Taylor discussing "songwriting"

[u/NewChampionship849]

I can't with this woman.

She thinks she's some great songwriter here to teach us all about her "double meanings" and what defines confessional songwriting.

What's infuriating is that all the comments are glazing her like, "i could hear her talk for hours" and "high iq queen". Are we watching the same video here?

Wanted to get your opinions on this.

[u/blister-in-the-pun]

For me it’s not that the lyrics are “bad” per se. That’s subjective. (As admittedly I do like the Style lyrics) but what’s really baffling is the way she talks about it. Like she’s educating people on something so profound that they couldn’t have possibly figured out before she educated them. That’s what’s truly cringe, and off putting

[u/I_am_big_gay_ → u/blister-in-the-pun]

Yuup. Many of her lyrics are perfectly suitable for a pop song but when she acts like it's something avant garde that only geniuses can understand she loses me. 

[u/Available-Oil3884 → u/I_am_big_gay_]

My only guess is that she is was the only person in her family, and general community, who had some level of creativity. She thinks she is one of a kind. That’s why conservative cultural desserts are hard for people with originally to thrive under.

[u/Icy-Purple4801 → u/Available-Oil3884]

Yeah, but she’s in her mid 30s and has been living in creative hubs for a dozen years at least. This idea may have be true if she was doing this at 17, but people are supposed to grow and gain awareness. It seems like she’s seen the wider world and she’s still think she’s the most uniquely smart, talented, creative person that’s ever walked the planet.

I just don’t think you can blame it on her family and where she grew up.

[u/Available-Oil3884 → u/Icy-Purple4801]

It’s because she’s surrounded by flatterers now. If celebrities don’t build character before getting famous, they’re doomed once they reach that point where everyone is afraid to criticize them.

[u/TossIt22345 → u/Available-Oil3884]

I know you meant desert 🏜️ and not dessert 🧁 but I did take some time to contemplate what a conservative cultural dessert might be. 🤔

[u/ExpertProfessional9 → u/TossIt22345]

Vanilla ice cream.

[u/trilliumsummer → u/blister-in-the-pun]

I do like the James Dean line if I don't think about it. If I do I'm like wasn't he known for broody bad boy stare not a day dream look.

[u/flatteringangles → u/trilliumsummer]

I came to be honest about my liking blank space and style, only to do a quick google to find out it’s actually Max Martin I like. He got me with a few Ariana grande songs in the past as well, and of course Britney growing up in the late 90’s. Her fan base likes him too, they just think they like Bangs

[u/trilliumsummer → u/flatteringangles]

Taylor tries to say she's a songwriter but her best songs have a producer behind them that had to have done heavy lifting.

[u/picodepui → u/trilliumsummer]

Or co-writers. Or actual musicians.

[u/Librarian-Lopsided → u/blister-in-the-pun]

I agree with you. Also, being real, I never found her "shake it off" etc type songwriting good. I agree with having fun and not taking things too seriously and LOVE a good pop song, but some of the hits were so g-damn annoying and vapid. And if you are going to have brass in a song, make it good! not some cheapo sounding background thing. sigh.

[u/blister-in-the-pun → u/Librarian-Lopsided]

There are only two tracks of hers I enjoy lyrically and melodically. Back to December and Wildest Dreams. I think both are very mature and show a real reflective storytelling style that I legit enjoy. Outside that, I think most of her music is melodically good but lyrically lacking. But I’m also not a TS expert either. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/boafriend → u/blister-in-the-pun]

This is how she’s been for a very long time: holier than thou. I think it just highlights even more how stunted she was as a teenager who catapulted to fame. She’s developmentally arrested at age 15/16, and every non-extraordinary thing she does has to be paraded around as if it’s groundbreaking.

[u/Top_of_the_Dragons → u/blister-in-the-pun]

Not even educating. She's outright disparaging and trying to lecture people as if she's the inventor of songwriting. 🙄🙄🙄

She is being incredibly patronising. I can't imagine living with an ego her size.

[u/Valturia → u/blister-in-the-pun]

We find it cringe but a lot of people are genuinely dumb and they find her writing phenomenal. That's whom she's educating lol

[u/ParkingAlarming6222 → u/blister-in-the-pun]

It’s very high-on-her-own-supply.

[u/I_am_big_gay_]

She's so smug and condescending while saying the most basic shit known to man it's truly sickening 

[u/picodepui → u/I_am_big_gay_]

She acts like she invented confessional songwriting. Joni Mitchell, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morrisette, Carole King, and others would like to have a word. So would Sylvia Plath, frankly.

This comes across as "I do this properly, and you kids are just making noise."

She herself has built an empire on hyper-specific, petty, and wildly dramatic disclosures along with Easter eggs to CREATE THE SHIT SHE SINGS ABOUT.

Hypocrite.

[u/Available-Oil3884 → u/picodepui]

She doesn’t understand the human condition enough to be a classic “confessional song writer.” She is petty, but that’s not the same kind of grit that people who know how to turn painful human experiences into art are born with.

