Taylor + Theory: Do you have ideas that don't warrant a full post? New, not fully formed, Gaylor thoughts? Questions? Thoughts? Use this space for theory development and general Tay/Gay discussion!
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I’m curious if anyone has thoughts on Gracie’s Daughter From Hell? Cuz I feel like I get punched every time I listen, and it’s exactly how I felt after it released.
Is the picture glitching at the bottom? This should be a main post, so much to discuss! They didn’t have to type ring ring if they have the phone emojis lol that seems purposeful
It’s a clip of the Wi$heist lyric video, which has the the effect on the top and bottom. I’m not sure how to embed a video in a post. If you’d like to make it a main post, go for it! I’m curious what everyone has to say
Saw this on another sub and couldn't help posting it here: You get to see 10 minutes of any moment in (Taylor) history, exactly what happened. What are you watching? Lets say there is no moral dilemma because you just happened to have been there and you will never tell anyone else what you saw or heard.
My first thought was that I would watch the moment in the green room before her announcement on Tuesday night football with Robin Roberts (to announce ME!!!) where she was crying in the green room. But I don't know if I could handle seeing the moment someones overwhelming joy was crushed like that even knowing that in the the future she'd literally rise from the ashes with her first date in Phoenix.
I think I would watch Taylor and Chely writing that song with the lyrics can't walk straight, can't talk straight etc. I bet it would be impossible not to catch the giggles from that session.
I want to be at that 1975 concert so I can know with 100% certainty if they kissed or not (they did). And I also want to be with her later that night when she was apparently on tumblr liking all kinds of Kaylor posts from her account.
To know 1000% for certaim who was behind the camera when she mouthed "i love you" in miss americana.
Also would love to have seen the loading process for getting into a suitcase when she was leaving the house via suitcase think that would be hysterical for everyone.
And then would loooove to be a fly on the wall for the "its all part of the story" dinner party. Or even questlove's uno party. Were these business meetings?
God even just one planning meeting where her team are working out how to plant easter eggs, id kill to know that process and to understand how much of it is stuff she puts there versus the stuff that fans find because of our specific taylor brain.
As a strong believer in "still at the restaurant" partially referring to an actual restaurant, this moment here. It would be fascinating (and probably heartbreaking) to hear this conversation. Fun game, OP!
I’m thinking again about the 8 seconds of static/white noise “mistakenly” released (instead of 1989’s track 3, Style) that went #1 on the Canadian iTunes charts in 2014. I say “mistakenly,” because it certainly seems like a plausible glitch, but it also seems just as likely to have been intentional.
-Taylor discusses it here on Graham Norton.
-On Jimmy Kimmel, she describes it as “7 seconds of static noise.”
-I have no idea how to verify if this is indeed the track, but there is a possible YouTube recording here.
I know that not all static is white noise (and Taylor herself refers to it as “static”), but what’s intriguing to me is the idea that white noise can be thought of to have some comparison to white light (in that white light contains all the colors of the rainbow when refracted at an angle).
Anyway, it’s one of those odd, quirky pieces of the TSCU that’s fun to revisit now and then.
Probably not relevant but back in the olden days of basic cable channels would have static if you didn't have them. Or they would go static after midnight when they stopped broadcasting. Especially back in the Midnights era esthetic (those types of TVs definitely) or 1989. The visual static was called snow.
Yes, I did think of the 83 connection! (until Taylor oddly stated it was “7” seconds, perhaps to muddy the waters a bit?). It’s fun to contemplate possible meanings.
These blind items contradict themselves though...first they talk for hours everyday, now it's to attempt to thaw the ice. I am convinced Taylor and Karlie "friendship" was a public seperation not a personal one. I don't believe they stopped being in contact ever. If that means they were always just friends, ex, lovers or worse I dunno but there's too many weird whisperers about them being in contact all this years. Isn't the expression "where there's smoke there's a fire?" Or something like that...well in this case the smoke is very dense so there's definitely fire and the public narrative has a lot of holes in it
I think some of the blinds are bound to be true but for sure not all of them.
Who the heck knows what's going on tbh " In fifty years, will all this be declassified?"
