Album length commentary- how long is too long?

I feel like I’ve written a dozen posts since Taylor’s new album came out… none of which were deep dive track by track discussions about it.
Full disclosure- I won’t get there for a while. I’m 4 listens in and I can safely say I’m out of the woods in terms of my uncertainty about it. I went from overwhelmed and disappointed to optimistic… not even cautiously. Straight up optimistic. I might not get there as quickly as everyone else but I will. And once I do, THEN I’ll check out the anthology. One song at a time on her YouTube channel.
I may not be here to talk about it exclusively but it’s part of this discussion.

As fascinating as Taylor swift twitter is, it’s brought me to some bizarre places where I can feel strongly one way but can also be cognizant of the other side.
Case in point today- several of them quoted a Rolling Stone article that’s criticizing the length of her new album by celebrating the fact other artists are putting out shorter ones.

The strange part is that I can see both sides so clearly.
Yes, I do think tortured poets is too long and I’d mentioned once or twice that there’s been a lot of pressure to digest as soon as possible.
Yes, I can agree that Taylor and Ed Sheeran have been guilty of putting out a vast quantity of music lately and the quality of these songs varies. (Although she at least has her re-recordings and vault tracks as an alibi that exempts her from this criticism)

But I also don’t think artists should have their output restricted or that it should upload some kind of standard. And I don’t want to complain about too many songs. It feels like a really silly thing to complain about. Of course I want more music.
I just think it’s a lot all at once…
It’s funny but it was 20 years ago when Prince said in interviews how music is being viewed as disposable and that shouldn’t be the case. I play around with the possibilities of how Prince may have viewed Taylor if he’d been here to see what she’s done in the last 5 years. Even if he had some good things to say about her honing her craft, improving and evolving, and fighting to own her masters… he might have had a few choice words to say about her putting out 31 songs at once, never mind the ridiculous amount of variants.

So I gave it some thought- how long is too long an album for me personally?
The short answer, cliched as it sounds, is that it depends.

With pop music that fits that commercial mold (catchy hooks, choruses, bridges, etc), I can go over an hour.
Lady Gaga’s chromatica is a prime example. Plus the fact it’s its own world that I love visiting and staying for as long as it lasts.

But when the subject matter is a little more serious, I think that’s the deciding point as well as what songs of longer lengths are doing with that time. This is where things get a little more subjective and additional study and scrutiny might be needed to fully flesh out my thoughts on the matter.

Going back to Prince for a second, I’ve found that with him, less really is more. My favorite albums, for the most part, have 12-13 songs at most and run 45-50 minutes. In my top 7, the longest album is the gold experience which is 18 tracks that span an hour total. Only 12 are actual songs and the rest are segues. But with those songs, they’re so good that the length is justified.
On the other hand, 1999 and sign o the times, both considered among his best ever work… the sum of their parts outrank them as a whole. Many of their songs are absolutely brilliant. But the entity suffers as a whole thanks to the songs that run long and don’t do as much with that extended stay. 1999 has lady cab driver, which has a storyline for 3 minutes and jams out for the remainder of its time. Plus there’s the awkward sex scene in the middle. Then sign o the times suffers because it has a live track that runs 9 minutes with a lot of jamming that goes nowhere for much of it. All of this comes down to personal taste, of course. I’m well aware that Prince is a quality songwriter and he’ll extend a jam session in a song or concert until he’s gotten everything he’s wanted out of it. But there are times when I’m fully engaged and others when I’ve had my fill after a certain point and want nothing more than to move on to something else.
Then there’s his longer albums like emancipation that go 3 hours over 3 discs… I respect his passion enough for wanting to do this album to enjoy it, but it’s not something I’m often in the mood for. Not to mention I almost never do it all at once. 3 hours is a long time and we only have so much daylight.
Aside from the few songs of his that are so blatantly sexual I can’t deal with them, the only other criticism I’ll give him is that his songs tend to overstay their welcome on record and live.
All of the Swiftie madness as of late has me seriously considering how much an attention span I really have anymore. But when I started out as a Prince fan, I learned it was a muscle that needed to be stretched and toned. But there’s still a limit or a line to draw somewhere.
I’ve received the comment multiple times how it’s impossible to be bored at a Prince concert because of the energy he brings into a room. I don’t doubt that. But the fact is I’m never going to experience that cuz I never saw Prince live so I can’t say this for sure. The closest I’ll come to feeling that now is getting a tour of paisley park- something I REALLY hope I’ll be able to do at some point.

As fascinating as it is to see the creative process across his vault releases since his passing in 2016, which songs made it on albums and why others didn’t. But those releases also constitute a lot of music that I don’t have the time or attention span to digest at the rate I’d like. The only time I’d complain about there being too many songs is when there are multiple versions of one song in a set. One alternate version is great but more than 3 is way too much. The latest D&P release is especially guilty of this. But I know on a different release, I’ll feel differently.
Come and Gold Experience, which have yet to be re-released with the deluxe edition treatment is the classic example within the Prince community and one I’m particularly passionate about. While D&P has multiple versions of album tracks, these mostly exist because remixing was a big deal at the time. But why these other 2 releases are so important, they come from a special time in his career (for reasons good and bad) where fans got to know his songs really well before the actual albums were released. Whether from live or TV appearances. But for many, when the actual album came out, their expectations fell short because certain songs weren’t released (most came out in another project later) and the eventual album versions weren’t as strong as previous versions they’d become acquainted with. Biggest example is Endorphinmachine with cowbell that ruined the fan favorite song… for a second I thought, maybe Prince saw the SNL sketch and laughed so much that he added the cowbell as tribute. Except the cowbell sketch came out 5 years after the gold experience so that theory is out. But it wouldn’t have been the first or last time Prince made a last minute change to a song or tracklist because he had a “you know what would be cool?” moment.

Anyway…
As much as I’ve enjoyed these vault releases from the estate people, fatigue does have a habit of setting in. There’s also the initial fear of “what if I don’t like this”.

But I’ve noticed with Taylor’s vault releases, I tend to be more invested when I only have 5-6 new songs to learn. Plus the quality more than makes up for the lesser quantity. Some are so good, I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t make the album over some other songs I don’t like quite as much.
Fearless and Red have a dozen or so vault tracks of various degrees of excellence. But one has some quality issues (mostly due to Taylor still honing her songwriting skills) and the other is vastly overshadowed by one particular song where it’s easy to forget all that came before it.

This just made me think how it’d be fun one day to compare Prince and Taylor’s vault material- if one package by one would surpass another in terms of quality and quantity falling in line with each other. But that’ll be another day- perhaps after all of her re-recordings are out and his people get a few more deluxe editions under their belts. A true apples to apples comparison would need a total of 6 albums from each artist, both need 2 more to go, so I can wait until then.

Hopefully I haven’t completely abandoned the plot by this point…
But going back to the matter at hand, the best I can conclude is that I don’t mind having a lot of songs in an album… within reason.
The idea of having albums is that all of the songs contained within adhere to one idea or a collective theme. The more songs that are added into the mix, you run the risk of that concept getting lost. That’s one concern. Another is the loss of balance because too many songs are about the same thing or exhibit the same mood, particularly bad moods. In recent history, I’d taken Evermore and (-) to task for this particular issue. I’ll reiterate- I can’t criticize an artist for telling their truth. But it doesn’t mean every iota needs to be shared with the world.
Also- I listen to music to be entertained and to have a good time. I’m not always up for an endurance run where a lot of heavy things are explored in length. There needs to be levity sprinkled in between or it gets to be too much. Adele’s beloved 21 album doesn’t overstay its welcome and the songs are nearly all high quality. Maybe 1-2 I don’t like. But I’m not always in the mood to hit the beaten path of breakup anthems. Sam Smith’s in the lonely hour checks two of those boxes but also overstay its welcome.

Maybe it’s just really hard when Taylor spends a long time in her music being sad or angry about things because she’s become such a bright spot in a pretty bleak reality. The interesting thing is that I don’t feel the same fatigue with her as I do when other artists spend a lot of time down in the dumps on their records. Her critics say how her songs sound the same but I’ve never felt that. Even now there’s a lot of variety, many different ways of saying similar things because she keeps changing and evolving by seeking new types of inspiration.
On the first listen of her new music, things did start to run together after a while and it was only when I took it apart 3 songs at a time I was able to appreciate the subtle differences. Then over time, the differences become more distinct and I think I’m there now.

I think I’ve also reached a point where I can stop bashing Evermore or going on and on about how it took me over a year to remotely like it. The other day I was in the mood for enough songs I jumped into it and had a hell of a good time.
But during the onset, it was a lot of sad songs and everything else struggled to make an impact. There either weren’t enough light songs in between or the darkness was too deep for light to penetrate. I read somewhere recently how it’s normal for our negative memories from childhood or life in general stick out in your memory a lot more than the so-called happy memories. That’s the best way I can describe what happened here. And I tend to listen to albums start to finish the first few times. Maybe going forward with new releases, I should just stop when something doesn’t feel right. Or just listen a few songs at a time until I’m ready for the whole thing. But while that album was the sum a bunch of different sad things, the Ed Sheeran album was multiple ways of saying the same thing. And that’s a big ask for anyone, especially those of us who are hard on ourselves far too much or have internal dialogue that revolves around not feeling good enough or not feeling worthy of things. Recent studies talk about the power of affirmations or positive thinking in general. Another muscle a lot of us need to flex and strength- me included.
I’m undermining the necessity of heavy conversations but it’s just as necessary to give yourself space when you’ve had enough. Preferably before you reach that limit.

