Review: Shake It Off by Taylor Swift

Shake It Off by Taylor Swift
Label: Big Machine Records
Release Date: August 18th, 2014

WOAH! STOP THE PRESSES! New Taylor Swift single and the announcement of her new album, 1989. (I started this review the day all of this was announced, so this is slightly outdated now. ;)) Anyway, given that I have many, many, many thoughts about Shake It Off and T. Swift's new musical direction, I figured I would write a review for the song.

I'm gonna be honest; it's not my favorite. I love Taylor, but I'm also not the biggest fan of her musical shift. I was hesitant about the Red album at first, but then when I figured out that most of the songs weren't like the pop singles she was putting out, I felt a lot better. In fact, I now love Red (though Speak Now is still my favorite album) because she really matured both lyrically and for the most part vocally. She had a different sound, but for the most part, it was mature. That's not to say her other works aren't because for the most part, they are. But she really grew up a lot in Red. I don't mind her new shift and her new sound but some of my favorite songs are the ones that sound most like her older music. Yes, there are plenty of the new ones with a different sound that I like, but in Red, for example, Treacherous and All Too Well were among my favorites.

Which brings me to Shake It Off. Lyrically, it's okay. I like the feel-good, positive-ness of it. I love the message of the song. It's very simplistic in comparison to some of the other songs she's written, but it's not horrible. But it sounds like most pop songs (that's not necessarily bad. It just doesn't particularly stick out). It's still pretty "Taylor," but it also feels and sounds like there's just something missing. The melody doesn't particularly stick in my mind, and I've had a hard time remembering it at times. Also, the "hella"? I cringe...

The video also isn't my favorite, but it's not horrible. The twerking made me look away. I get that it's sort of a parody but ugh no. Also, as a dancer, I cringed a lot, but I guess that's what the song is about. That's it's okay to be the one people cringe about. Just be yourself and shake it off!

Overall, Shake It Off is okay. It's far from Taylor's best, but it's not the worst song I've heard. I'm interested in seeing the direction her music is taking, but I'm hoping 1989 isn't just filled with Shake It Off-esque songs. I know she's full pop now, but I'm hoping she'll still keep SOME elements. I suppose all I can do now is wait and see. I WILL still be pre-ordering the album though! :D

Watch the video:

Music Monday (#6): Taylor Swift Favorite Album Analysis

Every other Monday, I'll share a song/artist/album that I'm either currently listening to or currently obsessed with, though they often go hand-in-hand. Some may have special themes or surprises. This means that I might share a playlist, fan!mix, Top Ten list, etc.

Today's post is a topical one, and it's based on a brief conversation I had with Jessica @ Just Another Teen Reading on Twitter. Basically, she asked which Taylor Swift album was our personal favorite. I responded that I love them all for different reasons and that I couldn't just pick one because they're all great in different aspects. So I figured that I'd go into that in a more thought out post! Thus, this post will be me discussing what I like about each of T. Swift's albums. I won't go into what I DON'T like about them, but feel free to discuss it with me in the comments below! (Note: I used the album covers for the versions I have minus Taylor Swift because I don't own a copy of it.)

I really love the innocence and simplicity of Taylor's self-titled album. The songs feel so genuine, and it's nice to not think about who each song could be about. Additionally, I love her sound here. It's country with just a hint of pop, but it's still mostly country. Most of the songs on this album are among my favorites by her because of the sound and especially the lyrics.

Still writing heart-felt songs with meaningful lyrics, this album showed Taylor delving more into pop, and I think that's fine. I like the mix of sounds on this album, and it shows great variety in her singing. There's still this air of innocence in her songs, and there's just something that draws me to the songs, both lyrically and melodically. Again, many favorites came from this album, although I guess it's only natural that I do have favorites from each.





I feel like this is when her sound really started to change. She moved away from her country sound and became more pop and more appealing to a broader audience. There's so much subject and melodic variety in this album, and I love it. I loved how she didn't just have songs about love and heartbreak, and I liked the playfulness of some of the songs on this album. I think she really grew musically, even though I love her country sound a bit more. Her lyrics for the songs on this album are what I love the most, I think. Most of my favorites are from this album.

This one is a bit tricky for me for a couple of reasons. In the end, though, I love how mature her music sounds. She's really grown as an artist, and it's clear that she's stepping away from the sound of her previous albums. There's a lot less country (to the point that I wouldn't consider her a country artist anymore, generally), but some of the songs are softer pop, which I prefer. I love so many of the songs on here that haven't been released as singles, though that applies to all her albums. There's a difference between the singles released to appeal to a bigger audience and the songs on here with a really deep meaning. Once I listened to the album a couple of times, I really started to love it.


At the end of the day, I think I'd go with Speak Now as my favorite if I REALLY had to choose one, but there's a lot that I like about each of them. I don't know that I articulated that well in this post, but.

Which Taylor Swift album is your favorite? Why? (Or are you like me?)