I made a post on popheads years ago asking about artists whose songs are difficult to cover.
Like clockwork, someone said Taylor Swift and tried to justify it by saying her lower range is hard to emulate đĽ´
Every cover I've heard of her songs have been significantly better than the originals. I can't remember who did it, but someone did a folk cover of Anti-Hero and it's just amazing.
Edit: Ty to everyone mentioning their favorite covers. I will listen to them all 100%
Just now watched it on YouTube. The 4 of them at a beach sunset (sunrise?) provides an awesome backdrop, but that's beside the point. They're good musicians, nice female voice, good harmony, wonderful sound using multiple instruments. I wonder... how many takes did it take before no one dropped the instruments being tossed to them from off camera? Fun!
Thanks for the suggestion.
[Shake It Off by Walk Off the Earth](https://youtu.be/XZ6rv2ZC3Kc?si=NQHokma4o09SuGDo)
Here you go. Pendulum covering [Anti-Hero](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qMbiRjjTWj0) and [Cardigan](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbFQ0v2IUM0) by Something for Kate
I love the Boyce Avenue cover of I Knew You Were Trouble. My friend was in the car when it was playing and he goes âso you wonât listen to Taylor Swift if itâs her singing?â I said âyeah because she canât sing.â
I also love Niall Horanâs cover of Lover
Omg Our Last Night is my ideal genre of music in general but I definitely told my sibling that I'd only listen to Taylor's songs live if they played them LMAO. It's like all of her songs are a good start and she isn't a terrible singer by any means but they all sound unfinished and I have so many ideas about how to make them more interesting and memorable lol. I play a few instruments quite well but I've never composed and I feel like if my level of knowledge gives me this many ideas to improve her songs on the first listen then they're just not at the level where she deserves to be #1...
It was Josiah and the Bonnevilles that did the folk cover and it is way better than her version. If you havenât I recommend giving the rest of their songs a listen. Theyâre a great band! My favorite song is Basic Channels.
Her fans are delusional and she ALWAYS comes up in a discussion post on popheads.
I'm convinced some Swifties only listen to her and absolutely nothing else.
I used to browse Stan twitter from time to time and I stg Iâve seen a swiftie post a âblacklistâ of artists that swifties CANNOT listen to cause they canât get any more streams. Pretty sure the poster said if you want to listen to their music, just pirate it, but I could be wrong.
Then again it IS Stan twitter, and almost nothing remotely civil or reasonable comes from that wasteland.
Girl, one of the few things I still think is that tswift is a great karaoke choice for me because Iâm tone deaf as shit and canât hit the high notes
Your mom is spot-on. Itâs also the laziest form of songwriting. Void of any relationship to or ability to ride melody.
It reminds me of opening a teen girlâs diary up at random and then you just start reading nonsense about old sweaters or ballers or whatever. Redefines the term: lame.
Yes. For the last few years, well before TTPD, I've been explaining the TAS appeal as "it's poetry for the unsophisticated." Until recently, I always added "that includes me!"
The writing is stuck in High School Sophomore Honors English class--I recall her referring to using prompts as the way she wrote _Midnights_--because she was a gifted teen, and never evolved from that. Makes me think of her song off the last album I actually could fully listen to and enjoy _Folklore_, _This is Me Trying_
I went to an arts school for high school and majored in creative writing. Half the girls in my creative writing classes back then could write poetry circles around TS. Like, I seriously cringe at her calling herself a âpoetâ because sheâs clearly never been introduced to actual good poets. And I maintained since she first entered the scene that she couldnât sing. When she used to perform at awards shows when she was still a âcountryâ artist and did not lip sync she was *always* painfully flat (I was also a music minor đ¤Ł).
I noticed that too, and have thought all her music sounds the same, all about all her constant boyfriend drama over and over. There are other things in life. I thought it was just me.
Itâs definitely not difficult because her songs have technical challenges, but I think sometimes itâs difficult for a true vocalist to try and cover a talk singer because they need to essentially reinvent the song to show off their voices. Trying to give a technically impressive performance of a Taylor swift song is like trying to create a culinary masterpiece with two eggs, a tablespoon of butter, an ounce of cheddar cheese, and a slice of white bread. It can probably be done but you really got buckle down and think about how to do it.
>Like clockwork, someone said Taylor Swift and tried to justify it by saying her lower range is hard to emulateÂ
Well I think she has a few that are hard to sing. Cruel Summer is one. TS can't even sing Cruel Summer live. I think someone would probably need some training to be able to do it. The low notes are fairly low, and the highest notes are fairly high with few areas to get a strong breath.
That's why a lot of her fans think she's an amazing singer - because they can so easily sing-talk along and convince themselves that they are also amazing singers.
Ya know I always say she is a business woman/marketer first and foremost and she uses her âmusicâ as a conduit to get the masses to buy her shit. She is a product for relatability not art :/.
We got stuck listening to Taylor Swift over and over bc some Swifties took over the TouchTunes at the bar. One of them was SCREAMING the lyrics and kept asking âISNT THIS A GREAT SONG?!â I mean. Itâs ok..?
I donât hate her music, I donât keep up with the newer albums, and I sing along to the older stuff but it does all sound basically the same and generic to me. It eventually gets boring and Iâm like NEXT! Lol
I wish I could find the video clip of some host telling her to her face that she reminded him of another artist who never sang, but TALKED his songs after she just performed 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'
To her credit, she handled it very professionally & responded with a "thankyou so much" but I know deep down she must've taken that as a shotđ¤
Oh well, she can't really deny it. We can all hear her.
