When Taylor Swift won the Grammy for her Speak Now album, I had high hopes for her. The songs, which she wrote, were clever and personal. Even songs from her Red album indicated she might have something special. But that’s over now.
On Monday, Swift dropped her new single– which I told you she would do last week. It’s a generic jingle single written by Swedish pop factory owner Max Martin, called “Shake it Off.” Strike one. With all eyes on her, Taylor put out garbagey bubblegum, a throwaway, meaningless. The drive to turn her into a mainstream bland pop commodity has finally succeeded. Too bad, she coulda been a contender.
Swift also announced an October release for a new album called “1989” after the ignominious year she was born. We are so far afield from anything important here, it’s not funny. Carole, Carly and Joni, Bonnie, Linda, etc can relax. No one in the pop field of female “artists” in 2014 will ever equal their actual artistry. What a squandered shame. Of course no one of them had product lines. They were actual musicians.
Here’s Taylor’s single.
