#whereas listening to ttpd i just kind of felt like i was losing my mind

[queenlucythevaliant]

I've listened to TTPD three times now, twice alone and once at a listening breakfast with friends! Thoughts:

I liked quite a lot of it, but I'm not immediately blown away.

Current favorite is "The Bolter," followed by "But Daddy I Love Him," "The Prophecy," and "Florida!!!" in no particular order.

I loved the breadth of feelings that the album addresses. You really get a sense of a whole emotional landscape.

It's in strong and compelling conversation with Taylor's whole body of work without being too excessively self-referential. "thanK you aIMee" is the notable exception.

A lot of the songs are overwritten: she uses $20 words in place of $2 words, repeats herself, and dulls the power of what works by surrounding it with a lot that doesn't. If we go by Coleridge's definition that poetry is the best words in their best order, then yeah. She definitely needs an editor.

However, none of the lyrics that people seem to be highlighting as "cringey" bother me at all. I've always loved Taylor's proclivity for small details, even strange or out-of-place ones.

I would really love to gently help Taylor out with her literary allusions. They're a long-standing struggle for her, and even going in I was a little worried for that aspect of the album based on the marketing. Could've been worse, but most of them could still stand to be a whole lot sharper.

The songs tend towards very consistent production and tempo. Whether you want to call that cohesiveness or homogeneity is a matter of opinion.

My great, secret wish for this album was that it would feature a bunch of orchestra/strings, which would've meshed great with the dark academia vibe. Clearly, I didn't get it. Oh well

#i had a weird experience listening to this album last night #in that somewhere between 'down bad' and 'fresh out the slammer' i was kind of convinced that i hated it? #i mean. i didn't but I was fully expecting to really love it. all of her albums save rep and lover have been love at first sight for me #and with rep and lover i could pinpoint very specific things i didn't care for and sort of circumvent them if that makes sense #whereas listening to ttpd i just kind of felt like i was losing my mind #it definitely won me back as i kept listening #plus i was able to articulate the particular criticisms i had #so I've definitely landed safely in 'i like it territory' #but I've yet to see anyone on my tumblr dash expressing anything like my experience #so i figured I'd share #tay tay #pontifications and creations