I've been writing quite a bit about movies lately with award season in full swing. I'm in the midst of watching the three Best Picture nominees I haven't seen yet, and after I'm done with that I'll be writing the Top Ten movies of the year list as well as the Oscar prediction post. However, in the mean time, I figured I'd write another "...of the year" post.
I know there has been a lot of music released this year, and I've quite enjoyed a lot of it. Mumford and Sons came out with a new album that was just as good as the last one, Green Day unleashed a triple album of awesomeness, and The Lumineers released one of my favorite debut albums ever. But the biggest album of the year, regardless of what genre we all listen to, was definitely Taylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red. I'll readily admit that I enjoy Taylor Swift, but her recent departures from country-pop to producing straight-up pop music on Speak Now wasn't something I enjoyed as much. Speak Now disappointed in my opinion, but I was interested to see what she would do on Red - go back to her roots or continue to distance herself from country.
I think that on Red, Taylor Swift officially mastered pop music and captured pretty much all of the biggest elements needed for a successful pop album in 2012. Her songs were always catchy, which is why she's been successful. But on Red, she really brought her music to the next level. I'm not someone who dislikes pop music just because it's popular, and frankly, the songs on Red are all quite good. But one song, I Knew You Were Trouble, the third single, definitely sums up where we are in music today, and in my opinion is the song of 2012.
The first reason is its catchiness. As I said, Taylor Swift is a master of writing the catchiest songs ever. She didn't get lucky by being picked to sing a pre-written, formulaic song and become famous that way. She writes her songs herself and has helped to create the template for catchy songs as we know them. Taylor Swift has had a much bigger impact on music than is seen on the surface. Music executives are trying to capture her formula to put in other, less talented pop singers' songs. She is the spearhead of the industry. I Knew You Were Trouble, without even considering who wrote or performed it, is so catchy that after three listens, you can instantly sing the chorus. And unlike a song like Call Me Maybe, the song doesn't tire with repeated listens. This is because it's catchy, but it's also really, really good.
I Knew You Were Trouble isn't just the song of the year for it's catchiness, though. It's also Taylor Swift's foray into dubstep. Obviously, it's not a dubstep song, but it includes a bit of it to compliment the song. I took this as Swift's acknowledgement of the impact that dubstep has had recently in the music industry. It's an entirely new and revolutionary genre and even though I don't really enjoy it, I still know it has permanently impacted music. House music is so much different today than it was as recently as five years ago. Dubstep isn't a fad and it isn't going away, and I Knew You Were Trouble utilizes it better than any other pop song I've heard. It's a perfect harmony of pop and dubstep and frankly, if dubstep is used in this way more often, my opinion on it might change.
I think the powers that be will be trying to capture what Taylor Swift brought us with I Knew You Were Trouble for quite some time. But nobody can do what Taylor Swift does. She knows something we all don't. By the time they give us something that scratches the surface of this song, she'll have delivered something even greater. She's a step ahead. Taylor Swift is not going away, and I'm happy about that.
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