Is Taylor Swift an Overrated 35-Year-Old?

Because you needed another Taylor Swift think-piece

My goal was to get my book Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves published before I turned 30. Given that my 30th birthday was in June, I just missed the mark. I’m still very excited to share this book, though. I did some fun press for it last week:

• I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal about Taylor Swift’s usual collaborators

• I spoke to Herizon Music about the evolution of sexism in popular music

• I did an interview with Significance magazine about my journey listening to every number one hit.

If you live in the New York City-area, I’d love if you bought a ticket to our release party. I will be speaking with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walt Hickey about the book at the event. Tickets are going fast. Now, let’s talk about if Taylor Swift is mediocre.

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Is Taylor Swift an Overrated 35-Year-Old?

By Chris Dalla Riva

Not long after George Harrison’s death, his son Dhani was giving an interview on the news when he recounted a humorous conversation between he and his late father.

I said to him last year or the year before … Well, you know, I’ve got a degree. I’m [twenty-three]. He laughed and was like, “What was I doing when I was 23?” I said, “I don’t know.” He was like, “What was I doing? Oh, yeah, making Sgt. Pepper.”

The moral of this father-son conversation is that you should never—under any circumstance—compare your accomplishments to a successful musician, especially if said musician was a member of The Beatles. As I note in my forthcoming book, “If you’re in the business of topping the charts, it’s a good idea to drink from the fountain of youth.” Success in the pop world happens very young. You’re bound to look like you’ve been slacking if you compare your output at any age to that of a popular musician.

This (somewhat) naturally brings us to Taylor Swift, another person who you should never compare yourself to. Before she’d turned 25, Swift had firmly cemented her music legacy, selling millions of records and touring the world. As she closes out her 35th year, her world domination continues. Her latest record, The Life of a Showgirl, just set the all time record for first week sales.

But while her fans continue to gobble up her music like their lives depend on it, the critical reception of this record has been somewhere between muted and negative. Pitchfork declared that Swift’s music has “never been less compelling.” The Guardian described the record as “dull razzle-dazzle from a star who seems frazzled.”

Of course, there have been some positive reactions—like a rave from Rolling Stone—but I tend to agree that the record fell short. The album was lyrically clunky and musically derivative, two major demerits given that Swift is often hailed as the greatest songwriter of her generation and Max Martin and Shellback—the production duo behind the record—receive just as much praise.

I kind of felt like we should cut Taylor some slack, though. (Okay, not really. When you’re heaped with praise and riches you deserve some scrutiny.) How often are world-famous artists breaking new ground at 35? Pop music, as we noted, is a young person’s game. Maybe The Life of a Showgirl is par for the course. I decided to take a look.