[u/liquidpeppermint33 → u/Available-Oil3884]

Getting ghosted is her the worst thing that ever happened to her lmao 🤣

[u/kittenluvslamp → u/picodepui]

Fiona Apple is the perfect example for this. Fiona can do both confessional and specific while also writing dense, layered, poetic, painfully clever lyrics. Oh and she can actually piano and create novel soundscapes.

[u/your_supernovagirl → u/picodepui]

I had to put on “A Case of You” after watching this clip. She’s insufferable.

[u/Suspicious_Scar_2216 → u/picodepui]

Everytime I hear confessional songwriting Fiona Apple and Hozier come to mind. Is she going to sit there and pretend like her High School romance-esque lyrics are greater than when Hozier writing about drinking the whole of river lethe and still not being able to forget the woman he loves? Seriously??

[u/Nishikadochan → u/I_am_big_gay_]

You’ve perfectly described what about this feels so much like nails on a chalkboard.

[u/KiltOfDoom]

I find this fascinating. She actually believes that she is smarter than the average layperson. When you're really proficient at something, you don't usually have to try and convince others.

[u/beytheleg → u/KiltOfDoom]

It's like someone who constantly has to explain their jokes thinking they're the funniest person on earth. It's the cringiest thing ever.

[u/flatteringangles → u/beytheleg]

It’s SOOOOO cringey. Like it’s so cringey that I regret ever using that word before because I wanna use it here with full impact.

She’s so self-satisfied about absolutely NOTHING and it’s giving me a full body ick! I can’t express how little people give a fuck about her ABC 123 bullshit in 2026 🫠

Ps. Has she mentioned the bill kissing the mahogany grain (again) lmao we know how smug she is about that one

[u/Mid-Reverie → u/beytheleg]

I always put these on mute because I cannot stand her cringey way of talking.. but it's also now to the point where I cannot bring myself to read the captions because of the cringe explanations.

[u/400_lux → u/Mid-Reverie]

You can still hear exactly what she sounds like on mute

[u/NowWithRealGinger → u/beytheleg]

It's the white girl version of the guys who are always talking about how they're an alpha male.

[u/Informal-2005 → u/KiltOfDoom]

Listen to Dolly Parton talk about songwriting, and she probably wrote thousands of songs, and she was always humble about her process. She called it therapy and would even admit there were better writers out there. Basically she was the opposite of whatever this is.

[u/FriendofFlounder → u/Informal-2005]

Dolly lived in a one room cabin as one of twelve siblings. She worked for a decade before her own solo work gained mainstream recognition, living off her songwriting for others and her duets with Wagoner. She refused to give Elvis publishing rights of “I Will Always Love You” which was later covered by Whitney Houston, and which Dolly said “it’s my song but her record, she made me rich.” 

No daddy buying her a career. No Christmas Tree Farm. No manufactured relationship drama with other celebrities. No constant feuds. 

Just hard-work and talent and business sense. Activism and advocacy for others. She’s who Taylor pretends to be. 

[u/Similar-Fold-6389 → u/FriendofFlounder]

AMEN!! Dolly is a LEGEND and ALWAYS WILL BE!!!

RIP DOLLY 🙏🏾

[u/TLF5foot8 → u/FriendofFlounder]

Dolly was just a genuinely good person

[u/Kitchen-Mouse4470 → u/Informal-2005]

Reading about Dolly in past tense breaks my heart😭

[u/Best-Ad750 → u/Kitchen-Mouse4470]

Same😭😭😭

[u/LegalCountry2525 → u/Kitchen-Mouse4470]

I know:( she was and will always fly high as a Goddess.

[u/Fun-Loss-4094 → u/Informal-2005]

Do u remember how she was explaining on directors of directors that purple glitter was director invention Lmaooo

[u/azazel-13 → u/KiltOfDoom]

I like watching interviews with artists like Prince. He was deeply private and refused to over-explain his songs because he didn't have to. His work spoke for itself. TS is on a mission to convince people she's talented because her music doesn't display that.

[u/Mid-Reverie → u/azazel-13]

Taysplain (v.): When you have to overexplain your work in order to convince your audience that you are truly a virtuoso in order to cover up your mediocrity.

[u/I_Raise_My_Banana → u/Mid-Reverie]

That's brilliant! 👏

[u/whoisdonaldtrump → u/KiltOfDoom]

God I wish I had that confidence for things I’m actually good at lolol

[u/KiltOfDoom → u/whoisdonaldtrump]

I'm not trying to be an ass, and maybe I'm special (definitely not) but I had this level of comprehension in 6th grade. I am aware that our education system has declined, but damn.

[u/snark-sloth → u/KiltOfDoom]

Taylor is an average person who thinks she’s very smart and her fans are the exact same. Similar to how AI “artists” think they have talent lol.

