THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! Taylor Swift, "The Last Great American Dynasty"

Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

TAYLOR SWIFT: The Last Great American Dynasty 

Written by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

Produced by Aaron Dessner

From the album Folklore, Republic Records, 2020

Hipsters need not apply. 

Taylor Swift is probably the biggest single star on the planet right now, as close to a Beatles figure as our diffused pop culture can recognize at this time. As a baby boomer myself, I would have thought Swift's records unlikely to be my cuppa. 

I would have thought wrong.

I admit I was a little bit surprised when my lovely wife Brenda floated the idea of the two of us checking out Taylor Swift's concert movie. I was even more surprised by how much I flat-out enjoyed 2024's Taylor Swift: The ERAS Tour, a film that offers a marvelous, fascinating immersion into the phenomenon of a Taylor Swift live show. Good choice, Brenda!

Previously, my take on Taylor Swift was that she's a remarkable talent whose music was intended for a demographic that doesn't include me. Fair enough. It didn't stop me from respecting her, even admiring her, and recognizing that she's a star whose celebrity status was built by talent, as well as a star who uses her celebrity responsibly. These are good things. I needn't wish to sing along with "Bad Blood" to appreciate any of that.

I'm not in Taylor Swift's demo, but I've come to appreciate her more and more, and I've even discovered a few of her tracks capable of annexing some pop-starved corner of my little wheelhouse. This is particularly true of "The Last Great American Dynasty," a stunning track from Swift's 2020 album Folklore; it's even more true of the alternate version of "The Last Great American Dynasty" found on Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, which feels more intimate and artful. As I said to a friend recently: I can't see anyone who likes Rumours-era Stevie Nicks disliking "The Last Great American Dynasty." Brenda herself added that the track reminded her of some of the female-sung indie pop that is such a frequent and welcome part of my own ongoing soundtrack.

Factions build divisions. Factions are notorious dumbasses. Maybe I'm not gonna start playing "Shake It Off" (though I've just begun to realize how much that track reminds me of some of the chick-fronted new wave pop I was digging in the early '80s), but I say some of Swift's music is nonetheless perfect, even for an out-of-demo curmudgeon like me. The next great American dynasty has gotta start somewhere. Might be the greatest dynasty ever made.

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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.