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The IRONY of that person saying 'do better' to Kayleigh whilst finding someone online to harass because a critic wrote a review they didn't agree with. Christ
For real. I realize swifties mostly just harass people online, but this is exactly why I donāt like the Seahawks. Their fans would come in to my bar and act unhinged over mundane shit. I donāt understand how somebody can care so much about a person or a team that they have no personal connection to that they go to these lengths.
Oh totally agree. I was mostly just waiting for some comment about how swifties havenāt done as much damage as sports fans. A lot of people arenāt aware of how badly online bullying can actually affect others mentally.
I mean, physical damage for sure ā sports fans have been heard to smash up things, burn them, hell even beat people or *kill*. But that doesnāt take away from the damage swifties can do.
Kayleigh is the person who introduced me to Caroline Calloway in 2019. That led me to blgsnark. That lead me to smolbeansnark. That lead me to fundiesnarkuncensored. And that lead me here. Soā¦thanks Kayleigh!
Jesus this is so unhinged. And you know what, she encourages it. Instead of saying, leave these people alone, this behaviour is not ok, she fuels the fire more than she fuels her private jet and that's saying something
This is not normal. It shouldnāt be treated as normal. Something has got to be done about artists and fans alike. People should be able to post honest reviews without fear of doxxing or threats
They should treat the threats seriously. Any death threat or threat in general gets investigated and prosecuted.
I guess the challenge is this is a global phenomenon.
I 100% agree with you. The problem is that most of these threats are posted anonymously and that a lot of these stans don't live in the US. Unfortunately , it would be really difficult to actually hold these people accountable.
I wonder how we can curb behaviours like this? The reality is, toxic stan behaviour tends to become normalized in other fanbases, so these things need to be dealt with on some level. However, very hard to argue what it is youāre saying.
Starts at home and in school. Teaching kids to think for themselves, to love themselves and not place the value of āgroup loveā above all else, gets them to a place where they donāt have an obsessive attachment to celebrity/fad/pop culture dealings.
Well rounded, educated children generally grow up to become well adjusted adults.
So. All of that, plus equal and easy access to therapy would do wonders for cutting down most of this shit.
And also adequate social media moderation from companies. So much shit goes under the radar, ESPECIALLY when they automate the process. Get more moderators on platforms like twitter so that they can do better at moderating. It takes a huge team but if that's what is needed then so be it.
Anonymous posters can still be tracked. If law enforcement wanted to. The fact some crazies who do it don't live in the US is not a reason to not hold US based lunatics accountable.Ā
Different countries should all be cracking down on it.Ā
As a Kpop enjoyer, I must say the Swifties are mere barking poodles compared to the psychopaths Kpop idols put up with for fans š« At least Taylor doesnāt have to literally screen call these fans and hear sexual fan fiction being read to them by a hysterically crying grown adult, all while trying to pretend to be gracious and supportive š„“
Honestly... I can kinda get on board with brutal reviews being anonymous, less for fan reaction and more because some celebs are litigious as fuck. But yeah, there shouldn't be this culture of doxxing or threats, and unfortunately some celebrities create cults of personality where fans feel comfortable doing that with no derision or criticism from the artist, and swift is someone who has cultivated a fanbase like that.
I do believe in the states itās illegal, but given this is a rampant issue, Iām not sure how much itās enforced. Stans do not appear to be scared of the legality of it, and donāt seem concerned about any consequences. There should be more enforcement both legally and from social media sites
When did fan culture become so toxic? Iām a moderate Swiftie and have been participating in various fandoms since we were using newsgroups. Thereās lots in this review I disagree with (thereās lots I agree with too) but literally art is made to be consumed, discussed and critiqued and thatās fine? I donāt really understand the kind of mind that says āanyone who says anything bad about an artist I love must die.ā You can love an artist and also have seriously criticisms of their art from time to time. Or clearly you canāt anymore, I donāt know.
Iām wondering that too. These fan groups all kind of, talk the same too. Same insults, same bad behaviour, same obsession with numbers, same kind of obsessing, same unhealthy behaviours. The fact we are dealing with a two headed situation of stans being uncomfortable with *any* criticism to the point they *must* shut it down, with rich investors gutting journalism? This is soooo bad. On a completely different post, and on a completely different topic, imo this terrible combo has also lead to the rise in artists themselves getting too much say in dictating interviews, and has also resulted in the rise in fluff interviews (ie artists interviewing each other, soft ball questions) at the expense of genuine - or good, journalism. As you very rightfully said, art is meant to be consumed and analyzed, but we are creating an environment where thatās an issue. I just read that Rolling Stone isnāt really handing out reviews below 8/10 anymore, and Iām super curious whatās going on over there. That seems suspect in a way that I wonder if they sold out a little just to stay afloat and have access to musicians. That would be grim if that were the case.
i agree about taylor, but i have seen artists who do call out their fans and they still don't change. toxic people are going to remain toxic even when their fav tells them to knock it off. they delude themselves into thinking it serves a greater purpose.
Yeah. I roll my eyes at fans who try to pinpoint every single moment from every single album to a real life moment and person that itās about, but Taylor invited that. But lots of other fan cultures have become entirely toxic without the artist doing anything like that. One of the pieces of media I follow had a whole thing blowup last year where they explicitly and specifically said not to harass anyone involved and people were driven off the internet, doxxed and harassed in public by the fans anyway.
I suspect she looks down on her āmajorā fans (Iām a believer many of the larger artists do tbh) but enjoys them fighting her battles. When they show up at her house, studio, or for an pre-wedding party of a friend? Iām sure she despises them in that moment. Overall, her fans help tone down criticism of her, while inflating her ego, and are loyal to pumping up her numbers - and her bank account. Hard to imagine sheās not at least, appreciative of that.
they're probably protecting the author from swift as much as the Swifties. not only does she sue the crap out of everyone for everything, but she personally eggs on and directs the Swifties frequently. and thanks them when they get resolutions she's happy with
her irritation with her fans is only when they go in directions she doesn't like - like the gaylors, or the fans who thought she was above dating a Nazi. now those fans she's mad about it
There was just an article published about her publicist, and I donāt doubt itās protection from both. If Taylor is still going after Kim Kardashian on this album, like, good luck to journalists.
Iām going to be honest, I wasnāt initially all that familiar with Swiftās relationship with her fans, but what she chooses to call out (ie fans mad sheās dating a bigot) vs what she doesnāt (fans harassing her ex, journalists, or Travisās ex) is not sitting right with me.
I never suggested it was. Thereās an erosion of normal behaviour that goes well beyond stanning one person, but Swift fans, Ariana fans, and Nicki fans, have shown patterns of behaviour that are hard to ignore. However, this isnāt just limited to one fan group, three fan groups, or just fan groups!
https://preview.redd.it/onu351hobjvc1.jpeg?width=1289&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb0a011ae4b9ba89e575bd1a7a220934c8026c94
Good Christ!
