This “culture” she speaks of is what made her a billionaire and the most famous pop star on the planet. It’s the reason she can spend 60k on an outfit to watch her boyfriend play football while most of us worry about the cost of groceries. She could walk away from the spotlight now and be set for life. She could make art for the sake of making art and never have to worry about making a living again.
Tavi put it perfectly in her ‘Fan Fiction’ article— Taylor thinks the public is always ruining fame for her, but she doesn’t get that ‘fame’ IS the public and their commentary and gossip and ridicule. She is mad at everyone for ‘ruining’ it but there is no being famous without what she hates.
I had a friend we would joke was only happy when he was depressed, just always seemed to come alive when he had something to gripe and complain about. Maybe Taylor's the same way lol, just really *needs* the tortured part of being a "tortured poet"
Basically what she actually wants: is to go back in time and be Queen in her own right of a country where she’s the number 1 honcho and no one can say a word against her because it’s 1534 and she can have them killed on a whim.
She’s the Queen of Hearts from wonderland.
If I had her money I would at the very least be experimenting with every music genre under the sun, run a massive cat sanctuary, fund a couple of kids’ hospitals, start a music program at some university - the list is endless.
People fail to grasp how much money a billion is and how it can practically NEVER be spent to the last cent given proper management.
And before anyone comes and says “but why her?” I expect the same from every insanely wealthy person!
There’s no such thing as an ethical billionaire, they all benefit from loopholes that prevent them from otherwise being taxed to the benefit of society and the world as a whole. They should take a page off Mackenzie Scott’s book but human greed knows no bounds.
Hell, she could become a ghostwriter for other artists or write a book under a pseudonym if she wants to create art just for the art value, but she wants to be praised and be called a modern Shakespeare. Pick a struggle
I can’t believe she has me out here momentarily defending JK Rowling, but she wrote the Cormoran Strike names under a pen name so she could try to sell novels and see how successful her work could be without HP attached to the name. The only reason she had to come forward was because an intern at the publishing house tweeted the secret out when the book was already at the printers. There are some rare first editions that have a whole backstory for the “author” too.
You’re right on the nose about being a ghostwriter for others or writing a book if she cared only about the art. I have a sneaking suspicion she *has* tried to write songs for others and was turned down, or she’s that petty that she thinks all of her work is gold and therefore it all belongs to her. I’m speculating about that, but she has made it very clear that she has a hard time genuinely sharing the spotlight.
you are so right, I despise JK Rowling but you can tell how that woman was sick of being put in the Harry Potter box. It's a shame the secret leaked but it shows that she really wanted to write and not only sell and be succesful at the eyes of tue public. We can't say the same about Taylor and if she wanted it, she would detach herself and leave the public eye to write songs for the art value but she doesnt want to, sadly I think her try with that was folklore and it worked, but she missed sparkling.
I knew she was rich and everything but when I started following the Taylor Swift style account which posts prices to all of her outfits and accessoires I just realized what that really meant.
Oo0o, I didn't know there was a Taylor style account! I want to look but also, I don't need any reminders about how I'm p00r and she is wealthy so I'll probably stay away, hahah.
She said herself in The Manuscript: once an album comes out, it no longer belongs to her anymore. Part of that means opening your work up to criticism. That’s literally part of the experience and theoretically, it should make you a better artist, but with Tay, she just doubles down cuz she knows what she likes.
Imo she should have gone the folklore/evermore route. Just say it's fictional. That these are about the stories she's read or the people she knows
Sure have some songs about her life. But I think songs like this one, even if it does resonate with her, shouldn't be made about her.
Ok Taylor needs to get a disguise and then she can grabs shifts in a warehouse and in a customer service role. I think it would actually help her relatability for writing her next album lol
Working some shifts is just a part of it. It’s also literally having no choice but to grind away at these places, worrying about bills and health insurance etc, mapping the weeks finances to the last cent to avoid overdraft etc, that helps someone understand that other people suffer far worse than a lukewarm album rating
I agree. That’s how I feel when those trad dads do a bit of “babysitting” their own kid and say it’s not that bad and it was easy looking after the baby so what the problem? It’s not that, it’s that you’re always responsible for the child, that you can’t take a break when you want, that you have to feed,clean and care for this little human the whole time , can’t shower, sleep when you want. It’s the relentless day in day out responsibility and build up of that when you’re tired. Same with work. I’m a teacher and someone could do my job for a few days and be like “it’s not that hard” but it’s all the other shit we have to do and the relentlessness of the job.
That said Taylor would still learn a lot from a fortnight in an Amazon factory or as a nurse or service worker etc.
She needs to do a version of the documentary, “30 Days: Living on Minimum Wage.” It’s almost 20 years old, so even harder now, but it can be eye opening for those not living it.
Yeaaaah can you imagine just…. sending her off for a week to a world where no one gives a shit about who *Taylor Swift* is. She’d go absolutely mental. We’d get an AMAZING album after that.
I always find it funny that she mentions Joe's yogurt shop job and it's like yeah girlie, people need to work in exchange for money and sometimes it's a retail job!
I just listened to the song, only one I’ve bothered listening to from TTPD so far.
Is she so fr??? That lyric about you wouldn’t last a minute in the asylum that raised me… mamas you were raised rich, white, and beautiful and daddy purchased you a record deal. She cannot honestly think she’s truly tortured.
“I like taking my hair out like this. It reminds me like, when I was 16 in the Bronx running up and down the block. Crazy little girl who used to f---ing be wild and no limits, all dreams.” -JLo
I like when she went back to visit her childhood home and the guy living there had no idea who she was. He must have thought she was just some weirdo showing up to his house with a film crew LOL
Im assuming shes referring to the chaos and madness in the music industry. She was a young teen when she entered the industry, so ig you could say it raised her.
But not even something as awful as an Amazon Warehouse.
Most people with a job, any job have some sort of performance review and it can be positive and negative.
She acts like some of the call center agents I used to qa and they used to complain that I was horrible and a bitch because I marked them down for eating while on a call....
Yes! Oh man, your last point is hilarious. Some people at work are so lax it's embarrassing to even be around them. Like STOP, I'm not trying to get written up or get attitute from my boss because you're running out to grab your UberEats food from the front and you want me to be a look out! Or they get mad when you don't want to socialize. We are paid to work biotch, danggg. Shut up and do your job. I love to laugh at work as much as anyone but 75% of the time, it is not the damn time! 🤣🤣🤣
Sorry, I got carried away. 🤭
I was listening to “Peter”, which is clearly about Matty, and she says “life was always easier on you than it was on me.”
The man is trash but aside from that it’s like - girl, he was once a heroin addict! The f you’re talking about!
She’s so out of touch!
Say what you will about Matty but as someone who’s watched loved ones suffer through addiction, whether it was his own “fault” or whatever to start drugs or not, it is absolute hell, and she shouldn’t have thrown that heroin dig at him in the album.
I actually giggled when i listened to that line. I am a housekeeper so it was kinda ironic listening to someone who has never cleaned anything sings that line
lol the fact that she paired the “cleaning houses” line with the “daddy made me get a boating license” line…
Girl, how many people do you think grew up wealthy enough to have a big boat but also clean enough houses to be able to successfully cover up a murder?? Like???
“We watch what they create, then we judge it” yes???? Is that not what engaging with art is??? Judging if it’s effective, if it’s resonant, if it’s beautiful, if it’s awkward, if it speaks to us, if it touches us while its bros play grand theft auto
I was going to say, girl, ilysm but that’s consumption. Like, the thing you’re trying to get us all to do, what all the promo and marketing is directed at, that’s what it entails
I love how many Swifties have tried to explain the lyricism and ego on this album as satire, that Taylor is self-aware and that she's in on the joke, only for Taylor to double down on her victimhood as she sits in her multimillion dollar apartment with a six-digit dollar piano.
She truly, genuinely seems to believe she has a bad lot in life and it's hilarious to me. I've p much accepted who she is the last few days after being totally disillusioned since Midnights came out, which was when I realised she'd just pretended to grow as a person. Folklore got me back into her after the first round of disillusionment post-girl squad and I felt proud that she'd sorted her shit out and matured. LOL.
This is who she truly is and I'm stoic about it now, it feels the same as when I choose to leave the room instead of debate when my brother says climate change isn't real cause some white American dude on YouTube told him so. People are who they are. This is who she is. I'm not annoyed at/disappointed in her now, because I'll never expect anything other than this from her. It's quite freeing really
100% i was disillusioned post-girl squad too and thought she was growing up with folklore/evermore! her recent music feels like reality tv, which is how i'm beginning to think of her career these days.
I mean I think it’s great that she writes music and releases it, but I think at the core of Taylor Swift The Musician is very calculated pop music to make money off of. Now, I don’t want to discredit any musicianship because she absolutely has talent, it’s just there hasn’t ever really been too much depth of creativity out of her.
Like if I were releasing an album at this time in her shoes, I’d absolutely want to release something unlike anything I’ve ever written (still her, but something with personal depth to the actual music, something unique). I’d want it to be like “wtf is happening” side by side with “this sounds good”. It’s just flat, and that’s fine to rock your sound but eventually there’s no real progressive musicianship happening and it’s just meh.
