It’s out, TS12! Without much delay, Taylor Swift is the gift that keeps on giving. And this time, we get an album for October, primarily colored Orange.
Given the magnitude of The Eras Tour, along with the length of The Tortured Poets Department, I did get to worry about whether or not it was marking a significant end or at least an extensive hiatus. But Taylor Swift isI can’t nag about that, specifically, because the album did deliver regardless. And she’s just superhuman like that, with insane levels of stamina and multitasking ability. Many disagree, claiming that it’s her worst album ever. But I’ve been around long enough to know that this tends to happen. People hate her music, then her music grows on them. Or the hate just fades away, and then you’re left with the love that there is for it. Furthermore, there is something particular about her melodies and her lyrics that makes them work best as enhancers and amplifiers of experiences, so they come alive marvelously when you actually have the context for them to be enriched. Just like pure romanticization.
The theories on the album are running wild. Many are taking things at face value, some claiming that the work is shallow or even void. And many are going on about how there’s some 5D chess going on that only the genius of Taylor Swift and the most deranged Swifties could grasp. I’m just like… It’s deep, but it’s not THAT DEEP. Then again, you really do have to wonder what, exactly, she’s aiming to address and tend to.
Ultimately, though, and how I see it, Taylor Swift is simply doing more of what she has always done: continuing to add to her enormous library of music for people to relate to, no matter how crazy or oddly specific their situations are. And, through that, there is a, mostly gentle, mending of issues that can go from mundane and trivial to utterly complex and delicate. Dealing with the heart and relationships, yes, but also with life itself. You miss it if you don’t have a degree of sensitivity to allow you to recognize that they exist in the first place.
People are saying that she’s dumbed it down for Travis. I don’t believe that is the case. But I do get how her environment and those around her do play a role in how tapped in she is to different realms and layers of reality. With sports and the like becoming such a great part of her day-to-day, I wouldn’t expect her to be outstandingly mystical. Rather, she’d be more in touch with the physical - and disconnecting from that to drift further into the abstract would take more effort. But I still find her storytelling doing the storytelling I know her for. And the roaming around that she typically does to cover more and more is there.
Besides, the theme is The Life of a Showgirl. Not My Soul Left My Body and I Met With The Source of The Infinite. It is what it is. Compilations and depictions of what the life of a showgirl is or could be pictured as. It’s a tale containing various happenings that tie back to show business. To be or witness a showgirl. And the fun (and realizations) that come out of that.
I also came across people complaining about how it is so “happy” and so “millennial”. And I’m… you’ve got to be kidding me. A lot of them are indeed kids who apparently missed the memo - and what’s right in front of their eyes, too. But it's also just cluelessness. It is implied in the title (and promo) that she’s looking at matters in hindsight, so why would you expect anything else? And it is tradition for her to base albums off the assigned color that differentiates them from the rest, which, in this case, is orange (A HAPPY COLOR, and it wasn’t even like she was THAT happy on and with every track). So, yeah, more of what I’m used to when it comes to TS. Completely baseless arguments. That don’t even require counterarguments, but I wanna facepalm.
If you are familiar with Taylor Swift’s work, you would know. She considers herself and behaves herself as a healer with her art. It is more about expressing than it is about impressing (though she manages that too with the packaging of the message). And if you just happen to be in dire need of her brand of medicine, then you get it and you get it (unless you’re terribly unaware).
For me, personally, Opalite and The Life of a Showgirl stood out the most. They quickly took effect as songs that, through the dirt and the ordeal, help you look on the bright side, come to terms with what is and was, and move on to new horizons. But I’m betting other songs will later do their magic in incredible ways as well.
I’m fond of how she closed it all up with a conclusive moment. The exchange between Taylor and Sabrina’s characters, candidly sharing about what being a Showgirl is like. That was perfect. It is what we call here “cerrar con un broche de oro” and I absolutely loved it.
Glad the album was released early in the month. I will keep listening to it through it and beyond. And although it is only 12 songs, I DO PRAY this album will get more MVs than the previous one. Come on, there are GEMS in there.