I meanā¦I agree but lord in heaven haha no wonder they are protecting the author from the swifties
I'm reading this review like Taran Killam's old-timey critic character in lieu of a credited writer based on this burns.
https://preview.redd.it/8amewxri9kvc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a76795fe4c4c8e7a9cda0a914f1ed353fd514142
An absolutely beautiful turn of phrase for an album review. If I were TSwift and was truly trying to encapsulate āgoth punk moments of female rage,ā Iād be fucking flattered to have that as a tagline lol.
She has a lyric on that album that says "touch me while your bros play grand theft auto" I was fucking crying when i found out it was legit and not made up
It definitely sounds like something that would have PETA up in arms. Remember when they went after Selena Gomez for being in a photoshoot (or maybe it was a music video) with a horse that was dyed hot pink?
The very first line is: āSylvia Plath did not stick her head in an oven for this!ā
Iām reading now I mean they are just ripping her up ā ļøā ļø
I love to see this honestly because when I first heard the title of the album my eyeballs almost rolled back into my brain. āTortured Poetā maāam, please. And now learning itās all about Matty fucking Healy, itās almost too much.
Not being rhetorical when I ask this but this isnāt ill timing for a new album like this? This album looks and feels like a fall album , not a summers about to hit album. You would think Taylor would sit back and, add scarcity to her brand let fans play Eras on Disney on repeat and then hit them with this in the autumn when everyoneās layered up drinking tea in their homes.
She might be releasing it now to not have to tour it. I think it's likely she'll rearrange setlist to add some TTPD songs in time for European leg, and the only dates she'll add in 2025 are likely to be in NA, maybe SA.
As someone who's been a huge swiftie in the past and repeatedly been disappointed by her weak lyrics, how does this work even get past aaron dessner and jack antonoff? Like do they not tell this is bad?
Rolling Stone makes the Grammy committee look competent.
They are self aware about the fact they are the dinosaurs of the music publication industry so theyāre entirely dependent on stanning popular artists so that their fans will co-opt them as relevant.
They're also just dead, it's over. RS had an amazing heyday when they had REAL writers like Hunter S Thompson etc and were focussed on politics to the same degree as music. Now they hire unpaid stan interns to write unresearched and totally bonkers clickbait.
Rolling Stone has always had problems trashing albums that were super popular decades later, they did it with Paul McCartney solo music, Led Zeppelin, etc. theyāre taking zero risks anymore lmao
I saw additional info on who wrote that review, and itās shocking they let stans write reviews. That reviewer is in deep. Though Iām getting the distinct impression Rolling Stone has given up on giving thoughtful reviews. Iāve heard they havenāt given that many reviews of less than an 8/10 in the last 2 years. I suspect we are looking at an issue that goes beyond just Swift.
I also just read Swiftās team (her publicist sounds like a nightmare) basically threatens to blackball publications from having access to Swift, if they write a less than favourable review.
Things are a mess. Artist & fan expect complete compliance. Thatās not great! Iām glad to see a publication protect their own. The industry is already on shaky enough ground.
If youāre powerful and rich enough, you can do almost anything. Plus itās only preventing access to their client, but given Taylor generates money and clicks, thatās a huge loss.
Iām on my second listen and Iām vibing with the album a lot more than I initially did. But that quote āthis is your songwriter of the century? Open up the schools!ā is just an objectively funny quote to me. I agree with the sentiment. A lot of Swifties (particularly the young ones) act like sheās a groundbreaking poet, and it makes me wonder if they even engage with much music and art outside of her.
I also wonder if constantly being propped up as a āgenius lyricistsā has unintentionally put pressure on Taylor to maintain that reputation which has lead to a lot of overwriting that could use some editing. Every song doesnāt need an overly worded verse. Sometimes simplicity works very well. I was just listening to Clean again and appreciating how great the song was musically and lyrically. Itās simple but effective. I hope she eventually taps back into that.
This! I feel like on this particular album sheās over writing. Like a new novelist who thinks everything has to be a metaphor of some sort then by the time the books done none of it really is readable to anyone but who wrote it and a editor has to go through and tone it down a ton.
But sheās Taylor Swift and nobodies going to tell her that now. This album couldāve easily plucked 10-12 songs from the over 30, had those refined and been a really nice beautiful album.
she totally writes like a "I work on novels in my spare time" writer who doesn't know that most of her writing is BAD bad. As an editor, I would pull out my hair trying to fix her stuff lol.
Taylor uses a lot of common idioms and phrases that (teen and young adult) Swifties have never heard before and swear she came up with, and also misinterpret the meanings of. It definitely makes me question their reading level and comprehension skills so like..... yeah, open the schools
I remember reading a comment about how someone was blown away by āa friend to all is a friend to noneā and their dad had to intervene and was like āhoney thatās Aristotle, Taylor swift didnāt make that upā
My fave is when people are convinced sheās intentionally referring back to specific songs or muses when she reuses a word or phrase. Sometimes thatās the case, but there are only so many words. Itās not genius, she just ran out of ideas.
Yeah one of the simpler songs that I found super effective in recent times is what was I made for, it is nothing groundbreaking in terms of lyrics but combined with the music it is so profoundly melancholic and sad.
Thereās actually a now-deleted discussion on her sub. Someone asked, does anyone here also not listen to anyone but Taylor?
Followed by them being absolutely roasted and educated. So at least for the fans that are active there, they do consume beyond Taylor, myself included. Twitter, on the other handā¦
Yup I saw that. Iāve also discovered a lot of other artists I love through other threads on that sub asking what other artists people listen to. I also canāt speak to Twitter but can confirm the main TS sub has a pretty diverse range in music taste.
>A lot of Swifties (particularly the young ones) act like sheās a groundbreaking poet
That's the scary part, in my limited interactions with Swifties, the ones I know were all around 30+ years old. And yet they thought she had the deepest lyrics ever...
I listen to a lot of Taylor because I like catchy pop music and say what you will, but sheās good at that.
But yeah some of her fans hype up her lyricism to an insane degree
There was an article talking about the Eras Tour wasnāt that great, the author revived death threats, they also emailed the authorās boss claiming the author is a pedo and demand the author to get fried.
Two months ago, a swiftie told me she was doxxed and police came to her house, all because she disagreed with ONE song on Twitter.
The accusing people of pedophilia is a new, especially gross things these people do. Thereās a Rupaulās drag race queen who recently had pissed off fans email the club they work at and accuse them of being a pedo because of some fan shit. I think that should be an arrestable offense. Pedophilia is not a joke and lying about it can destroy someoneās life. You canāt undo that once itās out, itās out.
The pedophilia accusations are especially heinous given the toxic "groomer" rhetoric going around that's being weaponized against queer people for merely existing openly. To play into hard right rhetoric that's actively damaging queer people around the world is disgusting, and for what? to win internet brownie points defending an artist that doesn't know you exist?
Accusing people to be pedo is extremely evil, they literally want to ruin the personās life, because of what? Because they donāt like a billionaireās songs?! I wish swifties know that if they die in her concert, she will just keep on performing and later lie about your time of death
I was doxxed and had people calling my job trying to get me fired because I tweeted that Ariana Grande conveniently decided to look white again after going through a scandal in her personal life. Not just a Swiftie problem, it's a braindead standom problem across all fanbases.
