Taylor Swift and “Sparks Fly”… Why Am I Single?

Taylor Swift and sparks flying... literally. Image via allthingscountrymusic.blogspot.com.

Ah, Taylor Swift. The princess of conventional country-pop music that everyone loves to hate. She’s applauded for being ordinary and plain, which actually helps her image – her normalcy sets her apart from Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, etc. No one can accuse her of plagiarizing other artists because not only is her style solely hers, but she writes all of her own songs, too.

Not to say that she doesn’t use other celebrities to her advantage. Just look at Taylor Lautner and John Mayer. Those two acrid relationships resulted in two songs (“Back to December” and “Dear John”) that ameliorated the track list of Speak Now. And I doubt anyone could forget the ignominious Kanye West incident, which backfired badly and even bolstered Swift’s popularity.

So am I a Taylor Swift fan? I’d say yes, because she’s a respectable artist and her songs can be pretty darn catchy. Though some of her songs, like “You Belong With Me”, and most recently, “Sparks Fly”, really make me regret not being in a relationship so I could make everyone feel completely jealous of my hot partner truly comprehend the depth of her soulful singing.

“Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain
Kiss me no the sidewalk, take away the pain
‘Cause I see sparks fly
Whenever you smile”

In my opinion this is one of Swift’s best songs to date. Maybe not her best music video, but the song is great. It’s upbeat and commanding, sweeping you into Swift’s sentiment over a particularly pleasant guy. The lyrics are convincing and cute (Swift’s pronunciation of “sidewalk” gets me every time) and the song supplies a chance for her vocals to shine. The video, on the other hand…

She whips her hair back and forth, she whips her hair back and forth... a lot.

It disappointed me. I’ve listened to “Sparks Fly” a decent amount of times since the album’s release and have come to love it, so I expected something more. Don’t get me wrong, the video is decent, but not as amazing as her previous productions. There was an inundation of cliche close-ups, pauses, etc. that caused the video to appear almost… sophomoric.

Ha, fireworks. Just like in the lyrics. How literal.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who would have preferred a poignant music video as opposed to one showing the concert experience. I’ve never been to a Taylor Swift concert so I can’t judge, but this lady found it lukewarm. Either way it would’ve been nice to see a more “Mine”-like concept due to the song’s strength and compelling quality.

But, I still like Taylor Swift and one average video definitely won’t hurt her in the long run. I think I’m going to go fantasize about my future partner study now…

What do you think of “Sparks Fly” (the song or the video) and Taylor Swift in general?

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Gaga is Back With “Judas”

This is much better than “Born This Way”. Much better.

Gaga released this song early – the original release date was April 19. I wasn’t even aware of this upcoming single. She’s almost done no promoting for it, as opposed to “Born This Way”. It’s truly spectacular though. The chorus is especially catchy and the lyrics are gruesomely great.

I’m not a religious person, so I admit to googling “Judas” when first hearing about this song. I don’t want to go too much into the religious aspect because even after scanning the Wikipedia page for the apostle and betrayer of Jesus, I might misinterpret something or say an offensive comment unintentionally. I would like to state, however, that one should not judge this song solely based on its religious connotations – she’s not a devil worshiper or anything. Jeez.

Now to post some of my favorite lyrics:

“When he comes to me, I am ready
I’ll wash his feet with my hair if he needs
Forgive him when his tongue lies through his brain
Even after three times, he betrays me”

Such unusual word choice – the image evoked by the second line (washing his feet with my hair) is raw and disturbing. Yet, it makes you think.

“I couldn’t love a man so purely
Even darkness forgave his crooked way
And I’ve learned our love is like a brick
Build a house or sink a dead body”

Love the simile about love – it can be beautiful and exquisite, or lead to utter destruction and, if taken to an extreme, death.

“In the most Biblical sense, I am beyond repentance
Fame hooker, prostitute wench, vomits her mind
But in the cultural sense I just speak in future tense
Judas kiss me if offenced, or wear an ear condom next time”

I wanna love you, but something’s pulling me away from you
Jesus is my virtue, Judas is the demon I cling to
I cling to”

This is brilliant. Dirty and disgusting, but dastardly genius. The exemplification of what I mean when I say: Gaga, the queen of pop, is back!

I would post the chorus, but then I’d just be blogging the entire song, something that I want to refrain from. It’s splendid – not only do the lyrics reveal a deeper meaning than the “I want to sleep with you” theme so prevalent in pop music these days, it’s catchy. Sounds like something you would hear in a rave. An African rave. Oh baby.

What do you think of “Judas” by Lady Gaga? Do you agree that it’s better than “Born This Way”? I’m eagerly anticipating the music video, are you?

PS: Today was such a great day for me. I went to a Writers’ Conference and now feel tremendously inspired to write, played tennis in magnificent weather, and heard this song on my way to buy a smoothie.

PPS: No, I don’t know the difference between an African rave and a regular rave. I’ve never been to a rave, to be honest…

A Fanboy’s Perspective of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”

“No matter gay, straight or bi
lesbian, transgendered life
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born to survive
No matter black, white or beige
chola or orient made
I’m on the right track, baby
I was born to be brave”

– Lady Gaga, “Born This Way”.

 

 

 

 

 

Those are my favorite lyrics from Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” – now at six weeks as number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This is Gaga’s longest-lasting single to this date, with over 24.4 million views on Youtube. I have to say that while I absolutely LOVE the message and how people are accepting the song as a whole, I feel that musically “Born This Way” is lacking compared to her previous singles.

I’m a huge Gaga fan, and I have evidence to substantiate it:
1) I sing “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” randomly and without warning.
2) I cannot discuss relationships without bringing in “Bad Romance”.
3) When someone mentions board games, card games, mind games, etc., it automatically calls for “LoveGame”.
4) I cited Gaga’s full name (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) in an article I wrote for my school newspaper.
5) I write Gaga related things everywhere: on school supplies, homework, my friends’ belongings, etc.
6) Here are where Lady Gaga’s songs stand on my IPod’s 25 Most Played List:
– “Poker Face” at #2
– “Just Dance” at #3
– “Paparazzi” at #7
– “Bad Romance” at #10
– “LoveGame” at #15
– “Telephone” at #16
– “Monster” at #25

So I can say without hesitation that I adore Gaga – if it wasn’t for those catchy K-Pop songs, “Poker Face” and “Just Dance” would be #1 and #2.

Yet, “Born This Way” doesn’t have the same addictive quality as her other songs. The song is fun to listen to, but it doesn’t make you listen to it, and by that I mean I could turn off the radio while the song is halfway through without bothering to stop for the other half. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY LIKE the song, just not with the same intensity her past releases.

The video is also really really really really really a bit odd:

I think I get the concept, with the born this way and rebirth theme, but to me it’s truly impossible to understand the music video completely. I’ve at least liked her other music videos, but with this one, it’s more like a “I’ll just say that I like it and stick to the song itself” type of thing.

Final verdict: Love the message, like the song, accept the video. Hoping for several more hits once her album is released on May 23 (two days before my birthday!)

What do you guys think of “Born This Way”? I know a myriad of people who love everything about it, but others who abhor it.