person at "Rolling Stone" compared Taylor Swift to Morrissey

[Gregor Samsa]

It's always subjective, yes.

I guarantee you if Swift released a few songs from her next album anonymously, on the web, she would pick up a few thousand hard-boiled indie rock fans who would turn six shades of green when they found out who she really was. Mais, c'est la vie. She's not sweating it and nor should we.

That I do doubt, though. I don't hear that at all. Nowhere in her stuff.

 

[Qvist]

I don't get that either - I don't hear any indie whatsoever in this. More a sort of College Allison Kraus really?

cheers

 

[Worm]

Well, okay, perhaps I exaggerated a little bit. There would probably have to be some minor cosmetic changes to her musical arrangements, and probably a few of the more, uh, suburban lyrics left out. In the main, though, she could sing her twee little songs of love and longing and fit right in with various indie darlings who get away with peddling exactly the same brand of pixie-dusted cotton candy to "discriminating pop lovers" who take pride in how finnicky they are about what goes on their iPods.

 

[ThinkOfMeKindlyLV]

Funny. I skimmed through RS yesterday looking for anything Morrissey related. I would have never thought to check the Taylor Swift review..just skipped right through that one. I just saw the 4 or 5 stars it got and rolled my eyes.

 

[Qvist]

Well, okay, perhaps I exaggerated a little bit. There would probably have to be some minor cosmetic changes to her musical arrangements, and probably a few of the more, uh, suburban lyrics left out. In the main, though, she could sing her twee little songs of love and longing and fit right in with various indie darlings who get away with peddling exactly the same brand of pixie-dusted cotton candy to "discriminating pop lovers" who take pride in how finnicky they are about what goes on their iPods.

Maybe I exaggerated a little too, or at least, maybe it's just too much up the wrong alley for me, subjectively speaking. It just seems like I have no tolerance for female folky singer/singwriters who remind me even remotely of Alanis Morisette or that awful woman from Ally McBeal. I can't even stand Laura Marling. This, to me, is really completely remote from Sandie Shaw or anything I connect with the term "pop music". I can't really define why, but there is something about the chords and the sound and the mewling vocal that is just so....Nashville. Which is the most un-pop place name I can imagine. It's like what Joni Mitchell would have needed to be like in order to be liked by Sarah Palin. Can't speak to the lyrics after such brief listening though, so I'll concede that.

cheers

 

[not_me_not_I]

Funny. I skimmed through RS yesterday looking for anything Morrissey related. I would have never thought to check the Taylor Swift review..just skipped right through that one. I just saw the 4 or 5 stars it got and rolled my eyes.

LOL - That's how I read RS too!

 

[Worm]

Morrissey would turn this song into a classic.

BETTER THAN REVENGE

Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did

Ha, Time for a little revenge

The story starts when it was hot and it was summer
And, I had it all; I had him right there where I wanted him
She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause
She took him faster than you can say sabotage

I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it
I underestimated just who I was dealing with
She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum
She underestimated just who she was stealing from

She's not a saint and she's not what you think
She's an actress, Whoa
She's better known for the things that she does
on the mattress, Whoa
Soon she's gonna find
Stealing other people's toys on the playground
Won't make you many friends
She should keep in mind,
She should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge

She lives her life like it's a party and she's on the list
She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it
I think her ever present frown is a little troubling
And, she thinks I'm psycho cause I like to rhyme her name with things, but
Sophistication isn't what you wear, or who you know
or pushing people down to get you where you wanna go
Oh they didn't teach you that in prep school
So it's up to me
But no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity

She's not a saint and she's not what you think
She's an actress, Whoa
She's better known for the things that she does
on the mattress, Whoa
Soon she's gonna find
Stealing other people's toys on the playground
Won't make you many friends
She should keep in mind,
She should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge, Ha ha

I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey
You might have him, but haven't you heard
I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey
You might have him, but I always get the last word
Whoa

She's not a saint and she's not what you think
She's an actress, Whoa
She's better known for the things that she does
on the mattress, Whoa
Soon she's gonna find
Stealing other people's toys on the playground
Won't make you many friends
She should keep in mind,
She should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge,

And do you still feel like you know what you're doing,
Cause I don't think you do, Oh
Do you still feel like you know what you're doing
I don't think you do, I don't think you do
Let's hear the applause
C'mon show me how much better you are
See you deserve some applause
Cause you're so much better
She took him faster than you can say sabotage​

 

[Raphael Lambach]

damn it.
I guess that this person is trying to forecast a brillant future to TS. Just keep trying.

