Don 39;t Touch Anything Music
Octavia Leithoff
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Welcome To New York: Who cares? It sounds great imo \u2014 I will say that you can tell that she changed certain things (the layering, the harmonies) to make it sound \u201Cbetter\u201D or more elevated. That\u2019s fine here because no one gives a crap about this song, but don\u2019t touch anything else Taylor!!
Blank Space: She sounds a little different during the verses, but I have to remind myself that she\u2019s not a cyborg (allegedly). I already know that if I go on Twitter/Reddit, it\u2019s going to be filled with people saying it sounds nothing like the original and there\u2019s no way our ears will ever get used to it etc. etc., but just take several deep breaths. As Swifties, we\u2019re bound to to pick up every tiny difference between TV and the original, but I think this is one that will sound natural in time. I will definitely miss \u201Cstarbucks lovers\u201D though.
Style: Oh. She\u2019s been butchered\u2026left for dead\u2026drive by shooting\u2026no survivors. That intro alone damn near knocked me out of my seat. Then the first verse was okay, but then the chorus\u2026something\u2019s off bestie. This feels like someone singing Style at a karaoke bar or something. This type of treatment is what she should be saving for the Welcome to New Yorks of the world, not one of her most iconic songs that both casual and and devoted fans adore. I need a moment\u2026
Out Of The Woods: Okay thank God, this one is pretty much perfect. I\u2019m deducting some points for overemphasizing that harmony during the bridge tho (that extra emphasis on \u201Ctoo soon\u201D, \u201Chospital room\u201Detc\u2026keep those background voices in the background pls). The bridges are sacred, Taylor, leave those things alone.
Shake It Off: The fact that this is still Taylor\u2019s most successful song is so jarring lmao. It\u2019s a little funny to hear her more mature voice on such a bubblegum type of song, but I\u2019m not going to stand here and fault her for having worked on her singing voice.
Bad Blood: I love vengeful Taylor and have always had a soft spot for this song. This is one that really benefits from her more flexible, mature voice \u2014 it\u2019s the rare rerecording that is actually better than the original.
Wildest Dreams: This might actually be my favorite from 1989. It\u2019s just so yearning and anguished, ugh kill me. I don\u2019t think this sounds exactly like the original. Something\u2019s going on with her voice, it sounds a little bit more\u2026processed? Autotuned? Idk. However, I think she got the general vibe of the track down, and I\u2019ve had no problem switching replacing the original with Taylor\u2019s Version. Props to Taylor for nailing that same sense of desperation in the bridge (\u201Cburning. it. down\u2026DOWN!!!!!\u201D ugh so good).
How You Get The Girl: I always forget how this album legitimately has zero skips. This one sounds great, which is to be expected since you can tell it\u2019s a bit of a lower lift than other tracks in terms of production.
This Love: This is one of those songs that I don\u2019t listen to religiously, but I do love every time it comes up. Because the original is not forever imprinted in my brain, my reaction to this track is pretty positive.
I Know Places: Sing, Taylor!!! She sounds amaaaazing. That \u201Cand we run\u201D at the end the second verse had me clutching my pearls. Does it sound a little different than the original? Yes, but this is a worthy rerecording, and our perception of those differences will fade with time.
Clean: As good as or perhaps even better than the original. Any slight changes in production or vocal performance (the delivery of \u201Cperfect storm\u201D in the first verse, Imogen Heap coming in a little earlier than in the original) actually enhance the song. To me, one of the most important ways I judge each rerecording is if the big climactic moment hits as hard as in the original, which is def the case here (the moment is obviously Imogen Heap at the beginning of the final chorus\u2026AAAAAAAAA THE RAIN!!!!!). Thank you Taylor!
Wonderland: I love Wonderland but I had my doubts about the rerecording, just because there\u2019s so much going on in this song, especially with those eh-eh-ehs flying around all over the place. I will say, this is better than I expected, though not perfect. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s her over-enunciating or what, but the whole flow of the song feels a tiny bit stilted. That being said, by the end of the song, when all fifteen different parts are firing away, she achieves the same euphoria of the original. Side question: why does she suddenly become British every time she says \u201CwonderlaaaAAAAND\u201D?
You Are In Love: Stunning. That little \u201Che keeps a picture of you in his office downtown\u201D lyric gets me every time. We won with this track except for Taylor\u2019s inexplicable decision to add an extra \u201Cyou are in love\u201D right at the beginning of the bridge. Don\u2019t touch the bridges, for the love of God!
