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Listen: Taylor Swift speaks up on 'Speak Now'

What do you think of the title track to her new album?

<p>Taylor Swift</p>

Taylor Swift

Credit: AP

Take Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” and age everyone 10 years or so and you’re got “Speak Now.”  Thematically, that is.

“Speak Now,” the title track to Swift’s Oct. 25 album, debuted on iTunes today, as one song from the album will for the next three weeks. Hear it here.

“Speak Now,” like “You Belong With Me,” carries on the story of a girl who knows the boy of her dreams should be with her instead of the shrew he’s chosen. But this time, instead of her boy squiring  the other girl to a school dance or Halloween carnival, he’s meeting her at the end of a church aisle.

Taking a page from the ending of “The Graduate,” Swift interrupts the nuptials, although it may all be a fantasy. 

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Musically, the song is a departure for Swift’s other singles, in that it features a stripped down production through the first verse with the focus on her voice, which sounds pretty good here (and returns to the guitar accompaniment throughout the song). There’s nothing remotely country about the mid-tempo track, although we have a feeling country radio will eat it up. Swift wrote all the songs on “Speak Now” by herself, unlike on her previous two albums. The tune shows she clearly needs no help with lyrics, but she musically she could use some help diversifying. Her songs tend to stay in the same mid-tempo pocket with each striking a similar sound.

We also see a not-so- sweet side of America’s sweetheart when she sings, “I sneak in and see your friends and her snotty little family all dressed in pastel and she is yelling at a bridesmaid somewhere back inside a room in a gown shaped like a pastry.” OK, regardless of what you think about Tay Tay, that’s a pretty good line. We can't wait to see her claws come out more.

We can’t quite figure out if she’s starting to work a bit of a stalker streak into her songs, but she’s beginning to sound a little bit like the girl who lives in her own fantasy world with lots of cats and stuffed animals, each of which she calls by name. We’re sure the video will explain it all.

As we've reported before, each song on "Speak Now" is about an event in Swift's life. Swift tells Glamour, "Everything that happens to me gets put into a song," Swift explained. "For some reason, I'm really comfortable talking about my personal life in songs. There, I don't hold back: names, dates, times, expressions on people's faces, exactly where we were and how it felt, what I wish I would have said to them in the moment."

 

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    musictomyears

    What is wrong with this girl? Why is she so needy? Are all girls at her age so desperate for a man? Miss Swift is single handedly setting the women's movement back by leaps and bounds. A man does not define who a women is!
    Her me me me, mine, mine,mine lyrics shouldn't be the message young girls hear.

    October 5, 2010 at 4:00PM EST Reply to Comment
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      Kiss in Rain I'm not sure how she set's the "women's movement back." She is one of the most powerful independent women in the world right now. She worked hard for what she has and she's a good person. I've got a 8 year old daughter and I think Taylor's an excellent influence on her. Certainly the other options in pop music aren't too appealing!

      October 5, 2010 at 10:48PM EST
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    Kaesi Gelelo

    Taylor can sing live. She has had some very good performances. I can't deny that she has had bad ones too, but that's part of the appeal to be honest. She's normal. Normal people will have bad performances, they'll get excited when they get awards, and sing about the relationships they regret. That's what makes her appealing.

    Watch her videos here:
    http://www.areze.com/videos.php

    November 4, 2010 at 8:12AM EST Reply to Comment

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