Taylor Swift keeps reusing the same tired, simple chords over and over, more or less writing variations of the same song - and this video exposes her weakness as a songwriter.
My mom was listening to the new taylor album while i was in the other room. I literally thought that it was one very very long song and not the whole album. My mom then tells me "all her songs sound the same"😂
I mean, there is a reason she stopped playing country and only made to folk albums. One Carrie Underwood is better and inspired more young women in country music. No true folk music fan is going to buy her two so-called folk albums.
i've actually run into an issue several times where i was playing one of her songs on the piano or guitar (just the chord progression) as accompaniment to practice singing and i've accidentally switched over to a completely different one of her songs without realizing it. that's how similar her songs sound to me. i would get to the end of the song and realize i'd started out playing a completely different song and accidentally switched over and didn't even know it.
bro literally,like i think whats offensive is similair melodies,which I did notice with 2 songs: the lucky one and untouchable and i think he knows and lavender haze,thats it.
Listen to the (I V vi IV) and (I V ii IV) chord progressions, then play a random Taylor Swift song. 1/3 of the time her songs will follow those two chord progressions.
I just find it amazing that she and many others attract fans excited by listening to what is essentially the same song garnished with different fluff over and over and over.
Its not even a matter of opinion really. The majority of her songs use the same chord progression. There is objective music theory to back up the fact that her music is indeed all the same.
I don't think the music is even that big of an interest for fans of taylor swift; I think it's more about the personality (or rather, being able to self-insert as the personality of Chief Girl-Boss Taylor Swift)/ the "vibe". I recently came to a realization that most music listeners don't even listen to the music at all; they just listen to the singer and as long as the singer sounds "cool" or sexy they like song.
The majority of van goghs paintings used the same stipply over blown colour, the majority of turners were fuzzy nonsense, etc. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it bad. Working within 'limits' is a creative way of expressing yourself. If you judge her by this, you reveal your own lack of knowledge. @@orange_turtle3412
It goes beyond chord progression. Taylor writes sentimental songs, bit never genuinely sad songs. When she writes about Romeo and Juliet it is not a tragedy anymore. Not sad. Her breakup song are sentimental and sometimes angry, but never really sad, and deeply hurt. Nothing has the sadness of "drivers license" or many Amy Whinehouse songs. Her emotional range is also reduced.
@@Ob-sw9sdI think olivia has potential she tries to do something interesting with her music where even if I don't listen to her music I don't dislike it
@@syntheticsilkwood2206 i know she can do interesting things on her songs, i LOVE her rage songs sm. But her sad songs aren't really sad if yk what I mean
I've never been impressed by Taylor Swift's lyrics, too stream of thought describing what she is seeing, but I guess I know why many of her songs sound the same to me once I go past production.
She seems to struggle using imagery and strong metaphors. Her subject matter scope is also incredibly small, tending to write about the same things over and over.
i really don't get the hype around taylor swift. i'm not a music expert but her lyrics are also so mediocre most of the time, and swifties act as if she is the reincarnation of shakespeare. there are a few good lines that i can think of but overall, her lyricism isn't that great. there are a lot of artists who are really good songwriters and lyricists but don't get half the popularity and praise taylor does.
I was an avid Taylor swift hater a while ago, but her folklore album is beautiful. I think her best lyrically music is the lakes from folklore, seven from folklore, happiness from evermore, would’ve could’ve should’ve from midnights.
actually it kind of is crazy but this is how music works on your expectations. you have heard that chord progression thousands of times in your life, along with a few others that are accepted norms (I, IV, V; ii, V, I; I, vi, IV, V; etc). There is nothing wrong with using these progressions and almost every popular song has some variation of one or more of these in them. The trick is using them in creative ways that fool your expectations, which is what delights us about music.
@@gfunkk oh yeah I’ve heard about that kind of stuff since I’m a musician. That’s really funny how Taylor’s music is so predictable and yet so many people love her to death because of it. It confuses me how such generic and obvious music is so popular, especially among girls. I don’t notice Taylor changing the chord progression at interesting times either, I can almost always accurately guess when and how the song is going to change with a lot of her music. Of course I don’t hate Taylor swift myself, but I could never become so close to her music because of this issue. If she changed melody more often and had slightly more interesting chord progression timings I’d definitely like her a lot more.
@@blorpxd what do you expect them to listen to? Mahavishnu orchestra? Schoenberg? It’s popular music, it’s literally been the same chord progressions in over 90% of songs since the 50’s.
