For this task I have chosen to write a fictional interview with twenty-six year old Taylor Swift. She is an ever-growing pop star with one of - if not the - biggest fanbase of all time (245 000 000 followers across all social media).
*Disclaimer*
I am not stating I am a fan of her or her music, but I personally think her lyrics and the way she describes things are powerful and have a lot of meaning to them. Reading through the lyrics of her songs, I see how people relate to them and why she has been able to accomplish what she has … accomplished…?
Moving on, here is the fictional interview with Taylor Swift after her 4th studio album release, Red:
I: Good morning Taylor it’s lovely to see you, welcome to our interview.
T: Hey thank you for inviting me, it’s great to be back.
I: It’s feels like forever since you’ve been here.
T: Yes it really has been. 2 years, am I right?
I: I feel like that’s accurate. Since you last album “Speak Now”.
T: Yes that was it.
I: You are now here for your new album “Red” which has sold whopping 420 000 copies in it’s First. Week. Incredible
T: Thank you so much!
I: New album, new songs. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about the album?
T: Of course of course! The new songs are about the past 2 years of my life since the last album. They have been very important years to me, a lot has been happening, I have been going through a lot and I have learnt some valuable lessons.
I: How has writing music become such an important part of your life?
T: Ohh I don’t think I could live without music anymore. It has become such an important part of my life ever since I was a little girl. I was inspired by my grandma who was an opera singer. To start out with, writing songs and poems was a way I could express my feelings. Now I can use it as a tool to communicate with all my fans and people who listen to my music.
I: I can only compliment your artistic skills. How have you and your music changed since the last album? What is different about the two?
T: Personally, I feel like “Speak Now” was a way for me to say things which have been on my mind for a very long time, which I was either too shy or did not have the power to convince myself to let go of these things. So “Speak Now” has taught me to be a bit more daring in a way. So now with “Red” I have grown up a little, matured a little, and changed my perspective on things as well as the reasons and thoughts behind the new songs.
I: When do you find yourself sitting down and writing down lyrics for the songs? And do you write the songs one by one?
T: I will find time anywhere to write down lyrics. They just pop into my head at given points. For example, I could be doing the laundry, it could be during a movie, or even during an interview. Now to answer your second question, whenever a line or a lyric is thought of, I use the closest thing to write that down. I could record a voice memo, sing it and record it, or simply write it down. Because of the way I take down all the lyrics, I usually write songs all over the place.
I: All over the place? How do you keep it all organised?
I: All over the place? How do you keep it all organised?
T: Ohh I have my ways. I usually keep them in little stacks or folders/binders.
I: When you piece the song together, do you have any strategies?
T: The first and most important to me is: how can I piece this together to portray or convey my exact emotions. How can I make a fitting melody to this? Then I think about my fans. How can I help them with my music. How can this song support what they’re going through? And last but not least I think about the performance. If I were to perform this, how would it look like with all the lighting and dancers? I think that’s it yeah.
I: Well thank you very very much for this lovely interview. It has given me a great hindsight as to what you do.
T: No thank you! It’s always a pleasure to come here
I: I definitely hope to see you for your next album!
While I think your interview was well written,especially as an interview, as you looked at her thought process for her lyrics and explored her relationship with music, which I found interesting. Looking at the assignment criteria, however, I feel that you focused too much on the music and her life, and did not really explain what her lyrics are/were about, and how they may have affected her community. While you stayed true to the format, I think you may have gone a bit off topic by not featuring the effects of her music on her community, or the social issues that may have inspired her lyrics. The interview, however, is still quite good in my opinion, despite the deviation from the assignment topic.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think your interview was well written,especially as an interview, as you looked at her thought process for her lyrics and explored her relationship with music, which I found interesting. Looking at the assignment criteria, however, I feel that you focused too much on the music and her life, and did not really explain what her lyrics are/were about, and how they may have affected her community. While you stayed true to the format, I think you may have gone a bit off topic by not featuring the effects of her music on her community, or the social issues that may have inspired her lyrics. The interview, however, is still quite good in my opinion, despite the deviation from the assignment topic.
ReplyDeleteThe power that this interview gives to the audience was not very strong. This was due to the fact that the structure wasn't coherent. In terms of the text in general, You have shown her musicality much more than how her musical composition creates a major impact towards the community (preferably her fanbase I suppose). Overall, it was a good post.
ReplyDelete