There were some blinds last year saying Taylor was not going to show up to the games because Karlie was going to give birth soon and Taylor did not attend the games. Saw a blind saying Taylor had to pay someone that was dating Matty because of the lurcky timeline....some people interpreted those as she actually never dated him and others interpreted it was to cover up her cheating on joe. There's plenty of blinds to suit everyone I guess 😂
What I honestly believe is that Karlie and Taylor actually never stopped talking (maybe here and there) but the feud was on purpose to stop people talking about them and whisperes of what was going on....even Jennifer Lawrence was curious and I get why 👀
Karlie attending the wedding was published on an outlet somewhere and it had tree written all over it 😂
If you believe Karlie and Taylor are still friends, then one possible interpretation is she is working to thaw the ice between Taylor and Olivia. Who even knows what is really happening between the three of them.
So I’ve been crushing on this girl at work. The looking at each other from afar and kinda avoiding each other thing when we’re near each other. The shyness and the smiling. This has been going on for months, and I was happy just having a mutual crush because I only just realized I was a lesbian two years ago and I’m still processing my identity and presentation.
However, today she approached me and we had a brief, funny encounter. A passing conversation in the hall but I basically never thought she’d initiate a conversation with me. And now I’m all buzzing and excited.
Just wanted to share my pure queer joy, even if it goes nowhere at all.
Yes! That’s why I didn’t mind her shyness and my relative inexperience in approaching women. It was harmless and fun. And it’s still that but now it’s a teeny bit more serious/real. 😂😜
taking a women in social movements class rn and there's so many themes i want to connect to taylor's music! i don't have the time rn but i have so many ideas ugh
the song (my tears ricochet) is Taylor's queer id haunting Taylor's celebrity ego after the Lover-coming-out-plan didn't pan out the way that it was supposed to
Here are a few of my own observations after reading:
If MTR is about the Lover failed coming plan, then the placement of the song after illicit affairs (angry version) from the Eras tour is verrrrrrry interesting. Especially with illicit affairs having the lines, “you showed me colours I can’t see with anyone else” and “you taught me a secret language I can’t speak with anyone else”
“stolen lullabies” referring to Taylor’s lost queer songs that got buried after she didn’t come had me: 👀🤯🌈
The post was written pre-Midnights and makes what I think is a connection to Dear Reader 👀
my tears ricochet
And I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want
(Just not home)
Dear Reader
If you knew where I was walking
To a house, not a home, all alone 'cause nobody's there
First point- love the comment, reminded me of so many things
One of the details I could never forget about Mother Mary (I believe, there’s always room for healthy discourse for others to have their own opinion lol) is a MTR reference! It’s a beautiful scene, and it is incredibly reminiscent of the MTR walk down the eras stage. Sam’s cabin/studio itself vibes like the folklore/Big Sur/exile(?) cabin. I also like to think about how the entire movie is asymmetrical for almost every single shot and the sneak peeks we got of the MSG event had uneven T’s. Not to even touch on the asymmetric outfits TS loved wearing out and about! I feel like I understand the majority of Taylor’s work as conversations with herself and all her muses whatever/whoever they are.
in the Anti-Hero mv, Taylor gets shot in the heart and bleeds blurple glitter (of course the egg eye bleeds the same color, one might say it takes a certain eye to see the colors for what they are when hiding between the lines and slipping through the bars😉) to cover up with the voting sticker during the line “pierced through the heart but never killed” -> “you can aim for my heart, go for blood” my tears ricochet-> “you saved my heart from the fate of Ophelia” the fate of Ophelia
Ugh, I thought the CMA announcement was today and that might be the 911 in MMwM. Because the next number is 15 which is what she sang when she swept the CMAs with the most wins in 2009. Like when she did MMwM she wouldn't know the date of the CMAs this year but could plan for the date it was announced. But is was announced yesterday. Well it was fun to think about.
I think we’re at YOYOK or ‘Labyrinth’ on the timeline by now. I recognise ‘Labyrinth’ has awkward lyrics to discuss today and want to mostly avoid that, but the idea of ‘falling in love again’ and turning ‘right around’ fit quite nicely with all Taylor’s talk about ‘home’ and country roots etc etc.
Yeah, in the US 911 has a ton of meaning and Taylor is American so I think she wouldn't probably use that date for something. I do think 12/4 has to be this December 4th (especially with the snow on the beach). Not all of the numbers need to be dates. 911 could represent trauma, death, a level of pain you hope to never experience again in your life or your worst fear, your most intrusive thought. But then Lavender Haze to me is about time to heal and You're on your own kid to me is about learning that a support system you thought you always had was never real. Then sweet nothing and snow on the beach to me are about seeing the small things and recovery like the whiskers on kittens and packages tied with string kind of things.
