my first reaction to The Tortured Poets Department

[@MicTheSnare]

For reasons I mention in the video, this one is far looser and rambling than any Taylor video I’ve done before. I hope you still enjoy it the same - I look forward to seeing how TTPD sits with us in the weeks and months to come. New DDD should be out next week.

[@thesystem4025]

WHO IS IT MICHAEL

[@Luigs_sky7]

Red hot chili peppers please

[@illaysanimationandstuff]

im not really a fan of him, but im quite suprisd you havent done a ddd on michael jackson yet.

[@henmister39]

Ooh based on the end of this video is it going to be Kendrick remake, Drake, or J Cole?? All interesting choices (who have themselves had varying degrees of exhausting discourse around them lately)

[@maninironmask7925]

I am not completely contrarian to the opinion that this album is the beginning of her down fall. Not that I can predict that certainly, especially knowing how creative Swift is. But I think it’s a healthy thought to have. She has mentioned she simply started writing none stop and I think it’s time to stop for a time, to value quality with a fine thinned comb than quantity or frequency. I think it’s time for that. Two mediocre albums back to back ok, but if we reach 3 it’ll definitely bite into her legacy to a major degree.

[@RAGNAR-3-3]

TO TIMP PA DUTTERFLY 🔥

[@FormalFilmsProductions]

My favorite Taylor album

[@imwilliago]

💀💀💀💀

[@cd-ramos]

We gonna be fortnite 🔥🗣️

[@alexjackson6251]

KZbin offered a Google translate to English, which gave me "two hours on dutterfly" two hours on dutterfly, indeed...

[@davidbanan.]

"TWO HOURS ON DUTTERFLY"🗣🗣🗣🗣

[@CoasterMagicX2]

I think the whole release of this just felt so not about the music either from Taylor's end. "let's release 15 different versions with a different bonus track! Then, once you bought them all surprise drop all the bonus tracks on streaming." It's just so clearly money-forward rather than music forward.

[@joaquinlezcano2372]

The whole of Taylor swift focuses so much in being money forward. Like her bragging that her movie of the eras tour didn't need sponsorship and marketing, since she relies heavily on her fandom

[@untexan]

It feels like someone reaching an end point - can someone in her mid-late 30s keep writing this style of music and still sound credible? probably not - and trying to cash in as much as possible. It might explain why she’s put out so much music in the last 3 years, it’s like a going out of business sale for this, ahem, era. If and when she starts writing songs from an older, hopefully wiser perspective for an older audience, her Gen Z/alpha fans who haven’t been with her nearly as long are liable to head out the door and that would be a big drop in revenue.

[@daniellageorge6068]

i see your pov but there are only a 3 versions and the extra 12 songs are not available to be bought physically.

[@emobx02]

@@untexan the great irony in this comment (as a more recent neutral-leaning fan of swift, who two years ago would’ve died to say I listened to her at all) is that Taylor has made this same point over and over again throughout the years. In her documentary, shot at 29, She couldn’t believe she was still being tolerated nearing 30, let alone now as someone seeking out stadiums on a world wide tour in her mid 30s. Little did she know. Not to use an easy target, but someone like Matty Healy will always be able to write whiny songs about selfish introspection, love trysts, and mental masturbation (and I am a 1975 fan lol). As much as I dislike her song “the man” this sentiment is easy to see how she wrote it. Like mic said, twitter/social media isn’t the real world and her sales and tours over the years show that the online criticism, both warranted and that full of ironic dissonance, don’t dictate her actual success (and again, I need to reiterate that money and popularity do not define success in my mind). I think, like mic, that the album is mid in her discography, but it’s not that bad, and anyone believing that a 30 something can’t write these kinds of songs credibly are really doubting the inner monologues of women approaching 40, for better or worse, regardless of marital status or outward maturity level. The other great irony is that her “relationship” songs (of which I thought were all she did) are not what got me into her music/lyrical style, but rather the countless songs she has on introspection and self-deprecation, or even her songs that sound like they’re about love affairs but are really about something else, like the song “my tears ricochet”.

[@CyberGirl1234]

@@emobx02as a long-time Taylor swift fan from her debut, you have taken the words right out of my mouth! I am hooked on her songs about introspection and childhood memories and growing up to watch everyone you love age and pass. (‘The Man’ has the sounds of a bop but the message of a corporate-friendly role play of feminism…. I’ll still sing along tho xD her acting in the music vid was great too)

[@a.c.alexander5667]

I’ve been a fan since Our Song, but I get weary when people obsess about the lore. It really adds nothing to the songs. Like even reputation to me she just had a Disney villain phase and I loved that for her. All Too Well doesn’t need to be about a specific dude to be a good song, y’know? I don’t care who The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived is about, because it’s about me, it’s about how it relates to my life and my feelings. Sucks you went through it too girl but thank you for commiserating and making me feel catharsis through song. 100% if people could be normal about her that’d be great.

[@jessaminemanchester]

Exactly!! When I first listened to the album (particularly the opening track and florida), I was convinced this was actually another "fictional" album like she did with folklore and evermore-Fortnight seemed to be written from the perspective of a character in a very specific situation Taylor is not in but likely relates to, the story seemed to continue in florida, (fortnight says "move to florida", florida says "your cheating husband disappeared", etc) and I didn't see any identifiable details in many other tracks, so hearing people frame this album as though it's 100% about the lore is bizarre to me.

[@nave_3030]

This needs to be heard by more people XDD

[@svtstreets]

exactly lol. idk how ppl can be so obsessed with figuring out what actually happened in her life instead of actually consuming the music???

[@justina2320]

Yes yes, exactly my thoughts! People shouldn't care about the gossip of it all

[@marigolden_mariposa]

I'm not a swiftie technically I just became a fan last month and I went through into a deep dive of her discography. my favorite bands are Dance Gavin Dance in Bright Eyes so this isn't my normal favorite type of music or anything but I thought TTPD was amazing. 😅 I figured out a lot of the lore from doing research after listening but I think the music stands on its own. I also don't care about it being long I love that and I don't want her to edit herself more because some of my favorite songs of hers are vault tracks and songs that probably would have gotten cut like I look in people's windows.

[@GavinFromWeb]

I'm glad you're taking a stand on how toxic music discourse, especially surrounding the largest artists, tends to be.

[@jeffreyberman8426]

A lot of music discourse surrounding larger artists is full of people who don't even like music, just living vicariously through celebrities.

[@roo72]

Most of the toxicity comes from people who yell hate at any kind of criticism.

[@yungaj6166]

Acting like MJ wasn’t adored by music critics, or The Beatles. Stop it.

[@dontgivetwothwips3615]

Yep

[@pixelbomb97]

The bigger an artist is, the more people feel the need to comment on everything they do. The more comments, the more crazy people that think any infraction is license to send death threats or spew hate. It's just the consequence of being popular in an age where everyone has the freedom to say anything.

[@conormcdermott-mt1nc]

Mic The Snare videos are a nice way to hide from the toxic discourse void of online music interaction. Thank you Michael

[@ndf3]

Wasn't even aware of it until watching this

[@hurryhurryhurryhurry]

I love him honestly 💕

[@filmgeek520]

To me it's not a bad album, it just kind of exists and I don't remember much of it immediately after listening. What has REALLY left a sour taste in my mouth is the business practices associated with it. I have a problem with enticing fans to shell out hundreds of dollars to buy all four vinyl variants on the premise that the four exclusive tracks that wouldn't be on streaming, and then releasing those songs on streaming after that money has been made. It's downright scam behaviour from someone who is already a billionaire and honestly a horrible predatory business practice all aimed a manipulating chart numbers. I would be interested to see the chart numbers for the standard version of this album vs Cowboy Carter, which didn't have variants, and to my mind is a much more ambitious record. Mainly I'm annoyed by fans telling me I'm not intellectual enough to understand this album. I agree with the idea that we need to be normal about her, by which I mean we are allowed to have conflicting feelings. I love some of her music, but just not this record - and that's fine!

[@karelnareswara7804]

To be fair she has never said that they would be exclusive to the vinyl. I don’t think she has ever said that they would not be on streaming. Also, I think Cowboy Carter was even worse because the CDs and Vinyls all had different tracklists and even different versions of the songs from the ones available on vinyl. Some songs are not even on the vinyl/cd. I think that’s even worse tbh

[@ikexbankai]

Cowboy Cater actually has 4 different vinyls. I would know because I just brought one. Also no one is making anyone buy anything.

