MTV's James Montgomery has rushed to Taylor Swift's defense in the face of a brewing backlash. His article, "Why You Shouldn't Hate On Taylor Swift" aims to discredit the petty slams of petty people. But while I have no personal beef with the "country" megastar, I think people should freely rail against her.
Montgomery's reasons to fawn over Swift include the fact that she's young, writes her own music and that her album sold like hotcakes, turning her from the "underdog" (when she was what, 12?) to prom queen.
Now, I agree with Montogomery when he laments that "negativity and pettiness are the cultural currency of the day, that they drive page views and sell magazines, and that we are all competing to.. get to the bottom the fastest." But in this case, I'm guilty as charged.
For starters, Taylor Swift is 20 years old. We no longer need to walk on eggshells for fear of offending an innocent child victim. Swift may not be able to legally drink a beer (though the annoyingly wholesome star would probably be one of those boring sticks in the mud who nurses a club soda with lime all night), but we no longer need to handle her with kid gloves as we do the teen set.
Then you have the fact that she delivered a wretched, embarrassing, borderline unlistenable trainwreck of a Grammy performance (insult to injury: the great Stevie Nicks was at her side). I was in my bedroom (having already been driven away from the telecast by Pink's cheesy Cirque du So-gay acrobatics) and had to come back to the TV to find out who was behind the atrocity. Watch it at your own risk (apologies for the quality of the performance and of the video):
So, the young woman apparently cannot sing, but we are suppose to forgive that because...
...She writes her own songs! And that is the most irritating defense used by Swiftians. That a filthy rich, bestselling singer who writes her saccharine lyrics is news and cause for celebration says more about the sorry state of contemporary pop music than Ashley Simpson's SNL lip-synching debacle did back in 2004.
These are not the only good reasons to drop out of Swift's Facebook fan page. She is in Valentine's Day, after all (if that movie's many insufferable stars were wiped out, Inglourious Basterds-style, at the film's premiere, Hollywood would be in its best shape since the pre-Star Wars halcyon days).
Also, Swift is the anti-Susan Boyle, and how could anyone support the anti-Susan Boyle? Think about it. Swift is young, Boyle is old. Swift is (arguably) attractive, Boyle is...not. Swift is the best-selling digital artist of all time, Boyle's blockbuster debut briefly took tangible album sales off life support (although the same can't be said for its geriatric listeners).
As for the Kanye defense, I think we can all agree it was the best thing to ever happen to Swift's career. She'll probably write a fluffy song about it. Next time, let's hope Kanye disrupts and saves us from a pitchy performance and not an acceptance speech for yet another undeserved award.
Wednesday, February 15
Plovgh, the new online farmers market
Who knew that the farming world had a trend? Well, Mallory Sustick, a Brooklyn bartender, works like a dog to maintain, promote and advance the online farmer's market startup Plovgh that began after noticing a need for more local farm market distribution.
Rachelle_Hruska
February 3, 2010
6:33pm
Billy, You.are.fired.
biancaj
February 3, 2010
6:48pm
so...we shouldn't like her because she gave a bad performance once? what about your neo grunge, wanna be hipster shit that passes for music that never fails to deliver sold out concerts with blown out, drunk off their a$$es, barely able to stand musicians? Because um...how the eff is that talent and something that deserves a reward? Yeah her music isn't always mind-blowingly original in terms of lyrics. but most music isn't. because it talks about the human experience. like, shared experiences and sh*t. stuff we all have in common. and commonalities are usually not ground-breakingly unique. because then we couldn't all relate. case in point, Passion Pit's "Batty Lashes" lyrics: "You want a friend who can be your lover You want a lover who can be your friend" Wow, how paradigm breaking. How utterly deep. How much less focused on emotions and hell, even dating, than Ms. Swift. I get it, she's not awash with upper middle class angst, she doesn't dress like a whore or hate her mom. She doesn't even make underage drinking or having a drug habit look cool. This makes her totally hateable. Go worship at the alter of Kurt Cobain, things ended really well for that young blonde singer/songwriter.