So that’s three lessons I didn’t mean to explore yet here we are:
Sometimes music is an endurance run. After all, life isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon.
Try to rethink how you speak to yourself and try to be gentler, especially in face of adversity
It’s ok to drop everything and stop when you’re not feeling right about something. And learn what those limitations are

One last comparison before ending this-

As much pressure as I’ve felt getting through tortured poets to keep up with the other fans, it was a lot more intense when I started out in the Prince community. Simply due to the sheer volume of music I had to catch up on. Ok, maybe just a little more intense…
It’s strange feeling like I’ve gotten so old that I can’t consume music as quickly as I used to. I’ve reached a point in my mid 30s where I don’t like too much repetition and I need to be in the mood to listen to music before I do. I want to appreciate what I have before it passes me by. And I can’t help but wonder how old most of these Swifties on Twitter are. Are they teenagers or 20 somethings? When do they have the free time to listen and comment? Not to say I don’t have ample free time after my shift ends but I usually spend that doing over things. It’s such a foreign concept to me but I think it’s true- I am getting older and I can’t keep up with these things the way I used to. I’ve almost always done things at my own pace so this shouldn’t bother me as much as it does. But as much as I seriously wish I could keep up with everyone else, maybe I’m better off accepting the fact that maybe I can’t…

Decoding Ed Sheeran’s (-) Album

I finally got back to this album a year after its release, something I couldn’t have planned if I tried. One moment I was trying to place a lyric in my head and found it was from “the city” and the next, both his (+) and (-) albums are back on my iPod.

My difficulty getting into this album came down to multiple things. It was a little too real, not as poppy as I expect his music to be. The songs ran together and many of them were about depressing things. Not to say music shouldn’t include the deep stuff but it needed a little more balance.

Listening to it the other day, I was blown away by the fact I still knew my favorites despite having not heard any of this music in several months. I’d already been working on editing some of the songs off my iPod and today I think I’d finally succeeded in finding a set list that works.
Of the 18 album tracks (including 4 bonus), I have 12 on my iPod and it’s a very solid lineup. I do feel the absence of some of the songs I did leave off… but I know in my heart it’s better if I do for the time being. I want to come away from this music feeling like I’d enjoyed myself and I think I’ve succeeded.

It’s not my place to critique or to say he needed an editor. But one issue early in the album was back to back songs being about the same thing when one would’ve been sufficient or I just preferred one metaphor to another.
Other times, the songwriting itself just left a little to be desired. One case relied heavily on metaphors that didn’t work for me (colorblind- at one point I think he says blue is brighter than white… I can’t wrap my head around that. Same as how forgetting all the bad feelings- all with colors associated with them- is painting the night colorblind… I’m not an expert but I don’t think that’s how color blindness works).
The bonus track “stoned” uses the same line twice in the chorus which replays multiple times. To me, the whole song comes off as something you’d write to get your feelings out about something but it’s not strong enough for an album. To me, a bonus track is defined as a song that just missed the cut but is too good not to include in some way.
Then of course there’s a couple songs that are the kind I tend to leave off no matter who the artist is. Something about it that just doesn’t jive with me. The falsetto in “borderline” is not my favorite vocal range he’d done and makes me cringe. Then “fields of aberfeldy” has a fun fiddle solo after the chorus and that’s the only part I like about the song. It’s a brief moment of levity in the midst of melancholy and I don’t know what it’s even about. Whether it’s a breakup song or it’s about a past relationship, I don’t know what’s going on and I’m not invested enough in the music to care.

The two songs early in the album I’ve since cut…
“Boat” was the opening track. Both it and “salt water” use nautical metaphors, talking about jumping into the ocean or just enduring rough seas. At this moment, I cannot recall any other instance where I’ve skipped over the opening track of an album. But I’m doing it here. It’s the first impression of the album and it set things off in the wrong direction for me. I’m not denying the personal meaning it has for him but I don’t want to endure it myself. Lines like “the times I jumped never were real” and how some scars heal but “maybe I won’t”. Then repeating the title line “the waves won’t break my boat” as often as he does- it becomes the kind of mantra you repeat to yourself until you believe it.
A lot of the album deals with depression and thoughts of suicide. It’s a lot… plus the album starts with the sentiment of what rock bottom feels like and it slowly builds up to something more positive as it goes. Explaining how these feelings came about and how they’re being handled and things are made better.
I don’t want to use the term “triggering” but as someone who’d experienced depression and loneliness as it’s explored on this album, it hits close to home at some points and leaving myself with a basic outline is a matter of self preservation more than anything else. I go through enough of those moments where my mind is spiraling about stuff, usually external stimuli I can’t control.

“Salt water” on the other hand- it operates more like a pop song because the rhymes stick in my head and the implication that “this is just a dream” makes it a little less unsettling. This is just something that’s being imagined but it’s not actually happening. It’s also enough of a wake up call that the light at the end of the tunnel is easier to see. Just like accepting the fact you have a problem is the first step to getting better.
Plus, I like the music a little better on this one. It’s Aaron dessner cowriting so the fact one section sounds like an interlude from “cardigan” offers a bit of comfort too.

Two other similar tracks- eyes closed and life goes on.
Both are about the loss of a friend of his. Grief is a lot to process so there’s no wrong with having it spread over two songs. But my preference comes down to the fact one was promoted as the album’s lead single.
To me, a lead single has to be a good representation of the whole album. It should stick in your head enough to make you want to hear more. I’m not saying “eyes closed” isn’t strong enough for this purpose. Nor do I oppose the notion of combining a poppy melody with sad lyrics. A lot of the best pop songs do the same thing. But it just sounds to me that the melody is a smokescreen to hide the sad story and I’m not fooled. But more to the point, my thought process is along the lines of “just because this has lead single written all over it doesn’t mean I have to like it.” The melody also sort of reminds me of that song from the beginning of “little miss Sunshine” where one of the scenes is Steve Carell contemplating suicide – something he ultimately fails to accomplish. But in my mind, this translates to three songs in a row that allude to thoughts of suicide. So you can kinda see why this wasn’t a good start to the album for me.

“Life goes on” is really well done because it gets to the point quickly. It talks through the various stages of grief, ultimately ending with acceptance. It doesn’t wallow in the sadness. It navigates them in a way that ends with more hope than when they’d started.

“Dusty” is sort of the antithesis of everything so far. It’s also a reminder of the people who depend on you and how you have to be for them no matter how you feel. Plus there’s something comforting about listening to music with a loved one, having a conversation about it and how the act of listening helps you get through your troubles, if not putting them in the rear view mirror for a while.
I also gotta say I like the way he writes about being a dad. People tend to get really sappy and sentimental or it becomes their new identity. He does it in a way where it doesn’t feel forced or over the top. “Sandman” from (=) toes the sappy line a little bit but it’s fine. I just love the idea of him showing his kids vinyl records and introducing them to good music at a young age.

“End of youth” was a moment in the album where it finally clicked for me however many listens ago.
I think on Twitter he talked about this being about the loss of a parent and how it changes your mindset about life.
I don’t necessarily agree with that and I don’t want my interpretation to delve into something I’m not equipped to deal with. Not to say anyone ever is but I’m not ready to put that cart in front of the horse.
Instead, I think of it being about the loss of childhood innocence. When you reach a point in your life the things and people you encounter make you second guess who you are. If you’re worthy of love or happiness because of what you lack compared to others or just being told you’re not good enough. Of all the songs on this album, it probably hits home for me the most.

Curtains seems like the next step after that. Where you reach a point it’s time to stop hiding from the world or to simply embrace the fact you’re breathing.
It was one of the few songs that hit me in a positive way during my first listen. But I still struggle with the perspective. It changes from first and second person so much I can’t tell who the song is supposed to be about. It starts with him saying to open the curtains but after the bridge, then it’s “that’s when you say to me can you open”… is this struggle his or someone else’s? Otherwise the song is brilliant and it sticks in my head. There’s just too much back and forth and I can’t keep things straight in my head. The only solution I can find is maybe it’s all him but it’s the realism vs pessimism or something.

Spark and colorblind have the same type of story going on. A couple is struggling and they resort to some sort of metaphor to put the negativity behind them.
The campfire metaphor in “spark” just translates a lot better in my mind. The idea of setting fire to their old life, putting trouble behind them and hoping things will work out better after starting from scratch again.
It also reminds me of a part of Mayte’s memoir where she talks about her and Prince slowly working their way back to each other after the loss in their family… something that would’ve worked out as it was meant to if his newfound Jehovah’s Witness faith hadn’t driven that wedge between them.

Vega talks about one of the pitfalls of stardom. How so many people are watching your every move and judging. But more importantly how you feel like you have to play a part- like if you’re going through some sort of personal difficulty, you have to keep it to yourself because you don’t want to bring people down.
This is the first time on the album he alludes to his wife’s illness. Sycamore, which is a sweet metaphor about how a large tree had been with you through every stage of the ongoing difficulty.

No strings is possibly my favorite on the album. One of those sweet ballads that’ve made up his legacy as an artist. It puts such a smile on my face. Not just the idea of unconditional love but mentioning the difficulties that’ll be overcome together. This would’ve been a great album finish but it didn’t work out that sadly.

Wildflowers starts the bonus section. It gives me folklore vibes (this is me trying but more positive). It just conjures the image of an open field in the middle of nowhere where all the grasses are bleached a grayish green. And it sticks in my head.

Strongest should’ve made the album. It’s that good. It also falls in line with what I’d expect his music to sound like. But as upbeat as it is, him breaking down in the face of all that adversity is gut wrenching. It’s also called being human so it doesn’t change how much I like the song. Just that I wouldn’t end with it because I don’t like sad endings to albums.

Moving, I think he said was the lone survivor of his original track list for this album. The story has nothing to do with the rest of the album. About saying goodbye to an old flame for years ago.
It also does that falsetto thing I don’t like but it doesn’t annoy me as much. It sort of makes me think of the Beatles, songs like “hey Jude”— a song I really don’t care for cuz it’s too long but whatever.
Goodbye song or not, it’s a parting of ways that winds up being the right thing to do. So in a weird way, that makes it a suitable album closer.

Pitfalls of Experiencing an album release at the same time as everyone else

Taylor’s new album- tortured poets society (this is how my mind is gonna always remember it until it doesn’t)- came out last Friday.
I’ve heard it ONCE. And I’m struggling really badly with the fact it made such a lukewarm impression on me. Meanwhile all the Twitter Swifties are heralding it as the greatest thing she ever did. And even worse, there have been so many comments about all the people who have had negative things to say about it.

