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You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

We will not go back.

There are times when telling just part of the truth is effectively a lie.

In my day, never was longer.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Their freedom requires your slavery.

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Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

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Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

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You are here: Home / Music / Musical Open Thread: Taylor Swift & Mary Chapin Carpenter

Musical Open Thread: Taylor Swift & Mary Chapin Carpenter

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I’m enjoying my way, song by song, through Taylor Swift’s latest. She (still) reminds me of Mary Chapin Carpenter. I need to pick up a couple of MCC’s later albums, and figure out which of Swift’s albums I need to buy so I’ll alwyas have my favorite songs on hand (being of a generation, and a mindset, where I don’t feel I own a thing unless I can put my hands on it… )

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Reader Interactions

75Comments

  2. 2.

    MagdaInBlack

    Good Morning. Shift change at BJ.

    We’ve just had a small thunderstorm roll thru the Chi nw suburbs, and now the robins are singing. They’re my music so far this morning.

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I’ve been awake since 11:32 last night. Finally gave up trying to sleep at 3:30. I see a nap in my near future.

  5. 5.

    lowtechcyclist

    @HumboldtBlue: ​
     

    I think the melody’s pretty good, certainly good enough to pull me in and get me listening to the lyrics, which, as you say, are awesome.

  6. 6.

    Spanky

    @MagdaInBlack: I woke before the birds did, and the first to open its mouth was something high pitched, maybe a cedar waxwing. The Robins and Carolina Wrens are going at it now.

  8. 8.

    lowtechcyclist

    Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince – wow.

    I think I’m becoming a Swiftie.

    I’m still reeling from the first time I heard “All Too Well.”

  12. 12.

    Ramalama

    Joan Baez’s cover of Stones in the Road was the gateway to me liking Mary Chapin Carpenter. Previously I thought “meh” whenever I heard MCC. Now I can’t get enough of her singing her own song …Stones in the Road. And her other songs.

    watch it happening as MCC possibly serving as the gateway to TS.

    I am ok with this.

    P.S. Joan’s movie was terrific: I Am A Noise.

  13. 13.

    Jeffro

    Mrs. Fro and I watched the first half of Taylor Swift’s concert movie last night.  It was really good!  I’m not that familiar with most of her stuff, so for me it was educational.  Mrs. Fro’s a fan, so she kept saying, “Let’s watch one more song…ok, one more song…ok. just one more…”  =)

    I’ve been a fan of MCC’s for a long time (but haven’t listened in a while) so now I know what to put on Spotify for the day.  Thanks AL!

  18. 18.

    thruppence

    I got to go to the Symphony last night, Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with Natasha Paremski soloist. I’d never heard of her, but I thought she was excellent. Now I have to be at work at 6 am.

    Blech.

  20. 20.

    Another Scott

    @thruppence: We saw Teenage Fanclub at the 930 Club in DC yesterday evening. It was an early show, 7:30 – 9:00, because they had to clear out for a later dance show / rave / whatever for the youngsters.

    It was a good show.  And being able to get home before 10 pm was great.  J’s twin sister in Austin was able to listen to a recent show in Paris so it was almost like being there with us.

    MCC is great and TS too. Wonderful to see a woman ruling the pop music world for a while. Here’s hoping it continues.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  21. 21.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: Hmmmmm… I like her more and more every day. While her music doesn’t do much for me, she sure does piss off all the right people.

  23. 23.

    Nukular Biskits

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    @Baud: Hmmmmm… I like her more and more every day. While her music doesn’t do much for me, she sure does piss off all the right people.

    I think there’s a law, somewhere on the intertubes, about conservatives doing stupid shit for the sole purpose of “OWNIN’ TEH STEWPIT LIBTARDS, HYUCK!HYUCK!HYUCK!” (no, not Cleek’s Law, but it would be a corollary).

    Maybe we should have one called “Taylor’s Law”.

  27. 27.

    Geo Wilcox

    @Baud: She could put out the most holy of albums with nothing but gospel songs and they’d be pissed off at her. It isn’t her music that gets them, It’s the fact that she is a single woman who is more powerful and popular than their brand of shit religion will ever be.

  28. 28.

    Nukular Biskits

    Trying to recover from yesterday’s activities before setting out to do more today.

