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Taylor Swift

A few thoughts on "The Archer" -- because -- of course....

*It's not always noted that Joni Mitchell had a substantial impact on Taylor Swift. One of Swift's favorite songwriting quotes--"a song is a thought you have when you look in the rearview mirror"--comes from (apparently) Joni Mitchell. Swift at one point wanted to play Mitchell on the big screen; a song from "Red" seems to tell The Joni Mitchell Story.

*Swift's new song "The Archer" seems to follow a template laid out by Joni Mitchell in "River" (and maybe this is intentional, and maybe it isn't). "River" gives us a speaker who has lost her partner (Graham Nash, allegedly). The speaker acknowledges that Graham Nash was a great guy. The end of the affair happened strictly because of the speaker's own neurosis: "I'm so hard to handle. I'm selfish, and I'm sad. Now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had." We end where we started--with the speaker, unmoored, wishing for "a river I could skate away on."

*In "The Archer," Ms. Swift hasn't yet lost her man, though--in a thrilling way--she seems to be debating whether or not to torpedo her own comfortable situation. "Cruelty wins in the movies." "I look for your dark side." "I say I don't want [friction] -- but what if I do?" As with Ms. Mitchell, the speaker in "The Archer" takes herself to task: "I never grew up; it's getting so old." "I cut off my nose just to spite my face--then hate my reflection for years."

*Like Ms. Mitchell, Swift ends where she begins: "Combat. I'm ready for combat." It's an alarming line. Swift recognizes that something is wrong with the state she is in; nevertheless, it's the state she is in.

*People complain that Swift's work is no longer relatable, given her dazzling success. But who could fail to relate to ambivalence? Who hasn't been embarrassed by childish moments? "The Archer" seems universal to me. I hope it lasts.

*I hope--also--that people will pay some serious attention to this song. We are sometimes weirdly dismissive of work by young women (aimed at other young women). But Emily Nussbaum asks: Why should that be the case? A fair question.
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