[@PinkDesertEagle]

​​@@ikexbankai Cowboy Carter the limited edition does not have 4 different vinyls. It has 4 different cover variants for the vinyl. All 4 covers have the same tracks on it. What Taylor did is something different. All her different variants have different bonus tracks i.e the vinyls are not the same

[@sarahandah9045]

I don’t really get this take - why should anyone have to buy more than one variant? It sounds to me like people have FOMO and feel like they need to have every version of something when they really don’t. I feel like people are responsible for their own spending money…

[@ejax904]

​​@@PinkDesertEagleEach vinyl has one bonus song on it and comes with a patch to represent the bonus song and a bookmark, so at least you're getting something other than just a vinyl. We just didn't know it would be 31 songs when they were available. Of course, if you then bought the $90 jacket that she clearly intended her fans put the patches on, you would've collectively spent over $200 on all four variants + the jacket.

[@tyandre]

I hope that after her tour is over, there’s at least a slow period. I think she really needs a break, Cause this constant churn out sounds exhausting on both ends.

[@mr_pumpkin1361]

I was thinking the same thing, but then I remembered that she released Lover, Folklore, and Evermore at a very short periods of time. And those albums (To me atleast) are good! Now I'm just confused...

[@KeithLOONAtic]

well to be fair she's been sticking to the 2-year release periods, the rerecordings are song she already made or written so she doesn't have to invest much efforts in except for the productions tbh

[@marigolden_mariposa]

​@@mr_pumpkin1361I mean I'm not confused. the tortured poets department is my favorite album she's ever made. I just became a fan last month and went through all her work. I don't think the quality has declined at all. I think it's just a matter of taste and subjectivity. not everyone's going to like all of the art that she makes and that's fine. I'm glad she took risks, I'm glad it was long. some of my favorite songs are ones that might have been cut like I look in people's windows. (her vault tracks are some of my favs she's ever done). the good thing is that she's given a little bit of something for everybody so if you don't like ttpd you still have lover folklore and Evermore and all the rest 🤍 plus there's plenty of remixes, mashups, and covers being made of TTPD so you might still find something to enjoy.

[@mr_pumpkin1361]

@@marigolden_mariposa I have mixed feelings about TTPD, on my first listen I tried my best to not skip some of the songs (But I like some of the songs. Such as, Florida!!!, Guilty As Sins?, The Alchemy. From The Anthology, The Albatross, The Bolter, Peter.) But I still feel like TTPD is just Midnights but with Folklore lyrics. But, what I'm trying to say is...Taylor Swifts Albums sounds different from each other. Some songs could be on other albums. But, you can tell that it's from this or that album even though it's sounds like it's from another album. But with TTPD, there's only a few songs that I can describe without comparing it to her other albums.

[@amstutsman]

“This should be fun” YES THANK YOU. I swear you’re one of the only truly good take havers on the entire internet. Please do more off-the-cuff things like this between normal video drops.

[@artapex7686]

You make a real good point about her being pigeonholed as just the "relationship" person. I think she's leaned into it, too, but it's seeing people insinuate that it's all she talks about. Yeah, her songs are about relationships, but like half of The Beatles' catalogue (as a lifelong fan here) is about that, too, and I have a feeling those same people who get mad at Swifties defend the Fab Four to hell and back.

[@aprilwilliams6327]

Honestly I think the main difference is that you know exactly who and what Taylor is talking about, which Taylor specifically puts into her music. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing but it makes itself so obvious that I think people outside of the fandom find it exhausting

[@artapex7686]

@@aprilwilliams6327 that’s a fair point. Since it’s so omnipresent a lot of ppl tend to just get scared off by the discourse before they really listen to anything

[@bopete3204]

What feels really wild to me is how I do feel there was a backlash to pigeonholing her as someone that just talks about exes a few years ago, but people seem to have given up on that since she and Joe Alwyn broke up.

[@YogaCheryl]

It also makes people uncomfortable when strong women talk about the intricacies of their feelings. #facts

[@MikeyTheVikey]

Because it's garbage maybe.

[@annabelle746]

Songs that are obviously about the lore (at least for me): - The Tortured Poets Department - So Long, London - But Daddy I Love Him - Fresh Out The Slammer - Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me - I Can Fix Him - Loml - I Can Do It With A Broken Heart - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - The Alchemy - Thank You Aimee - Cassandra So, a little more than just 3 songs, obviously. I know more songs relate to real life events, but I guess the messaging is more subtle. I did enjoy this record though, especially the Aaron Dessner tracks that remind me of folklore/evermore (Peter, I Look Through People’s Windows, I Hate It Here).

[@Vic-sw1td]

I'm curious about why you think Cassandra is about the lore. Tbf, by that point of the album I was getting too bored to really listen to the lyrics

[@patax144]

​@@Vic-sw1tdit is about how she tells/warns people about things and people either don't believe her or treat her like she is overreacting or insane and then she is right, like the ancient prophet Cassandra who was cursed so that no one believed her prophecies even if all were true, it could refer to the Kanye situation with the leaked phone call or about her masters and how she was dissing Scooter and all of his artists came to his defense only to later fire him. Or both. Definitely pretty heavy lore based.

[@Vic-sw1td]

@@patax144 Damn that completely flew over my head, thank you!

[@annabelle746]

@@Vic-sw1td The snake reference and the “I told you so” messaging of the song. “When the truth comes out, it’s quiet” references the moment when the full footage of their call was published in 2020 and both West and the Kardashians were silent. It’s not just my opinion, it’s mainly agreed upon by the fandom, I think, and it’s literally been reported on. I’m surprised Mike missed this one since it has the most glaring reference to her Reputation era.

[@annabelle746]

@@patax144 hadn’t thought about the masters or the streaming confrontation (one of the last major holdouts), but you make a great point!

[@peppermint23]

As someone who loves this album and am exhausted beyond belief at the Discourse, I completely agree with you. Thank you for this.

[@ichokedonadoritoonce7670]

Right !!!! He articulated this really well

[@dadgbe4834]

you're Annoying

[@marigolden_mariposa]

agreed. I love TTPD. the internet is exhausting.

[@emobeefyfivelayerburrito]

“believing that would require me to believe that twitter matters” hahahahaha

[@cradio52]

I actually think the… mixed? reaction to this album is going to be VERY good for her - she’s clearly gotten way too comfortable resting on her laurels, in basically the same creative spaces. The last time she put out an album (or two) that, uhh… didn’t exactly receive rave reviews from fans and critics alike, it pushed her to wake up, pivot, jump start her creative juices again and we got folklore & evermore. Basically, I genuinely kind of hated TTPD - it is such an absurd, overly-long, rote slog in every conceivable manner (musically, lyrically, creatively, and also production-wise as far as having the self-awareness and skill to know when to edit) but I’m thrilled it happened because of what it means for Taylor’s next album… now THAT one is going to be interesting. This whole thing really does remind me of her Reputation/Lover eras, where she put out two pretty polarizing albums back-to-back which caused her to reboot and put out F&E. In this case, it was Midnights that was the first sign of trouble, and now TTPD… I’m sensing another “reboot” in a year or two.

[@andresboehmwald9171]

Taylor is usually very good at taking criticism for her music, she usually pays more attention to the critics rather than her fans bc she knows that she can fart into a mic and make it unironically go n°1 so I really hope that she takes this opportunity to step out of her confort zone because thats when she usually produce her best work

[@4509lucas]

I mean so far the metacritic score is 77 - 8 lower than midnights so I dont think its being perceived very well. I hope that makes her create something that will be better than this

[@Mikey-ji2le]

@@andresboehmwald9171this is the funniest comment I’ve ever read

[@cckmyuxun3689]

I mean didn’t she accidentally release 8 seconds of static noise that one time, and it went no.1 on iTunes Canada or smth? And that was during like 2014, and now she’s way more popular. Like unironically I can imagine an officially released audio of her farting going no.1 on billboard lol

[@denizece3672]

Truly, it feels like we‘re in the Reputation Part II era. The OG Reputation album came after a scandal and overall TS-fatigue with a preceding super-popular 1989 album and media coverage about her as a celebrity. Looking back, 2023 has been similar to the said OG 1989 era. Midnights was a pop record. The Eras Tour. She has even broken into the sports world now and is a billionaire. But with all of that came criticism. Her using her jet too often, the many album versions her teams wants you to buy, the popularity itself, the brief romance with controversial Matty Healy. TTPD sounds like a similar 'idgaf let me risk it all, they hate me anyway now' album just like OG Reputation. Except, I think, unlike the OG reputation era, she actually doesn‘t gaf and I wonder, if we will be getting a warmed up Folklore-Evermore magic at all, like you are hoping for. F&E were also the product of a forced slow-down period triggered by a global pandemic, when TS probably would have gone on a tour for the Lover album. As Mic said, what if Taylor Swift is tired of being Taylor Swift, leading to complete rebellion? If yes, what is the rebellion going to look like? Is TTPD the first sign of the rebellion? After all, she hasn’t been a relatable person for a hot minute, older than most of her fans but still 'somewhat edited' to make her marketing-appropriate to a larger audience. At some point that marketing doesn’t align with the attitude of a 30something woman, let alone a 30something popstar. The rebellion phase could be anything and I‘m excited to listen.

