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kingstylesdaily · 4 years

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Playtime With Harry Styles

via vogue.com

THE MEN’S BATHING POND in London’s Hampstead Heath at daybreak on a gloomy September morning seemed such an unlikely locale for my first meeting with Harry Styles, music’s legendarily charm-heavy style czar, that I wondered perhaps if something had been lost in translation.

But then there is Styles, cheerily gung ho, hidden behind a festive yellow bandana mask and a sweatshirt of his own design, surprisingly printed with three portraits of his intellectual pinup, the author Alain de Botton. “I love his writing,” says Styles. “I just think he’s brilliant. I saw him give a talk about the keys to happiness, and how one of the keys is living among friends, and how real friendship stems from being vulnerable with someone.”

In turn, de Botton’s 2016 novel The Course of Love taught Styles that “when it comes to relationships, you just expect yourself to be good at it…[but] being in a real relationship with someone is a skill,” one that Styles himself has often had to hone in the unforgiving klieg light of public attention, and in the company of such high-profile paramours as Taylor Swift and—well, Styles is too much of a gentleman to name names.

That sweatshirt and the Columbia Records tracksuit bottoms are removed in the quaint wooden open-air changing room, with its Swallows and Amazons vibe. A handful of intrepid fellow patrons in various states of undress are blissfully unaware of the 26-year-old supernova in their midst, although I must admit I’m finding it rather difficult to take my eyes off him, try as I might. Styles has been on a six-day juice cleanse in readiness for Vogue’s photographer Tyler Mitchell. He practices Pilates (“I’ve got very tight hamstrings—trying to get those open”) and meditates twice a day. “It has changed my life,” he avers, “but it’s so subtle. It’s helped me just be more present. I feel like I’m able to enjoy the things that are happening right in front of me, even if it’s food or it’s coffee or it’s being with a friend—or a swim in a really cold pond!” Styles also feels that his meditation practices have helped him through the tumult of 2020: “Meditation just brings a stillness that has been really beneficial, I think, for my mental health.”

Styles has been a pescatarian for three years, inspired by the vegan food that several members of his current band prepared on tour. “My body definitely feels better for it,” he says. His shapely torso is prettily inscribed with the tattoos of a Victorian sailor—a rose, a galleon, a mermaid, an anchor, and a palm tree among them, and, straddling his clavicle, the dates 1967 and 1957 (the respective birth years of his mother and father). Frankly, I rather wish I’d packed a beach muumuu.

We take the piratical gangplank that juts into the water and dive in. Let me tell you, this is not the Aegean. The glacial water is a cloudy phlegm green beneath the surface, and clammy reeds slap one’s ankles. Styles, who admits he will try any fad, has recently had a couple of cryotherapy sessions and is evidently less susceptible to the cold. By the time we have swum a full circuit, however, body temperatures have adjusted, and the ice, you might say, has been broken. Duly invigorated, we are ready to face the day. Styles has thoughtfully brought a canister of coffee and some bottles of water in his backpack, and we sit at either end of a park bench for a socially distanced chat.

It seems that he has had a productive year. At the onset of lockdown, Styles found himself in his second home, in the canyons of Los Angeles. After a few days on his own, however, he moved in with a pod of three friends (and subsequently with two band members, Mitch Rowland and Sarah Jones). They “would put names in a hat and plan the week out,” Styles explains. “If you were Monday, you would choose the movie, dinner, and the activity for that day. I like to make soups, and there was a big array of movies; we went all over the board,” from Goodfellas to Clueless. The experience, says Styles, “has been a really good lesson in what makes me happy now. It’s such a good example of living in the moment. I honestly just like being around my friends,” he adds. “That’s been my biggest takeaway. Just being on my own the whole time, I would have been miserable.”

Styles is big on friendship groups and considers his former and legendarily hysteria-inducing boy band, One Direction, to have been one of them. “I think the typical thing is to come out of a band like that and almost feel like you have to apologize for being in it,” says Styles. “But I loved my time in it. It was all new to me, and I was trying to learn as much as I could. I wanted to soak it in…. I think that’s probably why I like traveling now—soaking stuff up.” In a post-COVID future, he is contemplating a temporary move to Tokyo, explaining that “there’s a respect and a stillness, a quietness that I really loved every time I’ve been there.”

In 1D, Styles was making music whenever he could. “After a show you’d go in a hotel room and put down some vocals,” he recalls. As a result, his first solo album, 2017’s Harry Styles, “was when I really fell in love with being in the studio,” he says. “I loved it as much as touring.” Today he favors isolating with his core group of collaborators, “our little bubble”—Rowland, Kid Harpoon (né Tom Hull), and Tyler Johnson. “A safe space,” as he describes it.

In the music he has been working on in 2020, Styles wants to capture the experimental spirit that informed his second album, last year’s Fine Line. With his debut album, “I was very much finding out what my sound was as a solo artist,” he says. “I can see all the places where it almost felt like I was bowling with the bumpers up. I think with the second album I let go of the fear of getting it wrong and…it was really joyous and really free. I think with music it’s so important to evolve—and that extends to clothes and videos and all that stuff. That’s why you look back at David Bowie with Ziggy Stardust or the Beatles and their different eras—that fearlessness is super inspiring.”

The seismic changes of 2020—including the Black Lives Matter uprising around racial justice—has also provided Styles with an opportunity for personal growth. “I think it’s a time for opening up and learning and listening,” he says. “I’ve been trying to read and educate myself so that in 20 years I’m still doing the right things and taking the right steps. I believe in karma, and I think it’s just a time right now where we could use a little more kindness and empathy and patience with people, be a little more prepared to listen and grow.”

Meanwhile, Styles’s euphoric single “Watermelon Sugar” became something of an escapist anthem for this dystopian summer of 2020. The video, featuring Styles (dressed in ’70s-flavored Gucci and Bode) cavorting with a pack of beach-babe girls and boys, was shot in January, before lockdown rules came into play. By the time it was ready to be released in May, a poignant epigraph had been added: “This video is dedicated to touching.”

Styles is looking forward to touring again, when “it’s safe for everyone,” because, as he notes, “being up against people is part of the whole thing. You can’t really re-create it in any way.” But it hasn’t always been so. Early in his career, Styles was so stricken with stage fright that he regularly threw up preperformance. “I just always thought I was going to mess up or something,” he remembers. “But I’ve felt really lucky to have a group of incredibly generous fans. They’re generous emotionally—and when they come to the show, they give so much that it creates this atmosphere that I’ve always found so loving and accepting.”

THIS SUMMER, when it was safe enough to travel, Styles returned to his London home, which is where he suggests we head now, setting off in his modish Primrose Yellow ’73 Jaguar that smells of gasoline and leatherette. “Me and my dad have always bonded over cars,” Styles explains. “I never thought I’d be someone who just went out for a leisurely drive, purely for enjoyment.” On sleepless jet-lagged nights he’ll drive through London’s quiet streets, seeing neighborhoods in a new way. “I find it quite relaxing,” he says.

Over the summer Styles took a road trip with his artist friend Tomo Campbell through France and Italy, setting off at four in the morning and spending the night in Geneva, where they jumped in the lake “to wake ourselves up.” (I see a pattern emerging.) At the end of the trip Styles drove home alone, accompanied by an upbeat playlist that included “Aretha Franklin, Parliament, and a lot of Stevie Wonder. It was really fun for me,” he says. “I don’t travel like that a lot. I’m usually in such a rush, but there was a stillness to it. I love the feeling of nobody knowing where I am, that kind of escape...and freedom.”

GROWING UP in a village in the North of England, Styles thought of London as a world apart: “It truly felt like a different country.” At a wide-eyed 16, he came down to the teeming metropolis after his mother entered him on the U.K. talent-search show The X Factor. “I went to the audition to find out if I could sing,” Styles recalls, “or if my mum was just being nice to me.” Styles was eliminated but subsequently brought back with other contestants—Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik—to form a boy band that was named (on Styles’s suggestion) One Direction. The wily X Factor creator and judge, Simon Cowell, soon signed them to his label Syco Records, and the rest is history: 1D’s first four albums, supported by four world tours from 2011 to 2015, debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard charts, and the band has sold 70 million records to date. At 18, Styles bought the London house he now calls home. “I was going to do two weeks’ work to it,” he remembers, “but when I came back there was no second floor,” so he moved in with adult friends who lived nearby till the renovation was complete. “Eighteen months,” he deadpans. “I’ve always seen that period as pretty pivotal for me, as there’s that moment at the party where it’s getting late, and half of the people would go upstairs to do drugs, and the other people go home. I was like, ‘I don’t really know this friend’s wife, so I’m not going to get all messy and then go home.’ I had to behave a bit, at a time where everything else about my life felt I didn’t have to behave really. I’ve been lucky to always feel I have this family unit somewhere.”

When Styles’s London renovation was finally done, “I went in for the first time and I cried,” he recalls. “Because I just felt like I had somewhere. L.A. feels like holiday, but this feels like home.”

Behind its pink door, Styles’s house has all the trappings of rock stardom—there’s a man cave filled with guitars, a Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks poster (a moving-in gift from his decorator), a Stevie Nicks album cover. Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” was one of the first songs he knew the words to—“My parents were big fans”—and he and Nicks have formed something of a mutual-admiration society. At the beginning of lockdown, Nicks tweeted to her fans that she was taking inspiration from Fine Line: “Way to go, H,” she wrote. “It is your Rumours.” “She’s always there for you,” said Styles when he inducted Nicks into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. “She knows what you need—advice, a little wisdom, a blouse, a shawl; she’s got you covered.”

Styles makes us some tea in the light-filled kitchen and then wanders into the convivial living room, where he strikes an insouciant pose on the chesterfield sofa, upholstered in a turquoise velvet that perhaps not entirely coincidentally sets off his eyes. Styles admits that his lockdown lewk was “sweatpants, constantly,” and he is relishing the opportunity to dress up again. He doesn’t have to wait long: The following day, under the eaves of a Victorian mansion in Notting Hill, I arrive in the middle of fittings for Vogue’s shoot and discover Styles in his Y-fronts, patiently waiting to try on looks for fashion editor Camilla Nickerson and photographer Tyler Mitchell. Styles’s personal stylist, Harry Lambert, wearing a pearl necklace and his nails colored in various shades of green varnish, à la Sally Bowles, is providing helpful backup (Britain’s Rule of Six hasn’t yet been imposed).

Styles, who has thoughtfully brought me a copy of de Botton’s 2006 book The Architecture of Happiness, is instinctively and almost quaintly polite, in an old-fashioned, holding-open-doors and not-mentioning-lovers-by-name sort of way. He is astounded to discover that the Atlanta-born Mitchell has yet to experience a traditional British Sunday roast dinner. Assuring him that “it’s basically like Thanksgiving every Sunday,” Styles gives Mitchell the details of his favorite London restaurants in which to enjoy one. “It’s a good thing to be nice,” Mitchell tells me after a morning in Styles’s company.

MITCHELL has Lionel Wendt’s languorously homoerotic 1930s portraits of young Sri Lankan men on his mood board. Nickerson is thinking of Irving Penn’s legendary fall 1950 Paris haute couture collections sitting, where he photographed midcentury supermodels, including his wife, Lisa Fonssagrives, in high-style Dior and Balenciaga creations. Styles is up for all of it, and so, it would seem, is the menswear landscape of 2020: Jonathan Anderson has produced a trapeze coat anchored with a chunky gold martingale; John Galliano at Maison Margiela has fashioned a khaki trench with a portrait neckline in layers of colored tulle; and Harris Reed—a Saint Martins fashion student sleuthed by Lambert who ended up making some looks for Styles’s last tour—has spent a week making a broad-shouldered Smoking jacket with high-waisted, wide-leg pants that have become a Styles signature since he posed for Tim Walker for the cover of Fine Line wearing a Gucci pair—a silhouette that was repeated in the tour wardrobe. (“I liked the idea of having that uniform,” says Styles.) Reed’s version is worn with a hoopskirt draped in festoons of hot-pink satin that somehow suggests Deborah Kerr asking Yul Brynner’s King of Siam, “Shall we dance?”

Styles introduces me to the writer and eyewear designer Gemma Styles, “my sister from the same womb,” he says. She is also here for the fitting: The siblings plan to surprise their mother with the double portrait on these pages.

I ask her whether her brother had always been interested in clothes.

“My mum loved to dress us up,” she remembers. “I always hated it, and Harry was always quite into it. She did some really elaborate papier-mâché outfits: She made a giant mug and then painted an atlas on it, and that was Harry being ‘The World Cup.’ Harry also had a little dalmatian-dog outfit,” she adds, “a hand-me-down from our closest family friends. He would just spend an inordinate amount of time wearing that outfit. But then Mum dressed me up as Cruella de Vil. She was always looking for any opportunity!”

“As a kid I definitely liked fancy dress,” Styles says. There were school plays, the first of which cast him as Barney, a church mouse. “I was really young, and I wore tights for that,” he recalls. “I remember it was crazy to me that I was wearing a pair of tights. And that was maybe where it all kicked off!”

Acting has also remained a fundamental form of expression for Styles. His sister recalls that even on the eve of his life-changing X Factor audition, Styles could sing in public only in an assumed voice. “He used to do quite a good sort of Elvis warble,” she remembers. During the rehearsals in the family home, “he would sing in the bathroom because if it was him singing as himself, he just couldn’t have anyone looking at him! I love his voice now,” she adds. “I’m so glad that he makes music that I actually enjoy listening to.”

Styles’s role-playing continued soon after 1D went on permanent hiatus in 2016, and he was cast in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, beating out dozens of professional actors for the role. “The good part was my character was a young soldier who didn’t really know what he was doing,” says Styles modestly. “The scale of the movie was so big that I was a tiny piece of the puzzle. It was definitely humbling. I just loved being outside of my comfort zone.”

His performance caught the eye of Olivia Wilde, who remembers that it “blew me away—the openness and commitment.” In turn, Styles loved Wilde’s directorial debut, Booksmart, and is “very honored” that she cast him in a leading role for her second feature, a thriller titled Don’t Worry Darling, which went into production this fall. Styles will play the husband to Florence Pugh in what Styles describes as “a 1950s utopia in the California desert.”

Wilde’s movie is costumed by Academy Award nominee Arianne Phillips. “She and I did a little victory dance when we heard that we officially had Harry in the film,” notes Wilde, “because we knew that he has a real appreciation for fashion and style. And this movie is incredibly stylistic. It’s very heightened and opulent, and I’m really grateful that he is so enthusiastic about that element of the process—some actors just don’t care.”

“I like playing dress-up in general,” Styles concurs, in a masterpiece of understatement: This is the man, after all, who cohosted the Met’s 2019 “Notes on Camp” gala attired in a nipple-freeing black organza blouse with a lace jabot, and pants so high-waisted that they cupped his pectorals. The ensemble, accessorized with the pearl-drop earring of a dandified Elizabethan courtier, was created for Styles by Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, whom he befriended in 2014. Styles, who has subsequently personified the brand as the face of the Gucci fragrance, finds Michele “fearless with his work and his imagination. It’s really inspiring to be around someone who works like that.”

The two first met in London over a cappuccino. “It was just a kind of PR appointment,” says Michele, “but something magical happened, and Harry is now a friend. He has the aura of an English rock-and-roll star—like a young Greek god with the attitude of James Dean and a little bit of Mick Jagger—but no one is sweeter. He is the image of a new era, of the way that a man can look.”

