In my literature review (the study was about reading), I used the opening line of The Charm of 5:30 to illustrate the concept of reading comprehension. Thought this was fun to share
To the mods: I mean this as a legitimate point of discussion, this isn't just a stupid joke to get people mad.
To begin, a Swiftie is a fan of Taylor Swift. They are known for obsessive devotion to her music, meticulous reading of lyrics, being interested in her personal life, and even trying to "figure out" which songs are about which people in her life.
Now, Bobcats are fans of Bob Dylan, known for obsessive devotion to his music, meticulous reading of his lyrics, being interested in his personal life, and even trying to "figure out" which songs are about which people in his life.
The arguments against this are obvious: Bob Dylan changed the world, he spearheaded the folk revival, brought literary tradition into rock and roll, making it an art form for critics to respect, he revolutionized live music alongside contemporaries like the Grateful Dead by following his muse into reinterpretations, covers, and challenging his audience as often as possible. But music is subjective. I can't stand Taylor Swift and think she is a mediocre (at best) musician and, in general, a scummy person. But a Swiftie would argue all of this applies to her and her genre shift and her Folklore album and her worldwide Eras tour. Swifties defend the most mediocre, boring, and distasteful music from her in any we they can. I listen to Down in the Groove and actually enjoy it. I try to convince people Under the Red Sky has gems hiding beneath the terrible production! I bought Real Live and I love it! I think Bobby is a genius, and I see value in his worst output, despite knowing the average person would be at best annoyed and at worst revolted by his worst music. I will say, Bob's best is in the stratosphere, albums like Blonde on Blonde, The Basement Tapes, Another Side, or Highway 61 (and probably like ten other records) really changed the face of music, and especially American music. Meanwhile Swift's best is some boring, ghostwritten pop or self-victimizing, narcissistic drones.
But I saw him in 2023 on the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour. Seeing him mumble into a microphone and not play any hits is a highlight of my live music experiences and I loved every second of it. A Swiftie listens to a song like Wood and praises it. Are we any different? This is funny, but I wonder if we come off like the rabid animals they do at times. Though I've yet to see a Dylan fan send Joan Baez hate mail wishing she'd die of a heroin overdose. I have seen Swifties do that for one her exes. What do you think?
Two songs that took me forever to get into were Nicole and Nan. I really loved the first album, but Nicole felt like hitting a brick wall. I thought it was too long, too repetitive, and lacked substance. I was wrong, I cannot get enough of Nicole. There two reasons I can think of for why this may be the case: I've been knee deep in Discover America by Van Dyke Parks and have started to really love island music and I really understood what the song is about. The classic beat, psychedelic dub vocals and sound effects, and talk box guitar are really sick, almost hypnotic. Absolutely love the echo effects on the vocals. Secondly it seems like the song has a dark story, like two guys murdering a girl or something. It makes the clingly love song lyrics sound way more morbid and possesive. As for Nan, I guess I just thought it was silly. I repent. Maybe a top five song, seriously amazing. Anyway, what songs took a while to grow on you?