you and i

i dont want a monkey, i want you

[unsanitarys-remade-deactivated2]

hayley kiyoko / cliff’s edge

[zodiac--signs]

the "cooler than you" squad

[afissimo]

leo, libra, scorpio, gemini, sagittarius, aries

[dont-knock-it-till-you-try-it]

puberty man

[hotlineastro]

Signs as Plants

Aries ; venus fly trap. looks sweet but bites.

Taurus ; wildflowers. will spread and bring beauty even if a block of cement is in their way.

Gemini ; aspen forests. they feel like everyone’s connected deep down.

Cancer ; lotus. even in dark places, they find their way into the light.

Leo ; roses. all fun and games until their thorns show.

Virgo ; ferns. they don’t need a finish line to start their journey.

Libra ; daisies. they are perky and grow fast.

Scorpio ; poison ivy. once you touch them, theres no going back.

Sagittarius ; cactus. they hurt very much, but with the right amount of nurturing they make one of the most beautiful things.

Capricorn ; oak trees. old and wise and caring, but sometimes get too much attention.

Aquarius ; sunflowers. hold their head up high and always look at the “bright” side.

Pisces ; lavender. soothing, light but always manages to be strong and make a change.

[asloud-aslarry]

when you think youre finally getting over 1d

but then they do a thing…

…and they drag you back to hell

[picaet]

242/365 by Rhiain. on Flickr.

[xchickengirlx]

[fallinyourtidalwaves]

[rudeboirocky]

me chasing my dreams

[afissimo]

the other side of the signs

aries: can be very soft, emotional. sometimes doubt themselves. feel unwanted, unloved. they are without a doubt strong people but sometimes they just need someone to make them feel alright again. cry over people who hurt them in the past sometimes. never really forget what others did to them.

taurus: overprotective and jealous because they doubt themselves as a partner. sometimes they feel not good enough. can get angry over little things. when in rage they may say things they don't really mean and regret later. focused on their goals so much that they are about to give them up after a little failure.

gemini: can be mean and bitter when hurt. wouldn't admit they're hurt. ignore people because they don't know how to express themselves sometimes. overthink things and panic. it takes them a lot of time to regain their strength. they look for a home in other people. they often feel misunderstood.

cancer: they can be hard as a rock. they give second chances but they know exactly that giving a third chance is foolish. they won't hurt those who hurt them but they will make sure the people who did them wrong know what they did. is normally a dreamy romantic but they have an iron skin to hide in when it all gets too much.

leo: sometimes they feel powerless, as if something was sucking their energy out of them. challenges that seem impossible can bring them to their knees. sometimes their "roar" is a soft, whispering voice. their pride can make them roar incredibly loud though. if they feel like you make fun of them you'll get to see their teeth and this is not how you want to experience them.

virgo: sometimes they are mean on purpose, hurt on purpose. they may try to control others emotionally. they do this to be let alone or to make someone stay. sometimes they feel lonely and down. they also create little worlds where they hide then. they can have problems with saying or even knowing what they want and it confuses them and makes them feel uncomfortable.

libra: they doubt themselves a lot. they sometimes feel like the failed first try of a painting. sometimes they are not as kind as nomally, sometimes they explode. they never forget what they deserve and they will do anything to get what they want. they use their elbows to get people out of their way if it's needed.

scorpio: they sometimes feel things they don't understand and it makes them feel depressed. sometimes they feel like no one on this planet is made to understand them. sometimes they regret things so much that they hate themselves for making those mistakes. it takes them a ot of strength to seem as strong as they are.

saggittarius: the longer they look for them, the more "flaws" they'll find in themselves. they are bright people who live in so many colours but sometimes all they see is black and white, maybe grey. sometimes deep thoughts keep them awake and although they usually have many friends they don't know who to talk to. then they feel like the whole word has given up on them. they are known as funny, charming people but sometimes they feel like they're carrying the weight of everyone's happiness, like they're responsible for it, and that can be too much for them from time to time.

capricorn: they can be furious. sometimes, when it all gets too much, they yell and kick things and start treating the people around them badly just for standing where they stand, just for being there. they like to know more than they should. they rarely speak about how they feel. they tend to hide their true feelings from everyone around them and when they finally talk about things that bother them no one knows how to comfort them. they don't say what they want but expect others to feel what they want and when no one understands them they get angry.

aquarius: there can be a lot of secrets behind the pretty face of an aquarius. the best kept can be their sadness. although they are bright personalities who love to laugh and make jokes, aquarius often have experienced things that still bother them even after a long time. they won't always speak about it, they may try to cover it, but some day they will tell everyone what bothers them. it's actually hard for them to let go of their past.

pisces: they can be the most revengeful people. sometimes they know nothing, neither friends nor family. if they want to make someone pay for something they will do so, they will get their revenge. although they love a lot and love intensely, they also know hate. they try to avoid this feeling but they know it too well. actually pisces are haunted by a lot of things, mostly their own mistakes. they sometimes can't find peace. they fight for justice but sometimes they go too far. too far with many things. they tend to be self-destructive.

