Sometimes You Must Shake It Off: The Taylor Swift Experience

Lyrics for Welcome to New York
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Swift's guitar and MTV award
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     Last November, I learned that a Taylor Swift-themed exhibit was Welcome to New York, and I freaked out like a tween. The Taylor Swift Experience came to Fulton Street and it was good, campy fun! I went with my 'squad' a few weeks ago to check out the multimedia travelling show, which began at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. After the New York turn, the exhibit is on the way to the Mississippi Grammy Museum. The price tag couldn't be beat, for 11 dollars we got more entertainment than a typical exhibit.

Red dress
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     The first floor had a gift shop full of Swift swag and the singer's memorabilia. There were more recent stage costumes (see the RED dress below) and the very cute and sparkly ringmaster suit from the Red Tour. There were lyrics (see left) for the song Welcome to New York. Swift penned other tracks for the Red album with Ryan Tedder. Read more about Tedder's collaboration in my past post. Swift's famous glitter guitar was included in the exhibit. I have been coveting this beautiful 6-string since I saw it at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Swift has contributed a beautiful educational wing to the CMHOF. Childhood items were also on display for the singer.  There was a saddle from Swift's early horseback riding days, report cards, and a baby baby blanket. There were media pieces in the display area including early home movies from the Swift family.  The walls of the area were covered with listings of each tour and venue locations, with total number of fans attended.

Promo card (c) PipPepPop

   The second floor of the exhibit was interactive and our favorite part. The feature attraction was a multi-colored tile dance floor. The tiles changed color in time to the pulsing music. As swift hits played on the screen, the lit-up dance floor changed as you stepped on each tile. We waited each time times until  Shake it Off cycled through, then busted out our best moves while singing along. It was very therapeutic and it may become part of my new stress-reduction routine. The media floor also had a recording studio where we recorded We Are Never Getting Back Together and played it back with the music video. Outside the studio, there were screens with headphones that let you playback Swift's country-tinged Mean, with individual voice and audio tracks that you could control. The Grammy winner has taken a 21st century take on a museum, making the most of audio and video to engage fans. The second floor auditorium was playing past Swift's past performances performances and concerts. I recommend this to anyone who is a dreamer or who is looking to inspire the next generation of dreamers!

Shake it Off on the video dance floor
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T.Swiz: A Study in Literal vs. Figurative Storytelling

     I just heard Taylor Swift's newest catchy single, New Romantics on the radio for the first time! I had some time to reflect in the car about how Ms. Swift's recent music videos have portrayed her epic songs. While older and typically country favorites like Love Story (a classic and literal "Romeo meets Juliet" at the ball theme) and You Belong With Me (pitting band geek Taylor against cheerleader Taylor), things from the 1989 album have taken storytelling up a notch. These are not just music videos, these are mini-movies in some cases and true works of art.

Shake it Off
LITERAL: This song sounds like it appears on  the screen. SIO is a big, fun dance party with a pounding brass line. Taylor appears as a ballerina awkwardly pirouetting, an Adidas jumpsuit-  wearing rapper, and her regular self in a cute black crop top and leggings (think Audrey Hepburn). What to all of these scenes have in common? Dancing and having a good time, which is really the whole point of the song. Yes, the haters are gonna hate, but let it go and dance your troubles away! Grade A

Blank Space
LITERAL: Taylor is in a mansion full of wonders (Unicorns), ornate hedges, long dinner tables, and her couture wardrobe is to die for. She invites a gentleman over to visit, and they enjoy long walks, horseback riding, dancing in a grand empty ballroom, riding bikes, picnics, and other sorts of "falling in Love" vignettes. I personally love the long list of ex-lovers, signified by a hallway of oil painting and Taylor is shown straightening out her newest portrait. Then begins "screaming, crying, a perfect storm," and the tables turn. Word to the wise, do not cross Taylor, she may drop you phone in a pond or cut holes in your shirts.
GRADE A+

Style
FIGURATIVE:  There's a cute guy, as always. He's having late night fever dreams about Taylor, remembering her at the beach, her with bare shoulders exposed (scandalous)! White t-shirt, check. Red lips, check. Driving in a car, check. James Dean-ish looking guy, check. Still , this story is largely experimental and has an 80's vibe. Lots of fade-ins and fade outs, mirrors, white billowing curtains with projected images, a lot of real artsy things. Also, this song was alleged to be written about Harry Styles (momentary EWWW).
GRADE B-

Bad Blood
IS FIGURATAL  a word? This song is remixed with Kendrick Lamar for the music video version, so let it be said I prefer the album cut of the song much better. The song poses Taylor as a movie-style action star kicking ass and taking names as she assembled a squad (mostly a whose who of models) to have a girl gang fight in a post-apocalyptic wasteland This may not be what actually caused bad blood (alleged with Katy Perry over as backup dancer)  but is certainly espouses the sentiment. Kendrick raps and plays some sort of Charlie's-angels-esque boss. Please also enjoy Tina Fey and Amy Pohler's SNL spoof about their own squad.
GRADE C+

Wildest Dreams
FIGURATIVE: Here, Taylor plays a movie star (with deep brown locks) with a "handsome as hell" co-star in a Casablanca-like desert setting. They have chemistry during filming and off-screen a steamy affair ensues,Of course, he appears at the movie premiere with his wife and Taylor is heartbroken. She leaves the premiere and he chases after her car, but it's too too late to change her mind. She catches him in the rear view mirror.  Does anyone remember Britney's Lucky? Something about this video reminded me of that. It also reminded me of the surprise ending of Dido's White Flag music video.
GRADE B+

Out of the Woods
FIGURATIVE: This song says "Are we out of the woods?" repeatedly, but the woods themselves are a construct, a state of mind, something only temporary,. Therefore, Taylor clawing her way out of muddy woods, getting chased by wolves, trapped in the snow in a flimsy dress with more wolves, etc... is the most figurative explanation of this story. The last words of the video: "She lost everything, but she found herself, and somehow that was everything" really drive this point home. It's all about the journey. A relationship, which may be terrible, can yield something positive. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger.
GRADE B