SHE DOESN'T CAREEEEE WHETHER OR NOT HE'S A GOOD MAN.....SHE DOESN'T CARE JUST AS LONG AS SHE STILL HAS HER FRIENDS. SHE DOESN'T CARE CAAARE WHETHER OR NOT HE'S AN IIIIIISLAND.......

they laugh, they make. money he's got a gold WATCH she's GOT a silk dress and healthy breasts. that bounce. on his. Italian. leather. soooofaaaa.....

bestie how would u rank taylor’s albums 👀

Thank you so much for asking! Putting under a cut, because it got a little long:

1. Speak Now. It was during that era (around December 2010 or January 2011) that I got into Taylor Swift and even though Red used to be at the top for me (and Speak Now was a close second), I've come to appreciate Speak Now more. I feel like this is Taylor at her most honest and vulnerable, which makes sense considering she wrote the entire album by herself when she was just 19/20, which is quite an achievement. Also the Speak Now Tour movie is just amazing. Favorites are Back to December, Mine, Never Grow Up, Mean, Dear John, The Story of Us, Enchanted, Innocent, Last Kiss, Long Live and If This Was a Movie

2. Red. I just love Red, it was my favorite album for quite a while, and it should have won Album of the Year back in 2013 imo. There's only song I don't really like, but it's also kinda catchy so I don't mind it that much. Also love the vault tracks in Red TV! Favorites are State of Grace, Red, Treacherous, All Too Well, Holy Ground, Begin Again and Nothing New.

3. Evermore. The fact that she wrote this and released just a few months after writing Folklore is insane. It's the one album I don't skip any songs. Favorites are Cowboy Like Me, Gold Rush, Coney Island, Tis the Damn Season, Happiness and Marjorie.

4. Folklore. I really don't have much to say about Folklore beyond "it's great" and I loved the concept. My favorite songs from it are The 1, Cardigan, Mirrorball, Seven, This is Me Trying, Invisible String and Peace

5. Fearless. Love Story was the first TS song I ever heard when I was just like 8 years old (it was on the soundtrack of this movie I watched with my mom called Letters to Juliet) and here we are today. There are a couple of skips, but overall it's a great album imo. Favorites are Fearless, Fifteen, You Belong With Me, Love Story, Breathe, Hey Stephen and Forever & Always.

6. Debut. Appreciate this album more!!! The vocals are a bit off because she was just 16 and the equipment probably wasn't the best, but that doesn't affect the songs that much in my opinion. Like Fearless, there a few skips, but it doesn't affect the album that much. The stand outs imo are Our Song, I'm Only Me When I'm With You, The Outside and Teardrops on my Guitar.

7. Reputation. It's lower on the list, but in my opinion out of her 3 officially purely pop albums, it's her best one and I really like the concept of the album, but I do feel like there are few songs that sound way too much alike in terms lyrics/storytelling and 2 songs that are skips imo. My favorite songs from Reputation are Delicate, Getaway Car, Gorgeous, Dancing with Our Hands Tied, King of My Heart, Dress and Call It What You Want.

8. 1989. It's a fun album, but I just feel like there's something missing. The songs aren't bad (except for like maybe one or two), but I think the lyrics feel watered down in comparison to the other ones (even the one that's below 1989 on my ranking). Faves are Blank Space, Style, Out of the Woods, I Wish You Would Come Back, This Love, You Are In Love and Clean.

9. Lover. I don't dislike it, but it just feels messy and it has a lot of skips imo (because they just don't really fit with the theme of the album or it's a bit cringy but not in a good way). Favorites are Cruel Summer, Lover, Cornelia Street, The Archer and Afterglow.

Five Taylor Swift Photos From Magazine Spreads Which Make Me Feel Unmoored In Space And Time

This 2014 Rolling Stone piece is called Reinvention of Taylor Swift and heralds that she’s “left country behind”. I’ve always felt Taylor’s relationship to country music is more complicated than the simple case of a country darling seeing a chance at crossover superstardom and abandoning her down-home roots for bubblegum, namely because Taylor doesn’t actually have any down-home roots. Total domination was always the plan, and everything I know about this woman says it was always going to work, too. If anything, the country years represented a transactional relationship between an ambitious young woman and the genre best positioned to uplift and provide an instant audience for a white, blonde singer who wants to write love songs. The whole this is less A Star is Born, more A Star is Intentionally And Calculatedly Built. But 1989—the release of which feels so long ago now, so much more than six years, farther away in my mind even than the older albums for being less firmly planted in my own psychic landscape and heart, that to try and recall the experience of having been 22 and reading this article is close to impossible—mark a coronation of sorts for a whole new girl, shorn, shined, and repackaged for mass distribution, as this stripped down and honestly kind of hot cover shoot shows. During the interview, Taylor offers the interviewer a choice of six different flavors of sparkling water, which is a level of decadence that I cannot imagine, then starts talking about HBO’s Girls. In 2014 it was still basically talk about Girls or be instantly murdered by roving death squad. That was just what life was then. Taylor says she is a Shoshanna but my brain, brave ally, has erased every piece of knowledge I ever accumulated about that show so I don’t know if she was right. What I like about this particular photo, wherein “I like” means, “makes me a little feral” is how it calls to mind, like, the kind of black & white snapshot of lads being lads on a beach somewhere during a long ago war which, were it to find its way onto Twitter today, would be immediately quote RT’d like fifty thousand times like, “seems gay imo.”

The critical takeaway from this Vogue article is that until 2016 Taylor Swift hadn’t been to her Pennsylvania hometown in a decade. Yes, the family relocated to Nashville when she was a teenager to begin the construction of the Taylor Swift Industrial Complex but there’s still something odd and compelling to me about the fact that she never once went back to visit the supposed best friend Britany whose wedding is the impetus for the visit chronicled here. Maybe it means nothing! She did have kind of a busy decade, and things happen. Time passes faster than you’re ever expecting it to and the ten years between sixteen and twenty six are particularly slippery ones. Maybe! Or maybe Taylor Swift left that pre-fame life coolly in the dust, useless to her now, and doesn’t think of it at all except to clinically mine for content. Maybe Britany only had Taylor in her wedding because if you can get Taylor Swift to come, with a Vogue writer in tow, be your maid of honor, it would be difficult to resist the temptation not to do it, like, for the bit, and for probably a really expensive gift. Maybe the truth is more like a little bit of both. Regardless, there’s this proto-”seven” passage.

During a car ride earlier in the day, she excitedly pointed out landmarks: the creek where she and Britany used to play as kids; a weathered tree house in the front yard of the former Maack family home; the piney woods she and her friends used to think were haunted

Could be that Britany was the inspiration for the friend with the dad whose always mad in that dreamy piano track, but if pressed I’d put my money on Taylor just being enamored of the romantic americana of dirty children clamoring over creek beds full of ghosts, and unfortunately I can’t begrudge her that because same.

Every image from when Taylor did that Soft Focus Harley Quinn thing last year while in the throes of her full court press media blitz about how she is not only not a nazi but also Loves Gays, is to me an unbearable agony, a ruthless torment, a knife in my back, a stitch in my side, a terror I can’t unsee, a silent scream I can’t get out, but I find this one from Entertainment Weekly most upsetting of all. I am not saying that it is illegal to sit in the dirt wearing a pink and blue matching argyle sweater and short shorts combo with dumb dip-dyed hair and then not come out as bi, even, but I am saying abolish prisons for everyone except Taylor Swift, who should be in one.

This goofy goth photo shoot from 2017 is one thing, but the really important historical detail to note here is that UK Vogue, clearly absolute limp-wristed freaks, agreed to run these photos accompanied not by an interview with their covers star, but with a fucking poem she wrote. While I do think a poem in place of a proper profile is actually less morally objectionable than the famous person-”interviewed”-by-other famous person trend that’s eaten up so much of celebrity journalism, it’s still not really something a reasonable person can condone. If you have never read the poem... I actually think it’s not that bad! But, honestly, when I was sixteen I volunteered myself to edit my high school’s litmag (in order to be given a little money to have a litmag) and to my great surprise, having really assumed that I was basically just going to have, like, my own writing and some weird slightly, porny drawings from the anime club, shortly found myself inundated with piles of the most truly awful poetry ever produced, and was left to judge it all myself, and I believe the experience scarred my mind so badly that I still have great difficulty determining a good poem from a bad one with any clarity. “Hold on to childlike whims and moonlight / swims and your blazing self-respect” definitely would have made it into The Knightwriter, is all I’m saying.

When I am on my death bed, reeking and gasping, alive only technically, my family will gather close to provide comfort and receive my last words, hoping that they can offer me a sense of peace before the darkness falls. “Bring me my darling,” I’ll rasp, then choke on the air. And when nervous human children of my lineage are pressed to the bedside I’ll shake my head painfully, no, no, no, until finally they bring to me the one thing I truly love: this picture of Taylor Swift wearing a Blue Oyster Cult t-shirt in a 2015 Lucky Magazine photo shoot, for some reason.

hi I was wondering what your favourite sapphic songs of Taylor's are? cause kaylors make such a big deal of the 'male perspective' in songs like our song, love story, mine. and I agree that wanting to experience that is gay in itself. but those songs just feel so straight country love songs that I really cannot see them as sapphic, particularly given that she also sings from the 'female perspective' to the man. so I wondered which songs feel most sapphic to you?

Ohh boy yeah the male perspective (except Betty where it’s gay in concept and feels very like when 15 year old me was obsessed with Blue Mountain State lmao) never screams gay to me. Let’s do a roundup of sapphic lyrics and themes.

In Teardrops on My Guitar, Taylor says: “Drew walks by me... Can he tell that I can't breathe? And there he goes, so perfectly... The kind of flawless I wish I could be.” Now the whole song’s unseen pining is pretty gay to me. Like I say, there are unrequited straight songs but it’s very like... “why aren’t you understanding that I’m right here? How can you be so blind?” In Teardrops Taylor seems very aware that this person (well boy in the song) won’t ever notice her.

And sure we could say “well she has poor self-confidence” but then there’s that line in the bit I chose: “The kind of flawless I wish I could be” - why is she comparing herself to a boy? Do I want to be you or do I want to fuck you is such a big mood for queer women especially young queer women. I dunno, like my first few late elementary/early middle school crushes (and my first few crushes were on girls) were very like: “Do I want to be her? Do I want to be her best friend? Or do I want her to hold my hand? And why does her holding my hand make my heart beat faster and seem to have no effect on her?” There’s a definite way queer women compare ourselves to the object of our affections that straight women don’t seem to do that makes “my crush is the kind of flawless I wish I could be” feel extremely sapphic to me.

Oh bonus one from Teardrops: “The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star / He's the song in the car I keep singing. Don't know why I do” - why doesn’t she know? Like what’s confusing about this situation? She likes this dude why is it such a big fucking deal that she does? And again why does she want to be like him?

Anyway yeah that whole song.

Also Invisible is gay af. Like if you reverse the pronouns it’s the universal queer woman’s story of being in love with your friend. And this bitch is into some dude who isn’t anywhere near good enough for her and your affections are invisible but if she only knew - and she won’t - the two of you could have something beautiful together.

Stay Beautiful also reads gay but apparently she wrote it in the fourth grade so maybe her vocab was just bad idk.

On that album, Tied Together with a Smile and I’m Only Me When I’m With You are formally, officially, according to Tay’s explanations about her female friends btw. If you listen to those two songs and then the first two I listed they’re... not that fucking different lmao. It’s that same idea of “you get me and I just want you to be happy”. It’s all just... gay...

Fearless is probably one of the least gay albums overall IMO (tho I’m open to people making stuff gay) but it does give us the title track which is very fucking gay lol so it makes up for the number of straight sounding songs on here. First there’s this bit:

We're drivin' down the road

I wonder if you know

I'm tryin' so hard not to get caught up now

But you're just so cool

Run your hands through your hair

Absent-mindedly makin' me want you

Man “I wonder if you know” is exactly that feeling I was describing like, I wonder if you realize this is more than friendship? I wonder if you know that I want you. And the “you’re just so cool” isn’t as explicitly “I want to be you” but it’s also got some of that shared energy. This person is so cool that them running their hand absent-mindedly through their hair is making her feel some type of way and yet she’s not sure if the person knows that. Now why wouldn’t this extremely cool guy know that the girl he’s giving a lift to is possibly interested?

Then there’s this bit:

My hands shake

I'm not usually this way

But you pull me in and I'm a little more brave

It's the first kiss,

It's flawless,

Really something,

It's fearless.

Why does this first kiss require so much bravery? It’s not her first ever because “I’m not usually this way” implies she has been in a similar position before. And then:

And I don't know why but with you I'd dance in a storm in my best dress

Fearless

“I don’t know why” - well because you like this person! Girl, you’re into them. Oh, you’re not sure why because it’s a girl? Also lbr discussing clothes with your crush/partner is a very gay girl thing so just that addition of “my best dress” in the context of the rest of this incredibly gay song is... gay...

