I tried to listen to 1989 by Taylor Swift way back in 2014. I was trying to find some common ground with a girl I was dating. I probably should have known then that common ground was going to be tricky as she was STREETS ahead of me in all aspects, including being a Taylor Swift fan. I thought the album was awful (honestly, I still do) but then Ryan Adams released his version of 1989. This could well have been recorded during a coke fuelled bender at the Chelsea Hotel. His version, I thought, was excellent. His version though, rather like coke benders, hasn’t lasted the test of time and now sounds bleurgghhhhh and dated. At the time however, it was another bridge towards common ground. Unfortunately other forces, male immaturity etc, got in the way and it took until the release of Folklore in 2020 and Evermore in 2023 when vinyl sales were flying, for me to enter the Taylor Swift zone again.
I am glad to be back.
As she continued to rise and rise and rise she then dropped the amazing Midnights. I am not going to bother with reviewing the albums themes or musicality etc. It’s excellent at all levels. Mostly for me, though, it is about the atmosphere of the album – and the zeitgeist. Coming hot on the heels of a global pandemic when we all went feral and were trying to ‘get the band back together’. In the bizarre two sided and divided post pandemic world, it was great to listen to an album like Midnights. It was great to hear that everyone else was listening too and that the world did / does still have some common ground. That common ground being that Taylor Swift is a musical genius and Midnights is a masterpiece and she deservedly made history this year as she won her 4th Album of the Year at 2024 Grammys.
It also came in various shades of vinyl to match the world’s various shades of mood.
I now can’t wait to hear and to buy the new Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department on Vinyl when it’s released in April 2024.
Favourite songs and lines…
- Sexy Baby
- Get it off my desk (Get it off my desk)
- Break up, break free, break through, break down
- I’m the wind in our free-flowing sails
And the liquor in our cocktails
Track Listing
| 1 | Lavender Haze | 3:22 | |
| 2 | Maroon | 3:38 | |
| 3 | Anti-Hero | 3:20 | |
| 4 | Snow On The Beach (feat Lana Del Rey – another legend!) | 4:16 | |
| 5 | You’re On Your Own, Kid | 3:14 | |
| 6 | Midnight Rain | 2:55 | |
| 7 | Question…? | 3:31 | |
| 8 | Vigilante Shit | 2:45 | |
| 9 | Bejeweled | 3:14 | |
| 10 | Labyrinth | 4:07 | |
| 11 | Karma | 3:24 | |
| 12 | Sweet Nothing | 3:08 | |
| 13 | Mastermind | 3:11 |