Styles credits his style transformation—from Jack Wills tracksuit-clad boy-band heartthrob to nonpareil fashionisto—to his meeting the droll young stylist Harry Lambert seven years ago. They hit it off at once and have conspired ever since, enjoying a playfully campy rapport and calling each other Sue and Susan as they parse the niceties of the scarlet lace Gucci man-bra that Michele has made for Vogue’s shoot, for instance, or a pair of Bode pants hand-painted with biographical images (Styles sent Emily Adams Bode images of his family, and a photograph he had found of David Hockney and Joni Mitchell. “The idea of those two being friends, to me, was really beautiful,” Styles explains).

“He just has fun with clothing, and that’s kind of where I’ve got it from,” says Styles of Lambert. “He doesn’t take it too seriously, which means I don’t take it too seriously.” The process has been evolutionary. At his first meeting with Lambert, the stylist proposed “a pair of flares, and I was like, ‘Flares? That’s fucking crazy,’ ” Styles remembers. Now he declares that “you can never be overdressed. There’s no such thing. The people that I looked up to in music—Prince and David Bowie and Elvis and Freddie Mercury and Elton John—they’re such showmen. As a kid it was completely mind-blowing. Now I’ll put on something that feels really flamboyant, and I don’t feel crazy wearing it. I think if you get something that you feel amazing in, it’s like a superhero outfit. Clothes are there to have fun with and experiment with and play with. What’s really exciting is that all of these lines are just kind of crumbling away. When you take away ‘There’s clothes for men and there’s clothes for women,’ once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play. I’ll go in shops sometimes, and I just find myself looking at the women’s clothes thinking they’re amazing. It’s like anything—anytime you’re putting barriers up in your own life, you’re just limiting yourself. There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I’ve never really thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something.”

“He’s up for it,” confirms Lambert, who earlier this year, for instance, found a JW Anderson cardigan with the look of a Rubik’s Cube (“on sale at matches.com!”). Styles wore it, accessorized with his own pearl necklace, for a Today rehearsal in February and it went viral: His fans were soon knitting their own versions and posting the results on TikTok. Jonathan Anderson declared himself “so impressed and incredibly humbled by this trend” that he nimbly made the pattern available (complete with a YouTube tutorial) so that Styles’s fans could copy it for free. Meanwhile, London’s storied Victoria & Albert Museum has requested Styles’s original: an emblematic document of how people got creative during the COVID era. “It’s going to be in their permanent collection,” says Lambert exultantly. “Is that not sick? Is that not the most epic thing?”

“To me, he’s very modern,” says Wilde of Styles, “and I hope that this brand of confidence as a male that Harry has—truly devoid of any traces of toxic masculinity—is indicative of his generation and therefore the future of the world. I think he is in many ways championing that, spearheading that. It’s pretty powerful and kind of extraordinary to see someone in his position redefining what it can mean to be a man with confidence.”

“He’s really in touch with his feminine side because it’s something natural,” notes Michele. “And he’s a big inspiration to a younger generation—about how you can be in a totally free playground when you feel comfortable. I think that he’s a revolutionary.”

STYLES’S confidence is on full display the day after the fitting, which finds us all on the beautiful Sussex dales. Over the summit of the hill, with its trees blown horizontal by the fierce winds, lies the English Channel. Even though it’s a two-hour drive from London, the fresh-faced Styles, who went to bed at 9 p.m., has arrived on set early: He is famously early for everything. The team is installed in a traditional flint-stone barn. The giant doors have been replaced by glass and frame a bucolic view of distant grazing sheep. “Look at that field!” says Styles. “How lucky are we? This is our office! Smell the roses!” Lambert starts to sing “Kumbaya, my Lord.”

Hairdresser Malcolm Edwards is setting Styles’s hair in a Victory roll with silver clips, and until it is combed out he resembles Kathryn Grayson with stubble. His fingers are freighted with rings, and “he has a new army of mini purses,” says Lambert, gesturing to an accessory table heaving with examples including a mini sky-blue Gucci Diana bag discreetly monogrammed HS. Michele has also made Styles a dress for the shoot that Tissot might have liked to paint—acres of ice-blue ruffles, black Valenciennes lace, and suivez-moi, jeune homme ribbons. Erelong, Styles is gamely racing up a hill in it, dodging sheep scat, thistles, and shards of chalk, and striking a pose for Mitchell that manages to make ruffles a compelling new masculine proposition, just as Mr. Fish’s frothy white cotton dress—equal parts Romantic poet and Greek presidential guard—did for Mick Jagger when he wore it for The Rolling Stones’ free performance in Hyde Park in 1969, or as the suburban-mom floral housedress did for Kurt Cobain as he defined the iconoclastic grunge aesthetic. Styles is mischievously singing ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” to himself when Mitchell calls him outside to jump up and down on a trampoline in a Comme des Garçons buttoned wool kilt. “How did it look?” asks his sister when he comes in from the cold. “Divine,” says her brother in playful Lambert-speak.

As the wide sky is washed in pink, orange, and gray, like a Turner sunset, and Mitchell calls it a successful day, Styles is playing “Cherry” from Fine Line on his Fender acoustic on the hilltop. “He does his own stunts,” says his sister, laughing. The impromptu set is greeted with applause. “Thank you, Antwerp!” says Styles playfully, bowing to the crowd. “Thank you, fashion!”

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hldailyupdate · 4 years

Text

Playtime With Harry Styles

“There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I’ve never thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something”

I ask her whether her brother had always been interested in clothes.

Styles cuts a cool figure in this black-white-and-red-all-over checked coat by JW Anderson.

“It’s pretty powerful and kind of extraordinary to see someone in his position redefining what it can mean to be a man with confidence,” says Olivia Wilde

There are references aplenty in this look by Harris Reed, which features a Victoriana crinoline, 1980s shoulders, and pants of zoot-suit proportions.

#harry styles #harry update #article #vogue #november 2020

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hlupdate · 4 years

Link

Over the summer Styles took a road trip with his artist friend Tomo Campbell through France and Italy,setting off at four in the morning and spending the night in Geneva, where they jumped in the lake “to wake ourselves up.” (I see a pattern emerging.) At the end of the trip Styles drove home alone, accompanied by an upbeat playlist that included “Aretha Franklin, Parliament, and a lot of Stevie Wonder. It was really fun for me,” he says. “I don’t travel like that a lot. I’m usually in such a rush, but there was a stillness to it. I love the feeling of nobody knowing where I am, that kind of escape...and freedom.”

GROWING UP in a village in the North of England, Styles thought of London as a world apart: “It truly felt like a different country.” At a wide-eyed 16, he came down to the teeming metropolis after his mother entered him on the U.K. talent-search show The X Factor. “I went to the audition to find out if I could sing,” Styles recalls, “or if my mum was just being nice to me.” Styles was eliminated but subsequently brought back with other contestants—Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik—to form a boy band that was named (on Styles’s suggestion) One Direction. The wily X Factor creator and judge, Simon Cowell, soon signed them to his label Syco Records, and the rest is history: 1D’s first four albums, supported by four world tours from 2011 to 2015, debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboardcharts, and the band has sold 70 million records to date. At 18, Styles bought the London house he now calls home. “I was going to do two weeks’ work to it,” he remembers, “but when I came back there was no second floor,” so he moved in with adult friends who lived nearby till the renovation was complete. “Eighteen months,” he deadpans. “I’ve always seen that period as pretty pivotal for me, as there’s that moment at the party where it’s getting late, and half of the people would go upstairs to do drugs, and the other people go home. I was like, ‘I don’t really know this friend’s wife, so I’m not going to get all messy and then go home.’ I had to behave a bit, at a time where everything else about my life felt I didn’t have to behave really. I’ve been lucky to always feel I have this family unit somewhere.”

“There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I’ve never thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something”

Behind its pink door, Styles’s house has all the trappings of rock stardom—there’s a man cave filled with guitars, a Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks poster (a moving-in gift from his decorator), a Stevie Nicksalbum cover. Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” was one of the first songs he knew the words to—“My parents were big fans”—and he and Nicks have formed something of a mutual-admiration society. At the beginning of lockdown, Nicks tweeted to her fans that she was taking inspiration from Fine Line: “Way to go, H,” she wrote. “It is your Rumours.” “She’s always there for you,” said Styles when he inducted Nicks into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. “She knows what you need—advice, a little wisdom, a blouse, a shawl; she’s got you covered.”

Styles, who has thoughtfully brought me a copy of de Botton’s 2006 book The Architecture of Happiness,is instinctively and almost quaintly polite, in an old-fashioned, holding-open-doors and not-mentioning-lovers-by-name sort of way. He is astounded to discover that the Atlanta-born Mitchell has yet to experience a traditional British Sunday roast dinner. Assuring him that “it’s basically like Thanksgiving every Sunday,” Styles gives Mitchell the details of his favorite London restaurants in which to enjoy one. “It’s a good thing to be nice,” Mitchell tells me after a morning in Styles’s company.

I ask her whether her brother had always been interested in clothes.

“It’s pretty powerful and kind of extraordinary to see someone in his position redefining what it can mean to be a man with confidence,” says Olivia Wilde

#harry styles #vogue #131120

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its-bound-to-get-loud · 4 years

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Why I believe 5SOS didn’t work as a pop-punk band (+ my opinion on THAT Rolling Stone article)

This title of this post may be an unpopular opinion for a lot of you. But I don’t believe 5SOS worked as a pop-punk band. In this post I will explain exactly why. I hope that even if you don’t agree, you will at least understand my POV. This post is probably gonna have a lot of text. Not a lot of links, videos or pictures involved. I hope it will still be interesting for you. All of this is just my personal opinion, I have no way of proving that this is 100% true. It’s just a careful deduction of things I’ve seen and thought about over the last few months, mixed with some personal opinions. With this post I’m trying to tackle some topics that are being talked about often and showing them in a different light. I’ve put quite a lot of time into writing this, so I’m hoping you will appreciate it. Finally a huge, massive thank you to my friend R for proofreading this, it means a lot to me.

To start things off, I’ve had quite a lot of thoughts about this topic: I don’t think 5SOS truly worked as a pop-punk band. The image didn’t fit them and it wasn’t right for their era. It was a fun sound, I enjoy listening to it, they probably even enjoyed making it. Obviously fans enjoyed it as well. I fully believe that when they first started, pop-punk is what the guys wanted to sound like. It’s the music they listened to, those were the bands they looked up to. When they got signed they had not been a band for a super long time, they were young and barely had any experience in both life and music. I’m not someone with an extensive knowledge of pop-punk groups, but from what I know a lot of these bands were misfits, outcasts. People who didn’t feel like they had a place in society. In some cases from broken homes, with bad childhoods, etc. That’s who they were and it’s what their music was about.

I’d say 5SOS as whole do fit those characteristics. They were from a small town where music wasn’t really a career for most people. So they felt the need to get out of their town and pursue music. Michael dropped out of school for music, Ashton obviously had a very difficult home situation. Calum has mentioned that his family didn’t have a lot of money when he was younger. I’m not sure how the situation was for the others. But besides this, everyone but Ashton came from a stable home, Calum’s parents separated later on. So I can see why the guys related to these pop punk bands put out songs about this. Especially when you’re a teenager you often feel misunderstood by everyone else.

But when 5SOS started they looked more like a boyband than a pop punk band. Their earliest songs were mostly love songs. While the boys might have felt like being a pop punk band, and maybe even considered themselves to be one, I would say they were more of a pop/pop rock band.

In some cases a label can mold an artist or band into a certain image upon signing. But 5SOS had already gathered a following before they were even signed, so molding them into a rougher pop-punk image right upon signing would not have worked, it would not have been organic. They probably didn’t want to alienate the fans they already had, because they were valuable in getting the word out about 5SOS.

Their first manager, Adam Wilkinson, didn’t seem to think 5SOS would work as a pop-punk band as well. Just look at these quotes taken from That infamous 2015 Rolling Stone article (I will not link it, because I despise it, just google if you feel the need to read it).

“While they cannot cross into the realm of pop punk, they can stand on the sidelines and capture the end of that market.”

“They always wanted to be Blink 182 or Good Charlotte, but I’ll be the first to admit I thought that was shooting too far,” says Wilkinson. “We tried to make them a little more pop.”

That last quote is basically what happened. 5SOS ended up connected to One Direction, a huge pop act at the time. A connection that wasn’t as much of a “coincidence” as they wanted to make it look like. Louis was never the one to truly discover 5SOS, this was simply a smart PR decision to connect 5SOS to the 1D fanbase and grow their audience. I highly suggest reading this post that lays out exactly how 5SOS came to get signed and how their connection to 1D began. You will see that there is clear evidence that it didn’t happen like they wanted us to believe.

And let’s be real. Take a look at this early 5SOS picture. Does this look like the next Green Day or All Time Low? They all look like the boy next door, with maybe the exception of Michael. Basically they had the looks of a boyband, and while they never have been a traditional boyband (and certainly aren’t now), they certainly were marketed as one early on. This is a label that still sticks to them to this day.

I fully believe that their team (management/record label) tried to slowly evolve them into a more pop-punk image as they got bigger. They couldn’t ride the 1D train forever and had to stand on their own 2 feet. That’s where we arrive at the Sounds Good Feels Good era. This is a fascinating era for me, because there is a shift. Their looks start changing, suddenly they slowly become rockstars, piercings start happening. The boys are growing up. They are old enough to drink, girls are in the picture, etc. Musically it’s also clear that their sound is changing. The self-titled album is still fairly pop-rock, 1D but a little edgier perhaps. Sounds Good Feels Good is the more pop-punk album. But is it really? Because as most fans will know, the album knows 2 sounds. It has the clear pop-punk bops, such as Money or Safety Pin (to name a few), but there’s also some songs that already predict the sound for Youngblood such as, for example, Waste The Night and Vapor. It’s clear to me that while they probably still enjoyed their pop-punk sound the guys were growing up and were slowly discovering what music their sound as a band should be.

If we’re being honest for a moment. What songs from SGFG really feel the most personal? Sure, She’s Kinda Hot is a bop, but what about Vapor? Vapor is by far my favorite song on the album, it tells me a story, it makes me feel emotion. Now I’m very biased towards SKH, because (unpopular opinion) I don’t like the song much because of the lyrics. But that’s a different story (we may get to that someday). There is nothing wrong with a song that’s a bop, you need those. I could enjoy SKH if it wasn’t for the lyrics. But bops can have meaning too. SKH doesn’t in my opinion. Besides the fact that the guys were growing up and maturing their sound, the music scene just wasn’t very pop-punk or even rock based anymore. It wasn’t a sound that was popular anymore.

I took a look at the billboard charts and pulled some statistics. Friday October 23 was the release date for SGFG. The Top 3 Billboard hot 100 songs that week were

The Weeknd – The Hills

Drake – Hotline Bling

Justin Bieber – What Do You Mean?

The songs/artists closest to 5SOS in sound in the WHOLE Billboard Hot 100 that week were One Direction – Drag Me Down, Fall Out Boy – Uma Thurman and Twenty One Pilots – Stressed Out. That’s 3 songs in a list of 100 songs and you can debate how close the sound of those actually was to the sound of 5SOS at the time.

Taking a look at the Billboard 200 Year-End chart, the #1 is Taylor Swift – 1989. SGFG ended up at #136 (keep in mind that the album was released in October, so close to the end of the year). 5SOS self-titled ended up at #73. The LIVESOS album ranked #176. There’s a few other records that can be considered rock in the list, but barely any pop-punk in the whole chart. The only one to be considered for that title would be Fall Out Boy’s – American Beauty/American Psycho album, which was #15.

