In praise of pop music: Taylor Swift, Lady GaGa

[cmac2012]

Now hear me out me buckos before you sneer.

Today I'm on some page, Yahoo maybe, can't find it now and the hook was "Surprising fan of Taylor Swift . . ." and I'm thinking, 'OK, I've manfully resisted this latest bubble gum princess, cute enough but a bit skinny, say what, not enough power to the voice perhaps,' bit I'm intrigued, so I click and . . .

It was Lady GaGa, when asked if she had any guilty pleasures musically, confessed that when Taylor Swift's new hit comes on the radio she sings along much too loudly, quickly adding something like, "no disrespect to Taylor or the song, it's a wonderful song but more whimsical than what I usually get into, Taylor is a fine singer and songwriter."

So I look for it on Youtube, the song "You Belong With Me," and yes it is poppy, one of those semi-country songs with a bubble gum flavored finish and may God and Leonard Cohen forgive me, but I really like it. It's my kind of tune to sing and play, syncopated phrasing and all, I'm learning it right now and I am going to kill with this song. College girls are going to be begging me to teach them how to do it (sing the song, that is) when they hear me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNIsY6JdUw

I've done that before when I used to perform more, that is, sing a song that's really meant to be sung from a lady's point of view, starting off with a 'pardon me ya'all, this here is such a lovely little melody, I want you to close your eyes and imagine I'm singing it as a tribute to this fine young songwriter, which I am . . . ' and so on.

[Drezell]

Minus THIS college girl *points at self with both thumbs*


I will admit, I have heard songs from Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift. I can't stand Taylor Swift or her music. I have heard the one you posted before, and that Romeo and Juliet one...and whatever. I can't stand it.

Lady Gaga. I will admit I like a few of her songs...they got catchy after a while, but I still cannot ever like her. Go learn "Bad Romance" and I'll go squeal over you. lol

[cmac2012]

So do you think her popularity comes mostly from guys who think she's hot? Swift, I mean.

I'm not solidly down with either one of them. Taylor Swift carries herself nicely IMO. She has poise and what looks like actual shreds of humility. Lady GaGa, at first I'm thinking 'who is this freak-dame' but then I saw her a few times and realized she actually does have some musical chops. I'll give her this, carrying off that bizarre routine and sorta making it work takes some serious Chutzpah.

So far, none of her songs really move me in any kind of big way. She's not hard on the eyes though, I'll give her that. I did like the fact that she would admit she likes this TS song, as that is not part of her normal image. This is only the second TS tune that I liked at all and although it's sorta formulaic, I really like its rolling rhythm and melody nuances. And the video is charming.

It's much harder than most people think, I swear, to actually compose a catchy melody. And then putting words to it that don't make you gag here and there is its own trick. Lord help me, I have tried and I only have 3 songs that I've written that I would even think about performing for people and only one of those is anywhere close to good IMO.

I've put new lyrics to a couple of obscure songs that work pretty well and added verses to a few songs that stretch them out somewhat and customize them a bit. One of my better stage songs is Paul Simon's Mother and Child Reunion. It's a tad short so one day while singing it with a friend, two extra verses just popped out at the same speed you sing them. It's weird stuff. I wish I was better at it cause I dig a well crafted song. That's why I'm not ashamed to sing so many tunes that others have written. I've got hundreds and hundreds up there gathering dust. If I like the sound and the words speak to me, I figure hey, don't be proud, be a small conduit, spread it around.

So who does "Bad Romance?" (goes to do web search) **BACK** OK, it's LGG. Not available on Youtube anymore. That wasn't the one that broke the Youtube record, was it?

[Drezell]

Swift. I dunno...you know those people who fall in love with all the "disney" creations? Like Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus(Hannah Montana), and Demi Levato....forgive me if you don't know who I'm talking about. I say that those are the type....so...a bit younger than me...and even, yes, into college. But not me...but that's because I don't like rap or country music. The only country music you can get me to listen to is by Carrie Underwood, and a couple by Lonestar. And rap...well...a couple by eminem just make me laugh. But for the most part, I won't like it. So maybe gay guys, or guys that think she's hot, and girls who like country music.

