Deconstructing Taylor Swift’s ‘You Need To Calm Down’

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I really like Taylor Swift’s latest song. But while I won’t call it derivative, I will suggest that it’s heavily influenced by two other songs.

One of the songs is Lily Allen’s “Straight To Hell.”
The other song is Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear It For the Boy.”

Swift’s song has been slowed down, however. So it’s not a one-to-one. But if you listen carefully to the background music, the “wall of sound” if you will, you can definitely hear the Allen song floating around.

Now, when it comes to Williams’ song, I think the producer of Swift’s song simply wanted to evoke the feel, the vibe of that song. But that sound was all over the place in 80s music so hearing it in Swift song is kind of driving me crazy.

Thus Twift’s song is a mixture of this song slowed down a lot:

And a big chunk of the sound of this song used as something as both a tone setter and a “cover” for the use of Allen’s song.

Both those two songs together, throw in some awkward modern lyrics about haters and…ta-da!

A Theory About Taylor Swift’s ‘You Need To Calm Down’

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

As I’ve written before, I think Taylor Swift decided to use Lily Allen’s “Straight To Hell” as a musical blueprint for her song, “You Need To Calm Down.”

The more I listen to the two songs, it’s a much more subtle similarity than I originally thought. I guess what I’m hearing is there’s a background sound in the new song that is very, very similar to the Allen song. And the beat is very similar, if in a very garbled way.

Here’s what I think happened:

Swift is really mad about getting it from both gay people and Right Wing nutjobs. So, she found a song that expresses her view on the subject: Straight to hell.

So, her song should really be entitled, “Go Straight to Hell Haters.” But, as I said, there’s another song’s sound being used as something of a cover in the Swift song. It’s such a direct lift, in fact, that given enough time and thought I can probably figure it out.

It’s an 80s song, I think. It’s conspicuous as to be pretty self-evident. I just can’t think of the song right now. Whatever the 80s song is I’m hearing the influence of, it was a pretty big hit.

This is Strange: Taylor Swift’s ‘You Need To Calm Down’ & Lily Allen’s Version Of The Clash’s ‘Straight To Hell’ Have The Same Beat Structure

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I really like Taylor Swift’s latest song, “You Need To Calm Down.” But something about it reminded me of something else. And it just occurred to me what it is — Lily Allen’s version of The Clash’s “Straight To Hell.”

Here’s take a listen for yourself:

There’s another song floating around in Swift’s song, though. It’s got a very 80s New Wave Electronica vibe to it. But otherwise, I sense a very, very strong influence on Swift’s song from the Allen song.

Or not.

Just an observation.

Wait, What? Taylor Swift Is A Very, Very Strange Person

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Tay-Tay, we love you, ok?

Taylor Swift’s latest single, “You Need To Calm Down” is the lyrical equivalent of her puting some random Twitter troll with a few followers on blast. It is a deeply weird song.

She explicitly responds to some pretty dumb criticism against her…I think?..from some of the darker corners of the Internet. Musicians are notorious for running around naked on an emotional level in their music and this latest single from Swift is a prime example of that behavior.

It’s almost as if she, like, uh…needs a hug?

So, the song is a response to some gay haters who think she’s….what? Not gay friendly enough? The deeply weird thing about the song is if she’s responding to one specific person on Twitter that got into her craw.

I simply have no explanation for how this song got produced in its current form. Generally, the idea for pop songs is to be timeless and universal and use subtext. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga are pretty good at this.

But Swift has a history of writing songs about and or directed at one specific person. Usually, in the past, it’s been boyfriends. This song, though, whoa buddy. I don’t get it. Weird, man, weird.

I think it’s safe to say that Swift is an extremely — EXTREMELY — sensitive person. She still needs to go rock in my opinion, though. But I think that says more about my craving for main stream rock music more than anything else.

Anyway, I generally like Swift’s latest stuff. I just wish she would chill out a little bit and have a little bit more self-confidence. We love you, ok? We really do.

V-Log: An Artistic Fundraising Proposal For A Trip To #NYC This Summer

By Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

No one is going to listen to me, but it was fun to talk about the possibility.

V-Log: Novel Notes For June 17th, 2019: Development Of The #Novel’s ‘Bible’ Is Going Well So Far

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Some thoughts.

The End Of The American Constitutional Republic — An Electoral College Nightmare

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

The fatal flaw in our existing system is there are physical human beings — 538 of them — who vote for president as the Electoral College. Given that Nancy Pelosi refuses to impeach Trump on moral grounds, if nothing else, what’s to stop Trump from using his dark money buddies to bribe enough electors to give him the presidency, even if he’s not on the ballet? In other words, what if the Electoral College votes for you to be president and you’re not eligible anymore?

Who’s to say you can’t be president, especially if you have FOX News and a dozens of insane assholes who don’t give a shit about anything but absolute power and “liberal tears?”

Once Trump — or whomever — was president at that point, they could as long as they were extreme Right nutjobs — sitback and control the Executive Branch for as long as they like. The military might be upset, but Turkey proves even that isn’t effective.

I think this scenario is the one that will happen, probably in 2020, or no later than 2024 when Trump simply refuses to leave office after the a bribed Electoral College votes for him en masse.

V-Log: Why The Electoral College Will Bring America Down In The End (Or At Least Bring About An ‘Elected’ Dictatorship)

Some thoughts.

V-Log: The State Of The #Novel I’m Developing & #Writing As Of June 16th, 2019

Some thoughts.

Writing A Novel Is A Huge Amount of Work

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Writing a novel is so much work, especially when you’re doing your development in a very fluid manner like I am. I still haven’t gotten my names locked down.

But I am pleased with the overall conceit of the novel. It’s strong and at this point I think it’s going to boil down more to if I can strike at just the right moment culturally and also, well, my writing ability.

I really want to try to sell this novel in about a year. But that might be pushing it. I want this to be a breach read in 2020. It want it to be an accessible, thought provoking political thriller that you can also read over a long weekend and enjoy simply as a thriller.

If you get the deeper meaning, that’s great.

I will be content if I can get just maybe six people who think I suck as a writer to enjoy the novel and recommend it to a friend. That would be pretty sweet. I do, however, want to at least attempt to publish it through a traditional publishing house.

But if that doesn’t work, I’m going to be one of those lame, dumb indy authors who beg you to buy their book on Twitter. I find that currently to be a fate worst than death, but I would like SOMEONE to read this thing I’ve put so much work into.

I have, however, not even seriously begun the first draft, so I still have a lot of time ahead of me before that happens. If all else fails, I’ll simply use all this work as leverage to write a screenplay or another novel a lot — a lot — faster.