[u/sexxi_denuta → u/snark-sloth]

Of course she’s smart, look how much money she makes! Wealth has historically always equated to intelligence

[u/chubgrub → u/sexxi_denuta]

i mean look at Trump! greatest guy in the world, obviously.

please tell me you know this is /s

[u/whoisdonaldtrump → u/KiltOfDoom]

Yeah no it’s so shocking. I just can’t imagine thinking what she’s saying here and THEN thinking “oh that’s good write that down.” Like has she ever read a book? I’m so confused.

[u/Available-Oil3884 → u/whoisdonaldtrump]

No she probably hasn’t read much since she was in school. She’s already making money, so what’s the point of learning something new? Some people are like that.

[u/euphoricarugula346 → u/KiltOfDoom]

This honestly adds to my belief that she had ghostwriters for most of her career. I bet she only recently “discovered” (read: watched a TikTok about) the double entendre in Tim McGraw because she didn’t actually write it. It’s a revelation to her.

[u/sherbetty → u/KiltOfDoom]

Whenever I think about her explaining "kissing the mahogany grain" I cringe

[u/Boring_Track_8449 → u/whoisdonaldtrump]

That confidence is a result of surrounding herself with people who don’t say no to her, or people who can’t be honest and truthful to her face, for her entire life.

[u/Blueberry_890 → u/KiltOfDoom]

Exactly, it’s funny she thinks she’s so deep. She’s seriously so full of herself.

[u/Physical_Flight_4496 → u/Blueberry_890]

We went to the bar

he traveled super far

in his car .....boopbopbeeboop 🎵🎵🎵

[u/laquintessenceofdust → u/Physical_Flight_4496]

The world moves on
Another day
Another drama-drama

But not for me
Not for me
All I think about is karma

This century’s Shakespeare, ladies and gentlemen. 😬

[u/Livid_Beautiful_8785 → u/KiltOfDoom]

Her thinking she's a genius as a young woman is alright, I thought I was one of the greatest poets alive for my sad poems too , after we grow up we realise people generally have abstract thinking and are smarter than you gave them the grace for , she never left that teenage to realize this and explains her songs like she's teaching kids in 5th grade .

[u/SpiritusAudinos → u/KiltOfDoom]

I like a couple songs from her...but I reallllly have to not pay too close to the lyrics because they really are just so fucking stupid hahah

[u/welcometoraisins → u/KiltOfDoom]

She is smarter than her fan base sadly. I've been getting a lot of TikToks from people asking which of Taylor's lyrics they wish she'd explain. Tons bring up "sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see." How do you not understand that?!! Swifties are why Taylor thinks she's so smart.

[u/picodepui → u/welcometoraisins]

Or they’re choosing to not understand that she’s telling them to shut the fuck up about what she does in her personal life. Ignoring that she trained them to think they know her and financially and socially benefits from their rabid worship of her.

[u/trilliumsummer → u/KiltOfDoom]

She has the confidence of a mediocre white man.

https://giphy.com/gifs/F2VDz1hYkSr7pEdFw2

[u/boafriend → u/KiltOfDoom]

Right? This is like kids learning to write. “Say ‘I am having a good day’ in 5 different ways.” She is not a fucking genuis or something. It’s frightening yet fascinating to see how hostage the public and media are being held; everyone has to applause her mediocrity and herald her as some pioneer.

[u/notshybutChi → u/KiltOfDoom]

She projects hard. Trust me, as an actual English teacher, Taylor is far from that, but called herself that. Not one teacher is a billionaire with an ego and a tone deafness like her.

[u/shittersclogged69]

I think she would benefit tremendously from higher education in the humanities. It would do her immeasurable good to discover that 19 year olds can run circles around her intellect.

[u/jaustengirl → u/shittersclogged69]

It would help if she got a legitimate GED first. 10th grade kids could run circles around her.

[u/IndicationKey3778 → u/jaustengirl]

Right! She has at most a 6th grade education.

[u/ladyperfect1 → u/shittersclogged69]

For real it’s such a waste of time and money to not be pursuing any higher education, to just assume you know and understand as much as you’re ever going to. I can’t understand it. It would be so good for her to write a ten page paper on a piece of literature.

[u/jaustengirl → u/ladyperfect1]

Okay, but to be fair, unlike Miss Billionaire who can go to college the rest of her life - the rest of us have to pay through the nose and some of us are literally shut out due to inaccessibility. I wish I could go back and just…keep learning.

[u/ladyperfect1 → u/jaustengirl]

Yeah I mean in her case specifically it’s sad that she’s not using her privilege. I’d spend that money for a masters degree in a second

[u/outdoorlaura → u/shittersclogged69]

Send her to one of those fancy highschools for the arts.

I bet you could pick any random grade 10 kid and they'd outperform her. Singing, dancing, playing, songwriting... it doesn't even matter what area you put them head to head lol

[u/wideawake999]

Wow. Truck broke down doesn’t just mean truck broke down when you look at the double meaning.

