#ts wrote the whole album for them

[ghstfwce]

peace is such a faberry song

[listonstuff]

Sw*ties acting like ttpd is like slyvia plath soul went inside ts and wrote this album lmao. Is this peak poetry?

“You know how to ball, i know aristotle”

Cmon girl do you really think that youre a god of poetry just bc some meatheads called you the e greatest songwriter in the whole world? What even this line even means? I would be embarrassed to write this and publish it to the entire world lmao. The fact that your pr team is actively paying music critics because your ego is too big to fit in your head to acknowledge the truth that your album sucks.

The music industry is deeply in trenches. Make a mediocre music, release multiple vinyls of same sh*t and get your checks. There are probably dozens, who would kill to be in your place to dedicate their hearts to music and you are taking it for granted…. You have all the resources in the world you could access to, yet you dont wanna evolve yourself but stay in the same monotonous music to get quick bucks and exploration of music sense is long gone…

Do you make music to make statements of your relationships and make it as your “personal diary” to write about your exes, only for them to be mercilessly bullied… I remember the damnon alburn fiasco and he blurted out and most of your deranged fans abused and harrased the hell outta him to come and apologise to you. Your ego ass didnt even acknowledge it. Because you know, he called you out bc your song sucks and you couldnt handle it getting from a person who knows and writes and has experience far more longer than you.

Get your shit together. Stop ruining the industry and get serious about your music career and treat music as an art not a money making machine

[foxes-that-run]

Two Ghosts

In 5 - 7 minutes of Behind the Album there is footage of Harry working on the melody, lyrics and recording two ghosts in Jamaica in late 2016. He goes on to moving from 1D where his personal life was overexposed and wanting to write music that was successful without people knowing about his personal life. He has made a similar comment to Rolling Stone “I don’t know much about Van Morrison’s life, but I know how he felt about this girl, because he put it in a song. So I like working the same way.”

When was it written

On it's release in May 2017 Harry said it was written “almost 4 years ago now”. in Summer 2013, Midnight Memories had his first writing credits, Happily and Something Great, Style was not written then. While possible, Two Ghosts is more mature. I think he thought he “wrote too many songs about” her and changed the time.

By 2019 he'd moved on and he told Rolling Stone it was written for Made in the AM. (Summer, 2015.) That places it with Walking on the wind, if I could fly, Olivia and Perfect, which also refer to 1989. FTDT and Woman are the same period, but don’t have lyrics that ID them like two ghosts.

To me, Two Ghosts is about reflecting on a lost love. The premise os the song reflects the Style MV which has Harry and Taylor shot in a ghostly way. The Style MV was released Valentines Day 2015, the anniversary of them getting together in 2014.

It has only been played live once since 2018, on Valentines Day 2020, further indicated it may have been written on Valentines Day 2015. Harry choose it over Golden when promoting Fine Line on Radio 2's Valentines Show in 2020, (16 mins), the only time it's been played in 4 years now. Harry also played Joni Mitchell’s yellow taxi which Joni tweeted about the anniversary of.

1D was in Australia, HS was flat. Style was #6, named after him and with footage is intentionally reminiscent. Even more interesting that we never saw the Two Ghosts MV, though Taylor referenced it in Me!'s.

On holding it back to be Solo

From Rolling Stone: "Sometimes if you’re, like, telling a really personal story, then the voice changes every few lines; it doesn’t quite do the same thing. As the songs got more personal, I think I just became more aware that at some point there might be a moment where I would want to sing it myself.”

"A turning point was “Two Ghosts,” a ballad from his solo debut. “’Two Ghosts’ I wrote for the band, for Made in the A.M. But the story was just a bit too personal. As I started opening up to write my more personal stuff, I just became aware of a piece of me going, ‘I want to sing the whole thing.’ Now I look at a track list and these are all my little babies. So every time I’m playing a song, I can remember writing it, and exactly where we were and exactly what happened in my life when I wrote it."

Questions on who it’s about

Nick Grimshaw asked Harry (at 4:38) if it was about Taylor. Media trained, 5 year seasoned TS question dodger, Harry had an adorable reaction. He and Nick are friends, he’s being coy and laughing, answering “I think it’s pretty self explanatory” adding “I think it’s about, sometimes things change, and you can do all the same things, and sometimes it’s just different, you know? 2017, Philosopher, London, England.” Then he laughs and dances around.

Lyrics

Same lips red, same eyes blue Same white shirt, couple more tattoos But it's not you and it's not me Tastes so sweet, looks so real Sounds like something that I used to feel But I can't touch what I see

The song clearly references Style, the music video for which was filmed in November 2014 while they were together and released in February 2015 after they broke up while he was in Australia.

The video is meant to be something he used to feel, that looks real but he can’t touch. It shows Taylor and Harry-stand-in with projections, playing with light and it’s interspersed with home video footage. The footage is thought to be shot in part by Harry, or at least wearing outfits she was pictured with him in.

We're not who we used to be We're not who we used to be We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat

In the chorus moves from the reminder of the Video to the memory. Reflecting on looking at an idealised version of his relationship that’s now broken up and he’s grieving.

Taylor had referred to Harry as a ghost in How You Get The Girl “Stand there like a ghost shaking from the rain”

The fridge light washes this room white Moon dances over your good side And this was all we used to need Tongue-tied like we've never known Telling those stories we already told 'Cause we don't say what we really mean

In the second verse Harry reflects on their downfall, a lack of communication.

Taylor refers to herself as tongue-tied in Message in a bottle on Red “and I became hypnotised/ by freckles and bright eyes, tongue tied”

Harry later refers to being still tongue-tied in Sunflower Vol 6. Taylor also sang about not saying what the mean in Wish you Would: “You think I'm gonna hate you now / ‘Cause you still don't know what I never said”

We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat

This may refer to being emotionally depleted, as in Ever Since New York: "Brooklyn saw me, empty at the news / There's no water inside this swimming pool"

Or it could refer to being in an ever shrinking microscope, Taylor later used a Snowglobe and Fishbowl in the Lover Video to represent being on display together.

[hoochy-coo]

Ttpd as a whole ! :)

In terms of her entire discography, this is firmly at 4 for me if you put all the songs together.

The pros are:

- This is her most autobiographical and self-referential album to date. I know that makes the music somewhat inaccessible to casual listeners but if you’re a stan that’s taken the time to digest, you can trace the map. This speaks to how parasocial her fanbase is but that’s a different conversation

- Taylor is usually very curated and calculated about what she wants us to know and how that will ultimately impact how we perceive her as well as her brand. However, she let it all hang out this album and I applaud that.

- The highs are career highs. We have great moment of introspections (Clara Bow, BDILH, The Manuscript, HDIE, ILIPW). We also have some of her best song writing since folkevermore (The Prophecy, SLL, The Black Dog, the Albatross, GAS, FOTS, Loml)

- It’s a grower. I think a lot of the songs need to grow on you because of the length of the album and how wordy a lot of the songs are.

- This album potentially marks her first instance of “not giving a fuck” and putting whatever she wants out. Which possibly signals a change in her creative process and we’ll be getting more raw and honest writing from her moving forward

- The music is catchy. Like cringe all you want over Down Bad but it’s catchy as hell

The cons:

- It’s bloated, unfocused, and confused. I totally get that she wrote most of this at a very painful, confusing period of her life. However, I agree with the NYT’s review that she badly needs an editor. For example, BDILH is AMAZING - it’s like grown up Speak Now on crack and in the context of the TS lore, it’s her giving a cheeky wink while flipping the “fairytale” motif that’s been such a staple to her career. However, it is so ridiculously wordy that it’s such a task to listen to. My head was spinning when I first heard the bridge LMAO. Which brings me to my next point…

- TTPD is self indulgent and not in a good way. She is clearly SPEAKING DIRECTLY to her muse on this album. She is doing so much to send a message to Matty Healey here that it gets a little uncomfortable. There are way too many coded messages and secret in-jokes. I’m in no way saying us as an audience should be able to demand comfort from her work, but I can’t lie and say it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the music. A lot of the tracks are clearly intended to sound like 1975 as a jab at Matty and it’s not cute.

- It’s trying to be a Lana album. Drag me all you want but she is writing in Lana cursives for half of this album and I don’t get why. Taylor did some of her best writing her when she kept it simple and worked off a relatable point of reference. For example, the Black Dog tells a very simple story of discovering that your ex-lover forgot to turn off his location and now you’re spiraling wondering what he’s doing at that exact location and who he’s with. Same with the Prophecy - it’s literally about trying and failing at love over and over again and wondering if it’s just not in the cards for you.