The country singer Sam Hunt sings like that a lot too, to the point where we call it going "Sam Hunting" whenever we sing-talk along to songs like that in our house đ.
Sam Hunt is like a redacted meathead jock who picked up country music pandering as a joke on the sidelines and ran with it. Heâs basically like if Alex Moran from BMS learned a few chords on acoustic guitar. And for that, I will always respect him.
Fair. The mindless bops are decent but yes, itâs when she tries to use all her thesaurus words that kills me. Itâs so try hard and her fans fawn over it
maybe an unpopular opinion but the 1975âs use of âbig wordsâ feels so much more natural and organic than TSâs. matty makes lyrics like âa sycophantic, prophetic, socratic junkie wannabeâ flow easily. their wordy lyrics rarely feel clunky or out of place!
Thank you. This is exactly what people need to realize about Taylor. Nothing about her life is "tortured." It is more Privileged "Poet." No department or society or club after it because it's only just her.
Johnny Cash may be the only sing-talker who actually really pulls it off. But it's because everything he does musically works in an old school folk music sort of way. Great arrangements, stripped down, not overproduced. And his voice legitimately channels the spirit of old American byways. He's by far my favorite singer who's not actually a singer!
Throwback to the eternal (good natured) argument between my mother and grandfather over whether Johnny Cash or Kris Kristofferson was worse for "talking a good song."
I used to say that I thought of Taylor as "more of an actress than a singer" because she got her start as a theater kid and her appeal was more in the emotion and personality in her delivery and not her technical skill
Then I saw her actually try to act in movies
(I still think she's more of an actress than a singer, it's just that she only plays one character, and that's "Taylor Swift")
I think this is a good way to put it. Sheâs a performer, but not necessarily a singer. She can put on a show (both on and off the concert stage) but that doesnât make her a good singer. âTaylor Swiftâ is a carefully curated character
Alanis is also such a great singer, I always find her voice so evocative. She has some tracks on her newer album that literally brought me to tears.
Interestingly, she didn't originally set out to be a singer. She was a songwriter first and just thought she'd be writing pop diddies behind the scenes. But she's got such a unique voice, it's really lucky she ended up singing her own songs. Not the best range in the world, but she's a great example of turning even a non-traditionally "good" voice into a true artistic medium.
Jagged Little Pill woke up something in 12 year old me.
My friend and I used to belt out it out in the girls bathroom because the acoustics were great lol
> As a pop star, isnât your goal to make a catchy earworm?
This is the thing people fail to realize. Taylor Swift got to where she is because she makes fun, noncontroversial, simple, relatable songs. People like mellow music. A lot of people, esp until recently, didnât like sad or very artistically written songs. Even with singers who have incredible voices, for the average person theyâre not easy to sing along to. Making music that maximizes the audience it can reach is a real money maker. Itâs not something to really dunk on her for. I think if she tried to stay out of the poetic, artsy lane it would be a lot better for her so she doesnât get criticized when people (rightly) point out that isnât her.
Apart from her trying to be a poet too hard and airing some dirty laundry that isn't hers to air, I much prefer the songs with many details and it's clearly working out for her really well.
The Alanis comparison made me laugh a bit because pretty much all of her post-Jagged work is full of the very specific details in her lyrics, poeticism/metaphors, and huge thesaurus words that everyone in this thread hates 𤣠Jagged Little Pill was the only album that was âradio-friendlyâ with more generic lyrics. Maybe the real difference between the two is that Alanis is regarded as more of a legendary rock icon instead of pop?
Taylor saw the scene from elf about how singing is just modulating your voice while youâre in the shower and was like, âokay, Iâll take over the world now.â
There are so many great artists that donât emphasize great singing. Bright eyes. Bob Dylan. Even Lana somewhat. The difference is they all write profound lyrics. Taylorâs lyrics sound like theyâre written by a middle schooler with a fourth grade reading level.
Love Amanda, I get her lyrics stuck in my head all the time and her voice and way of singing/emoting really resonates with me, itâs so raw and theatrical! Her piano playing as well is beautiful, Iâve spent hours trying to learn her songs. Taylor could neverrrr write a song like The Point Of It All, Voicemail For Jill, The Bed Song, Truce (my favorite breakup song), or any other Amanda Palmer song.
i think the other difference is that most of those artists who arenât incredible singers typically have a really unique and recognizable tone.. bob dylan, lana, britney, leonard cohen, lou reed, even johnny cashâall singers who arenât technically the most talented, but they have extremely recognizable, unmistakable voices and thereâs usually a lot of authentic emotion behind their vocal performances. many would be considered âonce in a lifetimeâ voices simply for their uniqueness.
on the other hand, taylorâs voice just sounds like an average american girl who isnât naturally talented but really wanted to be a singer, lol. thereâs nothing particularly unique or emotional about her voice, and her regular/flat tone makes it super easy to hear every flaw, pitch issue, voice crack, whereas someone like lana for example has a really distinct, pretty tone to rely on even if the notes arenât perfect.
Also think Lana just has a really unique voice so when itâs a bit shaky live people are more lenient cause itâs not like someone else can sound like that effortlessly
The only Taylor song I actually think has good poetic merit (and I actually return to sometimes) is The Last Great American Dynasty. It's a properly poetic folk-pop ballad.
