(Single from album, “Red”)
So America’s sweetheart/genius guitarist/Nashville ‘home grown’ country singer-songwriter is back with her new single. Since she took off in 2009 with her debut single “Love Story”, Swift has been a huge success on both sides of the pond, but this new single, despite it’s breaking the record of fastest selling download in history, and it’s classic Swift trademark qualities, is something of a departure from the music we know and love, and for some, including myself, it’s also something of a betrayal…
It has to be said; the guitar playing is superb - as always. The drums and synth sounds are a nice edition, but they make Swift’s music more pop princess than country singer, and the sweeping cymbal crashes in combination with the overused slang language (excessive use of the word ‘like’ in the middle of sentences, and spoken-word lines that sound like a trashy teenager mouthing someone off) just make the sound more mainstream sounding, creating an atmosphere more akin to that of an Avril Lavigne track.
So on it’s initial listen, and in comparison with the year’s previous efforts (“Eyes Open” and “Safe & Sound”), it just sounds wrong. However…
Some reading needs to be done. I only did some research because this difference seemed so radical to me, but it turns out that a lot of this has been done on purpose. The delivery, which, at first, seems cheap, childish and distinguishingly ‘sell-out’ in quality, matches purposefully and perfectly the subject of the song, a real-life nightmare relationship Swift was in, which it seems, was on and off, constantly. Swift has also said in interviews that the recording sessions were some of the most humorous she’s been in, and it would appear that the song was written spontaneously, which maybe answer’s devout fans’ questions about the odd and out of character lyrics.
Of course, this is all far too harsh really. You have to find some space in your heart for a good pop song, and forgive Swift for the mistake of composing such a beautiful riff only to have B.o.B defecate on it with his tragic attempt at ‘style’ on “Both Of Us”, a song which still torments me now. Ugh…
This is still really one of the best songs around at the moment, and it’s criminal that it only debuted at 5 in the UK; but what do you expect? We voted for Cher Lloyd to win the X Factor. It’s not our fault. We are just inherently bad at spotting talent, which is why it inevitably has to find us, as Swift did a few years back. Hopefully, the rest of the new album, out this September, revisits some of those Taylor Swift roots, which have resurfaced throughout the year, most notably on the “District 9” movie soundtrack recordings.
But, until I get something better out of the music industry, I still have time for talent like this. And hey – you’ve got to love the lipstick and the attitude on that sleeve…
★★★★
Versions of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”
Album/Single Version – 3:13