- Jack and Aaron. They are all stunting each other and she needs to take a break from working with them for a while. I’m in no way saying that Jack and Aaron didn’t do some good work on this album (because they absolutely did) but it’s clear that they’re not pushing her to try something new.

- Repeated exploration of the same topics and not having new or interesting to say. See: thanK you aIMee, Cassandra and WAOLOM. It’s the same thing being written about from the same lens. She could have kept it in the vault.

- It feels rushed. It just does and the sheer amount of songs thrown onto the album with no stream lining or even sonic ties makes it an exhausting listen in one sitting.

- Not leaning into the horror themes and motifs seems like a lost opportunity. There are tons of horror references on this album that she seemingly has done nothing with. Down Bad compares getting dumped with being dropped back to earth after an alien abduction, WAOLOM likens herself to a witch, TSMWEL compares her ex-lover ghosting her as getting betrayed and shot by a double agent, SLL referencing death, funerals and being reviving back to life but barely living, Fortnight literally references murders, ICDIWABH is a circus nightmare etc.

- All that marketing she did around Joever, which sent her stans on a with hunt, only for the album to be some other muse has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall, I’d say the pros trump the cons. However, I honestly think had she sat with it a bit more, rearranged some, edited bits and pieces, and trimmed off the excess, she would have had a fantastic album.

[beanie-twink]

So since you wanted some ianthony song recs... And I am also currently working on creating a playlist for them. I figured you wouldn't mind if I ramble about some of my favourite choices so far! :D

For now the playlist is still pretty TS heavy , since I went through her albums first to look for songs. So here are some of my top choices (aside from midnight rain) for them there:

- forever winter

"he spends most of his nights wishing it was how it used to be" "all this time I didn't know you were breaking down. I'd fall to pieces on the floor, if you weren't around"

- 'tis the damn season

"if I wanted to know who you were hanging with while I was gone I would have asked you" "so we could call it even [...] I'm staying at my parent's house and the road not taken looks real good now" "and I always leads to you, in my hometown" "so I'll go back to LA [...] And wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles I'm fakin'"

- and then of course the corresponding "Dorothea"

- closure (this song hits even more since we know about the letter that Anthony wrote)

(tho I'm glad that the song doesn't actually apply to them irl anymore; it just feels like Smth for the in between phase)

- both happiness and evermore also fit pretty well for that time

Especially with "sorry, I can't see facts through all of my fury. You haven't met the new me yet" "now I get fake niceties. No one teaches you what to do when a good man hurts you and you know you hurt him too"

And

"motion capture put me in a bad light" "writing letters addressed to the fire" "I rewind the tape but all it does is pause on the very moment all was lost"

- also "right where you left me" for Ian Vs "it's time to go" for anthony

- I almost do

Literally the whole song fits so well here idk what else to say (works from both perspectives imo)

- Breathe

"Cause none of us thought that it was gonna end this way. Ppl are ppl and sometimes we change our minds. But it's killing me to see you go after all this time" "you're the only thing I know like the back of my hand" "It's 2:00 am feeling like I just lost a friend. Hope you know it's not easy for me"

- That's when

Just really reminds me of that time when they were still apart and when asked if there are any plans of Anthony coming back one day or Smth like that and said Smth along the lines of "the door is always open"

- the story of us

Again, literally the whole song istg

But especially "now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking. And I'm dying to know: is it killing you like it's killing me?"

- from folkore I think both "the 1" and "exile" fit pretty well

Especially "and it took you 5 whole minutes to pack us up and leave me with it" and the whole bridge with "you didn't even here me out. You never gave a warning sign/I gave so many signs"

- also "this is me trying"

With "I didn't know if you care if I came back. I have a lot of regrets about that." "But I'm here in your doorway. I just wanted you to know, that this is me trying" (Anthony)

"and it's hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound. It's hard to be anywhere these days when all I want is you. You're a flashback in a film real on the one screen in my town"

- you're loosing me (right before the Anthony left smosh)

"do I throw out everything we built or keep it?" "my face was gray but you wouldn't admit that we were sick"

- New Year's Day (hurts during the "break-up" era, but also feels very healing atm tbh)

"don't read the last page. But I stay when it's hard, or it's wrong, or we're making mistakes"

"hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you"

"Please don't ever become a stranger, whose laugh I could recognize anywhere"

Honourable mentions:

- I wish you would

- you are in love

- long live

- the very first night

- hits different

Sorry this was way longer than intended lmao.

And mostly angsty

Hope you enjoy some of them tho! :D

ANOTHER IANTHONY SWIFTIE BLESSED DAY

[septembersghost]

I know that people speculate how some songs TS recorded years ago sound now in her adult voice (especially reliving older experiences with a new perspective). But it also made me think how 1D & maybe even 5SOS would sound singing their back catalogue. (Lol, less adolescent for sure- but more trained & seasoned).

oh without doubt, they were literally kids when they started! voices change and develop over time, especially with proper training and vocal coaching. i’m not sure about men, but a voice teacher told me once that women’s voices aren’t fully developed and with whole range until they reach their 30s (more reason why it’s insane for the industry to push teens and twenty-somethings, and to treat turning 30 as some sort of albatross), which is evident with taylor, her voice has strengthened and expanded even since lover, with both maturity and voice lessons. i loved the way RS wrote about this (i know people are mad about this list, but still what they said here is true!)

the 1D boys’ harmonies were always flawless, and each of them is distinct enough that their vocals are easy to tell apart, but you can really hear the progression and confidence in that as they grow between albums. and their voices have definitely strengthened, with clarity and polish and individuality, in their solo work. (there’s this interview niall did before heartbreak weather, where he joked about their first album having some “howlers” on the track list that is so funny. they grew a lot in having pride and enjoyment in their music the more they got to add input and write of it too.) some of their songs would sound different and take on other layers if they recorded them now. the same is true of 5sos, it’s true of patrick’s vocals for fob, really any musician/group that starts young. your voice is an instrument! if you care for it and tune it and keep using it over time, it’s naturally going to sound better and you’re going to be more skilled at playing it. youth is not the end of talent and growth <3

[plegdoctor]

Hi Pleg, what inspired your choices for each song for each hgau chapter? 💫

Juno I do love you ever so much

To start with, Safe and Sound, is the song Taylor wrote for the first Hunger Games film and is the inspiration for the title of the fic. I love this song with my whole entire heart.

Innocent - Chapter One

One of the most underrated songs from one of my favourite albums. Innocent talks about making a mistake ("I guess you really did it this time//Left yourself in your warpath) and wanting to go back to childhood when it was simpler ("Wasn't it easier in your lunchbox days?") I thought this is the perfect song for the reaping, the moment where everything in their lives change. For some, it rings true because of volunteering. For others, it just highlights the hopelessness of the situation as the song's melody is quite thoughtful and haunting, meanwhile the lyrics encourage hope which mirrors the fight that begins to emerge in the chapter (such as Cherry's mum's last words to her).

gold rush - Chapter Two

Gold rush is about the speaking longing for beauty that seems untouchable. For me, I felt like this perfectly shows the tribute parade. For starters, gold links to Bimini's costume which is highlighted in their first meeting with Asttina. I feel like a lot of lyrics link with Tayce in this chapter as she is the one to be emphasised as desirable and beautiful: "I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch//Everybody wants you//Everybody wonders what it would be like to touch you" "What must it be like//To grow up that beautiful?// With your hair falling into place like dominoes"

Sparks Fly - Chapter Three

This is quite simple in that Sparks Fly is about falling in love and forming connections however risky they may seem, which is just perfect for the chapter where everyone is properly meeting and getting to know each other. This chapter is the first formation of some of the ships. Also, "Gimme something that'll haunt me when you're not around"

mirrorball - Chapter Four

For me mirrorball is about the desire to be liked and changing yourself to do so. That's exactly what's happening in this chapter with the interviews, all of them trying to sell themselves to the Capitol in order to stay alive, to be viewed as desirable enough to keep alive. "Spinning on my tallest tiptoes" reminds me of Bim in their ridiculously large heels. Also "Hush//I know they said the end is near" is so gorgeous a lyric but also so perfect for the emotions of the tributes. Obviously the "Masquerade revelers//Drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten" are the Capitol. I toyed with this song also being for Bim's winner interview.

