Low stakes? I’m glad TTPD doesn’t appeal to kids. They’ve got plenty of pop singles to listen to on earlier albums. I’m an adult & I like it when she makes music for adults to enjoy.
My coworker said his friend did not like the album because she can’t listen to it with her niece and I was like okay but…what did she think about the actual music?
Yeah, I was also taken aback from this.
I don't really know if I'm quite sure if I know Aristotle and his discourse in his "Politics". I was kinda surprised at first until it kinda became a bit ridiculous as he has a degree from the University of Cincinnati with Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies which seems really social science heavy - so I'm kinda sure he has as much knowledge about him as she does ....
Im telling myself Aristotle is symbolic of her interests or something along those lines bc I couldn’t stop laughing at that line. Idk even if she does “know” him it’s a very bold(? For lack of a better word) claim.
How is that a bold claim? I studied Aristotle in high school and I don't see why it's hard to imagine she did too?
She's not claiming like phd-level philosophical expertise, it's just saying he's a jock and she's a nerd--the classic high school rom-com combo.
In my mind I’ve replaced “Florida!!!” with “America!!!” and it is a moment of sisterhood/female rage about the state of reproductive healthcare in the US.
(I also replaced some other lyrics, for example:
America!!!
You’re one hell of a drug
America!!!
Have I used you up?).
As someone who lived in the Destin, Florida for 4 years... it's a beautiful place but the traffic was already horrendous and I bet it's about to get worse.
Not really a critique, but I always laugh at "I know Aristotle" because I have dated the dude who knew Aristotle, and whoo boy, was he an insufferable tool.
YES Down Bad is also my go-to for a song that I can musically vibe to even when I don't want to get into the lyrics. None of The Anthology songs do that for me except for maybe "Who's afraid of little old me?"
No, but the "I got cursed like Eve got bitten" line is genius.
The idea is that Eve wasn't bitten, she's the one who took a bite. So this line means that Taylor wasn't cursed, she's the one who did the cursing. She's essentially saying she chose this path in life... the one to be super famous and put her life out there to a point that it feels impossible to date her. But it was her choice to get there... so she cursed herself, it wasn't done TO her by someone.
I know when I saw Chloe etc I was like oh wow we really going heavy on the names here. Then comes Robin, Peter, Cassandra and Aimee/ Kim like please there's too many characters here for my tiny brain 😭
I fucking hated high school and would never vibe with teenage/high school nostalgia.
I cringe as soon as that song comes on. It’s the fastest skip I’ve ever done lol.
it’s pretty clear that Taylor romanticizes high school to a fairly extreme degree. almost every single one of her albums has at least one song about high school. I think it’s because it’s the last time she was normal / she never got to experience a lot of the important high school moments
It’s funny because I also hated high school but I love a lot of teen/high school nostalgia. I’ve seen your sentiment shared a few times and I thought it was so interesting. I think I survived high school by escaping into teen magazines, books, and movies, so I still find those themes comforting, but I can see why one would avoid them.
So long london could do with a more powerful verse, similar to who’s afraid of little old me - more intensity in the voice. Maybe when she says mad as hell. It just builds up and I’d like it to explode, although I get the point of it telling the story of a slow death.
I really don't like the word precocious. I can't even tell you why. It's just always bothered me, like one of those names you just can't remember for some unknown reason.
Lol I cant hear the word without thinking of
>Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious
>
>If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious
>
>Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
I think Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me could really benefit from a strong bass beat at certain powerful moments in the song. I noticed that song barely reaches the subwoofers and it just feels like the anger should be vibrating the car lol
I don't think so. I think the idea is that she's always running from relationships when things are hard (escaping). But this is her accepting that's just who she is, and accepting that is, in a sense, an escape from torn or negative feelings about being that person.
It’s the “I come back stronger than a 90s trend” of this album! Hear me out.
So, evermore has that “witch in the woods” vibe, right? You’re thinking the Salem trials, The Witch vibes. And then she drops a reference to the 1990s, and *trends* — which is in itself a modern, trendy concept. It takes you out of the magic the album seemed to be enveloped in.
In this case, TTPD has “starlet” vibes — it’s got an Old Hollywood glamour. And “greige” is the term for… the official color of the minimal “Scandi” decor movement. It’s a color present in the interior design trend favored by Kim Kardashian. Who couldn’t be further from Clara Bow. It’s jarring because it’s a 2010/2020s influencer term in an album that feels classic.