Oh and a bonus point:

'Cause I don't know how it gets better than this

You take my hand and drag me head first

Fearless

Making that big a deal of handholding and saying it requires bravery is, you guessed it, gay af. 

Untouchable also delivers some gems: “Untouchable like a distant diamond sky / I'm reaching out and I just can't tell you why / I'm caught up in you” - I mean this is that whole vague confused forbidden vibes I spoke about before and the “And when you're close I feel like coming undone”. For me, it’s the fact that this person’s mere presence is enough to make her undone and she’s begging for a “taste of Heaven” feels... gay...

Jump Then Fall is also pretty damn gay to me. It’s got that dangerous “this could be dangerous” thing going on (“I had time to think it all over and all I can say is come closer”) but it’s also positive and... she’s saying jump and I’ll catch you which... like I get that it could be metaphorical but generally with het couples the dude would do the catching. Like if it was just that it’d not be that gay but again, the whole thing... is...

Whoa, oh, I need you baby

Don't be afraid, please,

Jump then fall

Jump then fall into me

Baby, I'm never gonna leave you

Say that you wanna be with me too

'Cause I'mma stay through it all

So jump then fall

Jump then fall, baby,

Jump then fall into me, into me

Like why are they both so scared? Why is she convincing herself and this person? What’s the danger? Is it just meant to be a “loss of virginity” song?

Then there’s the catching bit I mentioned:

The bottom's gonna drop out from under our feet

I'll catch you, I'll catch you

When people say things that bring you to your knees

I'll catch you

Idk man. It’s gay.

By the way for two unrequited songs that fundamentally feel straight to me, look at The Other Side of the Door and You Belong With Me. I’m not saying you can’t have queer readings. But both of them have that “blame” angle to the guy’s lack of interest or inability to requite her feelings. Like she’s saying “I won’t tell you what I want or that I want you but you should figure it out ya big dummy!” which is inherently different to that “I know this is completely pointless and I’m barking up the wrong tree” energy of the other songs I mentioned. “I’m worried you’ll hurt me” songs are also different to “if you stand close to me I’ll completely fall apart but I can’t let you see” of... like... Untouchable.

Hey Stephen has the “I can't help it if you look like an angel” line but it’s generally straight for me because:

Hey, Stephen,

I could give you fifty reasons

Why I should be the one you choose.

All those other girls—

Well, they're beautiful,

But would they write a song for you?

Do you see what I mean it’s like “I know you might not want me but you should” and that’s not a sapphic vibe. Like that’s to me what makes her gay sounding songs so much gayer like they capture a very specific feeling - being confused on if you want to be her, be her friend or fuck her dumb ass.

On Speak Now Taylor adds another type of gayness into her repertoire. She does the “I’m singing about a guy but it’s all about a girl” thing in Better Than Revenge. Now I know she has been called out a lot for this and she herself has now said obvi girls don’t steal your boyfriend BUT that’s not the part I find interesting. It’s shit like: “She thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things” - like girl, that is psycho. Being obsessed with the fact that she is wearing vintage dresses is weird. And Taylor does this in the title track with her lengthy descriptions of the bridge compared to ZERO description of the guy. Not even “looking so handsome” - like there’s nothing. But the bride is “floating down the aisle like a pageant queen”.

Idk this is only three albums and only like my favorite gay bits and I already have so many and I haven’t even gotten to Treacherous 😭 I think I should make a hashtag for this and carry on later.

The point is, for me, it’s not about her singing a back and forth with a guy and a girl. It’s capturing supremely sapphic wlw feelings that I’ve never seen a straight female songwriter or musician convey, even where I’ve loved their music and felt it strongly resonated with me for other reasons.

ok perth u probably didn't see the oneus cb yet but i gotta give u my thoughts please take my thoughts.

black mirror: it feels a little atrocious and cheesy and i actually love it like it's just a catchy song!! they could have gone harder but i'm okay with it. the mv is VERY valkyrie which is cute but also boring. none of the shots really wowed me also rbw tanked their budget for this cb.. and some of their fits suck. for me this is a step up from banbakbulga though

connect with us: letdown letdownnnn i would honestly rather listen to the outro version of this song. there is no movement there is no buildup. but xion has a verse so 🥰🥰 i guess

polarity: THIS IS THE ONE.. catchy as hell mwah

happy birthday: save me. save them. the chorus is nice honestly and i like this producer but the aggressively heterosexual corny english interjections really took me out of the vibe.. it's not my birthday i'm not your girlfriend shut up shut uppppp

valkyrock: mixed feelings bc it really just feels like valkyrie with poorly arranged hard guitar in the bg there were some weird instrumental choices too. it serves its purpose which is to be a cool concert remix. there are some cool moments tho especially with the main guitar which i can only assume is kanghyun just shredding it good for him. could have gone harder with the rock concept

so overall this cb... just okay. i'm okay with it! it's def not a come back home or a tbontb (i actually LOVED tbontb era sfsgdfdgdg even the acoustic guitar in the chorus) but frankly it wasn't trying to be that. still feels pretty oneus. anywayyy this is long! i just wanted to like. open a discussion lol don't feel pressured to respond!! -tt

i can finally start answering this ohohoho

hi tt anon my beloved!!! i am ready to answer to these thoughts (aka compare them to mine hSDGHSDKJGH. also i’ll be writing like, each ThoughtTM after i’ve listened to each song, so while i’m typing that i’ve only heard black mirror)

ok so i’m done typing my thoughts and. it got VERY long. don’t apologise for length i’m also wordy <3

now connect with us. so far i didn’t like the voice editing on keonhee’s voice but the song sounds... alright... not groundbreaking but it’s alright. seoho my beloved <3 WAIT THERES NO DROP IN THE CHORUS???? WHAT THE FUCK? i don’t really like the typical kpop drops always used now but come on?? oh wait there’s a? ugh. that was nothing. well i guess it’s a song and dongju got a verse for sure. i don’t have a lot to say on it i don’t know if i’ll add it to any playlists IS THAT HWANWOONG’S FIRST LINE?????? what the hell is any of this DSKJFHKJHD i may not have noticed him before but huh what. eh. it’s a song. again maybe it’ll grow on me! but right now yeah it’s a letdown i agree.

so for black mirror i agree the mv was... cheaper than what we got with gaja, twilight & etc. like they used all the budget on their first mvs DNSKJFHKJ (and to be or not to be... i guess? i don’t remember much except Guns And Blood Bath). i don’t really mind it in itself bc i don’t watch mvs much anymore and i’ve accepted that sometimes companies will just throw whatever at the audience for the sake of money (see also: ugly dance by onf letting me down in great part bc it acts as a followup to beautiful beautiful but is literally just a performance mv with no storytelling elements whatsoever but eh what can you do right) but for someone who likes cinematography it’s definitely gonna be disappointing if they were expecting something like gaja or come back home. as for the fits i didn’t really look at them, mostly their faces? and ough they are pretty <3 but yeah i wanted to get the more negative criticism out of the way so i can talk about The Song because unexpectedly i actually really like it!! and we can thank the bassline for that LMAOOO honestly this is gonna sound mean for no reason but this is what w*nho (censoring in case it gets in tags... i do NOT need mbbs after me on this fine day) thought he was doing with his debut song (not losing you that one made me cry. the one that i forgot the name of). i really enjoy the vibe of the song even if imo it doesn’t really fit the visual concept very much? but it has strings and i’m not gonna say no to strings. strings and a sexy bassline. and yonghoon’s whistling. SHFSDHKH

no but it’s a really good song imo! it’s not... as good as say, twilight (maybe it’ll grow on me idk we’ll see but twilight really was one of their best so), but it’s still a pretty solid song and while i do like banbakbulga a lot now it feels a lot less oneus than black mirror. oh wait i have something else to say, they really should leave the rapping to ravn bc like we know kpop rappers are not really rappers but i. really don’t wanna hear leedo rap anymore. he has great vocals there’s no reason for that... ravn is genuinely enjoyable to listen to so i don’t mind him but pls rbw give leedo more vocal lessons so he can sing more (and also give dongju vocal lessons at all?? why does he get two lines per song??? they’re a 2 yr old group now there’s no excuse. is he that bad? i don’t buy it he sounded good in the rtk gaja)

black mirror also very vaguely reminded me of run away by got7 during the chorus for some reason feel free to ignore that HFKJSHKFJ

onto polarity! shit i really need wrist braces. well this is like an improved connect with us? it’s definitely catchier sdnfsjkdfh and definitely a oneus song tho that means i don’t really like what their style is headed toward... one of the percussions they keep using, i really don’t like it!! i hear it everywhere and i don’t like it! not bc i hear it everywhere but bc it’s used for anything and everything like u should be more careful with what sounds u use for what songs. but i’m also very picky in the little details when i’m focused on something i guess sndfjskh. keonhee sounds really good in this song thank u mr lisp for my life i love u :) OH WAIT LEEDO IN THE CHORUS??? VERY GOOD LET’S GET MARRIED jk not to a leo man.

then we got happy birthday....... um... i was gonna say this is fine then he said you’re my goddess and. let me out <3 NOOO KEONHEE SOUNDS SO GOOD THIS IS EVIL... WHY DOES HE SOUND SO GOOD ON THIS SONG NANODNONDD LOVE LOSES </////3 i wouldn’t say it’s unlistenable for me like english girl but i’m gonna have to turn off my english speaking brain to listen to it yeah. it’s a good song otherwise what a shame... stop pushing ur heterosexual words onto me i’m just trying to listen to a song!!! do songs have to be gendered!!!!!!!!!

valkyrock here we go. last one. last one boys & not boys. so far it’s nice tbh. HUH? they lost the vibe with ravn’s verse. okay i guess the prechorus is alright i can hear the faintest hint of strings. the chorus... the percussions should not be like that... like idk how to explain it but the rhythm is too regular and not spaced out enough, if they were gonna do it like that it should hit a lot harder. don’t give me just the big boy (idk the english name but u know the one on the drums) and the small cymbal sound... that’s not loud enough bring out the damn gong (ok i may exaggerate but like it sounds more dancey than rock either way). uhhhhh overall though i really like the mix of the heavy guitar & strings i think that’s great and they should do that more. i can only assume onewe took care of the instruments LMAO harin u should’ve gone harder than that king i know u can...

so uhmmm for me this cb is... better than the previous one. which is sad bc it was a full album. i also liked it better than tbontb bc i felt that one didn’t go hard enough and black mirror wasn’t trying to go hard in that way so it doesn’t bother me 😭 yeah it’s not light us raise us fly with us level but it’s really good still. i can’t wait for oneus to finally release something that makes me insane but tbh? tbh? the bassline might get me there anyway. sexy bass makes me deranged and i think that’s at least a little bit relatable. still... when oneus get back to their roots in ways other than valkyrock maybe we’ll ascend to a better plane. much love 💕

skamfr is so much more fun when you ignore the plot, steal the characters from the show, and instead come up with headcanons about them. so therefore important scientific question: what type of music do we think la mif listens to?? here is my contribution to that below the cut. (my knowledge of french music is limited so this is english-based; apologies if the read more doesn’t work & you have to see all of this, im tagging it as “long post” so).

sekou: i feel like it’s been established that sekou is kind & empathetic in very “quiet” but important ways. he does things where you’re like, oh yeah that’s nice. but thinking about them beyond a surface level, they’re actually very meaningful: for example, hacking the account. that was second nature for him, an immediate reaction! but he took the lead from lola on what she wanted to do with it, and then took it down when she was ready, no questions asked, giving her agency (something she craves; also “maybe you’re just a good person” FIRST person all season to say that). so this is me saying i think he likes music where the emotion is...carefully constructed, but still powerful, still gut-punching. like classical/orchestral? or soundtrack music!! hello we KNOW he’s a future oscar winner (perhaps eliott would’ve been too had he listened to sekou's advice). he likes analysing films & their sound design, he loves the one for interstellar since the entire film is just science stuff + the power of love. he also likes beyonce and rihanna; songs like “xo”, “cheers to the weekend”, “bitch better have my money” and “countdown” remind him of dumb nights out with his friends. he also loves classic artists like whitney & tina turner: people you can dance to! videos on their insta + samedi 6:43 prove this (remember when he was going wild in the background when mayla were trying to flirt? legend).