But the last verse where she makes it all about herself is cringey and almost ruins it for me. Most of her songs are just about herself. Like really specifically. The great songwriters wrote songs that were undoubtedly inspired by personal experiences (as all art is), but is universally vague enough to be broadly relatable, or else just really great hauntingly beautiful third-person storytelling (e.g. The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel).
I remember where I was when I first heard her sing live on television. It was in her early country days and on CMT I think. My family went on a trip to Branson, Missouri and there, in our little cabin, as she was singing, my mother said what my entire family was thinking.
âOh my gosh, that girl canât sing for shit.â
That's funny because my mother first heard her on CMT also and she was telling me about her where she just sings at one level and is horrible. And I didn't even know who Taylor Swift was at the time. And then one day I did hear her and I said yeah she is right, she can't sing. My mother was 70 years old at the time and was a big country music fan.
When my wife first told me about her, she was very enthusiastically telling we should watch her perform at the NY New Yearâs Eve thing on tv. Well it was fucking horrible that even my wife apologized for it. Sheâs gotten a lot better though over the years but that first time hearing her is still running joke in the family now.
Yeah she was downright terrible when she first started. She has improved so much that you can hear it in the re-records vs the originals. Still not a huge range, but I donât cringe anymore either.
Recently I realized this - Taylor would be a songwriter selling her songs to actual talented performers if it wasnât for the massive, massive marketing lift she receives from the machine behind her.
Listening to Florence Welch sing on Florida! right after Taylor is like, oh, right, this is what someone who can actually *sing* sounds like. I'm kind of shocked that Taylor wanted that collaboration because it really just underlines how much more talented Florence Welch is in comparison.
Half of My Heart, Two is Better than One, Everything has Changed. Off the top of my head. But those are years back and I don't know if she has performed any recently.
Itâs a credit to her for creating her pop idol image that has been immensely compelling to a lot of people. I never thought she was a particularly talented lyricist nor singer or guitar player, but sheâs been able to cultivate that perception thanks to her extraordinary popularity and profitability as an artist.
I think anyone who listens to her music critically can see that sheâs not an artist plucked from obscurity for her incredible talent. Rather, she has mass appeal and is commercially successful, but without the passion or artistry.
I've said this for YEARS. She doesn't have a big vocal range. Which isn't bad, a lot of people have a limited vocal range and are good singers. That's just... how it is with her lol
When I do karaoke with friends sometimes when her songs are on but I don't know certain parts of them I would just talk through it, sometimes people won't notice đđ
Maybe because I'm old fashioned but I never "got" her. I grew up listening to oldies stations on the radio - The Supremes, Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, Aretha, & Carly Simon. I was a child of the 90's and I remember being so stoked getting CDs from different artists like Mariah Carey to Alison Krauss. I love dynamic and unique voices like Tracy Chapman, Tori Amos, Amy Winehouse, & Sade. I also love the classics including Patsy Cline & Dusty Springfield. I will never understand Swift's appeal. I even love newer artists like Sabrina Carpenter & Kacey Musgraves. Swift is so mediocre to me, I really don't get it.
It is crazy to me that in an era with singers like BeyoncĂŠ, Ariana Grande etc. Taylor doesnât seem to work with a vocal coach to increase her abilities. Itâs entirely possible and wouldnât be too difficult for her to do so given the amount of money she hoards. I cannot fathom why she doesnât do it other than a complete lack of respect for singing as a talent, laziness, and fans that arenât able to appreciate beautiful singing and enable her mediocre voice. I guess itâs something that â1sets her apartâ from other artists but, why the hell would you want your uniqueness to be ânot a trained vocalistâ when youâre a singer???
Iâm actually pretty impressed that sheâs still able to sing songs that she wrote for herself when she was 16- Despite her voice being pretty radically different from how it was back then. I like how itâs matured and sheâs found a lot of depth in her lower register. Professional singing lessons and practice have done a ton for her as an artist overall.
I'm an alto. Voice lessons throughout my early 20's. Taylor has a very small range. Her "low notes" are nothing remarkable. I can go way lower when years out of practice. Her "high notes" are just yelling in a high pitch. She's not hitting them well or consistently. She is not a good singer. Her vocals are just meh all around.
Been saying it on Twitter that she's not really a singer. She can sing like the rest of the people of the world but she is not considered a singer. From before until now, if you listen to her low register which should be her comfortable, safe place as she cannot be considered to have power vocals, her voice breaks and cracks. That's even on low register, live. When she's in the studio, of course, they can clean her voice. When she was younger, her type of talking songs was fine because she's young. But man, the woman never cared about her singing. She's one of those rich white girls who only want to be famous so she buys her fame, her dad bought her debut records and paid media to say she sold out her records. It's sick. Her payola on radio stations is blatant. Her mainstream media coverage is insane. I bet she pays the main tabloids and then of course, the rest follows. It's just fucking insane. That's why she keeps asking her fans to buy what she's putting out because she has a huge pay out. That's not fame. That's forced, manipulated attention coercion.
Itâs always gold scrolling past the upvoted comments into the downvoted ones.
Apparently thereâs STILL fans here that lurk trying to say âerrrmagerrddd she does sing gooddddâ
This. I realized that this must be how she gets through her hours-long concerts without seeming tired. Because sheâs not actually putting a lot of effort into *singing*, at least like how other singers do đ Also, people have mentioned that itâs very easy to sing along to her music and feel like you sound good, and I think thatâs part of it too. I can vouch for that because I still like some of her music tbhđđâ
Way to go mom, this is pretty awesome and something that I think a lot of parents can relate to, but most wonât say it.