It is occurring to me I’d made this point before but apparently it’s become a major issue for me. The whole idea where I don’t want to be lumped into a group of people just because they have an opinion that’s contrary to the majority.
And yeah, I’m probably overthinking this and letting it bother me too much. But hear me out.

The big reason why people supposedly don’t like this album… they heard it once and made a snap judgement. Ok, fair enough. I’ve certainly done my fair share of that.
But one other comment got under my skin in a really bad way because it read like a back handed comment. It essentially said the people who don’t “get” this album have never experienced heartbreak, gaslighting or trauma and “I’m jealous” those people don’t have that in their lives.
I can read this one way and take it as a compliment, but part of me also takes it personally. As if saying you need to be broken or damaged in some way for this to resonate with you in some way.

I’ve experienced all of Taylor’s albums in real time, have zero romantic experience, and yet that’s never prevented me from enjoying her music before. So why should this time be any different?
I ultimately had to ask myself how many times have the people who made these comments listened to this music? Probably a lot more than I did. As much as I want to say how jealous I am that they have the time and attention span for multiple listens in a single weekend, I wouldn’t trade how I do things. I am jealous of how quickly they were able to ingest all this music to make such thoughtful comments.

I think what’s fueled my panic and my anxiety over not connecting with this music right away goes back to my previous history with Taylor swift albums.
Historically, I’ve only had a handful of first listens where I loved them right away. And honestly the same is true for a lot of music I enjoy. The first impression isn’t always perfect but time usually works in my favor after a certain point.
There’s also Evermore and how long that took me to listen to with a positive outlook by the end. I never want to have that experience again. Thinking too much of this music is sad, I don’t want to feel this way ever again so I’m not going to listen anymore. In the past, I had this same bizarre experience with some of my other favorite artists. They put out one album I don’t love immediately and I gave up listening to them. Some, I never got back to. Others I did but it took me months or even years to rekindle that spark.
There’s also a lot of FOMO involved with this. I want to take my time with this music and I really believe it should- only 1-2 songs a day for a week if I have to. But I’m afraid by the time I get there, it’ll be past tense and nobody will be talking about it anymore. It’ll either be “bring on the next Taylor’s version” or more Eras tour talk. I’d been behind the curve for so long with her releases since the Taylor’s versions started coming out. Even though we’re all on the same page, starting with a clean slate at the same time, it feels like everyone’s slates are filled up and mine is still a blank page.

I’ve had many epiphanies lately and this was one of them.
I had an approach with all the Prince albums that were released in the time I followed his career. Where I’d go into isolation to form my own opinion before checking out what others think. Some of it is a defense mechanism- pretty much every new release I experienced, more experienced fans hated because it wasn’t “like the good old days.” And I didn’t want to deal with all that negativity that had nothing substantial backing it up.
And up until this point I’d been listening to Taylor’s music completely on my own. No input from anyone, no reading online comments. So why change now?
I honestly don’t know why. For another reason I’d been extremely wired into the “for you” section of Twitter. I’ve gotten some benefit from it, updates I might not have found otherwise, but it has really brought me more anxiety than it’s worth.

As of finishing this, I’d just gotten through her lyrics. At face value, they read more coherent to my brain than evermore did. There’s still those poetic flourishes that I need to read over multiple times to wrap my head around. But I’m seeing some REALLY good stuff I’m looking forward to experiencing again. But it’s gotta be a little at a time. I said I’d pace myself next time and that’s what I’m gonna do.

Discord in fandoms is exhausting

Before I start, two things:

I realize that by criticizing the criticizers that I’m not only a hypocrite but I’m only adding to the toxicity I’m calling out
We really need to stop lumping people into a category because you disagree with them. Because their opinion might be more complicated than simply hating on something for no reason

And honestly both of these apply to more than just music. And I do blame social media and the internet for fostering this environment. But I think that’s really what’s wrong with the world today- assuming all people who have an opinion you don’t agree with are the same.

Anyway the majority of this post is about Swifties.
But as a Prince fan, I gotta do a sidebar for him.

I’m no stranger to discord within the Prince community. It’s ultimately why I left the fan boards after several years because everything got too toxic.
And this was BEFORE his untimely passing. I’d hate to see what it’s like now.

But since 2016, there’s been constant criticism about his legacy and his music is being handled by the people in charge. The majority is what’s being released from the vault and what isn’t. A lot of “we want more music- no, not that music!” bitching and moaning.

What happened with “United States of division” last week was just another piece of that. But it’s the first time since purple rain deluxe that I was underwhelmed or at least critical of a release.
Admittedly a lot of my frustration is my own fault. After experiencing how Taylor swift handles her releases, maybe I just assumed that Prince’s people finally got it together and all of this recent musicology hype lately was leading to something huge.
Except it didn’t… we got ONE song.
I’m not saying I’ve lost faith into these people but it certainly took a hit in that moment.

Some other stuff that need to be clarified-
Unlike most of the complainers, I didn’t have this song. I’ve never heard it before and it’s cool.
However, it’s not something I’ll listen to on repeat. The music was super groovy but the whole “make love not war” thing is played out. But I suppose it’s better than a full blown political rant like “Avalanche” was
My biggest pet peeve with the people running things continues to be the fact they’re not even the first ones to break the news

Taking the pet peeve further, that’s probably what frustrated me most about this announcement. The same people mishandled the D&P deluxe announcement. Speculation had been running rampant and they finally decided to admit they were doing exactly that.
Why even have a marketing department (or is that a PR thing?) if they can’t control what news comes out? Fans can speculate all they want but when an official announcement comes out after others less official have already come out… someone isn’t doing their job.

Meanwhile, Taylor has supreme control, not just over her music (cuz she owns her own creations) but the news that comes out about her releases.
So why can’t the Prince team be like that? Is it because it’s too many people or are there rats that leak the news before the majority of them are ready to come forward?
Either way, this needs to stop. Don’t be the last ones to confirm what everyone already knows.

Like many others, I heard about this song’s release a day before the announcement. So, forgive me for being an optimist, but I thought the big announcement they wasted a graphic on was in ADDITION to that one song.

And in all honesty, yes. I’d be cool with a musicology re release with new material. I’d buy it as soon as it was on sale, most likely. But it’s not at the top of my priority list.
I’m still waiting for Parade simply for the vault- songs of legend I’d only heard by name but not the songs themselves. And of course a full blown come and gold set with every alternate version of the album tracks.
Everything else is optional, lol
But knowing myself I’ll probably buy everything that comes out until these albums do… just out of paranoia of missing out but also, what if they don’t get what I want because they didn’t profit from what they did release…
It’s one big mind game. And yes I’m grateful for any new music.

It was just a little disconcerting to see people complain about the complainers and say “these people find fault in all the releases.”
To which I say- don’t compare us. I’m allowed to be mad about not getting what I wanted out of this. My reasons, while a bit selfish, are still valid reasons. It isn’t as if I’ve given up on things. Only thing is- going forward, I’ll be less likely to get excited for anything until they officially confirm it. I.E. less speculation- which is fine cuz it’s easier to wait for these things anyway.

And in typical “me” fashion- I say I’m gonna talk about something else briefly and it winds up not being brief.
But I’m sure I have more than enough Swiftie pet peeves to make up the difference.

In all fairness, I think the source of annoyance is all generated by a single Twitter account.
I’m super grateful it has a filter for “following” vs just “recommended” posts. I’d lose my mind otherwise.
In those times I do get curious, I’m usually rewarded with frustration and stuff that annoys me.

I may have gone on a rant about this before but the Swiftie community got stupid complicated after Taylor released Folklore and started her “Taylor’s version” journey. And if it wasn’t, maybe I’m just more aware of these complexities than I used to be.

In general I think criticism is fine as long as it’s constructive. That notes can be taken and you’ll learn from them and get better at whatever it entails.
And it genuinely is ok to not like something if it doesn’t work for you. It’s not as if you’re a bad fan of someone if you have album tracks you skip.

With very few exceptions, it’s safe to assume that everybody skips at least one song they don’t like by their favorite artist or musician.
And those who don’t- cool. You’re probably better off than the rest of us anyway.

To narrow things down a bit, these are the criticisms I’m addressing. People feeling ick from other fans because they

Don’t automatically love the Taylor’s versions over the originals
Didn’t like a certain song until they saw the eras tour performance
Praise folklore and evermore for being the so-called “breakthroughs” for her as a songwriter

I don’t know whether I should be more annoyed at the people making these comments or the people they criticize. Probably the former because it comes off as a toxic trait. Like they can’t help but attack people over opinions they disagree with. I just don’t think it’s ok to assume everyone who shares one opinion, does so for the same reason. And therefore they can all be criticized with a single sentence.

To speak for myself, I conduct myself as a Swiftie the same way I do as a Prince fan. I focus on forming my opinion first before checking on everyone else.
And with Taylor, I’ve arrived to all my conclusions on my own. And by pure coincidence, a lot of her fans share the same sentiment.
Case in point- all too well was my favorite Red track since the beginning. And I learned years later that it was a universal fan favorite AND Taylor’s personal favorite. The same coincidence can be said about her bridges. They’re my favorite parts and usually what makes me LOVE certain songs. I didn’t know until her recent acceptance speeches that it’s one of her favorite parts as a songwriter- cracking that code.

This segues into one of these bullet points.
I didn’t know vigilante was the least loved Midnights track. I just knew it was the one song I skip on that album regularly.
My dislike for it comes down to it just not being my thing. It’s a little close to hip hop for my liking and the story, good as it is, doesn’t interest me enough for additional revisits. But mainly, it doesn’t fit with the rest of the album for me so I skip it.
Seeing it done live in the Eras tour movie did make me like it more than I did- it was an unexpected inclusion that was really cool.

