September 1, 2009

Postmodernism isn't dead, and neither is Taylor Swift.

So don’t you see, / you belong with me.” So ends the refrain of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me,” a thoughtful consideration of the ironies of young love. The delightfully unreliable speaker Swift employs laments her unrequited feelings for a boy who has chosen another over her, citing that, while the other “wears short skirts” and “high heels,” and she “t-shirts” and “sneakers”, she should be preferred based on the fact that she is “the one who understands [him].” The speaker further elaborates that her adversary is “cheer captain” and she is “on the bleachers.” A laugh track is employed to emphasize the irony that the speaker fails, even based on this extreme evidence, to understand why the boy has made the obvious choice. Her simplicity is further highlighted by the use of a trite chord structure, a boorish rhythm, and an apostrophic form, even though it is obvious that the subject of address is absent. The use of such peevish forms to underscore so silly a comparison could be called heavy-handed, were it not for the graceful levity of Swift’s verse. The speaker’s preoccupation with knowledge’s connection to love causes her even to misapprehend reality. She commits the psychological fallacy of transference in thinking she has not “seen [the boy’s smile] in a while.” The listener is of course aware of who is smiling and who isn’t. We smirk at the absurd notion that she “[knows him] better than that,” and hope only for the sake of gratitude that Swift’s smirk is even larger. Her depth of insight remind us all of the salvific of pop music.


[Prior to the publication of this review, the laugh track was removed. Some argue that this move was made in order to emphasize the poem’s rhythmic and tonal structures, but it is the opinion of this critic that such a truncation shows her true commitment to meta-art, as well as cements her as one of the most daring, unflinching satirists of our time. One wishes he had three hands to clap with.]

11 comments:

Joshua said...

Upright.

I knew that her postmodern flare was excellent when I heard her sing, "You were Romeo; / I was a scarlet letter," implying that Juliet herself was a scarlet letter. In this metaphor, Swift reads back on Uncle Willie's play and finds a real pearl: The Capulets and Montagues were separated not by feud but by coquetry. Perhaps Shakespeare's prequel was "Mercutio and Juliet." In this move, hints at great female figures in other literary feuds. Helen is the obvious example. But also Briseis, the strumpet of both Agamemnon and Achilleus. Here though, is where Swift's postmodernism takes over: she returns all the history of family feud to herself, who has complete subjectivity, yet also is understood by the unity of such seemingly disparate ancient and modern figures, namely Helen, Briseis, Juliet, and Hester. Excellent work, I dare say.

Paul K Gautier, Jr said...

And I would venture that comparisons are drawn also to both Penelope and Gawain when he's got that girdle on.

In conclusion, to riff on one of Swift's contemporaries, "my life would suck without [postmodern criticism]."

Peter Louis Kane said...

Bravo.

Lord Bloch said...

Frothy.

Thank you Mr. Gautier for your thoughtful exegesis of Taylor Swift's lyrical masterpiece. I must abashedly admit that I was up until tonight unaware of the majority of her body of work.

I enjoyed your article. And I would like to personally thank you for giving A Draught of Vintage the publishing rights of PMLA, New Criterior, JSTOR, or U-STOR (located near Club Schmitz).

Love, or what have you,

Mr. Bloch

Joshua said...

J-Stor??? No way. UUUUU-Stor!

Paul K Gautier, Jr said...

Me Stor? No! YOU STORE!!!!!!

Joshua said...

Paul, you're hilarious.

Paul K Gautier, Jr said...

I keep getting drunk and commenting on things...

TheTomChadwicks said...

Nice try Mr. Gautier...but next time that you would like to mock the teenage angst and rebellion that is Taylor Swift's music, get the quote right. The refrain ends "why can't you see, / you belong with me?"

This obviously changes everything!

Also, Kanye West dosn't care about white people.

Lord Bloch said...

Hennessey is only good out the bottle.

Mary Sexton said...

I have to say I've been spending a lot of time meditating on that song, whatever it's called, to which Mr Neu refers, but I certainly can't top his analysis. It's funny how when you work overnight and hear the same songs every four hours, and 80% of the music is terrible after hearing it twice, you form a bond with songs like "Love Story" that at least make sense.