[@spameranne]

out of context "scaramouche scaramouche can you do the fandango" is also pretty weird also yes to so many of your points, thank you for a fair-minded response!!

[@Boardwoards]

it's not weird it's uncomfortable.

[@patrickschulze3787]

it's weird because that's exactly what the song is going for

[@juliasanders9155]

Am I currently being forced to listen to the Pikmin soundtrack which I haven’t heard in 10 years but can somehow imagine exactly what part of the gameplay I’m in? Thanks Mic!

[@prometheustv6558]

What a great game

[@mariam5640]

to be fair, i think the negative backlash to taylor is not bc people dont care abt the music but bc for years (and to this day) hardcore swifties have created an environment online where anything less than adoration for her is branded as misogyny. she's one of the most famous people in the world and white (which is always relevant with taylor) and the fatigue around her is understandable! it's a bit odd to frame this pushback as this overwhelming, negative wave growing all over the internet when in actuality she is still beloved, will likely still receive major accolades for this, and swifties are eating this album up. taylor, like all other pop stars, is a brand just as much as she is a singer or an artist-i think the celebrity of it all is worth interrogating just as much as albums and lyrics. that's what i personally enjoy about music criticism, this examination at the intersection of celebrity, music, and culture. also my question about her is just...if taylor swift is asking us to draw these lines between the songs and her personal life, how am i supposed to connect to "but daddy i love him" and divorce it from the racist man it's inspired by?

[@mariam5640]

(also even within the the song that 1830s line is just so bad, esp within the context of her Brand)

[@cattd00]

@@mariam5640but it isnt? have you heard the song? not saying this as some deranged swiftie, bc I too like to interrogate the celebrity, but she’s talking about the writers of the 1830s. William Wordsworth, Coleridge, Victor Hugo, Dickens. Like The Lakes pt2.

[@jasmeetsandhu229]

I find it weird how you americans are always saying taylor is popular because she's white yet michael jackson was 10 times more successful then she ever will be maybe stop obsessing over race so much since most people who complain about "white privilege" just sit on their ass and don't donate to charities or help minorities it's just virtue signaling for lame brownie points

[@VivekPatel-ze6jy]

​@@mariam5640 The 1830s line is in I hate it here not but daddy I love him And literally the next line she admits that she wouldn't have enjoyed it in that time period anyway

[@tenzen6899]

He said this Album is not about the Lore ???? and only 3 songs were about the Lore ?? TTPD is a BREAK UP Album from her 6 years long boyfriend Joe Alwyn, all the swifties were waiting for the tea, most songs are about him or about the 1975 Singer Matty, Swifties were just trying while listening to the Album to figure out which song is about who. It's not the music discourse that doesn't care about The Music it her fanbase that doesn't care about the Music, they are there for the DRAMA !!!

[@hardcoremagicalgirl]

The taking lyrics out of context reminds me of how during the HIFN era she shared the opening lyrics to "anthems" and how they were panned because it's "I'm so bored, wake up late eat some cereal" but in context of the song it makes perfect sense. I also feel like Charli has a talent for making rather basic lyrics feel like the important thing in the world at that moment. "I feel so unstable, fucking hate these people" sounds like a whiny teenager on paper but in the context of "Gone" you feel the gravity of emotion.

[@dadgbe4834]

charli is known for party music while we're all meant to believe taylor swift is the "lyricist of a generation"

[@marigolden_mariposa]

the people that say that are the people that have actually studied her lyrics across 11 albums. (unless they're just a psychotic swiftie). there's a reason they teach a class about it at Harvard. there's a reason serious literary geniuses praise her. people are completely clouded by their biases against her to see the actual work and the ones that do, understand why she gets the praise she does.​@@dadgbe4834

[@smoov22_sonic]

machine gun swiftie - tickets to py downfall

[@MrSkerpentine]

these sick Beatles - targeant tepper’s ponely deartsclubband

[@agonzalez7095]

Taylor Swift pop punk record would go hard

[@taylorcatalana1783]

Fully agree regarding the discourse. And agree - I really prefer TTPD to Midnights already. There’s just more to it to sink my teeth into, musically, lyrically, everything. Maybe this is a moment where the wheat is cut from the chafe of people, either loving or hating, bandwagoning onto her unparalleled star power of the moment. That “downward” trajectory you describe is so normal and inescapable for all big artists. Maybe it’ll just keep freeing her up to make whatever the hell she wants. That’s definitely what I can zoom out and see here: she just gets bolder and weirder even when “confined” with producers she clearly loves and trusts. I’d rather this than a hundred Shake It Offs or Bad Bloods any day.

[@amydougies3852]

Freaking facts. And agreed as hell with the last, I’d take this album a million times over shake it off, bad blood, 80 million remixes of anti hero etc

[@LBAW]

As someone on the periphery of the Swift lore and pokes his head in like every two months, I thought this album was fine.

[@boxednewdles]

Solid takes! Regarding the double album point: I think Anthology is just the “deluxe” version that most artists release after the buzz starts simmering down. Most artists have a surplus to pare down but the “vault” tracks have done so well, I think she decided to respond to the demand in a way that was fun and surprising.

[@carolinegeorge13]

7:17 the thing about the lore is so true. I mean, this album is lore-heavy actually, but in order to even see that it's there, let alone understand it, you have to be a massive fan of Taylor Swift AND of the 1975 (who are famous, but very far away from Taylor's level of famous). That's how much not in your face the lore is. Obviously it's gonna be there 'cause she's talking about her life, but you don't need it to understand the overall narrative of the album. Even if you don't know the first thing about Taylor Swift, what you get is a heartbreakingly sincere and stunning (imo) portrait of a woman who fell deeply in love, only to be left heartbroken, of an old lost connection long dreamt about that shattered when confronted with reality, of a man who promised a woman the world but failed to deliver and of a woman who went through a very hard, sad time dealing with fame, love, loneliness. It's all there in the lyrics. Anyway, to me ttpd is a 10/10, but really loved your take. Great video!

[@marigolden_mariposa]

great comment, completely agree! 🤍

[@kursunkalem3685]

As a swiftie who was not the most satisfied with midnights, TTPD was a breath of fresh air for me, it felt like the album knew what it was trying to be this time. Seeing this video and the online discourse presented was quite surprising to me, I guess logging off of twitter a couple months ago and not going back since certainly helped my experience with the album.

[@erikdaniels0n]

SAME

[@nupurmishra346]

Same bruh i thought I was crazy for liking this album and midnights was mid to me

[@valschmidts]

Same here

[@amydougies3852]

Honestly this album is what I wanted from midnights, logged off most social media because everyone throwing a fit and hating it started to dampen how much I connected with this album specifically immediately . Now I just unabashedly love it don’t really care about any other peoples opinions.

[@svtstreets]

same lmao. i like midnights but i hated it when it was first released bc it was just there.

[@RE-is7gg]

Really enjoyed this video. Although I disagree that it’s not an album bogged down in lore. If you’re a swiftie and know the lore (as I am) it’s realllly hard to listen out of that context and it was also a big part of the marketing. I find it frustrating that she seems very tired of speculation and judgement about her personal life, yet she plays into it every time. I think there’s a lot of good in both parts of the album, but it needed editing

[@ArgoBargo]

I mean I think she has to? Or at least she feels like she has too?

[@annaphallactic]

​@@ArgoBargo She clearly didn't feel that way with the log cabin albums. Those songs stand on their own, whereas many of TTPD's tracks do not. I saw another critic say that this isn't an album, it's content, and that felt so real to me. I don't dislike TTPD but it feels like such a creative setback.

[@daphneblake13]

@@annaphallactic "This isn't an album, it's content." Yes. For a while, I've half-joked that at this point, Taylor is running an ARG. This album made me think it's not so much of a joke...

[@RE-is7gg]

@@annaphallactic agree! I didn’t personally love midnights, but I knew we couldn’t live in folk-more forever and it felt like a step forward. Not every album can be better than the last, but this is the first time I don’t understand the creative choices.