Pop-punk or rock in general, wasn’t a popular sound that topped the charts around the time 5SOS got started as a mainstream act. Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week 5SOS released their first ep (Unplugged) was Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. The real mainstream success of pop-punk was mostly in the late 90’s running all the way through the early 2000’s. This is why I wonder why the label tried to make them into a pop-punk band in the first place. My best guess is that their team relied on the fans to push the success of the band forward after they came off of 1D’s Where We Are tour. They might have tried to create an edgier version of 1D with similar success. Where you create a fan base that is big enough to support the band without the need of casual listeners or fans from different demographics (male, female, old, young, etc.).

I think they relied too much on 1D fans to gravitate towards 5SOS as well, which may have been a mistake. Not all 1D fans actually liked 5SOS, some even actively stayed away from them the more they were pushed under their noses. When I entered the 1D fandom in 2014 most things I saw about 5SOS were negative. 1D fans considered them problematic and didn’t like them. This is partially why I steered away from 5SOS at the time. Besides that, I had enough going on with 1D to keep me occupied. Of course 5SOS’s fan base still grew quite a bit from the 1D exposure, but they never got to the same heights as 1D did. In several interviews the guys have said that they were being called “the biggest band that nobody has ever heard of”.

On a more personal note. As a recent fan, the whole pop-punk image never felt very genuine to me. Which might be because I came into the fandom backwards, starting with CALM and going back to their older material after that (side note: I did listen to the Youngblood album once or twice before). Don’t get me wrong, I love SGFG, I play it regularly. Money is a banger, Hey Everybody!, a bop, Permanent Vacation, love it! But as a fan I like to identify with songs and recognize that the artist is telling something that is personal to them. I don’t get that feeling from some of these songs.

An example of a song that is emotional, yet (mostly) not personal to the band is Broken Home. It’s a beautiful song, but I generally skip it. 1, because it’s a very sad song and it’s not always something I’m in the mood for. 2, because it’s not a song I relate to on a personal level. And most importantly 3, I don’t see the song relating to 5SOS as people, other than maybe Ashton. An interesting quote about the song, made by their producer John Feldman, is on the genius page for this song.

“Other than Ashton, the three guys have parents who are still together. Ashton has never met his father. Ashton really connected into the theme. “We’re saying something with this song, it’s going to connect with the audience, at least 50% of our audience comes from broken homes. We’re actually taking a stand.” The other guys are loyal and family-driven and sweet, so they were like, “What are our parents going to think about us singing about a broken home when we don’t come from broken homes? How authentic is it?” It was a two-month debate.”

So the guys themselves were already questioning the authenticity of the topic when they were recording it. Ashton connected to the theme of the song, but the others didn’t. It wasn’t something they had experienced. It doesn’t say why the song made it on the album anyway. As stated in the quote, a lot fans can relate to it. I’m sure many fans found comfort in the song, which is a nice thing. The song doesn’t make you relate to the band though. If any of them had written this song from a personal experience it would have connected a lot differently. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that the song is not personal, it just doesn’t feel very genuine when you know the artist has no relation to the story they are telling.

Moving on to the 2015 Rolling Stone article I have mentioned before. This seems to cause some division among fans. Was it all true or was it made up? My opinion is that it’s a mixture of truth and BS. But a whole lot of it feels taken out context or exaggerated. I have been a fan since March, so I wasn’t around at the time this came out. But since becoming a fan I have watched tons of interviews and clips and have extensively discussed this band with my friend, so I’d like to say I have done my homework and have a good picture of this band. On top of that I’d like to think being a 1D fan sharpened my critical thinking skills and might have helped me see through certain bullshit. I don’t claim to be the person with all the answers, but maybe my thoughts make sense to some people. There might be some context that I’m missing or facts that I haven’t come across, if you feel like there’s a piece of information I’m missing, feel free to let me know.

The way the article starts, it reads like fanfiction. Literally. The extensive description of the surroundings, the time of day, everything. The first time I read it, it made me cringe so hard I had trouble getting through the whole thing. First things first. This interview takes place the day after the AMA’s. Who the fuck scheduled this? Either someone should have prevented them from getting drunk and partying, or they should have scheduled this on another day when these guys were in a better state of mind. That is, assuming things went the way they went as described in the article. Which is something I highly doubt.

The only direct source saying that this article is not genuine is this tweet from Luke. Besides that I have only read secondhand that the band and people surrounding them have spoken up about the inaccuracy of the article.

Some people believe 5SOS could have sued Rolling Stone for slander if this article was really as false as they claim. Now I’m no lawyer, but this is not how things work in the entertainment industry. An article like this has been agreed upon before. The interviewer didn’t just decide to drop by one day. During celebrity interviews there’s always someone from their management or PR team around to make sure they don’t say any stupid shit. Celebrities are a brand, they have an image to protect, albums to sell. If they say things that make them look bad it can cause damage to their good name. Record companies have invested money in artists and they want to see a profit in return. They don’t want to risk losing money, that’s why celebrities have PR teams. RS may have had a reputation for being a very honorable publication, but these days that’s not the case. They are not that far removed from cheap gossip rags such as the Sun or The Daily Mail nowadays. They still get read by a lot of people, which puts them in a position of power. Often when an interview takes place there are certain topics that have been agreed upon before, there are also topics that can be blacklisted if the artist or their team doesn’t want them talked about. For example relationships or family matters. These will also be agreed upon beforehand.

Here is a story about a former journalist for the British tabloid The Daily Star, who has admitted to making up stories and explains how they get away with it.

For arguments sake, let’s say the guys slipped up and showed their “true colors”. With a big publication like this it’s common that their team would have to approve the article before it comes out. If there’s anything in there that was not agreed upon that they don’t like, the article can be edited.

This leaves us a few possibilities.

The article is completely true and their team is shit at their job. They failed to prevent the boys from slipping up about stuff they shouldn’t and did nothing to stop Rolling Stone from publishing.

The article is true and their team just allowed the article to be published for whatever reason.

The article isn’t true, but their team let it happen anyway, possibly because they wanted to move the band away from their boyband image into a more punk-rock image that went with their sound.

My vote goes out to the last one. I think their team wanted to make the boys look more edgy/punk-rock and get rid of their boyband image and this is how they tried to do it. I think parts of the article may be true, but a lot of it is greatly exaggerated and in some cases made up. If my theory is true, it also means 5SOS or their team had no reason to sue Rolling Stone if they wanted to. Because it would mean you have a major publication on your bad side, which means no more future promotional opportunities for the band and/or the label. While Rolling Stone may be trash, it’s a publication that a lot of people read. Therefore it’s a very important connection that you don’t want on your bad side.

If you still think they could have sued Rolling Stone then take a look at some examples from 1D. 1D has been targeted by the British tabloid The Sun for YEARS. They wrote the most awful shit, a lot of it not true. Yet they still had exclusive scoops whenever something important happened. Exclusive meaning, these topics were given to them exclusively for publishing. It was proven that their PR manager is friends with the journalist from The Sun responsible for most of the stuff written. 1D never sued The Sun for those articles, because they most likely were agreed upon by their team beforehand. 1D has never tried suing the Sun over anything, despite what they wrote. This was not 1 article, these were many articles. Especially towards the end of 1D, when it was clear their label was losing 1D, there was a smear campaign in the media to discredit 1D and its members. There was a chance some members were going to sign with a competing label, and that’s something their label didn’t like. Here is a good collection of headlines from that smear campaign. Nobody ever got sued over these articles.

Do you still think 5SOS could have just stood up and sued Rolling Stone? The entertainment business is full of politics. If you don’t play the game you’re out. Also, question yourself. Why does Luke still say the article was twisted and inaccurate 4,5 years later? He has owned up and apologized for past mistakes, yet he keeps insisting the article didn’t tell the truth. He even goes to say that the article “broke and hurt him”. If you believe Luke is still covering his ass for what he said in that article, that essentially would he mean he is emotionally manipulating people by saying the article hurt him. Is that the person you think Luke is?

1 more thing I want to point out. Yes, I am aware of the fact that Calum has a large version of the magazine cover hanging around in his house. I can’t say exactly why. This is my best guess. That cover was still a big thing in their career, despite the article, it is still a Rolling Stone cover. That’s a milestone that not every artist gets to do in their career. Just because he has the cover hanging around doesn’t mean he enjoyed the article that came with it.

This whole post has gotten super long, it may not be the easiest thing to get through. So thank you if you made it till the end. As stated before, this whole thing is mostly just my opinion. But the parts about how PR teams work are a fact. I do not work in the music or entertainment industry, I’m not a lawyer, so I may have gotten some things wrong. If I did, please let me know and I will try to fix it. Feedback is always appreciated.

#5 Seconds Of Summer #Ashton Irwin #Calum Hood #Luke Hemmings #Michael Clifford #5SOS #musical direction #pop-punk #Sounds Good Feels Good #Rolling Stone #original

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transparenttriumphzombie · 3 years

Photo

Harry Styles On Vogue

Source:

https://www.vogue.com/article/harry-styles-cover-december-2020/amp?__twitter_impression=true

From Vogue MAGAZINE

Playtime With Harry Styles

“There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I’ve never thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something”

I ask her whether her brother had always been interested in clothes.

“He’s up for it,” confirms Lambert, who earlier this year, for instance, found a JW Anderson cardigan with the look of a Rubik’s Cube (“on sale at matchesfashion.com!”). Styles wore it, accessorized with his own pearl necklace, for a Today rehearsal in February and it went viral: His fans were soon knitting their own versions and posting the results on TikTok. Jonathan Anderson declared himself “so impressed and incredibly humbled by this trend” that he nimbly made the pattern available (complete with a YouTube tutorial) so that Styles’s fans could copy it for free. Meanwhile, London’s storied Victoria & Albert Museum has requested Styles’s original: an emblematic document of how people got creative during the COVID era. “It’s going to be in their permanent collection,” says Lambert exultantly. “Is that not sick? Is that not the most epic thing?”

“It’s pretty powerful and kind of extraordinary to see someone in his position redefining what it can mean to be a man with confidence,” says Olivia Wilde

Hairdresser Malcolm Edwards is setting Styles’s hair in a Victory roll with silver clips, and until it is combed out he resembles Kathryn Grayson with stubble. His fingers are freighted with rings, and “he has a new army of mini purses,” says Lambert, gesturing to an accessory table heaving with examples including a mini sky-blue Gucci Jackie bag discreetly monogrammed HS. Michele has also made Styles a dress for the shoot that Tissot might have liked to paint—acres of ice-blue ruffles, black Valenciennes lace, and suivez-moi, jeune homme ribbons. Erelong, Styles is gamely racing up a hill in it, dodging sheep scat, thistles, and shards of chalk, and striking a pose for Mitchell that manages to make ruffles a compelling new masculine proposition, just as Mr. Fish’s frothy white cotton dress—equal parts Romantic poet and Greek presidential guard—did for Mick Jagger when he wore it for The Rolling Stones’ free performance in Hyde Park in 1969, or as the suburban-mom floral housedress did for Kurt Cobain as he defined the iconoclastic grunge aesthetic. Styles is mischievously singing ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” to himself when Mitchell calls him outside to jump up and down on a trampoline in a Comme des Garçons buttoned wool kilt. “How did it look?” asks his sister when he comes in from the cold. “Divine,” says her brother in playful Lambert-speak.

#harry styles #non binary #men wearing dress #harry styles in dress #transgender #trans pride #transgender woman #dresses #men in dresses #dress

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hemlockyy · 4 years

Text

A response to this tweet:

https://twitter.com/LETMEVOL6/status/1318301718610923520?s=19

"ok. i’m bout to ask a question to the larries. yalls whole argument is that simon and modest are homophobic right? please explain to me how Harry got away with being such a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community while being in One Direction? Why was harry the only one dropping hints on his sexuality. if they were so dead set on pushing this heterosexual narrative onto the boys then how did Harry get away with the things that he did? harry was dropping hints at his attraction to males. no, not with over analyzed song lyrics. i mean dead ass saying it. I genuinely want to know because Harry‘s been out of the closet for years now .y’all claim that Louis is closete. Harry managed to get out of the “evil clutches of Simon Cowell“ what stopping Louis and doing the same? unless this whole Larry theory was a lie and y’all were bored like, can someone please tell me why that happened? if Harry is allowed to be so open about his sexuality what stopping louis? if Harry got away from Simon would stopping in Louis they all have the same opportunity Harry may be the richest member but Louis can’t be that far back so tell me how did Harry manage to get away and be so open about his attraction of males and louis didn’t? i genuinely don’t get that."

Harry has been refering to his partner as gender neutral since forever, its not something he dropped hints on.

Not only that you have to also consider the narratives management pushed upon each of them aswell: Ima try to do a brief summary on H and Lou only, as this is reffered to Larries.

Louis: Perfect Boyfriend, a stable girlfriend throughout the years, influencer pretty girlfriend, no background on her so no backlash, constant papwalks on them and the occasional 'theyre toguether' tweets. Literally what it would be normalized as a happy relationship.

Harry: Fuck Boy, dated a lot of people, womaniser, headlines every week linking him to a new person, kendall, Taylor, Caroline etc, all big names yet all stunts, papwalks, 18 months of dating or interaction then never talked about again, the boy to wisk you away to a magical night then leave you the next morning.

Now taking these both you can see they are very different narratives, thus enabling them for two very distinctive ways to hinting at their sexuality with us.

Louis due to stunt reasons had to make his love songs (or his songs overall) seem like they hint at a specific girl, eleanor. Building up on the narrative they've had over the years. So while he can't directly call out his 'perfect woman' in gender neutral pronouns like Harry does, he CAN on the other hand choose what he specifies her as: a good chef, long brown hair paired with a british accent.

Very specific things that very obviously link to Harry while making press and hets think its towards Eleanor.

That one interview which didn't air where Louis said he had a boyfriend...

But this is just verbal. Lyric whise Louis has been more open and smart then anyone I've ever listened to-

The lyrics directly paralleling gay relationship, the struggles, the fear of not being able to be with them... Everything that a Heterosexual reletionship would NEVER experience. A few examples:

→Alive - One Direction (Louis) MM

"My mama told me I should go and get some therapy"

"I asked the doctor, "can you find out what is wrong with me? I don't know why I wanna be with every girl I meet"

"I can't control it"

"She said, "hey, it's alright Does it make you feel alive?"

"We got to live before we get older. Do what we like, we got nothing to lose. Shake off the weight of the world from your shoulders. Oh, we got nothing to prove"

"Went to a party just after the doctor talked to me, I met a girl, I took her in up to the balcony, I whispered something in her ear that I just can't repeat, She said, "okay" but she was worried what her friends will think"

This whole song is about questioning you sexuality and realizing you like the same sex.

Read over the lyrics and change:

girl - boy

she/her - he/him

and you'll see what I mean

→End Of The Day (Louis and Liam) MITAM

"Love can be frightening for sure"

"All I know at the end of the day is you want what you want and you say what you say, And you'll follow your heart even though it'll break, Sometimes"

"All I know at the end of the day is love who you love, There ain't no other way, If there's something I've learnt from a million mistakes, You're the one that I want at the end of the day"

"The priest thinks it's the devil, My mum thinks it's the flu, But girl it's only you"

"When the sun goes I know that you and me and everything will be alright, And when the city's sleeping, you and I can stay awake and keep on dreaming"

this whole song (apart from that one "girl") is just a huge gay awakening. If you keep the girl its a wlw anthem then.

some more exaples from scattered songs:

"There's a moment when you finally realize, There's no way you can change the rolling tide" -Ready To Run

"There will always be the kind that criticize, But I know, yes I know we'll be alright" -Ready To Run

"Told myself I kind of liked her, But there was something missing in her eyes" -Home

"I was stumbling, looking in the dark , With an empty heart, But you say you feel the same"-Home

"Still high with a little feeling, I see the smile as it starts to creep in, It was there, I saw it in your eyes" -Home

"But I know you're only hiding, And I just wanna see you" -Through The Dark

"And I can see your head is held in shame, But I just wanna see you smile again" -Through The Dark

"And I will hold you closer, Hope your heart is strong enough" -Through the dark

"People say we shouldn't be together, We're too young to know about forever" -TDKAU

"They don't know about the things we do, They don't know about the "I love yous"-TDKAU

these are just some out of the many Louis wrote. You can see where I'm going with it now.

and im not even going to touch i to all the shading Louis did with his clothes, tattoos, actions etc...