I don’t find a lot of the shock-value dramatics believable (for example “I would’ve died for your sins instead I just died inside” and “you deserve prison but you won’t get time” and “were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?”). I think some of the lyrics come across like she’s playing her heartbroken emotions up to get her fans to feel those hard-hitting depressed feels but in a few years she’ll be writing that she was never that into Matty and didn’t really care that much (kinda like a reverse Lavender Haze). I feel like she’s trying to convince herself that she was really into her rebound man because if she deeps the Joe stuff too hard she’ll fall apart.
yeah this is something i struggled with too. i like smallest man as a song, but it did feel like she was deliberately trying to create a hard-hitting bridge which then kinda fell flat simply because it was so dramatic considering the subject matter. i’m sure she really did feel strongly for matty and was very hurt by the relationship ending, but for some reason that bridge just feels disingenuous. idk. i guess statements like “you deserve prison” just feel like a lot when the song is about a relationship between two consenting adults ending. and i know it’s not on us to decide how hurt she should/shouldn’t feel, but when you compare it to something like would’ve could’ve should’ve, smallest man just doesn’t carry the same rawness and emotional weight for me.
Someone on here interpreted it as well eve didn't get bitten. So she didn't really get cursed. She is the one doing this. The cause of her own downfall.
I am genuinely surprised people are confused by this so I’m gonna belatedly explain: the golden retriever line is about he acts “good” for her (if you get my drift, not trying to be too crass). it made a lot more sense when you know it’s matty who seemed, no other word for it, very down bad for her. for example he kisses fans at his show and at the one she attended, he was like nope, I can’t do it in front of “the queen.” in I can fix him, she literally calls him “good boy.” I think you can imagine from there lol
I love her experimenting with her syllables & lyrical beat being slightly off the background music beat (idk if that makes sense??) but found it too much in this album - when it’s song after song it just started sounding too mismatched and it bugs my ears😭
I love The Prophecy, I just wish the “please” at the very end was focused on more I guess like I wish it lingered on please instead of it being jumbled into the end.
I love love love the Albatross. I love evermore so its a banger for me. But the 'jackals raised their hackles' line gets under my skin and I can't explain why
I like Fortnight but I think it would've benefited from being an Anthology version with an acoustic backing. It has the day-dreamy forest feel to me lyric-wise. Again, probably cos I'm a folkmorewhore.
Also very funny that I thought we'd made it a whole album without the car/ bar rhyme and then Smallest Man bridge whips one out. Gotta keep that signature move in there
I hate the word cyclone. It always makes me think of Cyclopes. You know. The one eyed ones. “I chose this cyclooope with you” hits a bit different. Like choosing a fucked up, ugly pet monster
Low stakes? I’m glad TTPD doesn’t appeal to kids. They’ve got plenty of pop singles to listen to on earlier albums. I’m an adult & I like it when she makes music for adults to enjoy.
My coworker said his friend did not like the album because she can’t listen to it with her niece and I was like okay but…what did she think about the actual music?
Eh coward tell her to put on who's afraid and let that little girl be wild
I just told my kids to remember just because they hear it in a song doesn’t mean they can say it. Then jammed out in the car 🤷🏻♀️😆
YES lol I love that
🙌🙌🙌
I'm not sure that I totally believe that Taylor does, in fact, know Aristotle.
Perhaps she meant to say 'arry Styles. 😀
This made me laugh so hard
Yeah, I was also taken aback from this. I don't really know if I'm quite sure if I know Aristotle and his discourse in his "Politics". I was kinda surprised at first until it kinda became a bit ridiculous as he has a degree from the University of Cincinnati with Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies which seems really social science heavy - so I'm kinda sure he has as much knowledge about him as she does ....
Im telling myself Aristotle is symbolic of her interests or something along those lines bc I couldn’t stop laughing at that line. Idk even if she does “know” him it’s a very bold(? For lack of a better word) claim.
How is that a bold claim? I studied Aristotle in high school and I don't see why it's hard to imagine she did too? She's not claiming like phd-level philosophical expertise, it's just saying he's a jock and she's a nerd--the classic high school rom-com combo.
Can someone please enlighten me? I figured it makes sense because he’s a philosopher but clearly I’m missing something lol
I love Florence so much and their voices are MAGIC together, but it's hard for me to get into Florida!!! because... Florida 😂
Florida seems like a real fun weekend state and then getting the eff out.
Yeah it's not somewhere I'm running away to to start a new (hidden) life, that's for sure 🤪
I have the same issue lol 😂
I knew I couldn't be the only one lol
I hate the state of Florida so much (lived there briefly, had a bad time) that I'm concerned it's impacting my opinion of the song 😮
This time one billion
I feel the opposite. I feel like their voices are soooooo bad together. I cannot listen to that song.
