Do you ever feel like a guy walking down the street with a cat on his head? Taylor Swift does. Trust me, that metaphor for fame makes a whole lot more sense when you read the “Shake It Off” singer’s full Rolling Stone cover story.
Oddly specific and specifically odd as that analogy might be, I can’t say that I’m surprised that the 24-year-old country-gone-pop singer would select such a feline turn of phrase to describe her existential state. Nor am I surprised to see the word cat — or “kitten” or “purrs” — appear eight times throughout “The Reinvention of Taylor Swift” by contributing editor Josh Eells. Same goes for Taylor’s current obsession with banana-quinoa muffins and her admission that she’s “never accidentally smoked crack.” No surprised faces here.
As for the rest of the RS feature? It’s got more reveals than an episode of “Maury” centering on a paternity test. No, Taylor Swift is not the father, but there are still plenty of shockers to be had.
1.) She Always Feels Like Somebody’s Watching Her
“Don’t even get me started on wiretaps,” Taylor tells the mag on the set of her “Shake It Off” video, before revealing that in the most paranoid reaches of her mind, she fears that a janitor (or at least a plant paid by TMZ) might barge into the warehouse and leak secrets about the shoot.
She even makes the writer listen to her forthcoming album, 1989, through her iPhone while wearing headphones — because duh! Wiretaps.
2.) Project Selena
Remember how Taylor made the big move to New York City earlier this year? (That Tribeca penthouse? Gimme gimme gimme gimme.) That’s just phase one: “She likes [the city] so much she’s trying to recruit friends to move here –- like her buddy Selena Gomez. ‘Project Selena,’ Swift says. “I think I can do it.”
3.) Party Like It’s 1989
As Swift revealed during her August live stream, the sound of 1989 is influenced by late-’80s pop, which explains why she’s collaborating with her fellow ’80s enthusiast and BFF Lena Dunham’s boyfriend, Jack Antonoff of Bleachers and fun. fame.
Speaking of the LP, its track list is now confirmed at 16 songs (13 standard, three bonus) plus three of those “voice memos” she’d previously teased.
4.) Read Her Lips: No New Dis Tracks
That’s right: “For the first time in years, there are no dis tracks dishing about Swift’s exes.” No “Dear John”? No “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”? No “All Too Well”? Intriguing…
5.) Well, Maybe One…
It does sound like there will be one dis track on the LP — the aptly titled “Bad Blood” — but it’s not about one of Taylor’s former flames.
“For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not,” she told the mag about an unnamed female musician who, according to Swift “basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour.” C’mon, mystery lady, why ya gotta be so mean?
6.) … But It’s Not About An Ex
There are three songs on 1989 about Harry Styles a certain ex-boyfriend, though the writer describes them as: “wistful and nostalgic, not finger-pointy or score-settling.” Their titles are “I Wish You Would,” “All You Had To Do Was Stay” and “Style.”
I repeat, “Style.”
7.) Don’t Kill Her Vibe
What’s Taylor Swift’s secret weapon that allows her to conquer even the most bloodthirsty swarms of paparazzi? Kendrick Lamar’s “Backseat Freestyle.” Yuss.
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