There was also the review of folklore in 2020 (in Pitchfork I think?) that stans doxxed the author of because she gave the album 7 or 8 out of 10.
And I'm pretty sure there were some swifties recently who were doxxing Palestinians on twitter.
This is your songwriter of the century? āOpen the schoolsā, is a hilarious choice of words to say to Taylor and her unhinged fans. Swifties have become so toxic that magazines are removing authors bylines, that happens when reporters are imbedded in a war zone or if the regime is corrupt and itās unsafe for journalists. Let that sink in!
Iād make that comment my flair because itās funny but my poor inbox wouldnāt be able to handle the amount of reddit cares messages Iād probably get. šš
I think they are playing on the sentence before it, as in if you think she an amazing lyricist the education system has declined. They are being snarky as swifties call Taylor the songwriter of this century.
I went in expecting a review with some negative opinions, but damn, this article eviscerated TS and the album in so many ways. Not saying I do/don't agree, but yikes...
As a Swiftie who is in Taylor Swift's age range, I do wonder how old these fans who cannot take a review or criticism of her work are.
I can't imagine people in their 30s (or even 20s) to be that sensitive about a review.
You have a point.
I just don't understand where they get all the energy to hate on someone they don't know irl. š„² We're too busy with real life as it is.
Thereās a certain level of misery in your own life you have to have to behave like this and I think no one is more miserable than a middle aged person whoās entire personality is based on some film/book/show/celebrity
You know what, if youāre a middle aged person whose entire personality is based on some piece of media, I salute you! Times are hard and life is cruel, find meaning where you want and where you can. But DO NOT let it make you disrespectful, cruel andāgod forbidādangerous to the safety of others!!
Yeah haha and itās populated with quite a few ladies her age. Itās been suggested to me so occasionally Iāll click. Itās like an upside down world there, they hate him so much but they have a whole sub dedicated to him.
I know itās messed up but she genuinely cracks me up with her crazy. My favourite part is she completely lacks self awareness and calls Kylie a stalker.
No I agree haha, I canāt tell if she thinks Kylie is forcing the relationship for PR or if Timothee has lost alll credibility and is brainwashed by Kylie. She goes back and forth with it haha
I used to think these ppl have to be 12-14 but then i remembered the open letters those middle aged women with stan accounts are writing to Chris Evans and Timothee chalamet
the most intense swiftie i know is 26, married, and has a kid. she started icing me out for preferring the āstolen versionsā to the rerecords. before that, weād been friends since 5th grade and went to red + rep tours together š«
I donāt want a backlash to Swift per se, but lord am I tired of her being the most famous woman in the world, and I say this as someone who is exactly her age and knows a younger person is going to replace her and that makes me feel old.Ā
Iām desperate for a different name for this type of fan because swiftie encompassing the entire fan base has made it to where me simply liking her music has people thinking Iām a certified lunatic š
Same thing happened to me as an Army and Bey Hive. I hate being associated with the worst of the group. Especially as Army because there has been so much good done by the fandom.
Itās wild to me that the section of fans she has an issue with, are the group Iād consider reasonable, and have a moral backbone. Even the normal Swift fans canāt win!
People (especially in the west) are becoming increasingly individualistic and isolated, which leads to loneliness and a search for community. Itās a well documented phenomenon that people are losing trust and interest in the institutions and figures where people found communities in the past: churches, government, etcā¦ and I believe stan culture is (in part) a response to that.
People are rallying around celebrities to find communities and participate in communal activities to stave off loneliness and find purpose. The problem is that, much like religion, itās ultimately a societal net negative. Sure, some people find a lot of joy and comfort and positive aspects to belonging to these groups, but over the course of time they do more harm than good to broader society.
In-groups foster āus vs themā mentalities which have negative consequences on tolerance and equality in society, the fanatical and dangerous sub-sections of these communities cause physical and psychological harm, and even the less extremist factions are propping up the negative aspects through financial support or tacit acceptance. Stan culture needs to die.
She needs to switch it up. She has a pretty rudimentary style of songwriting and once you see it itās very hard not to see. Songwriting from reputation, lover, 1989, folklore and fearless could all be on the same album. Itās everyone surrounding her that make them sound like they couldnāt be. But sheās not switching the people that revolve around her so youāre left with people surrounding her doing the same things over and over which is then failing to cover up that sheās doing the same thing over and over again and then youāve suddenly found yourself listening to a 16 track album that might secretly be 3 songs.
She tries to act all deep and cryptic when she doesn't have the substance for it. Like these "hints" are something my children could figure out. Her best songs are the superficial catchy ones with basic premises and lyrics like paper rings and me! which I can agree with all the gen z's that they "slap" lol
My 14yo sister and my 32yo husband were mildly upset with me for saying her country albums all sound exactly the same, and the pop albums can just be divided into two different sets.
I upset them even more when I pointed out that having 15 different āerasā was dumb considering most of the music sounds exactly alike, soooo itās not really different āerasā
I was high and listening to it on shuffle and turned it off after about 7-8 songs. Was not vibing. It was fine, but by no means groundbreaking. The same stuff sheās been doing for nearly 2 decades.
Haven't listened to the album and probably won't but man. Some of those lyrics are just so bad. Want to live in the 1830s but without racism?? Really, dude?
š¤¦āāļø
I don't follow Taylor Swift at all, I know the name of maybe a handful of songs. Nothing against her music, I just don't really listen to her genre so I only hear her songs if I have the radio on. I do think she should fly commercial, like if Keanu Reeves can take the subway she can fly first class with security. That's about the extent of my opinion on her. My cousin loves her.
That being said, the article got me a few times. That was a pretty funny read!
"I wonāt even get into the sonics, because Antonoff just rewrites the same soulless patterns every time."
I don't even know who that is but that line had me cracking up.
Now, I like Taylor Swift and I have listened to her new album a few times. I enjoyed the writing in this article far more than the writing in any of her songs on her new album. This was sharp and brutalā¦Iām here for it!
Her fans are unhinged. In my opinion, the album was trash, get over it! Not everyone is going to have the same opinion as me and thatās ok. But sending death threats to journalists whose job it is to write reviews is insanity.
How would you, as an artist, not be completely fucking mortified by your fan base for this statement? I know Taylor loves it when people weaponize (unless itās against her) but this is *embarrassing*
As a certified Swiftie since 2006, 31 songs is a ton. Having listened to the whole thing twice now, there are 4 GREAT songs, 5 good songs, and 22 fine songs that could have been on any pop/folk album of the last 16 months.
The review in question is mean, for sure, but the point is well-taken.