[untitled25369]

Demythologizing ‘Love Story’ (A study in post eventum narratives in the context of 1989): Part II

Again, sorry about the length! I enjoyed researching/writing this probably more than I should have done. My only excuse is that there’s now just a week to go before my university term ends, so I have a little more time than normal. Also, I, it seems, I just really love writing about Taylor Swift.

*** Obligatory pretentious quote:

“The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.” (L .P .Hartley, The Go-Between)

***

‘Love Story’ in many ways defines the early ‘Taylor Swift’ – it is whimsical, hopelessly romantic and (dare one say it) dreadfully naïve; Shakespeare’s tragedy is re-configured as a fairy-tale (one emphatically not in the style of the Grimm brothers). As of now, it remains her most popular release, selling upwards of 5.8 million copies in the US alone and 8 million world-wide. The newly adult ‘Taylor’ has thus not yet managed to entirely eclipse old high-school ’Taylor’ in the public consciousness, although she is well on the way to doing so, should she play her cards right. The biggest obstacle she faces in this (besides her own questionable behaviour) is undoubtedly her young/ conservative (read country) fan base, which has increasingly become a ‘cult of personality’ devoted to the preservation and iconification of a defiantly heterosexual ’Taylor Swift.’

(Just for the record, ‘iconification’ is a real, if admittedly obsolete, word.)

It is interesting, then, that despite the obvious prima facie reading of ‘Love Story’ as a straight teenager’s fantasy, the song has, like Treacherous and more recently Wonderland, attracted to it its fair share of rumour. And, specifically, ‘gay’ rumours. Popular alternatives to the ‘official’ narrative include:

1) It was written for Emily Poe: http://swiftsecrets.tumblr.com/post/8951884330 & http://kaylornation.tumblr.com/post/121142682067/taylor-told-billboard-that-love-story-is-about 2)It was written for an unknown (female) high-school crush.

In considering Taylor’s possible high-school same-sex encounters (& Emily Poe), I draw attention to this comment on a subsequently deleted review of Taylor’s SNL Room-mates sketch posted on AfterEllen:

“A couple young cousins of mine went through Hendersonville High when Taylor was there; they stayed on and graduated after she left. They say the inside talk about her was she was a pillow queen, she never gave so didn’t consider herself to be bi. Also it was rumored that her fiddle player, Emily, that had been with her for a couple years and was suddenly gone, was fired because she was caught ‘relieving Tay’s stress in an inappropriately oral manner.’"

Obviously, this cannot be verified and so must be taken with a hefty pinch of salt. For further conjecture, you might want to check out the first thread on a certain gossip site…

In general, speculation arises from the subject matter of the song (i.e. forbidden love), but it is re-enforced both by the lyrical content and, more overtly, by the incoherence/inconsistency of the official narrative.

To deal briefly with lyrics: I refer specifically to the reversed perspective in the last lines, which allows Taylor to adopt the persona ‘Romeo’ -

‘He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said // Marry me Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone/ I love you, and that’s all I really know/ I talked to your- go pick out a white dress/ It’s a love story, baby, just say, “Yes.”//’

This technique is fairly common in Taylor’s earlier work (Our Song and Mine are both good examples) and has, I think, been a comfort/help to fans, who find it difficult to relate to the “boy-crazy” feel of many of her songs. It is tempting to imagine that this is not only a deliberate concession to a subsection of her fan-base, but a means by which Taylor herself might hint subtly at a hidden, more complex truth. A comparable hypothesis can be made about the ambiguous pronoun usage in, for example, How You Get the Girl, since this allows Taylor to be both the professor and object of affection.

*I am actually considering writing a separate post on reversed perspective/ pronoun usage in Taylor’s lyrics (and even more generally). If anyone is interested, please let me know. The same applies if there is anything else Taylor/Kaylor related you would like to see discussed.*

*****

‘Love Story’: The early years (2008- the1989 era):

On its first release (September 12th 2008) ‘Love Story’ was marketed as a personal experience re-imagined in the tradition of a literary classic. Its commercial success relied as much on the sort of diary entry authenticity that Taylor has recently attempted to move away from, as on the enduring popularity of the original Romeo and Juliet story.