...Ready For It? - Chapter Five

The VIBE of this song. The TENSION. The motif of hidden love. The soft chorus in the middle of a very intense song just like the soft ships in the middle of death and destruction. And this is not even mentioning the repetition of "Baby let the games begin". Just a perfect song in every way.

cowboy like me - Chapter Six

One of my absolute favourite songs from Evermore. The bittersweet vibes of love. The forming deep connections. I love that this song starts in media res because it makes me think about how this is media res of their lives - when Sister is revealing her secret, it reminds me of how all these characters have history behind them that gets unfolded. Also the realisations of finding someone just like you is so so perfect for the ships. They're all finding their soulmates. I also secretly think this is a very Ginster song for some reason, yet it also works really well for Blackcherry and also Greentia (but i think all TS songs work for greentia) Also "Perched in the dark//Telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear" and "Hustling for the good life//Never thought I'd meet you hear" AND "And the skeletons in both our closests//Plotted hard to fuck this up". And my favourite lyrics of all time: "Now you hang from my lips//Like the gardens of Babylon// With your boots beneath my bed// Forever is the sweetest con"

death by a thousand cuts - Chapter Seven

I think I crammed about a thousand references to this song in this chapter because I was fully obsessed with it while writing the chapter. But it's so perfect for Asttimini, as Bim feels like the speaker in the song now that Asttina is gone, and it's perfect for Blackcherry because it encapsulates a love that seems great but also appears to never be possible. It's such a beautiful song and I love it too much to not include it, especially since Bim says "I'll be alright, it's just a thousand cuts." (Also the bridge is SO blackcherry, if you take one rec from this list please have it be this bridge)

Seven - Chapter Eight

After I published chapter eight i went for a mental health walk while listening to Folklore. "Please picture me in the trees//I hit my peak at seven//feet" IS SO JCYE GREENTIA that i actually had to sit down on a bench to recover for a moment. Also I just think it's a beautiful song about soft loving friendship. "Sweet tea in the summer//Cross your heart won't tell no other" and "Your braids like a pattern//Love you to the moon and to Saturn"... when I say this song makes me weep I am not joking. It just had to be this song for this chapter.

Haunted - Chapter Nine

Bim can't look back now, they're haunted x. Also, the loss?? The regret?? The angst?? "You and I walk a fragile line//I have known it all this time" HELLO??? That's them!! "Come on, come on, don't leave me like this" "Something's made your eyes go cold" "you're not gone, you can't be gone, no" "Oh holding my breath//Won't see you again" This song positively drips jcye diamondchaney and I will be taking 0 criticism.

The Archer - Chapter Ten

With Bim being the only one left, it seems suitable to have a song that reflects loneliness. It also coincidentally has Bim's weapon of choice - they have been The Archer from the beginning. The lyrics "Combat, I'm ready for combat//I say I don't want that, but what if I do?" showing Bimini's struggle to adjust to being out of the arena. "I've been the archer//I've been the prey//Who could ever leave me darling//But who could stay?" I was so tempted to include the bridge "They see right through me//They see right through me//They see right through//Can you see right through me?//They see right through//They see right through me//I see right through me//I see right through me" in that chapter. "All the king's horses, all the king's men//Couldn't put me together again" being Bim sat in the makeup chair. Oh I just love it.

right where you left me - Chapter Eleven

Bimini has been left behind. The others might be dead but Bimini is the one feeling like a ghost stuck in time. Okay I lied, if you take any song recs also take this one because it is rated as one of my favourite songs of all times and makes me sob almost every time.

If you got to the end of this then thank you for reading the unhinged writings of someone who loves Taylor and is really really going to miss writing Just Close Your Eyes

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Cats 101: What the Fuck Even Is This Thing?

So, my old Explaining Cats post just went through a new wave of popularity, including with people who haven’t seen Cats before. This has inspired me to do a series of posts explaining Cats a bit more clearly, just in case someone’s curious about it, but also scared to go near it because it’s weird. This might make it a bit less scary.

So, the story of Cats begins a long time before it actually begins. In 1939, a poet by the name of TS Eliot published a book of poems for children, all about various silly cat characters. This was Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. It was read by and read to a lot of children, because TS Eliot was thought of as a poetry god at the time. 

Anyway, one of the children who grew up with these poems was Andrew Lloyd Webber. In the late 1970s, he started setting the poems to music as a passion project. He decided that the results would make for a good stage musical, with people singing and dancing to what was basically a concept album, at this point. He had no idea for any sort of plot for this musical, not thinking that it needed one. 

To make his surreal dream a reality, ALW teamed up with several other people who thought the idea was cool, but were slightly more sane about the whole thing. Trevor Nunn, the director, decided that there needed to be at least a small amount of plot so the audience would find some point in the whole thing. These were children’s poems and children might not care, but this musical wasn’t being aimed at children. ALW was inspired by Hot Gossip, which meant weird and horny. Eliot’s widow signed off on it, claiming that he would’ve liked that. Knowing what the man was actually like, I assume that this was some sort of revenge for a shitty marriage. 

Anyway, plot. Eliot’s widow gave The Team access to some unreleased poems. There was a poem that Eliot wrote for Old Possum’s that he decided not to include because it was too sad for children, called Grizabella the Glamour Cat. The Team decided to make this the plot.

The show was about a tribe of cats that called themselves Jellicles. The word Jellicle is thought to come from one of Eliot’s child relatives mispronouncing “dear little”. Jellicle cats are “dear little cats”. However, this actually isn’t important, because in the context of the play, Jellicle doesn’t mean anything. It’s just what these cats called themselves. It’s a proper noun.

The Jellicle tribe meets once a year at an event called the Jellicle Ball. At the Jellicle Ball, after doing some regular ball stuff like singing and dancing, Old Deuteronomy, the leader of the tribe, chooses a cat to go to The Heaviside Layer. A cat who goes to the Heaviside Layer is reborn and returns to Earth with a new life. This comes from the idea of cats having nine lives. This is how they do it. At the end of one life, they go up to the Heaviside Layer and get a new one.

This is why some people say that Cats is about a death cult. They’re not completely wrong, but it’s an oversimplification to say the least.

So, all these cats take turns singing about themselves and each other. Before Grizabella’s plot was really established, these were “auditions” for the Heaviside Layer. But, later on, that was only the case with some of the numbers. Some of the characters with songs are pretty young and/or really happy with their lives, so the Heaviside Layer makes no sense as a motivation for them. Instead, they’re justing having a good time or reminding everyone how awesome they are.

But, there’s this one cat, Grizabella, who used to be one of the tribe’s star performers, who, for some reason or another, left the tribe and is not allowed to return. She keeps showing up and being treated like an outcast until the very end when she sings her song. She actually has two. During her first appearance, we get Grizabella the Glamour Cat, a song about who this weird sad lady is. At the end, Grizabella sings Memory, longing for the old days, revealing just how miserable she is and that all she wants is to be part of a family again. Everyone is moved, they accept her, and she’s rewarded with the Heaviside Layer, symbolizing the tribe giving her a second chance.

So, now there’s a plot. It’s time to figure out how people are supposed to dance to it.

Since the poems themselves were not designed to tell a story and are all just character descriptions, the usual way that musicals tell stories isn’t possible. Only a handful of songs have original lyrics. This mostly consists of Memory and songs related to it. The rest of the story, since the lyrics don’t tell a story, is told through the choreography. 90% of Cats is more ballet than typical musical theatre. Said ballet was choreographed by Gillian Lynne and, since 90% of the story is told through dance, 90% of the story came from her. In many ways, Cats is actually her show. 

So, when explaining what’s going on in this thing, expect to hear more about Gillian Lynne’s ideas than Andrew Lloyd Webber’s. He wrote a concept album and hired other people to make it into an actual musical. Give Webber credit when the music sounds good.

After improvising a good amount of the show during rehearsals, Cats was officially on in West End in 1981. It was a big success, so Broadway naturally had to have it, and the show opened there a year later. Then it was everywhere.

Jumping ahead to 1997, The Team realized that the show probably wouldn’t run forever. Cats had just become the longest-running show on Broadway, but it wasn’t nearly as big as it was in the 80s when Cats was The Big Thing in musical theatre. If the show closed in theatres, future generations couldn’t see it. Now, it was decided to produce a special recorded version for VHS, which was released in 1998. This is the most accessible and well-known version of the show. If you want to see it, it’s best to start there. Most of what I’ll say about the show in future installments is based in that version.

