Music for another planet

 kw: book reviews, nonfiction, music, pop music, musical revolutions, biography

You just gotta know your own limitations. I just read Rob Sheffield's new book Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music. Ms Swift is a genius, a phenomenon, an incredible performer…with an oeuvre that leaves me unmoved.

Mr. Sheffield's semi-biography, full of inside allusions and abbreviations (most of which went right past me) is written for her fans. About halfway through I realized that he has mastered the art of writing in a female voice. That makes him quite a phenomenon also. It ensures a connection with Taylor Swift's primary fan base.

To be banal about it: The book outlines the career of Taylor Swift, which now spans 19 years, and in particular, all the swerves and redirections she has made to keep it going and rising. It isn't mentioned clearly, that she knows keenly just how short the attention span of the music-consuming public is. Apparently, she is delighted to oblige, and she manages to pivot before anyone else notices the need to pivot.

The last time I went to a Pop music concert, it was to see Peter, Paul and Mary in 1971. If I listen to music without just letting it be a background for something else I am doing, it is to learn to sing it (This doesn't take long: When I was in high school I first heard Bob Dylan sing "The Times, They are a-Changin'", on the radio during a family road trip with my Dad driving. I grabbed some paper and wrote out the lyrics on the spot). Thus, reading and hearing about people who spend hours and hours just listening, sometimes over and over, to a favorite album, I feel they and I inhabit different planets.

That's OK. I liked the book. It let me peek in a window to learn about a remarkable person. I think her career will continue to rise (ignore the hype about that little hiccup at S.B. LIV).