In my mind, Taylor Swift has been a pop artist for years. Before she even “went pop,” she was doing pop music. Her earliest stuff was country, but for a while there, she was just doing twangy pop music, then she lost the twang and officially leaned into pop. Many have discussed that Taylor seems to be making moves to “go back” to country though. While Reputation was billed as a pop album, her styling has been “going back” to her country era, and she’s been re-introducing the twang here and there.
All of which to say, there’s a rumor going around that Taylor will make a “surprise” appearance at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday. The Reputation Tour starts next month (HOW IS IT ALMOST MAY ALREADY?) and she’s in rehearsals for the tour. But also… she’s interested in keeping her “base” of country music consumers. Sugarland just announced that their new studio album will be coming out in June, and one of the songs was co-written by and vocally features Taylor. What do you think? Sugarland + Tay-Tay at the ACMs? She won’t walk the red carpet, I’m absolutely positive. But I think it’s more than possible that she’ll show up to perform.
And finally, Taylor has covered Earth Wind and Fire’s “September” for the Spotify Singles series (Spotify released a short clip, embedded below). People are really NOT happy that Taylor is out here covering Earth Wind and Fire. Meanwhile, I’m just disturbed by the acoustic version of “Delicate.”
Photos courtesy of Getty, Instagram.
Two words: Girl, bye.
Oh hell no. She ruined a classic. Taylor you can’t sing, can’t sing good anyways. Why mess up a classic. Earth Wind and Fire are cringing in their lazy boy chairs right now.
F it no to her. This is not cool. It’s like the Dawson’s Creek version of September.
There is no match for Earth Wind & Fire.
I don’t know what possessed me to click on it. I couldn’t get pass do you remember. Taylor Swift please leave Earth, Wind and Fire’s music alone.
Earth, Wind & Fire’s September is sheer perfection. NOBODY should touch that!
I second that. It’s perfect as it is! Got many precious memories with this song esp. about my late brother in law. The only song that could make me smile while remembering him and his crazy dance moves.
Sigh. Why can’t she just make a different version of Swish Swish, instead?
The song is a gift of PURE JOY that EW&F graciously shared with a mostly unworthy world.
How is it possible that Swift
a) covered it
b) made it sound completely JOYLESS ???!!!!?
Wow, so so so bad. Who suggested this and how delusional does she have to be to think it was a good idea and this was the way to “cover” it? Ugh, I need to go listen to the OG to cleanse my soul.
And she’s accompanied by a g-d BANJO. A F**KING BANJO. Talk about completely stripping a classic dance song of ALL its rhythm, funk, soul & JOY. She’s so awful (especially after watching Beyoncé at Coachella). Bleh.
Macedonian version of the song*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFgKjVreL2k
This was cute
That was funny.
I have a connection to that part of the world, and I love the folk village music. It is another region with a lot of history. Jewish history is tragic there, but they acknowledge it and are open to talking about the culture and history. Sephardi culture can still be found there.
No. Taylor. Just. F*cking. No.
#stopbleachingeverythingwhite
The thing that irks my soul is that her moronic fanbase will think this is a Taylor Swift song.
Yes. Some lady on Twitter tweeted that she heard her daughters singing September and thought, “Wow, my kids have such great musical taste – they’re singing EW&F! I’m a great parent!” And then she found out Swift bastardised it & was crushed.
Those kids DID probably think Max Whatsis wrote it for Swift (as he does all her “hits”). Bleh.
Does she really think singing with Jennifer Nettles is wise because that would not be good, for Swifty. Nettles vocals are fantastic.
Also, Twitter has not been kind about September. Just, brutally funny. People have not disappointed.
Seriously. I thought the exact same thing. Jennifer has some great pipes.
Twitter is generally pro swifty. The moments of threads are positive and many negative reviews that still follow twitters policy get removed. Her marketing buys a lot of space there.
So, when this came out and anyone with ears heard how terrible it was I lmao
I never wade into Taylor Swift threads, but this is just not acceptable.
@ Minx. Everyone has a line. I get it.
Right? And a mopey version of that great EW&F song is my line.
100%.
This song is fun and celebratory and she sucked all the joy out of it. I just don’t understand that decision for this song in particular. I’m sure she would’ve been criticized even if she’d kept the upbeat feeling, but the tempo change is like an insult.
Side random note-she had thick, beautiful curls that I was crazy envious of when she first came out. How did she manage to transform that into the thin, stringy hair in the top photo?
But covering Earth Wind and Fire? Girl, bye.
Her natural hair texture was never “thick”, which means her hair must be very easy to (permantently) straighten, especially when you have access to the the best treatments.
By the way, back when she had curls her hair was always heavily styled, so it’s hard to guess what her original hair really is. She may well have natural 2A/ 2B hair that can look curly or sleek straight, depending on how you style it.
Seriously? I never knew that, wow. Well it looked good how they styled it back then, much better than the mess she’s been wearing for the past few years. I thought I had remembered an interview she did where she had it straightened and said it took so long and she would never do it on a regular basis. Should have known better than to trust snake lies!