[@hylas516]

I think it’s probably got to be a difficult thing for her to separate herself from being “the relationship” girl. I, too, am a hardcore Swiftie. She hasn’t serial dated in the way that the media tries to portray but she always had very public relationships until Joe. I think one of the worst parts of being a celebrity has to be that people feel entitled to knowing details about their lives. Human nature is also to be drawn to gossip and drama. This album makes me wonder if she held onto Joe for as long as she did because she didn’t want to be subject to the same prying eyes as she was previously. She finally let go of that and jumped into her relationship with Matty and was clearly thinking things were going to go well. She’s never been able to just write music without speculation and in some ways i don’t think she’ll really ever be able to do that. There’s the famous interview where she was asked what she’ll do once she’s finally happy. In a lot of ways, we haven’t even seen that side of her yet. I think Travis is our first peek but she also has the tour. It’ll be interesting to see what she chooses to do and what inspires her when she’s back to her day to day life and (presumably) in a happy and healthy relationship.

[@archer1949]

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate. Thought it was fine, some high points, but most of it kinda blends into the wallpaper. But most of all, I LOATHE the “discourse”.

[@papadole]

Mr Snare, I think more of this down to earth video suits your analysis incredibly well, very Professor Skye but actually edited! (no diss at Skye obviously). I’m glad you could find more to enjoy about this album than most (including myself; I found it very one note and similarly drab throughout; and being terminally online didn’t help me). But I appreciate the thoughts as always!!

[@justink8156]

Smash that like bucket and scrubscribe!

[@isa2010rizzi]

Unfortunately i didnt have the same experience. I was actually really excited for the album, but as i listened to it i became really disappointed, the lore seemed to consume her in this one, at least that was my feeling in the first half with all the synths and underwhelming bitter lyrics. for me the aaron dessner cuts where the only good thing about this

[@rickashley2322]

I love comments like urs. I too didn't enjoy the album but people like u don't bully artists with memes or stupid comments. W

[@venkoshop4124]

​@@rickashley2322 just got rickrolled bruhh

[@2003jackb]

​@@rickashley2322 This is the beauty of niche spaces like here. The comments on IG from both sides were insane. I just laughed and didn't get involved.

[@jeweltalbert246]

Isn't that on the listener? You can choose to focus on the lore or focus on the story. The story of this album is losing the "great love" of your life and spiraling afterward. There is universality in this type of heartbreak.

[@isa2010rizzi]

@@jeweltalbert246 well yes, im only talking about my experience listening to it. Im sure if someone who doesn’t know her listens to this they will have a different experience, but for me, as a fan of her music and being online, my brain automatically make these connections to what i know of her story, i cant just ignore her lyrics and not read into them, it just happens. And i said this because he compares to reputation, saying that this feels different, and i struggle to see how. To me this feels exactly like that album, of course you can say that reputation is about falling in love in a difficult period of your life, but as a person living on earth and having a twitter account, i unfortunately cannot just ignore the whole lore behind that album, and i feel like the same thing happened in TPPD

[@ashleyleckwold5091]

Came for hearing your thoughtful, nuanced take on this album, stayed for the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video joke about the Dessners.

[@SirLightsOut99]

I feel like Taylor Swift is at her absolute best when she’s writing songs that anybody could insert themselves into. That’s the reason something like style or wildest dreams works so well for me. They’re really good songs that just so happen to be propelled forward by the fact that Taylor Swift is singing them. When she starts trying to tell stories that are clearly about herself and the things she’s been going through, I lose interest because it’s very clear that she doesn’t have any more interest. She’s getting older, she wants to write more than just stuff about her relationship drama, but she feels compelled to lean into it anyway because that’s what her fanbase likes. I honestly feel kind of bad for her. And I know I probably shouldn’t. She’s got more money than she’ll ever know what to deal with. But outside of the rare all too well situation it’s very easy to notice the divide in quality between songs that are about the lore and the ones that aren’t.

[@FullForce098]

I'm going to say the same thing I said after the Jacob Collier video: it really doesn't feel like you appreciate what's been happening with Twitter. The reason the discourse felt a lot worse lately is because Twitter has actively been opening the floodgates to all of the toxic assholes that were previously banned from it. The discourse online has been fucked by Elon musk, basically.

[@marklunny]

its really not that deep, her music just sucks bro

[@jj-reads]

Taylor never released a physical version of the 3AM edition of Midnights, so I think she just repeated that drop process with ttpd the anthology. And yeah, I have to agree with you, as a swiftie for over a decade now. I’m feeling really exhausted by the FAN reaction to this album. So many of the fans only seem to care about which songs are about who? And I’m tired. I don’t care. I don’t understand why everyone cares. Knowing I’m a swiftie, everyone in my life has brought up either the Kim track or the Travis tracks to me and here’s the hottest take I have in response: idc! The music is what I care about. It’s not like I have some elite music taste, but I’m a swiftie bc I like Taylor’s music, not because I’m addicted to the spectacle. That’s actually why I gravitated to most of the anthology tracks (the ones that were reminiscent of evermore). I don’t want to talk about thanK you aIMee. I want to talk about the prophecy and cassandra and the albatross! And that’s how I feel about it all! So I’m staying off Twitter lol

[@jj-reads]

@@nony_mation I totally respect that. I wouldn’t mind greater breaks between releases, but at the same time there are other fans who act like she’s depriving them if she goes a few months without mentioning the next rerecording, so I’m not surprised she’s dropping things like crazy.

[@marigolden_mariposa]

​okay but also don't you think she just wants to be done with the rerecords so she can move on? she described them as her Infinity Stones in an article. why wait when the fans want it now anyways? I actually really don't like all of this she needs to take a break discourse I think it's stupid. she can make as much art or as little as she wants and if it's overwhelming to you then just don't listen until you're ready.​ I mean isn't her normal release cycle for a new album still 2 years anyway? so that hasn't changed.

[@thatskums]

TTPD is literally all lore. I can hardly think of any songs that don't have atleast some lore attached to them. Moreover, she has trained her fans to focus on the lore by putting 'easter eggs' everywhere so of course swifties are more interested in talking about the lore than the music

[@Bochi_red]

And her lore isn’t all about relationships either like everything about her is on the news is not hard to figure out all the lore in the music and is just exhausting because I really didn’t need Taylor telling everything everyone was already saying

[@tenzen6899]

He said this Album is not about the Lore ???? and only 3 songs were about the Lore ?? TTPD is a BREAK UP Album from her 6 years long boyfriend Joe Alwyn, all the swifties were waiting for the tea, most songs are about him or about the 1975 Singer Matty, Swifties were just trying while listening to the Album to figure out which song is about who. It's not the music discourse that doesn't care about The Music it her fanbase that doesn't care about the Music, they are there for the DRAMA !!!

[@autumhughes553]

I think I disagree with you on what counts as “lore.” I don’t think every song that is clearly inspired by Taylor’s life is inherently lore based. Like So Long London is obviously about her ex boyfriend but it stands on its own as a song. Most singer songwriters work is inspired by their life and you could probably figure out who they were writing about it if you wanted to but that doesn’t make those songs lore.

[@marigolden_mariposa]

​​@@tenzen6899this is true but there are also a lot of other DieHard fans critiquing this behavior and hating it and saying that they don't approve. I'm in a group chat right now for a patreon of people that are die hard swifties that are absolutely obsessed with this album and they do constantly talk about who each song is about but they also tell each other to focus on the music and they talk about how it relates to her other songs etcetera so that's not all they talk about. Stan culture is inherently bad and it's killing art everywhere and swifties are some of the worst ones but it's not all Stan culture is inherently bad and it's killing art everywhere and swifties are some of the worst ones but it's not Stan culture is inherently bad and it's killing art everywhere and swifties are some of the worst ones. I only became a fan of her music last month and I absolutely love ttpd. Stan Coulter really shouldn't exist in the first place because worshiping and idolizing another human being is not healthy. and Taylor liked and shared an article that was talking about how paternity testing every song is missing the point and not a good idea. there's plenty of critiques to be made about her playing into it or exacerbating the issue but at the same time she also does want people to focus on the music and its really exhausting that many people refuse to do that when people react to her music who don't know any of the lore online they seem to really resonate with and understand the story she's trying to tell so I think it transcends the news.

[@marigolden_mariposa]

​@@autumhughes553exactly. pretty much every single artist writes about their life but they don't have people dissecting it the way they do with Taylor because of the history and reputation that she has.

[@steve_santiago]

This album (like most if not all double albums) is 2/3 good songs and 1/3 filler songs. Wouldn’t mind her working with different producers and songwriters in the future and switching things up. Make more straight forward, feel good pop songs like “This is what you came for.”