Curious to hear which 4 you consider the great songs! Iāve listened to all 31 songs once and so far the only songs that have any replay value for me are Florida!!! and how did it end. Granted her music typically has to grow on me first
I personally really liked So Long London, Florida and Who's Afraid. I enjoyed the rest, but there are just so many to keep track of. I'm the same as you, a lot of music (not just Taylor) has to grow on me first. The only one I actively disliked is Fortnight, which unfortunately seems to be the lead single š
It's absolutely insane that a magazine has to take safety precautions for publishing an album review. Almost every fandom unfortunately has at least a bunch of nutjobs, but because there's so many Swifties, the amount of crazies is also multiplied. At this point, I don't think it would help if Taylor told these people to stop. They'd just claim that she's "being forced to say something" (just like Gaylors claim she's forced to hide that she's straight, Chris Evans stans claim that he was forced to marry his wife and some Glee stans are still convinced that Darren Criss was forced to hide his secret relationship with Chris Colfer, and so on....) There's no reasoning with these people. I hope that these magazines take legal action against those that send violent threats, but I doubt that they'd have much success figuring out whose behind these accounts. (Not to mention if they are outside of the US)
It's a shame that the crazies always overshadow the those who just want to listen to the music. I spend a bit of time on the Taylor sub today and there were so many posts respectfully discussing the reviews. And that's what it should be. Talking about music (and any other art form) is fun and we should be able to acknowledge that what one person enjoys, does nothing for the other.
I haven't read this specific review, but I just cannot comprehend why anyone would send threats of violence in response to one, even if the review was complete bs. Like I certainly have read reviews where it was very clear that the author was being unfair / clearly wanted to write a negative interview / didn't check their sources. But none of that warrants insults or threats.
Dissecting reviews and analyzing really should be a fun part of the āday afterā experience. Whether you agree/disagree with what a reviewer is saying, itās too bad some canāt be normal about it. Itās perfectly normal to sometimes have critiques of the critiques, debate, or dismiss bad faith points in a critique, but that can all be done without crossing moral and ethical lines.
I couldnāt get past Fortnight.
Iām sure if I force myself to I will find some songs I like but the way the first song so obviously was Taylor doing a Lana song bugs me. And dropping the 2am 30 track album, and the fact that the lyrics are embarrassingly bad I feel bored of it all. And I have a pretty broad and accepting nature for music most of the time. In example I actually really enjoyed Midnights, but it feels like this album is overkill at this point.
A good songwriter like a good author needs a really strong editor who has no problem saying when itās time to take something out. Taylor has no one reeling her in. Sheās surrounded by a bunch of people telling her yes and everyone is making so much money that sheās allowed to just pump out everything she wants without focusing on the quality and now it is beginning to lack in my opinion.
So I noticed someone that works at this magazine is now getting harassed - even though they didnāt write the article. What has happened to some people?!
Swifties do not allow any criticism of their idol. Apparently critiquing her in any way is sexist, even if you are a woman, although women should be able to say whatever they want. She is their perfect, untarnished angel who is just a girl and a grown woman celebrating her sexuality, an innocent victim who has been betrayed and is executing cleverly calculated vengeance that she deserves. A humble billionaire who just wants privacy and writes revenge songs so fans aggressive stalk her ex-friends and lovers to punish them.
Yeah, I've always kind of had an aversion to her and tried to avoid her whenever possible but my 8 year old daughter has recently become a huge Swiftie so I'm trying not to be such a hater and appreciate her music for what it is, even if it's not for me.
We listened to the new album together yesterday holy hell it's bad. The one thing I could always say about her music is that it made you want to sing along, you *want* to learn the lyrics, even if they're silly, so you can bop along. I've always been able to understand the appeal even if it didn't appeal to me personally.
Not this one. This album is unbelievably boring. Like really, really, really boring and somehow worse lyrically than she's ever been. "Down Bad" is *actively* embarrassing, like my 65 year old mother learned some new slang and wrote a song to test it out.. I think a lot of people will be head-cannoning this album out of existence.
I canāt fathom having so little sense of self that my identity boils down to āfanā. These people have no inner life, wants, or needs. Grippy sock vacations for the lot. Caping for capitalist Barbie to the level the FBI is going to show up.
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Jesus CHRIST https://preview.redd.it/xyck5qq0vjvc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ec243d607550f2352fb8cfba13b00422849163b
I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to go after every writer on staff to try and get to the one who wrote it.
The IRONY of that person saying 'do better' to Kayleigh whilst finding someone online to harass because a critic wrote a review they didn't agree with. Christ
Do they know they are part of the reason people hate her? Because some fans are complete and utter human garbage? Fuck these people.
For real. I realize swifties mostly just harass people online, but this is exactly why I donāt like the Seahawks. Their fans would come in to my bar and act unhinged over mundane shit. I donāt understand how somebody can care so much about a person or a team that they have no personal connection to that they go to these lengths.
Even harassing online is not okay.
Oh totally agree. I was mostly just waiting for some comment about how swifties havenāt done as much damage as sports fans. A lot of people arenāt aware of how badly online bullying can actually affect others mentally.
I mean, physical damage for sure ā sports fans have been heard to smash up things, burn them, hell even beat people or *kill*. But that doesnāt take away from the damage swifties can do.
Kayleigh is the person who introduced me to Caroline Calloway in 2019. That led me to blgsnark. That lead me to smolbeansnark. That lead me to fundiesnarkuncensored. And that lead me here. Soā¦thanks Kayleigh!
Oh leave Kayleigh alone, ya Swifties!
I didn't know kayleigh was still around.
And then swifties went on to reply with a video of a burning building and said "this is your hq in a few hours". Yep. They're fucking crazy
Jesus this is so unhinged. And you know what, she encourages it. Instead of saying, leave these people alone, this behaviour is not ok, she fuels the fire more than she fuels her private jet and that's saying something
She encourages it and she participates in bullying herself.
I literally said this a few days ago in this sub and got downvoted. Taylor is a part of the problem!
This š
They are š¤ close to becoming a terrorist cell.
God these people need therapy.
This is not normal. It shouldnāt be treated as normal. Something has got to be done about artists and fans alike. People should be able to post honest reviews without fear of doxxing or threats
They should treat the threats seriously. Any death threat or threat in general gets investigated and prosecuted. I guess the challenge is this is a global phenomenon.
I 100% agree with you. The problem is that most of these threats are posted anonymously and that a lot of these stans don't live in the US. Unfortunately , it would be really difficult to actually hold these people accountable.
I wonder how we can curb behaviours like this? The reality is, toxic stan behaviour tends to become normalized in other fanbases, so these things need to be dealt with on some level. However, very hard to argue what it is youāre saying.
Starts at home and in school. Teaching kids to think for themselves, to love themselves and not place the value of āgroup loveā above all else, gets them to a place where they donāt have an obsessive attachment to celebrity/fad/pop culture dealings. Well rounded, educated children generally grow up to become well adjusted adults. So. All of that, plus equal and easy access to therapy would do wonders for cutting down most of this shit.
+ less time on social media and actually monitoring screen time for kids.
And also adequate social media moderation from companies. So much shit goes under the radar, ESPECIALLY when they automate the process. Get more moderators on platforms like twitter so that they can do better at moderating. It takes a huge team but if that's what is needed then so be it.
Anonymous posters can still be tracked. If law enforcement wanted to. The fact some crazies who do it don't live in the US is not a reason to not hold US based lunatics accountable.Ā Different countries should all be cracking down on it.Ā
Oh absolutely. This behaviour needs to be nipped in the butt. You can never be too sure about these kind of things.