@@gfunkk I’ve found other songs to have more unique chord combinations, and those who don’t usually make up for the lack of surprise using a unique rhythm of percussion. However in Taylor’s songs usually I’ve found a lack of changes in percussion or other added effects to make up for the lack of chord change. Even if there is an interesting percussion part or vocals in the background, they’re usually only during the chorus and are repeated the exact same way whenever the chorus is played, still creating a lack of surprise. There’s a reason why Taylor has so much music and it’s because it lacks creativity in the music. The song writing isn’t bad when you listen to just a few of her songs, but once you hear at least 10 you start to realize they’re mostly about how some guy (who’s name is left anonymous) treated her terribly by either cheating on her or ignoring her. Taylor’s music is still very repetitive compared to other artists. Obviously I haven’t listened to all 243 of her songs, but I think I’ve heard enough to say confidently that the most unique thing about Taylor swift is how strong and dedicated her fan base is for such repetitive music.
@@blorpxd Er... No, sorry, no. The private jet is terrible, musically she's not remotely close to The Beatles (despite her worldwide success is similar), all that is true. But her subject matter goes from children dying of cancer to abortion to murder to revenge, to insecurity, to safety, to anger, to bullying, to getting over anger... and yes, love, the birth of love, the death of love... And that applies to most mainstream music (yeah, I love power metal too, but pop is popular for a reason). There are some very valid criticisms of Taylor Swift, but Taylor Swift sucks because the sky is red with pink polka dots is not one of them. She's written about MANY topics. She's just been made famous by sensationalistic media for her break up songs. She's got more than that (and everyone is allowed to dislike or hate every single one of her songs if they so please... but they're not about the same topic). Cardigan, it's nice to have a friend, soon you'll get better, safe and sound, I did something bad, this is why we can't have nice things, mean, The Man, You need to Calm Down, Karma, Bigger than the Whole Sky, Ronan, Shake it Off, Blank Space (yeah, it's a self-trolling song), Welcome to New York, The Best Day, Christmas Tree Farm, No body, no crime, Fifteen, Anti hero, Bad Blood, New Romantics, Miss Americana -OK, this one is half politics, half love-... I mean, dislike all you want and need to, your feelings are valid. Hate if you need to, too. But if you criticise, criticise with knowledge. The private jet is hateworthy enough to justify any bad feelings without the need to say untruths. She has a lot of songs not about love and lots of love songs not about her exes. So, I don't give a shit about her, she's a billionaire that doesn't need anyone. But it terrifies me that you've listened to some songs that confirmed your biases and decided that " I’ve heard enough to say confidently..." Confidently? Dude, when I went to an exam with confidence was because I had studied the full syllabus, so I was confident that whatever the teachers threw at me, I would pass with flying colors. I mean, people vote after getting informed. And you have chosen to "confidently" decide that her songs are all about the same stuff and their fans are the only unique thing about her. Maybe, just maybe, you could get the whole info before speaking with confidence. If a surgeon had learned 10 lessons of 243, I wouldn't feel confidence in that operating theater. I think Swift's music is basic pop with nice bridges, and only a pair of her songs are REALLY good musically (as in to survive being listened by people who don't understand English and just respected for the music), I think her forte are her lyrics. But, no, she doesn't always write about the same stuff.
This is not showing taylor's weakness in songwriting, maybe rather shows weakness in her composition skills. Still I think all the songs have different aspects thematically, in production, the vocals, etc. I love her songs, but I understand someone can get tired of her reapated chord progression, but theres no way you can call her a bad musician just for this.
I wish there were more videos like this. Not to bash Taylor Swift, but to show that Taylor isn’t the end all, be all artist that her fans built her up to be. I find it so disrespectful when people say that Taylor is the best songwriter ever or even one of the best. Many artists before her have written songs with more substance and more meaning, such as, war, segregation, racism, pain, illness, thankfulness...and yet almost all of her songs are about her breakups or people not loving and adoring her.
ah yes, the issue with this would be- taylor swift is a white woman. the second she says something about any of the issues you mentioned, her career would be over. She perfectly understands that she can't speak about issues like racism,war and segregation- because she has never experienced that, and writing about it would invalidate all the people that have gone through these experiences. but she has experienced breakups, media attention, slut shaming, body shaming, lack of confidence- those are things she CAN speak about, and they just happen to resonate with a lot of people around the world.
