ALBUM REVIEW: Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets' (Seth's Version)
My (mercifully brief) take on Taylor Swift's new album, on which she compares herself to Jesus and God
I COULD NOT let this momentous day pass without sharing with you my (mercifully brief) take on Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, which was published today in The Forward.
Having read over a dozen other reviews, it has become apparent that my take, unsurprisingly, is unique in picking up on Swift’s newfound identification not only with Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas but also with Jesus and God.
Taylor Swift Tempers Grandiose Biblical References With Humility
(Forward, by Seth Rogovoy) - A new album by Taylor Swift is not merely the release of a new collection of songs. It is a major pop-cultural event, given the widespread consensus that Swift is the world’s biggest pop star. (Beyoncé fans may beg to differ.) And the consensus surrounding The Tortured Poets Department, which went on sale and began streaming today, is that Swift’s eleventh album is a bravado portrait of triumphing over heartbreak.
But underlying Swift’s ballads and bangers about her emotional roller coaster is also a sense of the singer’s struggles with her own identity, vis-à-vis her ex-lovers, her fans, and, perhaps most surprisingly, a few great figures in religious history. As Swift herself posted to Instagram: “This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page.”
Leaving one to wonder, does God follow Swift on social media?
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I am breathing something akin to a sigh of relief that someone has expressed a hint of a less-than-adulatory response to Taylor Swift's oeuvre. I'm a radio host. I'm VERY open to new music, whether indie or gigantic....but I just....can't....I mean...it's lonely out here...I don't get it...I've tried, tentatively to share my lack of adoration to peers who admonish me "But she's SOOOOOO nice! And she's good for politics!" Well, getting new voters, yes. Donating big bucks, yes. But who knows if she's nice? And nice is over-rated. The music itself just doesn't resonate with me. I do think Dessner has been a lucky influence. And the song, "Carolina" from the film "Where the Crawdads Sing" is haunting.