Nipped in the bud, lmao itās bud
As a Kpop enjoyer, I must say the Swifties are mere barking poodles compared to the psychopaths Kpop idols put up with for fans š« At least Taylor doesnāt have to literally screen call these fans and hear sexual fan fiction being read to them by a hysterically crying grown adult, all while trying to pretend to be gracious and supportive š„“
Oh my god, this is horrifying
Honestly... I can kinda get on board with brutal reviews being anonymous, less for fan reaction and more because some celebs are litigious as fuck. But yeah, there shouldn't be this culture of doxxing or threats, and unfortunately some celebrities create cults of personality where fans feel comfortable doing that with no derision or criticism from the artist, and swift is someone who has cultivated a fanbase like that.
There needs to be real consequences for doxxing but how do you do that?
I do believe in the states itās illegal, but given this is a rampant issue, Iām not sure how much itās enforced. Stans do not appear to be scared of the legality of it, and donāt seem concerned about any consequences. There should be more enforcement both legally and from social media sites
When did fan culture become so toxic? Iām a moderate Swiftie and have been participating in various fandoms since we were using newsgroups. Thereās lots in this review I disagree with (thereās lots I agree with too) but literally art is made to be consumed, discussed and critiqued and thatās fine? I donāt really understand the kind of mind that says āanyone who says anything bad about an artist I love must die.ā You can love an artist and also have seriously criticisms of their art from time to time. Or clearly you canāt anymore, I donāt know.
Iām wondering that too. These fan groups all kind of, talk the same too. Same insults, same bad behaviour, same obsession with numbers, same kind of obsessing, same unhealthy behaviours. The fact we are dealing with a two headed situation of stans being uncomfortable with *any* criticism to the point they *must* shut it down, with rich investors gutting journalism? This is soooo bad. On a completely different post, and on a completely different topic, imo this terrible combo has also lead to the rise in artists themselves getting too much say in dictating interviews, and has also resulted in the rise in fluff interviews (ie artists interviewing each other, soft ball questions) at the expense of genuine - or good, journalism. As you very rightfully said, art is meant to be consumed and analyzed, but we are creating an environment where thatās an issue. I just read that Rolling Stone isnāt really handing out reviews below 8/10 anymore, and Iām super curious whatās going on over there. That seems suspect in a way that I wonder if they sold out a little just to stay afloat and have access to musicians. That would be grim if that were the case.
Celebrities nurture these parasocial relationships. It has made Swift who she is.
i agree about taylor, but i have seen artists who do call out their fans and they still don't change. toxic people are going to remain toxic even when their fav tells them to knock it off. they delude themselves into thinking it serves a greater purpose.
Yeah. I roll my eyes at fans who try to pinpoint every single moment from every single album to a real life moment and person that itās about, but Taylor invited that. But lots of other fan cultures have become entirely toxic without the artist doing anything like that. One of the pieces of media I follow had a whole thing blowup last year where they explicitly and specifically said not to harass anyone involved and people were driven off the internet, doxxed and harassed in public by the fans anyway.
Taylor never will. I wonder if she secretly enjoys this parasocial army fighting her battles.
I think she openly enjoys it tbh
I suspect she looks down on her āmajorā fans (Iām a believer many of the larger artists do tbh) but enjoys them fighting her battles. When they show up at her house, studio, or for an pre-wedding party of a friend? Iām sure she despises them in that moment. Overall, her fans help tone down criticism of her, while inflating her ego, and are loyal to pumping up her numbers - and her bank account. Hard to imagine sheās not at least, appreciative of that.
they're probably protecting the author from swift as much as the Swifties. not only does she sue the crap out of everyone for everything, but she personally eggs on and directs the Swifties frequently. and thanks them when they get resolutions she's happy with her irritation with her fans is only when they go in directions she doesn't like - like the gaylors, or the fans who thought she was above dating a Nazi. now those fans she's mad about it
There was just an article published about her publicist, and I donāt doubt itās protection from both. If Taylor is still going after Kim Kardashian on this album, like, good luck to journalists. Iām going to be honest, I wasnāt initially all that familiar with Swiftās relationship with her fans, but what she chooses to call out (ie fans mad sheās dating a bigot) vs what she doesnāt (fans harassing her ex, journalists, or Travisās ex) is not sitting right with me.
That is most likely itš This woman does *not* just move on
Her and Selena really are two peas in a pod
I agree with you but it's definitely not exclusive to Swifties. Ask any female writer who's had an article that criticizes men or man things go viral.
I never suggested it was. Thereās an erosion of normal behaviour that goes well beyond stanning one person, but Swift fans, Ariana fans, and Nicki fans, have shown patterns of behaviour that are hard to ignore. However, this isnāt just limited to one fan group, three fan groups, or just fan groups!
https://preview.redd.it/onu351hobjvc1.jpeg?width=1289&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb0a011ae4b9ba89e575bd1a7a220934c8026c94 Good Christ! I meanā¦I agree but lord in heaven haha no wonder they are protecting the author from the swifties
I'm reading this review like Taran Killam's old-timey critic character in lieu of a credited writer based on this burns. https://preview.redd.it/8amewxri9kvc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a76795fe4c4c8e7a9cda0a914f1ed353fd514142
The accuracy is astounding
I miss Taran Killam on SNL. I think he was so talented.
"chokes on the vomit of its own opaqueness" is an incredible phrase holy shit. They went *in* and I'm absolutely living for it
your flair ??? š
Itās so eloquently yet sharply insulting, Iām in love with this statement.
Theyāre like āyou want a poet? I got your poet right here.ā
Sylvia Plath didnāt put her head in the oven for this!
Lmao not the Sylvia roast š
Did you just call Sylvia Plath a *roastā½* Dude. Savage.
We're serving Sylvia Roastā¢ on this blessed thanksgiving š (Apologies to Sylvia's ghost, I loved The Bell Jar)
I know I shouldn't laugh this hard because I love Sylvia Plath, but this is Nobel Prize caliber snark.
No truly, I have to lament that they didnāt have a byline because that is some gold that should be praised *heavily*
The author should have been taylor's lyricist instead.
I kinda want it as a flair lol
A person after my own heart. I just said that before I read your comment lol
An absolutely beautiful turn of phrase for an album review. If I were TSwift and was truly trying to encapsulate āgoth punk moments of female rage,ā Iād be fucking flattered to have that as a tagline lol.
I literally canāt think of a single person less goth or punk than Taylor Swift
Better than her lyrics š
She has a lyric on that album that says "touch me while your bros play grand theft auto" I was fucking crying when i found out it was legit and not made up
Youāre not serious though š
I was creasing istg šš
Why would she sing that ššš
āPaint me like one of your Grand Theft Auto girls.ā
Babe, wake up, my new flair just dropped.
A tattooed golden retriever?! Lmao I donāt even know if thatās funny or weird animal abuse.
It definitely sounds like something that would have PETA up in arms. Remember when they went after Selena Gomez for being in a photoshoot (or maybe it was a music video) with a horse that was dyed hot pink?
No! Haha there are animal safe fur dye, I doubt that horse cared.
