it works, it works.

Or I’m just a nerd. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, I hope this helped! Below is an example of my own notes from when I read The Scarlet Letter in English class. I rewrote them after class, and I have marked how I incorporated each point into them. There are also some side notes beside it to explain a couple other things I did.

  Example:

Header: For the header, I wrote down the chapter title and number because I didn’t know which one my teacher was going to refer to it by later.

Shorthand: I was tired of writing ‘Dimmesdale’ out every time, so I nicknamed him Dimmy. You can also see later that I refer to ‘Chillingworth’ as CW. I’m pretty sure I also referred to him as ‘Chili Fries’ later.

Bullet Points: When I indented again, I used a different bullet point to differentiate between the main idea and its smaller points.

***************************

Post-Its: This is kind of an add-on to organization because if you don’t have enough room on your paper or forgot to add something, post-it notes are your best friend. While they are attached to the paper, they can also be lifted or moved.

Make Jokes: I called the Puritan kids urchins, and next to it, you can see I included a little comment that says, “What a legend.” Those little side-notes can also be used to add in an idea that should probably be remembered but doesn’t quite fit the bullet’s main idea.

  Final Thoughts

If you are still struggling to visualize exactly what you want to do, I’ll leave a link to my Pinterest board on School Tips, which is full of more ideas and techniques that other Pinners have created. Just in general, Pinterest is an amazing place to find note-taking hacks and ideas.

Good luck, and enjoy the beautiful gif/meme below. 😀

-The Awkward Unicorn

When you realize note-taking doesn’t have to be torture.

https://tenor.com/search/jungshook-gifs

  Note-Taking Tips One thing that I’ve noticed about many students is that they have no idea how to take effective notes.

[wildynroam]

Tag game: blogs I would like to get to know better

thank you for tagging me @katiesmindpalace19912

RULES: Answer 28 questions and tag at least 20 blogs you would like to get to know better

Name: Wyndi

Nicknames: don’t have one

Gender: Female

Star sign: Capricorn

Height: 5′4

Birthday: December 28th

Favorite bands: I listen to mostly older stuff like Nine Inch Nails, Queen, My Chemical Romance, Smashing Pumpkins, Guns N Roses, Blondie

Favorite solo artists: Prince, David Bowie, Bruno Mars, George Michael, Amanda Palmer, Lana Del Rey, Sia, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Adele, and way too many more that I can’t think of right now

Song stuck in my head: I just watched Atomic Blonde the other day so Voices Carry has been on repeat in my brain ever since

Last movie i watched: Kong: Skull Island at home last night. It was just ehh.

Last show I watched: Hemlock Grove

When did i create my blog: Last week

Last thing I googled: Coupons for Cyber Monday shopping lol. I live a super exciting life, you guys

Do I have any other blogs: Nah

Do I get asks: Not yet

Why I chose my url: Because I’m in love with Bill Skarsgård at the moment lol

Following: 283

Followers: 66

Average hours of sleep: 5-7

Lucky number: 17

Instruments: Nope.

What am I wearing: T-shirt and camo sweats

dream job: Pediatric Nurse, actually what I’m in school for now

dream trip: Anywhere in Europe

Favorite food: Pizza

Nationality: American, but ethnic background is English, French, Irish, Native American. I’m pretty damn white.

Favorite song right now: I can’t pick a favorite, don’t do this to me

i tag: Everyone! I don’t really know anyone here yet so it’d be nice to know you all better 😂

[seecondthoughts]

I like Taylor Swift. And that’s okay.

Tay Tay is back y'all. And with this, my complete lack of shame for liking the most popular pop star among thirteen-year-olds. Are you ..Ready For It? I am. I am sitting here listening to iHeartRadio, where we get to listen to a new Reputation song every three songs… as long as you are willing to endure the old country Taylor songs for which I am definitely not crazy about. I am sorry, I just can’t with country, even Taylor country. And waiting until I can run to Target, to get her magazine-album release… Both of them.

God, how did I end up this way?

