#like i complain so much abt swifties not discussing her actual songwriting process without doing shit myself

[milfygerard]

going through @likeadevils incredible timeline for RED and this quote keeps bouncing around my brain. Since the release of the 1989 TV tracks ive been thinking about how taylors writing style changed so sharply between red and 1989 and I really think this is the moment that that artistic shift really started. In some of the cut tracks for 1989 (especially suburban legends) taylor has her sort of country songwriter habit of creating those sort of unweildy lyrics that can veer off with rogue syllables and rhythms, barely contained in their strict pop structures, bursting at the seams. now I live this, but a perfect cohesive pop song that does not make, and 1989s core goal was just that. The perfect, cohesive pop songs, expressing her feelings through these succinct stabs built within a pop song structure with a steady consistent beat. Heartbreak you can dance to.

I think thats why some swifties feel less "emotion" in the lyrics of 1989 or tend to underrate them a bit. Its almost a complete change in writing ethos, its so not country. its not loose and not wordy, its still sharply written and filled with grand melodrama and intimate details, but in a completely different form from before.

This led to 1989 which is in many ways a Perfect album, specifically songs like blank space and style that I dont think could have existed without her experience writing trouble and the advice given by Max Martin. Adding this to her arsenal is what pushed her from a genre mix country-pop-rock type artist to a true blue pop star.

I have more thoughts on this, and I do think this style has held her back in some ways, but theyre kind of rambly and unformed so I'll stop here but like. Im just so obsessed with how her writing methods have changed over the years. I could write paragraphs on how much shes changed just from her relatively small amount of work done with aaron dessner. Taylor is such a collaborative artist, and makes her best work when shes working with someone new who can throw an entirely new challege her way and really force her out of her comfort zone.