lola: canonically didn’t like the music playing @ that bar (hip-hop i believe?). also canonically a dramatic teen: she has used music in her insta stories TWICE to call maya out, so i think she just listens to whatever she likes that happens to match her mood, and stares out the window pretending to be in a music video when she does so. but perhaps secretly prefers pop? or music she can jump and scream her lungs out to, like “i wanna get better” by bleachers or “shake it out” by florence and the machine? also if no one else is going to say it....she's a swiftie. she heard “love story” when she was eight and her heart ACHED with the forbidden romance of it all because when you're eight you somehow relate to lyrics you've never experienced irl, and she's sworn allegiance to taylor ever since. also definitely a paramore fan; she had a crush on hayley williams (“hard times”, “ain’t it fun”, and “the only exception” are her anthems, depending on the mood).

max: okay according to their insta he plays the guitar and SINGS so i think he probably listens to a lot of folksy/indie acoustic stuff, or at least plays a lot of them, and when la mif go camping he whips out the guitar and they have a sing-a-long. sometimes he leads; sometimes he'll fade into the background because he wants to listen to his friends or gets super into the strumming. either way he takes a bow at the end. sufjan stevens maybe when he's yearning over sekou (“i can’t explain the state that i’m in / the state of my heart, he was my best friend.”) also fleetwood mac (“the chain” when he’s angsty; “landslide” when it’s quiet & he hums it). but also rap and r&b? specifically stuff that hypes him up when he goes jogging or is urbex-ing by himself / when it's a somber, quiet group session. 100% a raleigh ritchie stan (they play "the greatest" in the car when they're driving at night; i think it's an anthem for them, max drums it on the wheel).

maya: canonically loves harry styles (she follows him on insta), but i am yet to decide whether this means she was one of those lesbians who Just Thought One Direction Were Neat, projected comphet crushes on them, or simply watched the music video for “watermelon sugar” and was like...i see the vision harry i see it!!! hayley kiyoko was important to her as a japanese lesbian teen girl but i think she's branched out to listen to other lgbt artists of colour now, like the internet (she vibes to “girl” when cleaning the apartment), frank ocean (she listens to his cover of “moon river” when she misses lola), and rina sawayama (“stfu!” when she’s having a bad day and/or dealing with racists @ work). however as a maya apologist i think it's important we also recognize that she has been known to canonically have, uh, questionable taste sometimes...so let's all accept that she unironically loves the glee cast version of “don't stop believin'” and move on! (we can discuss who the gleeks in la mif are later).

jo: ok this is the hardest one imo bc i think she’s most likely to follow in eliott’s footsteps and enjoy dubstep or something equally left field / cringey we can bully her for. but she canonically also likes reality shows and hates documentaries per their insta which seems like a more (for lack of better words) “mainstream” and "basic" thing to do, so to combine both feelings...electronic pop maybe? she definitely streamed charli xcx’s newest album & prefers her experimental stuff to her earlier pop stuff, but she mostly likes bouncing up and down. actually wait i want jo to stan, fucking...100 gecs or someone equally terrible. i want nobody in la mif to ever hand her the aux cord for that exact reason, but lola doesn't know she's unofficially banned from having it yet, so the first time they’re driving to urbex together she's like hey lola can you pass me that :D and lola does and la mif just FREEZE having realised too late and lola's very ???? but before they can do anything, the intro to “money machine” is being blasted, jo’s going feral, and lola is like. ok understood.

finished the covers for my caleb and adam playlists! putting them together because like......... i have to. i can’t separate them

there is a caleb/adam playlist too but i’m gonna post that cover separately bc i have a different idea for that one

playlist notes under the cut!

caleb

yes, this playlist is 40% sleeping at last. no, i am not going to apologize for that. they have an album called emotions, it was kind of impossible to not use those songs.

falling for the first time- barenaked ladies: this gives me some strong caleb vibes, and i think it’s because it’s kind of an upbeat but also vaguely self-deprecating song? i mean, come on. I'm so cool, too bad I'm a loser/I'm so smart, too bad I can't get anything figured out/I'm so brave, too bad I'm a baby/I'm so fly, that's probably why it feels just like I'm falling for the first time

son- sleeping at last: And I will try, try, try to breathe 'til it turns to muscle memory I'm only steady on my knees One day I'll stand on my own two feet And I'll run the risk Of being intimate with brokenness Through this magnifying glass I see a thousand finger prints On the surfaces of who I am

soul meets body- death cab for cutie: it’s got some caleb/adam elements, but ultimately i chose to use it as a caleb song, because it feels more specifically like caleb seeking out adam’s emotions because they make him feel more like himself; So brown eyes I'll hold you near/'Cause you're the only song I want to hear/A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere

joy- sleeping at last: i just really love the way emotions are described in the songs on this album (well, except for fear, which has no lyrics and is also not on this playlist). i also just really love The clumsy start of adolescence/The glue that mends our broken remnants/An overwhelming sense of reverence/It's a glimpse of light in a mine of gold for caleb

a new mission- josh whitehouse: ah. this song. this was the song that made this playlist really, really difficult to make, because it was the first song i added and it set a very high bar for literally every other song on the playlist. it just feels so perfect as a caleb song to me, especially early on, when he was still figuring things out and he was constantly overwhelmed by all the feelings around him and in him.

Sometimes I can't control a feeling that I get inside my chest Even with those who are close to me, the ones I call my best I lose sight of all my confidence, in a heavy single step It's happened ever since my childhood, things I thought I'd put to rest I can keep my mind intact by getting on with a new mission I can push myself, having heavy ammunition When something gets me down, for a second I'm distracted I look back amongst the lights I consequently lit my path with

anger- sleeping at last: I mean, it kinda feels like this song has to be on here, yknow? especially with this part, which genuinely feels like how caleb describes anger sometimes: Like wildfire, it starts in my chest/The silence grows louder, ringing out in my head/I feel the Earth shaking under my feet/I feel the pressure building until I can't breathe/And it takes everything/And it all spills out, reckless but honest words leave my mouth

if i say- mumford and sons: aaand now we’re at the sad part of the playlist, because i can’t make happy playlists apparently. this one is definitely a safehouse caleb song; Show me your hands/Are they cleaner than mine?/Show me your face/Did you cross the line?/Show me your eyes/They any drier than mine?/Your soul survives/But peace, you'll never find

organs- of monsters and men: also a safehouse song, but more aftermath than in the middle of things. it’s sadder, more subdued.

sorrow- sleeping at last: more safehouse! who would’ve guessed!

I feel out of focus, or at least indisposed As this strange weather pattern inside me takes hold. Each brave step forward, I take three steps behind. It's mind over matter-- matter over mind.

Slowly, then all at once A single loose thread and it all comes undone

up with the birds- coldplay: caleb likes coldplay, so i had to include one of their songs, and this one is just. kind of perfect?

The sky is blue, Dreamed that lie 'til it's true, Then takin' back the punch I threw, My arms turn wings, Oh, those clumsy things Send me up to that wonderful world And then I'm up with the birds

--

adam

some of these songs are here for tone; the line between what adam would listen to and what helps me draw him is very thin compared to most characters. i did try to make sure they were all songs that fit him at least a little bit, though.

all the kids are depressed- jeremy zucker: i mean. i feel like the title kind of speaks for itself here, honestly. also the lyrics fit pretty well. there isn’t a ton of explaining that needs to be done for this one.

three- sleeping at last: yes i am back on my sleeping at last bullshit no i don’t care this song is perfect go look at the lyrics they’re all good here’s some of them: Maybe I've done enough/Finally catching up/For the first time I see an image of my brokenness/Utterly worthy of love/Maybe I've done enough

velodrome- dessa: this was one of the songs i included primarily for the tone; it’s one of the songs i listen to full volume on my Nice Headphones when i’m feeling too much at once because it kind of just gets rid of everything somehow. it just creates this kind of,, pleasant hollow feeling, if that makes any sense at all. but i realized after i added it that some of the lyrics do kind of fit: With a bell to tell us when we're hungry/There's a bell to tell us when we're tired/A bell that tells us to rise and fight/A bell to rise and die/It's just all bells/Sometimes I ring myself/To see if I might chime

drowning- jay brannan: a lauren playlist song, because like. fuck. that is all i have to say on this song: fuck

trapdoor- twenty one pilots: adam is a top fan because of course he is. i listened to this one a lot in high school so i’m passing it on to adam, and it also felt like a good follow-up to drowning

marching bands of manhattan- death cab for cutie: god this song is perfect. also, another song i listened to a lot in high school.

And it is true what you said That I live like a hermit in my own head But when the sun shines again I'll pull the curtains and blinds to let the light in

Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound But while you debate half empty and half full It slowly rises, your love is gonna drown

nine: sleeping at last: god, this song. it fits way too well and it hurts. it’s genuinely difficult to choose lyrics from this song, and i recommend looking at the full lyrics because holy shit, but like

Who am I to say what any of this means? I have been sleepwalking since I was fourteen Now as I write my song, I retrace my steps Honestly, it's easier to let myself forget

Still, I check my vital signs Choked up, I realize I've been less than half myself For more than half my life

Wake up; fall in love again Wage war on gravity There's so much worth fighting for, you'll see Another domino falls either way

better days- radical face: 90% of my playlists have radical face songs. adam especially needed one, though, because his playlist notes mentioned he’d probably actively seek out queer artists, and also there was a youtube q&a where ben cooper said he never writes songs while he’s happy, and honestly the whole discography has adam vibes imo. anyway: When you're always drifting out to sea/Because the ground won't stay beneath your feet/And your head is pouring gasoline/On the person you prefer to be/Try to remind yourself/That it's probably gonna take some time/But there are better days to find

the little things give you away- linkin park: it just has that drowning vibe. i mean, it makes sense, they reference drowning, like, a lot in the song, but i feel like the tone of it adds a lot to that too. like, i can feel that guitar, you know? or maybe that’s just me. idk, it just works, i think.

in a week- hozier: you ever just listen to this in a dark room lying on your back with your eyes closed and yeah? because like, i do sometimes, and i kinda feel like adam does too. i needed a hozier song on this playlist and this felt like the most fitting one to add, and a nice subdued end to the playlist.

Taylor Swift Lover Reaction

The day's here. Taylor Swift released her new album Lover, so I'm going to talk about it. I've been super hyped for this album ever since Me! was released and I was excited to see what Taylor was going to do after Reputation. It definitely looked that after the darker tone of Reputation, we were going to get more of a lighter tone for the TS7 era.

How I'm going to do this, with each song, I'm just going to give some thoughts I have on it. Some songs, I have more to say and others, I have less to say.

1. I Forgot That You Existed

It's an interesting song to start the album with. The first part of the journey into the Lover era is moving away from the toxicity you've experienced which makes sense, once you move away from the hate, you can begin to love. Interesting to see where it'll lead. And I totally feel Taylor on this. It really is a magical moment when you've been bothered by someone so much but then bam! a moment hits and you realize you don't care about them anymore. It really is kind of freeing.

2. Cruel Summer

Hello, Speak Now days! How I've missed you! I've never really complained about Taylor's change in genre, I really liked both 1989 and Reputation but I still do carry a flame for Speak Now when she had that mix of country, rock, and pop and I'll always miss those days. So to hear the style come back a little bit in the form of the wide, all-encompassing bombastic sound this song had, well, it was a real treat for sure.

3. Lover

A song I'm familiar with. This was released early as a single so it's gotten some radio play. It's a cute song and I love the slightest echo she puts on her voice in post production to create the sound. It really gives something to the overall vibe of the song. With all that said, Lover is not a song I'm too terribly "in love with", pardon the pun. I don't mind it, I think it's cute and I'll sing along with it on the radio, but it's not something I'll go out of my way to listen to. It's actually kind of interesting that I feel this way for the titular track on this album because I felt the same way for the titular track on Speak Now. But it's not a slight on either of the albums. The songs may not be the best imo, but the themes they represent over the course of their albums is why they're titled that way so I completely understand why they were used. So maybe Taylor is using a lot of inspiration when writing the Lover album that came from the Speak Now era.

4. The Man

We got a fast-paced song here that's super catchy. I like it.

5. The Archer

It's track 5. The fabled Track 5. If you're familiar with Taylor Swift and how she sets up her albums, you know track 5 is usually reserved for an emotional, hard-hitting track. So Reputation had Delicate, Red has All Too Well, Speak Now has Dear John, Fearless has White Horse, and the self-titled first album has Cold As You...all are just gut-wrenching emotional. I did leave out 1989 because for me, that one seems more like it was an exception to the rule but maybe there are folks out there who thought All You Had To Do Was Stay was gut-wrenching.

Everytime I listen to The Archer, it chokes me up. As much as I hate it because I want Taylor to be happy, she does heartbreak real well and she knows how to bring out those emotions with her writing in the best ways. There's just something so bittersweet and defeated in the overall vibe of The Archer and it's heart-breaking.

6. I Think He Knows

Such a retro but also very modern sound and also the perfect song you need coming out of The Archer. It's fun and upbeat and cute.