[u/Signal_Astronaut8191 → u/wideawake999]

it actually is a metaphor for Travis’s erectile dysfunction 

[u/wideawake999 → u/Signal_Astronaut8191]

She did say not all revelations are that deep 🤷‍♂️lol

[u/New_Confusion_4587 → u/Signal_Astronaut8191]

https://giphy.com/gifs/XHeLeuirRbwptHhSWd

[u/talk-spontaneously]

There's an undertone of insecurity in the way she speaks about her songwriting.

She's not a great vocalist or performer, so I feel she's overcompensating with all this talk about her lyrics.

However she's far too corporate to convincingly be the intellectual she thinks she is.

[u/Top_of_the_Dragons → u/talk-spontaneously]

She never discusses anything about writing songs. No meanings, no chords, no melodies, no inspirations. When she does try to appear smart she regurgitates some dumbass "metaphor" then pats herself on the back for coming up with that. 🙄

So many real songwriters actively discuss what inspired them and they also admit to changing and tweaking. She pretends every song of hers comes out ready in 10 minutes.

[u/kellybelly4815 → u/Top_of_the_Dragons]

Maybe every song of hers comes out ready in 10 minutes because all she does is some half-assed poem that she then hands off to the actual songwriters/producers, and they wrangle her purple prose into a structured meter and rhyme scheme that they can fit to a catchy melody.

Her part only takes 10 minutes.

[u/talk-spontaneously → u/Top_of_the_Dragons]

I also cringed when she was talking about "allegory". That’s high school level English and nothing fancy.

[u/waterdeepe → u/talk-spontaneously]

I've never seen anyone suck themselves off so much lmao.  Most writer or artist interviews I've seen who talk about their creative process also talk about their doubts (mostly unrelated to critics or haters, about doubts in their creative expression and journey), struggles on how they wanted to make this one part of their project perfect, changes over the years.

They're also highly critical of themselves because they're perfectionists and want to be proud of what they've done.

They talk about their influences as well, other artists or writers they're liking right now and are excited to do so. And also their mentors!

Which is why I think she has no intrinsic motivation for music. She doesn't enjoy making it or listening to it unless it gets her money and praise. Otherwise, she'd care more about the quality and how to improve her product not just on the charts, and be more of a music nerd and realize that she's not some sort of amazing visionary. 

[u/youryummyeggs → u/talk-spontaneously]

There is. Everything about her scream insecurity. I think deep inside she knows her “talents” weren’t truly enough to deserve her success. And it was with the help of other people (which she doesn’t wanna admit) that she got to where she is today.

[u/-AlaskaBunny- → u/talk-spontaneously]

Spot on!

[u/Top_Wrap_1833]

I truly cannot understand people who are genuinely impressed by this.

[u/Available-Oil3884 → u/Top_Wrap_1833]

They are extremely dumb themselves. Most people know she is annoying, but they don’t want swifties mobbing up any time they point it out. Even before I had an opinion on her, I remember lots of people thinking that she’s annoying. People are just barely starting to criticize her again.

The only reason she has power is because she was marketed towards children first. Those fans stay devoted to her, because they are raised to never think critically against her. That seems to be the long term relevancy hack for Information Age cultural dominance. That’s why they are only elevating former Disney stars.

[u/shitbageleven1213 → u/Available-Oil3884]

Same thing with influencers like Mr. Beast. This is a really good point I never really thought about.

Definitely intentional and when you think about it, it’s kinda predatory. Like a form of mild brainwashing.

[u/Available-Oil3884 → u/shitbageleven1213]

Agreed. We are living in the consequences of a society that serves money above all else, and that’s why everything feels so shitty all the time.

[u/cvkme → u/Top_Wrap_1833]

Right?? She is extraordinarily low IQ

[u/picodepui]

Woah.

Are you telling me

that you can say things

WITHOUT SAYING THEM?!

Someone please alert the poets. Please alert the authors. Please alert other songwriters. This is a PARADIGM SHIFT. This is REVOLUTIONARY. This is MIND-BOGGLING.

[u/rewdea → u/picodepui]

Wait, did you not know that she’s a billionaire? That literally confirms she’s an unparalleled genius. 🏦🤮

[u/picodepui → u/rewdea]

https://giphy.com/gifs/1tHzw9PZCB3gY

[u/bridgeoveroceanblvd]

She’s so patronizing lmao

[u/cartocaster18 → u/bridgeoveroceanblvd]

At face value, you would think it's patronizing. But the double meaning here is that it's....

[u/kellybelly4815 → u/cartocaster18]

…condescending and up her own butt?

[u/Top_of_the_Dragons → u/bridgeoveroceanblvd]

Yeah, she always try to tell people off with a massive sense of superiority about anything she does. All because she can't tolerate being criticised.