So far Taylor hasn't done anything....extremely odd yet....like go get naked pictures or something. But she does cause a bit of drama at times. And Lady Gaga, a lot of my friends like her, because she has this odd style of hers...but me and another friend agree its a bit annoying. Like, you watch the TV, and they show these actresses and whatnot wear a strange dress, and then the press goes and says "So-and-so wore the HIDIOUS dress of the night" but if Lady Gaga wore that exact same thing, those same people would be like "Lady Gaga was sporting a fabulous styled dress..." blah blah blah. Her style is strange to me. End of story. But I'm a stubborn little girl who won't hear anything else....

But I'll admit, that a few of Lady Gaga's songs have rubbed off on me. I don't really listen to new songs on the radio anymore....but with all the friends I have at my age....they're always listening...so eventually I hear the same stuff over and over again. And even if I hate it at first, sometimes it will get stuck in my head and eventually I like it.

I think you should sing and put it on youtube! You could be the next youtube star! Like Bo Burnham! Haha...again, might not know what I'm talking about, and that's okay.

Lady Gaga's Bad Romance is still up. I'll give you a few links to try. The first one is the official video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlpEldbhiSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbPCtwIQ63I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAoi_-_EVio

[moosejaw]

I saw a video of Swift doing a song acoustic, maybe a year or two old. To put it nicely she was very pitchy. It really annoys me how much Autotuning is done for vocalists these days. Get them out to do something truly live and they fall flat because they can't stay in key. Image is more important than the music I guess.

Edit: Gaga is a good talent. I happened to catch her on the Ellen show. I forget which song it was but she did the beginning of it just her and the piano. At one point she was almost doing a handstand at the keyboard. She stayed in key and played the song without the glitz so everyone knows it is her song. LoL. If she doesn't run out of ideas, she can go far. Swift, not so much.

[Angel]

first off - I love the ST pic.

I'd love to write more but I'll leave it at this:

LGG and Taylor swift are artists, just like Jerry Garcia, Robert Maplethorpe, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Ron Jeremy.

One should never have to justify their likes in 'art' to another person. Which also means that we should never have to be ashamed of music/art/musicals/adult films that we like. Life is too short, and even if you spent your whole life searching for new bands/painters/shows/prons, you'd still miss out on most of them.



je veux t'amour, je veux ta revanche
je veux t'amour, I don't wanna be friends....

-John

[Drezell]

Originally Posted by Angel

first off - I love the ST pic.

je veux t'amour, je veux ta revanche
je veux t'amour, I don't wanna be friends....

-John

I enjoyed the ST pic too! ^_^ I was trying to find an amusing one.

She sounds like she can even pronounce other language words good enough too. But I dunno. Not french.

But yes...I guess...to each his(or her) own.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Drezell

Swift. I dunno...you know those people who fall in love with all the "disney" creations? Like Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus(Hannah Montana), and Demi Levato....forgive me if you don't know who I'm talking about. I say that those are the type....so...a bit younger than me...and even, yes, into college. But not me...but that's because I don't like rap or country music. The only country music you can get me to listen to is by Carrie Underwood, and a couple by Lonestar. And rap...well...a couple by eminem just make me laugh. But for the most part, I won't like it. So maybe gay guys, or guys that think she's hot, and girls who like country music.

So far Taylor hasn't done anything....extremely odd yet....like go get naked pictures or something. But she does cause a bit of drama at times. And Lady Gaga, a lot of my friends like her, because she has this odd style of hers...but me and another friend agree its a bit annoying. Like, you watch the TV, and they show these actresses and whatnot wear a strange dress, and then the press goes and says "So-and-so wore the HIDIOUS dress of the night" but if Lady Gaga wore that exact same thing, those same people would be like "Lady Gaga was sporting a fabulous styled dress..." blah blah blah. Her style is strange to me. End of story. But I'm a stubborn little girl who won't hear anything else....

But I'll admit, that a few of Lady Gaga's songs have rubbed off on me. I don't really listen to new songs on the radio anymore....but with all the friends I have at my age....they're always listening...so eventually I hear the same stuff over and over again. And even if I hate it at first, sometimes it will get stuck in my head and eventually I like it.

I think you should sing and put it on youtube! You could be the next youtube star! Like Bo Burnham! Haha...again, might not know what I'm talking about, and that's okay.

Lady Gaga's Bad Romance is still up. I'll give you a few links to try. The first one is the official video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlpEldbhiSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbPCtwIQ63I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAoi_-_EVio

OK, thanks, it worked that time, not sure what happened before. She can really pull off a big number like that - good dancer, the whole works. Her piano playing is pretty good too, on other numbers I mean.