Rewind to middle-school me. 15-year-old me was all about the punk, the emo, and the rock. Cause it was cool being depressed, full of feelings, and up against the world. My wardrobe revolved around these feelings and this scene, and so it was a wardrobe screaming for help. But at 15 years old, whose wardrobe wasn’t? I have never met a 15-year-old who’s like I LOVE MYSELF, I AM AT MY END GAME HERE, AND THIS IS WHO I’LL BE THE REST OF MY LIFE.

Nope (If you are 15 don’t say that plz).

College was the time everything changed for me. I mean I am that cliched. I tried to resist the clutches of pop music along with its repetitive melodies. But it was impossible. Every time I would play the mainstream music of the moment I would feel like I Did Something Bad. I would play it silently on my headphones. Turn off the sharing features of what I was listening to. Because heaven forbid someone would see me playing some song everyone liked on repeat. OMG how could I be turning into this mainstream monster?! This was the trash music on the radio every day. They were the same songs over and over again carefully designed to be liked by the masses. And I was falling for it. But then it hit me: Why is it so wrong to sing and dance to the songs that were so carefully designed for the simple reason of being enjoyed?

Don’t Blame Me for going against natural instincts. For carelessly dancing to what feels right. For listening to what gives you an instant sense of happiness. For yelling some good catchy lyrics. Pure dopamine for the brain. It’s what feels right.

But changing your views on music is not that easy. Music is, after all, a Delicate subject for many. Telling someone you are into Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, or One Direction is taboo. Actually, I can tell you just started wondering if I like any of these three and started judging me a little there, you bitch. So the judging is the problem. Not the music. There are the fans and the haters. The fans are happy while the haters hate. The ones that think liking what everyone else likes makes you dumb and close-minded. For real. Who is close minded? The one listening to a little bit of everything, including what you call trash, or the one listening to a single type of music. Do you even know the meaning of being close-minded?

Close-minded: not willing to consider different ideas or opinions.

Look What You Made Me Do. I had to pull out the dictionary and there you go. You are welcome (and oh, so wrong and close-minded).

But let’s dig even deeper. One thing is liking what the masses enjoy, and another, subject to harsher general disapproval, is liking one of the previously mentioned artists. Because liking Beyonce is cool since she doesn’t write any songs about her exes. Wrong. Because liking Katy Perry is cool since she doesn’t write songs about her quarrels. Think again. Because liking Kanye West is cool because yeah he’s an asshole full of himself, but his music is dope. Uhm what? But liking T. Swift is for white dumb chicks with too many emotions. Because Taylor Swift releases an album for every ex. Because she does not sell her music, she sells her body. Because all her songs sound the same. Or So It Goes…

Come the fuck on. How can you expect Taylor Swift to not write songs about her exes when she is a twenty-something year old? If I could release all my feelings in a song and make it a fucking anthem for ‘merica I would fucking do it. Do you seriously expect her to appear on stage all covered up? It’s hot up there y'all, and she has designers lined up for her. So why not appear as sexy as she wants? Just like every other fucking pop singer in the world. I would come up with the craziest shit just to fuck with people. And finally, do you seriously think all her songs sound the same? Are you deaf? Wait, no. Because even a deaf person can distinguish musical vibrations and tell that her music is not all the same. So are you just stupid? Or tone deaf because you’ve been listening to the same shit all this time?

Let’s make something clear. Beyonce is Gorgeous, Katy Perry’s music is catchy, and Kanye West is quite talented. I like them all (Although Kanye does seem like a douchebag). Sorry to all the swifties reading this, but it’s true. It’s not like I know them personally, right? So why so much hate? It is a ridiculous thing to take a pop star’s drama so seriously. Chill.

I came to this realization the time I discovered Taylor Swift. I mean I knew she existed, I had the melodies of some of her songs already implanted in my head thanks to the horrible repetitiveness of radio music. But the first time I looked her up was the day of the MTV Awards fiasco with Kanye West. The poor girl probably wanted to get on a Getaway Car and never come back, or just be swallowed by the earth entirely. How could people have an opinion about this? She was what? Nineteen? Fuck off y'all. She was a kid. I am in my twenties and I like to falsely think I’ve matured from all that and become a grownup, but my current obsession with Pusheen the cat and my complete lack of 401K knowledge beg to differ. How can we all expect anything different from someone in the public eye? I became stressed just by seeing her up there, I can only imagine what she felt.