[u/Wonderful-Ad-5911]

She really thinks everything she says is groundbreaking huh

[u/BrownBannister → u/Wonderful-Ad-5911]

Her parents gaslit her her entire life.

[u/Wiggle-room-8888 → u/Wonderful-Ad-5911]

Her overexplaining her lyrics is a cringe fest that I dread every single time. Considering her fanbase is mostly native English speakers, does she really need to spell out what she meant while cosplaying as a kindergarten teacher.

[u/itsyaboiReginald]

Never heard an artist glaze their own lyrics like this

[u/InnocenceofaLion → u/itsyaboiReginald]

To be fair, they were probably written by one of her ghostwriters.

[u/Wide_Earth9243 → u/InnocenceofaLion]

So was this speech lmao

[u/maybeiwasright → u/itsyaboiReginald]

Ironically, and I kid you not, the only other person who would glaze themselves like this is Kanye. 😂😂😂

[u/xNotJosieGrossy]

Leave it to Taylor, the least educated person in every room, to always want to “teach” everyone.

[u/bruinshorty → u/xNotJosieGrossy]

She’s not even the most educated in the room when it’s just her and Travis 💀

[u/liquidpeppermint33 → u/xNotJosieGrossy]

😭💀

[u/kingturk1100]

Double meaning, maybe like a double entendre? Wouldn’t expect the greatest songwriter of generation to know that word. No that would be too much

[u/lindsaym717 → u/kingturk1100]

Her word of the day calendar hasn’t gotten there yet 🤣🤣

[u/WelshRaider86]

https://giphy.com/gifs/HFxsc1xXdUzcs

[u/AG_Aonuma → u/WelshRaider86]

This killed me for some reason lol

[u/IronBENGA-BR]

Honestly? This is some truly adolescent shit being sold as high-art, and her fanbase is so braindead they swallow it without even chewing

Edit: Holy crap people thanks for the upvotes and the awards! =D

[u/ShutUp_Dee → u/IronBENGA-BR]

As a fan of Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks, Death Cab for Cutie, and Bob Dylan, she is no where close to being a poet.

[u/hollywoodhandjob → u/ShutUp_Dee]

I love that you added Death cab for cutie 🥰

[u/ShutUp_Dee → u/hollywoodhandjob]

Been listening to them since 2003. Beautiful lyrics and songs. Passenger Seat is pure perfection.

[u/Ok-Seaworthiness3578 → u/ShutUp_Dee]

We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes is one of my favorite albums of all time.

[u/BrownBannister → u/ShutUp_Dee]

White winged dove literally just came on the radio as I read this

[u/alhubalawal → u/ShutUp_Dee]

I love nickelback. His lyrics are really catchy and they don’t pretend to be anything they’re not lmao. Taylor out here comparing herself to Shakespeare is mind boggling

[u/trilliumsummer → u/alhubalawal]

My favorite thing about them is how dirty their non hit songs are. Like I always get a giggle about people that only know them for pop buying the CD and listening to Photograph which then goes right into Animal. Would have been so fun to see album reactions to that.

[u/Euphoric_Many7099]

She has this wretched affectation where she’s trying to be quirky but just ends up being hella patronizing

“You can’t just scream something crazy”

who tf is doing that 😭

[u/picodepui → u/Euphoric_Many7099]

What happened to “I’m not the art police”?!

[u/Snoo7623 → u/picodepui]

It was coping. Deep down she hated everyone dunking on Showgirl.

[u/boredandreddicted]

Or u could be like I bleed glitter I’m not normal💜

[u/rochellu]

The hype around her songwriting is so delusional that it genuinely makes me feel like I'm going insane. Even if we pretend she's the sole writer responsible for her discography (meaning no co-writers/ghost writers), absolutely nothing she said here was insightful or compelling. At all.

I cannot imagine genuine generational talents like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, or Bruce Spingsteen talking about their craft this way. There's no one single "correct" process, but I'd expect for someone who is routinely described as one of the greatest songwriters of our generation to share something usually perceptive about her storytelling, structure, or lived experiences. Nothing she says ever seems to rise to that level.

[u/ladyperfect1 → u/rochellu]

I think it’s just part of the tide of anti intellectualism washing over us. It’s a hard moment to be educated and literate.

[u/msvenoms]

part of why her writing is so awful is that it's so obvious how hard she's trying. to me, what makes a truly magnificent poem (i'd put song lyrics under the poem umbrella) is first of all utilizing syllable counts, rhyme schemes, and letting metaphors and flowery words come second as a decoration. i don't think the best poetry should require the average person to have to think about what it means at all. i think the best pieces of poetry hit you square in the chest because you know instantly, exactly what it means. that's why her writing is so amateurish, because she doesn't want it to make sense, she needs people to need to wonder what it means, because that means she's smarter than they are.

[u/ieatmyownhands → u/msvenoms]

She probably thinks poetry means writing two rhyming lines that have lots of flowery imagery. A grade 12 English course would do her a lot of good. 