Now, Harry 'got away' with those actions because of various reasons, but I wouldn't say that he got away, I'd call it more of a "You stop me from doing this we will get backlash for possible homophobia and then y'all lose money so suck it up fuckers we're going on a rainbow ride" which is true; Yes, Harry did always refer to his ideal partner in gender neutral forms, but during the rainbow direction project was when he really amped it up so he could always go with the casual "I'm just supporting my fans, there's no harm in that" when confronted about it, which includes him waving the flags around and all the other stuff.

But it also seems you all are forgetting about how along with all the Queer!Harry we got, we also got more and more headlines of Wom!Harry, more stunts and etc: 5 different official relationships (not counting Kendal twice, which would make 6) between late 2014-early 2016 ALSO NOT COUNTING RUMOURED GIRLFRIENDS which then would make the list go so much higher, Harry couldn't before and still can't hang out with WOMEN or else there will be rumours of them dating.

And this doesn't happen with Men :/ He can hang put with multiple men, and there probably will be barelly one and a half articles written about it -only by small outlets- which in comparison to when he is seen hanging our with a 'mysterious woman' we'll get hundreds of articles about it in a span of an hour.

So what I'm trying to say is that sadly he can still call his ideal partner a he and be seen kissing a guy that the media probably will focus on the chick on the background and write an article like "Harry Styles seen out with friends in LA and he seemed extra cozy with mysterious blonde".

But again, the same with Louis, he hints at us about his sexuality so much, be it us the only one who properly listens to him.

With his songs and the flags and the pins and everything.

Here's some of his lyrics from the Oned era:

"We were meant to be but a twist of fate, Made it so you had to walk away" -Happily

"I don't care what people say when we're together"-Happily

"I can't even think straight but I can tell, You were just with her"-JABOYL

"And nothing's ever easy, That's what they say"-JABOYL

"Pay attention, I hope that you listen 'cause I let my guard down, Right now I'm completely defenseless"-If I Could Fly

"I've got scars even though they can't always be seen, And pain gets hard, but now you're here and I don't feel a thing"-If I Could Fly

"One day you'll come into my world and say it all, You say we'll be together even when you're lost"-Something Great

"I want you here with me, Like how I pictured it, So I don't have to keep imagining"-Something Great

"The script was written and I could not change a thing, I want to rip it all to shreds and start again"-Something Great

"You're all I want, So much it's hurting"-Something Great

So yeah, its sad that you just alienated that one thing without having context nor looking at the bigger picture. If I missed anything please tell me. :]

sorry for the long post

(copied from my answer on twitter)

#answer to tweet #I wish tumblr had a option #This is copied from my response on twitter #They listerally ask the sumbest questions ffs #It was fun #such a long time I haven't written something like this

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mooosicaldreamz · 5 years

Note

please do a song by song review of lover i beg u

oh......u didn’t have to beg!!!! i’ll give it to you 4 FREE.

I FORGOT THAT YOU EXISTED: what i enjoy about this song is that it is fun and not especially mean, just like, shrug emoji. i think sometimes when ur in a relationship that is not especially amazing and you reach the point where you forget that you dated someone is the funniest thing and its such a strange moment. it’s a good tonesetter for the album, bc its so fun and chill and like, whatever. it has the same energy that i think we are never getting back together wanted to have. i LOVE the “i just forget what they were” breakdown. what a fun, bouncy song. easy listening to start the album. calvin harris rip.

CRUEL SUMMER: i love jack antanoff vERY much and have liked his work with fun. and as bleachers, and i think his production on lorde and taylor’s albums has been so wonderful. this song just reeks of him and it’s so like, ascendent, how it builds up and up into the chorus. i think it’s interesting that she reaches so high on the chorus. “summer’s a knife/i’m always waiting for you to cut to the bone/devils roll the dice/angels roll their eyes.” the breakdown is once again wonderful abt crying in the back of the cab on the way back from the bar - i feel like this album and its concept brings a much more natural version of taylor that i think has largely (and perhaps rightfully, considering the evolution of her fame and craft) been in hiding since probably red but maybe even since speak now. “I LOVE YOU AIN’T THAT THE WORST THING YOU EVER HEARD // HE LOOKS SO PRETTY LIKE A DEVIL” while she’s screaming it is more exuberant than ANYTHING on 1989 or rep (and i love both of those albums).

LOVER: i love how sleepy soft this song is, i love how simple it is, and it’s made me cry like, six times. the wedding band sound is just, so fun and beautiful. it really makes me feel like i’m drunk, happy, and dancing really slow on an emptying dancefloor. i’m going to assume that was the vibe. it’s so soft. god it feels like a cloud. i enjoy how simple the lyrics are in this song, and how the words get to breathe and simmer. they take on a lot of meaning bc of how much space they’re given by the echo and by pacing. it’s so nice. i’ve gone back and forth on whether i like the wedding vows thing, but i think it might be nice. i love “swear to be overdramatic AND TRUE! to my lover”

THE MAN: the bumpy sound of the bass beat is really fun, and i think the song is a good bop, but it doesn’t say anything i don’t already know - but i think taylor bringing up the back end on the Woke train, trying to reach all those people who still aren’t totally sure about the gays or feminism but also think trump is terrible and are now reconsidering their life choices is a fine enough goal for her social justice initiatives. also i just realized she says “getting bitches and models” which she already does, you don’t have to pretend taylor

THE ARCHER: this song is sonic perfection the rolling synths the dreamy voice, the awful awful breakdown at the end of “they see right thru me / can you see right thru me / i see right thru me” “help me hold onto you” i just ... can’t handle this song. it’s perfect. i like the implication throughout this album that taylor is in Love, the big real kind, and i support her and joe bc i think it’s obvious their relationship has totally like, taken her to a new and good emotional space. anyway i like the implication that taylor fell in real, big Love and realized that love is still a fucking mess, like it doesn’t solve all the problems. “ALL OF MY HEROES DIE ALL ALONE” i mean come on. i hate her

I THINK HE KNOWS: this song is a bop “i think he knows his hands around a cold glass make me wanna know that body like it’s mine” is a stn move. the rumbly noise in the chorus and the synthy breakdown is a beast, it owns itself. there’s a real comfortable self-confidence that i, once again, maintain has been missing from taylor’s music up until now. also that moaning noise distracts me every time. “hand on my thigh/we can follow the sparks/i’ll drive” tAYLOR! inappropriate. i’ve seen some takes on this song that it’s not a fave, but it’s a fun song and people are wrong. there’s not one song on this album that i’m like this is bad in the way that i DO NOT like some songs on rep

MISS AMERICANA AND THE HEARTBREAK PRINCE: the first thing i thought when i heard this song is that it sounds like lana del rey. give it a re-listen, it does. sounds just like idk, “high by the beach” but it also rings a bell for me of electra heart era marina and the diamonds (like “teen idle”). i like this song a lot, even though it’s relatively oblique in my opinion on what it’s.....actually about. “you play stupid games / you win stupid prizes” is a great lyric in masterful taylor swift fashion bc it looks stupid when u write it on paper. i like the shouting breakdown thing that happens on the back end of the song with go/fight/win (OH I JUST GOT that, it’s like cheerleaders shouting). i’m a fan of it, but it’s an oddball on the tracklist.

PAPER RINGS: this song rings with a lot of red’s chaotic energies but with the adult sensibilities that she’s rolling with on this album. i love the sort of down-home shouty stuff happening on the verses, and the “kiss me once / kiss me twice / three times” bridge. it’s a good one. “i hate accidents/except when we went from friends to this” is a fun and good lyric. i LOVE the key change i LOVE the “wrap your arms around me baby boy” for some reason very much.

CORNELIA STREET: i mean obviously this song is wonderful. i’ve seen much Discourse about this song being related to Kaylor which seems plausible. it’s clear that taylor wrote some of these songs in the present tense when they’re in the past, which i think is really interesting. i LOVE “jacket ‘round my shoulder is yours” what a good inversion of the phrase. i love the way that the phrase cornelia street breaks up the lines in a really weird way, because of how its syllables run. it’s a good song. it’s a soft boi

DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS: early frontrunner for my fave song!!!!! love the opening repeating noise, and the simple guitar plucks initially. taylor’s voice takes up front and center bc it isn’t especially altered/layered/echoed like it is in some other spots on the album. it has an amazing rolling pace on its verses that’s followed by the slower pace on the chorus. “i ask the traffic lights if it’ll be okay and they say i don’t know” i am certain that this song is about karlie kloss and i will not accept any other possibilities i know she said it was about a movie but i don’t care. “my hips my heart my body my love / tryna find a part of me you didn’t touch” wow taylor god what a gifted lyricist i hate her

LONDON BOY: this song is fun. “i saw the dimples first / then i heard the accent” i love the rising effect on “walking on the afternoon” resetting with the horns. it’s just a song that makes you bob your head. she does sound like she’s throwing out as many english references as she possibly can which is amusing and i don’t know what the legs are on this song bc of that - it could come across as somewhat kitschy. but! also i’d like to start some discourse bc i think it’s CLEAR that taylor isn’t afraid of using pronouns or even very direct references to who she’s with (this song is basically an I LOVE JOE ALWYN shirt), and it makes it even more clear when she’s avoiding using pronouns or direct description. the two songs before this don’t do that in the same way that this song does. 1989 barely uses pronouns at all. i’m just saying. taylor is bi is what i’m saying.

SOON YOU’LL GET BETTER: obviously this song is sad and it makes me cry i have no further commentary except that it’s a wonderful, simple song that has an excessively odd placement on this album following after london boy

FALSE GOD: this song is sexy! and interesting. the horns come back again, which is good and her voice is lower. honestly the line “the altar is my hips” is just..........a lot for me to compute. “i’m golden when you touch me / hell is when i fight with you” the bridges are really fun, sexy, soft. this song is like when lover ends and a song with a little more of a sultry feel comes on but ur still drunk so its a little sloppy.

YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN: obviously this song ruined my life. it sent me to the heights of elation and then i sort of had a hangover on it but i’m back around on it guys! it’s a fun, fun, summery song. that chorus with the oh-oh is just .... pop perfection. the bumpy synth noise that goes ba-duh-duh-duh like it’s reverberating is absolutely perfect for the pacing of the song. it’s excessively well-crafted to the point of slickness. it should have been the lead single but what do i know about anything

AFTERGLOW: i know that i wasn’t supposed to be into i pinned your hands behind your back but i was so. this is a continuation of the theme of like, i’m in love but i’m still a mess!!! sorry :) i like this song but it does not inspire me.

ME!: i don’t know why the exclamation point is there and it sounds much more like a brendon urie song than a taylor song, but it’s fun! i don’t hate it! i can see why it was picked as a lead single - to really illustrate the tonal change from rep to here, but still. spelling is fun, tho.

IT’S NICE TO HAVE A FRIEND: this song is simple and so, so so sweet. i love the childhood friends to lovers narrative, and i just. like it. so much. it’s so sweet. and then obviously the horns come back for this one, but don’t overwhelm. this song is a good palette cleanser after the bombast of me!

DAYLIGHT: i tweeted about this but this song reminds me of clean and long live (particularly long live, it for some reason really sounds like that in my head). but i like that it really relates a feeling that i feel sometimes of like, my life was a mess and sometimes still is a mess but bc i’m in a stable and good relationship, things feel approachable, like, if everything goes wrong again, i’ll at least know for sure i have this, and i think this song sort of shows that off with the “I don’t want to think about anything else.” it’s nice. it’s calm. i read an oral history today about the kanye storming the stage moment at the vma’s because it’s been 10 years since it happened - and i feel like this album and this song, in many ways, are a plateau on the meteoric catapult of taylor’s relationship with fame that really had started to run before that moment but certainly started rolling after that. i think this song is a demonstration of the growth that she’s gone through over the last ten years that we’ve all watched with such close attention. it makes me feel happy for her. i hope she gets to keep this the way it is. i’ve read that she thought for the longest time that this album would be called daylight and i’m honestly? not sure it shouldn’t be. but the vocal note at the end sort of draws it back thru.

it’s a good album. i think the back half of it doesn’t hang as tough all the way thru as the first half, but overall, i think it’s overall quality is better than reputation even though i think reputation, as a concept album, works very well. it’s a great evolution and a real, authentic thing. very impressive that she’s managed to produce four very different albums successively where as many artists don’t change that much from album to album. but i think that’s evidence of the work that’s gone into them, to be honest. death by a thousand cuts is my early fave.

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ts1989fanatic · 5 years

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A more in depth personal review of Lover, the album dropped last week and because I had issues downloading it from iTunes (what else is new) I did not really have time for anything other than a cursory listen before heading to bed.

So now a week has past and I have had more than a few listens (who am I kidding) a hella lot more than a few, my wife and I went on a road trip Sunday 250 Blissful Kilometers of just me and my Lovers.

Still a little haunted by Soon You’ll Get Better I was very emotional after listening to this song and still am truth be told, almost everyone has that person in their life who has been touched by cancer. And just like Taylor when it’s someone close to you like a parent or a Lover it’s downright terrifying.

Lover the parent as opposed to Lover the child (more on her later) is a more mature in control Taylor Swift bringing us the wild abandon of Red’s lay it all out on the floor with the sonic cohesion achieved with 1989.

To me Lover nods in passing to reputation, but as I listen to the album in more depth it to me is a continuation of where Taylor was heading after 1989, it still holds a little shade in the finger snapping I forgot That You Existed a song all about as Taylor herself has said letting go and stepping into the daylight don’t confront the haters and exes just be indifferent to them it’s a lot less toxic.

If there is one consistency on Lover, though: it’s Taylor’s love for, love. The entire album is predominantly romantic and seems to track the timeline of a relationship, from its beginnings to the final realization that the situation is serious. Taylor leaves it up to us the listener to theorize that Lover is about her relationship with Joe Alwyn.

There’s nothing on Lover that mentions him directly but there is more than enough within the lyrics on various songs to speculate. Half the fun of being a Swiftie is coming up with theories, you have your opinions I have mine. So go through the track by track list below and decide for yourself what song is about who.

“I Forgot That You Existed”

Taylor starts Lover not with a love song, but a song in which Taylor Swift seems to have moved past the drama on “I Forgot You Existed.” Who it is heavily speculated on that this song is about CH, is it only Taylor herself really knows. Looking at the lyrics it could also be about any of her exes that did not end the relationship on the best of terms.

“How many days did I spend thinking about how you did me wrong?” “I lived in the shade you were throwing till all of my sunshine was gone.” Then in the chorus she declares, “I forgot that you existed, and I thought that it would kill me, but it didn’t the meaning behind this song for me? Taylor has shed the snakeskin from the reputation era and is has moved on not with hate or anger JUST INDIFFERENCE

“Cruel Summer”

Those early flirtatious sometimes tumultuous stages early on in a new relationship. “It’s new, the shape of your body. It’s blue, the feeling I’ve got,” “It’s cool, that’s what I tell him. No rules…. We say we’ll just screw it up. In these trying times, we’re not trying.” This speaks to the drama that can happen in any new relationship before things stabilize and you can think about introducing them to friends and family.

