What? A new album whose sales rival those of Carole King’s “Tapestry,” the all-time best-selling album of Boomer youth, unrivaled for 45 years?
Yes!
And by who else but Taylor Swift, the QOE (Queen of Everything), who recently made history at the Grammy’s as the only female artist to win two “Album of the Year” awards.
Her “1989” has already put an amazing six songs into the top 10 on the pop charts and now here is single number seven: “New Romantics.”
This song is packaged pop perfection starting with the star herself who has written her usual catchy, clever commentary, with smart and sometimes even wise lyrics, backed by highly orchestrated and produced music.
Meet the “new romantics:”
We’re all bored, we’re all so tired of everything
We wait for trains that just aren’t coming
We show off our different scarlet letters—
Trust me, mine is better
We’re so young but we’re on the road to ruin
We play dumb but we know
Exactly what we’re doing
We cry tears of mascara in the bathroom
Honey, life is just a classroom
Fellow Boomer Belinda Carlisle, of the Go-Go’s, never quite enjoyed the massive success of Taylor Swift, but several chords and notes in “New Romantics” brings to mind Carlisle’s first solo hit, 1986’s “Mad About You.”
Taylor is generous—she included “Mad About You” as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of her “1989” album.
Because “Tapestry” kept selling, it kept charting, and ranked on Billboards Top 200 for almost six years, which, when viewed through today’s accelerated news (and music) cycle, is a feat that’s unlikely to occur again, due to downloading, streaming, iTunes, and the various and numerous platforms to hear music. By contrast, in Boomerville, masses of people listened to just a handful of radio stations, and went to record stores to buy their music.
With Swift selling this kind of volume—albeit in a shorter time frame– it’s a reminder that she is a force of nature, the voice and persona of a generation, and even though most Boomers know about her– what she looks like and that she’s a super-star, lots of us haven’t actually listened to her lyrics, and underestimate the the cultural and social phenomenon that is Taylor Swift.
Because Swift has strong views about how her music is accessed, “New Romantics” isn’t available on youtube or any other website, and neither is there a video,therefore, the link below is to the actual, written lyrics, no vocals, plus the background music.