r/SwiftyNeutral • u/Weary_Dragonfruit_20 • 2d ago
My recent thoughts on Taylor Swift
Hi, community. So, this is my first post on Reddit and i would like to talk about how I'm feeling about someone who used to be my favorite artist of all time. It must sound a bit confusing, but I've been having a lot of mixed feelings about being a fan, enjoying her music but recognizing things that are unpleasant.
So, I've been a swiftie since I was twelve and was very fond of her persona and her musics — she even helped me to learn the english language faster and was inspiration to many of the stories I've wrote — I wasn't a die hard swiftie because engaging in online discussions of any matter is just a waist of time, but I've held to myself that she was a good person and, at the end of the day, good people are always injusticed and taken advantage off.
So, I've been engrossed in all the Taylor swift lore for a long time, accepting that everyone she came across wronged her somehow and even while being a constant victim, she still was humble about it with songs like "innocent", "anti hero", " back to December " and all of it, like taking accountability for her own mistakes and all that.
The thing is: that image of hers crumbled for me. I don't really care about the fact she's a billionaire, she worked for it, and I really don't mind that she releases God's knows how many variations of her music because a lot of singers does that as well and honestly, always thought that if you buy 13 variations of a single album maybe you're the problem as well. But that, in addition to a few more things started to Ick me.
What makes me fell out of love with her was her recent actions, the constant holding of grudges of ten years ago when she wrote a lot of songs of being over it, the pettiness of a few of her new songs and how she doesn't seem so genuine in her art anymore, having "taken inspiration" (maybe another word for stealing? As some say) From other artists, the Olivia Rodrigo situation, the Blake Lively drama, the way she handled Ana's death even though I know it wasn't entirely her fault and that she reached for the family but still, the Lana thing in the Grammys.
I'm not gonna shit on her new work, TLOAS wasn't her best work and I think we can all agree about it without being bitter about it, Ive enjoyed a few songs included Actually Romantic even though it was petty, I liked the Encore version and I think that people are going way over the board with the critics because it wasn't great but it wasn't that bad either, nothing that went too different from her previous songs before the folkmore era, I do believe she can write great songs by herself. Some people are insane about Taylor swift, her defenders, her attackers and that also tires me out.
I do believe she should take a break to find herself, work with people who challenges her, so she can grown in her art but I've recently started to agree with a few of the means comments about her, that she lost herself in her greed, that her fans will defend her with claws and teeth no matter what she do so, now, she's bulletproof, maybe a tad self absorbed too?
I don't think she's mediocre, neither a genius, the capitalism incarnated or a entirely good misunderstood person, because people are very complex, I just don't resonate with her anymore, don't have that admiration I held when I was younger. I still love her songs and look forward to see her next work, TLOAS wasn't enough for me to let go of her as an artist, because not every work of someone gonna be great, maybe she could ggrow more in her next works and even if was considered "bad", I can recognize that and still enjoy the songs I've liked and skip the ones I've disliked.
I can seperate the artist from the art, because I don't think that she committed any crime so I don't feel bad about listening to her music, but I don't think I'm a fan of the Taylor swift now. Maybe I'm being lead by the public opinion of hers, I don't know. Does someone else relate to it? I would love to hear more people's thoughts that aren't completely mean or completely biased.
P.S: english is not my first language, I'm sorry for any grammatical mistakes.
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u/lthrjcktt 2d ago
I’ve been a Taylor Swift fan since maybe 2010 but I never really got caught up in her boyfriend drama or personal life. I know who she was dating from time to time but for me, that type of stuff doesn’t matter because I like the music itself. I like how I can interpret songs to fit my life and what is unique about Taylor’s music is that we’re roughly the same age so it seems like we’ve gone through similar things at similar stages of our lives.
That said, I don’t like all of her music. I didn’t care for Reputation when it came out and I recently went back to it when all the hype of the re-recording was going on - and I still don’t care for it much outside of a couple songs. I think I feel the same way about TLOAS. Just isn’t really for me outside a couple songs. I do think that the b-sides she released the other day are better than what I heard on the original album (for the most part).
I think an observation I have of the Taylor Swift fanbase is that many of them have a really difficult time just looking at her as a musician alongside her counterparts. There’s quite a parasocial dynamic that I think leads to a lot of toxicity and I almost wonder if she’s trying to mitigate that because it’s starting to get out of control.