[@jessvs6124]

This album was a 5/10 for me. And Spotify tells me I’m at the top 1% of TS listeners so yes I like my Taylor lol. There was very little variation and even words were repeated throughout the album. Some were just very specific stories about herself but not done cleverly enough for me to want to sing to. (Definitely more than 3 were lore based) Folklore is similar in some ways and done so much better

[@meso772]

Reminds me of that one doja cat line: you follow me but you don’t really care about the music. I have plenty of criticisms towards TTPD but I also liked quite a few of the songs. There’s a big difference between discussing how the album fell flat in a healthy manner and “let me just dogpile in here real quick.”

[@davidthepangolin]

I eagerly await the Reputation TV video whenever that album comes out! Great video as always

[@laurenvorreiter544]

I’m one of those stereotypical swifties, but I too crave some normalcy when it comes to discussing her. The initial reviews were wild, to see respected publications turn to Stan wars essentially. There’s plenty to talk about, and even critique with TTPD but instead everyone is talking about over exposure. I appreciate your normal take!

[@maxmalavenda]

We got physical copies very early at my workplace, I think the reason for not manufacturing/selling the double album was more to prevent the reveal from leaking. It also has been interesting watching it (not) sell. I work at *that* grocery store (that gets all her exclusives) in the middle of a college campus, we got a big cardboard display that went up Friday morning with 100+ CDs and maybe 50 records on it. I was anticipating us selling out rather fast, but in the last four days we sold less than 10 CD and records total.

[@estebanrodriguez1456]

Wow

[@barnaby4232]

Most of her fans would have preordered it though, no? The sales atm are insane

[@patax144]

Maybe it was detrimental, like the physical copies only have half the album with 1 extra song while the digital has the entire thing including the extra song, she probably should have not put the extra songs from the variants on the double album, so that the physical copies still had some value to them.

[@smoov22_sonic]

my only note is the weekend was record store day so they may have went there instead also good luck with your one for ones lol

[@damienallbran]

​@@smoov22_sonicI went to this year's RSD at my usual spot and the line was 4-5x the amount of people than last year in total it seems. I think her release and note/releases that overlap her fanbase is what made it so crazy

[@rudito22]

I... Really don't like how the criticism of lyrical content from this album was all boiled down to "being out of context" because like, I've seen a lot of people critique the 1830s line and the verse it's contained in within the context of the music? I agree with the rest of the discussion about how people are talking about this album, but like, we should be allowed to call out insensitive songwriting?

[@ruminationstation4200]

I don't get why people are insisting we can't hold her to the same standard every other celebrity gets. Anyone else would be roasted for bad lyrics too.

[@hkandm4s23]

I don't think it's insensitive at all is the thing.... in context, it's a song about hating the world and escaping to your mind because the world is so painful. Also the line specified this was a child....I don't see how acknowledging the existence of racism as a child and realizing you hate the world for it and don't know how to handle it is insensitive unless it's literally the only line from the song you're reading.

[@evi6629]

I think he's specifically talking about the kind of discussion that merely consists of posting the lyrics out of context and pointing at them and going "oh my god that's so weird and bad why would you write that??" Especially since he puts it next to lyrics that aren't offensive, just weird out of context. And, like, let's all be honest. That kind of dunking is exponentially more prevalent online than the meaningful critiques. A good critique existing of something doesn't mean that a bad critique of the same thing automatically gets to take on its quality.

[@rudito22]

@@evi6629 If that's what it was then that's completely fair, but I feel like the discussion around the songwriting being seemingly dismissed was a bit disappointing.

[@barnaby4232]

I’m sorry but this just not insensitive at all she’s just talking about how nostalgia and aestheticism blind people to the negatives, it’s fine not to like the line but to call it insensitive is pathetic.

[@NUBF]

TO TIMP PA DUTTERFLY lmao got me within the first 10 seconds!! You silly goose

[@jed6780]

I enjoy Taylor Swift's music to varying degrees. She may be a ubiquitous pop culture juggernaut, but I find it helpful to separate the music from the media narratives surrounding her - who she's dating, the supposed feuds, the clickbait and overwrought adoration (or hate) from some quarters, and so on. I'd rather relate to a song from my own inner life, never mind that it's about Taylor's ex #1 or ex #2. When you strip away the artifice, you're left with a prolific, talented, ambitious artist who writes her own music and is constantly evolving, sometimes for better and others for worse. By cross-pollinating folk, electronica, pop, country, and more, she helps broaden the musical palate of her young fans. I admire the way she connects to that fanbase in creative ways, including 3+ hour live shows, and how outspoken she is about loving heritage artists that came before her, inviting the likes of Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, and Johnny Rzeznick on stage with her. She spreads the artistry of such legacy acts to new generations that may otherwise never hear it by talking to her legion of fans about Don Henley or Tom Petty with authentic reverence before covering one of their songs. The albums can be hit or miss for me. Some, like Reputation and Midnights, haven't been especially memorable in my book (though "You're on Your Own, Kid" is great), while others like Red and the pair of folk albums represent wonderful leaps forward in terms of substance, sonics, and style. 1989 really advanced her identity and sound as well. This new one is more or less on par with Midnights; it has a handful of cool tracks but is not one of her groundbreaking albums. Sonically, it feels like more of the same and there's lots of barely-okay tracks that bored me. I like that Taylor is so prolific, tirelessly churning out one album after another, but wonder how that affects quality control when it comes to conceiving the musical direction and paring down the tracks to a truly essential collection. It feels like she’s not whittling away her B-sides like other artists but indiscriminately dumping her whole musical diary onto the market as a “double album” but that level of padding skews one's perception of the album's overall quality. I enjoy my Taylor fix as much as anyone else but, precisely because I appreciate her potential to reach even greater artistic heights, I'd rather she take another year or two off to fine-tune the material, explore and deconstruct, re-write, find collaborators beyond Antonoff, and create a new masterpiece. Twelve tracks will do, we don't need the padding. But what do I know, she's clearly doing fine of her own accord, and I’m sure Taylor’s fans appreciate her “more is more” approach.

[@jimmylu1352]

It won't surprise me at all if she continues to evolve her music in the future. She ditched Nathan Chapman who was a big contributor for her first 4 albums and she ditched Max Martin and Shellback after Red, 1989 and reputation. This woman is smart and does challenge herself musically for better or for worse, she moves in unexpected ways which is why it's funny when people are acting like they know how her story is going to end when she has proven time and time again she's a mastermind

[@juliasanders9155]

I wish people would just relax. Good lord. It’s an album. Let people like things. Let people not like things. Not everything has to be taken to the largest possible extreme. Stop doxxing people for criticizing Taylor, and also stop making fun of people for enjoying her work.

[@yue_river]

doxxing people and twitter jokes, only one those things is extreme and it is also a crime

[@juliasanders9155]

@@yue_riverfair

[@alyssamichaela]

​@@yue_riveryeah I really can't take this "dont make fun of people" stuff seriously when she has a legal team ready to strike people down and a massive cultish fanbase that threatens, doxxes and drives people off of platforms for daring to speak ill of "mother".

[@nachoqt]

Ah, the centrist take, you're so brave.

[@NathanHautain]

​​@@nachoqt If you believe people have to either hate Taylor Swift to the point they want her dead or lick her ass like she's some goddess, you have a serious problem. A medium, temperate educated guess is better than blind love or hatred

[@robertonal]

I get your point, but I feel that the person who doesn't care about the music is Taylor herself. Midnights was a step down and this one feels like she's running out of ideas, not the she has found a sound she's comfortable with. I had to listen to it by chunks because I got extremely bored after 5-6 songs. I feel like she needs to take a hiatus, but she is advised by her team not to, or maybe that one quote in her documentary about feeling terrified of being forgotten and replaced is painfully true.

[@beauenferae2438]

As someone who loves Taylor music but isn't that concerned with her personal life, I really love your take. I avoid a lot of discourse online about her because of how toxic it is. I mean that about both sides. I feel like she tends to become a poster child for issues even when there are bigger offenders. I think it does a disservice to valid issues, such as carbon emissions. She isn't even in the top 10 when it comes to celebrity carbon emissions plus she donates to offset them. So while I think she should be criticized for it, I don't think she's a good choice for the face of that issue. On the other side, I hate how some of her fans rabidly defend her at all points and I think it borders on infantilization sometimes. She even touches upon this in TTPD, the song But Daddy I Love Him is about those fans. They seem to genuinely think they have a decision over her personal life and it's very weird. All that said, I think a lot of the issues with her fans and people who dislike her make up a small amount of people. Overall, I really enjoy TTPD and see it becoming part of my top three. If you disagree, that's totally cool. Music would be boring if we all had the same opinions.