Curls and hair are so interesting. Thanks for sharing this comment
Did anyone notice her dance moves in the Delicate clip above? Is she channeling Adele? Oh my..
OMG That cover is aaaaaawwwful! She made it whiny and generic.
Who in the world told her that was a good song???
No just No!!! I need to bleach my earsdrums afta that.
This is the equivalent to a musical car crash. No. Just.No.
People who have no soul, should not cover soul songs
Oh no. God no, this is not a good cover.
This is ultra-embarrassing. How dared she!!
This song is an all-time favorite of mine, a timeless classic!
She made it sound like a cheesy 90s’ Brazilian soap-opera theme song !
How do I put this plainly….it just sounds like the sterilized, white Wal Mart cover version sold in the discount bin.
Sometimes I feel like she does this to get bad press, so she can continuously play the victim. She knows she doesn’t have a strong base in the black community, so why would she cover a song that is so beloved? Bringing nothing to the table either. She knows her fan base will defend her, and now she’s getting press, when she wouldn’t have otherwise, if say she covered a Britney Spears song.
Yea this one is a no Taylor…
Aw I like it ? y’all are too harsh because it’s Taylor .
Even my husband who can’t stand her admitted he likes it.
I like the version of delicate she just put out also . I know I’m probably one of the few Swift fans here but I adore her .
Sorry, but Earth, Wind and Fire’s September is a classic. That version was hideous. The tempo is all wrong.
Delicate was good, i’m hoping for more stripped down versions of her songs to be honest. With that said September, no she shouldn’t have touched it. A thousand reasons why that are kinda obvious.
But it IS one of Karlie’s favorite songs according to her Spotify playlist… and they danced to it together (and hiddles too) at the Met ball! KAYLOR FOREVER. I don’t care if I get yelled at. 🙂 Though I admit I didn’t like the cover so much either…
Doesn’t matter, don’t care who’s favorite it is. She could make a cover and give it to Karlie privately. It doesn’t need to be public. This isn’t a thing to defend Taylor on.
@Polly: I’m all for Kaylor, honestly. It’s the only speculation that makes Taylor interesting to me – love the little enigmatic rebuses people make up (solve?). I don’t hate her, but her persona has always seemed like a Pinterest board of beige roses and yankee candles come to life.
This isn’t a thing to defend her on ?
lol it’s a song cover not she’s hurting anyone ..
I like it.
Me too , it’s really pretty . If it was anyone else most of the comments would be saying it’s good .
BS
I’m pretty ambivalent about TS. I don’t like the song because of the genre/tempo change. It affects the mood of the original song too much, the vocalist doesn’t matter to me.
If it had been anyone else, this version would never have seen the light of day.
I enjoy twangy pop. Look to old 97s album title too far to care. What Taylor has done is just bad by any standard. The vocals are bad. The tone of the song is bad. It’s bad. And here’s a song that was perfect to begin with. She messed with it too much. Its overworked
I’m calling it now — after the relative flop of this era (and her continuous inability or unwillingness to break the international market) Taylor is going back to country with her tail between her legs.
If on top of everything, reputation is snubbed at the Grammys this year, I’m convinced that Taylor is going to change directions and return to her guitar and her songwriting roots (which, to be fair, has been her forte all along — she can’t sing nor dance and honestly lacks sex appeal, so it’s hard for her to compete with the Beyoncés, Rhiannas, Arianas, or even the Dua Lipas of the pop universe).
Absolutely. I expect to see her become a regular in Nashville’s Pancake Pantry line again soon.
Even Dua Lipa (I say even because she’s not as popular) has more raw sex appeal on her little finger. And pipes. Hotter than Hell is excellent
Imma need Taylor “I can’t take a stand against my Nazi base” Swift to stay away from black culture and music. No one asked you for this.
If she had any sense she wouldn’t have done this. But introspection is not a skill she has.
Like someone above said stop bleaching our culture. We don’t want y’all to whitewash our sh*t
Aw hell naw, Karen!
You win the Internet today 😁
She totally ”karened” the heck out of the song.
The king warned us.
Here we are with the bland a$$ covered song.
The Root:
“There are certain songs you don’t mess with, especially if you don’t have the range, and we all know Taylor Swift has all the range of a dial tone.”
And, no, I don’t *hate* Swift (too ridic/obvious to do so), so you can go on and keep that bee in yer bonnet…
Monique Judge is the best.
Come to think of it, all the writers at The Root are fantastic.
Taylor needs to transition from doing songs to teen girls plagued by puberty problems. She is a smart businesswoman, she knows her music needs to move on and this may be the last record she has put on aiming at that public. She has never been a good vocalist though, and no matter how much of a good songwriter she may be, it may limit her alternatives.
She’s transitioned from those songs after her first few albums ..
Swift covering this song is a hate crime. Seriously, who asked for this?