A lot of the midnights set for me was “I wouldn’t have picked that song but I really like what she did with it.”
The only ones I was really excited for were Karma and anti hero. I would’ve exchanged bejeweled, midnight run (which I skip time to time as well for the auto tune alone) or vigilante for snow on the beach but I did like the setup for those numbers.
If I get raked over the coals for not responding to “you’re on your own, kid” until the piano performance… fine, go ahead. It was sorta like a piece was missing for me until seeing her live interpretation.
Speaking for bridges, that’s a top tier one for me. It’s like going downhill really fast, trying to keep up with where she’s going and you don’t realize until you reach the end what she’s ultimately saying. Everything after “saw something they can’t take away” sneaks up on me every listen and I love that feeling. The one time not quite knowing all the lyrics actually enhances the experience.

This carries over to the whole “not realizing Taylor was a greater songwriter before folklore” comment…
But basically, you shouldn’t be so rude to people just because they’re late to the party. Or that they just realized something you’ve known longer than them. The proper response is to welcome them with open arms because they showed up. It’s not like they showed up late to a dinner party and everyone else is eating dessert… music is timeless so don’t put a time limit when it’s acceptable to appreciate it.

This sort of discord has been happening in the Prince community since 2016- seasoned fans being elitist towards the newbies. We need all the new fans we can get so it’s not doing any good to giving them attitude because they didn’t start when you did.
And believe me, I’ve told the story enough times how the attitude I got from experienced Prince fans early on almost halted my journey when it was just beginning.

Also, I was sorta under the impression it was music critics and non fans who “woke up” and realized Taylor was talented because of folklore.

Someday when I find the time, I’ll go back and decide which songs of hers were objectively the best written. I’ll probably find plenty of them that predate the quarantine era.
Speaking as a long haul fan, there was a learning curve for me with folklore and evermore. That’s not reprehensible either. It’s like how it takes some kids longer to learn how to read or tell time. And if you’re not helping others to understand what is giving them trouble, you’re part of the problem.
Oddly enough I’ve found this with a lot of things- but I find the things I work the hardest for, I have a greater appreciation and enjoyment of them. Case in point- albums by other artists that didn’t work for me at first, once they did, they became my favorites. Like it’s a reward for putting in all that work. Maybe I’m not there with evermore as a whole yet but that’s become my story with Coney Island. I didn’t get it at first but now that the message makes more sense, it’s becoming a favorite. Ultimately it’s a nice step in the right direction.

Which leaves the superiority complex the Taylor’s versions are getting opposed to the originals. A lot of the people with this issue tend to refer to the originals as “the stolen versions.” While this is true, the masters were upended by Scooter Braun buying big machine. But Taylor, correct if I’m wrong, never called them that. As far as I’m aware, she’s moved on and is perfectly fine with the new versions.
This rhetoric just bothers me a little because it creates an “us vs them” mentality. Meaning that if you’re not all in on every Taylor’s versions, you’re not a good fan.
For me, moving on hasn’t been easy and for some albums, I still haven’t fully embraced the Taylor’s versions over the originals. As someone who’s going through a similar journey with Prince posthumous albums… I still have conflicts. Not just having to buy albums I already bought again, but if I have any sort of attachment to the music, I can’t just move on and act like the originals don’t exist. That the memories I had with them didn’t happen and it’s not as if those memories can easily transferable. To me, they still feel like separate entities because I owned them at different times.

Having gone through this with Prince four times already, the only remaster that falls short is purple rain. I don’t get the same warm feelings as the original songs. And as I progress through the disc, I just keep getting hit with the hard fact he’s longer with us. Releasing it as quickly as they did after his death ruined it for a lot of people, including me.
Every other super deluxe, the album is sonically superior to the original. 1999 even felt like a brand new album. The other two, the sound is louder and clearer but I didn’t hear a huge difference otherwise.

The Taylor’s versions have gotten better with each one she’s put out. But it’s not without internal conflict.
Fearless and Red have a lot of personal memories attached to them, so moving on like the originals didn’t happen- next to impossible.
Fearless was all about high school innocence and it’s interesting looking back on it with an older perspective. There’s just one or two songs where I didn’t like her singing as much as the originals. “Tell me why” suited her younger voice a lot better. Whereas “you belong with me” benefited from a redo because it doesn’t have the sudden inhale in the bridge.
Red- I loved the new coat of paint in pretty much every instance except “stay stay stay.” Because the laugh at the end no longer has that fun spontaneity to it. It’s there cuz the original had it and I liked it better when it was a spur of the moment thing.

I’ll come back to both of these in another post eventually. But I really need to listen to the vault tracks more cus I still don’t know them, not even by name. The trouble with Red is that all too well overshadowed everything else. And Ronan is not something I wanna play all the time.

As for being a truly better version, speak now is it.
Something about its production never quite worked for me. Maybe it was just too country and I’m not a fan of that. Somehow it just became my favorite.
This goes for nearly every album but for the Taylor’s versions, I’m playing all the songs I used to skip. So maybe the fresh coat of paint was all I needed for them to click.
I skipped nothing on fearless except “you’re not sorry” the first few years. Red, I skipped “the last time” for being too sad and “beautiful tragic love affair” for meandering too much. Now, things have changed for the better.

Then speak now- I skipped “grow up” for being too sentimental and “innocent” for, I’m not quite sure. It just took the new version for me to understand it better. And maybe it being removed from the Kanye drama (I still don’t get how that was a response to that incident) made me respond to it more.

1989- it was among my least listened to albums but not for lack of connection or enjoyment. I just never found the right time and place where it’d be my go to album. All the others had a month or time of year or weather pattern I associated with them.
Several of the songs had a similar story arc where I either didn’t hear a difference or I really liked the differences I did find. Out of the woods is a good example of the latter.
There were two I skipped simply because they were sleepy ballads that didn’t excite me. Maybe it’s because the music reminds me a lot of the video game Stardew Valley in winter time, but I’ve come around on “You Are In Love” in a big way. And I think “This Love” started to hit me differently for its own reasons, but not quite sure what they were.

My only setback- which is enough where I’d put the original version in place of the new one in an iPod playlist- is New Romantics. And this is the moment I’d confront the fans who insist ALL Taylor’s versions outdo the originals and anyone who says otherwise is nitpicking differences between the two.
I might do a direct side by side comparison someday but not anytime soon.
But I don’t need to do that to recognize something is off about the new version.
This song is about the reckless abandon of camaraderie and the burst of energy when the chorus hits makes that a reality. The new version is missing that distinct oomph, that surge of adrenaline, and I miss it so much that the song is incomplete without it.
What I’m trying to say- you can’t put a price on how a song makes you feel and no one has the right to take that away from you.

This also connects to a recent thing Taylor has done leading up to her new album- she constructed playlists with her catalogue to demonstrate her 5 stages of grief.
I’d read comments here and there while I tried to find the playlists on Twitter and I can’t help but agree. I feel strange putting some of these songs in the categories she chose. Her breakup with Joe Alwyn has clearly changed a lot about how she looks back on them in retrospect. She is entitled to change her mind- they are her songs after all.
I just don’t know if I want to make that change with her. Putting Lover and Sweet Nothings together in the denial phase… I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I think Tolerate It was anger but it’s definitely bargaining or somewhere between those two.
Then again I shouldn’t be too surprised. She composed folklore and evermore playlists and I don’t think of those songs in that context at all. And I’d rather keep a lot of these songs where they are in my head instead of a more cynical context. And a lot of this feels steeped in cynicism.

Tortured poets has had a lot of hype. But also a lot of “soundalike” conversations. To the point all of her albums are being compared to the new music.
I’m just hoping it’s not similar to evermore- because at face value, it was a very cynical album with a lot of break up songs and not many lighthearted moments.

So to sum everything up… I will definitely be listening to Taylor later.
But seriously, you are what you love so let people love what they love without your interference.

Jesse McCartney nostalgia for his 37th birthday

Dang, we’re getting old, lol

The game plan today was just to listen to the “Right where you want me” to close out my work day.
I wound up bringing “Departure” and “In Technicolor” into the fold as well.
Beautiful Soul has its big 20 years anniversery in the fall, so I figured I could skip out on it for now.

I’d say that RWYWM is my quintessential JMac album. My personal all-around favorite. The one I get the most nostalgic about. It’s been with me at various stages in my life like a really good friend.
I’ve played video games along to it. Hung out in my college dorm listening to it between classes. Some of the songs even inspired fake songs in a Prince fanfiction story I wrote in the early stages in my fandom.
In spite of all this history, I only have the special attachment I have to it in maybe 9 of the 12 songs. “Invincible” is a little too sad to listen to all the time and the final song… I don’t like the attitude he has in that song. It’s more in the school of “typical teenage boy with raging hormones” and the Jesse I know in my heart of hearts is more of a gentleman than some of the lyrics in that song suggest.
“Blow your mind,” I’m not crazy about either because the lyrics are suggestive, but the music kinda rocks in Maroon 5 way so I let it play and I don’t really pay close attention.

Those aside, I ran into several moments where I just got swept away, taken back to another time and place. Back when Jesse was my guy in music and how I miss the way things used to be.
His more recent music is still good, the little I’ve heard it so far, but not as much of it holds that special place for me as his older music still does.

As I jumped from one album to the next, I managed to configure things so the only time I’d have to switch tracks on my CD players was from one song to the next. I left RWYWM at track 10, went into Departure at track 10, then went from track 11 to the next album.
It’s a silly thing to be excited about, much like timing an album on a commute so it ends just as I get into my driveway, but that’s how I roll sometimes.

Somewhere during “Departure,” I wondered again about a line from his New Stage track “Yours.”
“One album flop away from being done…” I’ll always believe that “flop” album was Departure, whether there’s statistical proof or not.
I’ve come a long way since I first got it, but I’ll always sort of resent it for being the most not-Jesse album of all his albums. Objectively, I can say that he was trying to be something he wasn’t, trying to chase the Justin Timberlake R&B trend.
Subjectively, I don’t like a lot of it because it’s not “my” Jesse. He leaned more into the sexually suggestive songs. Plus working with hip-hop people, in my head, it just didn’t work.
Having seen one of his recorded concerts from this era, I’ve eased up on that judgement a bit. His two back-up singer/dancers complement him well.
I only planned on listening to a couple of songs but as I ran through, more and more were springing to mind. I wound up starting with “Runnin’ away”, going backwards for a few songs in a row, jumped to “It’s over” and “how do you sleep”… then “my baby” and “freaky,” track 11. Skipping all the cheesy, sexy hip-hop stuff I can’t stand in the process.

