Taylor Swift's THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT Reaction
One Hit ThunderApril 19, 202400:31:28

Taylor Swift's THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT Reaction

Taylor Swift released THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT this morning as well as a version with 15 bonus tracks called THE ANTHOLOGY. Chris and Matt woke up at 5:30am to listen to it and give you their immediate reactions on it. The world has been begging for two guys with a podcast about one hit wonders to weigh in on Taylor Swift's eleventh album and we were happy to oblige! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taylor Swift released THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT this morning as well as a version with 15 bonus tracks called THE ANTHOLOGY. Chris and Matt woke up at 5:30am to listen to it and give you their immediate reactions on it. The world has been begging for two guys with a podcast about one hit wonders to weigh in on Taylor Swift's eleventh album and we were happy to oblige!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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[00:01:54] Well, Chris, arguably the biggest artist in the world

[00:01:59] has released her long anticipated new album,

[00:02:05] The Tortured Poets Department.

[00:02:08] Yesterday, the debut single Fortnite featuring Post Malone was released as

[00:02:14] the lead single and also on yesterday when she released a teaser trailer

[00:02:22] for the upcoming music video for that song.

[00:02:26] Spotify announced that this album had broken the record for the most

[00:02:31] pre-saved as the most pre-saved album in platinum in their platform history.

[00:02:38] So the question is, what did two white guys think of it?

[00:02:43] Well, I mean, it's a white woman.

[00:02:47] I mean, I put it on at...

[00:02:53] I think I was listening to it by...

[00:02:54] I woke up early at like 5.30 this morning

[00:02:57] because I knew we were doing this podcast episode.

[00:02:59] Chris, I think we may have listed this in tandem.

[00:03:01] That was almost exactly the time that I started playing.

[00:03:04] This was 5.30.

[00:03:05] Well, um, and...

[00:03:12] I'm not a hater, you know?

[00:03:14] No, Taylor Swift hater.

[00:03:16] We should stress this.

[00:03:18] I think both of us in general would say we are more pro Taylor Swift

[00:03:23] than anti Taylor Swift because I think we both have a similar opinion

[00:03:27] on this album and I don't want the Swifties coming at us like

[00:03:31] we're just two dudes who hate Taylor Swift.

[00:03:33] No, not at all.

[00:03:35] I mean, I'm pretty much a flat line on Taylor Swift,

[00:03:38] meaning if there's a great song, I'd be like, hell, yeah,

[00:03:41] that's a great song. If there's a bad song, I'll be like, that's a bad song.

[00:03:45] I am. I may an empty canvas when it comes to Taylor Swift.

[00:03:49] I think it was around the 1989 album where there were a few songs

[00:03:54] where I was like, OK, I get it now.

[00:03:56] I get Taylor Swift.

[00:03:58] She's really good and wasn't like a mega fan or something.

[00:04:02] But I was like, yeah, I like some of these.

[00:04:04] Yeah. And ever since then, it's been songs here and there.

[00:04:08] I'm not like, you know, I don't go out of my way to listen to it,

[00:04:12] but I also don't complain if it's on.

[00:04:14] I think that's pretty that's pretty reasonable, right?

[00:04:17] No, I think that that's fair.

[00:04:19] I'm probably a little bit more of a fan than you are.

[00:04:23] So for me, like I love the 1989 album.

[00:04:26] I think that's pretty much flawless.

[00:04:28] I love lover.

[00:04:30] I enjoy the folky albums that she did folklore and evermore.

[00:04:35] I like some of the early stuff speak now and read are really good.

[00:04:41] Was not.

[00:04:43] I wouldn't have put Midnights in my top five Taylor Swift albums.

[00:04:48] It was it was fine.

[00:04:49] It was an interesting turn.

[00:04:51] And I think that that's where I'm coming from on this one as well.

[00:04:56] Is this just feels like a continuation of the sounds of Midnights,

[00:05:01] which didn't do it for me?

[00:05:05] In the first place, so like this is very like that 80 synth hyperwave

[00:05:12] movement that's going on inspired.

[00:05:14] And like that just doesn't that genre of music in general doesn't do it for me

[00:05:19] because I can't really tell when one song ends and another song begins

[00:05:24] when I listen to hyperwave.

[00:05:26] And that's how I feel about this record also.

[00:05:30] You know, some might argue as you jokingly started

[00:05:33] to whatever middle aged white guys, what do they think about it?

[00:05:37] Some might argue, well, this isn't for you.

[00:05:39] This album wasn't meant for you.

[00:05:41] Well, here's the thing.

