How is Vermeer like Flaubert? They might have been the best ever, if they had produced more. Stendahl could go in that category, too.Not sure I'd agree, but it made me stop and think. I'd agree more with the bit about Vermeer.
Some are almost certainly correct:
The most under-rated man in modern history was U.S. Grant.But this one - please dear God let it not be true:
Much as Bob Dylan was the most authentic spokesman for his generation, Taylor Swift is the most authentic spokesman for hers.Now look, I like young Miss Swift OK. But I recognize her for what she is: a young talented songwriter. She writes about what she knows, which is the secret of good writing. But she's only 20 or 21, for crying out loud. Her friend Kellie Pickler would also be in this category, except that she already has, with this astonishing song:
Or if you want the emotion unfiltered, there's her performance at the 2008 CMA Awards which drew a standing ovation.
Kellie Pickler I Wonder CMA 2007
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Now as I said, I like Taylor Swift OK. But that's a song worthy of being novelized by a Flaubert. We shall see if Miss Swift can write as moving a howl at the moon as this.
Taylor Swift? Um, no.
ReplyDeleteMaria McKee, maybe.
I'd like to think I'd have written a post like this if I'd known about both of these singers the way you do.
ReplyDeleteThe question is, has Taylor Swift any experience to compel she to write a song like this? Perhaps it is that she has the skill and the talent but not some basic conflict about which to write.
Jim
Jim, I think that you've hit the nail on the head. Pickler had a pretty hard childhood; Swift grew up surrounded by a loving family. That'll leave a difference.
ReplyDeleteThere's no doubt that Swift has talent, although you have to wonder if it'll all get funneled into the commercial Country/Pop/Crossover teeny bopper set.