One odd thing about Jesse that I’ve noticed for years… my favorite songs of his tend to be the sad songs. The ballads with the really strong vocal performances. Two of my favorite “Departure” tracks have this in common. They’re also songs he had songwriting credits on, which wasn’t the case for much of the album.

“How do you sleep” has a synth part that struck me the first time I heard it. It was on GMA and they were going to a break as it played. So when the album came out, I knew it’d be a song I’d been looking out for. I’m still a little spooked by how on point the lyrics were, as if they were directed at me specifically. At the time I’d been listening exclusively to Prince for a year- and the first line was “it’s been about a year now, ain’t seen or heard from you, been missing you crazy”… Then at the very end, “not your enemy” wasn’t as specific to my situation. But I’ll remember it as the thing I needed to hear exactly in that moment. A reason to not give up on him like I’d done with several other singers before him because they went in a different musical direction.

Today, I didn’t listen to it… because I knew I’d be listening to “The Other Guy” on Departure and there’s no way I could handle those two songs back to back without turning into a hot mess.
And I ended everything with “So Cool”… one of two bonus tracks on “In Technicolor” but the only one I like listening to. The whole vibe of it is very exhilarating. I’d say it’s “coming home” feeling, but it literally is. I’d get to this song as I’m coming up the hill back to my house after my commute.

Hopefully soon I’ll get around to listening to more of his newer music. Had this been 10 years ago, I’d jump at the chance. But I guess it’s just a matter of finding the time to do it. Even if it’s just listening to them on YouTube and not purchasing the mp3’s

The Moody Blues- looking back on old impressions

We had a greatest hits album from this band that played A LOT in the car on road trips into New Jersey to see family. Particularly from the time before I can remember up until maybe the late 90s. Before I got my own cd player and started buying my own music. A lot of Bruce Springsteen, Billy Idol and Chicago as well.

Now that I’m much older, I understand a lot more of Springsteen and I certainly respect him as a musician. Although I’d be ok if I never had to hear “born to run” ever again— sonically, I am just not a fan of it and I’ve heard it more than enough times in my life. I feel the same about “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago. Heard too many times. Although I could expand “Born to Run” into a thesis with the exception of its message because it’s a good one. Certainly relatable to anyone who grew up in New Jersey or any place they’d give anything to escape from.

The moody blues- I don’t think we’d played this disc since my uncle passed away in late 1999. At least once my folks went to see them live with him and my aunt and I think it was in Atlantic City. I’m sure I’ll be corrected once this post goes up.
We visited their house a lot and this disc almost always came with us.

Since then… I can’t remember the last time we played it. Springsteen, Billy idol and Moody Blues later got replaced with Enya and Vanessa Mae (my dad got a lot of her music from his overseas travels). Then cars stopped coming with CD players in them and we listen to 70s and 80s music on Sirius.

So the real reason I’m here…
How I feel about this music is hard to explain. It’s not like it makes me sad because it reminds me of a deceased loved one.
One theory I have, and the only one I’m going to post on a public webpage: their songs just sound weird and conjure up strange images my young mind couldn’t comprehend.
I’m tempted to use the term “nightmare fuel” but I don’t have anything concrete to describe it. Ok, maybe two examples.

Before going into these 12 songs, I’ve found some interesting stuff just from Google and Wikipedia. Heck, the fact there’s a Reddit thread on their most famous song was kinda mind blowing. As do a lot of times I find people talking about things I thought only my neck of the woods was aware of.

First off, I’ve always thought all of these songs were older than me. And I’ve read and heard comments how this was a band associated with acid trips or they were around during the peak of those times. Not sure how true these rumors are but I don’t care enough about them to pursue answers.

In actuality, 5 of the songs were 80s songs. I still can’t wrap my head around that- and I say this with a genuine smile on my face. It’s just further proof how my favorite decade of music is the best because it has the most variety. And for all of my talk of putting distance between myself and these songs, I have fond feelings for at least 2 of these songs.
And before I proceed further, I still haven’t heard the majority of these songs in years. So I’m recollecting all this from memory and the melodies are still very vivid in my brain despite the years that’ve passed.

“Nights in white satin” is easily their most famous. It’s also a personal favorite of someone in my family but I can’t remember who. Maybe it’s several people.
Having this and “isn’t it strange” in sequence makes for a bizarre section in the middle of the disc.

The one thing that probably screwed the most with my perception- I don’t know what the hell they’re singing about in any of these songs. At the time, I’d just gotten tubes in my ears and I was getting used to really hearing and understanding sounds for the first time. So I could only go from the feel of the music a lot of the time and it’s very strange music at face value.
I still don’t know what “isn’t it strange” is about to this day so I guess I gotta do some googling later.

Both also feature an orchestra. Specifically the London Festival Orchestra. And it’s that component alone that kinda drove in that wedge for me. It’s not the type of thing I’m used to hearing in pop music so it’s hard to process. I don’t want to say I’m opposed to orchestral arrangements in pop music- Prince did it with Clare Fischer and his arrangements brought his music to another level. But this orchestra, it’s more like Stravinsky’s Firebird than Vivaldi’s Spring. The level of intensity they bring is slightly off putting for my tastes. I much prefer melodic music over the dramatic edge in these works in particular.

The other odd thing about “nights in white satin” is the spoken section. You think the song is about to end but then there’s a poem that comes out of nowhere.
So all I ever thought this song was about was sadness and pain. And there’s a funeral sermon at the end, like the person in the song died or something.
Now that I’m older, I can get it’s more about unrequited love. One person joked that the guy was drunk and raving as a result. And I looked it up- “late lament” is the poem and it’s a band original. Talking about bleakness in the world, dreams not realized and days wasted, but there’s a small glimmer of hope that always exists in the start of a new day.
And the operatic drama of the orchestra returns once more and suddenly it ends.
One fascinating thing I read- depending on the version you hear, the song sometimes doesn’t end with the gong. The gong is actually meant to end Side A of the album the song is from, not the song itself. That kinda blew my mind cuz I can’t imagine the song ending without it.

Probably the most fascinating fact I came across- “wildest dreams” and “I know you’re out there somewhere” are part of the same story. Other people more observant than I am have noted how they complement each other. Heck, I saw one quote from a band member saying they wanted to recapture the “wildest dreams” sound because it worked so well for them the first time. And the other song, two years later, uses the same instruments. I never noticed that. But as soon as I read this and tried to recall the songs from memory, I was seeing a lot of overlap and I couldn’t separate the two, haha
I always associated “somewhere” with “the other side of life” since they’re back to back on the disc but they’re sonically very different.

But “somewhere” is my favorite- makes me kinda sad when it ends, though. There’s a whirligig sound that begins and ends it and when it comes back at the end, I don’t know… it’s like you’re saying goodbye to the person in the song. And yeah, I hate goodbyes when I really enjoy something like this. I think this is the one time I’d prefer a fade out to an exact end so I can at least believe the two people in the song find each other again.
The quote I read also mentions how these songs are about a first love, wanting to see them again but in the end you’re better off leaving it in the past.
Still can’t believe these songs are my age and younger.
“Wildest dreams” we’ve heard on Sirius 80s channel and the grocery store so it’s still as relevant as it was then. It’s a great opening to the disc.

I didn’t know what “the other side of life” was about. I read earlier how it’s about the club scene in London and wanting to investigate what you’re missing out on.
I’ve always liked the sound of it and it’s probably a bunch of 80s nuances I hadn’t connected with the decade until now.
The final minute is really neat. The music repeats and goes on. Then something like the tornado in wizard of oz happens, the keyboards oscillate back and forth, there’s a bird chirp and it decrescendos and ends. Unresolved but in a very intriguing way. Unlike the unsettled “nights in white satin” type of unresolution.

“Story in your eyes” is really cool but it conjures up some spooky imagery. I can only describe it as a hellish bonfire. Like something I might have seen on Looney Tunes or “night on bald mountain” in Fantasia. But it also makes me think of a Native American ritual… or something from Indiana Jones where a sacrifice is about to be made by the natives. And most of this I just get from the final 30 seconds of the song. Although the chorus conjures up a fiery tornado in my mind.
I do like this song but it brings up a lot of strange things in my mind and I’m not entirely sure how they got there. There’s mention of a fire that’s burning but that’s all I remember. And “the sunshine we’d been waiting for turned to rain”.

“Tuesday afternoon,” I’ll have to look up cuz I don’t know what that’s about either. It’s one of several of their songs that has a strange juxtaposition somewhere in the middle. It’s one song for a bit, then there’s a breakdown section. The song comes back and it brings down again, but this time without words. And it kinda has a Fantasia type ending with harps and pretty but sad melodies. But I’m not sure why- what sort of message that leaves the song with.

“The voice”- also a mystery but from memory alone, it’s one of my favorite melodies from them. There’s also a fun guitar solo somewhere in the middle.

“Gemini dream”- another 80s song but one of their stranger ones. It’s about life on the road but also could be about a relationship. Wikipedia mentioned its harmonies being comparable to Hall and Oates and yeah, I can hear that now.
The music is the odd part for me because of its dynamics are all over the place. For the final minute or so, it follows the melody, kinda falls down a staircase in slow motion, builds up again, falls down the stairs again and it ends with opposing notes clashing.
Maybe once I look up the lyrics I’ll come back to it and it’ll become one of my favorites. Stranger things have happened. Prince and Depeche Mode have also had music I found off-putting and bizarre at first and then on repeated listens, I enjoy them a lot more.