Here are some of Tswift's songs that matches the messages that you mentioned WAR- "epiphany" from folklore- draws imaginary from war to nurses and doctor dealing with covid patients SEXISM- "the man" from lover- addresses gender bias in the music industry/other workplaces POLITICS- “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince" from lover- about disillusionment of American politics and inequality, set in a metaphorical high school ILLNESS/PAIN- "Soon you'll get better" also from lover- about serious illness in her family since both of her parents have had cancer and her mom is fighting it again during that time THANKFULNESS- "All of the girls you've loved before" again, lover- being thankful for the women that her boyfriend has met (Also, note that most of these songs are from her ONE album)
@@googoogaga490 Exactly! and there are so so so many more which show more depth to life. Other albums also have so many songs which touch upon other issues or even something happy
Hello! Well, adding to the comments already there over here, even though she touches over a variety of meaningful things like you mentioned and more, factually, yes, most of her songs are actually about love and how beautiful it is (Yeah, no, breakup songs dont make the majority). But is that so bad? So many poets and lyricist specialize in writing about love. Like you said, one of the best songwriters include Bob Dylan and our very own Paul McCartney are known for their romantic song writing. Poets (because TS considers herself more of a poet who has a story writing mostly over the same chords) including Shakesphere and Wordsworth are often quoted for their Romantic sonnets. Maya Angelou has always written about racism, sexism etc. All of these are great and do have versatility in their writing as well. And so does TS. Just because she's known for something, doesnt mean she isnt good at it. That is the reason why she has resonated with so many. I dont intend to compare all these people. Obviously these are legends and reformers.. and TS has barely started. But all these great people and great lyricist did get alot of criticism back in their days. Maybe that's the case with TS? could be.
I gave a like to this video because it articulated a point and backed it up with facts. I think Taylor is better at working hard and marketing herself as a pop star than she is as a musician. Maybe she can play and sing much more complex music but doesn't because it might be harder to sell, but until I hear her do so I will continue to listen to Eva Cassidy, Joni Michell and other great female artists.
good to know that is only your opinion, idk about this video "givin a point" bc he only articuled how taylor is bad by doing something that every other artist does, and also just because you don't like her music doesn't mean she is a bad musician and something tells me that you haven't listened to her discography bc what makes you think doesn't do it already? (notice a little hate in your comment)
This was eye opening and quite hilarious because her fan base loves to make the argument that she’s so great at writing when we all know her voice is mediocre at very best, so the songwriting is the only thing they have going for them. Love this video.
Taylor's lyricism is not mediocre, and I doubt you can find as good and popular of a lyricist today, also, the fact that she can use them so much but still make it different and interesting enough for people to appreciate is definitely a plus.
While Taylor's lyrical depth is debatable, her sonic talent is obviously mediocre to boring as F. Mariah Carey is a great example of a true icon not just for having a distinctive tone in her voice, but also for her amazingly overlooked songwriting!
It's possible that Taylor Swift's music is popular specifically because it's so samey. Life is full of constant change. Not all of it is welcome. Change can be stressful, especially for people who have homely, romantic souls. Sometimes we like to go home after a difficult day and have enjoy our favourite comfort food - the specific snack or meal which has been delicious and unchanging since we were young. This food is soothing and dependable, reminding us that although time does pass, some things remain the same. It's nourishing in the present, and yet also conjures feelings of nostalgia for a happy past. I'm sure that, to many, Taylor Swift's music is the the audio equivalent of comfort food. Even though she continually releases new music, the fact that her new music sounds approximately the same as her old music - often with the same themes - is probably exactly what a lot of people want. It helps, too, that her music seems quintessentially late-00s (to my untrained ears), and many younger Millennials and older Zoomers probably grew up listening to her earlier songs. This gives it a sense of "timelessness", much as anything associated with one's childhood. I don't listen to her music, but I can understand why that might be appealing.
Yes, that’s actually the whole point of developing a formula for movies, music, tv, food, is to appeal to as wide a range of people as possible, because changing it up increases the chances that someone won’t like it. So instead they don’t fight to win, they fight not to lose. The music industry in general is very formulaic, and is the mark of corporatism. It’s much easier to see in other crafts, like food (McDonald’s/Burger King), movies (marvel/illumination), chips (Doritos/cheetos). The reason corporations strive for formulaic products is for all the reasons you just stated as it’s significantly more profitable, and Taylor being formulaic is not too different. I like fast food too, same as everyone else. But for some reason no one compares Ronald McDonald to chef gusteau, or Bobby Flay. Unlike swifties
Exactly…. You could make the same criticism of most things in pop culture, there is going to be an underlying sameness…. Most tv shows you can line up the main characters and say they are the same characters as the scooby doo gang, or giligans island, or Friends. You can see that most good dressers follow similar formulas that work for them, Steven king books follow a similar formula too one another, Anne rice follows a similar formula… you break the formula too much and people don’t like it. Success comes from following a formula and occasionally breaking from it but generally going back to it…
Never a fan but, being an older guy, I'm not Taylor's target audience. However, I witnessed something interesting a few months back. I was at a karaoke bar (celebrating a friend's Birthday). It wasn't a closed bar so there was a 50/50 split between young (20-somes) and old (40-50-somes). Lots of participation from both groups and a fair bit of audience participation when a classic song was sung. However, on three separate occasions, various singers got up to perform Taylor Swift songs. They struggled with the vague melodies and idiosyncratic phrasing and, in each case, talk-yelled the lyrics while laughing in embarrassment. If it had happened once, it would have been fairly unremarkable but the repeated examples had me thinking, "Maybe these work as songs because only Taylor can sing them." (Ryan Adams covered Taylor's "1989" album to mixed success. To me, it sounds like Springsteen covering gum commercial jingles.) There are a few of her singles that will endure, I suppose, especially those with fun videos. The fact that so many young, potential singer-writers love Swift probably means there will be a renaissance in 15-25 years. (Think of all the recent 'country' artists who sound like Fleetwood Mac.) Positive: Taylor is productive, hooky and assertive; she's really helping out record stores. Negative: Her songs are samey and all seem to be about her ex-boyfriends; they sound excessively caffeinated at my local grocery store; her last album came out with four different covers but the same songs! p.s. The blending of "All Too Well" and "Champagne Problems" sounded surreal. As more songs got layered, I felt like I was grocery shopping! p.p.s. Can you do the same thing with Bob Dylan now?
