It's almost like a tradition for me not to search Taylor Swift's album Foreword before the record arrives on my hand. Reputation just did this afternoon. I already stream all the song beforehand, so I listen to the album while examining the lyrics and its depths, while singing along of course. After I finished the whole record, I came back to the first page and recite the Foreword like a poem. Here's what I thought.
All the previous Forewords usually had this vibe of encouragement and gratitude, where she shared her notion so we all understand what she trying to deliver her songs on the album. Like, Fearless' Foreword is so full of gratitude to the fans to make it possible for her to make the album; Speak Now's Foreword encourages people to be brave of what we all think and speaks it up, Red's Forewords tells us all the bright burning love she encountered and that love is crazy but don't worry, it is called love because it's crazy; 1989's Foreword tells us how her life had changed in the couple of years and that we have to face the change with open hands, that change is a good thing. But here, I feel like Reputation's Foreword has a different vibe. She didn't write "The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now, cause she's dead" for nothing. I might quote Ultron a little bit here to make myself clear. She didn't just change. Saying that would be an understatement. She has evolved.
She was talking about the way she understands people, the faces we human put front as a simple description of who we are, then its relevance to today's generation and social media, her feminist thought against those who prefer to see her work as an open letter to some beautiful man on the screen instead of a result of contemplation, musical talent, and hard work, that was not just hers but the other co-producers too. The media simplifying it as a way of 'oversharing' wasn't just an insult to her, but to all the people whose hard works was involved in the making of the album. The way she expressed all these ideas was so different from the way she wrote Foreword in the previous record. And I personally think it fits the concept of this album. About being fierce. About being tough.
The Taylor Swift that I see has always been sarcastic tho, since the era of Picture to Burn. She is a sarcastic person to start with (maybe that's one of the reasons why I am so into her. I adore her to the spiritual level, lol), but before, she usually used sarcasm when she's mad, upset, angry, or just being shady. Here, all I caught is that she's being sarcastic because she's so done. She's done with all the roller coaster people tried to push her through. The Foreword is like her giving a middle finger to everyone who ever messes with her and said, "Go on, do whatever you want. I'm done here"
Another thing I caught is about people and their faces. Taylor spots it right in the beginning about the concept of mask human wear in social life. I mean, it’s not just her cheesy words, it’s science (I learned it in Social Psychology class). She reminds me of the fact that I can’t have the person I love as a whole. I love them under the mask they show me. Especially in the millennia where social media has wrapped people into beautiful pictures to post (Yes, I’m looking at you Instagram. Don’t get me wrong, I love you, I’m your loyal user since you are my source for BTS funny memes. But your existence has made several of my friends prefer to travel for good pictures than a good atmosphere for good mental health). This ‘pictures culture’ has shaped our generation to conclude what others are having from their squared pictures instead of actually trying to understand them as an actual human being. We sometimes forget that the girl smiling on our ‘home feed’ is also a girl with emotion, struggle, characters, background, and stories.
Gosh, I’m too emotional, I’m gonna stop.
@taylorswift you had me again on this record.
@taylorswift you had me again on this record.