I googled the video everyone was talking about, You Belong With Me, and I liked it. I liked it, but I denied it. Closed it off, emptied my browser history, forgot about it, and that was that. Why? Refer to my lengthy explanation above.

I kept on enjoying some of her songs in secret until her masterpiece of 1989 came along and I could not hide it anymore. That album was gold. And if you think otherwise I respect your opinion, but you are still wrong. That album became my playlist on repeat. It was impeccable from beginning to end. All her melodies worthy to be heard, all the work was evident, her talent undeniable. I became a fan of her. I googled her. I followed her on all her platforms. And that album became my anthem, King of My Heart in every way. I fell in love.

Every time I would listen to a song from my girl T-Swift I would feel the happiness running through me. It was like when I discovered something as different as Blink 182, Arctic Monkeys, or The XX. Her music was different but the feelings were the same. How had Taylor Swift turned me to the dark side of pop? I found myself, Dancing With My Hands Tied, unable to escape the beats her music created inside of me. And I did not care.

It was like listening to something a little too late and something that seemed out of place. However, when I got my ticket for Formula One at Austin, Texas to see Taylor Swift for the very first time in 2016 everything felt just right. I’ve never been the Dress and heels kind of girl. I was never the girl that goes out and sings her lungs out in front of everyone. I have always been somewhat reserved and introverted. But that did not mean I could not enjoy it. That night I sang out loud to every song in the midst of about 250,000 people. I was not in the front row, nor was I in the back. I was not wearing any kind of Taylor Swift merchandise. But that did not mean I could not accept what was so evident: That this 1989 kid was full of talent and heart.

But people still found the time to complain. How could they bring a pop star to Formula One? I mean, last year we got Metallica and this year Taylor Swift. Formula One is really losing its touch. Blah, blah, blah. Let me tell you something, that did not stop anyone from going to her show. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things. We take them even if we don’t like them. We judge them even if we don’t need to. We complain even if they don’t affect us. Why can we just let go? It’s as if we enjoy the suffering, the gossiping, and the complaining. Let people listen to what they want, even if it’s something you don’t like. Let artists work on what they want, even if it is something created for the sole purpose of selling. Let people live their lives, even if they are in the public sphere for you to look at. After all, they are just regular people like you and me, only with a different job that requires them to look beautiful every second of the day. So just stop bitching all together, go do some yoga or something and be quiet for a minute.

On April of this year, Taylor Swift wiped out her whole Instagram account in order to get people’s attention after being absent for two years. She uploaded three photos of snakes. And she came back with a bang with a song designed to cause controversy and media attention and one of the best-produced videos I have ever seen. Call it attention whore, call it vengeful, call it immature. Call It What You Want. To me, that’s an intelligent move. Why? Because y'all fell right into it. Yes, you did. Did you watch the video? Did you hear the song? Then yes, you did. Stop denying it. Just. Stop. She drew attention to her new album and had everyone talking in a matter of hours. And the song? The song said something Taylor Swift had never been able to say before. That she did not care. She was fine with being called whatever. In fact, go ahead. Because that’s just more material she can use, and she does, and she will.

I was reassured of this after I got my copies of her beautiful magazines (yes I just drove to Target and I got both, fuck off). Reputation is different. Reputation is more than an album. It is a big fuck you to everyone that has gotten the best and worst of her before. It is an album written by someone that is laughing and enjoying herself. I was drawn to her romantic songs, smiling at her sarcasm, and having fun with her vibe. It is beautiful. Like any other 20-something-year-old, she’s not there yet, but she’s on her way to becoming herself, and the final outcome is not looking too bad.

So if you have gotten all the way to the end of this thank you. I am impressed myself that I got all the way to the end of writing this. I am late to the Swifty train, but better late than never right? While 1989 will always hold a special place in my heart, Reputation brought a new and improved Taylor Swift. Or like she says, Reputation brings the version Swift has chosen to show us, one that works better with the crazy world only she knows about. I will be over here feeding off of the talent she chooses to share with us and will be shaking it off to her music no matter if it’s the Fourth of July, New Year’s Day, or any regular day. Because I like @taylorswift . And that’s more than okay.