[@SamMVlogs94]

To Dimp a Dutterfly? Talk about the Tortured Puns Department!

[@albeerd4436]

I truly believe she has a very peculiar relationship with her fans (which are probably significantly more than any other pop star's atm) that is not going to go away. Those who jumped on the hype of the eras tour will go, probably, but her fans will stay and she will continue to be massive. I don't believe she will fade out unless she wants that (like she did between 1989 and reputation) and even then, the moment she came back, she was massive instantly. Idk, she's quite a particular phenomenon that should be studied by itself because there's no other thing like it.

[@mustafamehdi1663]

This was the best take thank god someone spoke with honesty soo many people planed on hating it like the reviews are about Taylor’s personal life not about the music for me i only care about music and the album was very legnthy but had some good tracks this is definitely not the worst thing this year not even close to it feels like we are all back to the whole mid 2010s when all u could talk about her was her relationships friendships idgaf

[@jady1078]

Almost every review I’ve seen is talking about her fame and not the music itself! Thank you for making this

[@lancebrown998]

"dont listen to it if you dont like it" yeah but its on every single Iheart radio station and that's like 75% of the non green spesfic radio stations where i live

[@embop1266]

spotifys free brother

[@MOMR-dk8lp]

@@embop1266the spotify app when you don’t pay for premium is genuinely ass tho. so. not really free.

[@planeta3059]

@@embop1266airplay is a thing

[@JoseManuel-ku4ry]

​@@embop1266 I think this guy is talking about listening to music, not ads

[@khole5809]

Do you only use radio? No streaming services, no cds, no vinyl, no nothing.

[@amazingarne]

OMG OMG OMG You literally speak out of my soul for the whole video. I also like it more than Midnights and my god the discourse around her makes me think half the people don't even listen to the music and just say what they think about Taylor.

[@berkeleyisonline160]

im in a weird in between where i feel like ppl need to relax abt her, while simultaneously agreeing w all of the criticism of this album. its so mind numbingly dull its barely even wallpaper cuz at least wallpaper has a fun pattern on it sometimes. its like a blank sheet of printer paper.

[@VEGAS-NERVE]

Precisely my thoughts about the album. Like let’s not hate her but at the same time this is not a good album in any sense

[@joaquinlezcano2372]

Is not a weird in between. There's maybe some needed criticism, just that there's a LOT of unwarranted and dishonest criticism

[@joaquinlezcano2372]

It has to do overall with this increasing tendency of complete polar opposites in everything. Is either a masterpiece or hot garbage. No in-between. I can also see that in movie discussions

[@berkeleyisonline160]

​@@joaquinlezcano2372 that's pretty real. i think the sense of overexposure she has (at least online) is making ppl angrier

[@ephy9590]

Seeing Two Gay Matts' reaction to TTPD after this weekend was refreshing. Sure, they care a lot about celebrity but they also care so so much about the music in a way that makes me enjoy it more by hearing their thoughts. They also gave it a 7; this is the correct score to subjectively give it lmao. A lot of fans are obsessed with her being the best and treat it as a truth, which I find weird, the same way I find it weird when people are so pissed off about the fact people thinking so exist. I just like her songs sometimes. That's all it should be. I like it more than Midnights too. How much more, I don't know yet. Might be my favorite since Folklore.

[@finnaboing]

with every day that passes I realize just how beneficial not being a Taylor Swift loremaster has been for my well-being. I fully agree on your point about the "monolith" thing - you really _do not_ have to know anything about Taylor Swift. you really don't. you can avoid this stuff extremely easily. I don't even know how Lucy Dacus ties into any of this, and I don't have to at all. I get people being overexposed on Taylor, and I know that the whole "oh just log off" retort is usually overly dismissive, but, like, genuinely, just log off. you do not have to know anything about Taylor Swift if you don't want to. it's like sitting out in the sun all day without sunblock and then complaining that you got a sunburn

[@theworldsgreatestlover]

Thank you for actually being reasonable and level-headed unlike what feels like the rest of the internet. The past couple of days after this album's release have been so exhausting, especially because I really enjoyed this album. I've been a fan of Taylor's music for a very long time, she's kinda the reason I got into music in the first place I kinda fell off when Midnights came out, this album brought me back, its definitely in my top 5 of her records, I love how long and messy it is, such a stream of consciousness kind of album. I get that the overabundance of lore in this album can be a detractor for people, but I personally didn't feel that at all, I enjoyed these songs' lyrics so much because I related to a lot of them personally, not so much because of the references to Taylor Swift's life. I think the fact that I related to this album so closely is the main reason why I hated the discourse around it so much, it felt like a personal attack. And also, as a person from a non-english speaking country, I can confirm that she's definitely not as popular here, and our country's Taylor Swift fandom is just a small chill place, it's just an America thing for sure (or an English-speaking country thing, I heard people from the UK and Australia complain about her popularity too). And I also agree SO MUCH about how people don't really care about the music, but for the celebrity. And that includes both the Swifties and the haters. Like, most of the fans are freaking out about the lore and Taylor as a media personality since this album came out and don't really analyse the actual album at all. Like, they'll call her an amazing lyrical genius but won't actually engage with the songs besides just a surface level look at them. So it's really hard to find someone to talk to about the music, the lyrics, the production and how it made me feel, and that is really important to me because I love music and I'm incredibly passionate about analysing it. And with the haters, like you said, they didn't even need a reason to tear this album, they started to do it immediately when it was announced, without waiting for it to actually come out. And now they're trying to stir up some controversy by uploading these out of context song lyrics and it's working and I'm just so tired... And by all means, bash her as a person, I don't care. What I do care for is the music. And I feel like most people don't engage with music like with art anymore, they're just too terminally online to do it. I think I just need to log off, stop reading bad takes and getting worked up about them, mind my own business and just enjoy the music. And I'll try to do it as much as I can. Sorry for the incoherent rambling, I just really needed to get this off of my chest

[@happy_endings15]

"The internet is a bunch of hungry jackals and if you give them something, they will take it for their worst purposes" is absolute BARS, my dude. And the most true thing I've heard this month. This year, even. I've been trying to replace my Twitter time with reading time recently and genuinely, it's the best thing I've done for my mental health since starting zoloft. Also, the Dessner tracks are all chef's kiss. Love that we got to see more of The National's collaborators here (and Bryce! Yay Bryce!!), it definitely endeared more of these tracks to me. It's a fine album. Nothing incredible, but the high moments are still pretty high. And for me, that's all that matters!

[@MissaBrevis]

Today I learned that Bryce Dessner, composer whose music I like, is a member of The National, band whose music I like. Maybe I should actually read people's 'about' pages...

[@oldusernamewasbadlol]

this album comes out after a year where people who don't take any interest in taylor swift can name 2 guys she was constantly linked to, and that's not because they want to know. she's had 3 articles on the BBC news front page this week. so any "lore" stuff at this point was going to tip it past the critical point where people are like "ugh no." it's too much, she needs to go away for a while.

[@prestong.6391]

i love her old hits but she's such a bland public figure for people to be going crazy over. the album is probably fine. if i never heard about her again i'd be happy

[@TotesCoolBeans]

Literally not Taylor's fault. And there's a song on the album about her basically saying she tired of the media and people focusing so much on all the small things she does.

[@nave_3030]

​@@TotesCoolBeansI think she should take leap of faith and trust that she can build on her success after a break. Right now most of her music is about the same few things ....

[@marigolden_mariposa]

do you really think she likes that people are constantly talking about her exes in articles and not her actual music? do you think she has the power to stop people talking about her the way they do? do you think it matters that she releases music that directly critiques this? do you think it matters that she stood up on social media for herself and said that this kind of thing is wrong?

[@marigolden_mariposa]

​wdym most of her music is about the same few things ? TTPD album alone touches on several different topics... she's written songs about all kinds of things from a terminally ill child, to her mother's cancer, to her late grandmother who was an opera singer, to fictional stories she invented, to music made for movies. ​@@nave_3030

[@king-my3ps]

after this week I can tell she doesn’t care about the music either

[@Lukai312]

I might be in a happy Swiftie algorithm bubble because I have only seen people loving the record. With the exception of people on Twitter, but people on that platform hate absolutely anything that exists

[@aidentan6547]

the fans love it the haters will hate it no matter what lol

[@elise7515]

i like the album! i like how unhinged it is haha. i was disappointed with midnights so i went into this album with way lower expectations and it's really a hit for me so far

[@apphilosophy79]

I really like your style! "You do not like music" Dang! And BTW, I agree. Most of these reactions are about celebrity. That's also why most miss the fact that these are artworks, not diary entries.