    Yesterday was building a 3’x20′ flower bed next to the master bedroom window, which meant removing sod and laying down border blocks.

    Today’s activities will involve the other flower bed 3’x13′ on the other side of the house.

    Assuming I survive, I’ll be handmixing the soil (courtesy of 50 bags of stuff from local big box hardware store I loaded myself) with what’s left in the beds so maybe tomorrow (?) I can plant.

  29. 29.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud:

    Oh, that’s hilarious!!  They’re upset that she’s making fun of Christians, oh dearie, the poor things.

    First of all, plenty of them deserve to be made fun of.  And second, if your heart if filled with the love of the Lord of the whole fucking Universe, then shit like that should just wash off you.

    And if they’re upset that she’s “mocking God,” well, God’s a big boy and can take a joke or two. Unlike them, apparently. :-)

    ETA:

    Released last Friday, critics have voiced concern over lyrics that seem to suggest that Christians are both hateful and judgemental.

    You don’t say!  Maybe their concern should be about the fact that a lot of people who call themselves Christians come across as hateful and judgmental.  (Possibly because they are? Just a WAG.)

    “As Christians, who are filled with the Spirit, should we be entertained by, sing with, and expose our kids to lyrics that aren’t just different than what you believe, but are actually mocking what you believe?” Pruitt asked.

    If you’re filled with the Spirit, maybe it shouldn’t bother you so much that someone’s making fun of you.  Really.

  30. 30.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Baud:

    Taylor Swift’s new album draws criticism from Christian leaders who say it mocks God, Christians

    Anything that doesn’t explicitly proclaims their* views as being the only correct ones “mocks God”.

    *”their” being those self-identified Christians, mostly white conservative evangelicals, who would be better described as “Christianists”.

  35. 35.

    Mousebumples

    We watched Miss Americana (Swift doc) on Netflix last night. I thought it was interesting. Definitely highlights misgony is the US/world, music industry, and politics. And her evolution from, “I shouldn’t tell people how to vote” to “OMFG, Trump is terrible!”

    I’m guessing a lot of us can relate.

    Also talk about mental health, self confidence, etc. It’s from 2020,but I’d recommend it.

  36. 36.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Baud:

    Obviously, God created us to be his emotional support animal.

    Reminds me of that Carlin skit about God and religion:

    “Religion has actually convinced people that there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time!

    But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He’s all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can’t handle money!”

  39. 39.

    Nukular Biskits

    From Baud’s

    Released last Friday, critics have voiced concern over lyrics that seem to suggest that Christians are both hateful and judgemental.

    YA THINK?!?!?!?!?!?

    I need to be careful here. I don’t lump those who honestly try every single day humbly try to live out their beliefs, doing good, and generally being decent human beings … with those who loudly & repeatedly proclaim their “sincerely-held religious convictions” somehow give them the right impose those “convictions” upon the rest of us. IOW, Christianists.

  41. 41.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Christian leaders who say it mocks God,

    They do hate competition. Only they get to mock their God! (from the pulpit every sunday)

  46. 46.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Mousebumples:

     And her evolution from, “I shouldn’t tell people how to vote” to “OMFG, Trump is terrible!”

    Yeah, she was supposed to be their pretty country-music princess, staying in the lane that country music princesses are supposed to stay in.  And then she just blew way past all that.

    Kinda reminds me of when Dylan went electric and pissed off all the folkies.

  53. 53.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Geminid:

    @Nukular Biskits: Are you planting seeds? If so, I can recommend Calendula.

    This being on the shadier side of the house (tends to stay damper, due to less sunlight, which is why the grass wouldn’t grow there), was thinking about planting hydrangea or  other flowering perennials that prefer those conditions.

  54. 54.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud:

    I don’t know about God, but the lyrics quoted in the article absolutely do mock and revile evangelical Christians and any religion that subjects their children to repression and conformity.  Good for her.  If the shoe fits, evangelicals, wear it.

    Also she swears and suggests sexual freedom, gasp!

    @Geo Wilcox:

    She really is mocking them this time, though.  She makes it completely clear they are bad people and bad parents.

    @Baud:

    See Trump Bible, for example.