7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

I don't even know how to describe this song and my feelings for it, it was that good definitely on par with my love with Getaway Car from the Reputation era. I really like it, I'm definitely going to listen to it again, and the metaphor used for this song was implemented perfectly.

8. Paper Rings

Another fun, cute song that I'm going to have fun singing and dancing along with as I listen to the album over again.

9. Cornelia Street

I think this might be my favorite song of the album. It was just a perfect mix of the new Taylor sound with the old Taylor writing style.

10. Death by a Thousand Cuts

Definitely not my favorite on the album and certainly Cornelia Street was in no danger of being replaced. This song isn't bad, it's a song that's just kind of there, but if it wasn't, I probably wouldn't miss it. It doesn't really illicit any kind of emotion in me.

11. London Boy

Taylor is just on a roll in this album with her quirky, happy, upbeat kind of songs. I feel like she was really try to perk us up after The Archer. But I'll definitely listen to London Boy again.

12. Soon You'll Get Better (feat. Dixie Chicks)

Of course, since I made a comment about how fun and quirky the songs have been since The Archer, that means Taylor has to bring us back down to another heavy-hitter, and it's featuring the Dixie Chicks so I expected nothing less than a soul-crushing track. This song is hard to sit through with dry eyes. The hopelessness of the situation Taylor is lamenting about but still clinging onto hope because that's all you have is really truly gut-wrenching and I can see myself listening to this song over and over again and crying each time.

13. False God

For a song that made a few references to NYC, I kept on getting hardcore New Orleans vibes from the instrumentals in this song. Maybe that was a part of the metaphor as this song is about a relationship that is out of flux, not quite matching up with the ideal so the instrumentals having the same vibe makes sense. But even if that wasn't intentional, who cares. That's my interpretation and I'm going with it.

14. You Need To Calm Down

Another song I'm very familiar with, another single. It's a fun, summery kind of song despite all the controversy it had. I had a lot of fun laughing at the irony of the situation within the controversy as I'm sure Taylor did as well -- the song is about not putting all of your energy into something you hate and that's exactly what the Taylor haters did when this song was released, thereby proving Taylor's point and it was hilarious for me to watch unfold.

15. Afterglow

Still not quite on the level as Cornelia Street but I can see this one definitely making it into my Top 5 for this album. I know this song is going to be in my head for a while.

Speaking of songs that get stuck in your head, we've finally gotten there, let's jam to Me!.

16. Me! (Feat Brendon Urie)

The first single released and I love this song, I know the lyrics by heart. I was super obsessed with it when the single released. And spoiler alert: it definitely will make it into my Top 5 for this album. But I am sad Taylor went back into the recording and took out the "spelling is fun" part of the audio. I don't appreciate the censorship, I'm just saying. The "spelling is fun" line was cute and was a really nice segway into -- girl, there ain't no "I" in team, but you know there is a ME, you can't spell "awesome" without ME. It fit perfectly with that verse and anyone who hated it or thought it was cringy simply has no taste...that's right, if you don't like the things I like, you have no taste😛.

But Taylor and Brendon was just the perfect combination of artists I didn't know I wanted a collab with until I got it. They both are just so weird and dramatic in their own ways and it really shined through in this song. I hope we get more collabs from them in the future.

17. It's Nice To Have A Friend

I love the instrumentals and harmonizing going on in the background of this song. It was actually really hard to pay attention to the lyrics because I kept on getting distracted with the cool sounds going on in the background.

18. Daylight

What a great song to end this album on. The entire album has been exploring the theme of Love and all the different facets and shades it comes in and it all culminates into Taylor reminiscing through this song the trials and tribulations she's been through and how now she can see everything clearly because she's finally found the daylight. It's just a great way to end the album. And there's a little message at the end of the song where Taylor is speaking, "I want to be defined by the things I love, not the things I hate...you are what you love." And that's such a great message to send. Too often, we all get caught up in negativity and the things we hate when we should be putting all of our energy into things we love. And it kind of takes you full circle to the first track which was I Forgot You Existed where Taylor was making the decision to move on, to end the hate, and just be apathetic towards that person. It was such a great way to end the album.

So overall thoughts in the album? This is definitely something I'm going to have to listen to a few times to really have any definite feelings on. I mean, we're talking 18 tracks here, this was a huge album and this wasn't even the deluxe version. When I get my hands on the deluxe version, we'll see what that one has. So yeah, there is a lot of material to sift through on this album. But I guess premature thoughts? It's a cute album. I don't know if it's my favorite. Speak Now probably still holds that title but this album is definitely enjoyable to listen to particularly if you do like Taylor Swift. If you were a hardcore fan of Taylor's older stuff and you weren't really feeling the genre change, have no fear, you might like this album. It still has that very modernized pop sound but there are definitely elements of her country roots here that you'll probably enjoy. Ultimately, this album, soundwise, is a real nice amalgamation of all of Taylor Swift's different sounds just like lyrically, this album is the culmination of everything she's learned and grown through over the course of her previous albums. This album is really aptly named and I'm so glad to see Taylor release this kind of album. She feels things so much, whether she's happy or sad, and music is her outlet. She really is a Lover who wants to share that with the world and I think we're incredibly lucky to have her.

So my Top 5 currently for this album is as follows.

5. Afterglow

4. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

3. The Archer

2. Me!

Was there any question what my favorite track on this album was going to be?

1. Cornelia Street

Awesome job, Taylor! As per usual, you never disappoint. Another fantastic album.

2000: “Ghetto Qu’ran (Forgive Me)” 50 Cent (Trackmaster Ent./Columbia)

It’s been over a year since I teased the idea of doing a post about my favorite 50 Cent tracks, so I guess now is as good a time as ever to get around to it! 

With the exception of maybe Kanye, I can’t think of another rapper with more raw talent whose career has been more disappointing. Obviously both Ye and Fiddy have been monstrously successful, but IMO they either burned brightly before descending into white supremacy apologia (Kanye) or never achieved their best possible trajectory (50). It’s not an accident to put them together in this way, either; just 12 years ago next month they faced off in what turned out to be a very underwhelming battle over whose album would sell better (this was back when album sales, not streaming numbers, still meant something). In many ways, it was a crossroads for each artist: Kanye dropped what I believe was his magnum opus, then followed it up with his fourth-best album, third-best album, and second-best album, before dropping off a cliff, while 50′s release basically removed him from the conversation about who was relevant in rap (“My Gun Go Off” and “I Get Money” are honorable mentions for the list below, but otherwise Curtis is entirely forgettable). 

These days, 50 has gone the Ice Cube route and is probably more recognizable as an actor than as a rapper. So, it’s hard to remember that once upon a time he was the savior of gangsta rap and (co-)author of one of the 25 greatest albums of all time. He beat the odds to survive a shooting, link up with the two heaviest hitters (at the time) in the rap game, and even be included on some GOAT lists. He also essentially established the “flood the streets with mixtapes before your album drops” strategy of self-promotion that Gucci, Weezy, and even Drake would follow in the days before Soundcloud was the go-to resource for building a rep. He singlehandedly destroyed a rival’s career, launched a clothing line, video game, and music label, and made a halfway-decent biopic. And then... he just sort of petered out. 

But! 50 is also responsible for some of my all-time favorite raps, which is why it’s so frustrating to me that he never lived up to the buzz surrounding him back in 2003. These are my five favorites, listed chronologically, with some commentary:

1) “Ghetto Qu’ran (Forgive Me)” (2000) Before the G-Unit days and before Eminem and Dre helped launch him to superstardom, Curtis Jackson was an up and coming rapper from Queens who had attracted the attention of another rap legend, Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay. A mutual friend introduced 19 year-old 50 to Jay back in 1996, and the veteran producer/DJ gave him a crash course in how to write songs and signed him to his fledgling label. The business relationship didn’t work out, but it helped lead 50 to Columbia Records’ Trackmasters imprint where he recorded Power of the Dollar in 1999. However, this debut album would never see the light of day after 50 was shot nine times while sitting in a friend’s car and subsequently dropped by Columbia. In the wake of the shooting--and then later, after 50 blew the fuck up in 2003--it became a sort of “lost cult classic” among rap fans. “How To Rob” got the most attention at the time, a funny-yet-vicious song demonstrating 50′s hunger through fantasies about sticking up famous rappers and R&B stars (the song was also clearly an homage to Biggie’s unreleased “Dreams,” and provoked an oblique diss from Ghostface). But “Ghetto Qu’ran” has had a more lasting impact, primarily because of how it was rumored to be the source of 50′s shooting, Jam Master Jay’s murder, and the Ja Rule/Murder Inc. beef. While all of that intrigue is important to rap lore, it distracts from the fact that it’s a near perfect rap song from a technical perspective: a catchy hook, a fantastic beat and sample, an effortless flow, and a well-crafted story that is equal parts celebration of the Queens underworld and subtle shots at street legends. Seriously, this is akin to what traveling bards used to do in medieval Europe, what poets in Ancient Greece wrote, what west African griots did/do, and what narcocorrido artists do now. If you want to learn about the Supreme Team, Pappy Mason, the Corley Family, and the Rich Porter/Alpo crew in Harlem, then this is a good place to start; as 50 puts it, “consider this the first chapter of the ghetto’s Qu’ran.” The secondary title to this track--“Forgive Me”--has a double meaning now. It was initially a plea to forgive 50 for the pain he caused in his criminal life but in retrospect an appeal to the figures whose names he drops. Also, it’s interesting to listen to this first and then compare 50′s voice with the next four tracks: this was recorded before the shooting, which left a bullet fragment lodged in his tongue that affected his speech and gave him his now-distinctive flow.    

2) “Heat” (2003) There are several standouts on Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (“Many Men,” “Back Down,” “What Up Gangsta,” “Patiently Waiting,” and “Poor Lil’ Rich” spring to mind, and I will always love “21 Questions” for the “I love you like a fat kid loves cake” line alone) but this one has always been my fave. It’s a perfect distillation of the image that 50 was trying to project when he burst onto the scene: a hood-hardened gangster who wouldn’t hesitate to do his enemies harm. And given his recent history, you could believe him, too! There’s really nothing about this song that should be praised in any way, but I’ve been thinking about the gravity of the following line a lot in the past month or so: “The summertime is a killing season/ It’s hot out this bitch, that’s a good enough reason.” Also, 50′s boast “the DA can play this motherfucking tape in court” *has* to be one of the inspirations behind this great Key & Peele sketch, right? 

3) “A Baltimore Love Thing” (2005) The Massacre was incredibly disappointing on the whole. I can remember clearly sitting around with my friends in a dorm room at the Shoreland listening to it all the way through the day that it dropped, wanting to love it but slowly realizing that it wasn’t going to live up to our expectations. “Ski Mask Way” could be an honorable mention on this list, and “Piggy Bank” is kind of funny, but otherwise it’s a steaming pile of shit. “Baltimore Love Thing,” though, is a masterpiece. It’s incredibly dark, rapped from the perspective of heroin itself (sort of like what Nas’s “I Gave You Power” does for guns) in order to detail the destruction that addiction--and, by extension, drug trafficking--leaves in its wake. Even more fucked up, 50-as-heroin voices an abusive partner addressing a woman, threatening her should she ever try to leave him. For my money, “You broke my heart, you dirty bitch, I won’t forget what you did/ If you give birth, I’ll already be in love with your kids” is one of the coldest lines in the annals of rap, full stop. In the second verse, he switches to the flip side of an abuser’s mindset: “I never steer you wrong, if you hyper I make you calm/ I’ll be your incentive, your reason for you to move forward.” All in all, it’s a great concept song that shows off 50′s range as a rapper... and is a testament to what he could have been.

4) “Hustler’s Ambition” (2005) Goddamn, I fucking love everything about this song! The beat is fantastic (great sample, btw), prefiguring the sound on a future great mixtape from the G-Unit crew. 50′s flow here is flawless, arguably the best, smoothest he’s ever been. This was basically the “theme” for 2005′s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ film, and tells the story of his come up in the drug game (or, at least, 50′s version of his carefully constructed hagiography). The lyrics are the true gems here, so I’ll just let a few of the standouts speak for themselves:

“Check my logic: fiends don’t like seeds in they weed, shit/ Send me them seeds, I’ll grow ‘em what they need”

“I sell anything, I’m a hustler, I know how to grind/ Step on grapes, put it in water, and tell you it’s wine”

“I made plans to make it, a prisoner of the state/ Now I can invite your ass out to my estate”

“Pour Cristal in the blender, make a protein shake”

and finally

“The feds watch me, icy, they can’t stop me/ Racists pointing at me, ‘Look at *****race’: Hello!”   