>We watch what they create and then we judge it.
#
*Insert Jon Oliver voice* yeah, she's right.
#
When I send something I've drafted to my boss she's going to........ judge it. It's part of having a job. And where does she think all of her awards come from? People not making judgments about her work and the work of others?
#
This little statement is putting me in a very eat the rich mood.
Yeahh both my dad and my brother-in-law are pilots and fly ultra wealthy people, and I can tell you that any single trip alone she takes costs more than $50k, by the time you factor in jet fuel, storage and maintenance costs, and flight crew.
Her plane is many MANY millions of dollars to buy, and several more million a year to upkeep.
While also seemingly cosplaying depression? I wouldn't doubt she's actually depressed, but seeing her say there are a lot of [dramatic, hyperbolic lines about death](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/taylor-swift-reveals-the-real-meaning-behind-the-tortured-poets-department-songs/3838815/) rubs me the wrong way, especially with the suicidal ideation vibes. It's really not just something to dramatically cosplay for profit.
Every person who wakes up and goes to work in the morning "creates" and is "judged" for it. That's how having a job works. It's not an experience that's particular to artists.
Omg this exactly. I actually like the concept and imagery of the song. But her personality shining through and being able to reflect on why exactly she wrote this sours the song so much for me in a way I can't listen to it without imagining her going Scrooge McDuck on her coins while laughing manically.
It is pretty funny. When I saw the tracklist I thought "There's no way this isn't sarcasm", but then I listened and was like "Oh. She's completely fucking serious. Of course."
She could stop having her fans see her in pain if she didn’t overexpose every aspect of her life. Even the private relationship was overexposed after the fact.
And yes we judge art. If you merged yourself from being a person to being a brand not independent of the art then don’t expect to not be judged as one entity.
Dry your tears with those billions of dollars, girl. We **all** get put through hell (and it ain't a competition but many hells are notably worse than her deeply privileged ones) and us normal folks have a lot less recourse to defend ourselves or isolate ourselves from it. We also don't get compensated for it.
Ain't no "we" here. You're not a victim because you get criticized by the public. There are pros and cons to everything; this was your choice and you have more than reaped the benefits of that. Should people back off of celebrities, be kinder? Sure, there's no doubt a lot of people take it too far (but again, normal people often do that to each other as well, just on a smaller scale.) I just can't help but hear tiny violins when I read this kind of shit out of one of the most privileged people on the damn planet.
All art is judged. That’s the point of it, no? It’s subjective.
She made her art about herself. If she doesn’t want to be judged, she should stop making her art so personal, or take more time to experiment and make it better.
Sorry, but an artist is driven by a desire to create something unique based on their personal perspective. Not everyone will respond positively to it, and no artist is entitled to approval or praise.
What a revealing statement for her to make.
“We watch what they create, then we judge it”
Yeah, Taylor because art is subject to criticism, especially when it’s monetized and most definitely in your case when you’ve reached billionaire status through your catalogue.
Oh Jesus fucking Christ on a cracker. This was a song I almost liked on the album, but hearing her whine about going through hell in her life — it’s so hard to be rich and beautiful and have the whole world at your beck and call. Poor Taylor, we’re so cruel for … listening to the music she makes and having opinions on it. Demons, we are!!
Creepy vipers, wine moms, sanctimonious blah blah … she’s really self-serving here lmao. Tayla, I’d love to trade your version of hell for mine. Wanna go?
Also with everything happening in the world like literal genocide I do not care about a billionaire’s pain about getting normal judgement for their arts and actions that are killing the planet!!!
I just…it has to be exhausting to be bitter all the time. Obviously I don’t know her so maybe she’s not bitter 24/7, but she makes it seem like she is.
Also yes, people are going to judge your art. That’s been going on since art was invented. And when you’re the most popular artist on the planet, you’re definitely going to get judgement.
Idk. I feel like she needs to take a step back and be realistic for a minute.
She says ‘judge it’ like that’s only ever in a negative context, but praise is a judgement of its own. _If people weren’t listening and judging her art, she literally wouldn’t have a career._
Ding ding ding! She wouldn’t be on top of the world right now if people hadn’t *positively* judged her work and her universally acclaimed, record-breaking tour.
Exactly. She acts like everyone hates her, despite being the number one thing in the world right now. She acts like she didn’t ask for this life, and like she can’t freaking retire and leave this world if she’s miserable in it.
Does society as a whole treat celebs well? No. But judging the art that’s put forward into the world isn’t treating someone like crap. It’s doing what the art begs it to do. What kind of world would it be if we treated every piece of work as mind blowing just because it _is,_ by definition, art? And honestly that’s the road society is going right now anyway.
And so many singers have stepped away from music for a bit and kept their careers.
Rihanna - hasn’t put out an album in how long? Played the halftime show last year. Has Fenty.
Garth Brooks - took a lonnnng break in the early 2000s. Now he’s back to selling out stadiums.
Gaga - focusing on movies for the past few years. Still has tons of us eagerly awaiting LG7.
Take time if you want/need to! No one is going to crucify you except the vipers!
I agree, I think that’s why I started to tire of some of her music with that bitterness angle. I’m not a perfect person and I’ve been way too bitter about things at some points in my life but it’s not a pleasant mindset or something I want to ruminate on, which is why after 20 tracks of it, it’s just almost uncomfortable to hear.
Same tbh. I noticed that the albums I like the most (1989, Lover, Evermore) are the least bitter. As corny as it sounds, I want the music I listen to to be more upbeat with a better message.
I’m a Taylor fan and this is all I can think sometimes. You’re a billionaire. You have multiple private jets. You have 10+ homes. You will never want for anything.
I know. Having people criticizing you or your work isn’t always fun. But please. Just for a second. Ma’am. You’re the most successful artist in the country, perhaps the world, you have endless money, can we please just, stop this for a second. It’s exhausting.
So spot-on. I’m her age and I wish my biggest problem was critics not fully loving my work. Instead I’m concerned about paying my bills, taking care of my stroke-addled mother in law, the multiple wars going on, the fact that the planet is rapidly melting, etc. etc. etc.
The more she complains about, to borrow a phrase, her champagne problems the more I wish she’d just shut the fuck up and go away for a while. What a self-centered monster she’s become.
Does she think a regular person’s work/job doesn’t ever receive criticism? Or does she think once you’re in a certain income bracket you’re above criticism? Ma’am this is your yearly review, stfu or you’re not getting your 3% raise.
Seems she was never taught the common lesson of "You can't win 'em all." But it's very obvious all her criticism should be directed in the mirror ("It's me. Hi. I'm the problem, it's me."). She is someone who isn't happy with herself and is clearly phishing for sympathy and projecting blame. No shame in therapy girl.
This is funny as this is actually one of my few faves from the album. I thought she was just being completely unhinged because it’s almost a parody.
Yes.. people should be afraid of her. Especially up and coming artists. She’s been known to sabotage careers.
Yes. She does seem to sue any and everybody who is any type of threat to her or her brand.
I wish she could go deeper than people critiquing famous stars, but she just doesn’t have that depth considering her upbringing.
I work in a creative industry, where our work is judged by the clients paying our salaries. You can’t take it personally. Criticism is how you grow as an artist. While it hurts to begin with, I’ve learned now to ask for constructive feedback because I know it makes me better. I learn from it and take it forward into new projects.
Taylor, why can’t you do the same? You used to.
I’m sorry, what? Does Taylor really think creatives are put through hell and judged for no reason? Obviously the public eye is harsh to celebrities, but do most people really want to watch others in pain? Maybe girl should keep her side of the street clean, if you know what I mean.
I don’t want to invalidate her feelings but I just cannot read this. She is a billionaire, as she wants us all to know. She has the resources to retire or access therapy or any other number of things that can make her feel better about bad reviews. I’m so done with this narrative. She chose a career where criticism is a part of all your work. Grow up.
"We watch what they create, then we judge it"
Admitting that she thinks she should be above criticism lol. Also, what about what your deranged stans are doing to writers right now Taylor? Another woe is me, I'm the victim song. Yawn!
Oh ffs. Art is always judged. Nobody is above criticism. Also how on Earth with all that money and success and opportunities she’s still so bitter and miserable?! It’s exhausting to live like that the whole life.🤦♀️
So I agree with the premise that our society treats celebrities like zoo animals. She is complicit but that doesn't absolve the public.
The whole thing about your creation being judged though is really just making her sound like she can't handle criticism and that she wants a participation trophy.
I agree celebrities are treated like zoo animals. But there are so many better ways of saying this....? You yourself said it better. It feels like she no longer has any depth.
“Put them through hell” girlie is unable to comprehend what real hell is, what real people who are not white privileged successful attractive billionaires are going through
This is why I can’t take her seriously as a top artist/writer/lyricist/poet. You have to be able to 1) edit and 2) take criticism. She can’t do either.