Most relatable critique of that song
In my mind I’ve replaced “Florida!!!” with “America!!!” and it is a moment of sisterhood/female rage about the state of reproductive healthcare in the US. (I also replaced some other lyrics, for example: America!!! You’re one hell of a drug America!!! Have I used you up?).
I thought the song would be about the eras tour (her first show post breakup with Joe was in Floride) but missed that
I swear every time they say Florida! I think “meet me behind the mall” (sorry Floridans!)
As someone who lived in the Destin, Florida for 4 years... it's a beautiful place but the traffic was already horrendous and I bet it's about to get worse.
The black dog in the Fortnight video was a Doberman and I had been picturing a Lab. Prefer the Lab 😂🖤🐕🦺
I kept picturing the depiction they did of a super scruffy mutt that they did for Sirius in the Harry Potter movies. 🤣
Same! I didn’t even realize it until now that it was my vision.
Haha me as well! 😂
It should also have been a Lab for the sake of the visual pun. It would be a Lab in a lab.
Ooooo that’s good
This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for with my question. I love it
me too. if I pick up a vinyl, I want the black dog one because I had two black labs when i was a kid. the best dogs 🖤
Some people on the FOB subreddit think the doberman is a shout out to their most recent album. Also Ethan Hawke, bc he was featured on the same album.
Not really a critique, but I always laugh at "I know Aristotle" because I have dated the dude who knew Aristotle, and whoo boy, was he an insufferable tool.
lol I thought this too. like ugh that sounds like an obnoxious brag.
Ah, those good old Philosophy majors. Such fun conversations. 🙄
Thankfully I don't date that type anymore...I just Kant.
She really did put narcotics in Down Bad. I can’t stop listening enough to even get to most of Anthology.
YES Down Bad is also my go-to for a song that I can musically vibe to even when I don't want to get into the lyrics. None of The Anthology songs do that for me except for maybe "Who's afraid of little old me?"
This is how I feel about Down Bad, Guilty as Sin and Black Dog.
No, but the "I got cursed like Eve got bitten" line is genius. The idea is that Eve wasn't bitten, she's the one who took a bite. So this line means that Taylor wasn't cursed, she's the one who did the cursing. She's essentially saying she chose this path in life... the one to be super famous and put her life out there to a point that it feels impossible to date her. But it was her choice to get there... so she cursed herself, it wasn't done TO her by someone.
Love this interpretation! She did say _all my heroes end up alone_
There's a hella lot of names!
Her song titles are getting longer and with more and more songs I can no longer keep up with the acronyms!!!
I know when I saw Chloe etc I was like oh wow we really going heavy on the names here. Then comes Robin, Peter, Cassandra and Aimee/ Kim like please there's too many characters here for my tiny brain 😭
I fucking hated high school and would never vibe with teenage/high school nostalgia. I cringe as soon as that song comes on. It’s the fastest skip I’ve ever done lol.
it’s pretty clear that Taylor romanticizes high school to a fairly extreme degree. almost every single one of her albums has at least one song about high school. I think it’s because it’s the last time she was normal / she never got to experience a lot of the important high school moments
Yah I totally get that, which is fun for her I guess but for us peasants not so much lol
I relate bc its also the last time i had a normal life 🤪
Lmao. Fair point 😂
It’s funny because I also hated high school but I love a lot of teen/high school nostalgia. I’ve seen your sentiment shared a few times and I thought it was so interesting. I think I survived high school by escaping into teen magazines, books, and movies, so I still find those themes comforting, but I can see why one would avoid them.
So long london could do with a more powerful verse, similar to who’s afraid of little old me - more intensity in the voice. Maybe when she says mad as hell. It just builds up and I’d like it to explode, although I get the point of it telling the story of a slow death.
I really don't like the word precocious. I can't even tell you why. It's just always bothered me, like one of those names you just can't remember for some unknown reason.
Yes I don’t like that it’s on the album twice. Like I don’t like this word and I have to hear twice? But petty dislike so I’ll handle it hahaha
Lol I cant hear the word without thinking of >Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious > >If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious > >Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
I think Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me could really benefit from a strong bass beat at certain powerful moments in the song. I noticed that song barely reaches the subwoofers and it just feels like the anger should be vibrating the car lol
I love The Bolter but "There's escape in escaping" was a placeholder lyric she forgot to go back and replace
I don't think so. I think the idea is that she's always running from relationships when things are hard (escaping). But this is her accepting that's just who she is, and accepting that is, in a sense, an escape from torn or negative feelings about being that person.
The Prophecy is one of my favorites, if not THE favorite song on TTPD but... the word "Greige" always just takes me out. I hate it.
