By DAVID W. WERSINGERACCENT EDITOR
"But the little girls understand."
When Jim Morrison of the Doors sang that Willie Dixon lyric back in 1967, it had far darker (and creepier) connotations. But when it comes to singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, it's the truth: Millions of teenage girls really do understand.
Swift's ascension to the top of the musical heap has been meteoric to say the least. The 19-year-old Pennsylvania native's latest CD, "Fearless," sold nearly 600,000 copies upon its debut in late 2008, and the record garnered Album of the Year honors at the Academy of Country Music's award ceremonies this month, beating out traditional favorite George Strait and current phenom Carrie Underwood.
In March, Swift made her prime-time acting debut on the ever-popular
"CSI," where she was killed by a pair of scissors. (Apparently, your
mom was right: Scissors and running are never a good thing.)
And Swift graced the cover of that venerable aging-hippies-with-money magazine, Rolling Stone, which gave Swift's "Fearless" four out of five stars.
Swift will be in concert Friday at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena -- her only Florida date so far -- and to get you ready, we've got some questions and attitude about Nashville's latest, blazing-hot star:
So, Taylor writes her own songs? Really? Isn't Nashville famous for "ghost writers,"--you know, people behind the star who actually do the work?
Must you be so cynical right off the bat? Swift's bio on her Web site says she wrote her first song at the tender age of 12. But rather than writing in the tried and true country tradition of the endless road and cheap hotel rooms, Swift writes songs about what it's like to be a teenage girl.
"When I was like 14 or 15 and I would hear those things on an album, being alone ... living out of a suitcase...I was always like, 'Ugh, skip!' I'm inspired by boys and love," she writes on her Web site. "Those are my favorite things to write about and I don't think it's limited to high school."
OK, then. But how does writing and singing about the experiences of
14-year-old girls get Rolling Stone to so unabashedly sing Swift's
praises with a cover story and a glowing review of her album?
This is what Rolling Stone wrote about Swift in its review of "Fearless" in a February issue: "For 'Fearless' to feel any more like it was literally ripped from a suburban girl's diary, it would have to come with drawings of rainbows and unicorns in the liner notes...And therein lies the peculiar charm of Taylor Swift. Her music mixes an almost impersonal professionalism -- it's so rigorously crafted it sounds like it has been scientifically engineered in a hit factory -- with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true."
Take that, Metallica.
How will the slickly produced, yet earnest music of "Fearless" transfer to a live setting? Does Swift have the "chops?"
Well, if her sparse performance and duet with Miley Cyrus on the song "Fifteen" at last year's Grammys is any indication, perhaps the rawness of a live setting will give her songs a sharper edge. The performance, while clearly not the best for Cyrus, highlighted the simple beauty of Swift's songwriting, and was one of the highlights of the Grammy telecast.
Swift is also known for working friends and ex-boyfriends into her songs' lyrics (Abigail, a friend back home in Nashville, is mentioned in the lyrics of her latest CD as Abigail). Does this go over real well with the songs' subjects?
Maybe not so much with the ex-boyfriends. Swift told the New York Times late last year that "Every single one of the guys that I've written songs about has been tracked down on MySpace by my fans. I had the opportunity to be more general on this record, but I chose not to. I like to have the last word."
Potential suitors, you've been warned.
Speaking of ex-boyfriends, wasn't Swift's name mentioned alongside Joe Jonas as being romantically involved? If they got together, couldn't they be the King and Queen of Tweenland?
Let's be careful about that one. Swift was short and sweet when asked about her relationship with Joe Jonas by the New York Times. "He's not in my life anymore, and I have absolutely nothing to say about or to him."
If You Go
WHAT: Taylor Swift in concert
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, 300 A. Phillip Randolph Blvd., Jacksonville
TICKETS: $20-$49.50 available at the box office and Ticketmaster
INFO: 407-839-3900; ticketmaster.com
And Swift graced the cover of that venerable aging-hippies-with-money magazine, Rolling Stone, which gave Swift's "Fearless" four out of five stars.
Swift will be in concert Friday at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena -- her only Florida date so far -- and to get you ready, we've got some questions and attitude about Nashville's latest, blazing-hot star:
So, Taylor writes her own songs? Really? Isn't Nashville famous for "ghost writers,"--you know, people behind the star who actually do the work?
Must you be so cynical right off the bat? Swift's bio on her Web site says she wrote her first song at the tender age of 12. But rather than writing in the tried and true country tradition of the endless road and cheap hotel rooms, Swift writes songs about what it's like to be a teenage girl.
"When I was like 14 or 15 and I would hear those things on an album, being alone ... living out of a suitcase...I was always like, 'Ugh, skip!' I'm inspired by boys and love," she writes on her Web site. "Those are my favorite things to write about and I don't think it's limited to high school."
OK, then. But how does writing and singing about the experiences of
14-year-old girls get Rolling Stone to so unabashedly sing Swift's
praises with a cover story and a glowing review of her album? This is what Rolling Stone wrote about Swift in its review of "Fearless" in a February issue: "For 'Fearless' to feel any more like it was literally ripped from a suburban girl's diary, it would have to come with drawings of rainbows and unicorns in the liner notes...And therein lies the peculiar charm of Taylor Swift. Her music mixes an almost impersonal professionalism -- it's so rigorously crafted it sounds like it has been scientifically engineered in a hit factory -- with confessions that are squirmingly intimate and true."
Take that, Metallica.
How will the slickly produced, yet earnest music of "Fearless" transfer to a live setting? Does Swift have the "chops?"
Well, if her sparse performance and duet with Miley Cyrus on the song "Fifteen" at last year's Grammys is any indication, perhaps the rawness of a live setting will give her songs a sharper edge. The performance, while clearly not the best for Cyrus, highlighted the simple beauty of Swift's songwriting, and was one of the highlights of the Grammy telecast.
Swift is also known for working friends and ex-boyfriends into her songs' lyrics (Abigail, a friend back home in Nashville, is mentioned in the lyrics of her latest CD as Abigail). Does this go over real well with the songs' subjects?
Maybe not so much with the ex-boyfriends. Swift told the New York Times late last year that "Every single one of the guys that I've written songs about has been tracked down on MySpace by my fans. I had the opportunity to be more general on this record, but I chose not to. I like to have the last word."
Potential suitors, you've been warned.
Speaking of ex-boyfriends, wasn't Swift's name mentioned alongside Joe Jonas as being romantically involved? If they got together, couldn't they be the King and Queen of Tweenland?
Let's be careful about that one. Swift was short and sweet when asked about her relationship with Joe Jonas by the New York Times. "He's not in my life anymore, and I have absolutely nothing to say about or to him."
If You Go
WHAT: Taylor Swift in concert
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, 300 A. Phillip Randolph Blvd., Jacksonville
TICKETS: $20-$49.50 available at the box office and Ticketmaster
INFO: 407-839-3900; ticketmaster.com
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