Maybe only autotune can sing them... Nowadays, there is not one musician in the world with at least mild popularity who doesn't use autotune, and it's getting out of control. The point of singing is to let out your talent, not to fabricate the authentic experience of music. I can only imagine what Kurt Cobain would think if he listened to modern music today.
@@runfusion look up videos of her resent tour. I think this is not autotuned. what do you think? but yeah it really is used a lot with popular musik lately
@@runfusion yeah I know but what is wrong to make your music sound even better? She is a perfectionist and it does not sound so much different from her real singing voice, thats what I meant
@@alyp.3909 I know it doesn’t sound much different, and it is very important to make your music sound as good as possible, and that deserves respect. But the people saying that Taylor Swift is the most talented musician of all time are wrong, since she needs to use artificial means to record an album. Yes, she is definitely talented, but not talented enough to deserve nearly as much attention as Elvis got.
It's a good point, but chord progressions and what they sound like are akin to a cinematographer's work in movies: unnoticed by the vast majority, appreciated by only a few. John Ford ensured his easy retirement with shots of rocks Monument Valley, but he's still considered a great director because he gave the movie-going public what they wanted over and over again. Taylor is doing the same. And it's not even really a shot at people who loved westerns in the 50's or Swifties today. You like what you like. Enjoyment of music isn't (solely) based on the originality of it, in melody or lyrics. It's how it hits your ear. For Swifties, her music hits their ears just right. Like most, I'm not her audience. I like a few early hits, but my musical tastes have ossified. But again, I like what I like.
Good points, and thanks for speaking up. I'm wondering if you have listened to her last 5 albums (not just the hits). A year ago I was saying exactly the same things you've said. I liked a few early hits, etc. but wasn't paying attention to anything more. When Midnights came out, I was surprised at how much I liked it, so I decided to listen to folklore and evermore. I totally fell in love with those albums. (The Folklore "Long Pond Sessions" movie added several more layers of appreciation.) Then I tried Lover and, again, I was amazed at how much I loved it. I alread "knew" that I didn't like Reputation, but decided to listen anyway. It turns out that Reputation is one of my favorite albums. I still enjoy the early hits, but my favorite songs are scattered across the last 5 albums. If you have not heard them in depth, I would recommend giving it a try. I'm annoyed with myself for taking so long to discover how much I love her deep cuts.
@@gaylenwoof Someday, maybe I will but for now pop is not really on my radar. I'm not denying she's talented, but my desire to explore music doesn't extend to trying to understand Taylor Swift better. When I listen to music instead of podcasts, I generally head toward Classical for the emotions it wrenches out of me. Or jazz. I'd say the closest I get to Taylor is female folk rock singers of the 90's, like Patty Griffin, Sara Bareilles, and Shawn Colvin. They're singing about bad relationships, too, but they're more a little more grown-up about it, which is maybe bias on my part, since I can't really see Taylor Swift as a grownup since she got famous in her teens. I'm glad you found songs you like in the deep cuts.
@@VinceLyle2161 Fair enough. But when you say that you can't see her as "grown-up", I find myself wishing I could hear your reactions to folklore and evermore. Perhaps you won't like those albums, but I think it would be impossible for you to think of her as anything other than fully mature (as a singer and as a songwriter, and as a human being). Part of my consternation stems from the fact that just a year ago my own reactions were virtually identical to yours.
I credit her massively as a business person to be able to monetize herself with the same songs over and over. She is a master of branding and PR. She acts silly and weird so teeny boppers can relate to her. I guess it infuriates me though because there are artists with 100x the talent but a fraction of her net worth. I don’t fault her but I fault her brain dead fans who can’t appreciate good music.