 

[Worm]

Maybe I exaggerated a little too, or at least, maybe it's just too much up the wrong alley for me, subjectively speaking. It just seems like I have no tolerance for female folky singer/singwriters who remind me even remotely of Alanis Morisette or that awful woman from Ally McBeal. I can't even stand Laura Marling. This, to me, is really completely remote from Sandie Shaw or anything I connect with the term "pop music". I can't really define why, but there is something about the chords and the sound and the mewling vocal that is just so....Nashville. Which is the most un-pop place name I can imagine. It's like what Joni Mitchell would have needed to be like in order to be liked by Sarah Palin. Can't speak to the lyrics after such brief listening though, so I'll concede that.

cheers

It's utterly Sandie Shaw to my ears. Oh, I don't mean they sound alike. They don't. But Shaw sang about the same girl-on-the-verge-of-womanhood stuff in a very similar way. "Had A Dream Last Night", "Tell The Boys", "Tomorrow", all the rest: in 2010 Swift is drawing from the same well. And by the way, let's not forget Shaw was a little folksy herself, with her laughable propensity to go without shoes.

One thing good pop music can't be is cynical or contrived. Taylor Swift's sound is worked-over and slick, yes, but one could just as easily put that down to adhering to a hit-making template like Phil Spector or Motown. That observation alone isn't enough to condemn her as another Britney. What counts with Swift is that the singing and words are exactly what they should be for a smart, talented 20 year old working in her realm. She's not dumbing it down for younger kids and she's not sexing it up for *cough* predatory older guys. What you see is what you get, for better or worse, and that's unusual enough to merit some respect.

I'm not arguing she's a major artist like a Joni Mitchell or a Patti Smith. I doubt she'll ever be one. But when was the last time you heard a simple voice-guitar-bass-drums song telling a story over a catchy tune, with a glimmer of spirit and maybe a memorable line or two? Not sung by a middle-aged man? Not sung by a band from Brooklyn channeling 1983? Not sung by a chick fresh out of art school aching to show off her cool?

There's an aspect of Morrissey that's all about big, bright, catchy, slick, mass-produced, borderline-disposable pop music. It might be a small part of who he is, but it's there. Taylor Swift fits that category to a T. I beg the court to reconsider its verdict!

 

[Worm]

LOL - That's how I read RS too!

So does everyone else. The prose in Rolling Stone consists of ad copy, captions and occasionally Matt Taibbi's rants. There's nothing to read.

 

[Raphael Lambach]

So does everyone else. The prose in Rolling Stone consists of ad copy, captions and occasionally Matt Taibbi's rants. There's nothing to read.

I have my doubts about what music press vehicule is worse: NME or RS.

 

[Worm]

I have my doubts about what music press vehicule is worse: NME or RS.

Well, I'd have to go with RS. They just ignore Morrissey, whereas the NME tries every two or three years to deep-six his career.

 

[Worm]

It's like what Joni Mitchell would have needed to be like in order to be liked by Sarah Palin.

This was brutally, laceratingly funny, by the way. Needless to say I disagree. She might surprise you. Don't forget that one of the only pop voices to speak out against President Bush a few years back came from the Dixie Chicks. Sadly I think Taylor's too carefully managed to let slip anything resembling a controversial remark, but I wouldn't be surprised if, ten years from now and about sixty million albums sold, she comes out with a statement or two that might prove she's the anti-Palin. I expect that'll be right about the time President Palin is heading into her second term.

In the meantime I would guess she'd do an ad or two for PETA. My God, the Morrissey comparisons would really start flying then...

 

[Raphael Lambach]

Well, I'd have to go with RS. They just ignore Morrissey, whereas the NME tries every two or three years to deep-six his career.

RS is parcial and not much deep on its own arguments and words 'bout something whereas MNE creates facts to put Morrissey's down. Both of them are horrible and not honest.

RS made an article which sais that Morrissey had admited he's gay. But he's never said that.

 

[Happy Maudlin]

...
Yes, it's lightweight pop fluff that nobody will mistake for a classic. Yes, it's made for teenagers. That's true of 97% of the songs played before Morrissey concerts that people here scour the web to track down. Don't be snobs.

That's something you don't follow. (Ahem Lady Gaga) Taylor Swift is fabulous in her own right, in her selected sect of country-pop hybrids. But please don't compare her to Morrissey Rolling Stone! The continue to foster themselves on the outskirts of the music world, and they try so desperately to remain relevant. Now they have half-witted journalists to irresponsible comparisons that don't even make sense. It's a travesty in logic really. "Taylor Swift writes sappy love songs, and Morrissey writes witticisms that are misconstrued as sappy love songs." So therefore she's totally like the 'new' Morrissey, now. Idiots, complete idiots. Whoever said it first was right. This is ABSOLUTE blasphemy.

