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All Hail Taylor Swift, Person of the Year!

arthwollipot said:
Not a lot. It's just Time magazine's recognition of the person they deem most influential in that year. They don't have to be a good person, just influential. In 1938, the Person of the Year was Adolf Hitler.

So it's more or less completely irrelevant. Time is a large and influential periodical - or at least it has been for most of its history - so in terms of celebrity status it's pretty influential. But it doesn't really mean anything other than that.
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The best pick was the year they chose the Inanimate Carbon Rod.
 
Has she managed to knock Nana Mouskouri off the top of the hit parade? Nana is the most!
 
Darat said:
She's helped me out in several quizzes, her and her mate Ed. Any musical questions about a female my suggestion is always Swift, any about a male and my answer is Ed. For some reason my team mates don't turn to me for answers to music questions.
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For us its always Beyonce or Drake if we have no frickin clue on the music questions.
 
So I listened to lobosrul5's link, and I listened to Blank Space, and it's clear to me she's got that spark. But I'm wondering -- and this is admittedly OT -- but it sounds to me like pop music hasn't evolved much in the last 10 or 20 years. I'm not saying it's bad, I just feel that if either of those songs came out in 2013 or whatever, they'd fit in more or less with what was on the radio then.

But I've never listened that much to pop, so maybe it's a false impression.
 
Ryan O'Dine said:
So I listened to lobosrul5's link, and I listened to Blank Space, and it's clear to me she's got that spark. But I'm wondering -- and this is admittedly OT -- but it sounds to me like pop music hasn't evolved much in the last 10 or 20 years. I'm not saying it's bad, I just feel that if either of those songs came out in 2013 or whatever, they'd fit in more or less with what was on the radio then.

But I've never listened that much to pop, so maybe it's a false impression.
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Blank Space, and Shake it Off came out in 2014. (btw my sister in law is mid 30's and a huge fan, that is my main source of hearing T-Swift, I don't think most of her fans are tweens these days).
 
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TragicMonkey said:
I'm an old. Is Taylor Swift the Madonna of these days?
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No. Madge was never an anything and was clearly the second-best-looking sheila in Desperately Seeking Susan. Madge made her name by being sluttish, while Taylor made her image the exact opposite.

Magde's political and social cred is zero, Taylor's is better than almost anyone else you could name.

The Great Zaganza said:
Who?

Seriously, I somehow managed to escape the pull of this Black Hole - I'm sure I heard plenty of her songs without knowing who the singer is - and when someone tells me, I forget almost instantly.
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Her music isn't the point. If musical ability mattered Kate Bush would have won it every year since 1977. Note: I have exactly zero of her songs on my playlist. It's mostly a bit mild for my taste, but songs like You Need To Calm Down are lyrically brilliant.

The point is that she's used her popularity for good and has done lots of philapthropic work she takes no credit for, so you know she's not doing it because it's good for her image.

plague311 said:
What the **** are you talking about? She has a massive, massive following on every social media platform she decides to be on. She started dating an NFL player and THEIR ******* SALES WENT UP. She's stood up to recording studios, including re-recording her entire catalog to get out from under their thumb, and she's philanthropic as well.

All around she's an amazing person and everyone that hops in and is like, "Who? Don't know, don't care about some pop person" is doing the same thing you're doing. Dismissing her because of one facet of her life, which admittedly made her wealthy. The fact you saying "lets hold off on the celebration" is WAY too late. The choice has been made and no one involved in it gave a flying ******* what Samson has to say about Taylor's views. Nothing to debate.
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Bravo!

smartcooky said:
You will soon start to hear the sound of MAGA morons' heads exploding!

That's my favourite thing about her... she triggers really the MAGA chuds!
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They set fire to her CDs!

They loved her virginal country girl image, then she showed them up for the sick bigots they are. To me, what she did in becoming a political force is almost akin to Muhammad Ali's becoming a muslim - they both alienated vast swathes of America and didn't give a flying ****.
 
The Atheist said:
No. Madge was never an anything and was clearly the second-best-looking sheila in Desperately Seeking Susan. Madge made her name by being sluttish, while Taylor made her image the exact opposite.