That's also the chord progression from "Let It Be" 🤣 That said, the I-V-VI-IV progression is in soooooooo much pop music and she constantly uses it, just changes the keys.
I was being semi-sarcastic. It’s the chord progression from the main melody, but it does change up and play around a lot. Taylor uses it in everything, just transposes keys and adapts lyrics from whatever guys she’s… uhm… that given week.
@@bitchass9073 Taylor swift has, in general, very good bridges. In some cases, (like Lover, which is super boring in general), the bridge is better than the rest of the song. The bridges in Karma, Look What you Made me Do, Cruel Summer, Love Story... those are great. So, I see how some of her songs can be considered boring (I find folklore -save for Exile- and Evermore boring and repetitive), but her bridges are not the problem. And "Lover" is a really good pop record, with very different songs. That record was not monotone at all, such a pity that the worst songs were the singles.
@@isabelguzmanmiranda5025to me, a good bridge doesn’t save a bad song though. My problem with Taylor Swift is her massive influence on pop music, and how she is keeping it exactly the same it has been for so long. Music has to evolve
if you pay attention to the suffix in 'saddest' it's saying it is THE worst. THE most sad. She is never saying that there are happy fears, just that there can be a range of strength in the sadness that accompanies the fear. It's followed by "..That you never loved me..or her..or anyone...or anything" Thinking about the possibility that someone you had loved and cared for in a relationship could've never loved you or anything else in the world can really hurt, making it the saddest, or worse, fear that she has. I would understand where you were coming from if she only said 'the sad fear comes creeping in' because would be insinuating that there is another kind of fear that is happy, but adding 'est' to the end makes a scale of sadness.
@@christopherkelley1664 yeah. its the saddest fear. i know that. just because there is a most sad fear does not mean there is a happiest. it is just more sad than other fears.
@@user-jokingsage It implies a range of fears, from not sad to sad. Is there a fear that is 0% sad? A good way to examine your writing is to see if your modifiers create unnecessary questions or implications. Neil DeGrasse Tyson once said "We are stardust in the highest exalted way." Exalted already indicates high, but using the word high in addition to exalted opens up the questions: Is there a middling exalted way? Is there a lowest exalted way? Since it was extemporaneous, he can get a pass. But a lyricist should be more precise.
@@christopherkelley1664 Fear and sadness are different emotions, and yes, there are fears that are not sad (for example, fears that could make you angry). On the contary, NDGT I feel was wrong in saying "the highest exalted" because "exalted" is a superlative adjective already and using it with another superlative adjective is redundant. Saying one fear is "the saddest one of them all" means that in all the range of sad fears one can have, this one was the worst, that a person one loved was a psychopath. If you want to find trouble with her lyrics, you can mention "riding shotgun in the front seat of his car". Girl, if you were riding shotgun, we already know you were in the co-pilot seat of his car. As for "We can leave Christmas lights up until January..." that's pretty normal, she could have said "February", which has the same amount of syllables, and it would have made more sense. But, "the saddest fear"? That has zero problems, gramatically, semantically and syntactically.
I'm still learning about music so I wouldn't be surprised if I was corrected, but I think we're too focused on the fact that Swift uses the same chord progression too much instead of focusing on the fact that she somehow manages to make so many songs with it, to the point that some of them actually sound different from one another. Unless people are attentive, they maybe would've never guessed that idk, Love Story & All Too Well share the very same chord progression. It's creative & also not at the same time: She keeps reusing the same chord progression but she's still able to make many songs out of it, some different from others. Ig it's somewhat admirable even if for others, it can get boring at times.
You're absolutely right. Variety of chord progressions doesn't matter. Variety of melodies matter, and there's untold millions within a chord progression. Most sophisticated musicians can't find them. She can.
She has many songs with other chord progressions also, her making songs in the same chord progression doesn’t make her a bad artist as, that chord progression is popular in all music.
This progression and other combinations of I-IV-V-VI of the diatonic scale are the basis of popular music in America, whether fans of complex music like it or not. There's a reason for that: it's much easier to write catchy tunes with these progressions. And attractive melodies are what makes music popular. It's just a fact of life.
