Taylor Swift's Shake It Off / Mariah Carey's Shake It Off
I've given myself the task of writing about one song a week for 2024 because, well, I think it'd be fun.
Taylor Swift's Shake It Off / Mariah Carey's Shake It Off
Well, while we were doing double features, it didn't hurt to do another one.
(3.4 billion views is insane.)
In one respect, it makes no sense to compare the respective "Shake It Off" of Taylor and Mariah's discography. Taylor was 23, in the flush of youth, when "Shake It Off" was released in August 19, 2014, beginning the journey towards her complete and unquestioned dominance of pop music in the next decade, all the more sweetened by her attainment of such invincible power that the biggest online ticketing company in the world and the other political party in the wealthiest country in the world have reason to fear her. In contrast, Mariah was 35, somewhere around the expiration date for most women in pop (hey, just because I say it does not mean I approve of it), when "Shake It Off" was released in July 11, 2005, and her career could not have been at a worse place. Her reputation suffered dramatically from the promotion of her film "Glitter", and 2002's "Charmbracelet" was almost universally panned, to the extent critics were questioning whether the voice of the "Songbird Supreme" was failing.
But if the tides and fortunes of the careers of these two queens of pop are so incongruous as to be meaningless when compared, the differences between the music themselves are quite interesting to analyze. The songs are a fascinating reflection on where women were and, more importantly, what listeners of music were yearning for in their respective decades.
"Shake It Off" (Taylor's) lives in the amber-tinted memories of my earlier youth, when I, for reasons unknown to me as I try to summon them, listened to the radio, when the radio still had, well, songs, that were less about the singer's personal life and more just songs that make people, well, shake. Not that I don't like hearing SZA's "Snooze". That really describes the trajectory of the 2010s: music becoming really, really personal, almost to the point of pornography, to the point, of course, that it becomes sterilized. Taylor herself was an instigator of that change, probably as a result of her roots in country music which has a strong emphasis in the personal "I". Part of me from the past still sees "Shake It Off" as a regular pop song, but the other, wiser part knows that, around this time, Taylor figured out her own unique blend of detailed/general in the construction of her songs, starting some time around the production of "Red" (2012). I can't think of anyone in country who has found so much crossover appeal, though, arguably, she found that appeal by burning her bridges to country entirely.
On the topic of songs being less like songs, Taylor also started that trend. I had the suspicion that, after four or five listens of "Shake It Off", it actually belonged in the greater context of an album. Why the thought? It's not high enough. I expected Rick Rubin levels of loudness for a 2014 pop song. But beyond the actual decibels, I was thinking of Annie Lennox's "Walking On Broken Glass", which keeps building up emotionally to that chorus, as far as the subject matter and the music goes. The step to the chorus of "Shake It Off" isn't a big one, it's like a ramp, a mild inconvenience.
Second reason, it's too specific and general at once. It's just about her shaking off past relationships and finding new amusements. There aren't many stakes: no dire need to live it up, no sadness to shake off, no existential imperative. It's a questionable single for sure; it only works if you take out some of its meaning and recontextualize as an all-around party song (which is what the music video does).
So I did what I probably vowed never to do 15, 10, 5 years ago: listen to the album, upon an intense feeling of boredom and curiosity. Let's just get this out of the way: it's a fine album. It's predictable instrumentally. The clearest, most charismatic, most winning part of it is Taylor, like a shining jewel, amongst microwaved Max Martin and Jack Antonoff beats. Which bears an interesting question, that I will answer without much research: I'll assume most of the songwriting/structuring comes from Taylor, with the idea for beats and instrumentals largely coming from producers. This is a hard assumption to make, because even Beyoncé has ghostwriters. But this seems like the right train of thought, because the lyrics flow too well, as far as ideas and rhythm go, to seem to come piecemeal from a conference room of writers. The lyrics are also awkward, cough cough "Blank Space", or just plain corny, looking at you "Style", which is what makes Taylor ultimately charming. I also tend to think that the more lyrics there are, the less likely it was vetted by multiple stamps as otherwise more producers would have killed themselves going line by line.
You have to listen to "1989" holistically, which was unfortunate for me as I have listened to Taylor...never, not until I had the idea to do this write-up. This works very well, though, for creating religious converts; much as one has to endure Sunday Service, the length of "1989" will convince future fanatics of its power if only because it haunts you well into your dreams.
"Shake It Off" really works well when you realize the ramp begins before the song, starting around "Welcome To New York", which seems to be less a paean to New York and more an ode to a young Taylor moving into the world's financial capital with someone she is deeply in love with. The ramp gets rampier as she dares her lover to break her heart (what a weirdly millenial affect, worthy of a quizzical expression), particularly in "Out Of The Woods" and "All You Had To Do Was Stay", which are both impressive in that she never feels down.
Ever the storyteller, we then know that "I stay out too late, / got nothing in my brain" were set up in prior songs, the first line starting from "Blank Space" and the second coming from the aftermath of a messy breakup. The wink-wink of "I go on too many dates / but I can't make 'em stay" is her acknowledgement of the narrative arc of the last few songs, which is actually nice, and an admission of her own human sin, a nice country theme Patsy Kline is privy to. And, well, we know the famous chorus at this point, such that it's needless for me to reiterate it. I'm afraid there's not much more for me to add about the song without digging more into the album, which I will take a little break from.