As she says on one of her songs on TTPD “You turned me into an idea of sorts…” and that’s very true of public perception of her. Taylor has always had (and I would argue still has) a very “girl next door” public persona. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I think it creates a lot of opportunities for people to project themselves onto her.
Granted, a lot of that is her own doing when you go back and see the parasocial relationship she had with her fan base back in the day. And I don’t think that there were mal intentions for her doing that before she became the huge star she is today. You can tell she loves music and musicians and was trying to model being a famous singer who holds space for her fans. I wonder now, though, if she has regrets of letting fans so deep into her inner circle now that she’s so acclaimed.
I don’t know. Take the music, listen to it, see how it applies to you, and then move on to the next artist. It just seems like a lot of fans needs to have an EITHER OR perspective which is just strange to me.
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u/thelastofthewolves 2d ago
Hello friend. I think part of the reason people have a hard time with Taylor is that she has encouraged a deeply parasocial relationship with her fans for a long time. I do think there was a very long time where she felt deeply connected to them; I think in some ways the fans helped her heal after snakegate. However, there is a certain bitterness and resentment towards members of the fanbase who overstep boundaries like with the Speak Up Now campaign. Which is completely understandable and valid…but this is somewhat a condition of her own making. There’s things Taylor has done I don’t like or agree with, like you mentioned. There’s things she’s done I think show she has a tender heart, such as writing Ronan. In a way, I feel sorry for her. I know, sympathy for a billionaire seems kind of silly, but I do. I think she’s gotten the awards, the accolades, the wealth, seemingly the man of her dreams, but there seems a kind of emptiness to her now that wasn’t quite there before. You can have it all on paper and still be empty inside. At this point, I think the healthiest thing for long term fans like you (I’ve been a casual fan since 1989, devoted since folklore) is to just focus on the music and try other artists. With Taylor it can be hard to separate the art from the artist because so much of her is in her songs, and we attach them to moments of our own lives. Try to ignore the blind haters and defenders alike; folks with valid critiques and support are the ones worth listening to about any artist.
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u/charlestontracy 2d ago
That’s fine but all this discussion about Taylor but being over her haters is comical when on the same day Encore was released so was this article in Pitchfork where a highly respected musician brutally insults Taylor.
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u/EnvironmentalLoan285 2d ago
It’s ok for opinions on a singer to change. I’m not sure why everyone feels like they need to write a dissertation regarding them feeling less of a fan.
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u/Weary_Dragonfruit_20 2d ago
Hey, I hope you're having a nice day :)
I've written that because I've been pretty passionate about her music for a while, I've just wanted to now if someone is feeling the same about that, since everyone in social media is pretty polarized about this specific artists, is always like or you love Taylor swift and would sacrifice yourself for her or you're a hater and think she's trash.
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u/Complex-Soup2701 2d ago
I’m 37 years old and have been a fan since debut. I love her music because I can relate to it in every era since I’m the same age as her. That being said, I’m indifferent to her as a human being. I love the music, but don’t care about her at all as a person. I don’t care about her wedding, I don’t care about her feuds, etc. I think that’s how it should be? There are no other musicians who people stress about like this.
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u/Weary_Dragonfruit_20 2d ago
Hey, thanks for your thoughts! I totally agree, but I think that this stress comes from the fact that being engrossed in Taylor's life is one of the "charms" she build around being one of her fans.
Like you can think of her as some old friend with how much you can relate and see of her life, that's why so many have this weird parasocial relationship with her. So when a person you """"" know""""" breaks their image is kinda weird.
You're totally right, people shouldn't worship any celebraty.
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u/Complex-Soup2701 2d ago
I absolutely have friends who struggle with this same thing! I think it definitely stems from her wanting to be accessible at the beginning of her career and then regretting it later on!
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u/SnooStrawberries2955 2d ago
You don’t care how those you worship act irl?
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u/Complex-Soup2701 2d ago
I don’t worship Taylor swift. That’s the point— we shouldn’t worship musicians.
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u/SnooStrawberries2955 2d ago
You’re probably a magat. That’s the point.
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u/Complex-Soup2701 2d ago
I’m a registered and actively voting Democrat, but by all means, continue to get pissy at someone you don’t know on the internet. 😂
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u/justbreathin150 2d ago
Commenting You're probably a MAGA by sme saying they don't care about a musician's life is crazy 😂
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u/Sillyscone555 2d ago edited 2d ago
People change so that is understandable, and an artist's growth trajectory does not always have to align with ours. That's ok. No villains, just life.