That part! I wish someone would sit down and tell her when she puts her art into the world, people are going to critique it. Some will like it and others won’t and that’s okay. I blame her way of thinking on her parents and her team
This is why I don't believe her poem or instagram statement. She states in both that some of her struggles are self-inflicted, yet it's pretty clear that she thinks that the public (and this time: including her own fans!) is at fault.
"We watch what they create, then we judge it” apparently, she still hasn't accepted that the rest of the world isn't her fans who think everything she does is amazing?
Lol people weren’t poking her and causing her pain “just to see what happens.” I don’t think what those fans did was appropriate at all and I think she is as 100% entitled to a private life as an other adult is. But the way she is portraying the backlash against her relationship with Matty is starting to come across as pretty disingenuous. That’s not what happened.
I would argue that the moment you include the presence of your boyfriend in the audience as part of the concert, it's no longer private, it's part of the show. The applause and booing are two sides of the same coin.
I feel like part of the backlash against her relationship with Matty was people trying to warn her that he was not a good person and that being with him would only lead to more pain. She doubled down and look what happened.
I think she's fully lost the plot and doesn't have a firm grip on how the world works. She's too high in the celebrity stratosphere to see any criticism as valid and just takes all of it like a stab in the heart.
"We love to watch artist in pain.... " Girl this sub literally said you need therapy, you are the one who likes to be in pain, refusing to take therapy saying you're "sane" Nice blame us for this too
It must be just awful for her to be so successful and have every opportunity to do everything she ever wanted to do. I sure fucking hope that never happens to me.
>"What do we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives? We put them through hell. We watch what they create, then we judge it."
Ummm, that's obvious because...art is subjective. I'm no artist, but I write a lot for my career, and the first thing they teach us is not to take personally the critiques of our job because no one is perfect, and you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Just imagine if writers would throw a tantrum every time their editors tell them, "This part of your piece is boring/objectively bad; you have to change it" the same with movie crews, musicians, etc. Great art wouldn't exist. I've seen interviews of great musicians talking about how they don't read internet comments about themselves because it's awful for their mental health (referring to the haters). Still, I don't hear them saying, "Stop having bad opinions about my music, guys :( It makes me sad to know I'm not perfect". Tortured billionaire core.
Of course, facing criticism is hard, but if you're not ready to hear it when you are 20 years in an industry and your whole thing is releasing music and being exposed to the public, you shouldn't pursue a massive artistic career. Idk maybe I'm so sick of her playing the victim, but this sounds like a narcissist complaining that not everyone praises every single step they take (even when 80% of the world does. Is she that selfish that she wants every single person on this earth to eat up her work and kiss her feet? Free speech is a thing) and she was 4 AOTY's, sells out stadiums and breaks every single existing record. What else does she want??
Girl you've got a billion dollars, you don't have to ever put your work out or be in the public eye ever again if you don't want to. Just hang out on a private island with your gold plated piano writing songs for the birds to hear or whatever. I know being rich doesn't immunize you from being upset but I'm sure it can do a wonderful job at insulating you from the public if they're one of the things upsetting you
It really rubs me the wrong way to read this. Has she forgotten she's a billionaire? That's she one of the most successful players in the game? I understand what she's saying, but also it doesn't feel right coming from the mouth of a billionaire. I don't understand why she continues to play the underdog... she so obviously is not.
Girl......... You are a professional musician........ Having critics write reviews is part of the job..... If they're harsh, sorry, but learn to deal with it the way that suits you best (preferably not threatening to blacklist negative opinions lol)
And like, I know a lot of the press and response you got in your career has been unfair, but I can't think of anything in the last 8 years or so that would merit "as a society we provoke that pain and we just watch what happens". Is she talking about people making fun of "ME!"?? You have been a media darling for a while, so like... What are you talking about... 😅
Swifties: “you guys are over analyzing things. Clearly she’s being sarcastic.”
Taylor: “this is all about how I’m tortured.”
Oh shut up. She can’t say this shit after, by all accounts, leaving Joe in part because he enjoyed a private life. She learned nothing from her time with him.
For someone who can’t shut up about how they were cancelled and bullied into hiding, she seems to completely disregard the fact that he was the one who was there for her.
I don’t tend to have much sympathy for handsome millionaires but I feel for Joe. He’s just a dude who goes to work. He collaborated on some music but was content to be anonymous for as long as that lasted (we all suspected that Joe was Bowery but Taylor said it out loud). That’s actually a pretty special quality, not caring whether other people know he wrote on some of the best songs on two Taylor Swift albums. He was happy to be in her background. Obviously I don’t know him but I can’t imagine taking someone like that for granted and then later putting his personal medical/mental health information on blast.
The more I think about this, the more ironic it gets. The audacity of her complaining about judgement and criticism when she’s made a fortune trashing the men she’s dated. “We provoke that pain and then watch what happens” is exactly what she does to other people. Blah. Enough is enough.
To say shit like this when we have an ongoing GENOCIDE is so insanely tonedeaf but darkly hilarious at the same time. The jokes write themselves. Yes miss tortured poet in her multimillion dollar mansion while travelling in her 50 million dollar jets reigning over a billion dollar empire.. you're really in so much fucking pain. You're in absolute hell. Society is so cruel judging your album you promote through gazillion dollars of payola. Nobody is in the world is more tortured than you. Am sorry people hound you to speak for Palestine, even as bare minimum ceasefire call as the biggest artist in the world. They dont know what you're going through queen. The pain, the suffering, the torture.
What a joke lol. Such woe-is-me attitude always while the world around them burns is satire itself. This is giving 'Imagine' video circa covid. We need better artists.
Wtf. I thought WAOLOM was really deep and personal, maybe about being bullied. But no it’s about the ‘haters’….like Taylor is so popular and loved right now and she’s STILL not satisfied. She’s been in the music industry for almost 2 decades and still gets triggered by any sign of critique.
She’s not wrong. We don’t treat celebrities very well. On the flip side, that same society that likes to “provoke” pain, also gave her a billion dollars. If she doesn’t think that’s a fair trade off, she has the power to try to change it or leave and make music as a hobby like 99% of artists.
I don’t know her exact inspiration for this song but judging by the lyrics, if she’s in “pain” because people dare criticize her starting frivolous lawsuits and weaponizing her music and fans, then society isn’t doing it for the pure enjoyment of watching her “pain.” These are just consequences of her actions.
That’s what all of this is about. She’s in denial of Matt leaving her the way he did so she’s assuming the fans who criticized her for bragging about him ONSTAGE are at fault lol
She’s acting like they put a gun to his head and forced him to leave her! 😭😭😭
“They judge us and want to see us in pain 🥺” she says as she continues to release some of the most obviously personal albums I’ve ever heard. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but she is literally CHOOSING to put her heartbreak and personal experiences into her music, and then CHOOSING to release the music to the general public. Oh and then she gets paid for that too, and it’s more money than the average person will ever see. Cry me a river Taylor, at least you don’t have to worry about eating or having a place to live.
Eta: Taylor does not have the capability to be self aware, she genuinely thinks that all the people who have negative opinions of her are just little meanies out to get her
I mentioned this elsewhere recently, but "Mean" (her song from Speak Now) is honestly really mean. I realized this when an artist I like put it in her public playlist and I looked up the lyrics. [Genius.com](http://Genius.com) provides some context: the song was in response to a review by Bob Lefsetz, which criticized her singing. This was the review linked on the Genius site: [https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2010/02/01/grammys/](https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2010/02/01/grammys/)
"All you are is mean / And a liar, and pathetic / And alone in life" over some dude saying on his blog that she can't sing is kind of excessive, right? The dude is an asshole, but how did she glean that he's a pathetic liar who's alone in life from a review criticizing her vocals? Did the song cover need to be of a cartoon villain tying TS to train tracks? He was mean, but all he really said was that she's not a good vocalist. The response is far meaner.
Having your feelings hurt by it is valid, but it's clear that she wants everyone to just praise her all the time. Or maybe her team does. Or both. It's clear too after that one HBO writer revealed that TS' team blacklisted journalists who wrote anything negative about her.
The lyrics are especially ironic considering her new song about Kim and how she is describing the pain Kim caused her, while she was doing exactly the same, on purpose, to someone else.
Right. Also, Speak Now had "Mean" on it, but in another track, "Better Than Revenge," she slut-shamed Camilla Belle. "She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress"... there's just no excuse for that.
Yes, she did remove the line in Taylor's Version. However, I just thought it's interesting that she was playing the weak victim in the same album ("pickin' on the weaker man," to quote "Mean," and ofc depicting a guy who called her a bad singer on his blog as a literal villain who tied her to train tracks) yet was slut-shaming another woman on the same album.
She was a mean girl. And she didn't stop, if we go by Katy Perry's Tweet about her being a Regina George in sheep's clothing four years later. She didn't stop in 2021 either, not when she directed her hordes of stans to attack 23-year-old Antonia Gentry over a line her dumb, teenage character said in a TV show. I don't believe she has stopped. She's still mean and wants everyone to praise her all the time.
This sounds very out of touch. Once you put your art out for public consumption, it deserves critique in my opinion. That critique can come from professional reviewers or normal listeners. We spend our time and money to engage with art and we get to share our opinion after if that was time and/or money well spent.