“See-saw” and “I”m just a singer in a rock n roll band” I also put together because they’re back to back. And I sometimes have trouble untangling them from my memory cuz they have a lot of overlap. They’re among the older songs so they’re sonically different from everything else.
Looking back, yeah they’re strange and not what I’m used to listening to, but they’re the good kind of different.
Ok, this might be more towards “rock n roll band.” See-saw, it just makes me think of when I used to play on them and it’s kinda funny hearing adults sing about it. Unless they’re using it as a metaphor… hmmm… I’m barely remembering now it had a fade-out at the end.

“Rock n roll band” is fun because it has that live concert feel. Or a tribal ritual but without the human sacrifice part. Don’t know what they’re singing cuz their voices are distorted from overexertion and all that. But in this case, it makes no difference.
I probably didn’t notice this as a kid but as an adult, I think I get why I like this one in retrospect.
It has that perfect ending. I think there’s even cheering but it slowly winds down until it stops. Give it a few seconds of silence, then BAM! Final note in the perfect spot.

“The Question”… this was probably the most fun song to read about. I never understood it and to this day, I still don’t. First off, all of these Wikipedia articles on the songs would mention how certain writers ranked them in the scheme of Moody Blues songs. When I saw that this one was considered in someone’s top 3 or top 5, I couldn’t help but laugh. Once or twice when we’ve played it, my dad just skips over this song entirely, completely dismissive of it. And we’ve all kinda felt the same way about it.
I also read that it was two songs that were put together. More of that juxtaposition, but that makes a lot more sense. There’s the main melody section talking about questions, people not wanting to answer and so on. It also brings up some heavy things like war. Meanwhile the other section is slow and melodic and calm… and it’s about a relationship of some kind.
I’m having trouble recalling exactly how this song ends, except that it builds, slowly falls off. There’s a crescendo just in the middle songs on the disc, but it ends with a trumphiant orchestral note played by several instruments at once. Sort of like a “ta-da” type of moment- the only way I could think to describe it.

With several things lately, I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of reminiscing and reliving and finding closure with things I spent a lot of time avoiding for whatever reason. Maybe this is something else I’ll do that with. Actually listen to these songs with lyrics in front of me so I have a better idea of what it’s all about. But that’s another post and another day.

“A Head Full of Dreams” by Coldplay

A couple years ago, i started going through ALL of the music I own and finally gave it the time of day. Something that doesn’t often happen when you’re a hardcore Prince fan like me. Much of this blog stands as a testament to that.

Since then, I’ve run into a situation countless times since last year where a song would creep into my head and I just have to listen to it. I suppose you could call it “spontaneous album listening”. You just go with the flow and the end result is a great time spent. And it’s not something you can really plan for in advance like I typically do. My old cd player from 20+ Christmases ago has gotten a lot of use doing this, the most I’d used it in over a decade.
As cool as it is, I can’t help but find it strange sometimes. When something I barely listened to after I bought it creeps into my brain… and I played it more in recent times than I did way back then. Part of me laments all the time I’d missed not listening to it but it’s far better to soak it in and live in the moment.

This particular Coldplay album fell off for me initially for two reasons.
It wasn’t “ghost stories”- which I had a kinship with back in 2014-15.
And the timing just wasn’t right.
History has shown me that I can get into almost any music if the circumstances line up perfectly.
Cases in point- “my head is an animal” by of monsters and men- didn’t click until I played it while we were driving through a light snow to see family.
And reputation didn’t click until I was commuting to and from work on a rainy day. (Folklore had a similar story but with snow coming down on Christmas Day drive during “mirrorball”)

This Coldplay album, I think I’d bring out on especially sunny days and it’d get extra bright at specific times. The same sort of magic.
The reason behind playing it today, however, was different because the past few days have been cloudy with rain.
But it has been sort of a weird week for me and I guess was just the thing I needed to shift gears. All the weirdness, by the way, can be attributed to outside stimuli. Headlines in the news. Monday was about embracing the chaos (99% due to politics) and Tuesday, I was just annoyed about all kinds of random little things not worthy of mention. I forgot what most of them were.

Music will often do this contrarian thing where it has happy music but set to a sad story and vice versa.
A lot of the songs on this particular Coldplay album do that. It’s bizarre. Having said that, it’s the best example I know of striking the perfect balance between the two.

At this point I’d normally do my song by song discussion but I’m gonna have to be a little more spontaneous than that. I don’t know them by heart like I do with a lot of my other music. I have only played it maybe 4-6 times ever. And not regularly enough for it to sink in. I guess you could call it a series of impressions.

The opening title song- I don’t know- always gave me Duran Duran vibes. It’s bright and sunny. The guitar brings me back to some songs off Mylo xyoto, which had “paradise” as the hit single. But more along the lines of “every tear is a waterfall”
“Birds”- feels like nighttime on the same day because a lot of that same energy remains behind. But to me it feels like a faster version of “magic” from ghost stories- one of my personal favorites.

Then “hymn for the weekend” changes things up. Maybe the remix of this (which I’d heard a lot more cuz it lives on my iPod) gives this false impression but this song makes me happy to listen to. But if you read into it, it’s not such a happy story. Chris Martin says to “put your wings on me when was so heavy”. And the chorus says “feeling drunk and high” on repeat. But I suppose, if you feel good doing all that, what’s the harm? Although it’s only a temporary fix in the long run.

“Everglow” is all around sad. But there’s a glimmer of light that comes through in the end.
It’s about dealing with a loss and navigating the grief left behind. I don’t know who I think of when I listen to it, but I get a distinct lump in my throat when I do.
He talks about the light this person had still lingering behind and how important it is to tell people you love them before they’re gone.

A quick reminder how important album sequencing- “adventure of a lifetime” (the lead single) needed to follow so I can have a good rebound from all that sad stuff.
It does have some lyrics about feeling weighed down and the skies being gray. But thanks to the other person in the song offering encouragement, things change for the better.
“We are diamonds taking shape” is a good mantra. Reminding us we get through our struggles stronger than we were before.
Not the easiest thing to put to practical use so we just have to do the best we can.

“Didn’t we have fun”- makes me think of sunset on a beach with palm trees for some odd reason. (Heck, the first song makes me think of riding camels in the desert. My mind can be a weird place sometimes)
I don’t know the whole story but my idea of it is that it’s the end of summer and a fling during that time. Chris Martin (with Tove Lo- who sings harmony a little too high at times for my tastes) says not to dismiss it as a waste of time and to remember the good times they had together. And the final line says something like “we can again”, so it’s an open ended story.

Somewhere there’s a sermon more than a song with a guest speaker. I’m guessing he’s a black pastor. And he talks about how all people come into our lives for a reason and we need to “entertain them all”.
Sort of a lesson in humanity.

The next song is a two-parter. Not an uncommon thing for Coldplay. They did this multiple times on their Grammy AOTY viva la Vida. None of those were particularly bad. They were all right.
But I really like this one.
“Army of one”, the keyboards sound extremely similar to the ones from their old song “fix you”. Almost like it was intentional. But the message is “my army of one is going to fight for you”. Then part 2, “race for it” I can’t help but compare to the music on Reputation. That underground hip hop type vibe. It’s maybe 90 seconds tacked onto the end of the song but I enjoy it just the same.

“Amazing day” has a descending melody that repeats a number of times. Something about it makes me sad and I don’t know why. The rest of the song sounds really happy. Having a great time with someone and wishing every day was like that.

Then there’s an interlude. Typical Coldplay thing where hints of melodies from previous songs on the album reprise to show how far we’d come.

“Up & up” is a great finale and one of my favorites of theirs. But I feel conflicted about it. It’s very uplifting and happy. It goes into life’s trials and how we should hold onto the belief things will get better.
Maybe I’m just sad because it’s the end of the album and I don’t want it to stop. I’ll have this big smile on my face but inside I’m trying my best not to cry. And I just want to live in that moment of happiness and holding onto the reassurance things will be ok in the end. Doesn’t matter if I’m going through anything or not. I wish I was happier listening to this one.

What Prince and Taylor Swift have in common…

I’m not going to pretend this isn’t just some crazy fantasy— this idea of my two favorite people in music having some sort of crossover potential.
And if you want to write this as such, that’s perfectly fine.
But I kinda want to see where this goes so I’ll go down this rabbit hole until I run out of things to say.
I also want to preface- there’s a lot of crossover potential between Prince and a lot of other artists who endured similar trials or their music has taken on a life greater than their own. Anyone who wants to pursue that certainly can. Nor am I uniquely qualified to discuss this topic. If I’m the first or last person to connect these two names together, I’d be greatly surprised.

For starters, I wouldn’t have thought of ANY of this if not for two things

1- Taylor losing ownership of her master recording when Scooter Braun bought out her label, Big Machine Records. A move ultimately resulting in her re-recording her back catalog. As of this post, she has 2 “Taylor’s versions” left to finish- reputation and her debut self titled album

2- The Eras Tour
There was an article I read from the New York Times or some other major publication that went into great detail on this topic. How this tour exemplifies how Taylor’s music occupies its own universe, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, and how it’s just as relatable to her fans as it is to her.
(This is an oversimplification of that article, of course. And I’m sure it was about more than just this tour. I think it focused more on why Taylor has become the phenomenon she is now).

… and I suppose the 2020 lockdowns deserves to be #3 on this list
If it wasn’t for all that, Taylor wouldn’t have penned Folklore or Evermore. She has said in interviews how she couldn’t have sustained a career on her diarist style of songwriting forever. And lockdowns and quarantines created the environment that fostered these albums. The need to fantasize and escape as well as reflect on past and present realities.

The end result of this- Taylor not only attracted new fans, people who finally started taking her seriously as a songwriter, but she created her own world. And soon enough, she found a way for her other albums to carve out niches in that same space.