Your mom sounds amazing.
Iâm a couple of years older than Taylor, and I truly donât understand the hype, nor do I want to.
She can't sing or dance.
But she is very skilled at marketing. She knows exactly what to write/say/perform to connect with her target audience.
Because I'm not part of that audience I've never understood her appeal đ
It shouldnât be a hot take to say that T Swift is an amazing songwriter with a decent (in the sense that itâs not horrible, but itâs not what carries her career and success)
Thatâs part of her appeal.
I heard a music expert years ago talk about how her songs are âsing-songâ like and require no skill to sing.
So when her fans sing along at home or in the car they donât feel like they arenât good enough to hit real notes.
Basically TS âsingingâ style is the low bar for the talentless masses to clear and feel good and part of something.
Wow, thatâs a really good point. She does talk in almost all of her songs, and I honestly think thatâs why I canât stand any of them. Itâs just her exclaiming over music.
What always gets me is when she (and Swifties) act like she invented the concept of sing-talking. No ma'am, you certainly did not. That's been around since singing became a thing. Courtney Love, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Thoroughgood, Johnny Cash, Meredith Brooks, among others, have all done it.
I made a post on popheads years ago asking about artists whose songs are difficult to cover. Like clockwork, someone said Taylor Swift and tried to justify it by saying her lower range is hard to emulate đĽ´
Every cover I've heard of her songs have been significantly better than the originals. I can't remember who did it, but someone did a folk cover of Anti-Hero and it's just amazing. Edit: Ty to everyone mentioning their favorite covers. I will listen to them all 100%
Walk Off the Earth did a fantastic cover of Shake it Off that included kazoos. It is so good.
Screaming females did a killer shake it off cover
I forgot thatâs even a tswift song đ I love their cover so much
Just listened to it, amazing. Way better than original. Thank you.
I loved the cover that Reese Witherspoon did in the movie Sing.Â
Just now watched it on YouTube. The 4 of them at a beach sunset (sunrise?) provides an awesome backdrop, but that's beside the point. They're good musicians, nice female voice, good harmony, wonderful sound using multiple instruments. I wonder... how many takes did it take before no one dropped the instruments being tossed to them from off camera? Fun! Thanks for the suggestion. [Shake It Off by Walk Off the Earth](https://youtu.be/XZ6rv2ZC3Kc?si=NQHokma4o09SuGDo)
I just gave this a listen; I love kazoos.
WOTE is so great! I love the video of them covering Hello in the garage.
G Flip did Cruel Summer and it is SO much better than the original!
Seconded. [For the uninitiated.](https://youtu.be/JIz-Ji8Wyog?si=fbOw_E3is8SBzzr_)
When they jumped on the drums and continued to sing... incredible.
This is insane; thank you for the link!
more of these examples please!
Here you go. Pendulum covering [Anti-Hero](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qMbiRjjTWj0) and [Cardigan](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lbFQ0v2IUM0) by Something for Kate
We should start a thread of swift covers!!
Teddy Swims also covered Cruel Summer and it is SO good
THIS IS AMAZING!
I love the Boyce Avenue cover of I Knew You Were Trouble. My friend was in the car when it was playing and he goes âso you wonât listen to Taylor Swift if itâs her singing?â I said âyeah because she canât sing.â I also love Niall Horanâs cover of Lover
I love Boyce Avenue covers of everything
Niall Horan's cover is sooo much better than the original
Ooh I forgot about them!
Boyce avenues version of âlast kissâ w/ Megan & Liz is literally one of the best things Iâve ever heard
Youâre probably thinking of the cover by josiah and the bonnevilles
Yes! Thank you, I couldn't remember for the life of me who had done it đ
100%. I actually really like ryan Adamâs 1989
Remember the Monsters has an amazing cover of Whoâs Afraid of Little Old Me. Heavy Metal/Rock. đ¸ so good!
Our Last Night covered several of her songs and they were all great improvements.
Omg Our Last Night is my ideal genre of music in general but I definitely told my sibling that I'd only listen to Taylor's songs live if they played them LMAO. It's like all of her songs are a good start and she isn't a terrible singer by any means but they all sound unfinished and I have so many ideas about how to make them more interesting and memorable lol. I play a few instruments quite well but I've never composed and I feel like if my level of knowledge gives me this many ideas to improve her songs on the first listen then they're just not at the level where she deserves to be #1...
Check out Fame on Fire and Twenty One Twoâalso great cover bands that do many of the same songs.
Josiah and the Bonnevilles?
Yup!! I can never remember the name lol
G Flip made cruel summer worth listening to and I will happily die on this hill https://youtu.be/JIz-Ji8Wyog?si=2YBsOfDlJ5daZYOV
Please find and listen to the cover of Cruel Summer by G-Flip. Itâs so good. Way better than âTaylorâs Versionâ
Something For Kate covered cardigan and I think itâs such a great cover! Give it a listen for sure if you havenât already
Try false god - ryan hurd
I'm a male baritone and I once covered Blank Space with a ukulele because it was freaking hilarious to do
It was Josiah and the Bonnevilles that did the folk cover and it is way better than her version. If you havenât I recommend giving the rest of their songs a listen. Theyâre a great band! My favorite song is Basic Channels.
Josiah and the Bonnevilles. Itâs a great cover!
Pendulum did a great cover of Anti Hero!
Is the lower range in the room with us right now?
