BPG 2019 - THE END

RJF

RJF

45

05-The-Archer.jpg


SCORE: 6.664

HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 3 (@soratami @pop3blow2 @Ashling92)
LOWEST SCORE: 1 x 1 (@Solenciennes)
MY SCORE: 4/10

Well, there goes this little cloud of pastel nothing. "The Archer" stands as Track 5 on Lover, and apparently Track 5 is where ALL of the super-duper-omg-my-HEART songs lie on all of Taylor's albums. You know, like "Delicate", "All Too Well", and... uh, "All You Had To Do Was Stay". Maybe there's more examples but I only went as far back as Speak Now and I can't remember how "Dear John" goes (cue "um EXCUSE ME Speak Now was the soundtrack to staying in on a Satuday night when I was nineteen!!!!!!" and other such reactions) so let's just go with this little piece of self-mythologising nonsense for now. "All You Had To Do Was Stay", utter heartbreaking.

I feel like this song is another example of Taylor thinking of a good idea for a song, but not being a good enough songwriter to articulate the subtleties of her own idea so instead it ends up reading like a list of disconnected tropes. I suppose casting herself as Goddess of the Hunt is a little more catchy than, "I've been the cease and desist... never been the thirteen year old subpoenaed for a 1989 World Tour video on YouTube..." so it's got that going for it, but... meh. A song about your own paranoia and self-destructive tendencies being self-fulfilling prophecies and dooming your relationships before they begin is a great concept for a song. Taylor's word salad is not.

Watch some performances below, in which Taylor somehow produces a plaintive whine without really even opening her mouth that allows the illusion of emotion to soar. Honestly, what a drab, nothing song. If you watched these performances on mute you'd think it they were just still photos. Bye!





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Mirwais Ahmadzaï

Mirwais Ahmadzaï

He/Him/His
I'm glad Daylight went, but I would like to see Afterglow, Cornelia St, and Miss Americana vacate... immediately. At least The Archer has some nice plodding production to dissociate to

DJHazey said:
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Death By a Thousand Cuts, Soon You'll Get Better, and False God so I'd rather have seen those gone before Daylight (9).
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wtf those are my highest scores from the album along w/ It's Nice to Have a Friend
 
DJHazey

DJHazey

he/him
Mirwais Ahmadzaï said:
I'm glad Daylight went, but I would like to see Afterglow, Cornelia St, and Miss Americana vacate... immediately. At least The Archer has some nice plodding production to dissociate to


wtf those are my highest scores from the album along w/ It's Nice to Have a Friend
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At least we can agree on It's Nice to Have a Friend, since it's one of my favorites as well. No way to Miss Americana, one of my favorites in the entire rate.
 
matthew.

matthew.

Staff member
He/Him
I have such a double-think view on Taylor's constant self-referencing. Like on 'Daylight', its what, the 1000th time she's done it by that point? The self-mythologizing started in the 'Blank Space' video I believe (cue a bunpkin telling me "um acktually it was when etc etc"). It's been cute and I enjoy a self-aware pop act, clock the Mariah avatar. But I feel like its become a crutch for her because she's slowly running out of ideas as a writer and a pop act. Like, 'Look What You Made Me Do' was a downright expensive mess with the old Taylors showing up only to give her a big self-love hug to say "look at the iconic looks I've given you peasants."

It took Madonna 30 years to even so much as acknowledge her past in music without feeling the urge to retch. Mariah has built a career using herself as the subject, but thanks to the Rolodex of lyrics that is her brain it doesn't get tired. Taylor's approach isn't quite up to par.

Also *sips Red Bull* while I'm here can we talking about how Taylor doesn't know what the fuck an actual Easter Egg is? Putting hidden messages in your lyric books like she has in the past, yes that is an Easter Egg.

Slapping a hot pink snake in a music video that bursts into butterflies because lol reputation is over!!! is not an Easter Egg, its a SHOUT OUT and a MYTHOLOGY GAG, it's EASY TO FIND.
 
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R27

R27

The Archer starts out promisingly sonically and then... goes nowhere. It just plods along aimlessly with so sense of catharsis or purpose. There are some interesting lines sprinkled throughout the song, but as has increasingly become the case with Taylor's lyrics over the past 5 years, I get the feeling that her and Rob Sheffield think they are much smarter and/or "meaningful" than they actually are.
 
Solenciennes

Solenciennes

Staff member
RJF said:
45

05-The-Archer.jpg


SCORE: 6.664

HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 3 (@soratami @pop3blow2 @Ashling92)
LOWEST SCORE: 1 x 1 (@Solenciennes)
MY SCORE: 4/10

Well, there goes this little cloud of pastel nothing. "The Archer" stands as Track 5 on Lover, and apparently Track 5 is where ALL of the super-duper-omg-my-HEART songs lie on all of Taylor's albums. You know, like "Delicate", "All Too Well", and... uh, "All You Had To Stay". Maybe there's more examples but I only went as far back as Speak Now and I can't remember how "Dear John" goes (cue "um EXCUSE ME Speak Now was the soundtrack to staying in on a Satuday night when I was nineteen!!!!!!" and other such reactions) so let's just go with this little piece of self-mythologising nonsense for now. "All You Had To Do Was Stay", utter heartbreaking.

I feel like this song is another example of Taylor thinking of a good idea for a song, but not being a good enough songwriter to articulate the subtleties of her own idea so instead it ends up reading like a list of disconnected tropes. I suppose casting herself as Goddess of the Hunt is a little more catchy than, "I've been the cease and desist... never been the thirteen year old subpoenaed for a 1989 World Tour video on YouTube..." so it's got that going for it, but... meh. A song about your own paranoia and self-destructive tendencies being self-fulfilling prophecies and dooming your relationships before they begin is a great concept for a song. Taylor's word salad is not.

Watch some performances below, in which Taylor somehow produces a plaintive whine without really even opening her mouth that allows the illusion of emotion to soar. Honestly, what a drab, nothing song. If you watched these performances on mute you'd think it they were just still photos. Bye!





​
Click to expand...


I have always known this to be true but I am braver than the marines
 
Ana Raquel

Ana Raquel

she/her
I've got some bias to Spirit just because of The Lion King.

Nile was my second lowest score on The Gift but could have outlasted many songs.
 
Jonathan27

Jonathan27

Eh, I’ve grown to really love The Archer in its somewhat slight ambience.

“Dark side, I search for your dark side
But what if I'm alright, right, right, right here?
And I cut off my nose just to spite my face
Then I hate my reflection for years and years
I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost
The room is on fire, invisible smoke
And all of my heroes die all alone
Help me hold onto you”

...is maybe the most confrontational moment she’s had with herself on record. Shame about the Humpty Dumpty reference in the middle 8 pulling glaring focus away from what actually works in the song.
 
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