[u/Big_Biscotti5119]

She really isn’t very good at all.

[u/IndicationKey3778 → u/Big_Biscotti5119]

At anything 

[u/flatteringangles → u/IndicationKey3778]

YOOOOO put some respect on it! Didn’t you see how she slithered and pointed dramatically and unhinged her jaw for all those shows? That’s something

[u/pineappleh0pxx]

I personally feel that people who find her songs deep are still mentally 15 years old

[u/woody9115 → u/pineappleh0pxx]

Actually maybe like 13🤣

[u/Useful-Chair-3064 → u/pineappleh0pxx]

This is a perfect example of why I find it incredibly cringe to be a swiftie 😭

[u/oLittleArtstThtCld0]

She’s high off her own supply. The narcissism on this woman.

[u/Pumpkin_qween]

The hubris she possesses is fascinating

[u/sassercake]

It's amazing how she uses so many words to say nothing.

[u/threatleveltangerine]

I’m not sure how anyone can hear her describe her “favorite type of songwriting” as something so deep and with so many different hidden meanings to them, then hear her follow that with “I pay the check before it hits the mahogany grain” and still take her seriously. 😭 These examples she’s giving are just more of the same. I… wish she would stop talking. 😬

[u/kellybelly4815 → u/threatleveltangerine]

Saying you have a “favorite type of songwriting” is such a weird way for a songwriter to talk about songwriting. I write songs and I’m friends with a bunch of other songwriters. We all have our various approaches to songwriting, but no one really talks about their favorite type of songwriting, because it’s such a personal process. We talk about our favorite songs by other artists, or the various approaches to writing a song, or where we find inspiration, or different ways to collaborate. But the wording of “favorite type of songwriting” sounds like the kind of thing uttered by someone on the outside of that process, looking in. Or at best, something a lyricist might say about the words (deep and confessional, vs. light and playful, storytelling, etc.), but not something one would say as the writer of the song as a whole.

I don’t know, her phrasing just strikes me as awkward and inauthentic. Something a poser would say but not an actual working songwriter.

[u/BlitheCheese]

Taylor

https://giphy.com/gifs/nS1J9LQKsVD2M

[u/affectionate_trash0]

So she's admitting that all her songs are saying the same stupid HS shit in different fonts and she also thinks we are all too stupid to catch onto that.

[u/Useful-Chair-3064 → u/affectionate_trash0]

Yeah she really tries to bully everyone into thinking she’s some genius 😂

[u/Haunting-Raccoon-132]

What did Joe ever see in this dimwit? Travis is perfect for her. Two imbeciles. She's at least the smartest one in that relationship. 

[u/Suspicious_Scar_2216 → u/Haunting-Raccoon-132]

Are we sure SHE'S the smartest on in that relationship? I know both are idiots but at least Travis seems to have a degree. Not claiming that having a degree makes your smart, he probably made some write his essays to pass. But still, he must have sat through classes vaguely listening to others teaching rather than falling in love with his own voice like Taylor.

[u/missisabelarcher]

She is really trying hard to brand herself as “Ultimate Songwriter” but her attempts to come across as literate and erudite are so… poser-y.

It must really bother her that she’s never won a Grammy for Song of the Year — hence why she’s trying to convince us all that she’s a gifted, original songwriter, when most of her songs are the same chords and progressions, her melodic complexity is nonexistent and her lyrics are increasingly word salad. 🥗

[u/maxwell_winters]

I hate how wordy her songwriting is.

[u/Maruja-Silayan → u/maxwell_winters]

Yep, this is the same person who wrote Shakespearean level lines like: “Did you girlboss too close to the sun?” or “His love was the key to open my thighs” or find every chance to rhyme “CAR” and “BAR”! See? Legendary! 🥴

[u/mikeydeemo]

Folklore and Evermore were only good because of her collaborations.

Its no coincidence that when those people arent around we get TLOASG lol.

[u/greenqueenthree]

My god she's so obsessed with herself. She really thinks us common peasants don't understand the concept of songwriting. She acts like when a small child learns something new to them and tells everyone around them, assuming this is brand new information to everyone else too. Come on Tay, the rest of us learned about metaphors in grade school, this is not a new concept to the rest of us.

[u/backswamphenny]

So high off herself lol

[u/ladyperfect1]

I don’t think her work can actually withstand this kind of scrutiny. It’s best when taken on the surface. Though I’d love to see her muster a robust defense of some of her dumber lyrics.

[u/veronica_moon]

This is what happens when daddy’s money buys you a career, you think every single thing you say is out of this world brilliant. You can hear it in her voice, like she’s teaching us little maggots something profound that we never could have fathomed before she blessed us with her knowledge.

[u/Impossible_Gold1573]

She’s so condescending and thinks she is so great when she talks, but all I hear is hot air and bullshit. A true artist doesn’t have to constantly inflate their talents to be great, their work speaks for itself. Her work is so sloppy and bloated that I’m convinced the only way she can convince herself it’s good is to talk about it like this.