Magde's political and social cred is zero, Taylor's is better than almost anyone else you could name.
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Weirdly enough, when speaking of musicians I meant their music.
 
Ryan O'Dine said:
So I listened to lobosrul5's link, and I listened to Blank Space, and it's clear to me she's got that spark. But I'm wondering -- and this is admittedly OT -- but it sounds to me like pop music hasn't evolved much in the last 10 or 20 years. I'm not saying it's bad, I just feel that if either of those songs came out in 2013 or whatever, they'd fit in more or less with what was on the radio then.

But I've never listened that much to pop, so maybe it's a false impression.
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Sorry, I didn't see the doco myself, so can't reference it, but have recently been told that the problem of 'sameness' in modern pop music, is that there are a very limited set of writers, writing the songs.

Back in my day, there was a limited sound because of the small number of producers creating the 'sound' of various artists.
 
arthwollipot said:
Yes you have.
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I certainly haven't.

I listen to CDs and a mass of YT playlists. None of them have her music. No random TV or radio stuff, not even adverts as I only watch BBC iPlayer and (*very* rarely) Amazon stuff.
 
I've seen more than one news item in the last few months about Taylor Swift concerts giving a boost to local economies.

That makes her more influential than many of the politicians.
 
GlennB said:
I certainly haven't.

I listen to CDs and a mass of YT playlists. None of them have her music. No random TV or radio stuff, not even adverts as I only watch BBC iPlayer and (*very* rarely) Amazon stuff.
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You must be very careful. I can't navigate my way around in public without encountering random environmental music. Never been into a shopping centre? Did you buy your CDs from a completely silent music store? Never passed by someone on the street with a boom box?

You most certainly have. You may have tuned it out, but you have.
 
"Swift became the first living artist to have five albums in the US Top 10 simultaneously, with 1989, Midnights, Folklore, Lover and Speak Now."

"She broke the record for the most number one albums by a woman in US chart history - 13 in total - overtaking Barbara Streisand."

"Swift became the first songwriter to score seven Grammy nominations for song of the year, overtaking Sir Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie."


Beating literally everyone in music for popularity! I'd be embarrassed not to know who she is.
 
It's hit 6 pm in N.Z. and I just heard the T.V. news start with a sting saying "she's the first entertaining to be given that honour".

Missing what person of the year is all about, as usual.
 
pzkpfw said:
I've seen more than one news item in the last few months about Taylor Swift concerts giving a boost to local economies.

That makes her more influential than many of the politicians.
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pzkpfw said:
It's hit 6 pm in N.Z. and I just heard the T.V. news start with a sting saying "she's the first entertaining to be given that honour".

Missing what person of the year is all about, as usual.
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In the case of Time Magazine, I'm guessing relevance/profits was the main motive,

She did get a bunch of young people to register to vote. If she uses her popularity for things like that then she could actually be a person of the year. She has a long way to go.

I don't care that much for the current bubble gum stuff but I did like the music she started out with which is also probably as much bubble-gummy now that I listen to it again.





My son did not like my music choices back then.
 
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mumblethrax said:
I'm outraged that Katy Perry has never been Time's person of the year. I mean, her cat was named Kitty Purry. She deserves recognition for that alone.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift's cats are Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button. I'm sure she's a nice person and all, but that's nothing.
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My cat's name is Dr Ian Malcolm and she's awesome. Don't be nameist.
 
arthwollipot said:
You must be very careful. I can't navigate my way around in public without encountering random environmental music. Never been into a shopping centre? Did you buy your CDs from a completely silent music store? Never passed by someone on the street with a boom box?

You most certainly have. You may have tuned it out, but you have.
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I don't go to shopping centres, haven't bought a CD in over 15 years, don't encounter boom boxes out here in the sticks, have avoided commercial TV channels for years so don't get musical adverts, only play CDs in the car.

Perhaps you're being a little dogmatic?
 
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I’m a straight white male in his 70’s, married to an only slightly younger woman. We both really like Taylor Swift. And both applaud Time’s choice.