“Lover”

To me this song and video are a throwback to the 70’s era country songs about love that I grew up on and after listening to Keith Urban cover it live you can see how it would be a smash on country radio stations. These lyrics cry out COUNTRY to me.

“Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?” she sings later on. “Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close? ’ve loved you three summers. Now, honey, I want ’em all.”

“The Man”

Not a love story, here, on “The Man.” Here more of a social commentary on society in general and the gender bias that still exist today despite the best efforts of a lot of WOKE people.

Taylor highlights how her career and reputation would have played out in the media if she were born a man rather than being named after one.

“Every conquest I made would make me more of a boss to you,” “I’d be just like Leo in Saint Tropez.”

“They wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve, what I was wearing, if I was rude…. If I was a man, I’d be the man.”

“The Man” is one of the boppiest bop on Lover and deserves to be the next single.

“The Archer”

On “The Archer,” Taylor finds herself questioning her situation with her partner. Is it the real? How long will it last? These are relatable questions most of us ask once the honeymoon phase of a relationship draws to a close. “They see right through me. Can you see right through me?” Taylor sings. “Who could ever leave me, darling? But who could stay?”

“I Think He Knows”

By the time Taylor reaches this song,” She has answered that question: she wants her new relationship to work, and she’s not afraid to say so. “I think he knows when we get all alone, he’ll want me to stay,” “I think he knows he better lock it down, or I won’t stick around” cause good ones never wait.”

“Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”

Some see this as a love song, personally I see it more as a protest song, Taylor has become much more political and outspoken on the issues since Trump took office this is an “us against the administration” mind-set. At first listen it may not sound like a protest song, but to me and I follow US politics very closely it certainly speaks to what has happened over the last few years.

When the White House responds to a song then I think you can safely say DAMN STRAIGHT it’s a protest song. Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince is not a Rage Against The Machine protest song, it’s a song full of metaphors and because of this it draws you in and makes you listen closely and get behind and beneath the symbolism.

“American glory Faded before me now I’m feeling Hopless”

“Paper Rings”

Taylor joking about marrying her lover one day or is she joking. “I like shiny things, but I’d marry you with paper rings. That’s right, darling. You’re the one I want,” definitely a love song about a serious relationship, does it mean Taylor and Joe are engaged (not according to Tree)

“Cornelia Street”

“Cornelia Street” is when our story takes a dramatic turn. It’s important to know that, at one point, Taylor rented a carriage house on Cornelia Street in New York City while her place was being renovated. The lyrics of this song suggest Taylor associates Cornelia Street with a relationship getting more intense.

“I hope I never lose you. Hope it never ends. I never want Cornelia Street again,” “That’s the kind of heartbreak time could never mend.”

“Death by a Thousand Cuts”

This comes through as a breakup song, but a breakup with who not Joe from all appearances, possibly to a past relationship. “I get drunk, but it’s not enough, ’cause the morning comes and you’re not my baby,” Taylor sings shortly after saying, “Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts.

"I look through the windows of this love, even though we boarded them up” and “You said it was a great love, one for the ages. But if this story’s over, why am I still writing pages?”

“London Boy”

With a Cat’s co-star cameo from Idris Elba, Taylor is back to singing about love of a guy and a city, not with great accuracy I might add as an ex-pat who lived and worked in London for ten years. But hey she’s a writer and allowed poetic license.

“Something happened, I heard him laughing. I saw the dimples, first, and then I heard the accent,” “They say home is where the heart is, but that’s not where mine lives. You know I love a London boy.”

“Soon You’ll Get Better” (featuring Dixie Chicks)

Sorry for the language but this song fucked me up, Still a little haunted by it. I was very emotional after listening to this song and still am truth be told, almost everyone has that person in their life who has been touched by cancer. And just like Taylor when it’s someone close to you like a parent or a Lover it’s downright terrifying. I lost my mother to cancer my father in law to cancer and the love of my life has been diagnosed three times twice benign once malignant (God that’s an ugly word)

“In doctor’s office lighting, I didn’t tell you I was scared,” “Soon you’ll get better. You’ll get better soon, ’cause you have to.”

If I am honest here I really want to fast forward past this song but it’s so emotional and raw that I find myself having to listen to it over again.

“False God”

On “False God,” Taylor recognizes the issues that can lead to the breakup as in “Death by a Thousand Cuts.”

“I know heaven’s a thing. I go there when you touch me. Hell is when I fight with you,” “But we can patch it up good.” She doesn’t dig any deeper here, though. That comes later.

“You Need to Calm Down”

After the backlash Taylor faced from 2016 she found her voice not just in speaking out about equality but encapsulating it into her music. YNTCD is a synth heavy pop bop that calls out Internet Trolls and boldly champions the LGBTQ community, franklt it’s a fucking bop with a message and both my wife and love it.

“Say it in the street, that’s a knock-out” “But you say it in a Tweet that’s a cop-out” (advice to live by Mr. President)

“Afterglow”

“Afterglow” Is an apology song.” Here Taylor opens up about how a relationship can implode with a partner and the role her own behaviour played in it imploding. “I blew things out of proportion, now you’re blue,” she sings. “I put you in jail for something you didn’t do…. Fighting with a true love is boxing with no gloves.” “Why’d I have to break what I love so much? It’s on your face, and I’m to blame,” “Hey, it’s on me in my head. I’m the one who burned this down, but it’s not what I meant. Sorry that I hurt you.”

“Me!” (featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco)

A tongue-in-cheek, extension of “Afterglow.”here Taylor can laugh about the drama. Not only that but she own up to her faults on this song, Taylor lays out that it’s those faults that make her the perfect match for someone.

“I know that I went psycho on the phone. I never leave well enough alone. And trouble’s gonna follow where I go,” “Afterglow.” “Baby doll, when it comes to a lover. I promise that you’ll never find another like me.”

“It’s Nice to Have a Friend”

A lot of the theories I have seen about this one revolve around her relationship with Joe “Church bells ring. Carry me home. Rice on the ground, looks like snow.” It certainly sounds like they might be gearing up for that next step. But I don’t read this the same way, it reads more like a first love narrative.

“Sidewalk chalk covered in snow lost my gloves, you gave me one” “Twenty questions, we tell the truth”

“Daylight”

A dreamy romantic song that is filled with words one would say on their wedding day or just after getting married. They sound a lot like vows. “I don’t want to look at anything else now that I saw you. I don’t want to think of anything else now that I’ve thought of you. I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20-year dark night, and now I see daylight.”

Taylor says “I want to be defined by the things that I love. Not the things I hate. Not the things I’m afraid of, or the things that haunt me in the middle of the night. I just think that you are what you love.”

This is Taylor Swift at her ultimate best, crafting lyrics that we can all relate to at whatever stage of your relationship you are in. This is Speak Now and Fearless Taylor all grown up but still crafting a story of life with her lyrics in her own unique way.

Where reputation was dark and moody even though in my opinion still a very relatable album, who has never faced criticism and wished that they had the skills heart and wit to respond as Taylor did, Lover is all vivid colors and predominantly bright and cheerful music with certain exceptions this is Taylor in full flow and form. Taylor the story teller Taylor the lyrical master Taylor the ARTIST.

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dreamings-free · 4 years

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By Hamish Bowles November 13, 2020

“There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I’ve never thought too much about what it means—it just becomes this extended part of creating something”

I ask her whether her brother had always been interested in clothes.

“It’s pretty powerful and kind of extraordinary to see someone in his position redefining what it can mean to be a man with confidence,” says Olivia Wilde

Hairdresser Malcolm Edwards is setting Styles’s hair in a Victory roll with silver clips, and until it is combed out he resembles Kathryn Grayson with stubble. His fingers are freighted with rings, and “he has a new army of mini purses,” says Lambert, gesturing to an accessory table heaving with examples including a mini sky-blue Gucci Jackie bag discreetly monogrammed HS. Michele has also made Styles a dress for the shoot that Tissot might have liked to paint—acres of ice-blue ruffles, black Valenciennes lace, and suivez-moi, jeune homme ribbons. Erelong, Styles is gamely racing up a hill in it, dodging sheep scat, thistles, and shards of chalk, and striking a pose for Mitchell that manages to make ruffles a compelling new masculine proposition, just as Mr. Fish’s frothy white cotton dress—equal parts Romantic poet and Greek presidential guard—did for Mick Jagger when he wore it for The Rolling Stones’ free performance in Hyde Park in 1969, or as the suburban-mom floral housedress did for Kurt Cobain as he defined the iconoclastic grunge aesthetic. Styles is mischievously singing ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” to himself when Mitchell calls him outside to jump up and down on a trampoline in a Comme des Garçons buttoned wool kilt. “How did it look?” asks his sister when he comes in from the cold. “Divine,” says her brother in playful Lambert-speak.

#finally read through this #it's long #harry #vogue us #dec 2020 #article #published:#13.11.20 #m

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slothrusts · 7 years

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Hey @taylorswift ! Since you made a playlist for us, I thought I’d make one for you. Music is my life, I even study it at school, and my favorite thing about music is songwriting (which is probably why I love you so much). Lyrics are the most important part of a song to me, but soundscapes are also really rad. So here’s 19 songs that I adore, both lyrically and sonically, and hope that you will also like! @taylornation and fellow swifties feel free to listen in as well :)

Also, Taylor, look beneath the Read More for the track listing and me talking about each song like I know what I’m talking about lol

1.) Lit Me Up- Brand New

This is the best opening song of all opening songs. Brand New has created such an interesting soundscape and feel with the whole Science Fiction Album. It’s creepy, but great. Taylor I feel like you’d really enjoy some of the binaural action going on.

2.) Turn Out the Lights- Julien Baker @julienbaker

Julien Baker is one of THE BEST lyricists I have ever found (besides you of course Tay). Everything she writes is heart-wrenching and beautiful and I love it. I mean, come on “When I turn out the lights/there’s no one left/between myself and me” (lyk if u cri evrytim). This is a single from her forthcoming album by the same name and I highly recommend you listen to her debut Sprained Ankle cause damn is it good.

3.) Horseshoe Crab- Slothrust

This song is a trip man. Slothrust (its Sloth-rust not Slo-thrust fyi) is this cool little rock/jazz/blues band from Brooklyn that I ADORE. Leah writes some outlandish but still poignant af lyrics. Notably: “Sometimes I feel like I’m a sea horse/Sometimes I think that I’m a horseshoe crab/I don’t have anything in common with myself/Except that I came from the sea just like everyone else did”

4.) Ready to Go- Hurts @adam-hurts

Suggested activity while listening to this song is dancing because damn it’s a certifiable BOP.

5.) Queen- Flint Eastwood @flinteastwooddetroit

You’ve probably never seen these guys play live but Jax Anderson is a hype beast like no other and can get a crowd full of people who have never heard her music to sing and jump along like they’re the headliners. The chorus gets u going and I think that reputation era Taylor would appreciate “I’m a queen not a soldier”

6.) I Forgive No One- Citizen

While I’m not sure if this genre/sound is your thing Taylor, it does remind me a lot of the whole reputation era mindset. “I forgive no one for anything/I forgive no one for what can change”

7.) Moonshine- Lights @lightsalot

Another great bop about staying up late and partying. Also Lights wrote and drew an entire comic book series to go along with this concept album?? How fucking cool is that?? It reminds a bit of New Romantics in the attitude of “who gives a shit lets go party anyway!!”

8.) Sunshine Type- Turnover @turnoverva

Turnover is my go-to feel good band. This song actually sounds like the way sunshine feels. “I was thinking that you could love a song that I hate/I’d still play it for you”.

9.) Separate- Pvris @thisispvris

I’d imagine that swimming underneath an iceberg sounds like this song. Pvris (pronounced like Paris not p-virus or puh-vris) makes some super spooky but beautiful things. And can we talk about “There’s always been a disconnect/Running from my heart to my head/And no it’s never made much sense” as well as “Pull away the world from me I don’t mind/As long as they don’t separate you from me I’ll be fine”. It’s almost the opposite of Clean, but in a good way. This entire album has got some killer outros btw.

10.) Burn it Down- Daughter

Elena Tonra from Daughter is SUCH a GREAT lyricist. You, her, and Julien are probably the best lyricists that I know of honestly. Plus, her, Remi, and Igor as a band make some DOPE soundscapes that you can get actually physically lost in. “Always said I was a good kid/Always said I had a way with words/Never knew I could be speechless/Don’t know how I’ll ever break this curse”. They wrote this album for a video game soundtrack, but the one before this one Not to Disappear is lyrically so powerful I cry every time I see them live lol.

11.) Trainwreck- Banks

Banks is a bad ass bitch and I think you and her would get along swimmingly. Also perhaps invite her to sing this with you on the rep tour?? (hint hint wink wink) “Born to take care of you, or I thought so/Maybe it was just a phase” It’s like an updated more sonically banging Dear John imo

12.) Helicopter- Deerhunter

Back on the soundscape train Deerhunter just sounds cool as shit. The lyrics to this one are story-based and talk about some guy who was a victim of human trafficking. BUT Bradford Cox makes it sound cerebral and plucky.

13.) Deadcrush- alt-J

I love this song cause it has the coolest premise. It’s about the Dead Crushes of the band members. So like, dead people that the band members admire. The crushes are Anne Boleyn and Lee Miller. I particularly enjoy the music video for this song which is weird as all hell. The pulsing beat that drives this song is something that I think you would appreciate, Taylor. This is one of the songs where it feels more like the words are meant to be a part of a music rather than their own separate piece if that makes sense.

14.) SGL- Now, Now @nownowband

SGL stands for “Shot Gun Lover” and holy heck does this lyrically resemble some of your stuff! Sign me the fuck up for “Starry-eyed/I was young and undone/But I could’ve died/With you there in the sun”. I’ve been listening to this band for almost as long as I’ve listened to you but they recently got a more pop sound and I am LIVING for it

15.) Lose Myself- From Indian Lakes @fromindianlakes

I saw on your playlist that you like Cigarettes After Sex and so I thought you might also enjoy the recent stuff by From Indian Lakes. This is the kind of song you listen to when driving home from a date. Ponder closely, “Am I the worm on a lover’s hook/And now I’m right where I’m supposed to be/But something still feels wrong with me”

16.) You and I (stripped version)- Pvris

Pvris gets to be on here twice cause they are that good sorry but I don’t make the rules (wait yes I do). The lyrics here also remind me of you and how we all just have way too many feelings and our best shot at figuring things out is through writing about them. You and I is about a love that’s not working but that is still desperately wanted, “I know it’s cold when we’re apart/And I hate to feel this die/But you can’t give me what I want/Just give it time”. Listen to this stripped version to hear how beautiful and lilting Lynn’s voice is and listen to the full band version to hear how much of a powerhouse her voice can be.

17.) Jesus Christ- Brand New

Yes another Brand New song. You know why? Cause they are also fucking amazing. Taylor, I recommend you listen to this song while lying in your bed staring up at the ceiling and thinking “How the hell did I get here, and how the hell am I gonna leave?” (here can be anywhere, your hotel room, you home, this universe). The next time you read a shitty headline about you in a tabloid think about the lyrics, “We all got wood and nails/And we turn out hate in factories/We all got wood and nails/And we sleep inside of this machine”

18.) Townie- Mitski @whoismitski

“I want a love that falls as fast as a body from the balcony/And I want a kiss like my heart is hitting the ground/I’m holding my breath with a baseball bat though I don’t know what I’m waiting for/I’m not gonna be who my daddy wants me to be”…… do I need to say anything else? Hopefully you’ve already heard some of Mitski’s stuff cause she’s gonna be on tour with your homegirl @lordemusic this next spring!