[@SamanthaLove-p6z]

At this point I’m unironically scared of openly enjoying Taylor Swift or even allowing myself to enjoy her music because people are so fucking awful and cruel about music taste these days, especially when it comes to pop, AND EVEN MORE SO when it comes to Taylor. Maybe it’s dumb that I care but I know for a fact large chunks of my friends would groan if I told them I thought this album was okay (which from the parts I listened to, it was)

[@nupurmishra346]

Omg same. I'm a closeted fan at this point

[@SamanthaLove-p6z]

@@nupurmishra346 maybe it’s just an internet thing but I’ve met a lot of Taylor Swift haters in real life. And the weird thing is the ones that I’ve known are women??? It’s wild and I don’t get it.

[@wolfgangromine8341]

I think the public is just a bit tired of her and they're lashing out. TTPD is legitimately really solid, but she was in everyone's face all last year cause the Eras Tour so people are bitter and just want her to fail. It's the typical "people are sick of her and want to her fail for the Schadenfreude dopamine hit" that's all it is.

[@carolkuahara5561]

I love it when smart people talk about Taylor. Thank you!

[@AvaSwarup]

Hi Mic, I️ am a very very big swiftie and I️ have been so disappointed and overwhelmed with the discourse online of 1. People not liking TTPD and 2. Swiftie vehemently defending it. I️ wish we could just listen to the music. The Jack Antonoff discourse may be fair, but then it's turning out that his songs are everyone's favorites from the record. I️ wish I️ could just enjoy it

[@aidentan6547]

Yes I think you're the reviews I trust the most because most people just simply hating on this album like 3 hours after it was release like there's no way u can digest 31 songs so fast lol I agreed this may not be her best album for me it's her best lyrics wise it was dark, unfiltered and raw

[@Hi-lu5vf]

Idk if I'm just delusional, but the lore is very much present. I saw this post on the ts subreddit called "analyzing the matty/joe of it all" that kind of helped with the experience. made some lyrics make more sense

[@candimccann]

Enjoyed your refreshingly laid back delivery. I did not warm up to TTPD on first listen, but that's normal for me with new music. After spending some time with TTPD, I'm at about 5 skips and of the rest there's probably another 6 or so that I'm just meh on but don't mind listening to, and the rest I really like. That's a much higher hit ratio than I usually expect from an album, so I consider this one a winner for my tastes.

[@cashewisanut4181]

I can second the fact that its actually really easy to avoid taylor discourse. Like, I work at a college radio station. Everyone there is obsessed with music, possibly to an unhealthy degree, including myself. But I have not heard a word about this album that isn't just "yeah i listened to some of it. its alright i suppose". And outside of that, I'm still chronically online and all, just not on social media. And even when I was still an active social media user basically before 2024, I hung around music circles and still saw very little taylor discourse surrounding, for example, midnights or folklore. You absolutely can stay involved with music without getting caught up in the celebrity of it all

[@thatRyzzle]

Here's my thing, and this goes for Star Trek and Star Wars, Beyoncé, and Taylor Switft: I don't hate those franchises or people-I hate their stans, who seem to worship and defend those franchises/people like it's their religion or something. It's really become annoying.

[@LiiiiiiMa]

can always count on Mr. The Snare for a nuanced, down to earth take on taylor and her music! Very excited about your Rep TV video and if the new versions will shift your opinions on the album overall!

[@hkandm4s23]

I think people are still treating her like she's still in her rep era, desperate for approval and calculating how to manage every aspect of her image when i really doubt that. I think Taylor didn't write this to gain critical acclaim. It's emotional vomit.... well written emotional vomit with producers that did an excellent job helping it to sound cohesive. It's the end of a period of her life that she's ready to close and it's just how she processes things, and with how productive a writer she is when her life is chaotic, they might as well put it out there. She writes what she knows so her career chronicles her past, and the rerecording process has been a giant review of her life. With the size of her life and career and the critical acclaim she received for her past few albums i think she's unconcerned with criticism at this point since her fans will support her regardless. Not sure what's next for her but this in particular was definitely an exercise in catharsis.

[@erikdaniels0n]

I completely agree with “well written emotional word vomit”

[@Joy-zp3bt]

You were able to summon up my thoughts on all this very well especially with the discourse. The album wasn’t too bad. Wasn’t the best thing she’s made. Wasn’t a hit maker. But the worst thing about it is everyone around it losing their goddamn minds

[@gillyrae]

Hey! I appreciate this video. I'm a newer Swiftie and I *really* loved this album. I loved the way she twisted her usual formula and focused very inwardly on herself and her mistakes and feelings. I will admit that I am likely biased - I was extremely excited for this album and loved the way it subverted a lot of my expectations as a fan. I share a lot of your feelings on the discourse surrounding it. I put out a small review on my own personal blog analyzing some of the themes and immediately got some weird comment from someone accusing me of "calling everything she does perfect" and demanding I account for the fact that "everyone else" hated it. It just felt... weird. Like, it's a dense and imperfect album and I don't expect everyone to love it, but isn't it weird when you're pounding down someone's door and demanding they halt analyzing the themes and talk about how it's bad because everyone else said it was. Anyway, though I don't always agree with you on your Taylor takes, I've always appreciated hearing them and I love your channel!

[@stormageddon9930]

She’s focused inward and better….

[@wrens.c.8383]

I love this review even though I think I'm more positive on the album than you, it's one of those works that I absolutely understand why people don't connect with but I think it's some of her most interesting songwriting since evermore and best jack production since folklore, all in service of some frankly startling honesty allowing the audience a view of herself that doesn't make her look the best (this is her first record where she actually feels like an anti-hero). But I really agree that people were waiting to have permission to hate a Taylor Swift album and this one gives people a lot of things to hate if that's what you're looking for.

[@scootinand]

"Y'all don't care about music, do you?" Fucking real for that

[@TotallyRadicalShow]

Glad to see an actual nuanced take around here. Thank you Mr. Snare. I honestly share a lot of the same opinions on the album and am honestly surprised by the hate for it. I enjoyed it way more than I expected.

[@happy_endings15]

Could not agree with this thumbnail more! I may not be her biggest fan anymore, but I will never understand why anyone would feel the need to bash her for (checks notes) making an album that sounds boring at times? Is this really what our world is coming to?? (Side note: Loving the new glasses btw! Have to say, they're rather stunning 😊)

[@amydougies3852]

Top tier comment . If boring is it’s most offensive crime, maybe some dodgy lyrics, then the punishment truly does not fit.

[@silviavila173]

Hi! I am from Spain and I really liked what you said about the Taylor Swift phenomenon being very American centered. I will say that in Spain, because our first language is Spanish the most popular artists are reggaetoneros: Bad Bunny Karol g, etc. When you go to a club you are not going to listen to Taylow Swift lol. However, Taylor Swift has definetly reached a new peak overseas too, in no small part bc of the Eras Tour. It had been years since I had heard one of her songs in the radio and when Midnights came out Antihero did not stop playing. She has entered again the cultural conversation here, to the point that my 49year old aunt asked me last week if Taylor Swift was daiting some footballl player bc she had seen someting in the news about it. However, she definetly hasn't swallowed the musical market in the same way that she has done in USA.

[@alexcaldz324]

I think people are hating on this album because Taylor herself is approaching the part of her career where she has gotten "too big" for most and now people just want to see her fail. I fear that with the ERAS Tour and her constant presence, she is suffering from overexposure. I myself got drawn into the hate in the first 24 hours of this album release and absolutely despised the fact that this album sounded very close in sound to Folklore, Evermore and Midnights. Felt like an unnecessary and dragged out effort, especially after it was announced as a "double album". I almost feel as if now long albums will now become a standard after COWBOY CARTER showed up with 27 songs and was considered successful. However, I will say, now that the initial reaction for TTPD has worn off, I realize that the songs are actually great. And although I haven't listened to the whole album in full because it is a titan, the songs are slowly growing on me. I think it's just an album that needs to be digested in pieces and for that, you really need to invest the time to truly form a complete opinion.