I has just moved from the hustle bustle of S FL to N GA after a divorce in 2005. We became aware of Taylor soon after meeting, when she had one album out and was about 17, I think.

Several of those songs touched us both - “Tim McCraw”, “Tears on My Guitar”, and “Our Song”. Touching, catchy tunes of young love found and often lost.

Subsequent albums gradually moved towards pop, and began to lose us a bit, reminding us of the plot line of the recent remake of “A Star is Born”. Yet the times were changing and it was clearly in tune with her evolving fans.

We saw her “Eras Tour” movie and it was incredible from a stagecraft, technical and talent perspective. We both would have preferred more of the earlier, acoustic stuff, but again, we’re not her target audience. And we both want to revisit it with subtitles - it was frustratingly hard to follow the lyrics to songs we didn’t already know.

If anyone has any doubt as to her songwriting ability, check out “All Too Well”. A high point in the concert film for us. Here it is with lyrics:

https://youtu.be/9OQBDdNHmXo?si=N6irj3VqrMNP_tvj

Another of our favorites, from the 2012 Grammys:

https://youtu.be/W_4TxTjRvVA?feature=shared
 
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William Parcher said:
I've never heard a Taylor Swift song.
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JoeMorgue said:
Yep. It's like earlier this year when Sports Illustrated put transgender singer Kim Petras on one of the alternative covers and people were like "Will this confuse the children" and I'm like "I mean nobody under the age of 20 even knows what 'Sports Illustrated' or 'a magazine' is at this point."
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I listen to a podcast where anytime they mention a magazine or newspaper say, "See, kids, a magazine is like a website printed on paper.
 
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pzkpfw said:
It's hit 6 pm in N.Z. and I just heard the T.V. news start with a sting saying "she's the first entertaining to be given that honour".

Missing what person of the year is all about, as usual.
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Time's stated outline of what Person of the Year is all about hasn't been taken seriously since they named Rudy Gulianni instead of Osama Bin Laden in 2001. Naming Taylor Swift this year shows even they aren't taking it seriously.
 
Ron Obvious said:
NFL players have sales? I just don't understand this celebrity culture.
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Yeah, I'm shocked that I have to inform you that players wear jerseys. Those jerseys get sold, the player gets a cut. Happy to help. Follow me for more sports financial tips.

lobosrul5 said:
I think he meant team apparel sales for the KC Chiefs went up.
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No, but I wasn't specific so that's my bad. Travis Kelce's sales went up by 400%. The viewership of the game went up massively as well. Tons of articles about it.
 
No thread containing a link to "Shake it Off" is complete without a reference to Dwayne Johnson "performing" it on Lip Sync Battle. It was the first act of the first episode, and has never been topped IMO. (The show is fantastic, look it up).

 
Samson said:
Her particular station in life limits the bad she can do, so it is an uneven playing field for other candidates.
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*Kanye West shoots double finger guns*

Not a fan of her genre of music at all, but damned if she is not the most giving person I've heard about in years. I was reading somewhere that she is one of the richest entertainers, yet also makes it rain with more philanthropic cash both in volume and proportion than anyone else comparable.
 
Thermal said:
Not a fan of her genre of music at all, but damned if she is not the most giving person I've heard about in years. I was reading somewhere that she is one of the richest entertainers, yet also makes it rain with more philanthropic cash both in volume and proportion than anyone else comparable.
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Sounds like she may really be like Dolly Parton, then. I'm probably not going to seek out her music, but I'm not going to hate her just because I get tired of seeing her name in media too often.

Unless I see her in commercials. That's a quick path to my undying enmity.
 
Not a fan of her music, like many here. But also have no issues with this.

One funny thing was that until a few years ago, she managed to keep her perspective on many social issues to herself. And then some racist morons started referring to her as their Aryan Goddess. That seems to have coaxed her out of her offical neutrality just enough to signal she does not support those racist fools.

A lot of people would like it if celebrities kept their opinions to themselves. Unfortunately, if they actually do that, some of the fans will make up a narrative for them.
 
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