If I've heard a Jonas Bros. tune, I wasn't aware of it, but I know who they are. Hanna Montana I sorta feel sorry for. Growing up too fast and weird, IMO. I heard about the money she was making and I watched about 10 minutes of her TV show when I ran across it surfing. Just goofy, contrived, not funny, not charming. What in the hell are we feeding to our children? Their brains I mean. I wasn't always crazy about being drug to church as a kid but I learned how to sing there, just like Elvis. Thank you vehr much. I'm grateful for it now all in all.

I like a little bit of modern country, Underwood is nice, but too often it's a tad weird for me. I was born in '52 and lived in Roswell, NM (no, the aliens didn't leave me behind, but thanks for asking ) - my old man came from cowboys in AZ, he had country on the radio all the time. I wasn't crazy about it at the time but lately I like some of the old country hits and sing them now and then. Brings back a lot.

I'm way rusty as a singer on any sort of stage. I don't even practice that much anymore. I do some fairs up in the hills of WA state when I can and in '06 the stars lined up, one of my favorite singing partners showed up - a lady who lives up there, we grabbed a spot at a big fire and we knocked 'em dead. Big crowd the whole night, other musicians came up and they knew the "stage" (just hay bales and a fire) was ours so they would humbly try to blend in. She writes great songs but her guit box is only fair so I could fill in with rhythm and finger picking and harmony. Anyway, TMI probably, but it let me know that I still sorta had it.

But that was 4 bleedin' years ago!! I last went in '08 - OK but nothing like '06. It's a fate thing. Sometime the fairs are the best ever. Other times, it's cold, people are indifferent, etc. Oh well.

A lot of people don't realize that once you get past the fear thing, the being nervous bit, playing for an audience is about the most serious rush there is. It's a channeling of energy, I swear. Sounds woo-woo I know. Point being, playing for a camera to put it on Youtube wouldn't be good for me. I sing my best, by far, in front of an audience. Weird huh?

My big idea now is to get an electric bass and learn how to play it left handed. Would be much, much easier than trying to learn chords backwards - reason for this, it looked so cool when McCartney and Lennon would stick the butts of their guitars up next to each other and sing into the same mic. Very few people play left handed and for good reason. You get to play about one out of every 15,000 guitars in existence. Hendrix and Elizabeth Cotton (old black lady blues singer) played left handed but w/o changing the strings, so they didn't have that problem. McCartney did it the hard way - changed the strings. I'd go with regular ol' bass config. Now that I've said it online, I've got to do it or I'm a phony, right?

Anyway, I need to reach out, get some playing partners down here, maybe I can find some younger musicians with talent who dig the material I've got stored up. Then I could put some stuff on Youtube. I've done Beatles 3 part harmony and it is some hot stuff. People still go for it.

Lady GaGa is talented but her stuff is almost too out there for me. I could not sing that song and pull it off. The chords and melody don't work for one dude on a guit-box. I'll look at her other stuff. She has a good range. The TS song in the OP is a four chord wonder - cute melody twists, nice breaks, peaks, and it ends with a sort of stripped down part of a chorus, that part where she walks into the prom on the video. Just nicely done, IMO. And her acting is quite good. She plays both parts, of course. She is kinda geeky, her dancing in it was just nerdy but it was sorta supposed to be maybe. I played it for one of my clients on his state of the art computer, no dumbass, he makes bank as an editor - novels, movie scripts, theses, you name it, and he actually wiped a tear away. It does sort of invoke a feeling of loneliness, of yearning.

I'm surprised I'm liking her. I don't usually like that kind of pop. I thought she looked so sweet and put upon when that dude (who was it?) did the: "Imo let you finish, but Beyonce . . . " She didn't freak, didn't over-react.

Here are some classic country songs that people my age and 10 years older just love to hear. I pulled out this Hank Williams song towards the end at one fire and the older ladies perked right up and started singing it with me. Beatles songs can get 'em going also. This George Jones song is iconic in country lore. Just goofy, really, but people love that funky voice of his:

George Jones, “Race is On”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERW8z8Y6MHk

Ray Price, “Crazy Arms”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuOvllD8Baw

Hank Williams “I Can’t Help it if . . . “

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwVQ8xj4lZU

Johnny Cash, “Hey Porter”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8rEZW6b70k

[TylerH860]

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Now hear me out me buckos before you sneer.

Today I'm on some page, Yahoo maybe, can't find it now and the hook was "Surprising fan of Taylor Swift ...........................

