Warning: This is a rant.
Yes, it really is. A calm one, but beware, I might go a bit overboard.
Who writes songs about love experience? Every songwriter.
Who gets the blame for doing it? Taylor Swift.
Okay, you may defend yourself, saying, "Hey! Taylor writes a million trillion songs about breakups."
I reply to that with, "Ever heard 'Mean,' the song about her BULLYING EXPERIENCE? The song that explained why she had, at one point, wanted to commit suicide? Is that about a breakup? Or, perhaps you've heard 'Shake It Off,' a song about you haters out there. Or 'Style,' a song about a relationship in which she never mentions a breakup. If you actually pay attention to what she writes, you'll find she writes solely on experiences. So, imagine you write about your experiences in songs. You have a lot of breakups. You'd be the newest Taylor Swift."
Listen, Taylor Swift has a lot of talent. And I mean A LOT. She's got an amazing voice, and she's got looks going for her, too. She also has an interesting life; why shouldn't she sing about it?
What's wrong with singing about breakups? Many of you out there (admit it, it could be you) think Eww, breakup songs! but you never seem to explain why you dislike breakup songs. Especially Taylor Swift's breakup songs. As I mentioned above, every writer (even us authors who do not particularly write songs) has, at some point in their career, written a song (or book, essay, article, etc.) about THEMSELVES or a BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND or a BREAKUP, so what's so ugly about Taylor's? She, of all people, should be the one being respected, as she's had a rough past and has still carried on.
Oh, so you bring up the point now that she has way more breakup songs than other songwriters. Well, is that a problem? Maybe it's her taste. Have you ever thought that maybe another being whom you dislike has a taste that's diverse and different from your own? Perhaps, even, it's the reason why you have disliked them for so long?
My personal belief about the matter is that no being should be judged for what they enjoy. Taylor enjoys writing her own type of songs. She's different from other songwriters. While many of them are out there getting drunk and then singing about it, Taylor Swift is sitting there being creative and different. If every singer sang about the same thing, going to bars and meeting "hot" people, where would we be? We'd ALL be bored of bars and "hot" people! What would we do then? How would we change our style of music to fit what everyone isn't bored of yet? The reason you can find so many different songs out there is because there are so many listeners out there who all have their own unique tastes.
Like Taylor.
Taylor Swift is not only a singer but a listener. She gets inspired just like we do. She has experiences just like we do. What's so "off" about Taylor Swift and her songs?
Honestly, my opinion is that the people who believe Taylor Swift is "wasting" her talent have invalid arguments. What gives the hint that that is true? What proves that? Her talent is right there; those people just choose not to see it out of jealousy or spite.
That's all I have to say. PLEASE take this seriously. DON'T act like I'm a 3-year-old throwing a fit because someone insulted my favorite singer, because I wrote this as maturely as I could. I couldn't care less if you decide to comment that you disagree, as long as you don't:
1) Cuss
2) Act immature
3) State something that is invalid
Thank you.
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125,005 Literary Works • 672,805 Reviews
A strong point of this piece was your language and description, which is especially shown in the first paragraph, it really draws the reader in an creates some beautiful imagery. I think the fact that it's in the second person is also interesting, and it makes it quite engaging to read as I haven't read a lot in the second person; also it gives it a more personal feel.
Although there were some really beautiful descriptions throughout the piece, after the first paragraph I felt there was enough, and then to read more made it a bit samey to read. I wouldn't say get rid of all of the descriptions because you've done a really good job of them, but I'd say just add some variation in it because right now it's quite description-heavy. Plot wise, what's actually going on? I understand the the MC has lost their love, while these abstract descriptions of it are quite pretty, I think you need some more explanations for it because right now the plot falls a bit flat. I'm not sure if that's what you were going for, to have a more metaphorical piece, but it just seems a bit pointless to do so without more of an explanation for plot.
Wow, this is actually really good for a rant.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Taylor Swift, but then again, I'm not a fan of most popular music. Even still, I quite enjoyed this and definitely understood your point. You make it well.
Really, the only thing I would recommend as an overall fix is to make it a little less antagonistic. I know it's a rant, but although this is great compared to what most rants are, I still think it would help if you backed off a little. Even readers that agree with what you're saying will feel attacked by this, and that's never a good place to be. A large part of what makes it so antagonistic is saying things like
and
" The "you"s are what make the reader feel attacked. Instead, you could shift the focus to third person, i.e "They may defend themselves," "many of them out there."
Also, this bugs me:
If I were you, I would eliminate the caps, pretty much everywhere you use them, but especially here. Caps make you sound angry, and many people can't take anyone seriously if they use all caps on the Internet. So it's probably not the best idea to do that right while you're trying to convince people to take you seriously.
In general, I would pick just one form of emphasis out of the three you used (all caps, bold, and italic) to convey emphasis. Italics are the best choice, in my opinion, because they don't make you sound like your shouting, and they're a lot more common in literature, so people are more used to seeing them.
Also, thank you for this:
"Could care less" is a major pet peeve of mine.
Also, maybe you should add one thing at the end to say that it's okay to dislike her music, but not to say it is any less valid than any other music. Just to distinguish that point.
So anyway, this was great! Thanks for a well-written essay. A pleasure to read and review.
-Meandbooks
I will edit those things, thank you! I was just upset at the time I wrote this; my best friend just told me she disliked Taylor Swift after pretending to like her just so I wouldn't be angry. I just kind of broke. Thanks for the review!
If you listen to her new album, most of them aren't even about her life experiences. Blank space is all about what she thought people thought of her. She is such a good writer.
I think when you mention that she has a lot of talent, you should slip in the fact that she writes her own songs.
Anyway, I agree with you: people who don't like pies don't walk into a bakery every day and yell at the baker for having no talent. If you don't like a certain genre of music, just don't listen to it. People tend to jump on hate-wagons a lot these days. It's a bit annoying.
One last thing: the tone of the argument seems fairly casual. If you want people to take it seriously, it is always best to put it in formal dress.