{"id":9389,"date":"2014-08-20T13:50:15","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T13:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=9389"},"modified":"2014-08-20T13:50:15","modified_gmt":"2014-08-20T13:50:15","slug":"why-taylor-swift-was-right-to-break-up-with-country-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2014\/08\/20\/why-taylor-swift-was-right-to-break-up-with-country-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Taylor Swift was right to break up with country music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/2014\/08\/20\/why-taylor-swift-was-right-to-break-up-with-country-music\/rs_600x600-140818141759-600taylor-swift-1989-album\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9390\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-9390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stylusmagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/rs_600x600-140818141759-600taylor-swift-1989-album-500x500.jpg\" alt=\"rs_600x600-140818141759-600taylor-swift-1989-album\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>by Matt Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For years now, the relationship between Taylor Swift and country music fans has been strained at best. Swift has been on an unstoppable rocket to peak fame and stardom, traveling at light-speed, since the beginning of her career, and until recently, she had at least managed to satiate her country fans, albeit less and less with each album. <em>Red<\/em>, arguably her best record to date, was almost devoid of anything resembling country, instead trading in the twang for new tricks like dubstep-lite (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cI Knew You Were Trouble\u201d<\/a>) or straight-up bubblegum pop (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AgFeZr5ptV8\" target=\"_blank\">\u201c22\u201d<\/a>). But still, until Monday\u2019s release of \u201cShake It Off,\u201d the kickoff single from Swift\u2019s upcoming \u201cvery first documented, official pop album\u201d <em>1989<\/em>, many still believed there was a chance for their saviour to come back home, or at least keep things country enough that she could pass for a slot at the CMAs.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not happening. And it absolutely shouldn\u2019t. The whole thing has had the stench of a relationship dragged on too long. She\u2019d strum an acoustic guitar now and then so it would look like she really still wanted to make country music, and country music would believe her, doe-eyed and pathetically dragging along behind her, because it wasn\u2019t sure what else to do. Because Swift got pegged as a country artist so young, there was a general consensus among her fans that things would simply always be that way, the attitude that because \u201cwe gave all this to her, she owes us some loyalty.\u201d Fans both hardcore and casual have a tendency to believe these sorts of things. Bob Dylan\u2019s diehard folkie fans wanted to kill him when he went electric. Why wasn\u2019t he doing protest songs anymore? Why was it so loud? Why was he playing this disgusting rock music and diluting his purity?<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"500\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/embed\/video\/x241n80\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/video\/x241n80_taylor-swift-shake-it-off-official-music-video_music\" target=\"_blank\">Taylor Swift &#8211; Shake It Off (Official Music Video)<\/a> <i>by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymotion.com\/Higaboy\" target=\"_blank\">Higaboy<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Not only do none of those questions matter \u2013 it\u2019s just fucking music, after all \u2013 but those who ask them reveal a serious inability to adapt or embrace change, or even trust in an artist they\u2019ve always loved. Saying you\u2019ll only love Taylor Swift as long as she plays country music is like saying you\u2019ll only love your daughter until she gets three tattoos or drops out of school to become a professional graffiti artist. She\u2019s still the same person, but she\u2019s been making country music since before she hit puberty. How could anyone expect a musician to remain so pigeon-holed for so long? If anything, Nashville should feel lucky for the country music they got out of her, because she might\u2019ve made the switch much earlier. The fact that Swift is breaking up with country is actually proof that she\u2019s becoming what most people knew all along but were afraid to admit: she\u2019s an artist. Not in the fufu, \u201ceveryone who makes some art is an artist\u201d sense, but an actual, serious artist. Someone even those who turn their nose up at Top 40 will soon have to admit is worthy of some appreciation. Just so you know I\u2019m not delusional, I agree: the pseudo-rap break on \u201cShake It Off\u201d is bad and maybe the only black mark on an otherwise perfect pop tune. But even if <em>1989<\/em> is the worst thing she\u2019s ever done (and I\u2019m willing to bet it won\u2019t be, not by a longshot), Taylor Swift will, from Oct. 27, 2014 on, be not only a sales juggernaut, but also an artistic heavyweight in the realm of pop music.<\/p>\n<p>They might boo and hiss, they might call her a sell-out, but to quote Jay Z, \u201cif you grew up with holes in your Zapatos, you\u2019d celebrate the minute you was havin\u2019 dough.\u201d Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, I know Swift came from major money. She\u2019s never wanted for cash. It\u2019s the attitude, though. Jay Z didn\u2019t stop once he made his first million and say, \u201ccool, that\u2019s enough.\u201d He built a gigantic fucking empire and crowned himself the king of it. He couldn\u2019t even stay retired. Taylor Swift has been on the fast-track to a level of stardom and universal adoration that the world has maybe never seen. To expect her to sit back and pass on it, when she has the chance to have her cake and eat it too, to do whatever she wants artistically and <em>still <\/em>rule the world, is the thought of an insane person.<\/p>\n<p>So, country music, put on your boots and get over it. To name your Hall of Fame\u2019s education wing after Taylor was a really sweet gesture. There are still a lot of great things about you, and you\u2019ll find someone new, but you\u2019re going to have to figure out how to deal without Taylor Swift. She doesn\u2019t owe you anything, and you owe her the freedom to grow and change and be all that she can be. Just be happy you helped her out along the way.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MattGeeWilliams\" target=\"_blank\"><em>@MattGeeWilliams<\/em><\/a> <em>has listened to \u201cShake It Off\u201d over 50 times today.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Matt Williams For years now, the relationship between Taylor Swift and country music fans has been strained at best. Swift has been on an unstoppable rocket to peak fame and stardom, traveling at light-speed, since the beginning of her career, and until recently, she had at least managed to satiate her country fans, albeit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[432],"class_list":["post-9389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","tag-hillbilly-highway"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}