Friday, March 4, 2011

SPEAK NOW, or forever hold your peace – Week 3 Wildcard

     When this assignment was assigned, I was a little overwhelmed. I felt like I could not think of anything that qualified as a lyric sequence. Obviously I know that there are tons out there, but I really wanted to do something I knew and liked.  I was trying to stay away from Taylor Swift to find something a little deeper. But in the end I settled. There are very few artists that I like or listen to the entirety of the album; however Taylor Swift is one I can say that I fully enjoy the whole way through. So here it goes the cliché teen girl’s blog post about Taylor Swift.


     Fearless was probably the best choice of her album’s for this assignment, but Christina chose to do that, so I am going to go with her  more recent album, Speak Now.  Each song on the album doesn’t necessarily have to do with the same person, however most the songs are linked by the common theme of the love. The album tells the story of Taylor Swift’s experiences in the two years she spent working on her album.  In the prologue that Taylor has written in the album cover which has lyrics etc. (I’m sure this has a name that I am totally blanking on now, I hope you understand what I’m talking about though) she says “These songs are open letters. Each is written with a specific person in mind, telling them what I meant to tell them in person.” 
The first two songs on the album “Mine” and “Sparks Fly”, carry a happy tone related to love. Mine talks of abandoning the bad feelings and running away from love and finding the person who can be the exception to these negative feelings. Sparks Fly continues with the happy tone telling the story of falling in love with someone that may not be the conservative choice, but the connection and chemistry ultimately is the deciding factor.


I chose to embed “Sparks Fly” because I am sure most of you have heard “Mine” on the radio.



     The tone towards the end of the album is the exact opposite of the first few songs. “Haunted” and “Last Kiss” have the melancholy feel of many of the sonnets from this week’s readings. They certainly do not have the upbeat positive feeling you would usually expect from a Taylor Swift song, but stay true to her story telling style. Haunted comes directly before “Last Kiss” on the album, in my opinion rightly so. Haunted is about the moment in time where you realize the person you are with is drifting away and you feel hopeless and don’t know your next move. “Last Kiss” is the story of the feelings you have after a break up. The songs mesh together to tell the story of a relationships ending and the sadness the aftermath brings.






Below is the tract list from the CD. Speak Now, Back to December, Dear John, The Story of Us, Enchanted and Better than Revenge are about love

Mine
Sparks Fly
Speak Now
Back to December
Speak Now
Dear John
Mean
The Story of Us
Never Grow Up
Enchanted
Better Than Revenge
Innocent
Haunted
Last Kiss
Long Live

There was a special edition of this CD released only at Target. So if you’re not a Taylor nut like me, you may not have heard these songs. If you’re interested check out:  Ours, Superman, and If this was a Movie. She also had alternate versions of Back to December, Haunted and Mine.


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