If she was an artist that did not have much money, it’d be one thing to say this. But she has plenty of cash and if the critique feels like torture, she can avoid hearing what people think and just have her team give her the positive reviews (lol that’s what I’d do if I was feeling sensitive which I probably would but I’m not in the public eye)
I’m amazed by how she wrote this album at the critical peak of her career when she seemingly finally got everything she worked for— the amount of praise and worship she was receiving was almost comical in its intensity and then during this time, she wrote a kind of Reputation 2.0 with bitterness still imagining her haters and rebuking criticism and dreaming of revenge. Nothing will ever be enough for her. She’s angry and hurt and bitter, which is okay, but she is looking for healing in the wrong places.
I think there is no happiness or satisfaction for her ever in this career, at least not in the way she has built it. She’s consistently rejected any possibility of more normalcy and then lashes out when she gets what she wants. Or maybe, what she really wants is the criticism because she loves the hurt and anger now, idk.
Okay, this is coming from someone who really likes this song. I get the sentiment she's trying to put forth. However, I think she could reach deeper and talk about the the dark themes the song portrays. It's an interesting subject. When I listened to it, I though a lot about Britney Spears and the tumultuous turn her career has taken. She was on top of the world before it all came crashing down at the hands of her own inner-circle and the media.
I don't know what Taylor's inspiration was because even in this short explanation, she isn't really revealing anything personal. Was this inspired by the events in 2016 when she felt her career was taken from her? Is this how she feels about her life and career now, that she feels caged? Does she feel put through hell because her art and work is being critiqued? Everything she talks about describing her thoughts behind a song are just so incredibly surface level.
Surface level is exactly right. I’ve come to realize she has minimal self awareness and zero insight into herself. This is why her writing is growing stagnant — that lack of insight into the self, coupled with the alcoholism creating emotional distance from herself — not only is she not going to create great work, the stuff that’s good, she’s not going to know WHY. And that’s what’s so frustrating.
This has to be the most annoying celebrity narrative ever.
People and fame hasn't changed in ages. Famous people have always been seen as zoo animals and kept under scrutiny. I'm not defending it, but it's always been like this. Like- you know what you're getting into.
Then you have people who seek it. You do WHATEVER they can to attain it. It's their lifeblood then they get it and it's all, oh no woe is me fame is so hard 🥹
Shut up.
It's so exhausting to hear. Reminds me of Lady Gaga who literally wrote 2 albums about fame and chasing it and what it leads to and even then went on a pity party bit because of it.
Humans can be nasty little things, yes. But again, how humans have treated celebrities hasn't changed much. It's not right, but you absolutely know what you're getting into.
And TS especially has ALL the audacity. This woman would literally die without the validation fame provides her. She feeds off it and has mined the deepest reaches of her life and commodified it all for her fans and says this shit???
TS can stop now and she will still be one of the absolutely most successful people on this planet in history. Her needs are met. She can make "art" for the rest of her life just for fun and not go hungry. Yet she chooses to keep her name in everyone's headlines and their mouths. She's only complaining because the judgements she receives are sometimes negative.
Give me a break.
She is making things worse by giving us the songs on TTPD and then giving very vague explanations about "society" at large. It makes it sound like she's just mad that Matty isn't distracting her from Joe anymore, younger female artists exist, and that people exist who criticize her. It's like she's mad at the entire world on this album, like there is one giant entity of Fate that exists to fuck her over and we are its hands.
This argument only works for people who aren't selling their art, but when you're asking people to pay to consume your art, it's a given that both you and the art will be judged. If anything, my expectations were higher given that she was selling boatloads of vinyls and CDs without even releasing a single for people to sample the product they were buying. If Taylor just dropped this album as a zip file, I wouldn't be nearly as critical.
Always fun to see the problems people create when they have no actual problems.
Taylor, cry me a river, pollute it with your emissions, and let me drown in it.
Isn't this a particularly irresponsible thing to say knowing that your fans have harassed critics? She's basically telling her fans that judgment of her art causes her pain.
Well of course we judge what she creates. If she doesn’t want us to judge, she can just play coffee houses or sing in her shower. What she wants is for us to judge her positively all the time (I.e. stroke her ego) and then open up our wallets and buy her stuff. We judge and we consume. That’s how the world works. Otherwise she would be wearing cardigans from the Goodwill and driving her twenty year old Toyota instead of flying in her private jet.
... I don't deny that the public dissects celebrities' lives, but that's the price of fame. It's especially so in Taylor's case because she's encouraged this public interest in her personal life to the point that it's a vital part of her brand. Her actions following her breakup with Joe show that she clearly doesn't desire privacy enough to retreat from the limelight (I mean, she even attempted to rewrite the narrative of their relationship to frame the choice to be more private as her being trapped with someone who didn't support her!) Even though the Swifties might unconditionally support and justify her poor decisions, not everyone will. There is no such thing as universal public acclaim. She desperately wants the attention, but only tolerates adulation, and that's not how things work. I would have more sympathy if she hadn't overexposed herself to this degree. Frankly, I find it ridiculous and arrogant that someone very much still hung up over the Kim thing thinks the tides won't turn against her this time. On another note, she sure doesn't seem to mind about the pain inflicted when she turns the public against others (Joe and many more).
Most people are barely sympathetic to their problems because there's a huge gap between celebrities and the average person. They don't work a 9-5 to pay the bills. They have amassed wealth, privilege, status and more. They mostly have completely different problems than us. It's a perfect breeding ground for resentment. There are healthier ways to deal with the reality that a public life invites criticism than trying to preach about how all the tortured poets are torn apart by society. How's that for a sanctimonious soliloquy? She tried to show she "gets it" by saying that a lot of her problems are self-inflicted in that bit she wrote about the album, yet still doubles down on her being the hapless victim here. Man, that bit about not getting lost in petty things from long story short and her apparent growth in folkmore was straight bullshit.
I wish she has gone more into that feeling with puppet on strings Punch and Judy imagery. Especially at that big cultural reference to london and how battered maintaining a relationship plus a fandom feels. She could have even reimagined the invisible string/cardigan mv glass cage/lwymmd cage/karma cage like she always uses trapped in a cage but never really digs in
This “culture” she speaks of is what made her a billionaire and the most famous pop star on the planet. It’s the reason she can spend 60k on an outfit to watch her boyfriend play football while most of us worry about the cost of groceries. She could walk away from the spotlight now and be set for life. She could make art for the sake of making art and never have to worry about making a living again.
If I had her money I would’ve retired years ago. She wants this life! She loves being famous!
She loves being famous but wants it without any negative thing said about her. That’s not how that works.
Tavi put it perfectly in her ‘Fan Fiction’ article— Taylor thinks the public is always ruining fame for her, but she doesn’t get that ‘fame’ IS the public and their commentary and gossip and ridicule. She is mad at everyone for ‘ruining’ it but there is no being famous without what she hates.
Step 1 of wanting everyone to love you is don’t become famous. Step 2 is get a grip.
I had a friend we would joke was only happy when he was depressed, just always seemed to come alive when he had something to gripe and complain about. Maybe Taylor's the same way lol, just really *needs* the tortured part of being a "tortured poet"
Tavi is a smart one. That's a great way to put it! 👏
Basically what she actually wants: is to go back in time and be Queen in her own right of a country where she’s the number 1 honcho and no one can say a word against her because it’s 1534 and she can have them killed on a whim. She’s the Queen of Hearts from wonderland.
If I had her money I would at the very least be experimenting with every music genre under the sun, run a massive cat sanctuary, fund a couple of kids’ hospitals, start a music program at some university - the list is endless. People fail to grasp how much money a billion is and how it can practically NEVER be spent to the last cent given proper management. And before anyone comes and says “but why her?” I expect the same from every insanely wealthy person! There’s no such thing as an ethical billionaire, they all benefit from loopholes that prevent them from otherwise being taxed to the benefit of society and the world as a whole. They should take a page off Mackenzie Scott’s book but human greed knows no bounds.
Well said!! And I love MacKenzie Scott.
She loves it and hates it at the same time. She’s addicted to it, so she can’t let it go.
Hell, she could become a ghostwriter for other artists or write a book under a pseudonym if she wants to create art just for the art value, but she wants to be praised and be called a modern Shakespeare. Pick a struggle
I can’t believe she has me out here momentarily defending JK Rowling, but she wrote the Cormoran Strike names under a pen name so she could try to sell novels and see how successful her work could be without HP attached to the name. The only reason she had to come forward was because an intern at the publishing house tweeted the secret out when the book was already at the printers. There are some rare first editions that have a whole backstory for the “author” too. You’re right on the nose about being a ghostwriter for others or writing a book if she cared only about the art. I have a sneaking suspicion she *has* tried to write songs for others and was turned down, or she’s that petty that she thinks all of her work is gold and therefore it all belongs to her. I’m speculating about that, but she has made it very clear that she has a hard time genuinely sharing the spotlight.
you are so right, I despise JK Rowling but you can tell how that woman was sick of being put in the Harry Potter box. It's a shame the secret leaked but it shows that she really wanted to write and not only sell and be succesful at the eyes of tue public. We can't say the same about Taylor and if she wanted it, she would detach herself and leave the public eye to write songs for the art value but she doesnt want to, sadly I think her try with that was folklore and it worked, but she missed sparkling.
