TIED TOGETHER WITH A SMILE

I wouldn't have believed it either, but in the interest of promoting the fact that inspiration is where you find it, Taylor Swift has become a regular soundtrack in my house this week. I liked her songs on SNL this past Saturday and started listening to the album on LastFM, and this phenomenon just grew out of there. Something about her very simple, youthful, and heartfelt style fits right in with writing about Isobel and her young dreams of art and love.

Of course, the "Love Story" lyrics have the kind of literary/storybook references I am a sucker for. There's also my not so secret dreams of being a princess. The song is kind of like if Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)" was written by teenage girl rather than an overgrown adolescent boy. (And just two songs later, "White Horse" tells the other side of fairy tale romances.)

The production on this and a lot of her songs actually reminds me of Sixpence None the Richer, whose hit "Kiss Me" from several years ago was a minor pop classic. People think I am kidding when I call Sixpence the pop version of Belle & Sebastian, what with that song's twee talk of moonlight and hidden maps and things. Which just goes to prove that the indie tag is just an excuse for wearing cheap clothes, and all of this is far more connected than we realize.

And as if there wasn't enough reason to hate the Jonas Brothers, I'd give that little wiener Joe Jonas such a kick to the nards for breaking little Taylor's heart were I ever to see him. Assuming his testicles have actually descended.

Current Soundtrack: