this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2024
309 points (89.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26674 readers
1870 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics.


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I don't get it. Her music is sometimes catchy but otherwise unremarkable, from the songs I've heard. How does she break all these records and accumulate so much fame and wealth?

She's pretty, but a lot of singer songwriters are, especially those with makeup and costume people, a support staff.

Is there something else to her that people like?

I'm confused about what makes her so apparently unique or phenomenal.

Update: there are so many things that make swift unique or phenomenal.

I've received tons of great answers from people that have helped me understand, like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, many factors that makes swift different and consequently more successful than her peers.

Clever lyrics, top-tier production, sharing autobiographical and emotional points in her life very directly, apparent honesty with few or no public blemishes, creating a community of fans through Easter eggs and house parties and unconventional, but always personal methods, an early start supported by wealthy parents, she keeps winning against abusers, and her music itself is popular and fun.

Those are just a few of the puzzle pieces contributed here, and a dive into this post is a pretty good explanation of many of the factors that must be contributing to her phenomenal success and recognition, that set her apart from other pop stars, even pop stars who were phenoms in their own right.

This is a very educational post, thank you to everyone who has contributed.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'm not a music expert but here goes.

Paul Simon is most identified as folk. The act Simon and Garfunkel is basically pure folk if such a thing exists.

Listen to the opening of Late in the Evening. He's singing folk, but there is no guitar (to my ear). Instead it's a bass guitar playing funk. Later some horns come in. They sound like mambo to me.

There are two songs on Graceland that he recorded with a South African band. This was during apartheid. He heard a bootleg tape from this SA group, and had to travel to a part of South Africa that he was banned from doing business in.

Does he make it some powerful statement? No, that would be a stunt. He just wanted to make music with them. "I Know What I Know" is about the insipid-ness of show biz party-networking culture. It's wild.

[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Awesome, thanks. Yeah, I only know about him as folk so I'm interested to listen to these.

[–] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Don't get me wrong, he is a folk singer. But listening to what he is singing over can catch you off-guard.

[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 9 months ago

Appreciate it, cool