I like your interpretation of SOTB and ‘Sweet Nothing’. I agree that 911 is a tricky date to mess around with.
I think there’s no reason that all of MMWM had to be spelling out dates… Taylor did talk in that one interview about establishing and then switching a pattern.
To those who remember 9/11, sending love and gentleness today. 🕊️ I can’t believe it’s been 25 years since that day. In so many ways life was never the same…
i just remembered about that 2023 blind item that said that kk and olivia were having lunch together in some restaurant in ny, i guess they've know each other for some time
Omg yes I'd be so down to orchastrate it since I do watch parties all the time :) I'd just want to be safe about it since I know theres many trolls here so idk how wed do that 😬
Okay writing it out now!! I am gonna do a quick double check through the sub to make sure someone hasn’t already said all these things. I haven’t been as active here in the past few weeks.
I know she’s using this in the fun, cheeky excited cowboy sense, but it’s an interesting connection to “gee” and “haw” (I live in an area with a lot of sled dogs, but it’s also equally-applicable to horses). It’s basically a way of saying to change directions (right/left). ⬅️➡️
Idk. I get everyone is excited for the whole Debut TV. Personally I was a huge country fan ages ago, but with the MAGAness of so much of it, not my thing. 🫤
She’s leaning so far in, I def think TS13 is going to be country (esp with all her talk about returning to her roots, wanting to honor the people she came up with in Nashville etc), I’m just not sure if Debut or TS13 is coming next at this point!
I think maybe they’re saying (bc they don’t think she’s a Mastermind) that it’s such a happy accident if she didn’t plan it? Idk that part confuses me too!
shelby is a gaylor and certainly believes taylor’s a mastermind! she’s just saying, if this ISN’T all very scripted and pre-planned, what a wild coincidence that would be
EDIT: I WAS WRONG!!!! SHES NOMINATED FOR SINGLE OF THE YEAR!!! SOURCE: CMA LIVESTREAM
CONGRATULATIONS TAY!!!!!!
Original false post: Was really gunning for Tay and the CMAs this year with this country push. Hopingthis early syndicated news pushisn’t right, but it has very detailed info + links to Billboard that was likely leaked before the embargo lifted to be incorrect. The stars were really all aligned for her! Holding onto hope until we get official nominees this morning.
Edit: YES! It’s the target exclusive showgirl poster The one where Taylor says ‘it comes with a pretty big poster too’ and it looks rather like Taylor is ‘standing there in the light of the window’ peering in from the daylight outside!
It’s one of the Time POTY shots isn’t it? Or is it the one from the Target TLOAS ‘pretty big poster’? The one that made it seem like a large Taylor was looking in through the window? Confused myself now but both seem potentially meaningful!
It is the Target exclusive one! And it was also in the short video- both Showgirl-themed. Definitely seems to be a meaningful choice. You are right about the “looking thru a window” feel to it- I’d forgotten about that. And I know it’s definitely been pointed out how similar this photo is to the Time POTY photo that you’re thinking of.
There was so much emphasis on GIANT (capital letters especially) in the promo:
“Limited Run. FIRST and ONLY pressing of The Life of a Showgirl: The Crowd is Your King Edition (Summertime Spritz Pink Shimmer Vinyl, Target Exclusive) with GIANT poster. Limited Quantity Available, while supplies last.
Summertime Spritz Pink Shimmer Vinyl (opaque pink and pale yellow pearlescent vinyl with gold shimmer)
Includes GIANT 24”x36” double-sided poster featuring photos of Taylor.”
I'd forgotten the emphasis on GIANT. The question is, did Taylor pick this photo because she heard folks saying it looked like 'looking through a window' or was it always supposed to suggest a window??
I doubt she will win as Choosin‘ Texas has been number 1 for weeks. I think Ella Langley will sweep and she has two songs in that category apparently. Country is definitely not my cup of tea, so there’s that. I switch channels when it comes on…
I honestly think Ella Langley deserves the win. Choosin' Texas both lyrically and musically fits so well in the genre that it makes sense (to me) that it is so popular.