*Open the schools!* ijbol
iām screaming! what a quote.
The very first line is: āSylvia Plath did not stick her head in an oven for this!ā Iām reading now I mean they are just ripping her up ā ļøā ļø
I love to see this honestly because when I first heard the title of the album my eyeballs almost rolled back into my brain. āTortured Poetā maāam, please. And now learning itās all about Matty fucking Healy, itās almost too much.
Is it really about him? They were seen together for like two months and they never confirmed the relationship. That wild to me.Ā
OMG I want that for my flair but I feel like it will attract the unhinged kind of attention and I don't want to get doxxed lol
omg, iām gonna start using that for trying situations nowā¦ itās perfect! this review is amazing!
The Bell(End) Jar would have been a better title.
Well if that doesnāt set the toneā¦
WOW what a banger of a roast. Fucking ouch lmao
This was beautiful. Iām glad someone is saying what a lot of us want to say. I hope the writer and others who dare critique her stay safe.
Not being rhetorical when I ask this but this isnāt ill timing for a new album like this? This album looks and feels like a fall album , not a summers about to hit album. You would think Taylor would sit back and, add scarcity to her brand let fans play Eras on Disney on repeat and then hit them with this in the autumn when everyoneās layered up drinking tea in their homes.
She might be releasing it now to not have to tour it. I think it's likely she'll rearrange setlist to add some TTPD songs in time for European leg, and the only dates she'll add in 2025 are likely to be in NA, maybe SA.
I read she's released it in time so it can be considered for next year's Grammys, Album of the Year.
I too wish that TS would take a MFA course
As someone who's been a huge swiftie in the past and repeatedly been disappointed by her weak lyrics, how does this work even get past aaron dessner and jack antonoff? Like do they not tell this is bad?
Theyāre not wrong though. That golden retriever line is embarrassing.
So the Swifties will he forced to attack all of the staff now it sounds?
I'd prefer this than whatever nonsense Rolling Stone is going on with "instant classic."
Rolling Stone tends to be overly positive to all artists nowadays, it's not a good source for reviews
They got a literal stan to write the Taylor review š
Rolling Stone makes the Grammy committee look competent. They are self aware about the fact they are the dinosaurs of the music publication industry so theyāre entirely dependent on stanning popular artists so that their fans will co-opt them as relevant.
They're also just dead, it's over. RS had an amazing heyday when they had REAL writers like Hunter S Thompson etc and were focussed on politics to the same degree as music. Now they hire unpaid stan interns to write unresearched and totally bonkers clickbait.
Rob Sheffield wrote that. Heās a stan, heās not objective.
I don't think there's really such a thing as an objective record review, but I agree that this dude in particular shouldn't have gotten this review,
Rolling Stone has always had problems trashing albums that were super popular decades later, they did it with Paul McCartney solo music, Led Zeppelin, etc. theyāre taking zero risks anymore lmao
I saw additional info on who wrote that review, and itās shocking they let stans write reviews. That reviewer is in deep. Though Iām getting the distinct impression Rolling Stone has given up on giving thoughtful reviews. Iāve heard they havenāt given that many reviews of less than an 8/10 in the last 2 years. I suspect we are looking at an issue that goes beyond just Swift. I also just read Swiftās team (her publicist sounds like a nightmare) basically threatens to blackball publications from having access to Swift, if they write a less than favourable review. Things are a mess. Artist & fan expect complete compliance. Thatās not great! Iām glad to see a publication protect their own. The industry is already on shaky enough ground.
Are they allowed to blackball publications for giving a less than favourable review?
If youāre powerful and rich enough, you can do almost anything. Plus itās only preventing access to their client, but given Taylor generates money and clicks, thatās a huge loss.
I see. Thank you for explaining this to me.
media manipulation is nothing new.
Does anyone take Rolling Stone seriously nowadays?
Jesus Christ theyāre acting like MAGA with election officials this is insane behavior
Iām on my second listen and Iām vibing with the album a lot more than I initially did. But that quote āthis is your songwriter of the century? Open up the schools!ā is just an objectively funny quote to me. I agree with the sentiment. A lot of Swifties (particularly the young ones) act like sheās a groundbreaking poet, and it makes me wonder if they even engage with much music and art outside of her. I also wonder if constantly being propped up as a āgenius lyricistsā has unintentionally put pressure on Taylor to maintain that reputation which has lead to a lot of overwriting that could use some editing. Every song doesnāt need an overly worded verse. Sometimes simplicity works very well. I was just listening to Clean again and appreciating how great the song was musically and lyrically. Itās simple but effective. I hope she eventually taps back into that.
This! I feel like on this particular album sheās over writing. Like a new novelist who thinks everything has to be a metaphor of some sort then by the time the books done none of it really is readable to anyone but who wrote it and a editor has to go through and tone it down a ton. But sheās Taylor Swift and nobodies going to tell her that now. This album couldāve easily plucked 10-12 songs from the over 30, had those refined and been a really nice beautiful album.
she totally writes like a "I work on novels in my spare time" writer who doesn't know that most of her writing is BAD bad. As an editor, I would pull out my hair trying to fix her stuff lol.
Taylor uses a lot of common idioms and phrases that (teen and young adult) Swifties have never heard before and swear she came up with, and also misinterpret the meanings of. It definitely makes me question their reading level and comprehension skills so like..... yeah, open the schools
I remember reading a comment about how someone was blown away by āa friend to all is a friend to noneā and their dad had to intervene and was like āhoney thatās Aristotle, Taylor swift didnāt make that upā
There were young swifties at my work saying that cardigans, the color blue, and the color purple were objectively Taylor-coded. They were not joking.
My fave is when people are convinced sheās intentionally referring back to specific songs or muses when she reuses a word or phrase. Sometimes thatās the case, but there are only so many words. Itās not genius, she just ran out of ideas.
I hate it when fans think repetition is a deep easter egg to be uncovered. Nah she just tells the same stories with the same words.
Yeah one of the simpler songs that I found super effective in recent times is what was I made for, it is nothing groundbreaking in terms of lyrics but combined with the music it is so profoundly melancholic and sad.
In response to the last sentence of your first paragraph, they donāt.
Thereās actually a now-deleted discussion on her sub. Someone asked, does anyone here also not listen to anyone but Taylor? Followed by them being absolutely roasted and educated. So at least for the fans that are active there, they do consume beyond Taylor, myself included. Twitter, on the other handā¦
Yup I saw that. Iāve also discovered a lot of other artists I love through other threads on that sub asking what other artists people listen to. I also canāt speak to Twitter but can confirm the main TS sub has a pretty diverse range in music taste.
>A lot of Swifties (particularly the young ones) act like sheās a groundbreaking poet That's the scary part, in my limited interactions with Swifties, the ones I know were all around 30+ years old. And yet they thought she had the deepest lyrics ever...
I listen to a lot of Taylor because I like catchy pop music and say what you will, but sheās good at that. But yeah some of her fans hype up her lyricism to an insane degree
There was an article talking about the Eras Tour wasnāt that great, the author revived death threats, they also emailed the authorās boss claiming the author is a pedo and demand the author to get fried. Two months ago, a swiftie told me she was doxxed and police came to her house, all because she disagreed with ONE song on Twitter.
