Even if you’re not a Taylor Swift fan, you may have heard that she released a new album last week - “The Tortured Poets Department.” It was actually a surprise double album, with 15 additional songs than what she originally announced.
Personally, I am a Taylor Swift fan, which I know sounds so cliche these days. I think she’s an incredible songwriter and performer and am in awe of how she built her career and fandom. She’s someone who’s a great example of living according to her purpose - she was made to do what she’s doing and has worked hard to get there.
When her “Reputation” album came out in 2017, I didn’t know much about her except she was a country star that moved to the Pop world and I enjoyed her songs when I heard them on the radio.
I remember seeing a headline that she deleted all of her Instagram photos in August 2017 (I had to look up the date - I didn’t remember it offhand) and unfollowed everyone. It had been three years since she released an album so people speculated that she was about to announce new music. It made me curious and that’s when I started to delve further into learning different aspects about her career. I learned how she’s been a professional songwriter since she was 14 and about how personal her songs are.
In 2019, I watched her “Reputation” tour on Netflix and decided that next time she was in town, I’d make a point to go see her. Little did I know the “Eras Tour” would be such a huge thing and I was fortunate to actually see it on the second night of the tour. Starting with “Reputation,” I listened to each of her new albums when they came out and even recognized some of the aspects of her life she revealed through her songs. During the first year of the pandemic - she released two albums - “Folklore” and “Evermore” - with no advance notice. Just kind of like, “Hey, here’s what I’ve been working on while being stuck at home.” They both went on to receive numerous awards.
She also does all sorts of special things for her devoted fans, which is fun to watch. Throughout her career, she has interacted with fans on social media, had a meet & greet in her home, throws in special clues and puzzles in her videos and album promotions and even occasionally drops an album without any notice. I don’t follow her work too closely but I admire all of these things about her, in addition to her philanthropic work, such as donating to food banks in the cities she visits during her tour.
She’s also made inspiring business decisions in her career - such as re-recording her earlier albums because she didn’t own the masters of her original works. She wasn’t given the option of purchasing the original master recordings of her songs when the original master recordings were sold by her former management company so she re-recorded hers. Since her songs are based on her personal experiences, she wanted to own them - makes perfect sense to me. When I look through the lyrics of my older songs - many that exist only in the notebooks where I originally wrote them - I remember those times in my life and it would be strange if somebody else owned them. She has also acted in a few films and has directed many of her music videos.
There are so many depths to explore within her career - her songwriting, her lyrics, her marketing, the way she conducts her business - you could teach a college course with all the lessons you can learn from her. Oh yeah, there are actually colleges who offer classes about her career and her work. That’s pretty amazing! Even if you’re not a fan of her music, you can’t deny that she has created an incredible musical career!
Listening to her album is like listening to a well-written diary with great phrasing and melodies. I’m sure her devoted fans will have lots of fun deciphering the lyrics!
This week’s song is for Earth Day, which was on April 22. The song, called “Look Up,” was recorded at the end of 2021 and at some point I would like to go back and re-record the vocals and guitar, but it wasn’t going to happen this week, as it’s also Passover and I had too much to do. So I thought I’d share it as is, and turn the recording into a lesson.
The lesson I learned from this song was to make sure you get your music and vocals right before you move on to production.
This was the first song that I had mixed and mastered professionally and while the quality of that mixing and mastering sounds good to me, there are points in my vocals where I cringe a little when I listen to it and I wish I would have hired someone to play the guitar, as my guitar playing sounds a little choppy to me. I learned that producers are not magicians or miracle workers and if you submit a vocal that you think could be better, then maybe you should take a little more time and make it sound closer to how you would like it to sound. There may be some tricks to make improvements, but that’s not always the case.
I wrote the song on guitar and attempted to use that as the rhythm for the song. Since it wasn’t exact, I didn’t add a drum beat to it and instead used different digital sounds - no loops - to add some variety. (Though I did add some Bongos for the bridge.)
When I submitted the song for feedback, I was told that it sounds like a children’s song and the line about the VR headset kind of threw people off. (Feedback ranged from someone not knowing what a VR headset was to if it's for children, they won’t know what a VR headset is.) So if I do re-record the song, I will likely change some of the lyrics in the first verse.
Although some of it could be a message for children about appreciating the world around us and taking care of it, it’s actually a little more cynical than that, such as if we don’t take care of our Earth, things in nature that we take for granted today may be available only through the use of a VR headset in the future.
The song was inspired by multiple headlines about the destruction from wildfires, hurricanes, flooding and companies developing virtual reality. Around that time I wrote it, I read an article about how giant sequoia trees in Northern California were almost destroyed by wildfires. Fortunately, firefighters saved them by wrapping the trees in fireproof blankets as they were clearing the area. It made me realize that so many things we take for granted - such 1,000-year-old trees - could disappear in a moment.
“Look up” is a call to not only look up from your phone to see what’s happening around you, but also to appreciate the beauty that exists. The line “what you see is up to you” has two meanings. One is that it’s up to us how we perceive the world - do we see it through a negative lens or appreciate the beauty? It also refers to our actions - what we do today will determine how our world will look in the future.
Listen here.
Look Up
Put on your VR headset, I’ll show you how the world used to be
Before the fires and flooding, when fish swam in the sea
You’ll be amazed at the beauty under the clear blue sky
Like steppin’ into a postcard and living insideLook up, look around
See the beauty right here right now
Look up, enjoy the view
What you see is up to youDon’t rely on a filter, see the world how it’s meant to be
Full of imperfection and possibility
You can make a difference, you can ease the pain
You can be the rainbow after the rainLook up, look around,
See the beauty right here right now
Look up, enjoy the view
What you see is up to youPay attention to the little things like the way the branches sway in the breeze
A butterfly flying by, cotton candy clouds in the skyLook up, look around
See the beauty right here right now
Look up, enjoy the view
What you see is up to youLook up, look up, look up
Look up, look around
See the beauty right here right now© Leisah Woldoff
Admiration for Taylor Swift's career and a song for Earth Day