Taylor Swift Speak Now Review
Speak Now Originally Released October 25, 2010
By 2010 Taylor Swift was far removed from playing rubber duck regattas and ready to abandon opening slots for the arena country artists of the day.
On Speak Now, Taylor Swift stretches farther away from country music and begins to address the trauma in heart. A trend that would allow Miss Swift to connect to millions of teens and young adults experiencing heartache and also open her to criticism about being vengeful and petty in her “attacks” on her ex boyfriends. But what’s the first rule of writing? Write. What. You. Know. And no one knows heartbreak like Taylor Swift.
Her critics are Taylor’s first target with the scorching track Mean. While seemingly and probably actually targeted and a single individual telling her she could t sing, it’s more likely that Mean is a coordinated middle attack on everyone who had levied criticism on Taylor as her career careened at supersonic speed toward global superstardom.
The song is twangy country punctuated by piercing banjo perhaps in itself a response to critics saying Taylor was already too far away from her country roots. Of course Taylor doesn’t give a shit building an incredible scaffolding of melodic pop around the country twang of Mean.
Dead and Co. Guitarist John Mayer is widely believed to be the subject of the not so subtly titled Dear John. Get it together John. At least you’re not Jake Gyllenhall. Buckle up for that Jake. Dear John doesn’t pull any punches and yes, established one type of Taylor Swift song, the breakup atomic bomb. No it’s not the only type of song she writes but yes she does it as artfully and skillfully as a yearning poet reflecting on long lost love. A weepy ballad that wistfully says exactly what everyone wanted to say to the John Mayer in their own personal heartbreak diary.
Speak Now has its own one two punch of breakthrough hits. The Story of Us and Mine are spiritual of not direct sequels to Love Story and You Belong With Me from Fearless. Story of Us is again a perfect pop song built on pop country principals. Teens in cowboy boots or sneakers were both screaming along to this song when she played it live. The opening track Mine is a typical story song telling the love story of a young couple finding their way through the world together. There might be a steel guitar in there and Taylor occasionally slips back into twangy Taylor but this is a song for everyone who’s ever been in love.
Speak Now is probably the last “country” record Taylor made or will make but the blueprint for her transition to pop is fully in place. once she’s old enough to drink I think Taylor is ready to broaden her fan base to well, everyone. 8.5/10 Highlights: Mine, Sparks Fly, Back To December, Speak Now, Mean, The Story of Us.