5) “Ghetto Like A Motherfucker” (2011) I remember first encountering this track on a Tumblr compilation (I think?) called Don’t Fuck This Up, Curtis! and allowing myself to get excited that the old 50 was back! As the compilation’s name implies, around that time 50 had been releasing a string of online-only singles that were better than anything he’d put out in five or so years, and so there was some hope that he’d soon be making a triumphant return to the rap game. Sadly, this was not to be. But I still bang this track every month or so. The idea here was that 50 had written something, set it to a very sparse, stripped-down beat, and posted it online as an invitation for DIY rap producers to play with it and layer their own compositions on top of it. In that sense, it represented a melange of rap’s earliest roots--dudes spitting over vinyl cuts in basements and parks, just fucking around and having fun--and the possibilities afforded by the digital age and rap’s embrace of online platforms for mixing and remixing material (on a side note, I like to think of this as part of 21st century rap’s “punk rock” aesthetic, and would argue that this genre has done it better than any other). As with “Hustler’s Ambition,” “Baltimore Love Thing,” and “Ghetto Qu’ran,” this track gives 50 a chance to really showcase his talents as a writer and a rapper. The lyrics are as grimy as the beat, painting a picture of urban poverty and pre-fame 50, and 50 switches up his flow at multiple points throughout. Here are some of my favorite lines:

“Slim chance I’ma go back to killing roaches/ Be quiet, you can hear the rats in the wall/ Make you wanna pump crack ‘til you stack racks”

“Dice game, shake ‘em up, praying’ for a 6/ The wolves out there hungry, they lookin’ for a lick”

“****** pissed on the staircase, in the elevator/ Now I’m pissed cuz I’m starting to smell like piss, player”

and

“All a ***** need is a block and a connect/ And a box of 9 MMs to load in the TEC.”

50′s last two studio albums--Before I Self Destruct and Animal Ambition--honestly weren’t half-bad; I would venture so far as to say that they were both better than The Massacre and Curtis. But for 50 it was too little, too late, really. Too many rappers had come along since then doing what he did, only better and fresher. This is a Migos world now; we’re just living in it. And so, I’m left to ponder what could have been. 

The actual text conversation I had on the release of the LWYMMD lyric video

Disclaimer-- posting this for the memories. This conversation happened just after the lyric video dropped. Not even the music video. A lot was in the air about the themes of the album and the content that would follow. Still, i stand by around 95% of what i said about the lead single and how lead singles are, in general, an introduction to a larger body of work with broader themes.

Me: I have many opinions. [Friend] sent me a text this morning about how he felt it was a disappointment and I've seen a fair amount of criticism for it but also a lot of 'she's saving 2017'.

When I first heard it was in the zone of NEW TAYLOR AFTER 3 YEARS GIMME but then after a few goes I was like 'what kind of chorus are we going for here' we go from a femme fatale start to a pulsing beat in the verses which I am so here for omg and then a drop for the chorus???¿¿¿

I want a bad blood feat. Kendrick Lamar style chorus. The build to the chorus is so YESSS but I don't understand why you'd drop it all for 'look what you made me do'

The bridge brings me life like 'I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams' is so reminiscent of blank space and I think it speaks to character development with the edge of it all-- Like the 'dressed like a daydream' has gone, pure nightmare is here and 'don't say she didn't warn us'.

I don't think this is the best song the album has to offer. Taylor said before that she would only release more if she could make something as good, if not better, than 1989 but time will tell. But my faith is hinged on the fact that although shake it off was a BOP it was not the best song on the album IMO. It was an introduction to the era and the aesthetic and feel and I feel the same is true for reputation. LWYMMD is the introduction to the story by saying that the old taylor is dead.

[Friend] said that he was disappointed that Taylor was stooping to a level of diss tracks and anger but to that I argue I think we'd all drop a diss ALBUM if we were virally double crossed by KimYe after a very public make up. She was painted as a snake in front of the world because of misunderstanding of what she consented to Kanye saying about her. After years of repairing a relationship with the media it was torn down in a heartbeat and there was nothing she could do except write a statement. People she called her friends took sides against her for something she hadn't done so yeah, I think she's entitled to a track or two about how she's out for the kill.

Artists write about exes who double cross them so why can't they write about the people who betray them. God knows I would.

Think the single is good given its context, without an album context it seems out of place. So at the moment I'm highlighting it as an introduction and not the full she-bang

It's not the introduction we want but probably the introduction we need.

I think that's everything I have to offer atm

Tl;dr - it's an introduction to the album and I don't think it's the best the album has to offer but without this the era would jumpstart. Oh- I'm also thinking that if the video had come at the same time as the song it would have given more context to the song as a lead single

Her: Blood hell that was a lot but I agree. It’s by no means bad but I don’t feel like it’s the best she can do, but like you said it’s an introduction so they’ll be more

You should right reviews

Me: ahaha I doubt my opinion carried THAT much weight to it. I just like being thorough with my views.

I've also had a thought about reasoning for the chorus drop being a thematic move-- it may be a play on the stomach drop feeling you get when someone does something terrible to you. Like you feel the build up of emotions and you sense something big is coming but then it actually happens and you can't quite believe it. It's all an explosion of silence and all you can think about it what happened and maybe the last thing they said ie. 'look what you made me do' if that makes sense.

I'm always here for deep thinking about artists who do deep thinking with their work because I am annoyingly pretentious like that.

I'm still doing the thinking-- currently on the continuous metaphors of the dramas of the past being a stage performance curated by KimYe(?) or Perry(?)

I Am. So. Here. For. This.

Her: Jesus do you want to do my degree for me. That is some A* analysis right there. I am excited for the new Taylor stage

Me: If only I’d done English literature ahaha.

The only thing I'm sad about this far is that there have been no interviews, no livestream, no clues in instagrams, no cryptic tweets, no YouTube video announcement style things bar the snake vids and the promo posts.

It's a distancing from the media as I imagine she reached her final straw with them. I doubt she's willing to give her time to answer her critics who will eventually receive their answers in the album's discussion of the whirlwind of 2016.

She's IS scooting round it through the two 72 page magazines she's releasing with the album with Target which promise pretty much all the background material we'd otherwise get through media. She's cutting out the middleman and I respect that because I understand the need to avoid having her rebuilt narrative be hers and not an interviewers interpretation of her narrative.

The media has twisted her before but it's a shame it's come to an avoidance altogether.

Her: So much content. But I think you’re right and you can’t blame her. She’s been in the public eye in the wrong way because of the media and it is a massive F you to them to cut them out all together.

Me: It's so cute that even though she wiped everything on social network she stayed following her fans on tumblr and liked like 1000 posts last night. It's like a cute little club of happy

Her: I think she loves how she’s been gone for so many months yet everyone still supports her and her music is still massive

Me: i think its a love and a show of power. it was the ACM awards last night and artists there were asked if they were excited and one guy said he found it amazing how she could just post a snake tail and everybody KNOWS a new album is coming. Jack antonoff and Joseph Kahn have had their twitters spammed all year about ts6 questions. People were anticipating a response to Kanye. imagine there would be some worry in her about whether the fanbase would reject her reinventing herself AGAIN from going country to pop to edge-pop. but here we all are. my body is ready.

Her: My soul is ready

Thoughts on Love Yourself: Tear

i’ve been listening to this album nonstop for over a week now, but I really want to organize some of my thoughts so Here We Go

(this is very long and i’m sorry)

Singularity:

This one has been out for a while and it was slow to grow on me, but now I really like it. it’s dark, sort of haunting, the kind of song that’s good for playing low at 3 am.

“감싸 보려하지만” especially sounds really good.

god this style of music suits taehyung so well. i also think this is definitely a song that is enhanced by it’s music video.

I just wanna talk for a sec about how Namjoon has had a hand in writing all three LY intros so far and how they’re all fuckin amazing

Fake Love:

I love the descending eerie “ding ding ding ding” in the background of this song. It just adds so much character.

whenever i sing this I try to sing “fake love” and then the fanchant “fake love” in the same verse lmao

“love you so bad, love you so bad, 널 위해 예쁜 거짓을 빚어내” is probably my favourite part of the song, it sound so good

also shoutout to namjoon who has two verses in this song and kills them both

jin sounds fantastic on the chorus. he really shines on this song- the way he sings “fake love” is just so pleasing to the ear.

the structure of this song is really weird. like, I don’t hate it, i actually kind of like it, but I wish they had pulled back for an instrumental break after “I just know why, it’s all fake love” and maybe built the song back up again with the “ding ding ding ding”s. it could have used the break in vocals imo.

The Truth Untold

I cried the first time I heard this song and it was 99% because of the rawness of these vocals.

god listen to jin on his first verse.

Jimin sounds beautiful on this song. jimin sounds beautiful always tbh but it’s especially noticeable here, and a lot of my favourite jimin moments from this album are on this track

“you know that I can’t show you me, give you me” i haven’t been fine since i first heard these lyrics

the connection between the first three songs (talk of masks, blooming flowers, hiding oneself) is pretty incredible tbh.

can you believe this is a steve aoki song? i can’t. well done to him for stepping outside the box.

“and i still want you” did????? i ask??????

134340

ngl this is probably my least favourite song on the album, but I can still appreciate it for it’s lyrical cleverness and the frankly amazing flute.

“Us is the plural form of U” i just. really fuckin love namjoon.

I will say, i really like the pre-chorus on this song, the “난 맴돌고만 있어“ bit. it sounds so... adventurous? idk when i first heard this song I was driving through really heavy fog at 3:30 in the morning and i honestly felt like i’d been transported back to the dawn of the dinosaurs and was about to run into a triceratops. anyway, moving on.

Paradise

Okay lyrically, this song is one of my favourites on the album, but instrumentally, it just can’t hold my attention. there’s nothing about it that grabs me except for the “Stop running for nothing, my friend” near the end. as it is, i really love the lyrics, and it has a message that i’m clinging to right now.

“We deserve a life, 뭐가 크건 작건 그냥 너는 너잖어” (whether big or small, you are just you) namjoon is like dr seuss for 20 year olds i love it

“꿈이 없어도 괜찮아” thank u bts this is a message i need rn

yoongi often raps like he’s pulled his verses straight out of my own thoughts and this one is no different. it’s kind of comforting, honestly.

why are he and hoseok turning into the same person though. like on this song and a few others, they trade verses seamlessly and it’s frankly kind of eerie.

this entire album is so cohesive though.

너를 이루는 모든 언어는 이미 낙원에 i kind of really love this line. it’s gorgeous. “every language that makes you is already in paradise”.

Love Maze

I feel like I haven’t explored this song lyrically enough, but I do like it. I especially like how defiant it sounds. Where it’s placed on the album feels very fitting.

“Love ain't a business, rather like a fitness” “Love is a maze damn, but you is amaze” goddamnit namjoon why do i love these lyrics so much

“baby, just don’t give a damn” seokjin.

tbh that’s all i have to say

that really warped sound that becomes prominent in yoongi’s verse is so cool and adds so much character and atmosphere to the song

also the reference to paradise after the last song was actually called paradise is a nice touch and again, makes this album feel like a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.

i’m really sorry. I know the actual lyrics in hoseok’s verse are “와 있고” but it 100% sounds like “white girl” and that’s all I ever hear when i listen to the song.

it’s interesting to me that some people say this song is romantic, whereas others say it’s about the relationship between bts and their fans. what i love about bts’s lyrics is they often leave a lot of things up for interpretation, and i don’t think they’d be bothered by either viewpoint.

Magic Shop

alright this is one of my favourite songs on the album and i have a Lot to say

i have the lyrics to this song saved on my phone so that i can go and look at them whenever i’m feeling down

also if a song is ‘atmospheric’ enough, i associate colours/images with them in my head, and magic shop is one of the most beautiful songs i’ve ever “seen”.

“So show me (I’ll show you)” is gonna be so fuckin powerful at concerts i can just tell

isn’t hoseok’s verse from his thank you in HYYH pt 1? ugh their minds

also hoseok sounds gorgeous here

the little “ey ey“s in yoongi’s verse please i love

and then there’s a reference to The Last here, but it’s written in a much gentler way and with a flip to it. god i love this song.

and then it goes back to hoseok rly quickly before the chorus again and have i mentioned how much i adore the way sope just fits together on this album

there’s something so calming about this song that just quiets my head for a few minutes

“you gave me the best of me, so you’ll give you the best of you” these are my favourite lyrics on the entire goddamn album, they’re just so impactful. a: a throwback to best of me, and b: a reminder to their fans that they should love themselves as much as they love bts (i’m trying, okay).

before we move on, I want to mention that Magic Shop marks a very obvious tonal shift in the album, the previous songs have all been sad, bitter, defiant, dark. there’s a consistent theme of hiding yourself behind a mask and worrying you won’t be loved (by others or yourself) if you take that mask off. in Magic Shop, the tone finally grows vulnerable, they talk of past fears, of using the “magic shop” to trade worries for happiness, and the rest of the album (until the outro) is going to be tonally more upbeat. this is not a coincidence.