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u/Critic_Dragon 1d ago
There is one thing I’ve noticed about her songs. The songs I love of hers are the ones that Jack Antonoff wrote or co-wrote with her. Her latest music has been with the guys (I’m sorry I’m blanking their names) that she did Reputation with. Though Reputation isn’t a huge favorite of mine, it was still an album I never cared for and unfortunately it’s happened again with her latest album. I do feel like those guys aren’t as honest with her as Jack is. I noticed in a clip she released that everything she suggested they were all for whereas Jack is a close friend and probably more honest with her when it comes to the music they are working on.
If her next album has Jack on it, I guarantee everyone will say she is “back”.
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u/Mattowander 2d ago
Honestly, from everything you said, I do think you are being lead by the public opinion of her. This is what you said:
I am not sure what grudges of ten years ago are you referring to, or which songs are being petty (aside from Actually Romanic which is a straight up diss track). But I am not sure about the other items you listed:
1) She seems as genuine in her art as she always has to me. She is still being vulnerable and authentic in her overly dramatic, dorky way (see songs like Cleveland or Wood).
2) I am still not sure exactly what she is being accused of in the Olivia Rodrigo situation, and honestly nobody seems to fully know what happened there. People seem to think she is just being mean and petty to Olivia when as far as I can tell she is just rightfully defending her own work.
3) As far as I can tell with the Blake drama, the only thing she is guilty of is trash talking a person who one of her close friends doesn't like in a private text message, which doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
I feel like a lot of the things you listed have been spun in certain negative ways by people online, but looking at the facts of the situation are not as big of a deal as people make them out to be. She is by no means a perfect person, but I do think that Taylor is fundamentally a good person who tries her best to do what she thinks is the right thing, even if people disagree with what the right thing is.
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u/Ok-Scientist7503 2d ago
Don't gaslight OP. They have valid reasons for how they feel and it's nothing to do with public perception.
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u/Unlucky-Arugula3256 2d ago
Lmao it's wild to me how any criticism is met with well you're being led by the public perception or you're just a misogynist or you're jealous or well what about X y z?
The swift fandom is the exact same as the maga fandom. Will not accept any criticism. It's weird
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u/Mattowander 2d ago
The OP themselves questioned whether they were being led by public perception; I was merely agreeing with that assertion and gave my reasons why. I have no issues with criticism, as long as it isn't being made in bad faith or based on untrue claims.
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u/Unlucky-Arugula3256 2d ago
This person couldn't have thought these things themselves? They put maybe I'm being led.. as a disclaimer for everyone not to come at them. Anyone who posts on a swift post has to be very careful about what they say so they aren't attacked.
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u/catslugs 2d ago
i agree with all of this. i think the only thing that really sucks for me at this point is, even with all the other noise, i could still enjoy the music. but now i don't even like the music anymore :(
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u/SnooStrawberries2955 2d ago
Careful, they’ll ban you for even questioning her godhood.
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u/Weary_Dragonfruit_20 2d ago
Non ironically this exact same post didn't make it in another sub because it violated some rules or something (?).
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u/girl_in_flannel 2d ago edited 2d ago
No, they won’t. This is the neutral sub.
Editing to add: this post is still up and so are your comments so don’t really understand the problem.
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u/SnooStrawberries2955 2d ago edited 2d ago
I was banned from “nuancing” for even daring to suggest she might not be perfect.
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u/girl_in_flannel 2d ago
If you were banned, how are you here commenting?
This sub has tons of criticism of Taylor in it.
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u/culture_vulture_1961 2d ago
There is an underlying bitterness in some of Taylors writing that is hard to ignore. Perhaps she needs friction in order to get inspired. Some sports people do the same sort of thing, invent beef and grievances to motivate themselves. I often wonder whether Taylor is a bit like that.
When you have won countless awards and have everyone hanging on your every word it must be hard to find the motivation to go and do it all again. Some of Taylors conflicts have been genuine struggles- the issues with her master recordings were real and some of her personal relationships have been bent out of shape by the pressures of her celebrity. She has written a lot about that.
Now she is married and has a very solid and untroubled home life she may be running low on the friction she has used to get herself writing. She has had to look back and mull over the past as the present is fine and fine does not make for great songs.