Hmmm, if Taylor Swift could win Grammy’s top prize – Album of the Year – at age 20 and on her sophomore album, is it too much to hope that David could accomplish the same victory with his own sophomore effort at the same age next year?
The difference, of course, is that David would have the vocal chops to back up such a win, right?
Then again, the music industry looooooves their female teen idols, while they expect their male artists to actually earn their awards.
Reverse sexism of sorts (or is it just the same ol’ sexism that still values unquestionably adult male artists with true merit while female artists could be as mediocre as they come as long as they’re pretty?).
See, here’s my issue with Taylor Swift winning this year’s Grammy for Album of the Year. She’s mediocre. At best. At worst, she’s insipid.
It’s been quite interesting reading different articles, blogs, and comments this week in which some have declared a “Taylor Swift backlash” in the wake of her big Grammy win; there was even a funny Facebook post: “Yo, Taylor, I’ma let you finish, but Lady Gaga had the best album this year.”
In fact, the backlash got so intense, what with her big win and her shaky performance on the awards show Sunday night, that her label actually made a statement in defense of her wobbly Grammy performance:
“She is the voice of this generation… This is not ‘American Idol’ [oh no he did not just go there!]. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can hit the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator.” (See Full Article)
Um, I’ll dismantle this argument later. And while different commenters have reacted with “I’m so over Taylor Swift,” I realize the most I can say is: “Well, I was never really into her, so there’s nothing to be ‘over with,’ I guess.”
Here’s how it went down for me. See, there was another “teen sensation” by the name of David Archuleta (yes, a former American Idol contestant who not only can hit the “high note” but the right ones too, honey – to reiterate a point Kelly Clarkson also made in defending her fellow Idol alumni), and I was riding the Archutrain so hard, I didn’t have time to notice some other “teen star” by the name of Taylor Swift. Except, every time I was checking the charts to see how David was faring with his first album, I kept seeing Taylor Swift all over it. Who’s she, I queried? Some pop country teen sensation. Oh, I thought, and went right back to my ODD Archulove.
Except this Taylor Swift kept winning things. And, right around the time I was debating whether to tune into VMA’s opening tribute to MJ or to tune into David’s SSB at the U.S. Open, Kanye happened, and all everyone could talk about was “poor Taylor Swift.” So, just like that, I had to pay attention. At least to some extent since that same week of the Kanye-Taylor showdown in the court of public opinion, David blew us away with Contigo en la Distancia at the ALMA Awards. Here was an audience who knew a “rising star” when they saw one.
Yet, all anyone else could talk about was “poor Taylor Swift.”
Then, “poor Taylor Swift” landed a hosting gig on SNL. Then, “poor Taylor Swift” won every major award at the CMAs, which did a whole stint around Kanye with the parody: “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be Kanye” (in case we weren’t clear that this was the basis for Taylor’s big wins). Then, “poor Taylor Swift” beat out the late Michael Jackson and the eccentric Lady Gaga for the “Artist of the Year” award at the AMAs (the CMAs cater to a certain community that would get off on parodying Kanye while elevating Taylor on her pedestal – what exactly was the AMA’s excuse?).
But, the Grammy’s – the biggest and most prestigious of the music awards – was supposed to get it right. Alas, they too rode on the Taylor Swift bandwagon and gave her their biggest prize: Album of the Year. What in the world?!
So I decided, well, there’s got to be something to the hype, right? I mean, other than riding her “poor Taylor Swift” pity card to these wondrous victories, there must be some substance behind the spectacle, right?
Did I already say that this Taylor Swift gal is mediocre at best, insipid at worst?
No wonder I couldn’t be bothered with her “wholesome country girl” routine, not when I’ve got my own “wholesome teen,” David Archuleta, to listen to. Unlike Miss “I’m so wholesome” Swift, David doesn’t have to manufacture innocence. He just is, and it’s not the main basis for his appeal either. It’s that magnificent Voice and his incredibly beautiful looks (I know I’m biased, but David’s got Taylor beat in this department too, not to mention that he can, you know, SING!).
Still, there must be something, anything to the Taylor Swift hype, so I was told she writes her own songs. OK, well, the genius must be there, right?
Exhibit A: “You Belong With Me”
But she wears short skirts and I wear T-shirts / She’s Cheer Captain and I’m on the bleechers / Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find / That what you’re looking for has been here the whole time…
Cute. Typical teen angst stuff, but what’s so great about this? Not to mention that Taylor “I’m so wholesome” Swift is the exact replica of the “Cheer Captain” she supposedly doesn’t represent. Her “plain girl” persona is rendered disingenuous by her Barbie Doll looks (the fact that she portrays her “rival” in the music video belies how her tween/teen fans are supposed to simultaneously identify with her and idolize/envy her).
Shall I contrast the lyrics that David helped pen?