Airplane Part 2

i’m not gonna lie, airplane was my least favourite song on hope world, but this? this is a fucking Jam.

the first time i heard this my mouth genuinely dropped open when jk started singing lmao

kings of singing latin pop in korean

okay jin and namjoon trading off lines is one of the most iconic parts of this entire album

EL MARIACHI

EL MARIACHI

EL MARIACHI

and then yoongi and jimin trading lines? also iconic. the rap and vocal lines worked so well on this album and it truly shows on songs like this.

this song ends on what feels like an unfinished note. like the structure here is weird too. is there a bridge?? i don’t feel like there is???

Anpanman

I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH

i remember listening to this for the first time and just laughing through the whole thing bc i was so delighted

this is a song where taehyung sounds very much in his element, but in a different way from singularity

this just feels like classic bangtan to me and it makes me so happy

“keep ballin ballin, still bangtan” there is something about this line that makes me smile so much.

“눈 뜨니 hero but still in 미로” interesting. “still in a maze”- is this a reference to love maze or am i overthinking things.

also this song seems all light and fluffy on the outside until u remember that anpanman was a hero made of bread who gave parts of himself to others to make them happy and then the rapline all get a turn singing “i’m a new generation anpanman”.... i see. pls don’t do what the old generation anpanman did.

even though things have gotten tonally lighter there are still dark undertones here and that comes to a head later in the outro

i fucking love jk’s verse in this song, it might be my favourite of his on the entire album

i stan a band of Nerds

So What

this is a very surface song that i enjoy jamming to in my car, but have no thoughts on it beyond that haha

i laugh every time one of them uses “bae” in a song bc it just sounds... off

“고민보다 Go Go” god i love it when they reference their older songs

this may not have been as surface as i thought it was upon closer examination of the lyrics. idk what i was expecting tbh like, this is bts.

“hope world, let’s go” that’s fantastic

tbh this might be one of my favourite hoseok verses on the album

wait so namjoon’s not saying “i wanna die right now”? i just now figured that out.

the last minute and a half of this song simply did not need to be there

Outro: Tear

i saw someone say that the instrumental for this belongs in a movie score and i 100% agree

namjoon goes the fuck off in this song like holy shit it’s been a while

and then he repeats “you’re my tear” three times, which alone isn’t interesting but is made interesting by the fact that when rapline comes together later, this bit is changed

okay this is my favourite hoseok verse on the album

and then again with the seamless transition to yoongi! god i’m curious as to why they decided to structure their verses like that, as far as I can remember they haven’t done this before and i really like this stylistic choice because they compliment each other so well.

“we thought we dreamed the same dream, but that dream has finally become a dream“ goddamn

this song sounds so raw, like the truth untold sounded raw too, but I really liked that this album had a vocal and a rap line track to showcase how music can sound vulnerable in different ways.

OKAY here it is, one of my absolute favourite pieces of wordplay (that i can understand) on the album

namjoon says “you’re my tear,” just like he did earlier. yoongi follows that up with “you’re my tear” but he uses the other pronunciation, changing the meaning to “you’re my tear (as in, tearing something).” then hoseok comes in and rhymes “fear” with namjoon’s pronunciation of tear. these are god tier (lmao i can wordplay too) lyrics my friends.

god i love yoongi’s verse so much. first the autotune, then the layering of autotune and his lower register (which he’s used so much more on this album and i adore it) like he switches things up so well and he’s such a versatile rapper i’m literally constantly floored by him.

and then there’s another really nice transition from namjoon to yoongi. what i like about bts’s rapline is that hoseok and yoongi sound really good together, but their higher rapping styles compliment namjoon’s deeper voice so well.

i just need you all to know that the first time i listened to this song i was driving at four am and it’s a good thing i was alone bc when yoongi started singing on the bridge i literally shrieked ‘fUCK’ and clapped a hand over my mouth

hoseok was a fuckin brilliant way to finish this album off, he gives this last verse the emotion and speed it needs and i love it. they’re all good at rapping over instrumental pieces like this but there’s something about hoseok (he did it in boy meets evil too) that just drives home the emotion.

and breathe.

Standout Things:

The cohesive storyline within a larger storyline

Love Yourself: Tear is almost what I would call a concept album, which is classified as an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical.” (yes i got that from wikipedia, but the point stands because there’s definitely a concept here.) Love Yourself: Her also falls within the larger storyline of the Love Yourself era (the rise, fall and resolution of love) but I wouldn’t classify that as a concept album in the same way. Sure, a few of it’s songs dealt with the same sort of ideas, a love that was destined by fate, but a few others veered wildly off of that course. Love Yourself Tear remains steady on it’s concept of masks, pain, self love, giving too much to other people and how to be an idol and still love and be loved for your true self. There’s truly a story being told here and I love it.

The metaphors

Kpop love songs usually do nothing for me, but BTS has been getting a lot better at writing them lately, and what I really liked about the romantic songs on this album is that they were explored using metaphors and references to old stories. 134340 refers to both Pluto and Hades to make it’s point. Love Maze weaves a picture of a dark maze with no way out. The Truth Untold references the smeraldo flower. Even the non romantic songs tell a story in a roundabout way- Anpanman and Magic Shop are both for the fans, one is built around a superhero, the other a psychological technique used in therapy to change one’s way of thinking. The writing on this album has matured greatly and it really makes you think about what they’re saying.

Yoongi’s style experimentation

There were a couple times while listening to this album that I had to take a moment to go “wait, is that Yoongi?” I’m rather used to Yoongi rapping in a certain way. his style-   occasionally cocky, occasionally bitter, usually high toned, fast and emotional- is pretty distinct, and for the most part, he ditched that on this album in favour of a style that’s more mellowed out and lower pitched. he experimented with autotune, sound effects and even singing and i think his experimentation paid off, because he was one of the most memorable parts about this album for me.

Namjoon’s writing

Namjoon is a phenomenal lyricist, we all know that, but every single verse of his on this album stood out to me in some way or another. he had a hand in writing/producing every single song on this album, and i could really see his influence all over it. I just love words and well written lines, and there are so many lines on this album, particularly in Namjoon’s verses that just make me stop for a moment so I can just appreciate the beauty.

Magic Shop’s themes

This. Song.

First of all, the concept of the “magic shop” is such a cool idea for a song, and the way they incorporated it is actually really clever? It’s literally a therapeutic song, because it is a real psychological technique and they’re saying ‘we’ll be your happiness, just come to the “magic shop” and trade in your worries, you’ll be okay’. but, it goes further than “we’ll fix you!!!” with the line “You gave me the best of me, so you’ll give you the best of you”. Here, they encourage their fans to find the “best of themselves”. Basically, saying “love yourself as much as you’ve loved me”. god this is so good.

I have to mention that this song just sounds magical. There’s a calming, celestial vibe to it that A: fits with the rest of the album up until that point and B: acts as a bridge between the rather sad first half of the album and the more upbeat second half.

Bangtan’s chemistry

A minor problem I had with a few of BTS’s older albums was the disconnect between members. (not in person, just in their music). They were all singing on the same tracks, but it didn’t always feel very cohesive. Wings especially (although it remains my favourite Bangtan album) felt like a bunch of separate artists got together and decided to make an album (an amazing album and that style really worked for them at the time, but i digress). On this album, BTS finally feels like a band.  Sure, I praise both the rap and vocal line separately for the truth untold and outro tear, but I’ve never heard BTS sound so strong as a group. The rapping and the vocals felt seamless- there were so many times where they rapidly went back and forth between members, or shared lines, or harmonized beautifully. It rarely, if ever, felt like the vocal line ft: rapline, or the other way around. They blend the two so well these days, from Jungkook and Namjoon’s bit in Fake Love to Yoongi and Jimin during Airplane Part 2. I’m honestly delighted at how well this album works as a whole. Those eight years of living and working together have really paid off for them.

Overall: Love Yourself Tear is a beautiful piece of music that shows a more mature side of BTS. It’s flaws- lack of energy in the middle of the album, more autotune than their previous works, occasionally hard to follow song structure- are not even so much flaws as they are stylistic choices that I can respect. It is a phenomenal 2nd part of a 3 part act, and I eagerly await Love Yourself: Answer for the conclusion of this story, and to see where BTS will take their ever-evolving sound next.

Rating: 9/10.

Hey @taylorswift ! Since you made a playlist for us, I thought I’d make one for you. Music is my life, I even study it at school, and my favorite thing about music is songwriting (which is probably why I love you so much). Lyrics are the most important part of a song to me, but soundscapes are also really rad. So here’s 19 songs that I adore, both lyrically and sonically, and hope that you will also like! @taylornation and fellow swifties feel free to listen in as well :)

Also, Taylor, look beneath the Read More for the track listing and me talking about each song like I know what I’m talking about lol

1.) Lit Me Up- Brand New 

     This is the best opening song of all opening songs. Brand New has created such an interesting soundscape and feel with the whole Science Fiction Album. It’s creepy, but great. Taylor I feel like you’d really enjoy some of the binaural action going on.

2.) Turn Out the Lights- Julien Baker @julienbaker

     Julien Baker is one of THE BEST lyricists I have ever found (besides you of course Tay). Everything she writes is heart-wrenching  and beautiful and I love it. I mean, come on “When I turn out the lights/there’s no one left/between myself and me” (lyk if u cri evrytim). This is a single from her forthcoming album by the same name and I highly recommend you listen to her debut Sprained Ankle cause damn is it good. 

3.) Horseshoe Crab- Slothrust 

     This song is a trip man. Slothrust (its Sloth-rust not Slo-thrust fyi) is this cool little rock/jazz/blues band from Brooklyn that I ADORE. Leah writes some outlandish but still poignant af lyrics. Notably: “Sometimes I feel like I’m a sea horse/Sometimes I think that I’m a horseshoe crab/I don’t have anything in common with myself/Except that I came from the sea just like everyone else did”

4.) Ready to Go- Hurts @adam-hurts

     Suggested activity while listening to this song is dancing because damn it’s a certifiable BOP. 

5.) Queen- Flint Eastwood @flinteastwooddetroit

     You’ve probably never seen these guys play live but Jax Anderson is a hype beast like no other and can get a crowd full of people who have never heard her music to sing and jump along like they’re the headliners. The chorus gets u going and I think that reputation era Taylor would appreciate “I’m a queen not a soldier”

6.) I Forgive No One- Citizen 

     While I’m not sure if this genre/sound is your thing Taylor, it does remind me a lot of the whole reputation era mindset. “I forgive no one for anything/I forgive no one for what can change”

7.) Moonshine- Lights @lightsalot

     Another great bop about staying up late and partying. Also Lights wrote and drew an entire comic book series to go along with this concept album?? How fucking cool is that?? It reminds a bit of New Romantics in the attitude of “who gives a shit lets go party anyway!!” 

8.) Sunshine Type- Turnover @turnoverva

     Turnover is my go-to feel good band. This song actually sounds like the way sunshine feels. “I was thinking that you could love a song that I hate/I’d still play it for you”. 

9.) Separate- Pvris @thisispvris

     I’d imagine that swimming underneath an iceberg sounds like this song. Pvris (pronounced like Paris not p-virus or puh-vris) makes some super spooky but beautiful things. And can we talk about “There’s always been a disconnect/Running from my heart to my head/And no it’s never made much sense” as well as “Pull away the world from me I don’t mind/As long as they don’t separate you from me I’ll be fine”. It’s almost the opposite of Clean, but in a good way. This entire album has got some killer outros btw.

10.) Burn it Down- Daughter 

      Elena Tonra from Daughter is SUCH a GREAT lyricist. You, her, and Julien are probably the best lyricists that I know of honestly. Plus, her, Remi, and Igor as a band make some DOPE soundscapes that you can get actually physically lost in. “Always said I was a good kid/Always said I had a way with words/Never knew I could be speechless/Don’t know how I’ll ever break this curse”. They wrote this album for a video game soundtrack, but the one before this one Not to Disappear is lyrically so powerful I cry every time I see them live lol.

11.) Trainwreck- Banks

     Banks is a bad ass bitch and I think you and her would get along swimmingly. Also perhaps invite her to sing this with you on the rep tour?? (hint hint wink wink) “Born to take care of you, or I thought so/Maybe it was just a phase” It’s like an updated more sonically banging Dear John imo

12.) Helicopter- Deerhunter

     Back on the soundscape train Deerhunter just sounds cool as shit. The lyrics to this one are story-based and talk about some guy who was a victim of human trafficking. BUT Bradford Cox makes it sound cerebral and plucky.

13.) Deadcrush- alt-J

     I love this song cause it has the coolest premise. It’s about the Dead Crushes of the band members. So like, dead people that the band members admire. The crushes are Anne Boleyn and Lee Miller. I particularly enjoy the music video for this song which is weird as all hell. The pulsing beat that drives this song is something that I think you would appreciate, Taylor. This is one of the songs where it feels more like the words are meant to be a part of a music rather than their own separate piece if that makes sense.

