Taylor Swift has been capturing the hearts of people young and old since she released her first single “Tim McGraw” in 2006. Since then the young and innocent country belle has grown into a full blown pop star. Last Monday Swift released her fifth studio album “1989.” People have been buzzing since Swift announced that this would be her “first pop album.” Even I had some doubts the first time I heard her single “Shake It Off.”
Now, I have been listening to Taylor Swift since she was staining her guitar with tears from ex-boyfriends and I don’t take change well. I feel like I go through this phase of hating to obsession every time Swift comes out with something new.
Even though I doubted the albums success, I still drove out to Target to buy it Monday morning. This album blew me away. It defiantly is pop but it is unmistakably Taylor Swift.
The first track on the album is “Welcome to New York” which was released as a single a few days before the album was released. It starts off with a synthy-indie sound and leads you into the overall feel for the whole album. The lyrics could write my review alone, “It’s a new soundtrack. I could dance to this beat.”
My favorite song on this album is “Blank Space.” The main reason I love this song so much is the message in the lyrics. Swift has always been criticized for writing songs about ex-boyfriends and this song really tells her new attitude towards love, she writes “you look like my next mistake…love’s a game, want to play?” and this clearly shows her new outlook on love and relationships.
Another song on the album that has gotten some attention is “Bad Blood.” It is rumored that this song is about Katy Perry. [pullquote]In an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift spoke about the backstory for “Bad Blood.”[/pullquote]
“For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not,” Swift told the magazine, while stating the song was about a fellow female A-lister. “She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, ‘Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?’” The two started feuding after Perry stole Swift’s backup dancers from her “Red” tour for Perry’s “Prisim” Tour last year. It also doesn’t help that the two both dated John Mayer.
Swift slows the album down with her song “This Love” which is sure to make its appearance at Swifites weddings everywhere.
If you are missing Swift’s old sound, this will be your favorite song. The song talks about how true love is good, bad, and alive. This song is completely Swift’s feelings written down on paper and women everywhere can relate. She writes about true love returning, “These hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me.”
I recommend sitting down and listening to the album as a whole before forming an opinion. She designed the album to take you through a journey of her life and it is truly beautiful. I wont lie I even had chills a few times. The album is certainly worth the $9 but I would suggest investing the $13 for the deluxe addition from Target to receive 3 bonus tracks as well as 3 voice memos of Swift’s song writing process.