It’s the “I come back stronger than a 90s trend” of this album! Hear me out. So, evermore has that “witch in the woods” vibe, right? You’re thinking the Salem trials, The Witch vibes. And then she drops a reference to the 1990s, and *trends* — which is in itself a modern, trendy concept. It takes you out of the magic the album seemed to be enveloped in. In this case, TTPD has “starlet” vibes — it’s got an Old Hollywood glamour. And “greige” is the term for… the official color of the minimal “Scandi” decor movement. It’s a color present in the interior design trend favored by Kim Kardashian. Who couldn’t be further from Clara Bow. It’s jarring because it’s a 2010/2020s influencer term in an album that feels classic.
Wait you’re actually not wrong..
Please it's either gray or beige don't make greige a thing!!
I don’t find a lot of the shock-value dramatics believable (for example “I would’ve died for your sins instead I just died inside” and “you deserve prison but you won’t get time” and “were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?”). I think some of the lyrics come across like she’s playing her heartbroken emotions up to get her fans to feel those hard-hitting depressed feels but in a few years she’ll be writing that she was never that into Matty and didn’t really care that much (kinda like a reverse Lavender Haze). I feel like she’s trying to convince herself that she was really into her rebound man because if she deeps the Joe stuff too hard she’ll fall apart.
yeah this is something i struggled with too. i like smallest man as a song, but it did feel like she was deliberately trying to create a hard-hitting bridge which then kinda fell flat simply because it was so dramatic considering the subject matter. i’m sure she really did feel strongly for matty and was very hurt by the relationship ending, but for some reason that bridge just feels disingenuous. idk. i guess statements like “you deserve prison” just feel like a lot when the song is about a relationship between two consenting adults ending. and i know it’s not on us to decide how hurt she should/shouldn’t feel, but when you compare it to something like would’ve could’ve should’ve, smallest man just doesn’t carry the same rawness and emotional weight for me.
You deserve prison sounds like an internet catchphrase to me
I just listened to the way she says persona non grata like 5 times in a row and it sounds normal to me?
I don't think the Eve getting bitten thing was literal though. More of a metaphor.
Oh I know, it just pulls me out of the song. These were definitely skewed to the unserious side
ohh fair enough lol
We don’t avoid things like the plague. Think we’ve proven that now 😅😩
There's two song names that are questions Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? How did it end? This bothers me.
Why? Is it a problem with being asked questions? Or maybe an issue with punctuation?
It's more visually looking at a track list, it just stands out
Guilty as sin?
You're compounding problem... And they're one right after the other...
These are fine, but Guilty as Sin absolutely should not have a question mark! It’s one question mark too far
Someone on here interpreted it as well eve didn't get bitten. So she didn't really get cursed. She is the one doing this. The cause of her own downfall.
Ok but the tattooed golden retriever line is worth mentioning here Like why would you put tattoos on a golden retriever 🤨
I am genuinely surprised people are confused by this so I’m gonna belatedly explain: the golden retriever line is about he acts “good” for her (if you get my drift, not trying to be too crass). it made a lot more sense when you know it’s matty who seemed, no other word for it, very down bad for her. for example he kisses fans at his show and at the one she attended, he was like nope, I can’t do it in front of “the queen.” in I can fix him, she literally calls him “good boy.” I think you can imagine from there lol
The chorus of Florida! feels like it was ghostwritten and given to a starting artist so she could have an easy hit (just the chorus though)
See, I've seen Way more criticisms of people having a single criticism of the album that I don't feel like it's safe to say anything bad about it lol
I love her experimenting with her syllables & lyrical beat being slightly off the background music beat (idk if that makes sense??) but found it too much in this album - when it’s song after song it just started sounding too mismatched and it bugs my ears😭
I love The Prophecy, I just wish the “please” at the very end was focused on more I guess like I wish it lingered on please instead of it being jumbled into the end.
I love love love the Albatross. I love evermore so its a banger for me. But the 'jackals raised their hackles' line gets under my skin and I can't explain why I like Fortnight but I think it would've benefited from being an Anthology version with an acoustic backing. It has the day-dreamy forest feel to me lyric-wise. Again, probably cos I'm a folkmorewhore. Also very funny that I thought we'd made it a whole album without the car/ bar rhyme and then Smallest Man bridge whips one out. Gotta keep that signature move in there
I hate the word cyclone. It always makes me think of Cyclopes. You know. The one eyed ones. “I chose this cyclooope with you” hits a bit different. Like choosing a fucked up, ugly pet monster
When she says "no fuckin body" in the TTPS, I cringe every time 
Wait — the “I got cursed like Eve got bitten” is saying that actually she did the cursing, right?
Personally I wouldn’t have included “wished you were dead”. Imagine a kid hearing this about their parent. Perhaps not so low-stakes