Next Time: Who Are All These Goddamn Cats?

[enbies-and-felonies]

eheh I'm planning something and am here to ask questions: what are your favorite kotlc pairs (queerplatonic/platonic/romantic/any other), and do you have any songs/poems/art pieces associated with them? what are some tropes that you love seeing (both in fic and in art?) 💜

queerplatonic: literally there is smth so personal abt qpr keefex... like......... howling rn

platonic: marella and keefe and fitz just!!!!!!! they fry my brain!!!!!! also LINH AND DEX ARE BESTIES

romantic: marelliana..... ong..... my heart........... also fedex is smth so!! yeah <3

~~

dex is intrinsically intertwined with lizzie mcalpine's music. like. INTRINSICALLY. if i am listening to her music I AM THINKING ABT DEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(that being said, there's a certain element of kam in her music too)

marella to me is Stay Down by Julien Baker like... holy fuck. ough

cardigan by taylor swift is BIANA AND MARELLA specifically in my uhhhhhh there's one fic i wrote abt marellinhiana and cardigan is my secret sequel song that i think abt them to <3

(also that whole ts album is also biana <333333)

art wise ough.......... i simply don't know! so many things ofc but like. nothing explicitly that screams keeper crew to me. (that being said!!!!!!! sun's art is LITERALLY canon to me so you can always look at xyr art and know my thoughts {@perpetualhearts})

~~

tropes..... hurt/comfort is LITERALLY my jam. nothing like it <333333

sharing a bed... love confessions.... mutual pining..... ALSO FAKE DATING SO TRUE. my mind is kinda buzzy today so i can't think of anything more, but yep!!

[phroyd]

One of our Great Comedians leaves us this day! Rest In Peace, Jackie! - Phroyd

Jackie Mason, whose staccato, arm-waving delivery and thick Yiddish accent kept the borscht belt style of comedy alive long after the Catskills resorts had shut their doors, and whose career reached new heights in the 1980s with a series of one-man shows on Broadway, died on Saturday in Manhattan. He was 93.His death, at Mount Sinai Hospital, was confirmed by the lawyer Raoul Felder, a longtime friend.Mr. Mason regarded the world around him as a nonstop assault on common sense and an affront to his sense of dignity. Gesturing frantically, his forefinger jabbing the air, he would invite the audience to share his sense of disbelief and inhabit his very thin skin, if only for an hour.“I used to be so self-conscious,” he once said, “that when I attended a football game, every time the players went into a huddle, I thought they were talking about me.” Recalling his early struggles as a comic, he said, “I had to sell furniture to make a living — my own.”The idea of music in elevators sent him into a tirade: “I live on the first floor; how much music can I hear by the time I get there? The guy on the 28th floor, let him pay for it.”

The humor was punchy, down-to-earth and emphatically Jewish: His last one-man show in New York, in 2008, was titled “The Ultimate Jew.” A former rabbi from a long line of rabbis, Mr. Mason made comic capital as a Jew feeling his way — sometimes nervously, sometimes pugnaciously — through a perplexing gentile world.“Every time I see a contradiction or hypocrisy in somebody’s behavior,” he once told The Wall Street Journal, “I think of the Talmud and build the joke from there.” Describing his comic style to The New York Times in 1988, he said, “My humor — it’s a man in a conversation, pointing things out to you.”“He’s not better than you, he’s just another guy,” he added. “I see life with love — I’m your brother up there — but if I see you make a fool out of yourself, I owe it to you to point that out to you.”He was born Yacov Moshe Maza in Sheboygan, Wis., on June 9, 1928, to immigrants from Belarus. (Some sources give the year as 1931.) When he was 5, his father, Eli, an Orthodox rabbi, and his mother, Bella (Gitlin) Maza, moved the family to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where Yacov discovered that his path in life had already been determined. Not only his father, but his grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfathers had all been rabbis. His three older brothers became rabbis, and his two younger sisters married rabbis. “It was unheard-of to think of anything else,” Mr. Mason said. “But I knew, from the time I’m 12, I had to plot to get out of this, because this is not my calling.”

After earning a degree from City College, he completed his rabbinical studies at Yeshiva University and was ordained. In a state of mounting misery, he tended to congregations in Weldon, N.C., and Latrobe, Pa., unhappy in his profession but unwilling to disappoint his father.Hedging his bets, he had begun working summers in the Catskills, where he wrote comic monologues and appeared onstage at every opportunity. This, he decided, was his true calling, and after his father’s death in 1959 he felt free to pursue it in earnest, with a new name.He struggled at first, playing the Catskills and, with little success, obscure clubs in New York and Miami. Plagued by guilt, he underwent psychoanalysis, which did not solve his problems but did provide him with good comic material.Nevertheless, he found it hard to break into the nightclub circuit in New York — in part, he claimed, because his act made Jewish audiences uncomfortable. “My accent reminds them of a background they’re trying to forget,” he said.

While performing at a Los Angeles nightclub in 1960, he caught the attention of his fellow comedian Jan Murray, who recommended him to the television personality Steve Allen. Two appearances in two weeks on “The Steve Allen Show” led to bookings at the Copacabana and the Blue Angel in New York.Mr. Mason’s career was off and running. He became a regular on the top television variety shows, recorded two albums for the Verve label — “I Am the Greatest Comedian in the World Only Nobody Knows It Yet” and “I Want to Leave You With the Words of a Great Comedian” — and wrote a book, “My Son the Candidate.”

After dozens of appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” Mr. Mason encountered disaster on Oct. 18, 1964. A speech by President Lyndon B. Johnson pre-empted the program, which resumed as Mr. Mason was halfway through his act. Onstage but out of camera range, Sullivan indicated with two fingers, then one, how many minutes Mr. Mason had left, distracting the audience. Mr. Mason, annoyed, responded by holding up his own fingers to the audience, saying, “Here’s a finger for you, and a finger for you, and a finger for you.”Sullivan, convinced that one of those fingers was an obscene gesture, canceled Mr. Mason’s six-show contract and refused to pay him for the performance. Mr. Mason sued, and won.The two later reconciled, but the damage was done. Club owners and booking agents now regarded him, he said, as “crude and unpredictable.”

“People started to think I was some kind of sick maniac,” Mr. Mason told Look. “It took 20 years to overcome what happened in that one minute.”His career went into a slump, punctuated by bizarre instances of bad luck. In Las Vegas in 1966, after he made a few ill-considered remarks about Frank Sinatra’s recent marriage to the much younger Mia Farrow (“Frank soaks his dentures and Mia brushes her braces,” one joke went), an unidentified gunman fired a .22 pistol into his hotel room.A play he starred in and wrote (with Mike Mortman), “A Teaspoon Every Four Hours,” went through a record-breaking 97 preview performances on Broadway before opening on June 14, 1969, to terrible reviews. It closed after one night, taking with it his $100,000 investment.He also invested in “The Stoolie” (1972), a film in which he played a con man and improbable Romeo. It also failed, taking even more of his money. Roles in sitcoms and films eluded him, although he did make the most of small parts in Mel Brooks’s “History of the World: Part I” (1981) — he was “Jew No. 1” in the Spanish Inquisition sequence — and “The Jerk” (1979), in which he played the gas-station owner who employs Steve Martin.Rebuffed, Mr. Mason set about rebuilding his career with guest appearances on television. His new manager, Jyll Rosenfeld, convinced that the old borscht belt comics were ripe for a comeback, encouraged him to bring his act to the theater as a one-man show.

After attracting celebrity audiences in Los Angeles, that show, “The World According to Me!,” opened on Broadway in December 1986 and ran for two years. It earned Mr. Mason a special Tony Award in 1987, as well as an Emmy for writing after HBO aired an abridged version in 1988.

“I didn’t think it would work,” Mr. Mason said. “But people, when they come into a theater, see you in a whole new light. It’s like taking a picture from a kitchen and hanging it in a museum.”In 1991 Mr. Mason married Ms. Rosenfeld, who survives him. He is also survived by a daughter, the comedian Sheba Mason, from a relationship with Ginger Reiter in the 1970s and ’80s.“The World According to Me!” generated a series of sequels — “Politically Incorrect,” “Love Thy Neighbor,” “Prune Danish” and others — which carried Mr. Mason through the 1990s and into the new millennium.He published an autobiography, “Jackie, Oy!” (written with Ken Gross), in 1988. He also found a new sideline as an opinionated political commentator on talk radio. In the 2016 presidential campaign, he was one of the few well-known entertainers to support Donald J. Trump.Mr. Mason’s forays into political commentary caused him trouble. He was reported to have used a Yiddish word considered to be a racial slur in talking about David N. Dinkins, the Black mayoral candidate, at a Plaza Hotel luncheon in 1989. Mr. Mason was a campaigner for Mr. Dinkins’s opponent, Rudolph W. Giuliani. Mr. Giuliani said the incident had been blown out of proportion but nevertheless dismissed Mr. Mason from the campaign. Mr. Mason at first refused to apologize but did so later.