19.) Pigpen- Slothrust

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with the post-chorus riff from this song in my head. Taylor, the lyrics I’d want you to hear the most from this one are; “I would spread my wings/If they weren’t so god damn heavy/Yeah I would spread my wings/If they weren’t coated in honey”

And that’s everyone!! I hope you liked at least one of these songs @taylorswift . Love you eternally and catch you on the flipside!!!

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diggorypuff · 7 years

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Best Lyrics of Reputation and my commentary

Ready for It:

He can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor - My 1950s loving ass is just here for this Burton to this Taylor shit, cause their an OTP

Every love I’ve known in comparison is a faliure - Also a reference in my mind to Burton-Taylor love.

End Game:

I wanna be your A-Team - Just here for the early Ed Sheeran reference ;)

I’ve got some big enemies - idk i like the drama what the hell

Ooo you and me would be a big conversation - Media

I got a reputation that don’t precede me - opposite of the line that taylor cut from gorgeous

I don’t wanna just be another ex love that you don’t wanna see - <3

I don’t wanna miss you like the other girls do - hmmm... i really don’t feel joe vibes listening to this?

I just wanna be drinking on the beach with you all over me - This makes me think of the pics of Tom & Taylor on the beach

I got issues and chips on both of my shoulders - Ed’s singing always gets me and I like the chip on the shoulder trope

The truth is it’s easier to ignore it believe me - Love it

Even when we argue we don’t do it for long - Sounds like me with my friends <3

You understand the good and bad end up in the song - now that sounds like Joe

(Side note if it is all about Joe like she ‘claims’, seems odd but whatever, betcha that Calvin & Tom are so fucking thankful that Joe’s got her so loved up that she can’t even give a shit about their asses and how she thinks they may have wronged her)

All my flaws, paranoias, and insecurities - reference to the image built of Taylor

After the storm something was born - <3

Four words on the tip of my tongue - ???? Four words?

You and me we got big reputations - ... can’t be joe cause when they started dating everyone was legit like Joe who????

And I bury hatchets, but I keep maps of where I put them - i’d rather it be like about putting them in peoples backs, but i like this too, like she keeps maps of where she puts them after their buried, cause she’ll happily dig them up again if your wrong her, ie Kanye drama

My reputation precedes me - there it is again

I swear I don’t love the drama, it loves me - Love this line <3

Your handprints in my soul - <3

I Did Something Bad

I never trust a narcissist but they love me, so I play them like a violin, and I make it look oh so easy - I love it idk

Cause for every lie I tell them they tell me three - wtf love it

This is how the world works, now all he thinks about is me - LOVE

If a man talks shit then I owe him nothing - reference to kanye’s i made that bitch famous lyrics? and i love it

I don’t regret it one bit cause he had it coming - this song has drilled into the vindictive, slice your throat open side of me??? pls stop

They say I did something bad - <3

And i love the techno sound of it like tear it up

I never trust a playboy but they love me - ;)

So I fly them all around the world and let them think they saved me - ? Taylor who this about?

They never see it coming - ;) devilish

You gotta leave before you get left - heart ripping feel the power

He says don’t throw away a good thing - idk im torn whether I like this line or not???

If he drops my name then I owe him nothing - Kanye, Calvin, a ton of ppl?

And if he spends me change then he had it coming - I love the had it coming line makes me think of Cellblock Tango

They’re burning all the witches even if you aren’t one - Strong line

They got their pitchfork and proof, their receipts and reasons - Receipts -_-

Light me up - I love whenever that term is used

The little bubblier tune change towards the end is magic too

Don’t Blame Me -

How this is not a Jack Antoff produced tune is beyond me it sounds so much like Waiting Game, whatever the tune is magic

Don’t blame me love made me crazy, and if it doesn’t you ain’t doing it right - I love the passion filled love story goes back to my love of Burton-Taylor, also reminds me of that thread of That’s the Way I Loved You

I’ve been breaking hearts a long time - Love it

They say she’s gone too far this time - this is powerful

And I’m just gonna call you mine, I’m insane but I’m your baby - Playing on the medias stereotype, getting a bit old

Echoes, love you name inside my mind, halo, hiding my obsession - It’s a good lyric especially the name inside my mind

And baby, for you, I would fall from grace, just to touch your face - I wrote a similar line in a song earlier today before I heard this similar feeling runs deep

If you walk away, I'd beg you on my knees to stay - playing on the damsel in distress vibe again, also getting a bit old

Delicate

This ain’t for the best, my reputations never been worse - I love the my reputations never been worse line <3

Oh damn, never seen that color blue - Love it

Is it cool that I said all that, Is it chill that you're in my head? 'Cause I know that it's delicate - Fresh love, and I like it cause I get

Is it too soon to do this yet? 'Cause I know that it's delicate - I feel like this is about writing a song about someone, like is it too soon to write a song about this yet, not in a bad way!!!

Do the girls back home touch you like I do? - Sexy line, hot

Echoes of your footsteps on the stairs - Line reminds me of ‘ Sounded like footsteps on my stairs’ from If This Was a Movie. Also reminds me of All Too Well and the ‘down the stairs you were there I remember it all too well’ cause you know I’ll look for any reason to mention the power song

Stay here, honey, I don't wanna share - ??? what’s this about

Sometimes I wonder when you sleep, are you ever dreaming of me? - <3

Sometimes when I look into your eyes, I pretend you're mine, all the damn time - LOVE IT

Look What You Made Me Do

I’ve fallen out of love with the beat but it is still lit

But I got smarter I got harder in the nick of time - It’s strong and give me power

Honey I rose up from the dead I do it all time - See above

I got a list of names and yours is in red underlined, I check it once, then I check it twice - See above, also it’s vicious and I live for it

Maybe I got mine, but you'll all get yours - Kitty got claws

I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me - Makes me grin with evil intentions

I’m sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now" "Why?" "Oh, 'cause she's dead!" - Maniacal laughter like Yzma as the cat in Emperorers New Groove

Below the lines that I’m not here for anymore

You ask me for a place to sleep,locked me out and threw a feast - idk? just eye roll?

The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama, but not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma - again just done with it

So it Goes...

I'm yours to keep and I'm yours to lose - Cool

You know I'm not a bad girl, but I do bad things with you - ;)

Met you in a bar, All eyes on me, your illusion is, All eyes on us - Makes me think of This is What You Came For, so I’m thinking this is a Calvin dig, for him being a intimidated by her success

I make all your grey days clear and wear you like a necklace - This whole song I’m like idek if this is good or not, this is my least fav song on the album

I'm so chill, but you make me jealous - Girl we’re cool, but when have you ever been chill, and you’ve always been jelly?

Come here, dressed in black now - Oooh reputation era, bad ass taylor coming in, having her emo dressing in all black phase coming in XD

Scratches down your back now - Rawr sexy

Gorgeous

You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk - Making fun of Joe’s British accent ;)

And I got a boyfriend he’s older than us he’s in the club doing I don’t know what - Tom? Calvin??? Who knows.

Whiskey on ice, sunset and vine, you’ve ruined my life by not being mine - I get it

You’re so gorgeous, I can’t say anything to your face, cause look at your face - Again I feel it

You should take it as a compliment that I’m talking to everyone here but you - Agreed

If you got a girlfriend, I’m jealous of her, but if you’re single it’s actually worse - Honestly yes, cause if you got a girlfriend, Ima be good cause I’m a Jackie not a Marilyn, but if you don’t omg I’m sorry I can’t stop it

You’re so gorgeous it actually hurts - Yep

Ocean blue eyes looking in mine, I feel like I might sink and drown and die - I’m sinking drowning and dying all at once

Like Joe isn’t really attractive to me but I’m glad she’s happy and wrote this bop cause I feel it in my soul

Getaway Car

The robo voice can go thank you

It was the best of times the worst of crimes - Love it already

I struck a match and blew your mind, but I didn’t mean it, and you didn’t see it - <3

The tires were black, the lies were white, and shades of gray in candle light - WHY DO I ENJOY THIS?

I wanted to leave him, but I needed a reason - IS JOE THE REASON? Okay love, but also come on if you wanna leave him, leave him for you!

X marks the spot where we fell apart, he poisoned the well, I was lying to myself - I love it so much and the beat??!?

I knew from the first old fashioned we were cursed, we never had a shot, shot, shot in the dark - Honestly can’t tell if this is her being like been on Joe for the longest time wanted to kick all the boys to curb moment I saw him shit, or whether it’s just her telling one of her made up love stories tied to the truth??? Like this is just about Bonnie and Clyde sorta and she’s just tying it to this.

You were driving the get away car, we were flying but we never get far - BOP BOP BOP

Don't pretend it's such a mystery think about the place where you first met me-And where exactly is that Taylor we’d all like to know, WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW DID YOU REALLY MEET JOE EXPLAIN

We're ridin' in a getaway car there were sirens in the beat of your heart - <3

Shoulda know I'd be the first to leave - Love

While he was runnin' after us, I was screamin', "go, go, go!" - LOVE LOVE LOVE

But with three of us, honey, it's a side show and a circus ain't a love story and now we're both sorry - Getting all kinds of era refs here

It hit you like a shotgun shot in the heart - Dead

I'm in a getaway car,I left you in a motel bar, put the money in the bag and I stole the keys that was the last time you ever saw me - This whole line is killer and I love it

King of My Heart

I'm perfectly fine, I live on my own,I made up my mind, I'm better off bein' alone - Love it

We met a few weeks ago - Idk but I like this single line

So prove to me I'm your American Queen and you move to me like I'm a Motown beat - I get American Boy vibes from this

Cause all the boys and their expensive cars, with their Range Rovers and their Jaguars, never took me quite where you do - All I can think about is Harry’s Range Rover, and Tom in the Jaguar commercials, and lol jaggywires

Late in the night, the city's asleep your love is a secret I’m hoping, dreaming, dying to keep - sound of my heart beat

Change my priorities - sweet

Overall song is just eh - second least av

Dancing with Our Hands Tied

That beginning piano is magic

I, I loved you in secret first sight, yeah, we love without reason - <3

Oh, 25 years old, Oh, how were you to know and my, my love had been frozen - </3

Deep blue, but you painted me golden - powerful

You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it, I had a bad feeling - Strong, and heartbreaking

People started talking, putting us through our paces,I knew there was no one in the world who could take it - SEE ABOVE

I hate the chourus

I, I loved you in spite of, deep fears that the world would divide us - Beautiful

I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted - Darling

Swaying as the room burned down, I'd hold you as the water rushes in - All about the idc, and lets keep going even as havoc wreaks

Third least fav maybe?

Dress

Golden Tattoo - ????

All of this silence and patience, panic, and anticipation, my hands are shaking from holding back from you - Darling and sexy at the same time also come on Taylor just jump his bones!

I don't want you like a best friend - Did anyone not know this?

Only bought this dress on you could take it off, take it off, carve your name into my bedpost - Sexy, also still hear carve you name into my nipples XD

And if I get burned, at least we were electrified - Cool, but if you get burned you’re gonna be pissed

Nights back when you met me your buzzcut, and my hair bleed - Hair bleeds??

Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me - <3

Flash back to my mistakes,my rebounds, my earthquakes - Pain

Even in my worst nights, you saw the truth of me - <3

Don’t like the high pitch of the song, everyone built it up so it fell flat

Fourth least fav maybe???

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year - BOP

So why'd you have to rain on my parade? - BOP

This is why we can’t have nice things, cause you break them, I have to take them away - !!!!!

It was so nice being friends again, there I was, giving you a second chance, but then you stabbed my back - KANYE KANYE KANYE

And therein lies the issue, friends don't try to trick you, get you on the phone and mind-twist you, and so I took an axe to a mended fence - HOT HOT HOT, I really want an axe to swing

But I'm not the only friend you've lost lately, if only you weren't so shady - grinning cuz Jay-Z

Here's a toast to my real friends,they don't care about that he-said-she-said - POWERFUL, makes me think of Taylor’s You Belong With Me Shirt in LWYMMD

And here's to my baby he ain't reading what they call me lately - Getting a lil tired of this her BABY, all songs are about Joe, JOE, JOE, JOE okay we get it, glad you happy, calm down

And here's to my momma had to listen to all this drama - My favorite part idk why

And here's to you cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do haha, I can't even say it with a straight face - ;) I it’s funny, idek how to feel cuz im like oh god but also HYSTARICAL??

Not for the siren sounds, but also it’s lit and a secret fav?

Call it What You Want

THIS SONG IS MY BABY!!

My castle crumbled overnight, I brought a knife to a gunfight - <3

They took the crown but it’s alright - </3

All the liars are calling me one, nobodies heard from me for months - 0.0

I’m doing better than I ever was - Happy for her

My babies fit like a daydream, walking with his head down, I’m the one he’s walking to - <3 :) love it, and she used the British term fit XD

My babies fly like a jetstream, high above the whole scene, loves me like I’m brand new - Beautiful

All my flowers grew back as thorns, windows boarded up after the storm - The afterward to Clean

He built a fire just to keep me warm - Bonfire imagery gets me

They fade to nothing when I look at him - <3

And I know I make the same mistakes everytime, bridges burn, I never learn - POWERFUL ADMITTING IT

At least I did one thing right - <3

I’m laughing with my lover making forts under covers - <3 :)

Trust him like a brother - TRUST TRUST TRUST GETS ME

I want to wear his initial on chain round my neck, not because he owns me, but cause he really knows me - UGH I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT

Which is more than they can say - <3

I recall late November, holding my breath slowly I said, you don’t need to save me, but would you runaway with me, yes - <3 LOVE LIKE THIS IS KILLING ME

New Years Day

Her voice is so sweet and dewey here and I love it, but everyone hyped it up and so it fell a lil flat on me imagery is great tho

Don’t read the last page, but I stay when you’re lost and I’m scared and you’re turning away - <3 <3 <3

I want your midnights - <3

You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi - Eh it’s okay, sweet???

I can tell it’s gonna be a long road - LONG GOOD ROAD

If you strike out and you’re crawling home - Strong supportive

When it’s hard or it’s wrong or we’re making mistakes - AGAIN SUPPORTIVE LOVE

Hold on to the memories, they will hold onto you - Strong strong strong anything with the word memories gets me everytime

Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere - CRYING HERE

You and me forevermore - I hope <3

#reputation #taylor swift #reputation spoilers

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thisselflovecamebacktome · 6 years

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Reputation (almost) one month thoughts

So when this album came out, I decided as almost an experiment that I wanted to keep a frequent enough collection of my thoughts of how I feel about the album as time passes. This is mostly due to how quickly I started being real with myself about how I felt about 1989 and fears it would happen here too. Either way, this was meant to come out on the 11th as that would be exactly a month after I felt heard the album, but as I’m going to be interstate, I’m writing them out now. I will warn now that this will have opinions and talk about Taylor’s relationships and how quite frankly I don’t see all the love songs as purely being about Joe nor Karlie, so if you can’t handle that, it’s probably best you skip past now. With that in mind, lets get started.