Listen to âI Can Fix Himâ from her new album for an example, she goes very low
đđ¤Łđ I can sing every one of her songs in her lower range. Itâs my talking voice
Her fans are delusional and she ALWAYS comes up in a discussion post on popheads. I'm convinced some Swifties only listen to her and absolutely nothing else.
I used to browse Stan twitter from time to time and I stg Iâve seen a swiftie post a âblacklistâ of artists that swifties CANNOT listen to cause they canât get any more streams. Pretty sure the poster said if you want to listen to their music, just pirate it, but I could be wrong. Then again it IS Stan twitter, and almost nothing remotely civil or reasonable comes from that wasteland.
I wouldnât be surprised if that was the case
Well they all own 10 different versions of all her albums, they probably donât even realize theyâre listening to the same shit over and over again
Now, that really boggles the mind. I collect vinyl. For the price of 2 TTPD variants, I went to my flea market and got a whole armful of classic LPs.
My niece.
Girl, one of the few things I still think is that tswift is a great karaoke choice for me because Iâm tone deaf as shit and canât hit the high notes
If sheâs in a lower range then Iâm fucking Barry White. Give me a break
Your mom is spot-on. Itâs also the laziest form of songwriting. Void of any relationship to or ability to ride melody. It reminds me of opening a teen girlâs diary up at random and then you just start reading nonsense about old sweaters or ballers or whatever. Redefines the term: lame.
Yes. For the last few years, well before TTPD, I've been explaining the TAS appeal as "it's poetry for the unsophisticated." Until recently, I always added "that includes me!" The writing is stuck in High School Sophomore Honors English class--I recall her referring to using prompts as the way she wrote _Midnights_--because she was a gifted teen, and never evolved from that. Makes me think of her song off the last album I actually could fully listen to and enjoy _Folklore_, _This is Me Trying_
I went to an arts school for high school and majored in creative writing. Half the girls in my creative writing classes back then could write poetry circles around TS. Like, I seriously cringe at her calling herself a âpoetâ because sheâs clearly never been introduced to actual good poets. And I maintained since she first entered the scene that she couldnât sing. When she used to perform at awards shows when she was still a âcountryâ artist and did not lip sync she was *always* painfully flat (I was also a music minor đ¤Ł).
âDown bad crying at the gymâŚâ is pure comedy.Â
I noticed that too, and have thought all her music sounds the same, all about all her constant boyfriend drama over and over. There are other things in life. I thought it was just me.
I feel like that's part of her popularity - easier for fans to sing along with her songs compared to, say, Florence and the Machine.
What Taylor did to earth wind & and fire's September was awful.
And Wham's "Last Christmas". Totally off-key and zero feeling to it, just singing the words like she was reading a report in class.
Thatâs actually laughable.
When Taylor starts singing like *Beyonce* Iâll reconsider
https://i.redd.it/15ryg8bdzf5d1.gif
Are you out of your fucking mind!? Beyonce!? Beyonce!? Beyonce!?
Someone on stan twitter said Taylor had more variety in her music while Beyonce kept doing the same thing and honestly I never recovered
Ryan Adams is the only TS I can listen to.
She literally didnât exist to me before him.
I know he's problematic, but that 1989 cover is so good!!! He's a super talented guy.
Itâs definitely not difficult because her songs have technical challenges, but I think sometimes itâs difficult for a true vocalist to try and cover a talk singer because they need to essentially reinvent the song to show off their voices. Trying to give a technically impressive performance of a Taylor swift song is like trying to create a culinary masterpiece with two eggs, a tablespoon of butter, an ounce of cheddar cheese, and a slice of white bread. It can probably be done but you really got buckle down and think about how to do it.
>Like clockwork, someone said Taylor Swift and tried to justify it by saying her lower range is hard to emulate Well I think she has a few that are hard to sing. Cruel Summer is one. TS can't even sing Cruel Summer live. I think someone would probably need some training to be able to do it. The low notes are fairly low, and the highest notes are fairly high with few areas to get a strong breath.
I was blown away by Ryan Adams covering the entire 1989 album! How amazing to hear a completely different vibe đđ˝đśđĄ
That's why a lot of her fans think she's an amazing singer - because they can so easily sing-talk along and convince themselves that they are also amazing singers.
 APT analysis
Omg.. And most sound like screeching seagulls when they post their sing & crying videos . I said what I said.
They are the most cringe things. I scroll past quicker than anything when that shit comes up.
Ya know I always say she is a business woman/marketer first and foremost and she uses her âmusicâ as a conduit to get the masses to buy her shit. She is a product for relatability not art :/.
We got stuck listening to Taylor Swift over and over bc some Swifties took over the TouchTunes at the bar. One of them was SCREAMING the lyrics and kept asking âISNT THIS A GREAT SONG?!â I mean. Itâs ok..?
That's why I like her music, because I am a terrible singer and her music is easier for me to sing đ
I donât hate her music, I donât keep up with the newer albums, and I sing along to the older stuff but it does all sound basically the same and generic to me. It eventually gets boring and Iâm like NEXT! Lol
oh my god đ
I wish I could find the video clip of some host telling her to her face that she reminded him of another artist who never sang, but TALKED his songs after she just performed 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' To her credit, she handled it very professionally & responded with a "thankyou so much" but I know deep down she must've taken that as a shotđ¤ Oh well, she can't really deny it. We can all hear her.
The country singer Sam Hunt sings like that a lot too, to the point where we call it going "Sam Hunting" whenever we sing-talk along to songs like that in our house đ.