[00:05:43] I absolutely love pop music.

[00:05:46] And to be more specific, I love female pop music.

[00:05:51] Like I love it.

[00:05:52] Anybody who's listened to the main show knows that Carly Rae

[00:05:55] Jepsen is if not your number one favorite artist of all time,

[00:05:58] definitely in your top five or top ten.

[00:06:00] Not all time.

[00:06:01] I don't even know if she's top ten, but I love her music.

[00:06:04] Yes. And not just her.

[00:06:06] I mean, everyone from, I don't know, like a king princess to

[00:06:13] I told you I love every time that Zed and Marin Morris make a song.

[00:06:17] I love it. I yeah.

[00:06:18] Yeah.

[00:06:18] Mara Morris we were going to bring up just because I think

[00:06:21] Marin Morris has done a great job.

[00:06:23] I think both of us agree on this has done a great job

[00:06:26] of transitioning from country star to pop star in like a beautiful way.

[00:06:31] Like, I mean, her album girl is amazing.

[00:06:35] Like that's like a pretty flawless pop record from a couple of years ago.

[00:06:38] I mean, and even if you're talking upbeat stuff, stuff like Remy Wolf

[00:06:42] that I absolutely love upbeat pop music.

[00:06:45] I know that's not what Taylor Swift is doing.

[00:06:47] But my point being that everything from sad indie pop

[00:06:52] like Verite, which I would argue is probably one of my top five

[00:06:55] favorite ever to upbeat happy pop stuff.

[00:06:59] Sometimes like Carly Rae Jepsen or Remy Wolf stuff like this.

[00:07:02] I love it.

[00:07:02] I love pop music and this album just I yeah, it didn't do it for me.

[00:07:10] I've lit here.

[00:07:12] We're recording this on the morning.

[00:07:14] It came out.

[00:07:15] So I will say a purpose.

[00:07:17] One of us. Yeah.

[00:07:19] A purpose is by saying some of my favorite albums of all time.

[00:07:24] I didn't like it first.

[00:07:26] You hated August and everything.

[00:07:28] Yeah, the streets, clarity, all these

[00:07:31] album, but I don't feel like this album is one of those.

[00:07:35] I've listened to now she released the

[00:07:39] whatever she calls it anthology that's like thirty one songs or something.

[00:07:43] I listened to what was, I guess, intended to just be the album.

[00:07:48] The original 16 tracks, the original 16 twice and those other 15 songs

[00:07:53] I've listened to once.

[00:07:55] Hey, this is that's all you can ask for me at nine a.m.

[00:07:58] on the day it comes out.

[00:07:59] That is no 100 percent 100 percent.

[00:08:02] And I would have loved for us to record this on a slightly different day,

[00:08:06] but I'm going to a convention this weekend.

[00:08:08] So today or well after the time it passed to talk about it.

[00:08:12] Instant reactions and its honest reactions.

[00:08:16] Yeah. And my first honest reaction when I listened to this,

[00:08:20] it was painful for me at some parts how

[00:08:25] stuffed into the melodies and music the lyrics felt,

[00:08:31] which I guess the album is called Tortured Poets Department.

[00:08:36] And it felt like a lot of bad teen poetry

[00:08:41] stuffed into melodies that just felt awkward.

[00:08:46] So I wanted to see what other critics thought about this before.

[00:08:50] They love it. Rolling Stone.

[00:08:52] People are falling over themselves in love with it.

[00:08:54] That's what that's what makes me mad is everything I know it's not.

[00:08:58] Sorry to interrupt you, man.

[00:08:59] Yeah, that's fine.

[00:08:59] Passionate about this.

[00:09:01] I wake up at nine a.m.

[00:09:02] I'm going to like say, what are people saying about this?

[00:09:04] It's the greatest thing ever.

[00:09:05] It's can you actually like dig in and be like,

[00:09:09] this is good. This is bad.

[00:09:11] Everything's just like this is the greatest thing ever, which I'm like,

[00:09:14] have you listened to any other music ever?

[00:09:17] So, yes, as you said, universal claim currently on Metacritic.

[00:09:22] It's looking at 90 out of 100 from the eight critic scores it has so far

[00:09:27] on the high end, like you said, Rolling Stone gave it five stars.

[00:09:31] And I am actually a big fan of Rob Shea.

[00:09:33] Shellfield, like he's written some great books about music.

[00:09:38] He gave it the five stars and he described it as wildly ambitious

[00:09:42] and gloriously chaotic.

[00:09:44] I don't know if I agree with that on the negative side of it

[00:09:48] was Laura Molley of N.M.E.