[@koelkastridder3388]

Tortured jet user department

[@salvatore2004]

original

[@koelkastridder3388]

Thanks! :) ​@@salvatore2004

[@salvatore2004]

@@koelkastridder3388 your welcome

[@jasmeetsandhu229]

I find it interesting that she only get's backlash for having a jet but the other 99% of hollywood get away with it shows that people just pick a easy target to attack like sheep I think everyone should be called out instead of one person but I guess that would involve critical thinking which most people seem to have lost lol

[@silverivy1313]

Late to the party but 11:08 I think a big part of that was also how burnt out she was in her relationship and even when trying to write apart from that, you can never divorce the tone/feelings fully from the music. It just sort of seeps in. TTPD makes me feel like she’s looking for the new, she’s exploring, she’s actually trying to just be and knowing what I know about her life, I think that progression makes perfect sense. But that’s coming from a swiftie of course, and it’s even harder for swifties to separate the music from the lore but I did not feel like this album relied heavily on knowing the lore. Even the person-specific songs, for the most part, are vague enough and focus more on feelings rather than story (down bad and fresh out the slammer for example). I really agree with your assessment of the album! It’s nice to see a critic not just hating 😊

[@Surepeacooler]

thanKs Mike Snare /j

[@RayatoTV]

Yeah, sorry, Mic. I can’t stand behind you on this one. This was the album where Taylor lost me as a fan. The well is dry. The car sputtered out. I’m moving onto more exciting singer-songwriters like Chappell Roan. Now THERE’S a pop girlie that I can get behind!

[@LovelyReba]

You think only 3 songs are lore, because you aren't knee deep in it. I'm relatively new to the Taylor-verse and I can hear the lore on almost all of the songs.

[@FictionalSarah]

I really appreciate your nuanced take! There always feels like such extremes when it comes to Taylor’s music. It’s also frustrating to see lyrics taken so completely taken out of context, and I’m glad you touched upon that. I personally like the album and have found it growing on me more as I listen to it, which is the case for a lot of music. It takes time to settle. It’ll be so interesting to see how this album ranks in peoples ratings of her albums, as the years pass.

[@sophiakapor2000]

Honestly the whole fandom and adoration surrounding Taylor makes it almost impossible for me to want to listen to her music. And from the outside this constant need to make everyone know who she is talking about in her songs just make me want to roll my eyes. That is why people who are not 'swifties' jump to criticize her music, because we can't escape everyone around us telling how brilliant her songs are and the numbers that she has. It just seems like all everyone cares about is the drama behind the music and how much she is selling and that justifies why people are not talking about music, because everything surrounding her just feels like another thing to sell and make money

[@erikdaniels0n]

I freaking loved this album. I absolutely understand why people aren’t connecting with it, but I REALLY liked it. I liked it because it’s messy and bloated at times. It feels intentional in a way that Taylor’s music hasn’t since folklore and evermore (excluding the Taylor’s Versions)

[@amydougies3852]

Honestly as a BPD girlie, this album really hit because of its messiness because of its melodrama, it’s manicness. To me it made so much sense.

[@Mansae.a]

One thing I have to say about the “lore” is that she is a songwriter. She is going to write what she knows, how she feels and her experiences and her writing is 100% better for it. It is the people that are obsessed with it that turns me off of the Stan culture or even the hate wave that Taylor has unfortunately garnered. I can relate to her holding on to the hurt and often writing about what people speculate is Kanye and Kim. As a pop music girlie don’t mind if I reference a Shawn Mendes lyric, “I open up my journal to a page, everything that hurts me still the same” and that is so true. The same hurt I had when I started high school is still the same hurt I have now so I can understand why she is still singing about past situations. I personally LOVED the album or at least particular songs like, “who’s afraid of little old me”, “the prophecy” and “I hate it here”. However Folklore and Evermore will still be some of my favourite albums of all time and I don’t see TTPD passing them anytime soon. However I don’t believe that each release has to better than the last so I am not upset about that at all. Definitely loved the Dessner tracks. Also when I listen to her so called “revenge songs” I think no one and literally no one does it better than her. She puts words to something often so difficult to describe (especially since I am a Christian and anger is often frowned upon by the church) and my favourite “female rage” songs of hers include: This is why we can’t have nice things, Mad Woman, Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve and Who’s afraid of little old me. Sometimes it’s nice to let out all my rage to a Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo song and go back to my gospel music😅 P.s thank you for letting me use your comment section as a mini rant lol

[@TheSilverPhoenix356]

I’m sorry you had to go through this.

[@Falxifer95]

Taylor Swift discourse is exhausting, and it gets worse during a new album cycle. I personally don't care about Taylor Swift or her music, but there are days where it feels like the online world expects you to care about Taylor Swift TM. And I'm not talking about psychotic Swifties, I'm talking about her haters as well, it feels like you're supposed to have an opinion about her. And that exhausts me, there's more to life than laser focus on this one pop star.

[@dirteater19191]

i totally agree with your point that critics often pander towards negativity with certain artists and releases just because its what people seem to love so much

[@nomanisanisland117]

Thank you for calling out the negative kinds of parasocial relationships. Those things thrive off of blind hatred as easily as blind devotion, and the former is far more destructive to discourse than the latter, imho. As for reputation, I've said it many times about rep: the lore is a ruse. That record is about the phenonemon *of* reputation construction and destruction (in the social media era) as much as it is about *her* reputation. Also, the front-half is a crucial prequel to the second, but again, a conspiracist's board of string is not required to appreciate it. It's simply about being misunderstood to such a degree that you fear any future partner will innately mistrust you (maybe some rumor got spread about you at work, maybe you had a messy breakup in which you were cast as a villain), then finding someone who actually "likes you for you". What I loved most about it was that even though half the songs were essentially from behind an alter-ego mask, the emotional throughline was from an honst place of hurt, resentment and isolation. It was, as one critic put it, "a song cycle about how it feels when you stop chasing romance and start letting your life happen." It was her most intimate record until TTPD, in my opinion.

[@suasoria]

I find it fascinating how her fans insist on separating lore from the music (very similar to how people scream about "separating art from the artist" in completely irrelevant contexts) when it comes to Taylor Swift, given how much she fights tooth and nail to insert her persona and lore into her music, by literally any means.

[@joyjenkins9052]

I think people forget that in pop culture, Taylor swift exists as three distinct entities: a celebrity, a songwriter and a business woman. Too often people focus solely on Taylor swift as a celebrity and negate the other two. At the end of the day, taylor swift is a songwriter. Her value comes from her ability to write a good song. Whether or not she has written something good or bad should be the end all, be all of people’s perception of her music. Not your opinion on her personal life, not your opinion on her personality and cultural relevance. I am personally very critical of Taylor swift as a business woman for a variety of reasons but if the music’s good, she’s done her job. It’s kind of like Ariana grande. Not a huge fan of her in general and wasn’t totally sure how to feel about everything that went down right before her album came out but once her album came out and it proved itself to be a good album, I didn’t really care about her personal life because she had done a good job as an artist.

[@CoolcidProd]

thanK you MIc

[@nenes24]

i always enjoy listening to your thoughts since you're pretty down to earth with the artists and works you explore and it's nice to hear. finally someone mentioned aaron too, i love the production he brought to this album!!! it feels like the people would rather just focus on mentioning how jack's producing has long reached its peak and needs to go, or the other 300 topics surrounding themes of her life which don't have to relate to every single thing that she releases - but people will relate it anyway. it feels as if with most artists the horse dies off and they'll beat it every now and then but with swift they will feed the horse AND beat it. it's exhausting. i'm excited for the rerealease of reputation, especially for any new tracks. ttpd doesn't really feel like it's trying to outdo anything, it's another dive in what can be considered a folklore/evermore sound but the lyrics surely feel less poetic and aesthetic, which is fine. it felt a lot like... sitting in sadness and just being there. i'm disappointed but i'll live

[@V.F.D.DaleSalvador]

Talking about the inescapable discourse and such, I LITERALLY didn't even know Taylor was dropping an album until it was out. Idk when it was released. I think it was yesterday but idk. And I'm CHRONICALLY ONLINE, and I am a huge music guy. I watch album reviews and reactions and even make my own. I think I saw the album art first and I don't even remember where, and I didn't even know what it was when I saw it. I think I thought it was an album for a different artist, idk. I didn't have to "try to not look for it" I literally just didn't hear about it.

[@nelsonemanuelrodriguezpala9234]

It'll be really interesting to see if TTPD become a turning point in her career. Reputation was maybe the album that polarized fans and critics most, but this record seems to be on its way too. Personally, i didn't like that much, it's not the top 5 in her discography, but it's a grower for some songs definetely. What to expect from her in the future? Certainly we don't know at this point, the announcement of TTPD was shocking because she said she worked on this project for almost 2 years, most fans were expecting reputation TV that night. Finally, I hope she takes a break after The Eras Tour, not because the overexposure many people say, but for take some time off and experience another ventures. I still remember she said during the Lover era that it was maybe her last chance to be relevant because her stardom started to fall after rep, but 5 years later here we are

[@davidthepangolin]

Hey Mic

[@MicTheSnare]

Hey David