14.) SGL- Now, Now @nownowband

     SGL stands for “Shot Gun Lover” and holy heck does this lyrically resemble some of your stuff! Sign me the fuck up for “Starry-eyed/I was young and undone/But I could’ve died/With you there in the sun”. I’ve been listening to this band for almost as long as I’ve listened to you but they recently got a more pop sound and I am LIVING for it

15.) Lose Myself- From Indian Lakes @fromindianlakes

     I saw on your playlist that you like Cigarettes After Sex and so I thought you might also enjoy the recent stuff by From Indian Lakes. This is the kind of song you listen to when driving home from a date. Ponder closely, “Am I the worm on a lover’s hook/And now I’m right where I’m supposed to be/But something still feels wrong with me”

16.) You and I (stripped version)- Pvris

     Pvris gets to be on here twice cause they are that good sorry but I don’t make the rules (wait yes I do). The lyrics here also remind me of you and how we all just have way too many feelings and our best shot at figuring things out is through writing about them. You and I is about a love that’s not working but that is still desperately wanted, “I know it’s cold when we’re apart/And I hate to feel this die/But  you can’t give me what I want/Just give it time”. Listen to this stripped version to hear how beautiful and lilting Lynn’s voice is and listen to the full band version to hear how much of a powerhouse her voice can be.

17.) Jesus Christ- Brand New

     Yes another Brand New song. You know why? Cause they are also fucking amazing. Taylor, I recommend you listen to this song while lying in your bed staring up at the ceiling and thinking “How the hell did I get here, and how the hell am I gonna leave?” (here can be anywhere, your hotel room, you home, this universe). The next time you read a shitty headline about you in a tabloid think about the lyrics, “We all got wood and nails/And we turn out hate in factories/We all got wood and nails/And we sleep inside of this machine”

18.) Townie- Mitski @whoismitski

     “I want a love that falls as fast as a body from the balcony/And I want a kiss like my heart is hitting the ground/I’m holding my breath with a baseball bat though I don’t know what I’m waiting for/I’m not gonna be who my daddy wants me to be”…… do I need to say anything else? Hopefully you’ve already heard some of Mitski’s stuff cause she’s gonna be on tour with your homegirl @lordemusic this next spring!

19.) Pigpen- Slothrust

     Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with the post-chorus riff from this song in my head. Taylor, the lyrics I’d want you to hear the most from this one are; “I would spread my wings/If they weren’t so god damn heavy/Yeah I would spread my wings/If they weren’t coated in honey” 

And that’s everyone!! I hope you liked at least one of these songs @taylorswift . Love you eternally and catch you on the flipside!!!

Link has an Akira-esque motorcycle now and that’s awesome, but this DLC is just kinda OK

So, what is presumably the final piece of DLC for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild dropped about two days ago at The Game Awards 2017. It was one of those shadowy, no-promotion announcements that only Nintendo can get away with, and it was exciting, if only because the trailer showed Link on a FRIGGIN’ GUARDIAN MOTORCYCLE, DAMN SON. Also, following the tradition of Breath of the Wild having some of the best promotional artwork in the business, the drawing released to promote this DLC pack is basically an Akira reference! That’s so dope! But when it came time to fire up the actual DLC and gave it a whirl...I found myself kinda underwhelmed. (If you haven’t played it yet, go do that first, because spoilers lie ahead.) I’m not going to say that The Champion’s Ballad is a disappointment, because the fact that I wasn’t feeling it is mostly due to my own overblown expectations. But from looking at some reactions in the ResetERA official thread, I think it’s fair to say that myself and a host of other people were expecting something different. Ever since Breath of the Wild’s DLC plan was announced, Nintendo was hyping this second content pack up with promises of a “new original story.” From their ambiguous wording, it seemed like DLC pack 1 - the one that introduced the game’s Master Trials - was supposed to be the gameplay-focused package filled with a hard mode and other challenges, while DLC pack 2 was the one that was going to go heavy on plot content. Some people speculated that we’d be able to play as the deceased Champions or as Zelda herself. I wasn’t expecting anything that ambitious, but I was hoping for something like a little epilogue, or maybe a new map or island to explore.

What was actually released is maybe 30% story content and 70% stuff like the first DLC pack, AKA more endgame challenges and Shrines. The Champion’s Ballad, which is only unlockable after you’ve beaten the four Divine Beasts, actually starts off weirdly in that it makes you go back to the game’s starting area and clear out several enemy camps with a new weapon called the “One-Hit Obliterator,” which lets you KO baddies in a single strike but also decreases your health down to a fourth of a heart. New, more deviously difficult Shrines pop up after you clear out the camps, and once you’re finished with all of them, the Obliterator disappears...making it a strange, temporary tool that seems solely designed to create an arbitrary difficulty ceiling. 

Once you’re done with the One-Hit Obliterator section, you’re sent to four corners of the map. At each location you need to complete three more tasks AND more shrines before tackling a boss and unlocking a never-before-seen memory of each Champion. (Finally, story stuff!) Unfortunately, here’s where I started to get weary, because the challenges to unlock said memories are mainly rehashed tasks from the main game (like sand seal surfing), the Shrines are all sorta annoying and the bosses are the same versions of Ganon that you fought in the past, only slightly harder and now in some nebulous “illusory” realm that looks like it was run through an Instagram filter. (It was at this point when I realized that this DLC felt more like a remix album than anything else.) 

At the very end, there is one new Divine Beast to conquer, followed by an all-original boss battle that’s arguably one of the best parts of the DLC. If you’re successful, Link wins himself a spiffy new motorcycle that makes travelling around Hyrule a breeze...except it’s also kind of useless because by the time players unlock it, there’s just not that much left to DO, unless you’re still trying to collect all of the Korok Seeds or complete the game’s original 120 Shrines. 

Don’t get me wrong, the bike certainly is a fun toy to play with and has resulted in some amusing videos on YouTube. And the new memories, though they amount to little more than 15 minutes in total, are very good. (There’s one scene in particular of Link, Zelda and all the other Champions that’s practically tear-inducing.) But the questline that you need to endure to get the bike and these teeny nuggets of plot just didn’t feel worth it, IMO. It seemed like it was designed to appeal to a certain type of player - the ones who are 100% completionists and loved the complexity of Breath of the Wild’s Shrines. 

If you’re one of those persons, then I think you’ll enjoy this DLC. Sadly, I’m not a member of that group, and I’ve mentioned in the past that dungeons have never been the main reason why I’ve been attracted to Zelda games. For me, I play Zelda to be swept away by a sense of adventure, and the experience of climbing mountains, racing across Hyrule Field and learning more about a post-apocalyptic world was what made Breath of the Wild one of my favorite games of 2017, not its 120 Shrines. If you’re in the same camp as me and haven’t already bought the game’s $20 season pass, I recommend just watching the new cutscenes and boss fight on YouTube and calling it a day.

Speaking of that $20 season pass (which is the only way to purchase the game’s DLC), do I consider it a waste of money in hindsight? Well, not entirely. I did enjoy parts of the Master Trials in DLC pack 1, possibly because that stuff came out shortly after the game’s release and was never advertised as a “new original story.” Would I have enjoyed The Champion’s Ballad more if it had been released earlier and if the marketing language hadn’t shot my expectations skyward? Yeah, probably. As it stands, I still maintain that Breath of the Wild is a fine game, but when it comes to the post-launch content, I need to point out that we live in a world where Horizon: Zero Dawn - The Frozen Wilds, Bloodborne: The Old Hunters and both Witcher 3 expansions (the gold standard of recent downloadable content, in my eyes) all exist. DLC doesn’t have to be arbitrary stuff that should have been included in the base game, which kinda feels like the case here.  Nintendo can, and should, consider doing a little better next time. 

I made the Breath of the Wild/Akira comparison pic myself! Though a quick peek at Twitter shows that I wasn’t the only one with that bright idea...

170819 KCON LA Fanacc

hi hello the whole experience is still so surreal to me but i'm going to document as much as i can in this post while it's still fresh in my memory :^) note: i didn’t reread this since i’m literally just rambling everything and trying to recollect what happened HAHA read... with discretion?  - FAN ENGAGEMENT - so this was my first time at kcon and i was super confused with everything, but luckily i went with a friend who already had experience from going previous years (@ftwonwoo HI TRACEY). we were lucky enough to get three seventeen audience passes from the vouchers that came with our concert tickets (( WHICH ARE COMPLETELY RANDOMIZED I MIGHT ADD )). i reaaallly wanted hitouch and was willing to pay up to maybe $50 for it but seventeen was in high demand so every offer i found was $100+ OTL. i mean i was able to afford it, but i didn't think it was worth buying for, maybe, 40 seconds of interaction ;_;. waiting in line was like a blur to me i just remember thinking it was hot because we were told to stand in line outside with no shade at all. i was straight up sweating buckets and also screaming internally because i was going to look like a mess in front of seventeen AHAHAHAHA. i kept admiring some of the fans in line who made the effort to have really nice rose quartz serenity outfits while i was wearing like......black lmfao good job kellz what the heck were you thiNKING. the only rose quartz i had on me was my phone case and this headband i made that said 최한솔 (chwe hansol) on it which i’m 120% sure vernon didn’t see it Bye

okay so all hell broke loose while seventeen were coming onto stage one by one, and unfortunately i missed them walking onstage since there was this girl in front of me―who i thought was a fansite bc she had a camera with detachable lens―holding up an ANNOYING AS FUCK POSTER THAT BLOCKED MY ENTIRE VIEW. i told her to put it down (several times actually) and when she did, i immediately counted the members and noticed hoshi wasn't there?? i was a little disappointed for a sec but i understood he needed his rest so it was for the best, so props at pledis for not letting him attend for the sake of his health ;_;. they first introduced themselves and oh my god Y'ALL hearing "SAY THE NAME, SEVENTEEN!! hi, we are seventeen!" is so goosebump inducing lol i've heard them say their signature greeting so many times through my laptop screen but it's a whole different level hearing it in person. okay fast forward my memory kind of gets broken here but they basically answered a few questions (i remember them naming s.coups as the dad and jeonghan the mom of the group) and they also had a mission every time they rolled a dice. dino - random dance to dnce's 'cake by the ocean', seungkwan - favorite pop song (he sang adeles's 'when we were young' OMG THIS BOY'S VOICE IS HEAVENLY I NEED A FULL VER ASAP), seokmin - random dance to big bang's fantastic baby (before he danced, he threw the dice into the crowd which was sO funny and unexpected, i didn't see where it went but he had his hands together afterwards and looked like he was apologizing LOL also s.coups was literally on the floor dying of laughter), joshua + jeonghan - aegyo, mingyu - sexy dance to justin timberlake's 'sexy back' (he was really into it at first doing body waves and then he got shy, it was so cute LOL), wonwoo - i think he also got favorite song? he sang 'see you again' and it was nice hearing everyone in the room singing along with him!! i was worried that they'd be tired from flying in from chicago hours before the event started, but they were all really energetic and lively and cute. after this segment ended, it was time for the hitouch and it was so interesting seeing how each member interacted with fans since it... really reflects their personality if that makes sense?? i think s.coups, mingyu, and vernon probably had the best fan interaction. they never wiped off the huge smile they had on their faces and s.coups was legit CLASPING each fan's hand instead of giving high-fives alfkjalskfjaljsk. the hitouch went by really fast and on the screen, it showed their faces one by one and i remember fans screaming the loudest for jun omfg he is sooooo handsome;; well all of them looked really handsome tbh and i really liked jeonghan and woozi's chokers :^). minghao had a really cute smile the whole time too!! after they left i went outside and really just sat there letting it all sink in that i saw them.... me.... with my own two eyes.... seeing their adorable faces and laughs and interactions with each other and then suddenly realizing i probably won't be able to experience this again LOLLLLLLLL okay no need to be dramatic onto the next part - SATURDAY CONCERT - it was unannounced that vernon, joshua, and s.coups would be the MCs in the beginning so it was the biggest surprise of my LIFE i think i went a little overboard with the screaming at times rip but vernon was such a natural at emceeing!! his english was flawless omg and joshua, s.coups, and mingyu did a really good job too! the concert stage was set up as.... i guess you can call it a 360 stage? so sometimes the artists entered in from the sections where audience was sitting. i knew they were coming from between section 110 and 111. 110 was the section i bought for combo saturday and sunday tickets, but i sold it for saturday's concert because i found better seats, but it was still the section i had for sunday's concert, which seventeen didn't attend AHAHAHA wow is this what i get for being greedy and purchasing closer tickets just for saturday??? ehhh it's okay, the seats that i had were far on the right and they entered in the aisle on my far left so i wouldn't be able to see them anyway LOL. seventeen's first performance had unit stages, which went in this order: performance unit - swimming fool > vocal unit - 입버릇 > hip hop unit - check in. and then there were other artist stages afterwards, but they came back to perform other tracks (don't wanna cry, rock remix, and aju nice). the vcr kcon played before seventeen’s second performance was amazing, it was quite similar to the kcon japan vcr, except for LA they had a different logo which i'm sure a lot of you have already seen lol. i think some fans were calling it a hearbeat logo which is genius imo it's an actual representation of what my heartbeat looks like when i see or hear anything seventeen related!!!!!!! throughout their performance i remember seeing jeonghan, seokmin, and s.coups coming to my side of the stage the most. they were so cute always waving to fans are i practically walked out of the venue a jeonghan stan. ((( i’m joking vernon’s forever my number 1 but JEONGHAN GAVE SUCH GOOD FANSERVICE ))) s.coups was also a really eye-catching performer. the way he vibed during check in was out of this world I FELT SO BLESSED TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT PERFORMED LIVE INSTEAD OF WATCHING 394839 FANCAMS OF CHECK IN PERFORMANCES AND ALSO during tock remix, there was this part in the choreo where they look up after vernon / seokmin’s part and the lighting in the venue shined down on the stage floor, coups looked completely like an anGEL and don’t even get me started on vernon because i felt like losin’ my goddamn mind whenever he appeared on the big screen    i know i might sound biased but i think seventeen were the best performers out of attending artists;; they really engaged the whole audience, from having everyone chant 'seventeen' in unison before they even performed to having everyone do the mansae move with them during their random play dance / pinata time;; it was an amazing experience and it honestly felt like a mini seventeen concert LOL. i had to hop on a flight four or five hours after sunday's concert with barely any sleep;; my flight consisted of nothing but listening to the Al1 album OTL post-concert depression is already hitting me hard HAHA i really hope in the future i can see them at one of their tour stops one day ugh i love seventeen so much;;;;