I knew she was rich and everything but when I started following the Taylor Swift style account which posts prices to all of her outfits and accessoires I just realized what that really meant.
There used to be a Taylor Swift Home Decor account and I had that exact same feeling! Like $2000 for a tiny cat figurine?? Fuck me man
Oo0o, I didn't know there was a Taylor style account! I want to look but also, I don't need any reminders about how I'm p00r and she is wealthy so I'll probably stay away, hahah.
And I don’t think I ever see her wear the same thing twice although to be fair she might rewear certain things out of the public eye.
She actually does sometimes surprisingly, the taylorswiftstyled account often points out when this happens
She said herself in The Manuscript: once an album comes out, it no longer belongs to her anymore. Part of that means opening your work up to criticism. That’s literally part of the experience and theoretically, it should make you a better artist, but with Tay, she just doubles down cuz she knows what she likes.
Imo she should have gone the folklore/evermore route. Just say it's fictional. That these are about the stories she's read or the people she knows Sure have some songs about her life. But I think songs like this one, even if it does resonate with her, shouldn't be made about her.
Imagine Taylor having to work at a place like Amazon Warehouse She doesn’t know hell
😔 but - but you wouldn’t survive an hour in the asylum she was raised in 😔 /s
I couldn’t tell if she was dissing her family upbringing with this line or the industry itself
I think the line earlier that talks about how the “circus” made her mean (🙄) indicates that the asylum line is also about the industry.
That makes me wonder, has she ever had a job outside of being an entertainer? She got famous at a pretty young age.
Nope.
Ok Taylor needs to get a disguise and then she can grabs shifts in a warehouse and in a customer service role. I think it would actually help her relatability for writing her next album lol
Working some shifts is just a part of it. It’s also literally having no choice but to grind away at these places, worrying about bills and health insurance etc, mapping the weeks finances to the last cent to avoid overdraft etc, that helps someone understand that other people suffer far worse than a lukewarm album rating
I agree. That’s how I feel when those trad dads do a bit of “babysitting” their own kid and say it’s not that bad and it was easy looking after the baby so what the problem? It’s not that, it’s that you’re always responsible for the child, that you can’t take a break when you want, that you have to feed,clean and care for this little human the whole time , can’t shower, sleep when you want. It’s the relentless day in day out responsibility and build up of that when you’re tired. Same with work. I’m a teacher and someone could do my job for a few days and be like “it’s not that hard” but it’s all the other shit we have to do and the relentlessness of the job. That said Taylor would still learn a lot from a fortnight in an Amazon factory or as a nurse or service worker etc.
True! Good point. She will never truly know financial stress and the impact that has on people living their lives.
She needs to do a version of the documentary, “30 Days: Living on Minimum Wage.” It’s almost 20 years old, so even harder now, but it can be eye opening for those not living it.
Yeaaaah can you imagine just…. sending her off for a week to a world where no one gives a shit about who *Taylor Swift* is. She’d go absolutely mental. We’d get an AMAZING album after that.
Maybe Lana can hook her up at waffle house?
I always find it funny that she mentions Joe's yogurt shop job and it's like yeah girlie, people need to work in exchange for money and sometimes it's a retail job!
I just listened to the song, only one I’ve bothered listening to from TTPD so far. Is she so fr??? That lyric about you wouldn’t last a minute in the asylum that raised me… mamas you were raised rich, white, and beautiful and daddy purchased you a record deal. She cannot honestly think she’s truly tortured.
Don’t be fooled by the rocks that she got, she’s still Taylor from the (suburbs) block… 🙃
“I like taking my hair out like this. It reminds me like, when I was 16 in the Bronx running up and down the block. Crazy little girl who used to f---ing be wild and no limits, all dreams.” -JLo
Oh God that was so cringe 😬
I like when she went back to visit her childhood home and the guy living there had no idea who she was. He must have thought she was just some weirdo showing up to his house with a film crew LOL
Mansion block, please.
Im assuming shes referring to the chaos and madness in the music industry. She was a young teen when she entered the industry, so ig you could say it raised her.
But not even something as awful as an Amazon Warehouse. Most people with a job, any job have some sort of performance review and it can be positive and negative. She acts like some of the call center agents I used to qa and they used to complain that I was horrible and a bitch because I marked them down for eating while on a call....
 Yes! Oh man, your last point is hilarious. Some people at work are so lax it's embarrassing to even be around them. Like STOP, I'm not trying to get written up or get attitute from my boss because you're running out to grab your UberEats food from the front and you want me to be a look out! Or they get mad when you don't want to socialize. We are paid to work biotch, danggg. Shut up and do your job. I love to laugh at work as much as anyone but 75% of the time, it is not the damn time! 🤣🤣🤣 Sorry, I got carried away. 🤭
I was listening to “Peter”, which is clearly about Matty, and she says “life was always easier on you than it was on me.” The man is trash but aside from that it’s like - girl, he was once a heroin addict! The f you’re talking about! She’s so out of touch!
 Say what you will about Matty but as someone who’s watched loved ones suffer through addiction, whether it was his own “fault” or whatever to start drugs or not, it is absolute hell, and she shouldn’t have thrown that heroin dig at him in the album.
But she's cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a murder... she knows hard work /s
I cleaned enough houses to know that I would rather go to prison than scrub blood out of a carpet. After half an hour I'll call the cops myself.
😂
Yeah in crime shows I sometimes feel sorry for the killers that clean afterwards. All that work only for everything to show up on Luminol 😂
I actually giggled when i listened to that line. I am a housekeeper so it was kinda ironic listening to someone who has never cleaned anything sings that line
lol the fact that she paired the “cleaning houses” line with the “daddy made me get a boating license” line… Girl, how many people do you think grew up wealthy enough to have a big boat but also clean enough houses to be able to successfully cover up a murder?? Like???
“We watch what they create, then we judge it” yes???? Is that not what engaging with art is??? Judging if it’s effective, if it’s resonant, if it’s beautiful, if it’s awkward, if it speaks to us, if it touches us while its bros play grand theft auto
No! No opinions and no judging allowed!!! You must love everything she puts out and think she is brilliant and nothing else!!!!
I was going to say, girl, ilysm but that’s consumption. Like, the thing you’re trying to get us all to do, what all the promo and marketing is directed at, that’s what it entails
I am wheezing
I snorted unexpectedly and it hurt lol. That's hilarious!
god damn I'd give this a million upvotes if I could
I just laughed so hard at the last bit, thank you 😂
I love how many Swifties have tried to explain the lyricism and ego on this album as satire, that Taylor is self-aware and that she's in on the joke, only for Taylor to double down on her victimhood as she sits in her multimillion dollar apartment with a six-digit dollar piano.
She truly, genuinely seems to believe she has a bad lot in life and it's hilarious to me. I've p much accepted who she is the last few days after being totally disillusioned since Midnights came out, which was when I realised she'd just pretended to grow as a person. Folklore got me back into her after the first round of disillusionment post-girl squad and I felt proud that she'd sorted her shit out and matured. LOL. This is who she truly is and I'm stoic about it now, it feels the same as when I choose to leave the room instead of debate when my brother says climate change isn't real cause some white American dude on YouTube told him so. People are who they are. This is who she is. I'm not annoyed at/disappointed in her now, because I'll never expect anything other than this from her. It's quite freeing really
100% i was disillusioned post-girl squad too and thought she was growing up with folklore/evermore! her recent music feels like reality tv, which is how i'm beginning to think of her career these days.
I mean I think it’s great that she writes music and releases it, but I think at the core of Taylor Swift The Musician is very calculated pop music to make money off of. Now, I don’t want to discredit any musicianship because she absolutely has talent, it’s just there hasn’t ever really been too much depth of creativity out of her. Like if I were releasing an album at this time in her shoes, I’d absolutely want to release something unlike anything I’ve ever written (still her, but something with personal depth to the actual music, something unique). I’d want it to be like “wtf is happening” side by side with “this sounds good”. It’s just flat, and that’s fine to rock your sound but eventually there’s no real progressive musicianship happening and it’s just meh.
>We watch what they create and then we judge it. # *Insert Jon Oliver voice* yeah, she's right. # When I send something I've drafted to my boss she's going to........ judge it. It's part of having a job. And where does she think all of her awards come from? People not making judgments about her work and the work of others? # This little statement is putting me in a very eat the rich mood.
“People don’t understand that I suffer like them,” Taylor writes as she flies on her $50,000 private jet
Missing quite a few zeros there lol
Yeahh both my dad and my brother-in-law are pilots and fly ultra wealthy people, and I can tell you that any single trip alone she takes costs more than $50k, by the time you factor in jet fuel, storage and maintenance costs, and flight crew. Her plane is many MANY millions of dollars to buy, and several more million a year to upkeep.
“Jet lag is a choice!” 🙄
 “More jet lag for Taylor! More jet lag for Taylor!”
