My, They Grow Up Fast!
Jeezy Creezy, what happened to Taylor Swift, the girl next door? Someone has abducted her and replaced her with Taylor Swift, the blonde Barbie doll. Is that Paris Hilton painting her toe-nails and yakking on the phone? Oh no, that’s Taylor Swift. Is that Mena Suvari laying in a bed of rose petals? Nope, Taylor again! I’ll take the awkward but charming Taylor in an apron and lab glasses any day, but then again, I guess I’m not exactly the target demographic here :) On a positive note, I really liked the clips showing her rocking out with her band. Rock on, Taylor, just don’t lose that girlish charm!
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Grace says:
I thought it was cute… like a girl playing dress up. If I were 17, that would be the exact kind of video I would want to make.
There was nothing revealing or saucy about that at all. It was cute.
B.W. LaRoy says:
Oh…Paleeeezy…Cheeezy, you can git over yersef and this whole entire BloG…but thanks for promoting a very fun video! I’m all about this innocent piece of work. It goes perfect with the song and doesn’t mean to do anything but follow the entire groove of everything they’ve done with Taylor so far. The reason this works is that it’s very much the real version of what kids dream at her her age…and if you go back to what her parents were seeing on MTV 20 some years ago…it’s about the same. Please save me from another Prom-Night with your comparisons. She’s the real deal. To Taylor and her stylists…Go Go Girl! B.W. LaRoy, Wife, and Daughters 2
Ryan Kaldari says:
I’m not saying the video is too sexy, I’m saying it’s too shallow. Taylor just seems so one-dimensional in it. I think the reason people like Taylor is because she’s more than just a pretty face and a pretty voice. We don’t need another Carrie Underwood. Oops, did I say that? :)
B.W. LaRoy says:
Hooray for shallow! Like I said…MTV 20 some years ago…it doesn’t get a whole lot more shallow than that…and that’s azackly whut brung the video whut killed the radio star to the dance. Underwood?…shallow. Shallow=Good. My daughters are the ones who have the expendable income and buy the razors and the Oxy zit wash…you know?…the innocent…shallow little important demographic. You want heavy? See you at the Kiss concert. Ooops…did I mention something shallow that the masses have confused with heavy and never let go of? B.W. LaRoy
hotelmotel says:
The “Teardrops” video is sexier than this new one.
The “teardrops” video had the scene with Taylor lying in BED with a Guitar.At first, she seems to be “spooning” the guitar. But then, With her hand, She gropes a certain long and narrow part of the guitar (a part protruding from its body). She then moves her hand up and down the neck, and yet she is not even trying to make music. What could she be doing? What could this symbolize? Perhaps the guitar really isn’t a guitar? She looks seductively at the camera the whole time. Why would she do that?
Its so blatant, so un-subtle. There is nothing “girlish” abou it at all.
I hope this post is not objectionable. It shouldn’t be as it is merely describing accurately something that CMT shows on this website and on tv.
Grace says:
The “teardrops” video had the scene with Taylor lying in BED with a Guitar
OH NOES! NOT A BED!!!! Seventeens year olds aren’t supposed to do ANYTHING on beds because everyone knows that beds are only for doing dirty, nasty things that should be cloaked in the night.*
I think Big Machine (her label) is marketing her just like they should–as a 17-year old. Taylor is a far cry from being portrayed as sexy and lustworthy.
Pardon me as I throw up a little in my mouth as I type this next thought. What comes to mind when I think of Taylor is that sacchrine, icky Britney Spears song (barf) “I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman.” Because that’s what Taylor is. She’s exploring how she’s going to be a woman in the way that most 17 year old girls are.
She gropes a certain long and narrow part of the guitar
That’s what that part of the guitar is made for. Groping. Have you ever tried to “grope” the body of a guitar? Not so easy.
She then moves her hand up and down the neck, and yet she is not even trying to make music. What could she be doing? What could this symbolize?
Yes, the only possible explanation is that she is trying to simulate a h******. It couldn’t be because the song is about breaking up with your boyfriend and missing him innocently. Seventeen year olds never break up and over-dramatic, seemingly-earth-shattering ways. And the video directors definitely weren’t trying to get the “teardrops ON MY GUITAR” image worked into the video. Certainly not.
She looks seductively at the camera the whole time.
Would you rather her run around in a buhrka, so only her eyes are showing? Maybe she shouldn’t make eye contact with anyone at all, lest they think she’s *gasp* trying to seduce them!