He drew attention for using the same word regarding President Barack Obama during a performance in 2009.Appearances on the cartoon series “The Simpsons,” as the voice of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, the father of Krusty the Clown, confirmed his newfound status, and earned him a second Emmy. Not even the 1988 bomb “Caddyshack II,” in which he was a last-minute replacement for Rodney Dangerfield, or the ill-fated “Chicken Soup,” a 1989 sitcom co-starring Lynn Redgrave that died quickly, could slow his improbable transformation from borscht belt relic into hot property.“I’ve been doing this for a hundred thousand years, but it’s like I was born last Thursday,” Mr. Mason once said of his career turnaround. “They see me as today’s comedian. Thank God I stunk for such a long time and was invisible, so I could be discovered.”

Michael Levenson contributed reporting.

Phroyd

[bananaofswifts]

★★★★★

“Before this year I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed,” Taylor Swift posted on social media on Thursday. Normally a meticulous record release strategist, Swift uncharacteristically gave fans just 17 hours to digest the announcement of her eighth effort, Folklore, released just 11 months after her last album, Lover.

The early information provided an intriguing list of collaborators, including indie bigshots Aaron Dessner (a core member of The National, who co-wrote 11 of the record’s 16 tracks) and Bon Iver. Those names, coupled with the bucolic album title, brought with them a suite of preconceptions.

On first listen, Folklore sounds like a National record sped up, glossed with a sheen of reverb and Swift’s self-reflective lyrics that capture a single, fleeting moment. “I thought I saw you at the bus stop, I didn’t though,” she sings on opening track The 1. Strings and piano drench most of the songs, lending an ethereal quality to the record that floats the listener through its 63 minutes. The whole thing feels like a fever dream.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon steps in on Exile, a rich, textured track that blends two unlikely voices together in glorious harmony. The liberal use of autotune throws back to Vernon’s own Bon Iver, Bon Iver record from 2011 – it’s a strange mirror, as the first Bon Iver album was conceived in the woods after a breakup, and quarantine conditions give this record a similar isolated mythology. The effect is mesmerising, a whole world built in under five minutes. These moments build to climaxes and then die down again, creating a spectrum of sound and emotion across the album as Swift carefully catalogues her pains.

These sidesteps into indie-folk territory don’t stop Folklore from being a pop album and a good one at that – Mirrorball and August slot perfectly into the dream-pop genre, employing shimmering vocal reverb over a comforting aural blanket and Swift’s knack for catchy melodies and perfectly-timed key changes persevere.

Swift has been a master of reinvention across her career, and this album brings together all the threads, as well as adding new ones – Illicit Affairs, with its fingerpicked acoustics and soft horns, the banjo-driven Invisible String and the country-tinged Betty, harmonica and all, hark back to the days when it was just a girl and her guitar. In many ways, the record feels as though Swift is returning to her roots – there’s little trace of the mean-girl energy of 2017’s Reputation, or the sickly bubblegum cringe of Lover’s lead single ME!

There’s a feeling of expectations falling away, too – on Mad Woman, Swift drops the first-ever "f-bomb" in her decade-plus career, suggesting that despite the softness of this album, she’s developing her own steel. As the first album of her 30s, it feels fitting that Swift is putting boundaries firmly in place, both for herself and her audience – she’s more mature and measured than ever.

There’s something beautiful about the fact that this album was germinated, written and produced during a global standstill, and it does feel as though it could only have been made during this slow, reflective time. Swift’s currency has always been emotional honesty, but now it feels less like showmanship and more like a personal reckoning. Folklore is a clear-eyed, subdued affair that reveals a little more magic with each listen.

[rubypond]

I associate you with:

Starting by the most obvious ones, Jo March, you're so much like her, a talented writer, kind and sweet, full of dreams and ambition, deeply cares for others. The sisterhood between Elizabeth and Jane Bennet. Peeta mellark, the big loving heart, that's ready to do anything for the ones he loves, kindness, art. Remus lupin, hermoine granger and maybe a little lily evans. There's probably more but my mind isn't helping me rn.

I associate you with the album Folklore, mirrorball and invisible string especially. I'd associate you with new year's day, simply because you wrote a story based on it when we first met. The night we met as well. Daylight and soon you'll get better.

As I said there's more, I'll send them when it comes to my mind. I hope I'm not so mistaken. Have a good day 💞💞

I need to wait for a few moments to take this in completely because it's probably one of the nicest things anybody has ever told me, you are always so kind and wonderful and amazing, blessed to have met you❤❤❤❤❤❤ DID YOU JUST ASSOCIATE ME WITH PEETA MELLARK AND JO MARCH AND REMUS LUPIN AND LILY EVANS??????? Those characters are all extremely important and dear to me🥺 As one book loving creature to another: thank you from the bottom of my nerdy heart. The songs are of course spot on (glad you mentioned daylight and soon you'll get better, they really are my lover favourites🥺 aaaand the night we met, that song is certainly a favourite of mine)

now you!!!!!!

characters: Sirius Black, Charlie Dalton and Theodore Laurence because, like all of them, you have fantastic and unique energy!!!! When it comes to Hunger Games, I'd say a mixture of Gale and Prim? Gale because he's passionate about what he believes in, just like you and I really do love his character (if I'm Peeta then we'll be defying the odds with our Gale x Peeta friendship for life, I'll learn how to bake🌼) and Prim because you're both so caring and are truly a gift to the world.

dynamics: our dynamic is Meg x Jo dynamic, that's how it has always felt like to me, mutual understanding and finding comfort in each other's presence, that whole "I'm rooting for you" wholesomeness, also James x Remus (it feels like us? looking after and supporting each other and all that❤)

songs: innocent by ts because you sent me that ask way back then and golden by harry styles because you make my days brighter☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

[thebraindeadhistorian]

Red is my favorite TS album and probably always will be. I didn't realize it the time it came out bc I was neck deep into country music then and expected it to be something else. But listening to it now, the nostalgia, all the memories... How I counted down the days until it came out. How I convinced my mum to drive me to a store that very day, and how I was genuinely scared they wouldn't have it, and how my mum scoffed at me because of course I had to get the deluxe edition, and how she still bought it and even allowed me to listen to it in the car, even though she hates her. How I held on to it like a trophy the entire drive home.

How I listened to it all day long and read the lyric booklet. I looked up everything I didn't know because my English wasn't good enough at the time to know all the words. I didn't have a computer, so I used a printed dictionary. I wrote the words down in a notebook to not forget them.

How I was mad at my classmates at school because WANEGBT became a hit and everybody sang it even though they had made fun of me before for loving her so much. Because they liked her now that she was famous but they didn't like her correctly, not like I did.

How I started writing poetry because of her, and how Sad Beautiful Tragic and Starlight inspired a whole new set of poems.

And how it has been years, and I got into metal and didn't listen to her that much, but how I'm still able to sing along with every song after all this time, how I dropped everything to listen to Red. How Blind Channel, one of my favorite heavy bands, released a brand new song today, but I chose All Too Well over that one, and how it still brings tears to my eyes. How so much in my life has changed but how my love for Red is still there.

So yes, Red is my favorite TS album.