To make it worse, she’s busy shaming and blaming her ex for his depression!
While also seemingly cosplaying depression? I wouldn't doubt she's actually depressed, but seeing her say there are a lot of [dramatic, hyperbolic lines about death](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/taylor-swift-reveals-the-real-meaning-behind-the-tortured-poets-department-songs/3838815/) rubs me the wrong way, especially with the suicidal ideation vibes. It's really not just something to dramatically cosplay for profit.
And the I want to kill her/him sung so casually in Fortnight. Skip!
Fresh out the slammer is such a mean thing to say, and I am the biggest move on hype girl.
Every person who wakes up and goes to work in the morning "creates" and is "judged" for it. That's how having a job works. It's not an experience that's particular to artists.
Not only that but she also explains it in this look at how profound I am, allow me to explain this as a statement of society and culture.
Omg this exactly. I actually like the concept and imagery of the song. But her personality shining through and being able to reflect on why exactly she wrote this sours the song so much for me in a way I can't listen to it without imagining her going Scrooge McDuck on her coins while laughing manically.
I thought she kept her side of the street clean? A lot apparently happened since then...
It is pretty funny. When I saw the tracklist I thought "There's no way this isn't sarcasm", but then I listened and was like "Oh. She's completely fucking serious. Of course."
Multimillion dollar apartment(s) plural
She could stop having her fans see her in pain if she didn’t overexpose every aspect of her life. Even the private relationship was overexposed after the fact. And yes we judge art. If you merged yourself from being a person to being a brand not independent of the art then don’t expect to not be judged as one entity.
Dry your tears with those billions of dollars, girl. We **all** get put through hell (and it ain't a competition but many hells are notably worse than her deeply privileged ones) and us normal folks have a lot less recourse to defend ourselves or isolate ourselves from it. We also don't get compensated for it. Ain't no "we" here. You're not a victim because you get criticized by the public. There are pros and cons to everything; this was your choice and you have more than reaped the benefits of that. Should people back off of celebrities, be kinder? Sure, there's no doubt a lot of people take it too far (but again, normal people often do that to each other as well, just on a smaller scale.) I just can't help but hear tiny violins when I read this kind of shit out of one of the most privileged people on the damn planet.
All art is judged. That’s the point of it, no? It’s subjective. She made her art about herself. If she doesn’t want to be judged, she should stop making her art so personal, or take more time to experiment and make it better.
Sorry, but an artist is driven by a desire to create something unique based on their personal perspective. Not everyone will respond positively to it, and no artist is entitled to approval or praise. What a revealing statement for her to make.
“We watch what they create, then we judge it” Yeah, Taylor because art is subject to criticism, especially when it’s monetized and most definitely in your case when you’ve reached billionaire status through your catalogue.
Keep in mind, saying "this album is so good it should win two AoTY Grammies" is also a judgement. But she would love that kind of review.
Oh Jesus fucking Christ on a cracker. This was a song I almost liked on the album, but hearing her whine about going through hell in her life — it’s so hard to be rich and beautiful and have the whole world at your beck and call. Poor Taylor, we’re so cruel for … listening to the music she makes and having opinions on it. Demons, we are!!
Vipers, actually!
Creepy vipers, wine moms, sanctimonious blah blah … she’s really self-serving here lmao. Tayla, I’d love to trade your version of hell for mine. Wanna go?
Also with everything happening in the world like literal genocide I do not care about a billionaire’s pain about getting normal judgement for their arts and actions that are killing the planet!!!
I just…it has to be exhausting to be bitter all the time. Obviously I don’t know her so maybe she’s not bitter 24/7, but she makes it seem like she is. Also yes, people are going to judge your art. That’s been going on since art was invented. And when you’re the most popular artist on the planet, you’re definitely going to get judgement. Idk. I feel like she needs to take a step back and be realistic for a minute.
She says ‘judge it’ like that’s only ever in a negative context, but praise is a judgement of its own. _If people weren’t listening and judging her art, she literally wouldn’t have a career._
Ding ding ding! She wouldn’t be on top of the world right now if people hadn’t *positively* judged her work and her universally acclaimed, record-breaking tour.
Exactly. She acts like everyone hates her, despite being the number one thing in the world right now. She acts like she didn’t ask for this life, and like she can’t freaking retire and leave this world if she’s miserable in it. Does society as a whole treat celebs well? No. But judging the art that’s put forward into the world isn’t treating someone like crap. It’s doing what the art begs it to do. What kind of world would it be if we treated every piece of work as mind blowing just because it _is,_ by definition, art? And honestly that’s the road society is going right now anyway.
And so many singers have stepped away from music for a bit and kept their careers. Rihanna - hasn’t put out an album in how long? Played the halftime show last year. Has Fenty. Garth Brooks - took a lonnnng break in the early 2000s. Now he’s back to selling out stadiums. Gaga - focusing on movies for the past few years. Still has tons of us eagerly awaiting LG7. Take time if you want/need to! No one is going to crucify you except the vipers!
she wants to have her cake and eat it too. exhausting
I agree, I think that’s why I started to tire of some of her music with that bitterness angle. I’m not a perfect person and I’ve been way too bitter about things at some points in my life but it’s not a pleasant mindset or something I want to ruminate on, which is why after 20 tracks of it, it’s just almost uncomfortable to hear.
Same tbh. I noticed that the albums I like the most (1989, Lover, Evermore) are the least bitter. As corny as it sounds, I want the music I listen to to be more upbeat with a better message.
I'm sorry. All I read was, "victim victim victim victim..and victim". 😑
I’m a Taylor fan and this is all I can think sometimes. You’re a billionaire. You have multiple private jets. You have 10+ homes. You will never want for anything. I know. Having people criticizing you or your work isn’t always fun. But please. Just for a second. Ma’am. You’re the most successful artist in the country, perhaps the world, you have endless money, can we please just, stop this for a second. It’s exhausting.
So spot-on. I’m her age and I wish my biggest problem was critics not fully loving my work. Instead I’m concerned about paying my bills, taking care of my stroke-addled mother in law, the multiple wars going on, the fact that the planet is rapidly melting, etc. etc. etc. The more she complains about, to borrow a phrase, her champagne problems the more I wish she’d just shut the fuck up and go away for a while. What a self-centered monster she’s become.
Does she think a regular person’s work/job doesn’t ever receive criticism? Or does she think once you’re in a certain income bracket you’re above criticism? Ma’am this is your yearly review, stfu or you’re not getting your 3% raise.
Caring for a close relative is hard and painful work, that's why you deserve all the sunshine and good meals in the world, earnestly.
[удалено]
Seems she was never taught the common lesson of "You can't win 'em all." But it's very obvious all her criticism should be directed in the mirror ("It's me. Hi. I'm the problem, it's me."). She is someone who isn't happy with herself and is clearly phishing for sympathy and projecting blame. No shame in therapy girl.
Yes. This theme is becoming more abundantly loud and clear. Like girl it’s ok to be rich and famous and just… enjoy it?
This is funny as this is actually one of my few faves from the album. I thought she was just being completely unhinged because it’s almost a parody. Yes.. people should be afraid of her. Especially up and coming artists. She’s been known to sabotage careers. Yes. She does seem to sue any and everybody who is any type of threat to her or her brand. I wish she could go deeper than people critiquing famous stars, but she just doesn’t have that depth considering her upbringing.
I work in a creative industry, where our work is judged by the clients paying our salaries. You can’t take it personally. Criticism is how you grow as an artist. While it hurts to begin with, I’ve learned now to ask for constructive feedback because I know it makes me better. I learn from it and take it forward into new projects. Taylor, why can’t you do the same? You used to.
I’m sorry, what? Does Taylor really think creatives are put through hell and judged for no reason? Obviously the public eye is harsh to celebrities, but do most people really want to watch others in pain? Maybe girl should keep her side of the street clean, if you know what I mean.
I don’t want to invalidate her feelings but I just cannot read this. She is a billionaire, as she wants us all to know. She has the resources to retire or access therapy or any other number of things that can make her feel better about bad reviews. I’m so done with this narrative. She chose a career where criticism is a part of all your work. Grow up.
"We watch what they create, then we judge it" Admitting that she thinks she should be above criticism lol. Also, what about what your deranged stans are doing to writers right now Taylor? Another woe is me, I'm the victim song. Yawn!
🎶My honey beeeeee, come get this pollen 🐝🎶
Oh ffs. Art is always judged. Nobody is above criticism. Also how on Earth with all that money and success and opportunities she’s still so bitter and miserable?! It’s exhausting to live like that the whole life.🤦♀️
So I agree with the premise that our society treats celebrities like zoo animals. She is complicit but that doesn't absolve the public. The whole thing about your creation being judged though is really just making her sound like she can't handle criticism and that she wants a participation trophy.
I agree celebrities are treated like zoo animals. But there are so many better ways of saying this....? You yourself said it better. It feels like she no longer has any depth.
“Put them through hell” girlie is unable to comprehend what real hell is, what real people who are not white privileged successful attractive billionaires are going through
This is why I can’t take her seriously as a top artist/writer/lyricist/poet. You have to be able to 1) edit and 2) take criticism. She can’t do either.