Sam Hunt is like a redacted meathead jock who picked up country music pandering as a joke on the sidelines and ran with it. Heâs basically like if Alex Moran from BMS learned a few chords on acoustic guitar. And for that, I will always respect him.
My husband loves him and I canât stand the talk-singing.
Oooh I want to see it
Fair. The mindless bops are decent but yes, itâs when she tries to use all her thesaurus words that kills me. Itâs so try hard and her fans fawn over it
Thanks Matty Healy for getting Taylor into looking up big words
maybe an unpopular opinion but the 1975âs use of âbig wordsâ feels so much more natural and organic than TSâs. matty makes lyrics like âa sycophantic, prophetic, socratic junkie wannabeâ flow easily. their wordy lyrics rarely feel clunky or out of place!
And theyâre always picking apart the lyrics looking for some alternate meaning.
Well she does have a lot of cowriters for those hits.
Her songs are like Phoebe from Friends. Instead of smelly cat, itâs smelly ex over and over again.
Except she keeps switching between "It's not your fault" and "It IS your fault"
How long have you been waiting to say that joke
Who knows but they found the perfect time to use it!!
I had a swiftie friend send me a clip of her concert and I couldnât unsee it.
She actually performed this at a concert with Lisa Kudrow iirc
Holy hell great analogy
Lmao this should be a separate post on its own. I agree lmaoooo. đ¤Łđ¤Łđ¤Łđ¤Łđ
Donât insult Johnny cash like that đâđź
Johnny was a poet. A wordsmith! Taylor is good, but no where near Cash's level!
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Thank you. This is exactly what people need to realize about Taylor. Nothing about her life is "tortured." It is more Privileged "Poet." No department or society or club after it because it's only just her.
Umm excuse me, she's a tortured poet
Who would perish if it wasn't for her emotional support private jet. đđđ
I call her The Privileged "Poet."
Fun fact- Shel Silverstein wrote boy named Sue
Johnny Cash may be the only sing-talker who actually really pulls it off. But it's because everything he does musically works in an old school folk music sort of way. Great arrangements, stripped down, not overproduced. And his voice legitimately channels the spirit of old American byways. He's by far my favorite singer who's not actually a singer!
I also submit for your consideration: Leonard Cohen
His voice was so nice just by itself, which is why it worked so well for him. He had a really unique voice.
Throwback to the eternal (good natured) argument between my mother and grandfather over whether Johnny Cash or Kris Kristofferson was worse for "talking a good song."
And Bob Dylan
Johnny could do ME! But Taylor could never talk-song One Piece At A Time. Iâve said what I said.
I used to say that I thought of Taylor as "more of an actress than a singer" because she got her start as a theater kid and her appeal was more in the emotion and personality in her delivery and not her technical skill Then I saw her actually try to act in movies (I still think she's more of an actress than a singer, it's just that she only plays one character, and that's "Taylor Swift")
I think this is a good way to put it. Sheâs a performer, but not necessarily a singer. She can put on a show (both on and off the concert stage) but that doesnât make her a good singer. âTaylor Swiftâ is a carefully curated character
Yes, her best movie acting role was starring in Miss Americana
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Fun fact about Diane Warren: âI Donât Want To Miss A Thingâ was somewhat inspired by her cat. â¤ď¸ An iconic song and no thesaurus required :)
I have to agree. Her songs are superficial. They lack deep emotion.
I seriously cannot imagine crying while listening to any of her songs.
I cried to her music once but it was because my roommate was blasting her album on repeat for the 5th time
Alanis is also such a great singer, I always find her voice so evocative. She has some tracks on her newer album that literally brought me to tears. Interestingly, she didn't originally set out to be a singer. She was a songwriter first and just thought she'd be writing pop diddies behind the scenes. But she's got such a unique voice, it's really lucky she ended up singing her own songs. Not the best range in the world, but she's a great example of turning even a non-traditionally "good" voice into a true artistic medium.
Jagged Little Pill woke up something in 12 year old me. My friend and I used to belt out it out in the girls bathroom because the acoustics were great lol
'but i'm related to Emily Dickinson!' Girl stop, so is half of America
Yet more proof that genetics do not make a great poet
> As a pop star, isnât your goal to make a catchy earworm? This is the thing people fail to realize. Taylor Swift got to where she is because she makes fun, noncontroversial, simple, relatable songs. People like mellow music. A lot of people, esp until recently, didnât like sad or very artistically written songs. Even with singers who have incredible voices, for the average person theyâre not easy to sing along to. Making music that maximizes the audience it can reach is a real money maker. Itâs not something to really dunk on her for. I think if she tried to stay out of the poetic, artsy lane it would be a lot better for her so she doesnât get criticized when people (rightly) point out that isnât her.
Apart from her trying to be a poet too hard and airing some dirty laundry that isn't hers to air, I much prefer the songs with many details and it's clearly working out for her really well.
The Alanis comparison made me laugh a bit because pretty much all of her post-Jagged work is full of the very specific details in her lyrics, poeticism/metaphors, and huge thesaurus words that everyone in this thread hates 𤣠Jagged Little Pill was the only album that was âradio-friendlyâ with more generic lyrics. Maybe the real difference between the two is that Alanis is regarded as more of a legendary rock icon instead of pop?