[olivieblake]

I woke up at 5am, saw these in my inbox, and just started cackling to myself okay here are my thoughts (and I will also address these individually)

okay so this album is folklore but More Of It

there’s this line from a francesca lia block book I read as a kid:

“If Los Angeles is a woman reclining billboard model with collagen-puffed lips and silicone-inflated breasts, a woman in a magenta convertible with heart-shaped sunglasses and cotton candy hair; if Los Angeles is this woman, then the San Fernando Valley is her teenybopper sister. The teenybopper sister snaps bug stretchy pink bubbles over her tongue and checks her lipgloss in the rearview mirror, . . . Teeny plays the radio too loud and bites her nails, wondering if the glitter polish will poison her.”

this is obviously not perfectly applicable to the situation at hand but this is what popped into my head while I was listening, which is that evermore is folklore’s little sister and folklore is cooler and better/has stronger individual tracks but evermore is definitely welcome to come along and hang out (it’s also kinda like... folklore with winter vibes). I’m definitely not mad at getting more of the same!!! but if it were me I’d have been like “hey guys this is folklore part II: 2 folksy 2 loresome” or something like that, because while there are some experiments here in terms of sound, I don’t think it will ever be considered as a standalone work without comparison to folklore

I have tickets to loverfest west which has obviously been delayed, and now I’m like what concert am I even going to attend?? I’m down to go to a folklore/evermore concert OR a lover/past works concert but?? not both?? the atmosphere would be very confusing

which is topical because to the first anon who thinks taylor is leaving the music industry: I disagree and I know you’re probably getting that impression based on her saying she doesn’t know what she’s doing next, but to me that just meant more along the lines of what ts era we’re in or what she’s going to perform next or how she’s going to promote three untoured albums or what she’ll perform at her next tour. I think she made it quite clear music is her primary love, so I don’t think she’s going anywhere. she did say planning her sets and stuff is a separate creative energy that she hasn’t even begun to consider yet, so I personally think that’s what she meant—since yeah, some of us have tickets to a concert where we don’t even know what will be played

if anything, I think this album is further proof that songwriting is the love of her life and she’s not especially gearing up for anything in particular in terms of her career by releasing it; she just has time on her hands that she wouldn’t normally have had due to tours and promotion, so now she’s doing what she loves without much concern for its profitability (although I assume folklore proved there isn’t much concern to be had as far as profits) 

my favorite song BY FAR is “’tis the damn season,” which initially reminded me of cecily and porter from Saints and Liars (one of the stories in The Answer You Are Looking For is Yes) but the third anon is right, by the time I was almost done with my first listen I was like oh shit this is totally Never-Blink! I can’t unsee that now and also i now want to go back and read my own damn story

other songs I enjoy are “willow,” “gold rush” (I love jack antonoff, any time I look to see who co-wrote the song and it’s him I’m like I frickin knew it)

“tolerate it” has really standout lyrics I think, as does “marjorie”

I enjoy “long story short” a lot because it’s a welcome break after songs that are pretty but sort of difficult to distinguish from each other

“ivy” initially kind of reminded me of Lover from Draught of Living Death, but I’d have to listen again since it’s one of the songs that keeps mixing with the others in my head

I think “no body no crime” is really fun although I sort of wish she went a little harder, maybe brought on the dixie chicks or something? ALSO if I were still in an a cappella group I would mash-up “no body no crime” and “should’ve said no” and it would be GREAT ugh I hope somebody does that like, asap. but I’m happy she collaborated with women and that the result is we killed a man! 🥳

I do NOT like “coney island.” I’m just really not into the national and I don’t think their voices blend very well (I also don’t think taylor’s voice is as compelling when she’s in that lower register) and I was glad bon iver sang in falsetto because I was kind of bracing for another low disruption and I didn’t want it on a track as delicate as “evermore”

@junipernott it’s so funny you say that because as I was listening to it I was like this sounds exactly like something I would write—I obviously write a lot of heists/con artists, both in books and fics (Prospero from Lovely Tangled Vices comes to mind) but then I couldn’t think of anything that exactly fit the parameters of the song, so now I’m like WELL looks like I’ll have to write something then! 

overall I think folklore is the stronger album; a lot of the standout pieces on both albums are tay’s more personal songs and evermore is predominantly meandering fiction, so to me it’s less remarkable as a whole rather than simply proof that she’s very good at this. that being said I’ll probably combine the albums into one playlist and listen to them together henceforth, so I’m definitely not mad about it

Iong story STILL LONG: i like it a lot, it’s a vibe and an atmosphere and living in it is great

but also don’t overlook the fact that britney spears and the backstreet boys have a collab that came out today because okay, TALK ABOUT COMING BACK STRONGER THAN A NINETIES TREND

[paths-of-my-childhood-candid]

OH, TAYLOR! Taylor Swift On Side-Stepping Into Acting, Owning What You Make & Loving The “Weirdness” Of Cats

On a grey London afternoon in late September, Taylor Swift slips quietly through the doors of a north London recording studio. It is an auspicious moment: the queen of confessional pop has come to meet Andrew Lloyd Webber, the king of musical theatre. Together, Swift, who turns 30 this month, and Lloyd Webber, 71, have written “Beautiful Ghosts”, a new song for the soon-to-be-released film adaptation of Cats – Webber’s 1981 extravaganza, which ran in the West End and on Broadway for a combined total of almost 40 years. In it, Swift plays Bombalurina, and like her co-stars – Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Francesca Hayward, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson – appears in full, furry CGI glory. Track finished, these two titans of the music industry sit down to talk… 