I think she’s a great song writer in that she knows what her audience and consumer will love and delivers. It’s more the lyrics. Again more complex chords does not equal better automatically. She is good at putting lyrics over the songs and she has a strong brand. I’m never going to be a swiftie (love Jazz some Coltrane, Fitzgerald) and again I think you make a decent point about the musical abilities but writing and using words to convey stories and connect with her audience is the real key. She provides lore and clues - I’m not into that but I can dance around and enjoy some Taylor Swift. Thanks for sharing ❤
Please come at the white stripes (Jack White) for the same thing!! I’m a fan, but when I was a teenager playing cover after cover on guitar I quickly realized they are all constructed sooo consistently 😂
The White Stripes is some seriously good shit as a band and Jack White is a genious. I do not know what songs you are referring to, but he uses many chord progressions. Of course the traditional blues, which is his trademark, has the same progression always. Meg is a fantastic drummer, you must understand the idea behind the band.
This is a big problem now with music. In many studies done it's revealed that music today especially pop music in the last 10 years till now has no variety in chords, in type of instruments used, and it's the same chords, same instruments. It's got worse. Taylor is good at selling and she focuses on what sells and when I say "what sells," I mean what will get radio stations want to play the song more often, what will get distributors to play the song more often, what will get movies producers to buy the songs etc. She is only playing into the hands of the machine that exist because it makes money and it pleases the simple minded audience...for now. Hey, if this is for you, awesome but she is only doing knowing what the big music outlets, channels, broadcasters and labels want. So what do people expect? It's not going to change.
I totally agree on your perspective. Even when she reinvent herself she is following the latest trends. Like she got into cottagecore Indie music because it was trending at the time and she needed to get into the market to make the sells. Even if I don't like her stories and her sounds no matter which genres she jumps into. I do have to admit the girl knows how to sell. She knows what's popular at the time and will jump on that train to get into the market.
The reason she's famous is: group mentality, they can call themselves swifties and talk about the new album. But you know that, at night, when you're alone in bed on Spotify with earbuds, it sucks.
The reason she’s famous because the music is bops, I hate HATED Taylor swift for so long, but a big fan of folk-indie music her folklore evermore albums are great. If you took time to maybe just listen to her more in depth songs maybe you’d like her(you don’t have to like her), the over-saturation of her more basic popular pop songs makes it perceive her music is terrible. Honestly I don’t choose to listen to those songs because to be honest those are her most tiring, but songs like the lakes, glitch, are great!
I don't listen to music too often any more, but she's been all over the news here (Canada) and I felt I had to sample a little of her music. For context, I was born in 1959, and consider my musical era to be the '70s and '80s. I found her stuff, well, just boring. Nothing remotely interesting, catchy, nothing that made me want to sing along or physically move. When a great or fun song comes on, you involuntarily want to move (tapping your foot, or bobbing your head). Taylor Swift... nothing. I find her 'music' self-indulgent, boring, and tedious. But that's world we live in, Donald Trump was president (and may be again) and Taylor Swift is popular. But if you'll excuse me I need to cleanse my ears with some Talking Heads.
I felt the same and I tried listening to all her music. Nothing sticks. Nothing make me feel anything but annoyed, bored, or eyerolled. I found her to fit into modern western girl problems which I don't relate. People kept saying she is a good storyteller but all I see in her stories is an over privileged girl who is over dramatic with too many personal issues. Too many emotional problems. Too many day dreamings. Too many pettiness. Kind of the typical modern American girls now a days who has daddy issues and relationships problems. Even if she is still he daddy's little princess she obviously has relationship problems where she saw anyone who dumped her as the problem. Also the victimhood. But hey that sells now a days I guess.
I listened to her 3 most popular songs expecting something catchy. But I agree with you. It's like walmart music. Not a big fan of Madonna but at least many of her songs are distinctively different. @@CrimsonEclipse
@@CrimsonEclipse Yikes, this comment is a red flag. It's clear you haven't spoken to a real woman in months if not years. "Modern woman" as a concept doesn't exist because, just like men and any people ever, we are all individual human beings. Go outside, touch some grass, and talk to a real life woman and not your strawman reactionary caricature the internet told you about.
@@misfits9294 I found it funny you assumed my gender. It just show what kind of people are into Taylor Swift. FYI I'm a woman and a biological one too. Maybe you should check yourself and your own problematic relationship with men in general. It probably explains your choice of music.
Taylor Swift has a rudimentary knowledge of music on the guitar and piano. She is a good lyricist which is her greatest strength when it comes to songwriting.
I think Taylor's knowledge is clearly more than rudimentary. She just chooses to write accessible music using familiar chords because that's what she likes, and what can have the greatest reach to the broadest number of people. She's like a skilled cook who **could** make you a white tablecloth tasting menu with white truffle foam and dry-aged bison Wellington and idk a yuzu soufflé or something, but instead she **chooses** to make you just the world's greatest grilled cheese sandwich, or a perfect Caesar salad. Accessible doesn't mean bad. Our brains can only do so many things at the same time. By not forcing us to spend energy trying to decipher complicated chords or unique time signatures or dissonant harmonies or cryptic lyrics, we're able to feel the music rather than thinking about it or analyzing it in RU-vid sheet music breakdowns. She wants us to experience the music, the stories she writes and the feelings she's trying to convey, she's not trying to teach music theory. This ain't math rock, this is pop, and at this point I'm not sure if there's a living soul on the planet who does it better than Taylor.