 

[Dave]

I don't reckon I see they's two of a kind, but she sings like a little old bird. mmmm-hmmmm

 

[Qvist]

It's utterly Sandie Shaw to my ears. Oh, I don't mean they sound alike. They don't. But Shaw sang about the same girl-on-the-verge-of-womanhood stuff in a very similar way. "Had A Dream Last Night", "Tell The Boys", "Tomorrow", all the rest: in 2010 Swift is drawing from the same well. And by the way, let's not forget Shaw was a little folksy herself, with her laughable propensity to go without shoes.

One thing good pop music can't be is cynical or contrived. Taylor Swift's sound is worked-over and slick, yes, but one could just as easily put that down to adhering to a hit-making template like Phil Spector or Motown. That observation alone isn't enough to condemn her as another Britney. What counts with Swift is that the singing and words are exactly what they should be for a smart, talented 20 year old working in her realm. She's not dumbing it down for younger kids and she's not sexing it up for *cough* predatory older guys. What you see is what you get, for better or worse, and that's unusual enough to merit some respect.

I'm not arguing she's a major artist like a Joni Mitchell or a Patti Smith. I doubt she'll ever be one. But when was the last time you heard a simple voice-guitar-bass-drums song telling a story over a catchy tune, with a glimmer of spirit and maybe a memorable line or two? Not sung by a middle-aged man? Not sung by a band from Brooklyn channeling 1983? Not sung by a chick fresh out of art school aching to show off her cool?

There's an aspect of Morrissey that's all about It might be a small part of who he is, but it's there. Taylor Swift fits that category to a T. I beg the court to reconsider its verdict!

Well, but where that all falls down to me is at "pop". I don't mind big, bright, catchy, slick, mass-produced, borderline-disposable pop music. But this, to me, is not pop music. There is no catchy tune. There is no discernible musical talent, not just not at the Patti Smith level but not even at the Cyndi Lauper level. It's far too airbrushed Nashville to be pop music, and I bleeping can't stand it. To me, this is much, much, much closer to Shania Twain than to Sandie Shaw.

That being said, this...

Morrissey would turn this song into a classic.

BETTER THAN REVENGE

is pretty impressive, actually. I agree with your assessment. Pity she insists on writing her own music then.


cheers

 

[Qvist]

This was brutally, laceratingly funny, by the way. Needless to say I disagree. She might surprise you. Don't forget that one of the only pop voices to speak out against President Bush a few years back came from the Dixie Chicks. Sadly I think Taylor's too carefully managed to let slip anything resembling a controversial remark, but I wouldn't be surprised if, ten years from now and about sixty million albums sold, she comes out with a statement or two that might prove she's the anti-Palin. I expect that'll be right about the time President Palin is heading into her second term.

Please, don't even joke about that. I understand that the Tea Party people have now taken to ritualistic starry-eyed mass recitals of the constitution, as if Thomas Jefferson was Jim Bakker. A direct re-enactment of charismatic TV religion as a form of politics, with the US Constitution standing in as the sacred scripture they can't seem to do without (and which they interpret rather freely...). These people are scary. The fact they're considered not just clinically sane but normal and respectable people in the most powerful country in the world is enough to make anyone wet their pants.


cheers

 

[Worm]

Well, but where that all falls down to me is at "pop". I don't mind big, bright, catchy, slick, mass-produced, borderline-disposable pop music. But this, to me, is not pop music. There is no catchy tune. There is no discernible musical talent, not just not at the Patti Smith level but not even at the Cyndi Lauper level. It's far too airbrushed Nashville to be pop music, and I bleeping can't stand it. To me, this is much, much, much closer to Shania Twain than to Sandie Shaw.

Well, I'm not on a mission to create Taylor Swift fans, so that's fine. I mainly want to stick up for the girl because she's not the abomination she was made out to be in the early stages of this thread.

By the way, people, I think Rob Sheffield probably had his tongue in cheek with that comment.

That being said, this...

is pretty impressive, actually. I agree with your assessment. Pity she insists on writing her own music then.

cheers

I'd certainly agree the music is somewhat colorless. But may I go on playing Devil's Advocate and ask if her backing music is any worse than Morrissey's since 1997? Seems to me they both emphasize voice and lyrics at the expense of their music, which often seems to creep into the realm of "bland functionality".

Yeah, I went there.

 

[Qvist]

I'd certainly agree the music is somewhat colorless. But may I go on playing Devil's Advocate and ask if her backing music is any worse than Morrissey's since 1997? Seems to me they both emphasize voice and lyrics at the expense of their music, which often seems to creep into the realm of "bland functionality".

Yeah, I went there.

Well, hats off to anyone who dares go there. But according to this dude, the answer is yes, it is. In much the same way and sense that having a pneumatic drill make a hole through your stomach lining is worse than a good bottle of Meursault.

cheers