Andrew Lloyd Webber: Well, the first thing we have to clear up is that we both love cats. Taylor Swift: [Laughs] We do! One of the first things you said to me when we met was that you’re president of the Turkish Van Cat Club.  ALW: Professionally, there is nowhere I can go to top this, as you can completely understand. TS: I have three cats. How many do you have now?  ALW: I have three, too – they are all Turkish Vans. And you’ve got a Scottish Fold I believe. TS: I have two Scottish Folds, we think the third is a Ragdoll mix. ALW: You’re probably never going to talk to me again, but you know I’ve got a puppy? He’s called Mojito.  TS: I heard about this! How does he get along in the hierarchy?  ALW: Well, he believes he’s a little bear actually. He’s a Havanese dog, which I got because Glenn Close has one. TS: I’ve met that dog, he’s really good. ALW: You come from Pennsylvania. TS: I do. People seem to think I was raised in the south, but I’m from the north – grew up on a Christmas tree farm, then moved to Nashville when I was 14. ALW: And you wanted to move to Nashville for the songwriting or the singing? Or both? TS: Both – I was just obsessed with Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, and the thing they had in common was that they had gotten discovered in Nashville. So I had it in my head that this is a magical place where discoveries are made and people are able to do music as a living. ALW: Was it the storytelling side of country songs that you liked? Absolutely. It reminded me of the ’90s, when you had these amazing female singer-songwriters like Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan; incredible female writers like Melissa Etheridge, Shawn Colvin; and these types of Lilith Fair women. Then you started to hit the 2000s and the only place I could find real confessional storytelling was country music. ALW: Did you know anybody when you got to Nashville? TS: No, we didn’t really. I’d been going there on vacation with my family, and my mom, my little brother and I would stay in a hotel and try to meet people. Eventually, after several trips, I got a development deal – it’s a non-committal record deal, like, “We’ll watch you develop for a year and then we’ll decide if we sign you.” That was grounds enough to move the family. ALW: Presumably you were in school in Nashville as well? TS: Yes, I was going to high school during the day and doing my songwriting sessions at night. It was a double life. I’d be writing notes in class, and my teachers never knew if they were notes for my class or if I’d gotten an idea for a song. ALW: How many songs would you write in a day? TS: Usually, never more than one. I had these sessions every day, and if I didn’t come in with a good idea, I’d get stared at. You’re not inspired every day, as you know, but you have to show up and treat it like a job. That’s where I learned the craft of songwriting. ALW: I’ve never worked like that, because I’m so story driven. What interests me, though, is how Nashville works. How did you get your foot on the performing ladder? TS: It was really writing first. At the same time, I was singing the national anthem every time I could – at festivals and fairs and bars, anywhere I could get up on stage. I was trying to hone both sides of what I was doing, but I’m very well aware that I would not have a career if I hadn’t been a writer. I wouldn’t have just been a singer, it wouldn’t have worked. ALW: I guess that, today, very few people have a major career unless they write. TS: Yeah, I agree. I think it’s really important – also from the side of ownership over what you do and make. Even if you aren’t a natural writer, you should try to involve yourself in the messages you’re sending. ALW: How does a young country artist get their first break? TS: I worked as hard as I could, reached out to as many people as I could to make sure I got meetings with publishing companies and labels. They didn’t come about very easily, but once I got in the room I’d just get out my guitar and play for them. ALW: Do you have to sing in a certain club to get to the next stage? TS: Everyone does it a different way, but the Bluebird Cafe is a place where everyone was discovered – from Garth Brooks to Faith Hill to, arguably, me. I remember being at your house after we’d written a song, and you telling me you’d bought it when you were 24 or something, that’s when I realised just how young you were when you had a vision to be doing this at such a high level. ALW: I was writing for the theatre when I was eight-years-old. I had a little toy theatre and did dreadful musicals on terrible subjects. Then, when I was about 13, I met a boy who wanted to write lyrics, and we did a couple of musicals at school. TS: So from the beginning you would pair up with a lyricist? ALW: One of the things I worked out very early was Lloyd Webber and lyrics are not a good idea. TS: Wow. It is a good alliteration, though. ALW: You were 19, weren’t you, when you had your first big hit? TS: I was about 18 when “Love Story”, a song I’d written alone, was a worldwide hit. I was lucky enough to work my way up in country music, for new artists nowadays, it feels like the trajectory of their career is like being shot out of a canon into a stratosphere they could in no way be prepared for. I got to sort of acclimate to every step of the path I was on, and by the time I had a massive hit I’d been working since I was 14. Moving from country music to pop was a crazy adjustment for me. ALW: And now we’ve written “Beautiful Ghosts” together for Cats. TS: I remember the moment. I went over to your apartment to rehearse “Macavity” and you sat down at the piano and started to play this haunting, beautiful melody, and I think I just started singing to it right away. ALW: You wrote the lyrics more or less then and there – it was fantastic. TS: It’s a different perspective on the song “Memory”, too, and the character of Grizabella [played by Jennifer Hudson], who used to have majestic, glamorous times and doesn’t anymore. On the other side of it, you have this little white cat [Victoria, played by Francesca Hayward] who’s been abandoned – she’s afraid she’ll never have a chance to have beautiful memories. So that’s where she’s singing “Beautiful Ghosts” from, to counter Grizabella’s idea of tragedy. ALW: I’d like to come back to something I thought when I heard your album, Lover – which is really absolutely brilliant. Am I right in thinking you approached its recording just as though you were giving live performances? TS: I did. I was really singing a lot at that point – I’d just come from a stadium tour, and then did Cats, which was all based on live performances – so a lot of that album is nearly whole takes. When you perform live, you’re narrating and you’re getting into the story and you’re making faces that are ugly and you’re putting a different meaning on a song every time you perform it. ALW: That’s the point isn’t it. TS: Yeah. ALW: Does that ever make you feel you want to be an actress? TS: I have no idea. When I was younger, I used to get questions like, “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” I’d try to answer. As I get older, I’m learning that wisdom is learning how dumb you are compared to how much you are going to know. I really had an amazing time with Cats. I think I loved the weirdness of it. I loved how I felt I’d never get another opportunity to be like this in my life. ALW: It’s weird, what I’ve seen of the movie. TS: It’s decidedly weird [they laugh]. ALW: I think Tom [Hooper, the film’s director] has really tried to make something original. And I agree, I think as you get older you do become less sure of yourself and start to question what you can do. Would you consider doing a musical? TS: A musical? Absolutely, absolutely. ALW: Or writing your own? TS: That is way up there on my list of dreams. ALW: You should. TS: Was it really wonderful for you when you got the news that Judi Dench had accepted the role of Old Deuteronomy? ALW: Judi was in the original version in 1981 but she snapped her Achilles tendon and had to withdraw. Then I had this idea, which I ran past Tom, that we could make Old Deuteronomy a woman. Seeing her perform this time was quite an emotional thing for me, because it was a very, very sad day when she had to leave the original show. TS: She’s lovely. I remember being on set, and there is one scene that Idris [Elba, who plays Macavity] and I do with Judi, and someone walked up to me with this kind of gummy candy and I was like, “Oh, I’ve never had this before, this must be British candy, this is amazing.” I was raving about this candy so much, and Judi must have overheard me, because the next day I got to my dressing room and there was a signed photo from Judi and, like, six bags of it [they laugh]. Andrew, we both started young. What do we have in common from our experiences? What do you think was hard about it? And what was great? ALW: I suppose what was hard for me was that I was a fish out of the mainstream water. In the 1960s, to love musicals was as uncool as you could possibly be, and kids in my class at school would laugh at me. TS: I was the same. I loved country music and, where I was in school, the kids were just completely perplexed by that. It’s gotten more mainstream, but when I was a 13-year-old in Pennsylvania, I got similar reactions. Do you feel like you’re glad you were really young when you started? ALW: Yeah, are you? TS: I’m really glad, even though there are challenges to it – like you’re not allowed to make the same mistakes as everyone else because your mistakes are a commodity. ALW: And your mistakes are made in public. But we share something in common, in which we are extremely lucky. We both knew at an early age what we wanted to do, and most people in life don’t have a clue. TS: That’s very true. I think, also, a lot of the time when people see a career that they want it can be results-based. Rather than wanting to write musicals, they want to be a person who has written musicals. But when I see you work, I see you consistently creating and being curious about the next idea. You relish in the process even more than the rewards, which is the advice I would give anyone who wanted to do anything remotely close to this job. It cannot be about the results. ALW: It’s the process isn’t it? TS: It has to be. It’s supposed to be fun!

MEET & GREET: Introducing the faces behind this month’s issue

When it came to interviewing Taylor Swift about her musical-movie debut in Cats, there was only one man for the job: Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of the original West End and Broadway mega hit. The two colossi of songwriting had plenty to discuss at a recording studio in north London – art, ambition and authenticity, plus what we can expect from the soon-to-be-released film.

Vogue: What was it like to work with Taylor? Andrew Lloyd Webber: She’s supremely professional and very charming with it. In my view, she could go far. Vogue: What was your first impression of her? ALW: She’s a lot taller than me, and a lot more attractive. Vogue: What’s your favourite Swift hit? ALW: “Blank Space” from the album 1989. It’s a great pop song with great lyrics.

[ewdaviddd]

folklore think piece

for a lower case album such as this, i will be writing a lowercase think piece on the subject. i will not explain why. you get it or you don’t.

the 1: i have never been in love or any type of romantic relationship that left me with lasting feelings of any kind. but, on my fourth listen through of this song today, what once was just a promising and fun intro to this peasant girl summer gut punch, brought me to actual tears as i sat on the toilet in my lime green childhood bathroom as if i were mourning the one that got away (another great song). however, i am an expert on being hung up on the past, the “what could have been”, and made up hypotheticals. this song also introduces the film motif seen a lot in this album. i think dating an actor has really gotten to her. anyway what a killer way to begin, top notch stuff. how can a song be so fun and so soul crushing at the same time?

cardigan: when did taylor wear black lipstick? this is important to me. an old cardigan is an inherently bisexual article of clothing. that is not an opinion. i read it somewhere today and i believe it. this is the tip of the queer-coding ice berg in folklore, never fear. another reference, “tried to change the ending / peter losing wendy”. this year i wrote a movie script where both peter and wendy were both gay. coincidence? probably. basically this one is classic taylor poetry on every level and it being one of a trio in a larger story makes it that much better. yet again, high school romance is not a universal experience (like for me for instance) but haunting my “what-ifs” is going to haunt me for a long time. and the thought of someone saying i was their favorite cardigan makes me want to scream into a pillow.

the last great american dynasty: my favorite ts songs have always been the ones with detailed characters and stories and this one introduces the trope of the “mad woman” who comes back later on as well a long with many fun character details. at first this song is just cheeky and cute, very visual, a fun world to jump into. but then this particular stretch of lines makes your heart drop into your chest and reminds you why taylor isn’t just always fun and always cute and always creative, she also holds the ability to nimbly sock you in the gut when you least expect: “fifty years is a long time / holiday house sat quietly on that beach / free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / and then it was bought by me.” my jaw is still on the floor. and i’ve never bought a house myself. but i’ve spent numerous christmases having a marvelous time ruining everything (so i’ve been told) so this song still applies to my life.

exile (ft. bon iver): i’m gonna be honest. for as long as i can remember i have strongly disliked bon iver and i never remembered why. it is a matter of principle at this point. i just don’t trust him. but then taylor announced she wrote a song with him which filled me with tremendous anxiety. but i can rest easy. much like “the last time” this song is a ts and male artist collaboration i can get behind. also the film motif again: the only time i’ve left a theatre when i didn’t like a movie was never because movie tickets are so expensive and if i’m shelling out 11 dollars to sit in a chair, i’m staying the whole time no matter how bad the ending. but i probably would have left my sister’s keeper if i had seen it before if i’m being honest. so i get it. thats why i read spoilers for everything i watch before watching it, because the anxiety of worrying about how it ends make me not enjoy it in the first place. the end of this song: the call and response felt… ethereal? i felt like i was watching a broadway musical from the splash zone seats, crying as i was spat on.