While this popularity has certainly been exploited, it has never distracted from the narrative integrity of Taylor’s own ‘relationship,’ that is, until recently. I put relationship in inverted commas because there is some confusion in the official story as to whether Taylor and her mystery man ever actually dated or were simply interested in each other.

Early reviews consistently equate Taylor with Juliet/the narrator and (by extension) her unnamed ‘boyfriend’ with Romeo.

See, for example the article ‘Young country star’s ‘Fearless’ proves she’s just that, and more’ from the Boston Globe, November 10th 2008:

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/articles/2008/11/10rise_and_shine/

The connection is so strong, that the possible implications of the last verse have been largely ignored, and this is in large part sustained by Taylor’s own accounts of her inspiration. Thus:

“This is a song I wrote when I was dating a guy who wasn’t exactly the popular choice. His situation was a little complicated, but I didn’t care.”

(From ‘Swift, Taylor, ‘Cut by Cut’ The original is no longer available on Bigmachinerecords.com, but it can be found at http://webcitation.org/5rXkDwe4d )

And:

“The inspiration for the song ‘Love Story’ was when I was interested in a guy that wasn’t a popular choice…”

(From ‘Taylor Swift Responds’ in Teen Vogue, November 25th 2008: http://www.teenvogue.com/blog/teen-vogue-daily/2008/11/taylor-swift-exclusive-interview-with-teen-vogue.html )

And:

“‘Love Story’ is actually about a guy that I almost dated. But when I introduced him to my family and my friends, they all said they didn’t like him.”

(From ‘Interview with Taylor Swift’ in Time, April 23 2009: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1893502,00.html

Taylor has suggested that her own complicated ‘relationship’ offered a key to understanding a favourite narrative and inspired her to offer her favourite characters (1) a happier resolution to their love affair, than either she or they received in ‘reality.’ In other words, ‘Love Story’ is a classic case of wish fulfilment, directed primarily towards young girls obsessed by a Disney-like version of true love, a belief in whose magical qualities Taylor, in her capacity as every fan’s best friend, shared (2).

1) “Romeo and Juliet were always my favourite couple because they didn’t care, and they loved each other no matter what. And it was always my favourite –except for the ending. So with ‘Love Story,’ I just took my favourite characters and gave them the ending that they deserve.”

(From ‘Taylor Swift’s Fascination with Fairy Tales Comes Through on New Album,’ for CMT, 10th November 2008: http://www.cmt.com/news/1599049/taylor-swifts-fascination-with-fairy-tales-comes-through-on-new-album )

2)And the ‘Marry me Juliet, I love you’ is I think every girl’s fantasy ending and the ending I hope I have someday.”

(From ‘Taylor Swift Responds,’ in Teen Vogue, November 2008 (as before))

This is all very well, except that alternative sources have suggested that actually Taylor was not particularly fond of Romeo & Juliet and used to laugh at it with her friend, Abigail. This may imply that it simply provided a convenient means of disguising/ re-packaging her romance as a traditional ‘boy meets girl’ narrative. Interestingly, Jonathon Keefe, for Slant Magazine (November 16th 2008) feels that the incorporation of motifs from Romeo and Juliet (and also the Scarlett Letter – an intriguing choice, since it deals in particular with social stigma) is rather strained:

“It’s admirable that she tries to incorporate more sophisticated elements into a few songs here, but the inexplicable Scarlet Letter reference and awkward point-missing Romeo and Juliet conceit of ‘Love Story’ simply aren’t successful…”

(From ‘Taylor Swift: Fearless’ – http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/taylor-swift-fearless)

Undoubtedly the way in which this thwarted ‘relationship’ has been described, makes it easy to read as a queer relationship. Consider the comment below:

“It’s about a love that you’ve got to hide because for whatever reason it wouldn’t go over well. I spun it in the direction of Romeo and Juliet. Our parents are fighting. I relate to it more as a love that you cannot really elaborate on- a love that maybe society wouldn’t accept [or] maybe your friends wouldn’t accept.”

(From “‘Oh Romeo, Romeo’: Taylor Swift’s Love Story” published on Great American Country September 15th 2008. (Sadly, I can’t find an active link.))

