After a long day at the practice yesterday I came home to the arrival of Taylor's new album Lover, which I had pre-ordered some time ago. It was a lovely home-coming. I decided that I wanted to get one of the deluxe versions because they just look so pretty!
Of course, I got the pink one as that is my favourite colour and I just love the aesthetics of this album - everything about it is just beautiful; hearts, glitter, pink clouds, blue skies...it's like Taylor has tapped into the hearts of feminine women everywhere and created a pink and pretty album from what she found there.
As always, her lyrics are incredibly relatable and the melodies are catchy and fun. In places this album has echos of the sound of 1989 - that definitive Taylor sound that she has become known for. Some of the songs are quite raw, such as Soon You'll Get Better - this is a heart-breaking song of losing someone you love to illness and as I have lost half my family to cancer, it had me in floods of tears! It did leave me in awe of her talent though as it is such a powerful song.
The album soon picks up the pace again with her singles You Need To Calm Down and ME! putting out the good vibes once more. I think my favourite tracks are The Man and also, The Archer.
These deluxe versions have voice memos of two of the songs which shows the raw talent at work, before the pizzaz of production is in place. It has a very intimate feel to it - like you're eavesdropping while she works.
The Pink deluxe version also incorporates lots of photos, a poster, lyric booklet and extracts from Taylor's own diaries ages 13- 27. This insight into her personality shows a young woman growing up in extraordinary circumstances; signing a record deal one month, then taking part in a school talent show a few months later, just like any other school girl; shopping with her mother and declaring it a better day than all the concerts and tours she'd performed; her plans to move to New York (which birthed 1989) and to get a kitten and call her Meredith Gray; vignettes of her curled up 'watching Gray's Anatomy with Meredith' - all these diary entries show a thoughtful young woman who demonstrates gratitude for all the little things in life, which is probably why life has given her the big opportunities.
She comes across as a kind person who is thoughtful, who knows the value of creating a homemade gift for her brother and who never takes anything for granted.
We could all take a lesson from this, because it is the little moments in life that count. Rarely does life happen in a bells and whistles way, but in a random way, as you go about your daily routine. Showing gratitude for the little things is what brings about the bigger things and this is how dreams come true and achievements are made.
I also think it is very brave of her to open up her diaries to the world as she has. Yes, I'm sure she was very selective in what extracts she chose to publish, but still, it is a very personal and vulnerable thing to do. I have boxes and boxes of diaries and journals from the age of 15 and I have never shared them with anyone, least of all thought about publishing any part of them! But it does give the whole deluxe album a very personal feel and is another symbol of the trust this artist shares with her fans, in that she treats them like friends and even lets them read her diary! I don't think I would ever trust anyone that much!
All in all I'm really glad I went for one of the deluxe versions of Lover and if you like Taylor Swift's music and you love pretty, feminine things then you will not be disappointed with Lover. If Pink is not your thing there are three other deluxe versions available, Blue, Mint and Lilac I believe, so you might prefer one of those instead and each one is slightly different.
I have a feeling I'm going to be playing this album on repeat for a while yet. Here are my favourite tracks from Lover...
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