Mariah's musical approach is the complete opposite of Taylor's; Taylor elaborates, Mariah reveals; Taylor is eager, Mariah is reserved; Taylor escalates, Mariah erupts. "Queen of Shade" is the perfect sobriquet for Carey, because her music is full of little details that shroud and complicate the color of her emotions. Look no further than the chorus of her "Shake It Off": "I gotta shake it off / 'cause the loving ain't the same, / and you keep on playing games / like you know I'm here to stay." I think Mariah is most distinctive for her particularly gritty delivery, grinding on the hard C of "cause", playing with the vowels like a rollercoaster thereon and rising, if ever so slightly, her voice in anger upon reaching that "stay". There's the psychological aspect of the lyrics: she could have left it at the first two lines - case made - but that "like you know I'm here to stay" really shows how demeaning, how unforgivable her lover is, and also shows how mad she is at being treated like a pet. It's such a subtle addition, no more than seven words; it's unique to her, as far as I know.
The other way to look at it is, Taylor and Mariah are also opposites in their philosophy. It's true Taylor is the one who doesn't seem to mind talking about her vulnerabilities, but Mariah is the one who seems to feel more. That may be why she cares little for talking about extraneous affairs. "Just ask your momma, she knows" is a really specific (and really funny) detail, and then there's the tangent of "Hold up, my phone's breaking up, / I'mma hang and call the machine right back, / I gotta get this off of my mind." For Taylor, feeling pain is a part of life (what a country affect) and so doesn't need forgiveness to mention; she feels comfortable in sharing it. As big as Mariah is, she feels there is a private nature to music, and you are, indeed, seeing a VIP look into her inner thoughts and emotions. This is more in line with her background in soul.
This is, of course, speculation on my part (this whole blog is just speculation, on everything in the world!) and part of my speculation comes from sharing her approach to art in general. For Mariah and myself a song is just a song, a contained narrative that doesn't leak into others and is sufficient unto itself to depict the emotions it desires to. She's a consummate songwriter because she feels every song has to punch.
This obsession with detail invades the level of the line. There's a particularly vulnerable moment in Mariah's "Shake It Off": "[I] gotta make that move / for somebody who / appreciates all the love I give." Mariah is gut-wrenching in "move" and "who", almost at the brink of tears (but deftly not, stepping away from it at the right moment), as if recalling past memories with the man that she is with now and slowly acknowledging he's not the one. Then, allowing herself release, she coos "appreciates all the love I give", returning the subject back to herself and her own agency rather than the person who gives her pain. THIRTEEN. WORDS.
That doesn't mean Taylor is a lesser writer; I think hers is a curiously Millenial approach, that of needing to provide a greater context into one's emotions. Oh, we're the Psychiatrist Generation, alright: we understand we're not the masters of our emotions and we're always in need to consider them in the vast complexity of our being. The long-form narrative format works better in modern culture.
In exchange, Mariah is a writer of action; where Taylor is interested in feeling, Mariah describes what she's doing, leading, inadvertently, to her diva reputation. She's really petty. "See, I grabbed all my diamonds and clothes," "So I packed up my Louis Vuitton, / jumped in your ride and took off." Mariah...only you would think of your diamonds and luxury fashion at a moment like this. (Who even has diamonds in this economy?) But what's amusing is that she wants you to share her pettiness; indeed, that is a language every human being is privy to.
Funny little comparison between both songs: anger at the other. Taylor: "My ex-man brought his new girlfriend, she's like / Oh my God, but I'm just gonna shake / to the fella over there with the hella good hair." Mariah: "I found out about a gang of your dirty little deeds / with this one, and that one, by the pool / on the beach, in the streets." Trope, but interesting nevertheless. You can also ascribe Taylor some nobility for just, well, moving on; Mariah is really dwelling on this.
Taylor are I are from (or in) the Tinder generation, and this shows strongly in Taylor's music, particularly her blazing through different dates in a week. It's not about promiscuity; it concerns her method of pursuing love, which is to sit through many, many long, and awkward, monologues about nothing. No wonder she's so keen to find ecstasy at the tip of the hat, as it is so exceedingly rare in this digital age where things happen primarily through our phones.
Mariah goes to the club. She seems to believe love comes from the crucible of chaos; it begins with dance (as can be gleamed from the tracks in "Emancipation of Mimi") and congeals into something lasting. Actually, Taylor and Mariah don't seem all that different when we think about it. These are different means of pursuit, but in both is the fundamental belief in the transformative, almost to the point of divinity, power of love. (To lift up the curtain: when I began the write-up I thought the historical comparison over how generations pursued and approached love was worth looking into, but as I dug deeper I realized the differences existed only in the unique personalities of these very strong artists.)
Taylor is almost Mariah's age when she released "The Emancipation of Mimi"; I'm hoping she has acquired the maturity and depth that her predecessor possessed around this time, too. After writing this review I feel encouraged to take "Tortured Poets Department" seriously, which motivation was, mmm, zero when the year began. Because, while I had respected her, her entrepeneurship and her craft, I really like her now, after this analysis. I may have to go through her discography, though I wouldn't count myself as a Swiftie any time soon.