Im pretty sure on "clean" from 1989 and "sad, beautiful, tragic" from red she also uses those same 4 chords in a diferent order. And those are only the one's I can think right now, im pretty sure there's plenty more
Look out! The Taylor Swift PR Industrial Complex is coming after you now, Boomer, Hater, Jealous!! Truly talented songwriters don't need a PR Industrial Complex.
I really appreciate this. I have no musical education, but a good ear, and had a feeling there was a sameness about her melodies. Well, now I know, fortified by evidence.
Does anyone do this(?): I don't know music theory, but when songs have the same progression, I kinda of mix them in my head and tend to sing from one song to the other It's how I know the cord progression is the same, but with no technical knowledge
Just a few more songs with the same chord progression: Demons by Imagine Dragons, Let It Be(Intro) by The Beatles, She Will be Loved by Maroon 5, The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars, Baby by Justin Bieber. It’s extremely common.
@@dorianmartinez5155 yes she has never shaped music like Lauryn Hill shaping hip hop, Brandy shaping R&B, and Beyonce shaping pop music. Taylor isn't impactful.
@@becckyy_ ins't she is impactful then explain all the people who listen to her, go to her concerts or even artist like (conan gray, olivia rodrigo and Camila cabello) have inspired about her, ins't that impactful to you? And i now that you're talking about "shaped music" but no artist needs neccesarily do that to be considered good and neither other artist like Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry etc has done the same, so why are you only dragging taylor about it?
Tell me how many times she used this 6 how many songs has she written? (Idk I tried to count all of them but gave up) over 200 somehow 6 out of >200 isn’t that bad
The minimalistic and formulaic studio production with small range of instruments used and lack of dynamic range is what makes all expensively promoted pop music sound like it was pumped out of a factory, not the chord progressions in my opinion - there are only so many of them anyway.
I think that this in a way also makes an argument against itself - these are all at least good songs that sound different from each other, yet they all use the same chord progression. I think it's a very cool ability to be able to get so much out of one musical idea. Kind of wish i could do that, although I'm sure that it's an ability you can obtain with experience.
My thoughts exactly... The idea that working within a limited 'palette' and still creating popular and interesting harmonies and lyrics is a weakness is baffling? Do we criticise painters because they work to a style and with a certain palette? In fact in most arts, people who try to do too much variety tend to get looked down on as dabblers - it's the people who deep dive into a subset of an art that get the plaudits... obviously if you're someone 'into' the techniques of chord structure, she won't attract your interest. Just like somebody who hates landscape will never like a constable..
@@naheenisapoet69 I'm a bit against the whole 'matured' word as so many amazing artists produced there best work when 'immature'. Perhaps if you value a certain sound that could be interpreted as 'mature', then yes
Let me summarized the good and bad things about her singing/songwriting Bad: She tends to use same chord progression more often than other artists, her voice is subjectively good but her vocal range is limited Good: She's versatile when it comes to genre (country, pop, rock, edm, folk), her lyricism is above average at worst
"...she tends to use the same chord progression more often than other artists..." Is that true? He did not say that. I doubt that he checked other Artists. It is most popular progression precisely because songwriters USE it most. If they did not it would not be most popular😁
when i was starting out in music, someone told me that you should always have someone in your life that will keep you from, "listening to your own press..."...apparently, Taylor doesn't have anyone in her life telling her that she's less artistically than she actually is...
This is hilarious. I love it. My guitar teacher hates her and says that she just writes simple songs for teenagers that have no music appreciation or ability.
I am waiting for the A-G-Am-F v Taylor Swift trial. I am looking forward to the list of experts demonstrating Taylor's history of abuse of this chord progression. I seriously hope that A-G-Am-F is able to get out of that relationship and seek counseling. But seriously, even Todd in the Shadows has remarked on the "four chord pop song" being a trope. Taylor Swift is no different than any other pop artist using the same four chord progression. The band Journey is well known for their abuse of the "four chord pop song" trope.