New Romantics: I COULD BUILD A CASTLEE OUT OF ALL THE BRICKS THEY THREW AT MEEE. God, that might be the best lyric off the whole album. As for the new version\u2026hmm. I think I can get used to this, but why did they decide to mix/layer her voice so differently? The new version sounds like there are three Taylors yelling at me at perfect unison. I need to hear one Taylor, and then keep the other little harmonies whispering in the background or what have you. It sucks the soul out of the song a little bit. (Update: I\u2019m at the gym listening to this again and I\u2019m already in love with the new version. Her power\u2026)
In short, we need to take a Xanax and relax our expectations for the rerecordings to sound exactly the same as the originals. It\u2019s impossible for her to replicate the sound to a tee, but let\u2019s be real: they\u2019re still the same songs, sung the same way, with the same arrangement, by the same singer. I went into this album with dread and trepidation because of what people were saying on social media, but tbh I think we pretty much made it out of the woods (don\u2019t shoot me) with the severe exception of Style. Idk what she was thinking there\u2026
Slut: Okay, this one was surprisingly good, I\u2019ll give it to her. I really thought this was going to be some heinous \u201CThe Man\u201D style 2012 Buzzfeed Feminist commentary, which I haaate when she goes down that road. That slapping-us-upside-the-head level of social commentary is so beneath her. This song, however, is actually very sweet and endearing \u2014 kind of like an adult \u201COurs\u201D from Speak Now. I\u2019m not going to lie, every time she actually says the word \u201Cslut\u201D it kind of throws me off a little bit, but fine.
Say Don\u2019t Go: Catchyyyy. It\u2019s very All You Had To Do Was Stay. Kind of sounds like a Wilson Phillips song in the bit between the chorus and the bridge, which obviously fits the album\u2019s vibe as a loose tribute to 80s music.
Now That We Don\u2019t Talk: Absolutely SCATHING outro, but the rest of the song is a little forgettable for me. However, knowing how this relationship with Taylor works, I\u2019ll be obsessed in a couple weeks.
Suburban Legends: When Mastermind meets Questions\u2026this is clearly a song from Midnights lmao. Not just the production, but also the lyrics: Taylor just wasn\u2019t doing all this lyrically (\u201Cflush with the currency of cool\u201D) in the 1989 era. It was a simpler time\u2026she had to lure the general public over with Style and Shake It Off before she could hit them upside the head with Cardigan and Willow. The way Taylor lies to us about these vault tracks is so toxic, I can\u2019t with her (still worship her though).
Is It Over Now: Ohhh she\u2019s good. This is Taylor\u2019s sweet spot that no one else can touch: while there are a lot of sad people writing songs out there (*ahem* Phoebe Bridgers), and there are a lot of pop musicians who can craft a catchy melody, there are very few people who have Taylor\u2019s gift to create a song that is catchy/upbeat, yet at the same times makes you want to throw yourself off a cliff. God, there is NOTHING like an upbeat melancholy song. Lyrically, it\u2019s fabulous. I love poetic Taylor, but sometimes those perfectly simple lyrics \u2014 \u201Cyou search in every model\u2019s bed for something greater\u201D \u2014 hit SO good. Also, I will never stop clutching my pearls whenever Taylor alludes to the possibility that she may have ever touched a man (\u201Cwhen he unbuttons my blouse\u201D?? THE SCANDAL).
Can we just take a moment to pause and realize how immensely difficult this year has been? The third abnormal year of teaching during a Pandemic. I think we all thought yay, we're back in school after the craziness of Global lockdown, remote teaching, teaching in person, being hybrid, back to remote, back to remote, constant change and never quite feeling like the sand stopped shifting. I don't think any of us were prepared for the behavior challenges our students would have, or that consequences don't have the same meaning or are absent from students lives. Student interactions have changed radically - no touching, don't get closer than 6 feet, then 3 feet; sanitize or wash hands; mask up; don't breathe too close to me; don't sing; don't share instruments; don't touch anything! With this lack of interaction children didn't know how to be around other children, couldn't make a line, couldn't stand in line, couldn't stay in line. And the list can go on and on.
I always look forward to the end of the school year - not only because it is the end of the school year but because we sing songs around a campfire our last day in music and for the whole month leading up to it we sing camp songs, clapping games, and really fun and silly musical things that keep us laughing and singing all the way to the end. I do this with first through fourth grade (my highest grade level). All of my campfire songs (a book of over 50 songs) is posted for my Patreon subscribers. See all previous posts about campfire songs here.
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