I liked both songs 😃 I love Taylor Swift’s music – and I’m over the age of 35 😮 💕
I’m 34 and I love her music also !
She somehow made the song sound whiny.
I love it. Have Earth, Wind & Fire on a rep tour stop to sing it with you, Taylor. That’ll shut the haters up because they obviously gave her permission to release HER cover of the song. It’s so different then the original that it should not matter. Plus a new generation will now be streaming the original which is good news for music history all around. People like to complain no mater what music she’s singing. If she’s singing her songs people moan about her using exes (who’s names are not mentioned). If she sings a cover people moan about “how dare she”. Whatever!
Considering one of the song’s writers – and a founding member of EWF – passed away a few years ago, I’m assuming it would have been difficult for him to grant permission. Still, his estate, the surviving writers, and the publishing company will certainly benefit from royalties. So yeah, I’m sure everyone with a financial stake in the song is thrilled, or at least mildly pleased (depending on how well the song performs).
But his brother Verdine White is also a member of EW&F is still alive. Earth Wind & Fire presented Taylor the Grammy for AOTY in 2016 (looked very happy for her). She had been in the business for a decade before Maurice White passed in 2016. If he had objected to her and her music I doubt his brother Verdine would be a sellout and allow her to record a cover of any of their songs. They are not that thirsty. Pretty sure they still make a pretty good living off all those mega hits of their own and don’t need to depend on a Taylor Swift cover.
I am generally a Swift defender because I like most of her music and find her pretty inoffensive. But this was not a well-thought-out move at ALL. Really tone deaf and also I just really don’t like her version of this song. How could she even expect to live up to the original? Just, girl, NO. I’m not surprised, though. I sometimes listen to country music and I’m amazed at how many twangy remakes there are of some classic songs of other genres. Usually, they end up falling short. When Garth Brooks redid Bob Dylan’s ‘To Make You Feel My Love’ I wanted to puke. I like country music, but seriously, they need to just not do sh*t like this. It feels like a very calculated move and I’m not here for it – one of her strengths is songwriting (her voice is okay but not amazing), why would she do this?
I think it’s great – helps EW&F reach a new and young audience.
I really enjoy hearing covers most of the time, and I enjoy Taylor’s music (she can write a bop). This, however, is an awful cover. Awful! I’m all for artists changing the genre of a song to really put their stamp on it, but this is so whiny and ugh. Why.
Also, apparently she changed the date in the song to “28th of September” because of her boyfriend or something. Taylor, no. Stop it.
I am a huge country music fan, listen to country radio and actually buy the music and I do not like this cover or her flirting with “coming back to country.” No, we have Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris etc. We have moved on.
Mmmm, that’s a no. Bland, could be anyone. You could replace her with an anonymous studio musician and there’d be no difference. The original had a sound all its own.
On top of everything else, I rolled my eyes at her changing the lyric so that (per her fans) it matches her anniversary with Joe.
I also think she’s going for a super stripped down/back to basics sound after Rep.
I thought Taylor’s whole claim to fame was as a singer/songwriter – hasn’t she made a big deal about the fact that she never, ever records songs that she herself didn’t write? I guess I just don’t get the point of covering this song.
An abomination!
This song makes me want to listen to the original, since it’s one of my faves. Eearth, Wind & Fire was my first album, as a birthday gift.
Her cover is okay-ish. I doubt it matters to her fans, as they probably don’t know the original, since they don’t listen to that kind of music, or remember anything before 2005. I don’t like the vocals. Her baby, breath-y voice is distracting. The music is a little too precious. There’s no snap–it’s like sugar syrup.
Sadly, by September, this song will be probably be forgotten….
So… She’s going bald, right? I’m not the only one that can see copious amounts of scalp above her ear in that top pic, right?
I’m still upset about Justin Timberlake & Anna Kendrick’s cover for the movie “Trolls”.
(now I’m suspect if she’s really an undercover aryan princess.
who else would RUIN a wedding reception, family reunion and party staple like THAT?? WHO? WHO?)
No.
Honestly…I have heard far worse covers. It doesn’t beat the original or have its verve, but it’s passable. I’ll survive this cover.
She is so beyond mediocre. I still don’t get why she is so famous. I see better singer/songwriters at open mics around town and busking on the corners.
She’s famous because she can do something as simple as cover a song and it’s big news as if she made the original recording disappear and hers is all you can ever listen to. It’s a song cover, whether you like it or not, there should not be this much discussion about it. Everybody covers songs and nobody cares. That’s why those people you see at open mics who are you think better aren’t famous, nobody cares. With Taylor Swift, they care and she gets their attention without doing anything. That is star power. She never needed to date to generate headlines, just sing a cover and she’s got all the attn. I want to see the day when her haters can just ignore her, then maybe she will fade. Until then, she will continue to rise. Its a darn shame when the members of EW&f and one of the writers need to tweet about her covering the song. Bonkers. Watch Taylor release an album full of covers to really make you all combust. Lol
this cover is just offensive.
Her version could be used for crowd control.