I am 79. That chord progression has been used in millions of pop songs in my lifetime. You say it is most used, so what percentage of pop hit songs use that progression? Why did you pick on Taylor Swift? How many Max Martin penned songs have that progression? The reason Swifties react as they do is people like you pick faults in her music which occur in everyone's music. If you claim they sound exactly the same you are wrong. A son is not just chord progressions. Dozens of other factors make a good pop song - not least the lyrics. Next you will be complaining that most of her sentences contain the word "the" which is extremely repetitive. There are a limited number of chord progressions which sound OK. Write a couple of hundred songs yourself and see how many of them use that progression and how many become hits. Did you actually do any research to find how often that progression occurs in top 10 hits? Is it a coincidence that the songs you chose to illustrate your point happent to be amongst her most popular? Do set us know how frequently it hs been used in top 10 hits over the past 60 years. That would be a more productive, interesting and important piece of research instead of picking on one particular singer/songwriter. Or how about how Taylor Swift's use of that chord progression compares with that of the Beatles, ABBA, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Max Martin etc.
This!!! Like sure this guy could point out the frequent use of this certain progression all he wants but what irks me about this video is how fucking rude he is. Like go on, write 274 songs, let's see how many of them are listenable and have the same chord progression.
I fail to understand Echo, what could possibly be wrong with using the exact same chord progression for seven songs...... and probably many, many more!!! LOL.... just kidding!!! I totally agree with your assessment and analysis of Taylor's ridiculously limited scope of "Recycled Songwriting." As a writer myself, and probably you as well, we all need to be aware of reusing the same or similar chord progressions..... and thus, being stuck "in a writer's rut..." Anyway, thanks so much for sharing this valuable insight.... and I'll be prayingmfor The Holy Spirit to save and liberate "these helplessly trapped chords!!!" Ted Schempp, Nashville. P. S. In your opinion, did Michael Jackson and Prince fall prey to this same "Treadmill?" Thanks.
I'm dead LOL This video had me laughing out loud. I write music too and I know that I use the same four or five progressions, usually in minor keys and I have a tendency to use dimished and domimant 7th chords a lot.
Ahhh...Taylor Swift and formulaic music... Are we going to next have a breakdown of Nickelback, or are we going to not subject our ears to such torture?...
Funny that you mentioned all that you said in this video. Because only a few weeks ago did I realize that Taylor Swift's Eras Tour achieved demand, statistics, and heights so unbelievable, the story is almost biblical. So I started researching her music and this research is slowly making a swiftie out of me. However, I agree with your points because most of my favourite Tay Tay songs don't use this progression (which she actually used in 21 of her songs). And in fact, some of my favourites are either different and/or more than four chords.
I came across the following in an article on chord progressions. Do you deny that the melodies and lyrics in the songs you chose are DIFFERENT? So the question is, what chord progressions would you have selected for each of them and why? If you do not agree with the extract please explaint why. If you cannot come up with better chord progressions I suggest you apologise to Taylor Swift and Swifties. “While there are many common chord progressions in pop music, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Experimenting with different chord progressions can help you find the one that best suits the melody and lyrics of your song. Don’t be afraid to try something new or to modify an existing progression to make it your own.”
Her fanbase comprises of 9-year old girls and boring suburban women who shop at target and Starbucks. I’m sorry, but no, these people are not the trendsetters of music, style, tastes, or anything: they are consumers. They are not cool and they probably never will be cool. I wish as a collective we stopped conflating big numbers with artistry and vision.Just because Olive Garden is the most successful Italian restaurant in the world doesn’t make it BY ANY MEANS the best. And yet when it comes to music and film people cannot seem to grasp this concept. Conformity sells, and Taylor Swift is the quintessential “suburban girl”…THAT is her appeal and that’s okay. But pretending that her brand and products are artistic excellence is where I’m drawing the line. It is not. And this is why her fanbase keep trying to gas up her mediocre songwriting rather than just being honest: they identify with her because her very identity is very much like their own
Great video. I've never listened to any of her music beginning to end but I thought 2 out of these 6 songs sounded rather good, (good like Backstreet Boys kind of good). I think her presence outside of music is actually more of a nuisance than anything else. If she just kept to herself and focused on music like, I don't know, Bob Dylan or something, people might have respected her a bit more.
The first song I heard when you played The Progression was Champagne Problems. I'm a lot older than the average Swiftie but I like her, both as a person and as a musician. She genuinely has something. I also reserve the right to be critical: overuse of this chord progression, overuse of certain melodic devices, excessively wordy songs.
How do you know it is overuse of the chord progression? It is the most popular and progressions are chosen to fit the melody and lyrics. Got better progressions for them?😊
I'm glad your not directly bashing her. There are 10 albums with different genres like country, pop, seasonal, electric pop, rock with different relatable lyrics
She has a lot of the songs with the same chord progression, but if you look at the other songs without the same chord progression like, hits different, seven, the lakes, style, tolerate it, happiness, evermore. As a avid Taylor swift hater back around 2019, these songs got me into Taylor now her lyrics are very poetic and yes there’s other artists also great or some say even better than Taylor, her lyrics are still great.