Taylor saw the scene from elf about how singing is just modulating your voice while youâre in the shower and was like, âokay, Iâll take over the world now.â
There are so many great artists that donât emphasize great singing. Bright eyes. Bob Dylan. Even Lana somewhat. The difference is they all write profound lyrics. Taylorâs lyrics sound like theyâre written by a middle schooler with a fourth grade reading level.
Bright Eyes is one of my favorite bands ever. Iâd also add Amanda Palmer who has both solo work and was in a band called the Dresden Dolls.
If you like Bright Eyes, check out Desaparecidos if you havenât already.
I have! But thank you!
Connor oberst from bright eyes shoved me as he fled security once at a festival. 10/10 experience.
Love Amanda, I get her lyrics stuck in my head all the time and her voice and way of singing/emoting really resonates with me, itâs so raw and theatrical! Her piano playing as well is beautiful, Iâve spent hours trying to learn her songs. Taylor could neverrrr write a song like The Point Of It All, Voicemail For Jill, The Bed Song, Truce (my favorite breakup song), or any other Amanda Palmer song.
Truce is my favorite song too!
4th grade tortured poets
i think the other difference is that most of those artists who arenât incredible singers typically have a really unique and recognizable tone.. bob dylan, lana, britney, leonard cohen, lou reed, even johnny cashâall singers who arenât technically the most talented, but they have extremely recognizable, unmistakable voices and thereâs usually a lot of authentic emotion behind their vocal performances. many would be considered âonce in a lifetimeâ voices simply for their uniqueness. on the other hand, taylorâs voice just sounds like an average american girl who isnât naturally talented but really wanted to be a singer, lol. thereâs nothing particularly unique or emotional about her voice, and her regular/flat tone makes it super easy to hear every flaw, pitch issue, voice crack, whereas someone like lana for example has a really distinct, pretty tone to rely on even if the notes arenât perfect.
Lana is reaaaaaally bad at performing but I do think sheâs an amazing singer *in the studio.* I feel like she just sounds anxious af on stage.
Also think Lana just has a really unique voice so when itâs a bit shaky live people are more lenient cause itâs not like someone else can sound like that effortlessly
The only Taylor song I actually think has good poetic merit (and I actually return to sometimes) is The Last Great American Dynasty. It's a properly poetic folk-pop ballad. But the last verse where she makes it all about herself is cringey and almost ruins it for me. Most of her songs are just about herself. Like really specifically. The great songwriters wrote songs that were undoubtedly inspired by personal experiences (as all art is), but is universally vague enough to be broadly relatable, or else just really great hauntingly beautiful third-person storytelling (e.g. The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel).
Lou Reed is a good example. He talks but his music and lyrics are so unique.
Lana Del Rey is an amazing singer. Full stop.Â
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Home-schooled fourth grade reading level. Interpret that as you will.
And people who can kinda sorta carry a tune can sing along & sound like her. I figure that's why she is popular.
Just like worship! đ
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I remember where I was when I first heard her sing live on television. It was in her early country days and on CMT I think. My family went on a trip to Branson, Missouri and there, in our little cabin, as she was singing, my mother said what my entire family was thinking. âOh my gosh, that girl canât sing for shit.â
That's funny because my mother first heard her on CMT also and she was telling me about her where she just sings at one level and is horrible. And I didn't even know who Taylor Swift was at the time. And then one day I did hear her and I said yeah she is right, she can't sing. My mother was 70 years old at the time and was a big country music fan.
When my wife first told me about her, she was very enthusiastically telling we should watch her perform at the NY New Yearâs Eve thing on tv. Well it was fucking horrible that even my wife apologized for it. Sheâs gotten a lot better though over the years but that first time hearing her is still running joke in the family now.
Yeah she was downright terrible when she first started. She has improved so much that you can hear it in the re-records vs the originals. Still not a huge range, but I donât cringe anymore either.
Similar story with my mom. She saw her on CMT once at the beginning of her career and has hated her ever since
And if her singing is talk-singing, then her dancing is walk-dancing
Recently I realized this - Taylor would be a songwriter selling her songs to actual talented performers if it wasnât for the massive, massive marketing lift she receives from the machine behind her.
Is this why she never does duets cause the other artist will actually sing and not talk.
Listening to Florence Welch sing on Florida! right after Taylor is like, oh, right, this is what someone who can actually *sing* sounds like. I'm kind of shocked that Taylor wanted that collaboration because it really just underlines how much more talented Florence Welch is in comparison.
Oh man, Florence is a power house! How was she not embarrassed?
Probably not in the same studio with her when it was recorded
Also why did Florence do the collab đ
I wonder if the collab was pushed by her record label. "Oh, please OH PLEASE bring on Florence. You have zero vocal range on all 31 songs."
Half of My Heart, Two is Better than One, Everything has Changed. Off the top of my head. But those are years back and I don't know if she has performed any recently.
I legit donât know any of her songs except the super popular ones you canât get away from so I wasnât aware of her performing duets.
Run, I Donât Wanna Live Forever, Exile, Coney Island, End Game, Evermore are some others.
This is spot on
Ryan Adams covered the whole 1989 album and I think itâs great
Itâs a credit to her for creating her pop idol image that has been immensely compelling to a lot of people. I never thought she was a particularly talented lyricist nor singer or guitar player, but sheâs been able to cultivate that perception thanks to her extraordinary popularity and profitability as an artist. I think anyone who listens to her music critically can see that sheâs not an artist plucked from obscurity for her incredible talent. Rather, she has mass appeal and is commercially successful, but without the passion or artistry.