Ready For It: So I didn’t say this in my first post, but along with being a borderline satire portrayal of her relationship with the media (the main reason I adore it still tbh), this song has always given me, someone who never shipped them, Haylor vibes. Honestly, if I had to guess, I would say that before the concept of 1989 came about, Taylor was going to write the album we guessed about, the satirical one calling out the media. And while aspects of this did show up on 1989 through Blank Space and I Know Places, I do honestly believe Ready For It was also started in this time, maybe even starting as a joke song about how the media saw the two, but didn’t fit on the album so was scrapped until Reputation when it found its place. All speculation of course, but that’s honestly the feeling I get.

End Game: So I’m holding my breath as I can already hear you guys pulling out the pitchforks for what I’m about to say... a song too early in the album for that line? :P Anyway I honestly believe that despite all of our celebrations about Calvin getting nothing on this album that this song started off about him. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want the song to be about him and I don’t think the end result is about him, but just as I believe Better Man started off about Jake but was modified to fit Taylor’s relationship with Calvin, I believe this song started in the early days of Tayvin and were later modified to fit her relationship with Joe. Once again, speculation at best, but it’s just the vibe I get with some of the lyrics and its placing on a so called linear album. I’ve also come to realise that in many ways, this is the last holding piece of the 1989 era. And by that I mean it’s the last (or at least only on this album imho) song that was written for outsiders as opposed to fans. That’s not to say that fans don’t like it, but at least in my experience, every non fan I have shown this song to adores it, especially the Future verse that most fans hate. And I know people will bring up Look What You Made Me Do, but tbh that seemed pretty split across the board in my experience. Like whether you loved or hated it didn’t seem to be correlated with whether you’re a fan or not.

I Did Something Bad: The more I listen to this, the more I realise this has absolutely nothing to do with Kanye. Like the first listen, I 100% thought it was just about everything, the media, her haters, Kanye, Calvin, you name it. But the more I listen to it, the more I realise that really, it’s only about Calvin. It’s about how he was so willing to stand next to her for fame but ‘dropped’ her name and hence any credit she deserved off the project they did together. It’s about how he believed he had full control over her and manipulated situations (For every lie I tell them, they tell me 3 anyone?). And ultimately, it’s about how he played everyone to the point that Taylor doing the right thing came off as doing something bad. All up, it’s definitely the song that’s grown on me the most. I reckon there’s a high chance for this to be mixed with Bad Blood on tour which, even with Bad Blood being my least favourite Taylor Swift song ever, I wouldn’t mind because I could see it being awesome.

Don’t Blame Me: Another song I reckon was at least started long before most the others. To me at least, while I have my issues with the tracklisting which I’ll talk about later, this definitely feels as if it should be on the same album theme wise as Ready For It, so while they may not have been written at the same time (it wouldn’t surprise me if they were though), I definitely think Taylor had the same vision of “This is what the media sees me as” in mind for the two songs. And while that seemed to be the aim for the whole album, which once again, I will talk about later, these two show it the best for me personally.

Delicate: To be honest, I don’t have much more to say about this song specifically than last time. I still love it and still love the mix of love and anxiety she uses in it.

Look What You Made Me Do: I still give or take feel the same about this song. Amazing production, okay lyrics. I’m sad for Jack’s sake that this wasn’t nominated for a grammy because he deserved it.

So It Goes: I don’t know what the fandom has against this damn song. Like I’m not saying it’s in my top 5, but some of you act like it’s the next coming of the apocalypse and most the rest of you ignore it. It’s a jam and would be amazing for tour... but then again, so was the production of Wonderland and we all know how that went despite it being loved. But yeah, tbh, with how much people are sleeping on this song, I can see it being the only Reputation song not played on tour.

Gorgeous: So a story I never told the first time around; the first time I heard this song, I was going into with the satire mind that Look What You Made Me Do and Ready For It had and flat out spent the first verse thinking it was making fun of Kim and that lifestyle that Taylor pretended to be like to fit into. Like Kim was this alluring figure who Taylor felt she couldn’t talk to/against because she was one of the pretty popular girls, you know, kinda like that scene in Mean Girls where Cady talks about how she can’t stop bitching about Regina but still wanted her to like her. That quickly died off with “You should think about the consequence of touching my hand in the darkened room” but still. Not much else to say outside what I’ve already said about it.

Getaway Car: Someone pointed out not too long after the release that this song has major RED vibes and I’m starting to think that’s why I love it so much. It also kinda gives me I Knew You Were Trouble from the other side vibes so I’d love to see a mashup of the two on tour, but I doubt that’s happening.

King Of My Heart: To be honest, this is the only song I will 100% say I think is about Joe and no one else. The bridge of the song is my favourite on the album and like I said originally, it grew on me quite a bit with time.

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: Honestly, I do get Kaylor Met Gala vibes from this song. However, I don’t think it’s purely about her nor do I think that it is all romantic in meaning. I think the song is about every time Taylor went out and had relationship rumours, true or not, created whether it be with Harry, Dianna, Ed, Karlie, Joe and whoever else. I think it’s about the fact she felt she couldn’t even have friends let alone a lover without anxiety. And most of all, it’s about the regret of letting that anxiety hold her like it did, which is partially why it’s the more grown up and better version of I Know Places. Still reckon that the two will be mixed for tour and even though I get the concept, my dislike for I Know Places is getting in the way of me looking forward to that.

Dress: Honestly? I really like this song but I don’t seem to love it as much as everyone else. I mean nearly everyone I know has this in their top five, see it as the sex song (which it’s not, it’s the intimacy song, So It Goes is the sex song) and label it as a must have on tour. Meanwhile, while like I said, I think only So It Goes is at risk of not being a nightly play at this point, I’d be okay with Dress being a b side acoustic song played once or twice on tour. Maybe part of that is my want for an acoustic version for this song, but yeah, as much as I like it and play it often, I don’t need it on tour like I do other songs.

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: What I find the most interesting about this song is despite having wanted an satire based album since RED that this would have fit on perfectly, this is the one song that I feel fits that on this album that couldn’t have happened without the 1989 era. And by that I don’t just mean Kanye, because the beauty of this song is that while yes, it takes its swings at him, when you really sit down and listen to it, that’s only a small fraction of what this song is. This song is basically tearing down everything to do with the 1989 era; the fake media, Kanye, Taylor’s fake friends and Taylor herself. For those of you who got through high school without reading The Great Gatsby, Taylor identifying with Gatsby is not a compliment. It’s basically calling herself out for fakeness among other things. None of this stuff could have happened, hence the song not being able to be written had Taylor not been pushed up to the point of everyone, herself included, thinking she was untouchable. And that’s just so interesting to me and honestly, makes the 1989 era which I felt so disconnected to a little easier to accept because at least for this song, it was necessary. So in short, this was kinda what I thought Gorgeous was going to be after the first verse on the first listen given I went in with that satire mind. While I don’t see it being the case, I kinda hope this is the closer for the tour. Like imagine all the confetti and fireworks and big balloons stuff they could do with it. But to be honest, I still reckon Look What You Made Me Do will be the closer and this will be one of the first songs played.

Call It What You Want: Now about half way through this post when I spoke about how I think King Of My Heart is the only definite Joe song, I can image a lot of you were asking yourselves about these final two songs. I definitely think Joe strongly influenced them both, but I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if Taylor came out and said that there were other influences too. In terms of Call It What You Want, to be honest, I kinda think a little about Harry and Tom. Now before you all shoot me saying how Harry was a kid with commitment issues and Tom was a rebound, I know, trust me I do. What I mean by them being present for me is that I think that moments of criticisms and the fact that while it may not have been for long, they both stayed with Taylor despite those criticisms is playing a role here. Like 100% the same can be said about Joe and that is going to be the main source of the content, but it wouldn’t surprise me if thoughts about how Taylor was still the one Harry was walking to in that zoo or Tom wearing that top despite criticisms helped pushed that line of “I’m the one he’s walking to” because even if it all became too much in Haylor’s case, there was a time when what they felt for each other overpowered any media or criticism. Once again only speculation, but yeah, wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was one of those songs that took moments from several sources. In terms of personal relation to this song, literally I wrote a 2000+ word post about my feelings on this song and why it means the world to me, nothing has changed. I still 100% adore it and while my top three (this, New Year’s Day and Delicate) cycle from day to day, it will always be one of my favourite Taylor Swift songs ever and most days is my favourite from this album. There’s just nothing more to say.

New Year’s Day: Like Call It What You Want, I imagine that this song has several sources. Clearly a large one is her relationship with Joe, but I kinda also feel like this is just about love in general. I mean in one way, it comes off as a Long Live part 2 which implies a love to her fandom, but also there were moments in it where I actually thought about her family. Like the part about being there even if the person strikes out and has to go back home could clearly be about Joe considering he’s an up and coming actor, but to be honest, my first thought when hearing the line was Austin and the fact he too started his acting career in this time. I mean the ‘babe’ part would be kinda weird to be about Austin, but yeah, either way, that was my first thought. Likewise, it’s kinda ironic that Jimmy Fallon said about his mother on his show because my first thought when hearing the first two lines of the second verse was actually surrounding Andrea’s cancer battle as opposed to Taylor’s media one. Once again, all speculation, but yeah, this song just comes off to me as being about love generally as opposed to TayJoe. Either way though, this is the most “old” Taylor Swift sounding song on this album and I highkey really hope that this is the tour video tbh, but I imagine that that will be Getaway Car or This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.

General tracklist order thoughts: The tracklist order for this album was all wrong and that made the album seem like a bunch of brilliant songs all just randomly chucked in together until it was pointed out what was wrong to me. Honestly, the first time I listened to it, I only felt like half the songs belonged and the rest, while brilliant in their own right, didn’t fit and were only chucked in to finish the album and should have been on the next album. The issue is that unless Taylor had said that this album was linear to her, I would have never even attempted to feel that at all because I never would have thought of it. I think a better way to achieve that, especially on a sonically diverse album like this where she didn’t have to worry about the songs bleeding into each other, would have been to place the angry, mocking and media based songs first, then go to Delicate and slowly work her way through to New Year’s Day. This would have shown the split between what the media perception of her and the real her better and honestly, I feel like people would have enjoyed Delicate and End Game more. Because if you notice, doing it the way I suggest would mean that a lot of the back end of the album stays the same, and honestly, while there’s no way to prove it, I think that’s why a lot of people’s favourites come from the back end, because they feel like they’re in the right place for this story. Going from Delicate to Look What You Made Me Do feels rough and kinda weird. Don’t get me wrong, I get that Taylor did it to push the idea that Joe stayed with her through thick and thin, and that’s also why This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things is so late in the tracklist, but it just doesn’t work for me personally and I know others who have said the same. I’ve started listening to it in an order I think works more towards this more, and honestly, it’s made me appreciate the album as a body of work more than I did upon first listen. RED still 100% owns my heart and probably won’t be beat any time soon if at all, but Reputation is coming in strong fighting my nostalgic heart to take the second place away from Fearless.

#taylor swift #reputation album #this was far longer than expected

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allykat4416 · 7 years

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EuroTrip

In which Ally goes to A Very Special Place that she Loves Very Dearly

I used to have this belief, back when I was in high school. ‘If my family’s going to Busch Gardens this summer, nothing bad can happen!’ Busch Gardens became a symbol of idealized peace and hope in my brain, holding tight to that foolish fable that if my family could just go to Williamsburg when summer rolled around, I would have a blessed semester and a blessed summer. It had held true in 2009, with spring of 09 being one of my most favorite semesters of school to date, and repeated itself with the spring and summer of 2012. So with my family going back in 2017, that surely had to hold up once more, right?

Uh, wrong. I can safely call Major Bull Schitt on that now, because this past semester has been arguably one of the lowest points in my life, and this summer has been nothing short of strange. So perhaps, that’s exactly why I needed to come to Busch Gardens (and come to life, as the Old Country-era ads would sing.) Some rose-colored goggles need to have their lenses cracked, and now I can see Busch Gardens for perhaps what it was all along: a safe haven to run to when life’s storms got to be too much to weather alone.

I owe so very much to Busch Gardens; in a sense, this park has always been my muse. (If you’re reading this, Stephanie, I’m sorry in advance for waxing poetic on the car ride home.) I find so much inspiration from this area in general, but this park is exactly where the personification nonsense really began. And I think I’ve finally reached today what I’d hunted for for years: I felt, even if for the briefest of moments, as I did in 2009. My brain has been in hyperdrive here recently, it seems life’s traumas beget my creativity, and it was almost like my whole head imploded the moment we pulled into the parking lot.

In short? Today was much needed and much awesome.

We began and closed our day with Loch Ness Monster, a true American classic. Nessie is a refined and dignified lady, and after riding some Arrow duds, I’ve grown to appreciate Water Mum more and more through our five years apart. I was extremely happy because on our final ride, Victoria actually rode with us! On our maiden voyage, there was a television in the station with park and coaster trivia, though the line was much too short for me to stick around and see the questions. However, one of the answer options was Big Bad Wolf so automatically, I felt a sharp pang in my heart. All we wanted, Busch, was for you to save the Wolf. Was that too much to ask?

However, Nessie is running beautifully, especially for a ride that’s almost 40! Those loops are iconic, and I honestly felt blessed to have a picture taken of them. The only truly rough patches are the first turn after the initial drop and the exit of the helix into the second chain lift. There were plenty of young thrill seekers taking their own first steps into hopeful-enthusiasm, with one young girl happily crying “I Likey!!!!” upon exiting. Our second trip was even cooler, because I saw a guy rockin’ a Fury325 shirt and I was hanging out with Colonial Coasters (one of my friends from Instagram), and where he’s a park employee, we got a queue-cutter pass! Big shout out to Nate for that, even if he isn’t on this site.

From there, it was onto Apollo’s Chariot. This was the first one we did twice, back-to-back actually, because guys, I will legitimately throw down for this ride. I said in my Carowinds report that I preferred AC over Intimidator, and it’s true. I do. Good Lord, do I. (Again, it’s not to say Timmy isn’t good. He’s good! But AC, dare I say, soars high above him.) I love this ride so very much, and it was running really smooth! I also got a compliment there on my dubstep shirt, which is apparently a super popular shirt for me to rock at a theme park? I need to draw Lottie, Lilly, and MisMis in it.

And then my sister shocked the lights out of me, frankly, by deciding to take a journey to the sun with us. It was really funny, and kind of neat; on my first ride on AC in 2009, my dad said “Look! We can see the Blazer in the parking lot!” and I frankly told him to shut up. On my first ride here in 2017, I pointed out we could see the Jeep, and on my sister’s, she echoed my own words to my mom when she jokingly said she saw our parking spot. Again, this trip had a lot of things coming full-circle.

Since we were in Festa Italia, and I’m kind of a credit whore at this point, I did something nobody would have expected me to do. I rode Tempesto. Tempesto sure is…something. I will humbly admit, I don’t think it entirely deserves the hate I give it. But Tempesto is by no means a particularly good ride, and I agree with those who say it’s the weakest of the park’s lineup. Tempesto was surprisingly quite rough; I found it worse than row 6 on Alpie. The launch was pretty cool, I confess, and the color scheme is much prettier in real life than in photos. It isn’t nearly as busy or loud, and actually compliments with Apollo’s purple and gold quite nicely. And I would always prefer to see a park put in a Premier SkyRocket than a crappy Vekoma Boomerang. Lesser of two evils and all.

But honestly? I stand by what I said: Tempesto is the Asami Sato of roller coasters, and not just because Asami has canonically worn a helmet like in the logo. There’s potential in Tempesto, just as Asami had a whole lot of potential as a character. It could have been great if they’d gone with a more unique layout. But just like Bryke squandered her, BGW squandered Temp by going for the easiest route out. And doggone it, just as people are mad at how they booned Sato over, I’m a little mad at how choosing the most brainless, effortless decision for Tempesto totally screwed up what could have been a solid ride.