my tears ricochet: this song is what i picture stepping outside in the middle of the night when an inch or so of snow has just fallen and i can see the flakes fall in front of a street light sounds like. or the scorned secret ex lover throwing themselves onto the coffin demanding to know why they weren’t enough.   which is to say it feels like a sign from some sort of god. yet again, haunting is brought up, an overt reference to the fact that this album will live in my brain rent free for eternity. for some reason this song reminds me of the relationship between hamilton and burr when burr kills hamilton. that could be because i just watched the disney+ recording last week. one lives, one dies, but neither survive, both pay for it. Which is a super romantic and understanding view on murder. both musical experiences equally chilling and moving. if i die under mysterious circumstances this will for sure be played at the funeral.

mirrorball: first off, this is my mom's favorite which is very important. also, it has skewered a very specific but also universal insecurity of mine; existing just to please others and yet miserably failing. it is comforting that ts is not a “natural’ and feels she must always “try try try” because i too lack natural ability, but also rarely “try” even just the one time. the best way i can describe listening to this song is walking through a silent disco where everyone else is listening to some classic lady gaga jam and you are listening to a calming lullaby sung very far away. but don’t let the soothing sounds fool you. it still will have you reflecting on what it means to look and be looked at. a dark rabbit whole, like falling through the looking glass. i’ve never actually read that book though so i could be wrong.

seven: i’m dumb and on my first listen of this song i thought she “hit her peak” at 7 clock as opposed to age seven. but i always saw taylor swift as someone with an early bedtime. also a fun discovery while writing this, “seven” is the 7th song on the track list. clever. although this song is young and innocent and so nostalgic for a time when screaming ferociously was a widely accepted form of expression, it also sounds like a very old secret someone is whispering to me. a love from long ago that lasts beyond the person being in your life, passed down to me and it all just sounds a little gay. not just because of the specific line to hiding in the closet. but that certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. when i was seven i was definitely in love with girls and assumed that was just what friendship was, playing pirates and making plans of running away together.

august: the eighth track for the eighth month. her mind. also my birth month so that’s special. controversial opinion: from what i’ve read most people seem to think illicit affair is the third song in the triage of teen love. i will strongly make the case that it's actually this one. first of all, the subject: a short lived summer fling, which is specifically mentioned later in “betty”. the central heartbreak of this song is liking someone who always belonged to someone else. yes, this song is a window into a different summer, far from pandemic central and the escapist imagery is delightful. but a whole song from the pov of the “other woman” to james and betty is just so much more fun. and there are two more specific lyrics that prove my point. “remember when i pulled up and said "get in the car”” you will see later comes back from the other person’s perspective. and most of all: the repeated line, “meet me behind the mall”? only teenagers make plans to meet up behind a mall. i rest my case. so now we have cardigan and august. two pieces of the puzzle.

this is me trying: i’m glad i now have a succinct message to send to anyone when they ask me what the hell i’m doing at any given moment. this song just sounds like regret and waste in the most self-assured and confident way. this is “back to december” with the training wheels off.  i have no apologies for my efforts at wasting all my potential. but in this song, taylor has opened her arms to me in a warm embrace and has forgiven me for all i’ve done wrong and reminds me to not take for granted the “try”. okay mom. i’m crying again, but okay.

illicit affair: this is the kind of thing that makes you feel sixteen, living in a dull suburb, while secretly screwing your 38 year old married neighbor who’s rich but wants to be an artiste. aka like a character in euphoria or something. it’s sexy and dangerous until you think about it and then it's just dingy and creepy. but this song starts and stays beautiful. most importantly, this song is too sad and depressing frankly, to be a part of the trilogy. we could never forgive james for leaving such a mess and making her a fool. you don’t want to be this girl. you want to walk up to her and shake her and yell “you exist and will not be ruined by any dumb man”. and that’s feminism.

invisible string: is it reductive if i say this one’s about joe? all my non-stan friends have asked me which ones are about him. we forgive them and point them in this direction. because it is lovely and beautiful that we are all tied to our soulmate for our whole lives before we ever meet them (because that would in fact mean that there is someone out there for everyone which might be naive or dumb but i am both of those things and whats the point of living if you don’t believe in the power of love). this honestly gives me “begin again” vibes in the best way. it’s red-era level with the wisdom of lover-era tay. sublime.

mad woman: the second mention of the “mad woman” as both taylor herself and the character in the story. as usual, tay stays calling out double standards and the manipulation of women into “going crazy” for expressing reasonable anger. I, personally, wish i could say “fuck you forever” without someone saying i’m “overreacting”. this is my least favorite song on the album and i’d still listen to it three times in a row and need to resist the urge to set a man’s lawn on fire. just girly things.

epiphany: i know she said this one is about her grandfather’s experience in the military but all i imagine is a slow montage of harry style’s character in “dunkirk” on the beach. and it’s beautiful. and much like my sophomore in high school self reading “all quiet on the western front” it evokes a pain from deep inside me that engulfs a loss i could never describe and a sadness too awful to witness. you will listen to this song and feel absolutely powerless to the will of the universe and it’s cruelty. and the faint but steady heart monitor beep in the background… i’ve never seen “grey’s anatomy” but i can imagine why it has so many fans sobbing. and let me end on this: two soldiers in some old war (meaning both men based on dunkirk) watching each other like this and living and dying together…gay.

betty: the first verse was pulled directly out of my subconscious fantasy of being in love in high school and it being so wonderful and painful and dramatic. and taylor riding a skateboard… is a mood. the song has been out for less than a week and it’s already a cold take to talk about how this is her gayest song to date (close runner-ups being reputation’s “dress” and “cardigan”). but of course i will still talk about it. the lyrics embody such authentic awkward gay energy (see the lesbian in booksmart for reference) and having been a 17 year old only three years ago, i can say with reasonably good authority that no 17 year old straight boy could stand in front of a crowd of peers and beg forgiveness from a girl he hurt. it’s just not realistic. these are all awkward, over-dramatic, young girls stumbling through love. and it’s awesome. james is the speaker of this song, and the subject of “august”, the summer fling that was never truly there due to james’ love for betty, the titular role of this song. thus completing the love triangle. and there are so many obvious references in this song to both “august” and “cardigan”. rhyming cardigan with car again makes me want to light myself on fire in the best way. i love it. “i dreamt of you all summer long” is the final nail in the coffin for the girl in “august” who was clearly just a place-holder. totally separate from taylor swift, my favorite word is porch. so the amount of times it appears in her lyrics is wonderful. say it out loud. it just feels nice. anyway, this song makes me want to be young and dumb and in love. the second can really only be tolerated because of the first and third. i hope the story has a happy-ending. if james were a boy i’d wish him the plague.

peace: the coming-of-age movie starring james and betty (and inez) is over. we have come to “the age” i guess. there’s a thought that’s gonna fester. if this song was just the line, “would it be enough if i could never give you peace?” over and over for four minutes it would still smash me to pulp and fill my body with helium gas. i can and will cause a car wreck when this comes on the aux. if this song is what being grown up is like (bare in mind grown up to me is like, 30) then i’m ready to be done coming of age. because i already worry if i’ll be at all enough for anyone and way too much for someone at the same time. but like all good poetry, this song isn’t about what it “means”, but how it “feels”. and this is new york city, the summer, pouring rain, a long walk home, desperately fearing and hoping they are there waiting for you.

hoax: a one-sided conversation between me and my stubborn clinical depression. i too, constantly stand alone on the cliff demanding a reason. one has not yet been presented. it operates both within and and against me. i could be bigger and stronger than it. but instead i tend to it like a prickly plant. (“no other sadness in the world will do”). there is nothing both sadder and funnier then the scene in “avatar: the last airbender” when prince zuko stands alone on a cliff screaming at the sky for lightning to strike him. i don’t know why this song reminds me so much of that. what a way to end such an emotional rollercoaster. it is so emotionally draining that it simply forces me to start folklore again from the top and listen to it all over again.  or take a long therapeutic nap.

there are no skips. and it will still surprise you on your 267th listen. proceed with caution.

i knew you, in a past life maybe. i have not met you yet, but folklore has made me believe you exist.

@taylorswift 10/10 good work

@taylornation this had to be shared and i don’t have a twitter so