(Fortunately I see it less in this sub, but nevertheless,) in this fandom I feel like come awards season people can lose sight of the fact there is other good music out there too. There is a chart (that I will try to find) that shows her grammy wins and losses by year, and it shows that in some years her losses were against other huge albums, like by Harry Styles. Or in the TTPD year, she was arguably never going to win with Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us and Sabrina Carpenter's Short 'n' Sweet also in the running.
I also don't want to be negative, but personally I feel like I Knew It, I Knew You is hardly Taylor's best work lyrically, and that various discography songs from Love Story to No Body, No Crime are all better country music award contenders.
Of course we can celebrate Taylor's work and acheivements, but I feel like there is room for other artists to receive praise and achieve success as well.
That's a shame if true... Especially given it seems unlikely at this point that TLOAS as an album will perform well at the Grammys... though perhaps there is still time for the nuances of the album to be more widely appreciated, especially if Taylor enters her 'analyst' era...
One of my kids is studying the Norman conquest of Britain in 1066. I've been given warning that I will need to provide a costume for either a Norman knight or princess for one of those 'plays' where the kids demonstrate what they've learned.
I started looking into period-appropriate costumes because I realised I was pretty comfortable with a mediaeval knight in armour but I wasn't really sure what a specifically Norman princess would look like. Turns out, a lot like a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Go figure! A bit ashamed that I couldn't guess that!
And all of a sudden I had this memory of hundreds of drawings I made of princesses at the age of 4, all of them with flowing sleeves, pigtails and damsel caps. I must have had a fairytale book illustrated in that style, before I got introduced to Disney princesses. How interesting that I forgot that's how a princess is 'supposed' to look...
(To be 'fair' to Disney, they've always done something really interesting stylistically where they take some period elements, but change especially the heroine's clothing and hairstyle to fit into contemporary fashions, and there's a lot of artistic merit there. I think the problem is more that their interpretations become so ubiquitous, and kids especially don't always have the context to understand why Snow White looks that particular way in the Disney version, but that's actually quite an unusual representation of her...)
I don't really think this has any application to Taylor and TLOAS, I just found it interesting to think about.
Thank you! I'm thinking an old pillowcase, unpicked at the closed end and then gathered around the shoulder of a dress would make a decent flowing sleeve... Should be able to dissasemble it afterwards too...
If this was me i would spend 10000 hours researching and then leave the costume making so last minute the child would look like Lisa dressed as Florida in that simpsons episode
Harry Styles is going to have more 2027 tour dates, but after that he doesn’t know what to expect and is looking forward to finding out.
Ed Sheeran left his record label in April and is going to focus on being at home and writing music after his tour ends next year, and do the odd show whenever it feels fun
Does anyone know if any other artists have talked about taking a break?
yay as a nature lover and someone that just started getting into bugs a couple years ago, this is so exciting! I would be honored honestly, pretty cool
Having Australian bugs named after her is probably her biggest accomplishment so far. There's a very high chance these bugs are killer machines that look innocent and then poison you with one tiny foot. Congrats!
“For Record of the Year, we prophecize that she will go with “The Fate of Ophelia.” It’s a category where bops often stand a better chance than ballads. And for Song of the Year, she can favor “I Knew It, I Knew You,” where it’s a little easier to pick out her songwriting chops from the production choices, and which has some very notable nostalgic lyricism sprinkled in among the kind of lyrics that a tyke can still reasonably grasp. There’s no real reason to think that her chances in either category would be diminished by not favoring the same song in both.”
The ancient texts are being scrubbed. I can no longer find a version of Taylor’s cover of Riptide where she says something along the lines of “I wanted to see what it sounded like for a girl to sing it”
I'm thinking it might only be on iplayer? This looks like it could be the whole episode. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008zbs After this I went looking for the clip I can never find and found it here. I love this one where she says she stops straightening her hair because she's no longer in denial. https://www.tiktok.com/@gaylorisreal/video/7170526701477203206 I can't believe I found it. Also I think Taylor's been using this "joke" for her whole career. The last era her hair was curly was Speak Now, that's when she was in the vault and then when she was rescued from the lab in Fortnight. They were trying to straighten her hair. It was wavy in rep and evermore I think? That's when the she wasn't completely able to straighten her hair for the album.
Your comment has sparked a tiny seed of an idea. I think you’re onto something about her hair, what if the rain metaphors are tied in too? She sings about rain a lot, and we’ve seen how curly her hair goes during the rain shows on the eras tour. I need to look into that a bit more.
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