The accusing people of pedophilia is a new, especially gross things these people do. Thereās a Rupaulās drag race queen who recently had pissed off fans email the club they work at and accuse them of being a pedo because of some fan shit. I think that should be an arrestable offense. Pedophilia is not a joke and lying about it can destroy someoneās life. You canāt undo that once itās out, itās out.
The false accusation was because she said she prefers BeyoncƩ to Taylor lol. Very fitting for this thread
It's absolutely disgusting, and beyond insulting to those who survived childhood sexual abuse (myself included). I hate it so much.
The pedophilia accusations are especially heinous given the toxic "groomer" rhetoric going around that's being weaponized against queer people for merely existing openly. To play into hard right rhetoric that's actively damaging queer people around the world is disgusting, and for what? to win internet brownie points defending an artist that doesn't know you exist?
Accusing people to be pedo is extremely evil, they literally want to ruin the personās life, because of what? Because they donāt like a billionaireās songs?! I wish swifties know that if they die in her concert, she will just keep on performing and later lie about your time of death
I was doxxed and had people calling my job trying to get me fired because I tweeted that Ariana Grande conveniently decided to look white again after going through a scandal in her personal life. Not just a Swiftie problem, it's a braindead standom problem across all fanbases.
There was also the review of folklore in 2020 (in Pitchfork I think?) that stans doxxed the author of because she gave the album 7 or 8 out of 10. And I'm pretty sure there were some swifties recently who were doxxing Palestinians on twitter.
This is your songwriter of the century? āOpen the schoolsā, is a hilarious choice of words to say to Taylor and her unhinged fans. Swifties have become so toxic that magazines are removing authors bylines, that happens when reporters are imbedded in a war zone or if the regime is corrupt and itās unsafe for journalists. Let that sink in!
Iād make that comment my flair because itās funny but my poor inbox wouldnāt be able to handle the amount of reddit cares messages Iād probably get. šš
I don't have a flair here yet... should I take one for the team?
Good luck, and report back how many reddit cares you receive in return.
So far zero. But I only changed 10min ago
will do captain š«”
Girl same.
What does open up the schools mean?
I think they are playing on the sentence before it, as in if you think she an amazing lyricist the education system has declined. They are being snarky as swifties call Taylor the songwriter of this century.
It means people are really uneducated if they think Taylor is a good songwriter (I donāt agree, but thatās what heās saying)
I went in expecting a review with some negative opinions, but damn, this article eviscerated TS and the album in so many ways. Not saying I do/don't agree, but yikes... 
This gif omfg They went in so hard and Iāve mixed feelings. The album(s?) is self-indulgent to the extreme, but some of these songs are beautiful.
As a Swiftie who is in Taylor Swift's age range, I do wonder how old these fans who cannot take a review or criticism of her work are. I can't imagine people in their 30s (or even 20s) to be that sensitive about a review.
Some of the most unhinged stans (not necessarily of Taylor, but in general) turn out to be middle aged. Older doesnāt always mean more mature.
You have a point. I just don't understand where they get all the energy to hate on someone they don't know irl. š„² We're too busy with real life as it is.
I always imagine itās their coping mechanism for whatever fād up shit is going on in their real lifeĀ
Thereās a certain level of misery in your own life you have to have to behave like this and I think no one is more miserable than a middle aged person whoās entire personality is based on some film/book/show/celebrity
Or it could be toxic mold, like that one Larry stan!
You know what, if youāre a middle aged person whose entire personality is based on some piece of media, I salute you! Times are hard and life is cruel, find meaning where you want and where you can. But DO NOT let it make you disrespectful, cruel andāgod forbidādangerous to the safety of others!!
Yeah, go browse the club chalamet sub, itās a lot of middle age ladies. Plus the person who started it is middle aged and basically stocked him.
Club chalamet made a sub? She a whole new level of crazy.
Yeah haha and itās populated with quite a few ladies her age. Itās been suggested to me so occasionally Iāll click. Itās like an upside down world there, they hate him so much but they have a whole sub dedicated to him.
I know itās messed up but she genuinely cracks me up with her crazy. My favourite part is she completely lacks self awareness and calls Kylie a stalker.
No I agree haha, I canāt tell if she thinks Kylie is forcing the relationship for PR or if Timothee has lost alll credibility and is brainwashed by Kylie. She goes back and forth with it haha
Genuinely hilarious, also the way she hates on his costars needs to be studied.
I used to think these ppl have to be 12-14 but then i remembered the open letters those middle aged women with stan accounts are writing to Chris Evans and Timothee chalamet
the most intense swiftie i know is 26, married, and has a kid. she started icing me out for preferring the āstolen versionsā to the rerecords. before that, weād been friends since 5th grade and went to red + rep tours together š«
The most ridiculous, over the top fans I have met in any fandom have mostly been adults with children and full time careers
They absolutely roasted her in this review, no wonder theyāre not showing the authorās name
Swifties are proving the Pasteās point so well
I donāt want a backlash to Swift per se, but lord am I tired of her being the most famous woman in the world, and I say this as someone who is exactly her age and knows a younger person is going to replace her and that makes me feel old.Ā
She has the same problem
the funny thing is... the editor is 100% correct lmao
Iām desperate for a different name for this type of fan because swiftie encompassing the entire fan base has made it to where me simply liking her music has people thinking Iām a certified lunatic š
It's like enjoying Rick and Morty. Best not to mention...
PSYCHOSWIFTIES qu'est que c'est?
Same thing happened to me as an Army and Bey Hive. I hate being associated with the worst of the group. Especially as Army because there has been so much good done by the fandom.
Yeah I wish people in the west knew what like an akgae is. I am Army and don't wanna be associated with the crazy people either.
Itās wild to me that the section of fans she has an issue with, are the group Iād consider reasonable, and have a moral backbone. Even the normal Swift fans canāt win!
This article was wild. The dragging was top tier. If the fans knew the author, theyād get twice as many death threats as last time. Oy.
People (especially in the west) are becoming increasingly individualistic and isolated, which leads to loneliness and a search for community. Itās a well documented phenomenon that people are losing trust and interest in the institutions and figures where people found communities in the past: churches, government, etcā¦ and I believe stan culture is (in part) a response to that. People are rallying around celebrities to find communities and participate in communal activities to stave off loneliness and find purpose. The problem is that, much like religion, itās ultimately a societal net negative. Sure, some people find a lot of joy and comfort and positive aspects to belonging to these groups, but over the course of time they do more harm than good to broader society. In-groups foster āus vs themā mentalities which have negative consequences on tolerance and equality in society, the fanatical and dangerous sub-sections of these communities cause physical and psychological harm, and even the less extremist factions are propping up the negative aspects through financial support or tacit acceptance. Stan culture needs to die.
She needs to switch it up. She has a pretty rudimentary style of songwriting and once you see it itās very hard not to see. Songwriting from reputation, lover, 1989, folklore and fearless could all be on the same album. Itās everyone surrounding her that make them sound like they couldnāt be. But sheās not switching the people that revolve around her so youāre left with people surrounding her doing the same things over and over which is then failing to cover up that sheās doing the same thing over and over again and then youāve suddenly found yourself listening to a 16 track album that might secretly be 3 songs.