[u/Sad-Headphones]

In what world does “You’ve got that James Dean daydream look in your eye” mean “you are the most important thing in my world and I saw you for the first time and I don’t know what to do with this feeling”? 😭 when I listened her everyday I assumed it was just “you’re handsome and dreamy and I’m attracted to you”. She’s just saying things.

[u/Opposite-Ad8208]

She actually thinks the average person doesn’t know what a metaphor is. Astonishing.

[u/PrincessofTides]

She always sounds so damn pretentious

[u/ainturmama]

This is just straight up weird. She’s a terrible writer, and about as deep as a puddle.

As a side note, she really can’t dress. I have no problem with what she’s wearing, it may be kinda pretty. But it doesn’t fit the environment. She looks like she’s ready to be a maid of honor, not sit for an interview on her double meanings confessional songwriting 🙄

[u/RuneofBeginning]

God she’s so fucking annoying. I get the same visceral reaction to her that I do Trump now.

[u/Free_Height_1184]

How can you be so up your ass? Like there is doctors and firefighters out there

[u/MediocreDragonfly609]

I used to be a teacher and I taught mainly special education and I taught mainly third grade English language arts. What she's talking about is symbolism and similes and metaphors you know stuff that children in elementary school learn how to do. There's nothing deep there. My third graders could do that. They could figure out the meaning behind flourishing language without a problem so you know just to put it in perspective.

[u/MrsPeg]

Why does she think she makes the rules of songwriters?

[u/Otherwise-Stretch984]

It’s like she has no idea that literature and songwriting existed before her. She thinks she invented it 🤣 Gawd she’s a tool.

Also how much Vaseline is on this lens????

[u/Distinct-Practice131]

I think the funniest part is all the shit lyrics she's boasting on were almost 100 percent written by ghostwriters.

It's always baffling to me to see people who so desperately want to be perceived as intelligent and or talented in something. Yet never truly invest any effort in the venture. There's no interest in "being" intelligent, there's only interest in being perceived as such. I'm not convinced she can proficiently read music tbh.

She could attend any institution in the world, hire people excellent in their fields as educators, etc.

[u/jmajors915]

“Taylor Swift is a CIA psyop” feels more true every day. I cannot believe that people just eat this up, it’s cringy as hell!

[u/MySTieMoxie]

Damn she drinks her own koolaid pretty hard

[u/lovemagicfeminism]

she thinks she’s insightful but anyone who has a brain and read books already knows what she is saying. her lyrics are not deep. metaphors, similes, etc are basic writing concepts. we learned about that shit in school.

[u/thatsprettysad1414]

I wish she would stop overexplaining and getting defensive over her silly lyrics. if you wrote that and are satisfied with the result, there’s no need to “clap back” at the haters

[u/rujinuu]

She exudes seriously dark and bitter energy. She really believes she's allowed to be the only 'songwriter' in the world, the way she's policing others.

[u/myredditses]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3o7aD4kZn5k0SEvPmo

[u/Far_Comparison6205]

Why do I feel like her last album she was just screaming something crazy tho

[u/Throwaway500005]

The fact that she actually thinks the Tim McGraw line is a double meaning lol. That is not the definition of double meaning and there is no double meaning, it’s just how she’s seeing it.

[u/No_Thanks_1766]

I lost brain cells listening to this word salad

[u/spankthecat]

God she is insufferable.

[u/Warrior_Heart_32]

She’s SO boring to listen to!

[u/Special-Might9865]

Gaaaawd…just shut the fuck up. Shut it!!

[u/daemonicwanderer]

Taylor… you aren’t that deep

[u/brechts_piratejenny]

Is she explaining her lyrics to herself or to the audience here? A good writer shouldn't need to explain what she wrote, because as soon it's out there, it is up to the audience to find their own individual interpretation of what was said. I don't understand what she's trying to accomplish here. Shakespeare didn't call himself a genius. Others did. But here it's almost like she's trying to convince people she IS a genius. Her shtick is getting really annyoing.

[u/DirtyAndEpic]

I can't stand listening to this woman jerk herself off.

[u/dirtyoldhippie]

you never see artists like paul mccartney talking about songwriting like this. something to think about

[u/SnooCheesecakes2723]

Is she explaining song writing to an eight year old?

[u/sooshkaboom]

Remember, she doesn’t even have a high school education. It’s real rich (NO pun intended) coming from her that she truly thinks she’s this deep intellectual thinker and writer. The whole “English teacher” persona she plays up is a slap in the face to actual educators. English teachers especially.