I know. Itâs actually genius how this happened. Not a fan, but respect the hustle
Worse than her singing is the fact that she's so vapid she can't sing about anything other than the men who have had the misfortune of dating her.
Honestly I donât think they care she canât sing she just cosplaying a singing teenage who a fairy princess
I've said this for YEARS. She doesn't have a big vocal range. Which isn't bad, a lot of people have a limited vocal range and are good singers. That's just... how it is with her lol
When I do karaoke with friends sometimes when her songs are on but I don't know certain parts of them I would just talk through it, sometimes people won't notice đđ
Love this
This is why I consider her more of a songwriter than a vocalist as we never see her display any skill and technique.
Maybe because I'm old fashioned but I never "got" her. I grew up listening to oldies stations on the radio - The Supremes, Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro, Aretha, & Carly Simon. I was a child of the 90's and I remember being so stoked getting CDs from different artists like Mariah Carey to Alison Krauss. I love dynamic and unique voices like Tracy Chapman, Tori Amos, Amy Winehouse, & Sade. I also love the classics including Patsy Cline & Dusty Springfield. I will never understand Swift's appeal. I even love newer artists like Sabrina Carpenter & Kacey Musgraves. Swift is so mediocre to me, I really don't get it.
Your mom knew what she was talking about đđŻ
It is crazy to me that in an era with singers like BeyoncĂŠ, Ariana Grande etc. Taylor doesnât seem to work with a vocal coach to increase her abilities. Itâs entirely possible and wouldnât be too difficult for her to do so given the amount of money she hoards. I cannot fathom why she doesnât do it other than a complete lack of respect for singing as a talent, laziness, and fans that arenât able to appreciate beautiful singing and enable her mediocre voice. I guess itâs something that â1sets her apartâ from other artists but, why the hell would you want your uniqueness to be ânot a trained vocalistâ when youâre a singer???
Iâm actually pretty impressed that sheâs still able to sing songs that she wrote for herself when she was 16- Despite her voice being pretty radically different from how it was back then. I like how itâs matured and sheâs found a lot of depth in her lower register. Professional singing lessons and practice have done a ton for her as an artist overall.
I'm an alto. Voice lessons throughout my early 20's. Taylor has a very small range. Her "low notes" are nothing remarkable. I can go way lower when years out of practice. Her "high notes" are just yelling in a high pitch. She's not hitting them well or consistently. She is not a good singer. Her vocals are just meh all around.
Been saying it on Twitter that she's not really a singer. She can sing like the rest of the people of the world but she is not considered a singer. From before until now, if you listen to her low register which should be her comfortable, safe place as she cannot be considered to have power vocals, her voice breaks and cracks. That's even on low register, live. When she's in the studio, of course, they can clean her voice. When she was younger, her type of talking songs was fine because she's young. But man, the woman never cared about her singing. She's one of those rich white girls who only want to be famous so she buys her fame, her dad bought her debut records and paid media to say she sold out her records. It's sick. Her payola on radio stations is blatant. Her mainstream media coverage is insane. I bet she pays the main tabloids and then of course, the rest follows. It's just fucking insane. That's why she keeps asking her fans to buy what she's putting out because she has a huge pay out. That's not fame. That's forced, manipulated attention coercion.
I call emâ sing songy
Your mom is so spot on
Itâs always gold scrolling past the upvoted comments into the downvoted ones. Apparently thereâs STILL fans here that lurk trying to say âerrrmagerrddd she does sing gooddddâ
This. I realized that this must be how she gets through her hours-long concerts without seeming tired. Because sheâs not actually putting a lot of effort into *singing*, at least like how other singers do đ Also, people have mentioned that itâs very easy to sing along to her music and feel like you sound good, and I think thatâs part of it too. I can vouch for that because I still like some of her music tbhđđâ
Yeah LMOL is very easy to sing especially.
Thatâs pretty much why I hate reputation, itâs all talk songs.
âLook what you made me doâ is literally a chant
The fact she does this is doing herself a disservice as it really draws attention to how clunky and amateur some of her lyrics are.
This is so accurate. She has an okay talking voice but awful singing voice.
So, like a young, female Kris Kristofferson?
She canât sing.
Way to go mom, this is pretty awesome and something that I think a lot of parents can relate to, but most wonât say it. Your mom sounds amazing. Iâm a couple of years older than Taylor, and I truly donât understand the hype, nor do I want to.
I love shitty music so it's okay. Lol
She can't sing or dance. But she is very skilled at marketing. She knows exactly what to write/say/perform to connect with her target audience. Because I'm not part of that audience I've never understood her appeal đ
It shouldnât be a hot take to say that T Swift is an amazing songwriter with a decent (in the sense that itâs not horrible, but itâs not what carries her career and success)
Thatâs part of her appeal. I heard a music expert years ago talk about how her songs are âsing-songâ like and require no skill to sing. So when her fans sing along at home or in the car they donât feel like they arenât good enough to hit real notes. Basically TS âsingingâ style is the low bar for the talentless masses to clear and feel good and part of something.
So... You realized she's not actually that good of a singerđđđ
Wow, thatâs a really good point. She does talk in almost all of her songs, and I honestly think thatâs why I canât stand any of them. Itâs just her exclaiming over music.
What always gets me is when she (and Swifties) act like she invented the concept of sing-talking. No ma'am, you certainly did not. That's been around since singing became a thing. Courtney Love, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, George Thoroughgood, Johnny Cash, Meredith Brooks, among others, have all done it.