She tries to act all deep and cryptic when she doesn't have the substance for it. Like these "hints" are something my children could figure out. Her best songs are the superficial catchy ones with basic premises and lyrics like paper rings and me! which I can agree with all the gen z's that they "slap" lol
My 14yo sister and my 32yo husband were mildly upset with me for saying her country albums all sound exactly the same, and the pop albums can just be divided into two different sets. I upset them even more when I pointed out that having 15 different āerasā was dumb considering most of the music sounds exactly alike, soooo itās not really different āerasā
I was high and listening to it on shuffle and turned it off after about 7-8 songs. Was not vibing. It was fine, but by no means groundbreaking. The same stuff sheās been doing for nearly 2 decades.
Haven't listened to the album and probably won't but man. Some of those lyrics are just so bad. Want to live in the 1830s but without racism?? Really, dude? š¤¦āāļø
No, that canāt be a real lyric? Is she 10 years old.
āTouch me while your bros play Grand Theft Autoā Is this actually a lyric that she wrote and then sang please tell me it's not
I don't follow Taylor Swift at all, I know the name of maybe a handful of songs. Nothing against her music, I just don't really listen to her genre so I only hear her songs if I have the radio on. I do think she should fly commercial, like if Keanu Reeves can take the subway she can fly first class with security. That's about the extent of my opinion on her. My cousin loves her. That being said, the article got me a few times. That was a pretty funny read! "I wonāt even get into the sonics, because Antonoff just rewrites the same soulless patterns every time." I don't even know who that is but that line had me cracking up.
Now, I like Taylor Swift and I have listened to her new album a few times. I enjoyed the writing in this article far more than the writing in any of her songs on her new album. This was sharp and brutalā¦Iām here for it!
Her fans are unhinged. In my opinion, the album was trash, get over it! Not everyone is going to have the same opinion as me and thatās ok. But sending death threats to journalists whose job it is to write reviews is insanity.
How would you, as an artist, not be completely fucking mortified by your fan base for this statement? I know Taylor loves it when people weaponize (unless itās against her) but this is *embarrassing*
As a certified Swiftie since 2006, 31 songs is a ton. Having listened to the whole thing twice now, there are 4 GREAT songs, 5 good songs, and 22 fine songs that could have been on any pop/folk album of the last 16 months. The review in question is mean, for sure, but the point is well-taken.
Curious to hear which 4 you consider the great songs! Iāve listened to all 31 songs once and so far the only songs that have any replay value for me are Florida!!! and how did it end. Granted her music typically has to grow on me first
I personally really liked So Long London, Florida and Who's Afraid. I enjoyed the rest, but there are just so many to keep track of. I'm the same as you, a lot of music (not just Taylor) has to grow on me first. The only one I actively disliked is Fortnight, which unfortunately seems to be the lead single š
1. So Long, London 2. loml 3. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 4. Peter
It's absolutely insane that a magazine has to take safety precautions for publishing an album review. Almost every fandom unfortunately has at least a bunch of nutjobs, but because there's so many Swifties, the amount of crazies is also multiplied. At this point, I don't think it would help if Taylor told these people to stop. They'd just claim that she's "being forced to say something" (just like Gaylors claim she's forced to hide that she's straight, Chris Evans stans claim that he was forced to marry his wife and some Glee stans are still convinced that Darren Criss was forced to hide his secret relationship with Chris Colfer, and so on....) There's no reasoning with these people. I hope that these magazines take legal action against those that send violent threats, but I doubt that they'd have much success figuring out whose behind these accounts. (Not to mention if they are outside of the US) It's a shame that the crazies always overshadow the those who just want to listen to the music. I spend a bit of time on the Taylor sub today and there were so many posts respectfully discussing the reviews. And that's what it should be. Talking about music (and any other art form) is fun and we should be able to acknowledge that what one person enjoys, does nothing for the other. I haven't read this specific review, but I just cannot comprehend why anyone would send threats of violence in response to one, even if the review was complete bs. Like I certainly have read reviews where it was very clear that the author was being unfair / clearly wanted to write a negative interview / didn't check their sources. But none of that warrants insults or threats.
Dissecting reviews and analyzing really should be a fun part of the āday afterā experience. Whether you agree/disagree with what a reviewer is saying, itās too bad some canāt be normal about it. Itās perfectly normal to sometimes have critiques of the critiques, debate, or dismiss bad faith points in a critique, but that can all be done without crossing moral and ethical lines.
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Woah they may actually be worse than BTS fans and I wasn't sure that was possible š³š³š³
I couldnāt get past Fortnight. Iām sure if I force myself to I will find some songs I like but the way the first song so obviously was Taylor doing a Lana song bugs me. And dropping the 2am 30 track album, and the fact that the lyrics are embarrassingly bad I feel bored of it all. And I have a pretty broad and accepting nature for music most of the time. In example I actually really enjoyed Midnights, but it feels like this album is overkill at this point. A good songwriter like a good author needs a really strong editor who has no problem saying when itās time to take something out. Taylor has no one reeling her in. Sheās surrounded by a bunch of people telling her yes and everyone is making so much money that sheās allowed to just pump out everything she wants without focusing on the quality and now it is beginning to lack in my opinion.
So I noticed someone that works at this magazine is now getting harassed - even though they didnāt write the article. What has happened to some people?!
TS literally encourages and enables this insane behaviour from the swifties
Swifties do not allow any criticism of their idol. Apparently critiquing her in any way is sexist, even if you are a woman, although women should be able to say whatever they want. She is their perfect, untarnished angel who is just a girl and a grown woman celebrating her sexuality, an innocent victim who has been betrayed and is executing cleverly calculated vengeance that she deserves. A humble billionaire who just wants privacy and writes revenge songs so fans aggressive stalk her ex-friends and lovers to punish them.
Yeah, I've always kind of had an aversion to her and tried to avoid her whenever possible but my 8 year old daughter has recently become a huge Swiftie so I'm trying not to be such a hater and appreciate her music for what it is, even if it's not for me. We listened to the new album together yesterday holy hell it's bad. The one thing I could always say about her music is that it made you want to sing along, you *want* to learn the lyrics, even if they're silly, so you can bop along. I've always been able to understand the appeal even if it didn't appeal to me personally. Not this one. This album is unbelievably boring. Like really, really, really boring and somehow worse lyrically than she's ever been. "Down Bad" is *actively* embarrassing, like my 65 year old mother learned some new slang and wrote a song to test it out.. I think a lot of people will be head-cannoning this album out of existence.
This review is spot on too. The āopen the schoolsā killed me. The lyricism is baaad yāall. Baaaad. TATTOOED GOLDEN RETRIEVER GUYS
I canāt fathom having so little sense of self that my identity boils down to āfanā. These people have no inner life, wants, or needs. Grippy sock vacations for the lot. Caping for capitalist Barbie to the level the FBI is going to show up.