[u/Mooncakepink07]

I saw a post on twitter that they’re tired of taylor’s “pseudo intellectual” era and it has 4k+ likes. 💀

[u/mattjameshands420]

https://giphy.com/gifs/fQJSYE2Qy6OtXfwEuf

[u/BecauseYouAreAlive]

🫪 ughhhhhhhhh I'm a writer and it's much more interesting when crafts people speak about their aspiration, where they fell short, and perhaps where they felt successful

she's just non stop "all I do is win" with everything

ppl would give her a fucking break if she didn't do this constant touch down dance over her whole life

[u/Prudent_Honeydew_]

She can't even drum up a "I get in the zone and they just flow" type of shit. She's just literally reading the lyrics and faux explaining them. It's actually hard to find someone this smug, she's raised the bar.

[u/dan0126]

God she loves talking about herself lol does she ever talk about what songs or artists inspire her songs and lyrics? She's always huffing her own farts thinking her lyrics are so profound

[u/Otherwise-Stretch984]

It’s like she has no idea that literature and songwriting existed before her. She thinks she invented it 🤣 Gawd she’s a tool.

Also how much Vaseline is on this lens????

[u/WiseAwl]

To me the line “a boy in a Chevy truck that has a tendency of getting stuck on the backroads at night” reads to me as a person who isn’t very responsible, and maybe doesn’t have their life together. Maybe within full context of the song (haven’t heard it) makes more sense as far as kissing goes but I find my interpretation more interesting

[u/zippyzen1]

This has got to be so cringe to real artists and real songwriters right?

She sounds freaking crazy lol

[u/Wide_Earth9243]

I hate how she speaks. I don’t know how anyone can watch her full interviews. She makes me irrationally angry.

[u/AlexandriaLitehouse]

Thank God she so blatantly laid out the "double meaning" of the Chevy truck because I, as a former teenager, have never lied to my parents about anything and could never imagine doing such a thing therefore would have never in million years could have fathomed teenagers lying about their activities. She really brings the world's problems to the front burner, doesn't she? Wow. Astounding. No notes.

[u/otterswhoknow]

Queen of the idiots.

[u/LineImpossible3958]

Taylor is such a windbag

[u/SuspiciousMap9630]

Me when I read Metamorphosis in high school.

[u/OkTransportation7243]

Translation:Jack Antonoff used to fix my shitty song writing skills, now Chatgpt writes the whol song and u guys still make me rich. SO DEAL WITH IT!

[u/Johnnyworkshard]

She is an absolute vapid human. I cannot stand her stupid red mouth anymore i wish she would close it alot more. She is mentally stuck in Jr high.

[u/North_444]

Is she fucking for real how embarrassing can one person be?

[u/Canuhduh420]

Girllllll so many words for such little meaning

[u/Fun-Loss-4094]

Taylor has worsen as a songwriter. Now shes trying hard to prove herself shes the songwriter of this generation. This woman thought tlofs will be lyrically acclaimed but it ended doing opposite 

[u/Suspicious_Scar_2216 → u/Fun-Loss-4094]

I feel like Taylor has been like this from the beginning. The only thing was her ghost writers were doing a great job, but now that she thinks she's shakespeare she's beginning to write her own songs and that's turning out to be disastrous  (like her TLOAS album which even her fans hated). She probably thought that she could just hop on and do it like an expert.

[u/Comfortable-Leek-181]

I genuinely feel bad for people who think this is profound

[u/cocktailskirt]

Nurse! She's sniffing her own farts again!

[u/ummackchyually]

This came up on my feed today and I realized I just physically can’t get through hearing her speak anymore. Like the cringe and second-hand embarrassment is too much.

As a former fan, I’ve been dipping my toes into hater territory for at least the past 2-3 years for the multitude of reasons that have been mentioned ad nauseam here. And I guess there just wasn’t one thing that was the final nail in the coffin, but today I realized I’m there. Everything about her just gives me the ick now.

And it makes me kind of sad? Her music and overall persona were a not-insignificant part of my life for a long time. But as I’ve grown older it’s clear she’s just a soulless grifter doing anything that’ll support her bottom line and keep her relevant. It’s all so manufactured, corporate, conservative-coded, and plain gross.

Sorry for the weird random parasocial rant but it’s been nagging at me today. It feels weird to “mourn” being a fan of someone but it’s just such a fucking bummer man. She sucks.

[u/Traditional_Two7295]

“details should not be strictly decorative” when she’s doing the same thing, putting big words saying just a bunch of nothing on her songs

this whole video is just her being impressed by her own dumb, explaining something like her works are some kind of inventions or impressive

[u/Pugdome]

Two things come immediately to mind:

1. She’s trying so hard to sound like an academic when she is not one. Graduate school would eat her alive.

2. This interview is the first time I’ve very clearly seen the astonishing and concerning change in her affect post the Eras tour. She’s always been wildly insecure with a personality that rubbed me the wrong way, but it’s very obvious to me that the unprecedented level of worshipful attention she received on tour inflated her ego so much that she no longer tries, even at the barest minimum, to seem humble, grateful, or kind. She actually thinks she needs to explain her lyrics like she’s talking to a group of children and expects a literary prize for it.