Using The Grammys as an arbiter of taste reminds me of a quote from one of my all time favorite shows (which I just assume @KVV also loves), Sports Night:
Casey: Can I just say one more thing about the Starland Vocal Band?
Dan: Sure.
Casey: 1978, they win the Grammy for Best New Artist. You know who they beat? Elvis Costello. Now is it your belief that Elvis Costello isn’t cool?
Dan: No, it’s my belief that the Grammy voters aren’t cool.
Casey: Now they tell me.
Just to follow up on this:
The 10 min version is fine for what it should have been. An Easter Egg gift to fans. She kept dropping hints about it, and fans kept freaking out about it, and when it was released, it was interesting, some of it cool, a nod to what gets left on the cutting room floor in the creative process.
It never should have become the preferred version of the song, because all the extra shit ruins the cumulative power and tension of the song.
The scarf is a bomb waiting go off. It’s Chekov’s gun, mentioned in the first act, except the first time you hear the song you don’t think it’s important.
And when it shows up in the last verse, it’s fucking nuclear. It flips the whole song again, turns it back into something empowering. Yes, you wrecked me, but you lost the one real thing you’ll ever know, and the reason you kept the scarf is because you know on some level you can’t let go of the real shit we had. Even the final chorus is a callback to the lyrical shit we’ve already heard about, the red light, the dancing in the kitchen. It’s really good, masterclass vulnerability. As I’ve said before on this thread, there have been better songwriters, but this was a really good example of how she was willing to risk something to speak to broadly-held emotions of a love affair gone bad.
The 10-min version kind of ditches the power of that perfect landing for some meh jokes about how I get older and your lovers stay the same age. We already know the love affair kind of did a number on him because of the scarf! We don’t need to repeat the question about whether he was maimed six times. It would be like if Shawshank Redemption released an extended cut where Andy and Red chat on the beach for 5 minutes about how Red realized he had to get busy living or get busy dying, and how Andy helped him understand the power of hope, how it wasn’t a dangerous thing.
That’s already in the subtext! We don’t need more of it!
Sorry, but from a storytelling perspective, the whole embrace of the 10-minute version being superior just makes me crazy.
But 10 minute version says “fuck the patriarchy “ though
That line bugs me too, particularly after she put it in keychains. Cause was it something the boy (who we’ll call Jake) said as he tossed her the keys? That’s kind of funny, but not perfect, particularly because the next line is so bad. Keychain on the ground, we were always skipping town. What?
No, “Jake “ is pseudo feminist who carries a keychain that says “fuck the patriarchy “ but also dates increasingly younger women and keeps them like secrets. I do love the 10 minute version and just find it such an excellent take down of a really particular type of shitty man
I had listened to the 10 minute version many times before randomly, Spotify played the shorter version and it just lacked depth for me. The 10 minute version builds up, and grows.
Also - it’s just a song really, at the end of the day.
I’m also a basic bitch in that I do love a good pop song that just rocks the I-V-i-IV chord progression
All to well and champagne problems are my two favourite Taylor versions of that
Very underrated bop
I’m with ya. There’s really not much better than a catchy pop tune
Did someone just play @CarlyRaeJepsenFan’s music?
Huh? Sorry, too busy enjoying my Sunday afternoon cleaning/jam session backed by Kim Petras, MUNA, and Tove Lo.
Been on a big Tove Lo kick the last half of the year
Hoping for an Ope pairing;
Best remix
Rookie numbers. 
Podcast listening time… is just over 30k minutes. Just over 525k minutes in a year. That tracks. 
I want to know how many users have Taylor and R.E.M. as their top two artists.
I’d put the over-under at 2.5 and take the under.
I’m late to this debate but I will certainly add my top 5 TS bangers:
)Honorable mention to Love Story (shoutout Cousin Richie) and Stay Stay Stay.
On top of all that, Folklore and Evermore might be my two favorite TS albums to listen all the way through.