Me
February 3, 2010
11:30pm
Wow, Biancaj told you! I <3 Taylor Swift. She actually has a great voice live, just had an off performance. She was probably nervous, Stevie Nicks is a Goddess!!! Fleetwood Mac changes lives :)
Gossip Girl
February 4, 2010
4:27pm
Billy Gray, You are a worthless human being. Keep your rude and cold opinions to you damn mother self. xoxo -Gossip Girl
Tired_of_Wannabe_Singers
February 4, 2010
6:13pm
I'm sorry people, Billy speaks the truth! Taylor Swift is not all that, All the awards she is receiving is mainly do to the FACT that she is getting sympathy votes all because of stupid Kanye West. Now I am not going to deny that it was messed up for what he did but lets face it she is not all that talented! All she is doing is the same old bubble-gum pop songs that Britany Spears and Boy bands were making people go wild. I was actually there at the awards when the Kanye-incident happened, I heard her sing and its nothing to be wowed over. If anything I think she and her followers are tone deaf..lol. But in her own right she gives girls a positive influence to look for...for now, because that was the same thing that was said for Jaimie-Lynn Spears and Miley Cyress and now one is a baby mama and the other is on her way to singing on a stripper pole! I do understand the positive role model but other than that, not much is going for her. I do feel that she has a better voice than cyrus and I can stomache her for a little longer but again I don't buy into the Swift hype. Don't be mad at Billy Gray for speaking the truth, its his opinion and the anti-taylor swift crowd also. If you can't stand the heat...I guess you better stay outta the kitchen.. Laterz
yoyo ma
February 8, 2010
11:06pm
swift is one of the most irritating artists ever. she writes her own songs. ok, yet they all are about her whining about some boy (who dumped her, doesn't like her, loves her, etc etc). OK WE GET IT. YOU WERE AWKWARD ONCE! YOU'RE NOT ANYMORE. GET OVER IT. stop writing about high school. you're 20. he songs have not matured with her age. she's always whining about some dumb fake relationship she's having with the next popular teenybopper. i'm sure she sucks as a gf, no wonder joe jonas dumped her ass over the phone. not to mention, taylor lautner is like 17 (no matter how hot she is). swift is extremely immature and caught up in beinga goody two shoes. my 15 year old sister has more edge than hear. she's gotten so boring, nothing about her interests me. DO SOMETHING!
whoooo
February 11, 2010
1:07pm
YOURE RIGHT TAYLOR SWIFT SUCKS. and her "songwriting" is lame. billy gray is a prophet
laiette
September 4, 2010
4:19am
hey im sorry but the fact she writes her own lyrics is guarantee of nothing.billions of people write their own songs that are an eternity better than swift's and dont get the recognition taylors undeservingly gettin. besides, have you heard her new single mine? and read about her next cd? its exactly the same as everything she ever did. shes gonna be 40 and still be writing bout boys and broken hearts. boo hoo
Vivian
September 24, 2010
7:09pm
I so totally agree with you, Billy! Keep telling 'em like it is!
Rachel
January 1, 2011
10:12pm
The real question is who did swift have to blow or pay off to get to where she is. The first time I saw the video of "love story" I stared in disbelief at just how horrible it was. The lyrics were crap, her singing wasn't on key, and there was no emotional depth to it at all. I wondered how it was possible, then I remembered that Miley Cyrus sells records these days too. I thought my god, who ever wrote this needs to be fired. Then I find out she writes it herself. It's really sad that the excuse people give for this is that she writes her own music. Hell, there are tons of tiny bands no one's heard of that write their own music and they not only have talent, but stage presence as well.
fair-girl
January 30, 2011
5:00am
Taylor swift is the best singer...and don't u dare say that about her.
The Heart Of A Not-So-Typical Teenage Girl
July 24, 2011
3:05pm
You know, the problem with you guys is that you don't understand the heart of a teenage girl who doesn't want to smoke or drink or do drugs...in case you didn't know, some of us don't want to listen to the sex & drugs crap Ke$ha and Lady Gaga has, & by our own free will, too. Plus, boys are typically what we think about. I'll bet most of the people who voted for her weren't doing it out of sympathy...they were probably teenage girls who feel sort of a connection with Taylor due to her writing ability. She has found a way to put into words/song what most of us cannot, and that's why she's popular. So if you would rather listen to Lady Gaga's drug & sex talk or Beyonce's catchy but none the less the same songs then go ahead. But don't be surprised when Taylor wins again ;)