Taylor's Version
The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift
-
- £2.99
Publisher Description
An original exploration and celebration of Taylor Swift, the world's biggest music star, as taught at the world's most prestigious university.
One of the biggest stars in the world, Taylor Swift became so popular for many reasons - but first and last thanks to her songs. In Taylor's Version, award-winning literary critic Professor Stephanie Burt charts the extraordinary journey from Swift's teen country debut to her most recent record-breaking achievement as the highest-grossing touring artist in the world. Based on her Harvard University course, Taylor Swift and Her World, Burt offers the first serious study of Swift that pays close attention to her talent as a songwriter first and foremost.
Drawing from musical and cultural criticism, poetry, economic theory, American history, as well as personal experience, Burt presents an insightful and heartfelt critical appreciation of Swift that delves into her life, her celebrity and her artistry. She explores how Swift's musical and public persona reflect her life and her craft, at once intimate and relatable. She considers the international community Swift's work has fostered, and she shows what makes Swift's body of work so important across styles, genres and generations.
Tracing a path through the Eras, Taylor's Version is a literary deep-dive into Swift's particular form of genius, revealing the remarkable impact of her career and showing how her songs - how music itself - can change lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Literary critic Burt (We Are Mermaids) traces Taylor Swift's musical evolution and contemplates the source of her artistic success in this impressively detailed analysis. Burt traces her musical evolution album by album, beginning with the pastoral twang of Swift's self-titled country debut, after which she grew lyrically and sonically with the "New York City–based, pop-oriented, pleasure-loving" 1989, the narrative-driven folk of her two pandemic albums, Folklore and Evermore, and the hyperpop anxiety of Midnights. In the process, the author finds the secret to Swift's success partly in her ability to speak directly to women, and to keep aspirational and relatable qualities in tension—cleverly "turning the accoutrements of fame" (paparazzi, high-profile breakups) "into relatable, empathetic dilemmas" about uncertainty, self-doubt, perfectionism, and heartbreak. Such a style positions Swift as listeners' "companion, our super-ultra-mega-famous-friend," even as she lives the kind of megarich lifestyle fans can only dream of. Burt's close readings of individual songs draw on a host of surprising literary references (she compares Yeats's use of "pastoral" themes to depict an idyllic past to Swift's use of country music tropes) and her analyses of the singer's artistry and success are perceptive. The result is an affectionate fan letter with unexpected depth.
