“Shake it Off” sucks
Will Taylor Swift be able to shake this off?
T-Swift gangsta / Jingyu Zhang
Author: Elisabeth Sahlmueller
One would think that the more songs an artist releases, the better quality her songs would become. However, that doesn’t seem to be true for Taylor Swift. Her brand new single (which surprisingly is not about an ex), “Shake It Off,” from her fifth Album 1989, is a gigantic leap backwards.
Many people, including myself, don’t think this is her best song. Recently, Taylor’s releases have been going down in quality. She is trying too hard to fit the pop star mold. Taylor Swift’s old songs have a far different sound than any of her new music. Songs off of her first two albums Taylor Swift and Fearless, such as “Should’ve Said No,” “The Outside,” “Fifteen,” and “The Best Day,” were a lot more meaningful. Back then, Taylor sung from the heart about what was important to her and wasn’t worried about reaching a certain level of pop.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with trying new things, or in Taylor Swift’s case a new direction in music, but while trying something new, don’t let it change who you are.
“Shake it Off” is way too repetitive and annoyingly catchy. After listening to that song, it appears that there are only three words in the English language: ‘shake,’ ‘it,’ and ‘off’
(this may be a slight exaggeration, but it is quite accurate). After a while, it’s just going to be too much. In the ending alone, that phrase is repeated over fifteen times. Next time, try to include some variety with the words.
The music video for this song is horrible. Something must have went wrong during the creative planning, because the current video should not have been the end result. “Demoralizing to women” is one thought that pops up after watching the video. How can a good music video be one that has women shaking their butts in your face? It’s weird, and it makes people feel uncomfortable.
A music video can be good without having women’s butts in your face. There are numerous ways that this video could have been better. Just because other artists have that in their videos, doesn’t mean that you should follow their ideas. Be creative and come up with your own ideas. People will respect you for it.
Although the song is not well liked, I believe there is a positive side to everything. In this song, there is a message of being yourself and not caring what people think of you. This is important for people today, because too many people change who they are for people to like them.
When Taylor Swift first emerged onto the music scene, she was praised for writing her own lyrics, which was cool for a sixteen year old because most artists today don’t write their own lyrics. Those songs had meaning and were original. Now, the message seems to be getting lost in the pop-sounding music and videos. If Taylor Swift continues in this direction, she will lose even more listeners then she already has.
