MUSIC
tion they seem to stage.
We hear her out-of-tune
voice stumble through a
melody as she searches
for a phrase. We hear
guitar and piano chords
plunked out as possible
chordal progressions to
support a new idea. We
hear Taylor’s vocalizations of what seem like
placeholder vowels that
will eventually become
words as she fleshes out a
song.
But the apparent innocence of this effort is belied when Swift cutely
explains in an audio segment on the record that
she shares the state the
song was in before she
handed it off to the producer -- who wrapped it
up the following day. Like
Cinderella who goes from
rags to riches when she
meets her fantasy prince,
it seems as though these
raw ideas are not only
handed off to producers,
but also delivered to a a
keen troupe of songwriters who whip the sketch
into shape to complete a
finished, ready to market
product in 24 hours. This
suggests that either much
of the musical value of
the album is attributable
to the highly skilled craft
of her production and
manufacturing team, or
that the demo said to be
presented to the producer was further along than
showcased. Either way, it
leaves us with the sense
that the album is not connecting honestly through
music to the listener.
In the face of such wellproduced, yet insubstantial work, we have choices. We can decide that
we don’t care about the
lack of heart connection, and dance along to
Shake It Off. We can feel
angry that such music is
part of a mega machine
that supports and cultivates greed and wanting
in consumers. Yet doing
so actually co-creates
with that machine and
pulls us from our truer
self - humble, loving and
whole. We could also applaud Taylor Swift for being exactly where she is,
without judgment, and
commend the clear commitment she has to deliv-
By Parvati Magazine staff
ering what she feels is her
best at this time.
We do not need to buy
into any shimmer - or purchase albums based in
that illusion. We can have
compassion for those
who have bought into the
illusion that catchy hooks
and millions in sales will
bring happiness. We can
see that we are not so different. We too so often
look for something shiny
outside ourselves to give
us a sense of temporary
happiness.
We have the choice as
music consumers to support music that makes
our souls sing. May we engage with music where
we feel the heart of the
performer, and witness in
compassion and encouragement when musicians
take the risk to come into
humble presence with us
- because when they do
so, the true magic happens.