    Minimal credit where minimal credit is due, they advertised another article about Trump’s Bible being blasphemy.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    So funny:

    On Tuesday night, Mari and Emily were two of the hundreds of New Yorkers arrested during Jewish Voice for Peace’s protest at Grand Army Plaza calling for an end to U.S. funding of the Israeli military. After they were arrested, they were loaded onto an MTA bus that had just been taken out of service and commandeered by the NYPD to transport the protesters to One Police Plaza.

    It was then that the evening took an absurd turn: According to both Mari and Emily, it soon became obvious that, as there was no MTA driver on the bus to transport them, the NYPD was scrambling to find an officer with a commercial license who could operate the bus.

    “It was just very clear that it was a, who the hell is going to drive this bus situation,” Emily, who requested they use a pseudonym out of privacy concerns, told Hell Gate.

    While they were waiting, an NYPD sergeant got onto the bus and asked the other officers if anyone was certified to drive a bus. “Nobody answered, like, they stayed completely quiet,” Emily recalled. “And then he said it again, and they all said, ‘No.'”

    Shortly afterwards, Mari said, another NYPD officer came on the bus and asked the protesters themselves if any of them had a commercial license. “At that point, everyone started laughing, because it was just so absurd, and we said no,” she said.

    Finally, an officer was pressed into the driver’s seat. Mari recalled that the driver was one of the officers who had been asked if they were certified to operate a bus, all of whom had said no. According to Emily, someone wearing MTA gear came onto the bus and “showed the guy what was what…And then the doors closed, and we kind of sat there for a couple more minutes, and then it was clear that this guy was driving us.” They added, “Generally, the feeling on the bus was like, I hope this guy knows how to drive the bus. And that was the feeling among the people who were in cuffs. And also the cops were kind of joking around with each other, like, oh, I hope we make it.”

    No one got hurt.

  60. 60.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud: From the lyrics to ‘But Daddy..’, (at the top):

    I just learned these people only raise you to cage youSarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday bestClutching their pearls, sighing “What a mess”I just learned these people try and save you… cause they hate you…
    Too high a horseFor a simple girl to rise above itThey slammed the door on my whole worldThe one thing I wanted…
    Now I’m running with my dress unbuttonedScreaming “But Daddy I love him!”I’m having his babyNo, I’m not, but you should see your faces…
    Dutiful daughter, all my plans were laidTendrils tucked into a woven braidGrowing up precocious sometimes means not growing up at all…
  62. 62.

    Geminid

    @Nukular Biskits: Hydrangeas sure are sturdy plants, and they grow well in semi-shade. Calendula are good for pots though if there are other sunny spots.

    But good luck! Planting’s fun if you don’t have to do too much at once.

  63. 63.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    Since we’re on great songwriters Lyle Lovett’s latest 12th of June is really good. His excellent large band is in top form. The opener is a jazz instrumental that sounds like a lost bebop era classic. They may be the best jazz combo going in addition to being great at playing just about anything else.

  64. 64.

    pieceofpeace

    @Sid: Lucinda is one of my (many) favorites…

    Awakening and watching this BJ topic shows how calming or energizing, and always satisfying music is for beginning any and every day.

    Perhaps a weekly or daily column dedicated to providing a place for music-related tapings, referrals, thoughts, etc.??

    Something we definitely would find useful as he lunge toward November 2024.

  69. 69.

    jayne

    This is the album that TSwift’s publicity machine have been advertising to the rabid side of the fanbase for months as being the one that would justify the violent hatred they’ve been heaping on Boring Blond Ex for the past few years only for it to be more focused on Kinda Racist Ex that she might have cheated on BBX with? Glad you’re enjoying it!

  70. 70.

    Tehanu

    I don’t listen to music any more because my hearing loss has reached the point where, even if it’s loud enough, music is just distorted.  However, I’ve been a fan of Taylor Swift since I saw both her and John Cleese on Graham Norton’s show, must be at least 12 or 13 years ago — she was still in her mid-teens, I think.  At the start, neither of them had the slightest idea who the other one was, except that she had seen him in the Harry Potter movies.  By the end of the show, it was obvious that he was bowled over by her intelligence and maturity — and so was I.

  74. 74.

    Anne Laurie

    @206inKY: Yeah, I think ‘Marjorie’ is the song that confirmed for me how much Swift is her generation’s Mary Chapin Carpenter!

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