Exhibit B: “Waiting for Yesterday”
You keep me guessing but I see in your eyes / He made you promises but gave you lies / You’re shutting down because you’re so sure / I’ll be another mistake … You think history is repeated / You keep on pushing me away / Oh but nothing’s gonna change / Waiting for yesterday…
The same sentiment is expressed – “I’ll be different than the one who came before me” – but which song has more depth? I know which song I’ll choose! Maybe it’s because Taylor’s song sets up the catfight and virgin/whore dichotomy, which just rubs me the wrong way (I would appreciate the song more if it were along the lines of: “Will you still love me if I wore t-shirts and sneakers, or can you only love me if I wear short skirts?”). David’s song is about character, not looks, about second chances and taking a chance that he won’t break your heart. Sigh.
Yet, David’s song doesn’t get any airplay (indeed, is merely a bonus track on his debut album), while Taylor wins four Grammys on the strength of her song’s popularity.
I could go on.
Exhibit C: “White Horse”
I’m not a princess / This ain’t a fairytale / I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet / Lead her up the stairwell / This ain’t Hollywood, / This is a small town / I was a dreamer before you went and let me down / Now its too late for you and your White Horse /To come around.
Again, typical teen angst, and I understand how many can identify, but these lyrics get undercut by her music video for “Love Story,” which presents her as a princess in her fairy tale with her “Romeo” to her “Juliet,” thus casting her earlier heartbreak song with the typical pity card: “poor Taylor Swift… She deserves to be a princess in a fairy tale.”
Contrast, once again, to another song David helped pen (relegated once again to bonus material on his debut CD):
EXHIBIT D: “Somebody Out There”
I’ve been watching you go through /All of these things for a while / There’s gotta be a way to bring you back / Cause its worth it when you smile / It doesn’t have to hurt you forever / It doesn’t have to last too long / If you’re wondering where to turn to / I hope that you know / There’s somebody out there…
Whew! That’s deep, but we’ve come to expect this of our David.
In other words, I just don’t have the patience to listen to the “hype” around a certain singer/songwriter, whose concepts of “innocence” and “wholesomeness” is wrapped up in an artificial idea of what the typical “teenager” is angsty about. Give me David and Jordin who’ve got the vocal prowess to back up their youth. Give me David “somebody to show you the tenderness you need” Archuleta, whose innocence is wrapped up in still believing in the power of love, the power of still being tender and caring. David who can tell a story better than any “country-singing” chick (girlfriend ain’t even from the South or a red state, okaaaay) with visions of fairy tales and prom dresses – either because she feels entitled to them or because she’s so disappointed that love isn’t like Hollywood (or the music industry for that matter) says it should be.
Because I know so many young adults and teens – male, female, black, white, middle-class and low income – and know that they have a whole lot more going on upstairs than these manufactured scripts would have you believe, I also have no patience in seeing some “young sensation” like Taylor Swift packaged to me in a cute and cloying manner.
Country music was one of the last genres which “spoke to the people” (and even though I’m not a fan of the genre, I always did respect it for its ability to tell great stories through song with a healthy dose of irony and double entendres – think Martina McBride’s “Independence Day” or anything from the Dixie Chicks; even Carrie Underwood put out some quirky and interesting songs out there, with the vocal prowess to match). To even pretend that Taylor Swift’s trite country songs can “speak to the people” (young people in this case) is to pretend that such youth have no depth to speak of. Even their “party songs” speak to their youthful energy and their ability to not take life so seriously. It’s something about youth I’d like to treasure, so when even the Grammys want to take a Taylor Swift seriously (when there were other young artists, like our David, that they easily could have), I can’t help but roll my eyes.
At the end of the day, the music industry is about the bottom line, and Taylor Swift won big because she sold massively (that, plus a rude and whiny black man grabbed the mic from her). So I get it: the industry rewards those who can save them from bankruptcy. I can understand that. But, let’s not pretend it’s art, and let’s not pretend that this wasn’t a foregone conclusion. Taylor Swift sold well because she was marketed and manufactured to do so.
That these silly trite marketing strategies are the best they can come up with makes me shake my head at the music industry’s sad demise. When the industry finally gets a clue that artists out there exist who can sell well and still have the talent to match the packaging, they might actually be able to convince the people en masse to invest in their products again.
We shall see if they learn anything this time next year.
Our David is growing up! And in all the right places too! 
And, I must say, as a fan base, we’ve come a long way. Remember how we used to have verbal fights over what was “appropriate” to discuss about David and what wasn’t? Ah, how quaint we were, as Arch Angels, having to convince ourselves that it was okay to acknowledge, let alone gush like schoolgirls, that David in all his youth was all kinds of sexy. It’s a good thing he’s so devout. Otherwise, he would have been fair game a looooong time ago if he weren’t.
And, why does David look like he’s got circles under his eyes?