How does all of this connect back to Prince?
It’s best to take that one step at a time. Not just so it’s easier for outsiders to understand but my own brain (as is often the case with Prince) can only process this if I break it down into bite sized chunks.
Back when I got my start as a fan of his, each of his older albums felt like its own galaxy so I could only comprehend them if I spent individual time with each one.
It’s easy to argue Prince’s music is much more complicated so it takes more time to get to know his work. But really, the necessity of doing things this way comes down to one thing- I checked into Prince in 2007, so I had over 20 albums to track down and listen to.
…just in case anyone’s thinking “you didn’t have to listen to everything”… believe me, I didn’t plan on that. But the nook of the Prince fan community I was dialed into at the time had other plans. I had a short list of what I considered “essential” “must have” albums. Everyone else essentially thought I was crazy and ultimately made a liar out of me. Not that I’m sorry about it. I’d say of all the Prince albums I wound up procuring, there is only one I never would have gotten myself. And the only reason I have it at all was that a friend of mine threw it in with two other albums he tracked down for me.

Going back to Taylor, I experienced all of her albums in real time so the only catch up I’ve ever had to do is the vault tracks on her Taylor’s versions… it always seems like an uphill battle to get through all of those before the next one comes out. And I think I might finally have succeeded…
Although I might have to go back to fearless and red before tortured poets society comes out in April. (And yes I’ll call it that forever cuz I can’t shake the association with “poets” and “society”)
But considering the trajectory her career is on and how regularly she puts out music, it’s possible a fan could discover her a decade from now and have to play catch up like I did with Prince because they weren’t born yet.

Although, like I said, Taylor’s music isn’t as complex as Prince’s music so it’ll be a much easier journey. Except there isn’t an album yet where I could confidently say “skip that one”- until all of the Taylor’s versions are finished, then you could maybe skip the original versions of her first 6 albums.

Already, that’s one thing these two have in common- how prolific they are as songwriters.
It’d be foolish to do a side by side comparison cuz Prince would win every time. He had enough music in his vault for dozens of albums- they just never came out because he either got distracted by another project or his label restricted him to an album a year.
But the fact she released folklore and evermore mere months apart all while she was working on her new version of Fearless… how many artists nowadays have anything close to that? That’s a very Prince-like thing to do but on a more human scale. Opposed to his scale which could only be described as super human.

Now for the actual bullet points I set out to begin all this-

The argument about musical artists owning the rights to their work- Prince probably wasn’t the first person to speak out about it but he’s one of the biggest faces of this problem with the music industry.
For those who aren’t in the know, this dispute is the reason “the artist formerly known as Prince” became a thing and how his symbol became synonymous for him as a person.
Even as the hardcore fan I am, I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to the semantics of all this. But I know this much.
Warner Bros was a really good label for someone like Prince who wanted to produce his own work and they gave him a lot of freedom to do what he wanted. But they didn’t say “yes” to all of his whims. Like with sign o the times, that was originally a 3 disc album and they made him cut it down to two. Then with the symbol album, they argued with him over what the first single should be. Shortly after that, he signed a new contract, the largest of its kind. And he spent the rest of the decade trying to get out of it. The reasons behind that are a little more complicated than I have the mental capacity to go into. But part of it was an epiphany he had during negotiations. He didn’t like the fact someone else had control of when his music was released. Someone commented to him something along the lines of “so when can we expect your next album?” A rudimentary question. But it was a problem. The 90s had a lot of back and forth over whether he was ready to release music and the label wasn’t and vice versa. After the name change, he wanted a double release- one album of old “Prince” music and an album of his new music under the new unpronounceable name (ie the symbol). This never came to pass. By the time either of these albums came out, he’d already moved onto the next thing.
The bigger picture of all that- his career never fully recovered from that. Muhammad Ali was still considered the greatest after changing his name but Prince was written off by a lot of same people who’d sung his praises. And I suppose the changing landscape of the music industry and how radio rotation was now decided by corporations instead of the local DJs probably contributed too. But this created the gross misconception that Prince fell off or he wasn’t as good as he was. He was still making music but nobody who had a voice that mattered gave him the promotion he deserved. The kind he used to get back in the 80s.
One can only hope that his legacy will set a precedent about musical artists should strive for in their own careers. Like most geniuses, he was never truly appreciated in his time and I hope that changes.

What happened with Taylor and her masters… again, similar story but far less complicated.
Her masters became someone else’s property. I don’t know this story all that well either but I’m pretty sure she had the choice of buying them back at an obscene markup or she could record new versions she’d own the rights automatically.
Apparently not much about recording contracts have changed because in both cases, the rights of the music didn’t belong to their creators. Why this is- I don’t know and it’s grossly unfair. I could be wrong so don’t quote me, but no other media has this issue with it. Some book contracts probably do this also and that’s why pages on the internet are dedicated to “do not sell your book to these companies” lists. (I’ve never gotten published but I’ve done enough research on the subject that I’m at least aware there are sucky publishing companies out there).

The point where both of these people meet in the middle.
Both come from groups with a history of either being marginalized or having their rights taken away. Prince wrote “slave” on his face during his label dispute to help drive home the race part of the issue.
Taylor’s song “mad woman” touches on the dispute over her own masters from the female perspective. Essentially saying how there’s a double standard when women try to defend their rights.

And of course times like this, I can’t help but wonder what Prince would’ve made of all this if he was here to see it unfold. Would he have criticized her for realizing too late you need to own the rights to your work?
And where she’s at now, would he sing her praises of her songwriting or how she has control over her image?
If he wasn’t initially on board, I’d like to think he would’ve come around by now.
Would he cover any of her songs in concert or invite her to paisley park to jam? I can’t see it happening cuz they run in different circles but it’d be cool to think ‘what if’. He’s put himself on the line for a lot of female artists, helping them reach their fullest potential… but at this point, Taylor is, well, tailor made the way she wants to be so he could just as easily shrug and say “she doesn’t need my help. She knows what’s up”

I’m always going to secretly hope during some interview talking about artists’ rights that Taylor will mention Prince. I hope she’s at least remotely aware of what he went through in his time. And it’d be cool to daydream how Prince’s profile could be raised into the stratosphere because the biggest person in music right now came out saying he was a fan. Her rabid fan base would follow her lead and discover his music. My mind can’t even comprehend how astronomical an impact that would be. Although the cynic in me could see that not working because her fans decide his personal history with women is enough reason to not bother with him at all. And that’d be a huge shame.
Plenty of men in music had received criticism for how they’d conducted themselves in their personal lives but the only people I’m aware of whose legacies were tarnished by this are Eric Clapton and Phil Spector… and maybe John Mayer. Him and Taylor being linked together pretty much ruined his career. He’s still around doing stuff but you never hear about it.
John Lennon, I’ve heard rumors of him being abusive to his women, but he’s still considered one of the greatest artists music has ever had. Even if he was alive today, he’d still probably have a positive legacy behind him.

I’ve obviously gone off track. But just to address the second bullet point I listed, how Taylor used the eras tour to create her own wonderland to bring her fans every night.

Aside from him being a musical genius and modern day Mozart, Prince caught my attention because his music occupied a space I didn’t know even existed. It made my mind twist in different directions I never thought possible. So I took a deep dive into his music to experience more of that and I’d highly recommend it if you have the time.

I started listening to Taylor just because her songs were relatable to what I was going through in my own life. That’s the main thing I look for when it comes any singer or songwriter I invest in. And any time that person also writes their own songs and plays an instrument, even better.
By this point, Taylor has bridged that gap where she’s not just creating songs most typical people can relate to on a personal level, she’s creating fictional worlds and characters while doing so. That doesn’t sound like an easy feat but she does it so effortlessly. It’s literally insane. If you wanna go back even further, the Beatles did that whole “world within an album” concept with Sgt Pepper and, to a lesser degree, abbey road
Drawing parallels between Taylor and the Beatles is a discussion onto itself- but I’m not nearly as knowledgeable about them to pursue that any further than to say the potential is certainly there.

With all that said, I think I’d finally stretched this conversation as far as I can go.
My word might not mean much but take my word for it- more Taylor swift fans need to check into Prince’s music and his career and vice versa.

At face value, Taylor may pale next to a lot of what most people consider the greatest musical acts of all time. But the fact is that a lot of people with a lot of power are paying attention to her right now and there’s a big reason for that.
And I know for me personally, she’s one of my favorite people to listen to. Easily my top 3 and I listen to a LOT of different kinds of music.

Also, one last thing these two people have in common.
It wasn’t as well known when he was alive but Prince gave a lot of his money away to various charities, local and national. Taylor swift was recently certified as a billionaire and she gave a lot of her money away as well.
The one place where Taylor likely has Prince beat is, from what I’ve heard, she pays the people that work with her a lot better than he did. Part of his fallout with the Revolution did come down to money. But most of what his band mates did attain from their time working with him, those are the sorts of things money can’t buy so I suppose it all evens out.

Ok, I’ve gone on long enough.
Both of these people are amazing- go listen to them!

Now 4- an unlikely companion for Valentine’s Day

The way I’d been choosing my music over the past year is essentially about leaving it to fate. I get an inkling of a song stuck in my head or stuff I’ve come across is steering me in a certain direction…
Two of the songs off this disc came to mind last night while watching “Name that Tune” so I knew that’s where I’d be heading today.

What I didn’t know that this wound up being a perfect selection for this holiday.
Except for maybe 4 songs, almost all of them could be considered love songs. Whether it’s about a crush or the real deal.

I remember way back when they first advertised it- I think the first few additions of NOW series had TV ads. It had a bunch of songs I loved from the radio, including a bunch I didn’t know the artists of and wasn’t sure if I could track them down otherwise.
I used only listen to my favorites but the last couple of times, I just let the whole thing play out in my CD player. And I really enjoyed most of the songs.

The only exceptions were:
*Meet Virginia” by Train
I never got that song and I still don’t. There’s a bizarre juxtaposition between her being this interesting woman the singer has a crush on. Then the chorus is dark and brooding, like her life isn’t as perfect as it appears on the surface. I understand it better as an adult but I can’t reconcile this being a hot pop song on the radio. It’s an album track more than anything

*This one song by Hanson… I was the one kid in my class that didn’t like “MMBop” when it was popular and I’ve held that grudge against them since. Doesn’t matter if they aged out of that “boys who sound like girls” phase.