I'm really happy for you.... I'm gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of ALL TIME!!!!

[cmac2012]

HAH!!!

[jt20]

Originally Posted by TylerH860

I'm really happy for you.... I'm gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of ALL TIME!!!!

slick...


And I have to admit, I really dig The Lady.

Talented and there's actually some substance to the lyrics. Maybe I'm projecting.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Angel

first off - I love the ST pic.

I'd love to write more but I'll leave it at this:

LGG and Taylor swift are artists, just like Jerry Garcia, Robert Maplethorpe, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Ron Jeremy.

One should never have to justify their likes in 'art' to another person. Which also means that we should never have to be ashamed of music/art/musicals/adult films that we like. Life is too short, and even if you spent your whole life searching for new bands/painters/shows/prons, you'd still miss out on most of them.

Sounds good to me. Who can say why a melody grabs one person's attention and affection and leaves others cold?

A friend of mine on another site posted this to the same post on that thread:



He was just joking, well, probably 90% joking. The son of a client of mine is a drummer in a death metal band. I found one of their songs on Youtube and oh man, there is indeed no accounting for taste.

[Jim B.]

Originally Posted by cmac2012

Now hear me out me buckos before you sneer.

Today I'm on some page, Yahoo maybe, can't find it now and the hook was "Surprising fan of Taylor Swift . . ." and I'm thinking, 'OK, I've manfully resisted this latest bubble gum princess, cute enough but a bit skinny, say what, not enough power to the voice perhaps,' bit I'm intrigued, so I click and . . .

It was Lady GaGa, when asked if she had any guilty pleasures musically, confessed that when Taylor Swift's new hit comes on the radio she sings along much too loudly, quickly adding something like, "no disrespect to Taylor or the song, it's a wonderful song but more whimsical than what I usually get into, Taylor is a fine singer and songwriter."

So I look for it on Youtube, the song "You Belong With Me," and yes it is poppy, one of those semi-country songs with a bubble gum flavored finish and may God and Leonard Cohen forgive me, ...

* Sneer *

[Squabble]

Originally Posted by cmac2012

The son of a client of mine is a drummer in a death metal band. I found one of their songs on Youtube and oh man, there is indeed no accounting for taste.

man, this site is always down on metal...

when i think of taylor swift & lady gaga and the likes, i just see a money making PR machine pumping drivel through attractive people so the masses spend their money and the suits get paid. maybe there is some true talent hidden somewhere in there, but they've signed on the dotted line to put image first and have other people dress them, write lyrics for them, stamp their brands on them, parade them around like circus animals, and the public eats it up. this is not music, it's certainly NOT art, it's not original, it's not creative....it's business.

i'll take my music and my art from the artists, not the machine.

that said, i have my guilty pleasures too, but i wouldn't fool myself into getting into a discussion about their "art." i know what it is from the start.

as far as metal goes, you just have to open up your mind and listen to it piece by piece. there is some insane talent out there. and someone has to express the emotion of anger through music, we've got plenty of love and jealousy and broken heart music out there, anger is just as relevant and most metal just helps people express their frustrations and aggression in a pretty positive way. it's easy to appreciate it if you try.

i can listen to slayer and drudkh and cannibal corpse and amon amarth all day long and still put on some Levon Helm and the Band, that guy's an innovative drummmer!

loretta lynn did a great job with The Race is On: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tbdCcZuLU8&feature=related

[cmac2012]

It is hard to know how much of her songs TS actually writes. I saw one TV bit where she was accepting an award with her writing partner, an older woman, maybe 40, who was not in the same sort of cutie category as TS even in her prime. Not that I'm knocking her, just that her talent was being used in the way it could be used.

Some metal is interesting but I just could not get into the music of the guy's band, "Suffokate." All of that voice distortion to make the singer (I use the term loosely) sound like the devil or something leaves me cold.

That is a good version of "Race is On." Those old country shows look pretty campy, eh? It can be a hoot to sing those old songs. I'm going to learn more of those classics. A girlfriend years ago took me to see an older guy, a friend of her father, who was doing a lounge act, singing all sorts of songs, a bit of a comedy act as well. He knew so many songs he could launch into a tune just based on one word or something that happened in the room. For example, when we first walked in, he looked at my girlfriend, who was sorta hot, and sang the first few lines of that old country tune, "Welcome, to my world . . . " I guess you had to be there but it was funny.