Father

John

Misty

Where oh where do I begin? I try not to pick favorites, in anything I do. I think picking favorites sets people up for failure. I figure there will be one day another candidate outshines the favorite, resulting in disappointment. But fuck it, Father John Misty is my favorite. And I trust it because there is virtually nothing he can do wrong that would take that title away- and he does a lot of textbook things “wrong”.

Josh Tillman stole my heart when I heard “I’m Writing a Novel” on WFUV Radio when I was in college (around 2012) Not knowing much about him personally, I started listening to “Fear Fun” and fell in love with his music. “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” and “Everyman Needs a Companion” landed every mixed CD (yep, still made CDS in 2012) and I decided to dig a little deeper and actually check the dude out. WOAH he’s hot! WAIT he was in Fleet Foxes? OMG he has the exact the type of humor that I adore, equal parts witty, snarky and dark. Fuck, he has a girlfriend. I’m absolutely done, they’re getting married. I can’t remember a time I fell so hard for an artist post-emo/punk/highschool days (Think Gerard Way and Travis Barker). 

However, I’m really fucking glad he was and is in such a beautiful relationship because thats how his sophomore album came to be. i wasn't sure If I’d ever love an album as much as “Fear Fun” but lo & behold: “I Love You, Honeybear” took & continues to take the damn cake. Has there ever been an album (albeit, Rumours) that has described love so honestly? It talks about the honeymoon phase in depth, the ga-ga feelings and pedestals that we put our partners on in the beginning. The way new love helps us start to feel creative again, or creative in a new, fresh way. And then after time, how love can start to get a little paranoid and jealous. It’s messy, it’s raw and it sort of made me hate his beloved Emma (who eats bread & butter like like a queen would have ostrich and cobra wine. Listen if you don't get the reference but also stop talking to me: https://open.spotify.com/track/2eg2gvPXuwZ9FyrPaLgrXi) Could you I-M-A-G-I-N-E having someone write you a love song such as that? Fun fact, I heard this song for the first time freshly after ending a 4 year relationship. Bad timing? Nah, it actually was so beautiful and uplifting that the song gave me hope and made me feel secure that I haven't found the right person yet and that I didn't just lose that person (burn). It gave me hope that I’d eventually meet someone that I could picture having a satanic christmas eve with or dance around to a mariachi band with. Spoiler Alert: FJM did help me find love. I will get to that at the end. Any who, this album ruled and continue to rules my world. The title track “I Love You, Honeybear” is about taking on the shitastic world we live in with someone you love. “Bored in the USA” is about the absurdities within our pop culture and the bullshit promise of the American Dream gone wrong. The album as a whole is romantic and existentialist and I am 100%AboutThat.com

And then we were gifted “Pure Comedy”. I write that with a sigh. Not because I am disappointed but because It’s heavy. It highlights our current political and social climate and it does so in a very dark, darker than usual way. When he realeased the video for title track, “Pure Comedy” a few short months after the election I wept at my desk. The song itself is so eerie and fantastical with the baritone sax wailing the fuck off as Donald Trump’s face slyly pops up. I Think FJM is making the point that everything happening right now is so fucking ugly and wrong that it’s absurdly funny. Not haha-funny, just...funny. As in “something smells funny”, as in our country. He attacks religion, pop-stars (gotcha, Taylor Swift), environmental issues, the delusional lifestyle of LA inhabitants, you name it. But, in true Josh Tillman fashion, and we know theres a big beating heart in there, he ends the album in a hopeful way with “In Twenty Years or So”. In the song, Tillman addresses the cosmic indifference of the universe and the existential fear that comes with it. In the first two verses he sets up the great comedy: That despite all our grand gesturing and philosophizing (with the character of Father John Misty as the embodiment of this behavior), we ultimately don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Then in the second verse he starts to assign a little more meaning to the chaos.

That in twenty years More or less This human experiment will reach its violent end But I look at you As our second drinks arrive The piano player's playing "This Must Be the Place" And it's a miracle to be alive

I *think* he’s saying, “Look, the world is fucked, we’re only getting worse, it’s too much to handle, but thank god I have you to navigate it with. And we have music, and it really all is amazing, isn't it”. I’m sorry it sounds like a basic Audrey Hepburn wannabe annotation of his beautifully written song, but It comforts me. It’s like a really elongated and philosophic way of saying “All you Need is Love”, but The Beatles beat him to it.

All in all, “Pure Comedy” takes us through a (trippy) walk of life thats starts out as that scene in Willy Wonka where they’re all taking a boat ride through the tunnel of hellish images, to a calm setting where all you want to do is hug the people you love and be left with the simple yet complex thought, “it’s all going to be okay”. Bravo FJM for creating such a mature and powerful album. I think melodically it is not for everyone, as it is much slower that what he’s done. But give it a good listen through and really listen to what he’s saying. If 2017 had to sound like anything (besides screams and tears) it would sound like “Pure Comedy”.

Kk thanks for reading.

OH WAIT, yeah I forgot this is a concert blog. Well! I saw him last night at the Kings Theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn. A tremendously stunning place to see live music, in my opinion. He played most of “Pure Comedy” straight through, without any speeches or commentary. Nerd moment- I fuuucking love when artists do this with newly released albums. it shows they care about it, it shows they're not just trying to appease the crowd with favorites. It’s saying here is the art i just created and worked on for mad amount of time. Sit the fuck down and experience it. He did every song except the 13 minute “Leaving LA” (good call IMO) and the last two songs, yanno, the uplifiting ones. Then halfway through he broke out the oldies, a couple from “Fear Fun” and a bunch from “I Love You, Honeybear”. The whole theater was standing and dancing and watching HIM dance and holy shit I love when tall lanky men swivel their hips. Probably one of the best parts about seeing Father John Misty live is watching him break it down. He was even slow dancing with himself at one point during “Strange Encounter” and i was both turned on and hysterically laughing. One interesting point to make was that he was oddly quiet. He’s known for long on-stage rants, whether they're actually anger driven or just a comedy bit- they usually always show up on Pitchfork the next day. This was my third time seeing him and i’ve had the pleasure of hearing some of those rants and raves. This time he was quiet, appreciative and...mature? IDK I really liked it. I think it mimicked the seriousness of his newest album and demanded that you pay attention to the music and what it’s trying to say. I noticed a bunch of Brooklyn bros at the end of the show making comments like “he wasn't that funny!” “I thought he was going to talk more” and thats fine, but maybe consider why that is. After he came back on for his encore he played the last two songs on “Pure Comedy” and ended on a very special and postive note with a v sweet sun and moon setting in the background. Father John Misty is giving us hope.

Also I felt this deserved it’s own paragraph but his band absolutely blew me away. I would 100% go see them live without vocals. He had an entire orchestra + five piece band. Another additive to the experience compared to past Father John Misty concerts, as he’s always played with just a 5 piece band. It made the album come alive in the most spectacular way.

All in all, he is still my favorite. I hope to see much more from him in the future because I think he has a really really good thing going on on all levels. So back on the topic on Father John Misty and hoping to find love. JOSH, BABE. if you ever see this, I owe you some thanks. If it weren't for you and if it weren't for Tinder syncing my Facebook page likes, I never would have matched with my current partner whom we both share a massive and almost grotesque love for you & we wouldn't have anything to talk about on our first date, or a an album to makeout to for the first time. so really, thanks. At the risk of sounding like a cheese dick, It’s amazing to me that your song, the one that gave me hope and an idea of an ideal partner, led me to so much happiness. Awwwww.

Steam “Pure Comedy” & go through an existential crisis, today! https://open.spotify.com/album/3CoFoDt6zt5EKxmTpOX32b

Like can someone explain to me how Z is the dbag and not Hompous? Z leaves and it comes out he s been dealing with mental health issues (and we ALL watched him get scary thin in 2014), he comes off a bit :/ in some print issues but the only vid intv he does, he s visibly shaky and v nervous. His promo gets messed up due to his struggles, even at the cost of pissing off the BBC. But he s a total asshole right? For daring to be human....

2. And Im not trying to say he s a saint. But like, he was clearly struggling. And even if he was using to cope? Eh 100s of popstars have admitted to same, so if he got clean then went on tour and found himself too tempted, wtf was his terrible crime? The first appearance he made he made a point to say how special the boys were? Then we have H, who 'fulfiiled his obligations' but imo acted a total arse for most of the promo except the big tv slots. Like he was smugly condescending to radio ...3.hosts that probably 1st interviewed him at 16? All the smug smiles about the hiatus? Acting so over it most of the time? Acting on stage and off like he was already going solo except at the very very end when he could count down the days? Larries were too busy screaming about Next to You! But everytime I saw him I thought he smugger than the last, dreaming of his yacht prob lol. And will he even mention the boys when doing his first appearance.

okay i KNOW like completely putting personal biases aside (lol i wish), theres definitely double standards with how zayn got treated vs how h got treated. like ofc h could be dealing with mental health issues lmao no ones denying that but like, yeah, the way he comes off, anyway idk. like obviously zayn technically shouldnt have left in the middle of a tour ahsdhfh like not a good move, but like you said, 2014 was bad it really was and if he felt like he would have had a breaking point had he stayed longer, its definitely understandable. and about the using thing too like ohhh my god when people get mad about that its????????? people that think theyve never done drugs truly exhaust me like how naive must you be?? but yeah i mean obviously its not.. ideal. but again like you said if he felt tempted, then its also understandable for him to leave??? also not to steer away from what we’re talking about but lmao people trashing zayn for the drugs thing.. theyre the same that think h has never touched a drug in his life and think that makes him better. that annoys me. but anyway. things in print can be taken out of context like yeah i get that, but compared to h, zayn at least MENTIONS them, by name. and he doesnt sugarcoat anything like he doesnt say it was great when it really wasnt. like we basically have proof that h didnt want to be in it but theres still people that insist he loved it. like.. again with the naivety. anyway. zayn still.. even after public fights :).. interacts with his band members. h really couldnt log onto fucking twitter and send a tweet to louis about jay? it looked so fucking bad that everyone else did but not him. thats undeniable! h literally just comes off like a douchebag i dont know how else to put it. he was condescending ahsdh. to interviewers i dont know really but he was so fucking annoying with the zayn jokes lmao. they were so petty and unprofessional and exhausting. 

he was 100% counting down the days though oh my god. he knew had dunkirk under his belt and considering this album is already done?? he had to have been doing that too so he was ready! since 2013 really, with jeff. you know. and i talked about this before, like him acting like a solo artist. cause he was always so obnoxious during otra compared to the other tours and like maybe thats just his personality, but he wasnt like that in any other setting, so probably not lol. i dont think he’ll mention the boys tbh. definitely not if hes not asked, and if he is, expect am quote 2.0. :) that band was the best thing to ever happen to him! he’ll defend his behaviors of not interacting with them in years ahdhdhd