*There’s this one country song “Stealing all my kisses”… never heard of the band who did it but it stuck out like a sore thumb.

*”Try Again” by Aaliyah
I know she died tragically in a plane crash after cutting that song. But even now, I’m not a huge fan of it. It’s an interesting concept- encouraging a guy pursuing her not to lose faith and trying to woo her another time. But those almost 5 minutes feel way too long because the chorus and the guest vocalist’s contribution repeat too many times. I’d feel differently if it was just one minute shorter. Also, it’s the longest song on the disc.

*’I try” by Macy Gray
I like it a little better than I did as a kid but not much. It bothers me whenever people aren’t clearer singing lyrics. Most of the chorus, I can pick out but the last sentence sounds like gargling. I’m also not a fan of voices like hers and Fantasia that sing with the screaming and affected vocals. I know female black artists inspired Prince to do his screams but it’s just not something I enjoy listening to.

But beyond that, so many good songs.
I was especially surprised by the R&B singers on this disc. I didn’t give them a passing glance years ago, but listening to them now, they’re so good.

“I wanna know” by Joe- dang, if a dude sang that to me, things like “I want to know what makes you cry so I’ll always make you smile”… I’m melted butter in their hands.

Then “Get it on tonite”- I heard this super recently while seeing “Save the last Dance” for the first time. I recognized the song immediately even though I hadn’t heard it in years. And this brought back all the warm feelings I now associate with that movie. Sure, it’s a bit too perfect a setup and unrealistic, but I really liked it. And I really like how this song was incorporated in the movie. The lyrics are a little shocking, though. It’s about a guy (WHO ALREADY HAS A GIRLFRIEND) romancing someone else because his girlfriend is giving him a hard time or mad at him or being uncooperative or something. It’s like- the nerve of this guy… but if you’re the kind of girl who doesn’t mind a one-night stand with a guy, then it’s fair game.

“I belong to you” by Lenny Kravitz… Between this and “See you again” on Now 6, it’s a wonder I don’t own a single Lenny Kravitz album. He has some good songs. Although some hardcore Prince fans might argue some of his brightest ideas were “stolen” from Prince’s music. One podcast I listen to said how “Wherever you go” from the end of Rave and “See you again” are eerily similiar.
Anyway, there’s a guitar solo in this and it’s a good song for that alone.

“I feel so good” by Sonique- I heard that on the radio going to school, not knowing what it’s really meant to be about. But it’s always given me chills, especially when she hits the peak of her falsetto… major gooesbumps every time.

Moving on to some other songs,

“I knew I loved you” by Savage Garden… it always kinda blew my mind that this band’s name and their music contradicted each other. Cuz to me, Savage Garden sounds like the name of a metal band. But they do all these cheesy love ballads. My favorite was “Truly, Deeply, Madly”- which I’m going to cue up now so I can remind myself what it sounds like.
But the romantic in me always loved these songs about love being about fate and knowing each other in a former life or knowing who you’d marry the moment you meet them.

“When the morning comes” by Smash Mouth… another of their songs came up “name that tune” so I wanted to listen to this one again. First time I’d heard any of their songs since their lead singer passed away last year. It was an enjoyable one to sing harmony with, something I don’t often do with songs. I usually just do the lead vocal.

“Blue” by Eiffel 65… I LOVED these techno dance songs on the radio, even if the lyrics are complete nonsense. I’ve always wanted to see someone do a figure skating routine to it, where the ‘rapid fire’ effect was when they’d do a jump. But there’s only 5 of those instances, one at the beginning of the song. It’d be a little too long for a short program and too short for a free skate. But I swore it’d be the coolest thing to do a jump to that effect.

“Waiting for Tonight” was my first intro to Jennifer Lopez. Great love ballad.
And her future ex-husband, Marc Anthony is also here with “Need to Know”. Really love the latin flair of that song.

“Drive me crazy” by Britney and “Candy” by Mandy Moore- probably more about crushes than true love. But some of the pop songs I grew up on.

“All the small things”… I’m not a Blink-182 fan but this was a song my friends and I loved in 7th grade. All because they said the word “sucks” in a pop song on the radio. It was just shocking enough to be exhilarating. Like we’re getting away with something bad… although by today’s standards, it barely qualifies as a cuss word.

Anyway, lots of songs about love and several that were the soundtrack of my 7th grade life. And those were really good times, not something I can say about all of my school years.

Usher’s halftime show and other Super Bowl 48 comments

Intro

As a Prince fan, this time of year is always when I look at the next halftime show and ultimately say this year’s performer fell short.
Still true- but in the 16 times since Prince graced that rain-glazed stage in Miami, there’s been a lot of highs and lows. Usher was definitely one of the biggest highs.
More on this later…

The game

On the actual game itself, I had no skin in this game. I’m annoyed that this was the matchup we got out of everyone else in the league. Taylor being there probably softened the blow of the chiefs winning again (really didn’t want a repeat) but it was probably one of the best super bowls I’d seen. Really close competitive game and it didn’t end with something stupid like a penalty or last minute interception. It was a well deserved win.
My only real complaint was Mahomes winning mvp again- I know a lot of his running is what kept the chiefs in the game but literally anyone else should’ve gotten it. We don’t need any more Tom Brady comparisons surrounding this guy.

And honestly if I was a betting person, which I’m not, I would’ve picked the chiefs to win and I did. My prediction for the score was off but my over-under was pretty close to the final result.
If any Super Bowl deserved overtime, it was this one.

The love story

The whole Taylor and Travis love story- even as a Swiftie, the tv coverage and all the talk has been ridiculous and over the top. It’s also been weird with my dad and the way he surfs and ingests so many things on the internet, kept coming across articles and videos of her and/or the Kelce brothers these past few months. Not to say it hasn’t been entertaining but it’s just weird. Even as the biggest fan of her in my household, I don’t go overboard like that.
My Taylor Swift obsession goes as far as buying every album and learning every song and getting mad at anyone who has anything bad to say about her. Nobody’s immune to criticism of course but any remark trying to take away from how amazing and successful she is, that’s not ok.
I will say, though, I am kinda glad the chiefs won because she did fly halfway around the world just for an overnight stay to be there. And her and Travis together- omg, so sweet.
Not sure whether or not this game or her trek to and from it will inspire a song, but I’m kinda hoping it does so I can feel like I was part of it in some small way.
I don’t deep dive into her relationships or who her songs are inspired by but it’ll be interesting when the Travis songs start to come out. Cuz this is probably the one time I’ve personally seen one of her relationships in real time.
And I’m REALLY hoping this is the one to end them all. Cuz if they do breakup, it’s going to suck… more for him. Swifties are notoriously unforgiving of the men who break her heart. Just ask John Mayer and Joe Alwyn (and if the rumors surrounding this new album are any indication, he’s about to get schooled so hard).

The halftime show

I have a very discerning perspective when it comes to halftime shows. Prince set the bar pretty high. Even if the 2 people I’m still waiting for (Taylor swift and Ed Sheeran) finally do it, they probably won’t take that crown.
All that being said, I’ve only been in this position a couple of times where I genuinely enjoyed a halftime show.
Usher will be probably be 3rd all time for me behind Prince and lady Gaga. With The Weeknd and Bruno mars rounding out my top 5.

I figured Usher would bring the entertainment factor and put on a great show. And he definitely succeeded. It had a lot of exciting moments.
I just kinda wish I understood what he was singing. Probably the one criticism I have. But for someone who was dancing and singing at the same time, I don’t think nobody could’ve done better.
My biggest issue with halftime shows has historically been guest stars. Gaga and Prince are top of the heap for me cuz they didn’t need any of that nonsense.
The way Usher did it, other people need to take notes and do the same. All of his collaborations made sense. They didn’t take the spotlight for too long and they weren’t “blink and miss em” moments. The only person who was missing was Pitbull- he and usher did “DJ got us falling in” together and it’s another song I would’ve liked to see live.
Otherwise I think I recognized 3 songs- he started with my favorite, “caught up” and ended with “yeah,” which played at every dance I went to in high school. It was also kinda nuts I recognized all his guest stars, which doesn’t happen. Alicia keys was great. H.E.R. killed it on guitar and I should probably get into her music cuz she was clearly influenced by Prince and I’ve seen her a lot these past few years. Lil Jon and Ludacris, I barely recognized but I enjoyed their moments too. “Turn down for what” is pretty cool as far as hip hop goes.

I boycotted the hip hop halftime show with Eminem, Dr. Dre and a bunch of other people so I can’t fully speak on this.
But Usher’s show celebrated black music in probably the best way possible. It gave attention to all of the genres, at least the ones I personally consider music.
Not saying rap doesn’t take some sort of skill and work ethic, but I’m always going to be of the opinion that you need to carry a melody or use some sort of instrument to be in music.
It was also kinda nice to have a halftime show without a lot of blipping for curse words. There are few things more annoying than music being repeatedly interrupted for the sake of censoring. If you can’t do a clean version, don’t bother.

So yeah, I guess I should probably check a little further into Usher’s music. He’s been around long enough he’s pretty much a legacy act now and he puts out good music. I may not have understood a word but the sound of his music, it was very pleasing to my ears. And yeah, the dude can move. And he did some of it on roller skates and had a costume change- what?! Yeah, it was a great show.

In terms of my tier list, Prince needs no explanation.
Gaga is 2nd cuz she had no guest stars and I knew every song. And she brought major star power to that stage.
I knew a lot of Weeknd songs from his performance so I enjoyed it for that, but that claustrophobic hallway scene ruined it for me so he gets knocked down behind Usher.
Bruno Mars was also great cuz I knew his songs. His unnecessary guest stars detracted from it so much- otherwise I would’ve ranked him higher. Actually, him and The Weeknd are pretty close. I’d have to watch them again to be sure.
I haven’t rewatched any halftime shows other than the one Prince did so you could see why my memory is kinda fuzzy on the others, haha