Taylor is being 17. I think her label reps are being very careful in making sure they market a 17 year old appropriately. She can’t be clad in ribbons and bows and pinafores. She’s almost a woman, and it’s kind of neat to watch her grow up. I’ve been following her career since before her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” was released and it’s great to watch her NATURALLY blossom. I think anything contraversial that you might find about her, her videos and other marketing intiatives is because your mind is LOOKING for something contraversial and you are persieving a dirty thing.
Okay, I’m off my soapbox now. *sigh* that feels better. :-)
Sorry to hijack your blog, Ryan/CMT.
*Note the sarcasm, please.
hotelmotel says:
Let me respond point by point.
1) While a bed can be used innocently, It often is not. The directors chose to put her in a bed for a reson, and it wasn’t to convey the message “gee, its getting late tonight maybe i should get some sleep.” The scene shows that she is longing for a boy — something she could do anywhere, not necessarily in bed.
2) I know how to play a guitar, thank you. And I know that no guitar player plays the guitar by moving the hands in the way Taylor Swift does in that scene. She obviously is NOT trying to make noise with the guitar. So the question is, what is she trying to do? Her hand movements resemble a certain bedroom activity, and the fact that she does it on a long wooden part of the guitar reinforce that interpretation.
3) Even if the directors were trying to get the teardrops on the guitar theme going, they also inserted acts that
could be interpreted quite differently.
4) I agree her handlers want to market her well. And I never claimed that this scene would be controversial. I don’t think it would. There are visual puns like this all over the media these days. For instance, 2 years ago the movie poster to “Duece Bigelow European Gigolo” was in virtually every US shopping mall. It featured an actor sitting on a bench with a gigantic picture of the leaning tower of piza coming out of his crotch at a 45 degree angle. That didn’t cause any national, widespread outrage and neither will Taylor’s scene. People are no longer shocked by these things.
4) Could it be that the song is about breaking up and missing someone, as you point out? Of course!! But that doesn’t exclude my interpretation of the scene either. Both messages are shown in the video, I think.
5) Is this my interpretation? Of course. It may or may not be the best one possible.
6) Its possible to interpret this innocently, as you do, by isolating each one of my examples and claiming an innocent explanation (maybe she is in bed cuz she is tired). But when you put together the bed, the look in her eyes, the longing for a boy, the way she spoons the guitar, and then the way she plays with it, all together, you have a clear visual play here rich in symbolism.
Ryan Kaldari says:
Hehe, hijack away! It’s interesting that you bring up Britney Spears. Anyone remember when she was a (not that) innocent schoolgirl? I certainly hope Taylor’s career is a bit more nuanced than Britney’s turned out to be. Teenage sex appeal is great, but you need substance to back it up. I’m sure Taylor is capable of more than just playing dress up and stroking guitars. Just look at the wide range of expression we see in the Teardrops video. Taylor comes across as an actual human being, not a sacchrine teenage bombshell. I’m sure her fans (teenage girls) really love all the dresses and make-up and all that, but I’m just saying I hope Taylor doesn’t let herself be typecast into such a narrow role. I’m sure that Big Machine would love for her to become the Country Music Britney Spears, but I think it would be disappointing.
hotelmotel says:
Taylor has a lot of musical talent while Britney has very little. Taylor could make her mark as a singer of substance if she wants. Britney had no choice but to act sexy, and once she lost her sex appeal she had nothing.
But put yourslef in Taylor’s shoes: Perhaps she wants to make music of substance, but she probably also knows that she can make a lot of money by pandering to lowest-common denominator stuff. It’s easy for us to say “take the high road, Taylor,” but she has to put food on the table too. That is a difficult choice for anyone at any age.
Anonymous says:
How can anybody interpret Taylor’s videos as raunchy? They’re not. She’s classy and sings music. Get your mind out of the gutter.
B.W. LaRoy says:
Anonymous, thank you. Some people just need to get a room…sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh. B.W.LaRoy
Hogsmicugshig says:
You don’t really need or want that lifestyle, it might hurt y’all slowly more…….Just tell him you
don’t wanna repeat something your not too proud of z7uas.
kaley says:
u r the best singer this is 1 of my fav. songs u sing
i love u good luck
morgan says:
DEAR TAYLOR I LOVE THE SONG TEAR DROPS ON MY GUTAR I LUV U
MORGAN IM AM 7 YRS. AND U R MY FAV. SINGER
loans23 says:
wow :-)
its very point of view.
Good post.
realy good post
thx :-)