CMT Blog: Taylor Swift

Roman White is the man behind the new Taylor Swift video, "Mine." You can scour the Internet for details on the shoot (what designer was wore, how hot was that guy in it, is there some kind of kissing scene, where did they shoot it), and you will never find more comprehensive scoop than in White's own blog now that the video is officially finished. He rants a bit about how hot it was in Maine ("I'm talking eggs boiling on your buns HOT!"). And he reminisces about the producer getting accosted by a sea gull and about getting a Hugs A Lot bear from Swift at the end of the project. The shoot started on a 2,000-acre estate, then the cast and crew headed to a small town called Cape Porpoise. White doesn't give a premiere date for this insanely anticipated video, but since the song itself was released earlier than planned, maybe the same will happen with the video.

Photo credit: Peter Kramer

If it was not for Jerrod Niemann's swift rise to fame, and his very infectious "Lover, Lover," I might never have heard of Sonia Dada. Neimann remade the group's 1992 hit, "You Don't Treat Me No Good," into "Lover, Lover." And if it was not for Kenny Chesney's "Down the Road," I might not have taken it upon myself to fall in love with Mac McAnally's music, as he sings the thoughts of a hesitant father on that tune. And really, I might not have paid enough attention to Kelly Clarkson until she and Reba McEntire came together for that unforgettable collaboration on Clarkson's "Because of You."

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Kanye West wants a fur coat. Kanye West orders bellinis too early. Kanye West drinks New York City tap water. Kanye West likes his new collaboration with Beyoncé. And Kanye West is thrilled he has more than 600,000 followers on Twitter. And that's all well and good, for Kanye West. But have those 600,000 people forgotten what West did? Do they not remember that just about a year ago, he yanked the microphone out of Taylor Swift's hands during her MTV VMA acceptance speech for "Love Story" "You Belong With Me" and told her and the millions watching that, essentially, Beyoncé had the better video? I am not quite over that. So I don't know that I'd want to follow him. Plus, nothing says "It's All About Me" quite like a man with around 610,000 followers and 0 people on his following list.

Photo credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Getting 116 radio stations to put your song on right when it's released is quite an achievement. Because she's just as gifted as a businesswoman as she is a songwriter, Taylor Swift was smart enough to send out a quick thank you to all those stations who added "Mine" to their playlists. (It kind of makes me wonder why some stations didn't add it, you know?) In an impromptu video greeting, Swift offers a heartfelt "Konnichiwa!" then goes on to say hi to her friends at country radio and gives her effusive thanks. She does it from the side of a stage in Toyko where she was part of the Summer Sonic Festival. Right before she heads out to sing, she says, "I'm about to play for 45,000 people in Japan! Wish me luck! Thank you for the first week. I love you."

I predict that professional football will have a whole bunch of new fans next month. Young ones. And girl ones. I'm sure all kinds of rookies will be tuning in to the NFL's annual kick-off concert on Sept. 8 on NBC to see Taylor Swift performing in New Orleans' Jackson Square along with the Dave Matthews Band. They may even stay tuned for the actual game afterward when the Minnesota Vikings play the New Orleans Saints. This is certainly not Swift's first time singing at a sporting event. She started that around 11 years old, when she realized that singing the National Anthem was a surefire way to get potential fans' attention at Philadelphia 76ers' games. She's gone on to sing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament and even at game three of the 2008 World Series when her home-state team, the Philadelphia Phillies, was in it.

When you think Wall Street Journal, you may not think Taylor Swift. But the bottom line is, reporters are people, too. And some of those reporters are people who have little kids and can't help notice how much Swift's music had embedded itself into every inch of pop culture. So this reporter took it upon himself to analyze the lyrics to Swift's new song "Mine," saying it's "dotted with seemingly drawn-from-life details" and that "there's a strong sense of almost-instant nostalgia." And when he reflects on Swift's power over very young kids like his own, he says that young listeners are "nostalgic in reverse." I have to agree that reverse nostalgia works with so many country songs. I haven't sent any kids off to college yet, but Trace Adkins' "Then They Do" hit me hard anyway. And I may not know what it feels like to be married for 58 years, but when I get there, I'm sure I'll be singing Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy."

When Taylor Swift was interrupted by Kanye West at the MTV VMA Awards last year, someone joked about how it was like kicking a kitten. Swift is extremely likeable, so why would anyone want to do something so hateful to her? And I feel a little bit like that today since her first single off her next album was leaked to the Internet without her blessing. It's like kicking the kitten all over again.

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"Dim the lights ... I've voted myself off American Idol." That's what her Tweet said last week. And I think what she meant was: "Idol is going to suck now." She wouldn't say that because she's too nice. And being too nice is, in fact, the reason she's leaving the show. On her website, she says, "I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings." So nice + funny = perfect judge. But if it's not right for her, it's not right. Now the American Idol producers will have some very big shows to fill. There have been rumors, of course. Some claimed Aerosmith's Steven Tyler was considering the job -- to which Kelly Clarkson tweeted, "Just heard Steven Tyler might be a new judge on Idol this year. ... I'm thinking of auditioning again just so I can see him every week :)" But I don't want Idol to suffer. So I have a list going of other people in the industry who would fit in well at the judges' table if Tyler doesn't want the job. Feel free to add your own recommendations.

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She has already admitted that her upcoming album, Speak Now, to be released on Oct. 25, is going to be full of songs that are kind of like open letters to the people in her life. She described the music as "things that I wanted to say in the moment that I didn't. Track by track, each song is a different confession to a different person." And from what I've been hearing about album's very first single, "Mine," Taylor Swift is ready to be that open book. One with a memorable hook, too. "You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter/You are the best thing that's ever been mine," she sings. The song is reportedly up-tempo, with a big chorus, and according to one radio station, unmistakably Taylor. It's about avoiding, then finding, love. And knowing Swift, the song with be as refreshingly honest as she is.

Photo credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

Thank God for the real women of country music, like Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. That's what I'm thinking now after having just read this story in the New York Times about how "Everywhere you look, pop has gone Gaga." It concludes that there's a new feminism in pop music and how freeing the expansion of music liberation has been. But what it's really about is how unrealistic stars like Lady Gaga and Madonna really are. It's about Katy Perry's cupcake boobs in her "California Gurls" video. And how Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were all about their ostentatious image early in their careers. But to me, the unwritten story here is how real country music is.

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