Long story short, I want Artemis to hug a personality into Salamiana Satonavanni and buy her a decent wardrobe so people don’t think she’s an Asami cosplay. Even if she really is actually Asami. (And then go hug some happiness into Clark, because purple hypers gotta stick together. Even if Supes is red again.)

After that, we crossed the bridge into Oktoberfest and tussled with Verbolten. Overall, we rode this coaster twice as well, my sister boarding both times for it to wind up being her favorite for the day. Our second time around was the attacking forest scene, which was cool because in the Andromeda Project universe, that’s the power that Vika Schwartzwald (my personification of Verbolten) has. I think the ride is pretty neat, even if some of the effects in the events building aren’t working as brightly as they used to. I rode V-Bolts in her inaugural season, so it only makes sense that 5 years later, some of it won’t be as shiny and new. I actually think the darkness within the building works to the ride’s advantage, and I love love love the drop section.

But my favorite part of Verbolten was my first ride and the event setting we got. We got the infamous lupine chase scene, the homage to Big Bad Wolf, the way to pay respects to he who once treaded where she now stands. And my guys, I genuinely cried. For real, there were big fat tears slipping out of my eyes, and my voice was shaky when I tried to warn my sister to keep her head back for the launch out of the building. I was NOT OKAY.

After that, the family went on Curse of DarKastle, which is a pretty fun little ride. I’m not huge on dark rides like that, I find them quite disorienting, but it was beautifully-themed. We also went into the Festhaus, where I saw some shirts of the retired coasters (two of Big Bad Wolf and even one of Drachen Fire) and felt my soul leave my body through the pieces of my tattered heart. Then, my family proceeded to pull the biggest taco-tease ever to me, going and getting some food (food, mind you, that I couldn’t even enjoy as I loathe funnel cakes) while sitting right beside Alpengeist. I could hear the Beemer roar of the track. I could hear the glorious clacking of the lift hill. I could see those tendrils of looping white track. But I couldn’t go to her, not yet, and I just about went insane.

But after waiting five years to be here again, and three years yearning intensely before our glorious introduction in 2012, I was reunited with Alpengeist once more. I now pronounce thee Ally and Coaster. You may now enjoy your avalanche of adventure. I rode Alpengeist twice, once in row six (to angered Taylor Bybee sounds, I’m sure) to watch the G-force meters, and once in the front row because it’s obligatory to do that on an invert. I also may or may not have stolen some of the chipped paint off the guard rails so I’ll always have a piece of Alpengeist with me.

Can I just say Taylor Bybee can clean off my shoes with his face? Because this ride slaps in the best of ways. Sure, it’s rougher in the back; all inverts are. Even Afterburn isn’t immune to that. But in the front, it was just as smooth as the other 2 Beemers in the park (and here’s my obligatory ‘Oh baby, a triple!’ like Hershey’s Intamins from two years ago.) The only part I found snappy at all was the cobra roll and a bit right after the MCBR, things that can easily be forgiven for how impressive the rest of the ride is. Happy 3-months’ belated birthday to the date, lovely. You’re still doing amazing. And then the guy has the audacity to put Tempesto in the top of the park, like boii….

Can I also just say how much I adore the station in Alpengeist? From the pretty snowflake painted on the wall to the big orange Black Diamond sign and all the little sleds hung around over your head in-between, Geist’s station just feels cozy. I think this one and Griffon’s stations also feel the most open. Everyone else’s felt so darned cramped. The touches of theming are so nice, especially the sign right by the lift. “Weather conditions: Excellent! BLIZZARD!” I may or may not have freaked out when I realized the pattern above the entryway as you return to the station has little hearts on it.

I also liked the flags they have in the station on the rafters. One is pale yellow with an eagle on it, and the other is pastel pink with an Italian Republic crest of arms. (I never took Alpengeist for a pastel aesthetic, but here we are.) In between that and the very-obvious Matterhorns in the logo, it’s pretty obvious that Alpengeist wasn’t an angry German ginger after all. She is an angry Swiss ginger, so someone please draw my Alanna with a Swiss Army Knife I beg thee.

It should surprise none of you that I got the most photos of Alpengeist, 18 counting videos. Verbolten was a close second because I had the balls to actually bring my phone on the ride. I was not about to take my chances with the Feisty Geist, which sucks because that station is still so very, very appealing to me. Maybe next time, which will hopefully probably be next year if all goes according to plan.

If I was expectedly-underwhelmed with Tempesto, I was pleasantly surprised with Invadr. Invadr is a small, precious boy who likes warm hugs, Vikings, and spending time with his kooky, wonderful big sisters. Invadr is a solid ride, and it definitely fills the family coaster slot better than Verbolten does. All in all, not bad! Plus, I’m going to go hard for Bear Train for the rest of my days. Tori and I rode this together once, since the line was awful because it’s new. It’s not intense, and there isn’t a whole lot of airtime, but it’s a solid and fun ride and a fantastic ones for new coaster riders to cut their teeth on.

Also, someone was more than likely partaking of some...not-so-legal substances in the queue, and honestly, please don’t do that in front of my child. C’mon guys, this isn’t Wicked Twister. This isn’t Six Flags Great Adventure. Invadr is my small child, and I want to write a fanfiction now where Invadr meets Actual Viking Valravn and he just. Idolizes him and wants to hang around him forever.

As I said earlier, I got to meet Nathan (Colonial Coasters on Insta) today after I got off Invadr. We ended up riding almost everything together, except AC and Alps. It was nice to have another enthusiast there, and he seemed to get on very well with my family which is always a huge plus for me. I’m really glad I made an Instagram account for a number of reasons, and one of those is all the amazing people I’ve got to meet because of it. So to Colonial, keep rocking, and thank you for not laughing at my raccoon face on Escape From Pompeii and for making today really, really epic. (And you are absolutely right in calling that invert Alpenbae.) I will totes get you a Lightning Rod shirt the next time I’m at the Wood of Dollyness.

I should close out today with a coaster that really has been a huge part of my journey as an enthusiast too. If Alpengeist was always the one that got away, Griffon has always been the big shadow looming over my shoulder and probably breathing menacingly down my neck. That’s part of why Giselle Chaffey’s been characterized as an expy of Armin from the Slap on Titan parody series. (And yes, I did think of the scene in episode 11 when he becomes a dark lord on the lift hill. ‘You thought you could probe the darkness that is Griffon’s mind? FOOL! She will DROWN YOU in the maelstrom of her nightmares!’)

Yeah well, after Fury, literally nothing scares me anymore except the StrataBabes. Because of this marked lack of fear, I think my opinion and enjoyment of Griffon has drastically raised, to the point I’m not sure if she or AC is my second-favorite in the park. (Sorry, ladies, but Geisty’s always gonna be my #1 for this park.) The ride ops totally made this even better, with one proclaiming “Bye, Felicia!” when the train departed, and another one telling us not to swing our feet because “Griffon doesn’t like when you kick. Please, don’t kick.”

The view from the top is stunning, especially since I, ya know, could keep my eyes open. Front row or die with this one, boys, and if you’re lucky enough to get an edge seat, you are a lucky, lucky biscuit. Poor Griff needs a repaint though; the sun’s bleached a lot of the paint so it looks like the ride’s roots are showing. Maybe they can use the credit card someone lost on the MCBR to pay for it.

I also, as I said before, rode Escape from Pompeii. And honestly, the only Pompeii I really ever want to do with a theme park again is someone making an angsty Fury video to the Bastille song. If you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing’s changed at all? I really, really, really don’t like water rides. I don’t like what happens to my hair, I don’t like feeling all soggy and gross for the rest of the day, and I certainly don’t like the burning sensation of mascara in my eyeballs.

But, I can’t end things on a sour note because this trip was just as sweet as Hersheypark. The Fab Five were, well, fabulous. Invadr was a pleasant surprise, and Tempesto didn’t suck as bad as I figured Tempesto would suck. I’ve overcome my fear of heights, at least on coasters, and for the first time this summer, this whole week has felt very peaceful. I hate to go back home after this. At least I know that when I’m in the Gardens, or perhaps it’s just when I’m around my precious wooden and steel children, there’s something safe. It’s so comforting to know that no matter what happens, there’s always going to be a park out there to go to and visit, if only to escape for a little while. And if 2009 was the trip that made me start the personification nonsense, maybe 2017 is the trip that’s helped me get a step closer to really understanding why.

#trip reports #in which Ally loves Busch Gardens for all of her days

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ificouldflytotheclouds · 6 years

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And somehow the stars align

So I was just thinking of my top favorite artists of all time: Taylor Swift, One Direction, and 5sos. And they strangely all have similar pathways even though they're on different roads.

The beginning.

Out of the three Taylor is the artist I can tell you the least as to how I fell into her music but it I believe it manifested from a friends recommendations.

One Direction I remember seeing the countdown for WMYB on my sidebar every day I was on youtube, by the time the music video dropped I finally clicked on the videos because I was intrigued by this video trying to encroach on my life.

5sos was a friend recommendation. 5 Years ago (+1 day) she sent my a link to try hard. I didn’t listen to it at the time because I didn’t want to download anything onto my mom’s computer. A month later she sent me the link to Luke’s cover of please don’t go, it wasn’t till I looked into his other work did I realize he was part of 5sos. Check yes Juliet and drop in the ocean that won me over.

Getting into them

I saw Taylor perform at the mall and after the show we got a signed cd (rip, at the time someone standing near us was like can we meet her after and security was like no, something about being too many ppl, but like…)

For 1d my friend had me watch their video diaries and I fell in love. We saw them at the same mall (and when I say mall I mean the Mall of America, aka the biggest mall in the U. S. A. anyways…) that was crazy busy. We didn’t have tickets but we went to watch anyways, that was fun, and it actually spawned a friendship with someone who went to my school and is now one of my besties now (who was the person who introduced me to 5sos).

5sos. I remember wanting to go to the Stars, Stripes and Maple Syrup Tour (actually, I completely forgot about this until today, I forgot how whipped I was for them before slsp came out). But we couldn’t go. (rip, wasn’t able to go to wwat for same/similar reasons, but this year finally traveling to Chicago for a show so it kinda makes up for it). Got tickets for Rock Out with Your Socks Out Tour but we ended up selling them to go to a second 1d show. I don’t regret this decision, because 1) that was ones for the books and 2) we knew that this might be the last time we will ever see them (once Zayn left me and my friend were intent on going to more than one show). Back to 5sos, the day of their show we almost ended up getting into their radio show, but we still go to see them walk past.

The second album ‘Hiatus’

This is where things strangely align

Way back to middle school I wasn’t into music the same way I am now, it was healthier, lol. I still loved Taylor but I didn’t get fearless until Christmas, I fell in love with that album on my grandma’s staircase. I watched all the behind the scenes pictures, but compared to the information that goes out now I knew nothing, I just knew the bigger things (I think this is why I always struggle/feel like I don’t fit in with online Taylor stan culture, bc it wasn’t how I fell for her and her music). We tried to get tickets to the fearless tour but were unsuccessful.

Before I begin with 1d, I also want to remind you that Spotify has not always been around, and even then I didn’t download it till sometime in 2017. I don’t even know when it comes to the tmh era. Back sophomore/junior year when I got into things it would be in waves (it’s starting to go back to that which is healthy). So tmh was when I wasn’t following 1d so much. My friend invited me to see a prescreening of the this is us movie. I /sort of/ forced myself to listen to tmh. TMH era might have been one of their best but there’s a reason why it took me a while to get into this album, it’s just not my fav, I find it the least memorable, even though generally speaking its a better album than uan. (I still love the album don’t get me wrong)

5sos, oh 5sos, just trying to figure yourselves out. I don’t like talking about this much, it’s important to acknowledge but it can also feed negativity. Them as people were getting harder to stand and the fandom was getting to be too much, so I had to say goodbye to social media side. I don’t regret this decision and I really wish I had done this at one point for 1d, but with that, it was a little different (baby gate being announcement was hell). I still loved their music but my friend was pressuring me not to listen to it, so that winter I didn’t buy livesos, but I do remember a year later I listening to the skh ep, and enjoying it (Even though I was iffy about skh at the time). School had started and I was kinda out of the loop so I don’t think I actually knew when sgfg came out (Even though I defs followed a few 5sos ppl still, just not update accounts at the time)

Even though I wasn’t there for sgfg I equate this time period with the self-titled album era - post album release because I was there but I wasn’t. I liked the album but it ended up being the least memorable, similar to take me home.

3rd album hoopla

For each of them, the hype began months before the album was released, most likely starting with the drop of a single and riding a high from there.

For Taylor it started with her live stream announcing the 3rd album, to mine that released when I was in a cafe in the Northwoods, the album release week was epic, we finally got tickets to see her on tour (for my friends 15th birthday, 15 I still cry I go to listen to this live when I was 15). I EMBODIED THIS ERA. I had my first crush, the world was magical, I was in a world wind.

This was my school friend forcing me to let my fangirl out lol. (For 1d this wasn’t their peak compared to Taylor and 5sos currently, but it was a very important era for me as a fan). It started with me going to the prescreening of this is us, wow I loved them. SNL performances, being excited for the first show, I had all the lyrics printed out so I could sing them...good times. (I feel like 1d’s best era was tmh but I wasn’t there so its not my #1 era as a fan, from there it’s hard to pick bc I didnt get to see them during wwat, I did with FOUR/OTRA, but there was also DRAMA with that era, and then there was MITAM mini era which got us high and dry(ingourtears)).

And now here we are for 5sos’ 3rd album. You can FEEL that this one is different. SGFG was good, heck, that is one of the best albums I have ever heard, and ngl I was low key nervous as to how they were going to out beat it. But that album was rushed, they didn’t get as much time off as it feels, but this album there is SOOO SOOO much love put in this album. And it goes beyond the lyrics. They really pushed themselves, instrumentally, emotionally, vocally, as people. There is growth, expansion. They reinvented themselves, and yet they are just an embodiment of who they always were, the lessons they’ve learned, and just a better more empowered version of themselves. I wish I could remember if it was pre or post want you back but I ended up getting into SGFG (properly) around this time. THe first few songs made it hard to get into the album when I had listened to it in the past. But I was finally able to skip around those (this is one of those times where I probs would've listened to the album earlier if I had spotify at the time) and later fall in love with them. I think that album came in at the right time. I got to go to 5sos3, got tickets for meet you there, youngblood is amazing. Life is great.

Since the 3rd album hoopla for 1d and Taylor

I got to see both of them from row, in the same year, b stage for 1d and center catwalk for Taylor. Still love them, they’re chill, since 2015 I can say I’ve seen Niall at least once every year, 2 times for OTRA, met him during his golf tournament in ‘16, 2 radio shows in ‘17 on which Liam also played at. I have a Harry concert in a few days, seeing Niall twice this year to continue the tradition, might see Taylor (tixs are sooooo expensive, don’t love her new album that much but this girl loves Taylor sooo, I’m not going to miss it - I don’t hate it but it’s just not the same as how I feel in love with yb instantly, it doesn’t give me that feel), and I get to see 5sos again in the fall (I want to go to their Chicago radio show so bad bc it’s close to the Chicago Niall show, but not close enough, darn)

#this was a bit trippy to write bc 5sos align with 1d at points but theyre on different time lines #i like how im holding off on posting/writing posts that i want to bc theyll take a while to do while i impulsively write this one which took #at least an hour #this is not proof read #but my posts are mildly messy regardless

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