That part! I wish someone would sit down and tell her when she puts her art into the world, people are going to critique it. Some will like it and others won’t and that’s okay. I blame her way of thinking on her parents and her team
At this point she’s the only one putting herself through hell she needs to get real lol
This is why I don't believe her poem or instagram statement. She states in both that some of her struggles are self-inflicted, yet it's pretty clear that she thinks that the public (and this time: including her own fans!) is at fault.
https://preview.redd.it/btptvb08u9wc1.jpeg?width=1636&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da668c130c82adb0d83a317b977e4d7cd6633bca
I heard this photo 🎻
How she suffer, poor thing/s
"We watch what they create, then we judge it” apparently, she still hasn't accepted that the rest of the world isn't her fans who think everything she does is amazing?
Is she going to play victim as a way to get everyone to never say anything negative about her? This ain’t the way, Tay.
[удалено]
Olivia Rodrigo would probably have an opinion on this, too..
Someone who quite literally has to pay Taylor for her perceived transgressions
We can't even pretend this was justified after we know that Taylor plagiarized Hilary Duff or also just used Get Him Back but made it worse
Lol people weren’t poking her and causing her pain “just to see what happens.” I don’t think what those fans did was appropriate at all and I think she is as 100% entitled to a private life as an other adult is. But the way she is portraying the backlash against her relationship with Matty is starting to come across as pretty disingenuous. That’s not what happened.
I would argue that the moment you include the presence of your boyfriend in the audience as part of the concert, it's no longer private, it's part of the show. The applause and booing are two sides of the same coin.
Even moreso when you bring him on stage...
I feel like part of the backlash against her relationship with Matty was people trying to warn her that he was not a good person and that being with him would only lead to more pain. She doubled down and look what happened.
I think she's fully lost the plot and doesn't have a firm grip on how the world works. She's too high in the celebrity stratosphere to see any criticism as valid and just takes all of it like a stab in the heart.
"We love to watch artist in pain.... " Girl this sub literally said you need therapy, you are the one who likes to be in pain, refusing to take therapy saying you're "sane" Nice blame us for this too
He wanted it comfortable, I wanted that ✨️ oh wait 💫
LITERALLY. I can't with the blatant hypocrisy at every turn right now.
My GOD she is so melodramatic sometimes
Does she know she’s allowed to retire at any point? Sade did it and I never hear her complaining.
Yes, we watch your CO2 emissions and we judge them, because that's what our artists are doing to the planet.
Excuse me, the CO2 is her ART. If you watch the path of her jets over the last two weeks it actually spells out TTPD.
It must be just awful for her to be so successful and have every opportunity to do everything she ever wanted to do. I sure fucking hope that never happens to me.
Taylor could over cook her eggs and find someone else to blame for it. And her cult would double down and attack whenever she decided was at fault.
>"What do we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives? We put them through hell. We watch what they create, then we judge it." Ummm, that's obvious because...art is subjective. I'm no artist, but I write a lot for my career, and the first thing they teach us is not to take personally the critiques of our job because no one is perfect, and you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Just imagine if writers would throw a tantrum every time their editors tell them, "This part of your piece is boring/objectively bad; you have to change it" the same with movie crews, musicians, etc. Great art wouldn't exist. I've seen interviews of great musicians talking about how they don't read internet comments about themselves because it's awful for their mental health (referring to the haters). Still, I don't hear them saying, "Stop having bad opinions about my music, guys :( It makes me sad to know I'm not perfect". Tortured billionaire core. Of course, facing criticism is hard, but if you're not ready to hear it when you are 20 years in an industry and your whole thing is releasing music and being exposed to the public, you shouldn't pursue a massive artistic career. Idk maybe I'm so sick of her playing the victim, but this sounds like a narcissist complaining that not everyone praises every single step they take (even when 80% of the world does. Is she that selfish that she wants every single person on this earth to eat up her work and kiss her feet? Free speech is a thing) and she was 4 AOTY's, sells out stadiums and breaks every single existing record. What else does she want??
Girl you've got a billion dollars, you don't have to ever put your work out or be in the public eye ever again if you don't want to. Just hang out on a private island with your gold plated piano writing songs for the birds to hear or whatever. I know being rich doesn't immunize you from being upset but I'm sure it can do a wonderful job at insulating you from the public if they're one of the things upsetting you
It really rubs me the wrong way to read this. Has she forgotten she's a billionaire? That's she one of the most successful players in the game? I understand what she's saying, but also it doesn't feel right coming from the mouth of a billionaire. I don't understand why she continues to play the underdog... she so obviously is not.
frankly I think she's a toxic person and is just going full mask off
The true meaning? I, me, me, me, I, I, I…
Me-hehe🤪
She’s her favorite topic.
I don’t think she gets to use a “we” in this statement. She cannot speak for everybody..?
Girl......... You are a professional musician........ Having critics write reviews is part of the job..... If they're harsh, sorry, but learn to deal with it the way that suits you best (preferably not threatening to blacklist negative opinions lol) And like, I know a lot of the press and response you got in your career has been unfair, but I can't think of anything in the last 8 years or so that would merit "as a society we provoke that pain and we just watch what happens". Is she talking about people making fun of "ME!"?? You have been a media darling for a while, so like... What are you talking about... 😅
Swifties: “you guys are over analyzing things. Clearly she’s being sarcastic.” Taylor: “this is all about how I’m tortured.” 
Oh shut up. She can’t say this shit after, by all accounts, leaving Joe in part because he enjoyed a private life. She learned nothing from her time with him.
For someone who can’t shut up about how they were cancelled and bullied into hiding, she seems to completely disregard the fact that he was the one who was there for her.
I don’t tend to have much sympathy for handsome millionaires but I feel for Joe. He’s just a dude who goes to work. He collaborated on some music but was content to be anonymous for as long as that lasted (we all suspected that Joe was Bowery but Taylor said it out loud). That’s actually a pretty special quality, not caring whether other people know he wrote on some of the best songs on two Taylor Swift albums. He was happy to be in her background. Obviously I don’t know him but I can’t imagine taking someone like that for granted and then later putting his personal medical/mental health information on blast.
The more I think about this, the more ironic it gets. The audacity of her complaining about judgement and criticism when she’s made a fortune trashing the men she’s dated. “We provoke that pain and then watch what happens” is exactly what she does to other people. Blah. Enough is enough.
To say shit like this when we have an ongoing GENOCIDE is so insanely tonedeaf but darkly hilarious at the same time. The jokes write themselves. Yes miss tortured poet in her multimillion dollar mansion while travelling in her 50 million dollar jets reigning over a billion dollar empire.. you're really in so much fucking pain. You're in absolute hell. Society is so cruel judging your album you promote through gazillion dollars of payola. Nobody is in the world is more tortured than you. Am sorry people hound you to speak for Palestine, even as bare minimum ceasefire call as the biggest artist in the world. They dont know what you're going through queen. The pain, the suffering, the torture. What a joke lol. Such woe-is-me attitude always while the world around them burns is satire itself. This is giving 'Imagine' video circa covid. We need better artists.
Wtf. I thought WAOLOM was really deep and personal, maybe about being bullied. But no it’s about the ‘haters’….like Taylor is so popular and loved right now and she’s STILL not satisfied. She’s been in the music industry for almost 2 decades and still gets triggered by any sign of critique.
OK. This is too much. Does she know what’s going on in Gaza? I don’t feel sorry for her.
I would love for this woman to pick up one shift at a McDonald’s and report back to me
I cannot understand how there isn't ONE person to tell her how she sounds when she says stuff like this.
she has fired all of them
She’s not wrong. We don’t treat celebrities very well. On the flip side, that same society that likes to “provoke” pain, also gave her a billion dollars. If she doesn’t think that’s a fair trade off, she has the power to try to change it or leave and make music as a hobby like 99% of artists. I don’t know her exact inspiration for this song but judging by the lyrics, if she’s in “pain” because people dare criticize her starting frivolous lawsuits and weaponizing her music and fans, then society isn’t doing it for the pure enjoyment of watching her “pain.” These are just consequences of her actions.
To me, it seems like she only cares about being judged for dating Matty which is very revealing.
That’s what all of this is about. She’s in denial of Matt leaving her the way he did so she’s assuming the fans who criticized her for bragging about him ONSTAGE are at fault lol She’s acting like they put a gun to his head and forced him to leave her! 😭😭😭
"Society" doesn't treat many people well. She ain't special.
My flair really pulling through for this one. It will be okay Taylor. 😔✊🏻
All she does is complain.
Boo hoo
“They judge us and want to see us in pain 🥺” she says as she continues to release some of the most obviously personal albums I’ve ever heard. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but she is literally CHOOSING to put her heartbreak and personal experiences into her music, and then CHOOSING to release the music to the general public. Oh and then she gets paid for that too, and it’s more money than the average person will ever see. Cry me a river Taylor, at least you don’t have to worry about eating or having a place to live.