It is hard to imagine today in what circumstances a strictly heterosexual romance might encounter so much resistance from family/friends that it would require subterfuge of this kind. But perhaps my imagination is simply deficient…

~

Music video (Released September 12th 2008):

The music video for Love Story continues with the ‘fairy-tale’ theme, but does not explicitly reiterate the Romeo/Juliet connection. Instead it casts the narrative as timeless, moving between the 18th century and the present day: Taylor herself in a ‘behind the scenes’ video commented that she thought the tale did not belong to any single age:

“It talks about that love that could be in any time period…I think [it could] happen in the 1700s, the 1800s or 2008.” (1.07 -1.21)

More significantly, she stated:

“I wrote [Love Story} about, you know, this relationship that…It travels from when these two people first make eye contact to when, you know, they figure out that society doesn’t want them to be together to when they realise that love overcomes everything.” (0.37 -0.56 seconds).

This marks a subtle shift from the specific ‘Taylor and her boyfriend’ narrative, which has been encountered before. And, as such may offer a helpful way into considering alternative interpretations of’ Love Story’; just as the central romance need not be evaluated only in its immediate context, so the song as a whole need not be evaluated exclusively in line with an authorised narrative.

Video: http://youtu.be/8xg3vE8Ie_E

Behind the scenes Video (Taylor is actually adorable): http://youtu.be/oTt7y4KWbwA

***

‘Love Story’ Re-imagined (2014-present):

Love Story made its debut (as an ‘arena rock’ anthem) in the 1989 era at the IHEART Radio festival in September 2014, where it was introduced as a product purely of Taylor’s fascination with Romeo and Juliet:

“I heard this story, which really fascinated me and it really stuck with me in a way that no other story had stuck with me. And it was a story about these two teenagers, who fell in love over the course of three days. And the thing that really got to me was that the story ended in tragedy. So, when I was seventeen I wrote this song and I decided that I would change the ending. I called it ‘Love Story.”’

http://youtu.be/MigP4C8ewoU

See further:

The rehearsal video, if only for the excellent hair situation; it essentially repeats the same narrative, but in slightly different words: http://youtu.be/hJ9RaNTUrmo

Honourable mention goes also to the BBC Radio One Live Lounge Performance (for the Teen Awards), simply because the Kaylor feels/camera flirting should not be missed: http://youtu.begIx_kpo3wAI

~

Following IHeartRadio festival, ‘Love Story’ then re-appeared at the ACMAS (2015), where its original configuration as a foil for Taylor’s own ‘relationship’ was repeated. The fact that it was not Taylor who made the connection, but rather her mother, I don’t think can be entirely overlooked. In the speech, which prefaces Taylor’s Milestone Award, Andrea says:

“Her dad and I strongly disapproved of a certain young man. And, rightfully so. But she was mad, she was real mad and she went to her room and she closed the door. And she came out about an hour later with a song called Love Story.” (1.17-1.44)

http://youtu.be/iLDa-A8ZPH0

(Note, that in the same speech, Andrea also emphasizes Taylor’s ‘imagination and creativity.’ (0.37-0.40)

~

As has been discussed in Part I, Taylor’s interview for the June Issue of Elle raises several points of interest for anyone who has been paying close attention; this is especially true in the context of the ACMAS . Rather than re-iterate, as Andrea did, the old mythology, Taylor instead reverses the narrative back towards the fairy-tale/favourite story angle, which her IHeartRadio performance of the remixed ‘Love Story’ affirmed. And, which seems to have replaced the ‘boyfriend’ angle indefinitely. What is striking in this particular case, however, is that she applies the same reasoning to her entire early catalogue. I quote again:

“I’d never been in a relationship when I wrote my first couple of albums, so these were all projections of what I thought they might be like. They were based on movies and books and songs and literature that tell us that a relationship is the most magical thing that can ever happen to you.”

http://www.elle.com/fashion/a28210/taylor-swift-elle-june-cover-2015

I have said before that this is suggests to me a desire on Taylor’s part to separate herself from the kind of diary-esque authenticity, which was so integral to her early commercial success, and, which to some extent remains important even to her current brand: this is true at least, I feel, for the younger fans, who embrace the ‘Taylor Swift is my best friend’ narrative, to which her social media presence actively contributes, so enthusiastically.

That Love Story is no more than a teenage fantasy derived from Taylor’s affection for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, remains (for the time being) the line that is being piloted in her live appearances. I conclude with, a fairly recent example: Taylor’s performance at Radio One’s big Weekend in Norwich (May 24th 2015), which gave me the final inspiration to write this (extensive) post.

“I wrote it about two characters in a story that I had heard. They were two teenagers who were in love, but they couldn’t be together because their parents hated each other. And, I hated that. It had a tragic, tragic ending and I didn’t like that so of course I changed the ending of the story in my song. And, then that song went out into the world and you made it into my very first UK number one song. And, if you haven’t guessed the characters names are Romeo and Juliet and the song is called Love Story.”

http://youtu.be/EawYRZxyxzCI

***

Once again, I sincerely hope you find this discussion illuminating. If you have any comments/queries or want to offer an alternative interpretation, please don’t hesitate to share. I am always happy to engage in polite and constructive discourse. Similarly if you just want to chat or whatever, I am here, and will be pretty consistently for the next few weeks.

