While golden girl Taylor Swift is seldom photographed without her trademark closed lips and rosy, sweet smile, her third album reveals that what’s behind her pleasant face is nothing like what we imagined. While she’s talked about revenge before in the form of torching old photographs and a hatred for pickup trucks she was never able to drive, Speak Now takes Swift’s edginess to new heights.
Not surprisingly, however, the pop-country sensation’s harsh talk is the sweetest kind possible. Swift shows a never-before-seen maturity in her songwriting career.
Hanging around talented musicians at all hours of the day? Multi-million dollar tours? Something in the water in her $20 million Nashville penthouse? Plain old growing up? Whatever it is, the 20-year-old’s skills as a musician are buoyantly tweaked, complete with lyrics that are sending our celebrity dirt-obsessed nation into a frenzy.
In fact, Swift’s album is somewhat of a little black book of her life. It’s like Swift’s formerly fuzzy pink diary full of tales of mean girls and deceitful boys has transformed into a dark, worn notebook of scrawled poems about heartbroken disdain.
Swift claims the mission of the album was to say things she never could, and every single song is dedicated to one person or group. Random capitalized letters in the lyrics of the album’s liner notes serve as clues for who or what each song is about, a tactic Swift has used in past.
While “Better Than Revenge” sounds unfortunately similar to Paramore, the message is too juicy to resist. “She’s not a saint and she’s not what you think/She’s an actress/She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress,” sings Swift of actress Camilla Belle, who allegedly stole boyfriend Joe Jonas (who, yes, still has his purity ring) from Swift last year.
“Innocent,” which she performed at MTV’s VMAs this year, is a message of forgiveness for the infamous interrupter that is Kanye West: “Life’s a tough crowd/32 and still growin’ up now.” She sings,”Who you are is not what you did/You’re still an innocent.” Aww.
Perhaps the most explosive track is “Dear John,” a letter to outspoken musician John Mayer, who apparently broke Swift’s heart while they recorded the summer hit “Half Of My Heart” together. Swift makes a good point in her lyrics—isn’t 19 a little young to be messed with, John? Swift doesn’t stop with one song, though—”The Story of Us” is also aimed at Mayer.
The old Taylor Swift is not at all diminished, though. She still knows how to strike a certain chord that makes you wonder how she knows exactly what you’re feeling. The heart-wrenchingly sentimental “Never Grow Up” is assured to make anyone even remotely estranged from their parents cry like a baby. Other standout tracks include “Mean,” “Enchanted” and “Mine.”
As Kanye West might say, “Okay Taylor, Imma let you finish, but Speak Now is your best album yet.”
