Taylor Swift: 1989

I'm 6 days late to the party which is pretty bizarre considering I've been on the look out for this album since her first announcement. But now that I do have a copy, I strongly feel that 1989 deserves a blog post because a Taylor Swift album is always chock full of surprises. Although she's completely put her country trademark behind, 1989 certainly does not disappoint.

I was kind of hesitant to listen to the tracks because I was afraid that I may not like the new direction she's taken as an artist, especially after the release of her single "Shake It Off" that's unquestionably catchy and all but doesn't really sound like Taylor Swift to me. But I quickly got over it because her transition from country to pop is intriguing enough to keep me along for the ride. And looking at the tracks in my iTunes library, there was this smallest hint of doubt in me that maybe she couldn't pull this one off.

BUT luckily, I was wrong. It's a new musical territory that she's exploring, but her transition is so smooth and graceful that it wouldn't even cause "shock" to a long-time fan, if that even makes any sense. Now, I wouldn't go into the technical aspects of the music, I'll leave that up to Gary Trust or some guy from Billboard, but I will speak as a fan.

There is a glaring absence of banjos and raw acoustic guitars and in its places are beats and electronic rhythms that pretty much scream "pop". And hypothetically, if someone didn't know any better, it would be silly to think that Teardrops from My Guitar and Shake It Off were written and sung by the same artist. The distinction between 1989 and her prior albums is really prominent, and that's not such a bad thing.

I was always a fan of her slow ballad songs that I could belt out in the shower like Enchanted, All Too Well, I Almost Do, Back to December, and The Way I Loved You (all-time personal favorite) so even if I knew it was a long shot, I expected to hear at least one slow ballad. It's kind of disappointing, especially since she writes the best lyrics that accompany the most passionate melodies. Nevertheless, I'm growing to love her new sound.

1989 is a breath of fresh air. Not exactly a contender for the best among all of her albums, but still, it's the type of music that only gets better the more you listen to it.

And another thing that I absolutely love about this album is that the physical copies come with different sets of Polaroids that have hand-written lyrics on them which is reaaaally lovely. Leave it up to Taylor Swift to add such a creative, personal touch to her albums. Here are some of the Polaroids that I loved:

These came from a digital booklet and aren't scans of the actual thing because I don't think record stores here have started selling physical copies of the album.

Once you've gone through a Taylor Swift CD booklet, it is a protocol and I mean a protocol to snoop around in the lyrics and decode messages from each song. If you don't, it's like leaving the cinema during a Marvel movie without staying for the credits. So do it.

Basically, all of the lyrics were in capital letters with some lower-cased ones sprinkled here and there. The trick is to combine the lower-cased letters in order to form sentences. I have terrible eyesight so my decoding took longer, but hazaar!

1. Welcome to New York
- "We begin our story in New York."

2. Blank Space
- "There once was a girl known by everyone and no one."

3. Style
- "Her heart belonged to someone who couldn't stay."

4. Out of the Woods
-"They loved each other recklessly."

5. All You Had to do Was Stay
- "They paid the price."

6. Shake it Off
 - "She danced to forget him."

7. I Wish You Would
- "He drove past her street each night."

8. Bad Blood
- "She made friends and enemies."

9. Wildest Dreams
 - "He only saw her in his dreams."

10. How You Get the Girl
 - "Then one day he came back."

11. This Love
- "Timing is a funny thing."

12. I Know Places
- "And everyone was watching."

13. Clean
 - "She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything." (Personal favorite!!)

I like how it's basically a story that you have to earn by decoding it (unless of course you Google them which sucks out the fun in the whole concept). It has such a whole new different feel and the unfamiliarity is exciting and most certainly welcome.