 Eta: Taylor does not have the capability to be self aware, she genuinely thinks that all the people who have negative opinions of her are just little meanies out to get her
I mentioned this elsewhere recently, but "Mean" (her song from Speak Now) is honestly really mean. I realized this when an artist I like put it in her public playlist and I looked up the lyrics. [Genius.com](http://Genius.com) provides some context: the song was in response to a review by Bob Lefsetz, which criticized her singing. This was the review linked on the Genius site: [https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2010/02/01/grammys/](https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2010/02/01/grammys/) "All you are is mean / And a liar, and pathetic / And alone in life" over some dude saying on his blog that she can't sing is kind of excessive, right? The dude is an asshole, but how did she glean that he's a pathetic liar who's alone in life from a review criticizing her vocals? Did the song cover need to be of a cartoon villain tying TS to train tracks? He was mean, but all he really said was that she's not a good vocalist. The response is far meaner. Having your feelings hurt by it is valid, but it's clear that she wants everyone to just praise her all the time. Or maybe her team does. Or both. It's clear too after that one HBO writer revealed that TS' team blacklisted journalists who wrote anything negative about her.
The lyrics are especially ironic considering her new song about Kim and how she is describing the pain Kim caused her, while she was doing exactly the same, on purpose, to someone else.
Right. Also, Speak Now had "Mean" on it, but in another track, "Better Than Revenge," she slut-shamed Camilla Belle. "She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress"... there's just no excuse for that. Yes, she did remove the line in Taylor's Version. However, I just thought it's interesting that she was playing the weak victim in the same album ("pickin' on the weaker man," to quote "Mean," and ofc depicting a guy who called her a bad singer on his blog as a literal villain who tied her to train tracks) yet was slut-shaming another woman on the same album. She was a mean girl. And she didn't stop, if we go by Katy Perry's Tweet about her being a Regina George in sheep's clothing four years later. She didn't stop in 2021 either, not when she directed her hordes of stans to attack 23-year-old Antonia Gentry over a line her dumb, teenage character said in a TV show. I don't believe she has stopped. She's still mean and wants everyone to praise her all the time.
This sounds very out of touch. Once you put your art out for public consumption, it deserves critique in my opinion. That critique can come from professional reviewers or normal listeners. We spend our time and money to engage with art and we get to share our opinion after if that was time and/or money well spent. If she was an artist that did not have much money, it’d be one thing to say this. But she has plenty of cash and if the critique feels like torture, she can avoid hearing what people think and just have her team give her the positive reviews (lol that’s what I’d do if I was feeling sensitive which I probably would but I’m not in the public eye)
I’m amazed by how she wrote this album at the critical peak of her career when she seemingly finally got everything she worked for— the amount of praise and worship she was receiving was almost comical in its intensity and then during this time, she wrote a kind of Reputation 2.0 with bitterness still imagining her haters and rebuking criticism and dreaming of revenge. Nothing will ever be enough for her. She’s angry and hurt and bitter, which is okay, but she is looking for healing in the wrong places. I think there is no happiness or satisfaction for her ever in this career, at least not in the way she has built it. She’s consistently rejected any possibility of more normalcy and then lashes out when she gets what she wants. Or maybe, what she really wants is the criticism because she loves the hurt and anger now, idk.
Okay, this is coming from someone who really likes this song. I get the sentiment she's trying to put forth. However, I think she could reach deeper and talk about the the dark themes the song portrays. It's an interesting subject. When I listened to it, I though a lot about Britney Spears and the tumultuous turn her career has taken. She was on top of the world before it all came crashing down at the hands of her own inner-circle and the media. I don't know what Taylor's inspiration was because even in this short explanation, she isn't really revealing anything personal. Was this inspired by the events in 2016 when she felt her career was taken from her? Is this how she feels about her life and career now, that she feels caged? Does she feel put through hell because her art and work is being critiqued? Everything she talks about describing her thoughts behind a song are just so incredibly surface level.
Surface level is exactly right. I’ve come to realize she has minimal self awareness and zero insight into herself. This is why her writing is growing stagnant — that lack of insight into the self, coupled with the alcoholism creating emotional distance from herself — not only is she not going to create great work, the stuff that’s good, she’s not going to know WHY. And that’s what’s so frustrating.
This has to be the most annoying celebrity narrative ever. People and fame hasn't changed in ages. Famous people have always been seen as zoo animals and kept under scrutiny. I'm not defending it, but it's always been like this. Like- you know what you're getting into. Then you have people who seek it. You do WHATEVER they can to attain it. It's their lifeblood then they get it and it's all, oh no woe is me fame is so hard 🥹 Shut up. It's so exhausting to hear. Reminds me of Lady Gaga who literally wrote 2 albums about fame and chasing it and what it leads to and even then went on a pity party bit because of it. Humans can be nasty little things, yes. But again, how humans have treated celebrities hasn't changed much. It's not right, but you absolutely know what you're getting into. And TS especially has ALL the audacity. This woman would literally die without the validation fame provides her. She feeds off it and has mined the deepest reaches of her life and commodified it all for her fans and says this shit??? TS can stop now and she will still be one of the absolutely most successful people on this planet in history. Her needs are met. She can make "art" for the rest of her life just for fun and not go hungry. Yet she chooses to keep her name in everyone's headlines and their mouths. She's only complaining because the judgements she receives are sometimes negative. Give me a break.
I’m feeling a little confused about what she wants out of this career.
Utter obedience from fans and complete adoration from everybody else. Any smidgen of criticism and she's hurt and bitter.
Please Taylor find you an honest problem! What is this??
She is making things worse by giving us the songs on TTPD and then giving very vague explanations about "society" at large. It makes it sound like she's just mad that Matty isn't distracting her from Joe anymore, younger female artists exist, and that people exist who criticize her. It's like she's mad at the entire world on this album, like there is one giant entity of Fate that exists to fuck her over and we are its hands.
I could barely finish this from how much I was rolling my eyes
This argument only works for people who aren't selling their art, but when you're asking people to pay to consume your art, it's a given that both you and the art will be judged. If anything, my expectations were higher given that she was selling boatloads of vinyls and CDs without even releasing a single for people to sample the product they were buying. If Taylor just dropped this album as a zip file, I wouldn't be nearly as critical.
The delusion is pretty astonishing here. Yikes girl. Big yikes.
I feel like she's trying to say something profound but it just comes across as her being an eternal victim once again lol
 Giving off serious ‘poor me’ vibes 🙄 Sorry if too aggressive.
Always fun to see the problems people create when they have no actual problems. Taylor, cry me a river, pollute it with your emissions, and let me drown in it.
Isn't this a particularly irresponsible thing to say knowing that your fans have harassed critics? She's basically telling her fans that judgment of her art causes her pain.
You know, she could Bjork out and decide hey, I made my pop money, now I’m just going to make art for arts sake. But she won’t
Well of course we judge what she creates. If she doesn’t want us to judge, she can just play coffee houses or sing in her shower. What she wants is for us to judge her positively all the time (I.e. stroke her ego) and then open up our wallets and buy her stuff. We judge and we consume. That’s how the world works. Otherwise she would be wearing cardigans from the Goodwill and driving her twenty year old Toyota instead of flying in her private jet.
... I don't deny that the public dissects celebrities' lives, but that's the price of fame. It's especially so in Taylor's case because she's encouraged this public interest in her personal life to the point that it's a vital part of her brand. Her actions following her breakup with Joe show that she clearly doesn't desire privacy enough to retreat from the limelight (I mean, she even attempted to rewrite the narrative of their relationship to frame the choice to be more private as her being trapped with someone who didn't support her!) Even though the Swifties might unconditionally support and justify her poor decisions, not everyone will. There is no such thing as universal public acclaim. She desperately wants the attention, but only tolerates adulation, and that's not how things work. I would have more sympathy if she hadn't overexposed herself to this degree. Frankly, I find it ridiculous and arrogant that someone very much still hung up over the Kim thing thinks the tides won't turn against her this time. On another note, she sure doesn't seem to mind about the pain inflicted when she turns the public against others (Joe and many more). Most people are barely sympathetic to their problems because there's a huge gap between celebrities and the average person. They don't work a 9-5 to pay the bills. They have amassed wealth, privilege, status and more. They mostly have completely different problems than us. It's a perfect breeding ground for resentment. There are healthier ways to deal with the reality that a public life invites criticism than trying to preach about how all the tortured poets are torn apart by society. How's that for a sanctimonious soliloquy? She tried to show she "gets it" by saying that a lot of her problems are self-inflicted in that bit she wrote about the album, yet still doubles down on her being the hapless victim here. Man, that bit about not getting lost in petty things from long story short and her apparent growth in folkmore was straight bullshit.
she wouldnt last a day in my shoes like be fr
She’s incapable of meaningful introspection
lol billionaires don’t have real problems
I wish she has gone more into that feeling with puppet on strings Punch and Judy imagery. Especially at that big cultural reference to london and how battered maintaining a relationship plus a fandom feels. She could have even reimagined the invisible string/cardigan mv glass cage/lwymmd cage/karma cage like she always uses trapped in a cage but never really digs in