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By now everyone knows I’m obsessed with the Katy Kirby record Cool Dry Place (2021). Maybe it’s because hers is the first show I’ve seen since quarantine eased up, or maybe it’s the unique production style and whimsical lyrical flourishes. Regardless, I’ve been listening to it a lot since then. “Fireman” was the song I was most surprised to love live, one that I had never really sought out before. I was captivated by the verse:
It's a slow burn kind of love
And now the whole housе smells like smoke
My baby is a firеman
I love the intertwining of multiple metaphors with disregard for absolute sense. She goes on to describe her lover as a “specimen,” with a detachable tail like a lizard. The idea that this person can be and be like many things isn’t at all silly; it’s truthful. I’ve been trying to emulate in my own writing this refusal to be taken literally, while still saying something meaningful.
Today I drove down a busy street, windows down, blasting “Here You Come Again.” It felt good, better than it probably should have given I was disturbing the peace, but I thought that everyone should have to know how brilliant Dolly Parton is and always will be. Not only is she an excellent songwriter—do yourself a favor and listen to the original version of “I Will Always Love You,” absolutely no disrespect to the definitive Whitney Houston cover)—she is also one of the best singers of the twentieth century, maybe one of the best singers, period.
There are multiple compilation videos online titled something like “Dolly Parton Doesn’t Use Autotune.” For your consideration:
It’s nearly impossible to not smile while watching Dolly Parton forget the words to her own songs. Not only is she talented, she’s charming! And beautiful! She has a record forty four career Top 10 country albums, eleven Grammys and fifty nominations, and twenty five No. 1s on the Billboard country charts.
She was born “dirt poor” and started performing in her early childhood. When she moved to Nashville the day after she graduated high school, she worked as a songwriter and was pushed by her label to record pop music. Although she expressed interest in being a country singer from the start, it was three years before she released Hello, I’m Dolly (1967), and six more before “Jolene.” She persevered through adversity beyond the typical industry challenges and managed to become arguably the greatest female country star of all time.
Taylor Swift’s early work was undoubtedly influenced by Dolly Parton. Compositions like “Teardrops on My Guitar” and “You Belong With Me” are squarely in the realm of country music, which earned Taylor Swift the crown of reigning American princess. Although I personally prefer 1989 (2014) and onwards, I too was once a tween girl, and therefore know all the words to every song on Speak Now (2010).
One of my favorites is “Dear John,” a scathing indictment of John Mayer for his relationship with Taylor when she was 19, he 32. They dated for a year. He claims to have been oblivious to her feelings about their time together, which is hard to believe given the content of the song. Not only is it trenchant and specific in its detail of grievances, it’s beautifully performed. Taylor makes subtle changes to the chorus:
Dear John, I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress cried the whole way home, I should've known
And the final chorus:
I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress wrote you a song
You should've known
Taylor Swift has made many a creative misstep in her career, but I will always maintain that the media was horrifically sexist in its portrayal of her personal life, especially when it came to dating. She was constantly taking flack for having too many boyfriends, moving on too quickly, while her male counterparts flaunting similar behavior received no such critiques.
Last week I read the Britney Spears statement regarding her abusive conservatorship. While initially shocking, it’s just another example of the music industry being a frankly scary place for women. The exploitation of women (and girls) for their image and talent with little regard for their artistic vision or mental and physical heath is barbaric, and is largely facilitated by the same media that gives them their platform. Fame gave Britney her No. 1 hits and it also took every last bit of her agency and made her out to be a bad mother. While it’s easy to say that celebrity of any flavor is treacherous, it would be a gross oversight to not acknowledge how being a woman makes the experience much worse.
Taylor Swift knows the dangers of the public eye more than anyone; she grew up in the shadow of her sweetheart persona and was berated by strangers from every angle at a formative time in her life. “Dear John” is the story of an abusive, inappropriate relationship, but it’s more broadly an apt description of Taylor’s fight to maintain control over her own life coming up in the thick of the industry. She’s still fighting for legal control over her own masters with Scooter Braun. That she seems to be in a happy, healthy relationship and is relatively private now is a miracle, given how often stars of her caliber fall prey to the myriad of traps set out for them from a young age. I hope the young women who look up to Taylor Swift and Britney Spears have a better go of stardom, and that we start to hold the media accountable for its role in their public perception.