[jennyboom21]

I WOULD NOT MIND YOUR THOUGHTS ON TREACHEROUS AND WONDERLAND (and the possible connection it has to Clean)!!!! Excellent write up! *sips tea*

[genderblinditem-deactivated2016]

Whats up with this taylor/dianna thing? Im not a fan so excuse me for being ignorant but a love taylor's songs and im in love with the idea of her being queer. Lots of love

OK I don’t have the ability or desire to be a definitive SWIFTGRON resource here. But as someone who regularly spends hours sifting through l chat for the choicest lesbian tinhatting cuts let me drop a couple pieces down on my blog. 

Dianna Agron loves Alice in Wonderland. This predates her friendrelationship with Taylor. It’s her thing. Her tumblr (which she deleted on 23 April 2013) was called “felldowntherabbithole”. 

Taylor’s song Wonderland has is full of metaphors and allusions to Alice in Wonderland. “Fell down the rabbit hole”, “what becomes of curious minds”, cheshire cat’s smile”, “in the end in wonderland we both went mad”.

Ahem.  

Like Harry Styles, Dianna also has green eyes (hers are closer to hazel than harry’s more pure green but they look green in a lot of pictures depending on the light). Wonderland and I Know Places both talk about a relationship with a person with green eyes. It’s incredibly easy to give a queer reading to I Know Places. It’s like, pretty out there tbh.

SWIFTGRON: a shitty quasi timeline of social media moments

Taylor looks all kinds of 70’s beautiful….and love a hat! Great job @voguemagazine & @taylorswift13.

— Dianna Agron (@DiannaAgron)

January 17, 2012

Oh ya know, just a regular Tuesday night @taylorswift13 @diannaagron @clairewinter

A photo posted by @ashavignone on Apr 4, 2012 at 1:34am PDT

Always something to celebrate… Today it was Shirley. @taylorswift @ashavignone @ymcharlie @lulusimone

A photo posted by Claire Winter Kislinger (@claire_winter) on Apr 4, 2012 at 12:47am PDT

The most magical night at @DiannaAgron’s circus themed birthday party! http://t.co/ADLdV8wW

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13)

April 29, 2012

The most magical night at @DiannaAgron’s circus themed birthday party!

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) em Abr 4, 2012 at 5:09 PDT

Was a beautiful night last night. The RFK foundation provides help to so many truly deserving. Plus @taylorswift13 was truly lovely.

— Dianna Agron (@DiannaAgron)

December 4, 2012

Congrats @taylorswift13!! Look at you go… Listening party in the trailer & the French are digging it too. pic.twitter.com/j0TYjlne

— Dianna Agron (@DiannaAgron)

October 22, 2012

This is hilarious! @ashavignone @AshleyArabian @taylorswift13 @iamjessicaszohr “@Sh0uly: Just for fun @DiannaAgron http://t.co/LcmXw3Xzom”

— Dianna Agron (@DiannaAgron)

April 30, 2013

Most underrated Fun song! “@Sarah_Hyland: Out on the town with ma peeps ;) @mattpro13 @taylorswift13 @diannaagron https://t.co/XqIPdsQnyf”

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13)

September 5, 2013

@taylorswift13 “Want to go to a fun concert at the Greek? “Sure, who’s playing?” “Fun!” “Oh, right!” Not just a fun concert a FUN concert.”

— Dianna Agron (@DiannaAgron)

September 5, 2013

After September 2013 there’s more or less radio silence between Taylor and Dianna. They still follow each other on Twitter. I’m sorta confused about Dianna’s instagram—her first picture is from Nov 2013—did she have a different ig before that? Did she simply delete pictures prior to that period of time? This tweet implies she had a private IG around that time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This picture of Dianna kissing Taylor Swift’s cat Meredith was her twitter profile picture for a while. 

I’m just putting this picture here without comment. 

other stuff goes here

i’m seriously not interested in doing a day by day match up to prove!!! swiftgron was real

ok love you all

[foxtrot-fridays-blog]

A quick doodle I did based off of this post by maxcaulfiedisms (^u^)

[knightchanges]

6/26

[horroronfilm]

#ABOUTME

[passthepencil]

🌚

[quietasides]

 xx

[mercurycrest]

[afissimo]

2011/2015

[motherhalsey]

©