[00:09:53] Who gave it three stars, but she called it surprisingly flat

[00:09:56] and cringe worthy at times.

[00:09:59] That I think I'm leaning way more towards that review.

[00:10:02] That's how I feel.

[00:10:04] Yeah, I felt like I was like this.

[00:10:06] My my argument was if you're going to drop

[00:10:10] thirty one songs in a single day,

[00:10:14] I should remember at least one of them.

[00:10:18] Like that's like I freeze through this and nothing.

[00:10:22] I would say I would argue the title track is probably my favorite

[00:10:25] sounding track because I did not like Fortnite.

[00:10:29] When I hit play on Fortnite, I thought, oh no, there's 31 tracks of this.

[00:10:34] Tortured Poets Department and the track after that,

[00:10:37] my boy only breaks his favorite toys, like kind of hit a little bit more

[00:10:41] of the like pop sound I was hoping for.

[00:10:45] But then the more I listened, like I said, the more it just all started

[00:10:50] to bleed together, dude.

[00:10:52] And I was just like, I don't know when once I looked at my phone

[00:10:55] and I listened to three songs and I had no clue that like a song

[00:10:58] had ended in a new one.

[00:10:59] It began twice.

[00:11:01] That's what I'm saying, man.

[00:11:02] I came in here with an open mind.

[00:11:03] I thought I was going to listen to this thing.

[00:11:06] Here's what I honestly thought.

[00:11:07] I thought they were going to be like four or five songs where I was like,

[00:11:10] oh, that's awesome. That's undeniable.

[00:11:12] This is going to be a guilty pleasure.

[00:11:14] This is going to be whatever.

[00:11:15] But I can't remember the songs like you would think there'd be

[00:11:20] a couple that stick in my head.

[00:11:21] I will say that the only song when I was listening to it

[00:11:26] and it got to like the chorus or whatever that I was like, OK,

[00:11:30] and it took 13 songs to get there.

[00:11:32] There's a song called I Can Do It with a Broken Heart where

[00:11:36] I put that as my third favorite song because that one did jump out at me

[00:11:39] when I heard it.

[00:11:40] Yeah. And another thing about this that I look,

[00:11:44] she's the biggest artist in the world.

[00:11:46] She can do whatever she wants at this point.

[00:11:49] She doesn't have to release another album.

[00:11:50] She'll be the biggest artist just playing her back catalog.

[00:11:53] So she really can do whatever she wants.

[00:11:56] And if she wants to put all her feelings and emotions out there,

[00:12:01] I encourage that.

[00:12:02] I just don't know how are people relating to this?

[00:12:05] It is so specific to like dating and breaking up with the guy from the 1975.

[00:12:15] It's not like it's so specific.

[00:12:18] Who else out there is being like, oh, yes,

[00:12:21] my boyfriend also brings his typewriter over to to and people you

[00:12:27] people really use typewriters these days like nothing

[00:12:32] is relatable.

[00:12:34] I feel like there's a lot of, you know, I'm I'm a man and there's a lot

[00:12:38] of female pop artists who can sing and maybe it can even be abstract

[00:12:43] or specific to them.

[00:12:45] But I can still relate to it when I'm listening to these songs.

[00:12:48] I'm like, I could only relate to this if I was a famous pop star

[00:12:52] who was dating Travis Kelsey or dated some skinny British guy at

[00:12:58] some point like that.

[00:12:59] This is that's the only way this is relatable.

[00:13:02] If that is why people love it, because as far as the melodies and the music go,

[00:13:07] it's so so feel so flat.

[00:13:11] Well, and and I think that this is the problem with all fandoms, right?

[00:13:15] I this is going to sound like I'm coming at Swifties and I'm not.

[00:13:19] This is the same with Juggalos.

[00:13:21] It's the same with like any it's the same with with any like, you know,

[00:13:26] Swifties and Juggalos hand in hand.

[00:13:27] But like anyone who's like a die hard fan of an artist is that you do get these

[00:13:33] like you get these blinders where you cannot.

[00:13:37] Anything that that artist puts out is amazing and great and and perfect.

[00:13:42] And I think that people become such a fan that they

[00:13:46] both kind of lose the ability to be critical of a piece of art from that person.

[00:13:53] And they also like will because they've obsessed over that person

[00:13:58] and learned so much about that person's back history, that they'll like

[00:14:03] try to explain and justify the lyrics because like they've been following

[00:14:08] the T-Swift story.

[00:14:09] And I mean, I've said this about movies and I'm going to say the same thing

[00:14:13] about Taylor Swift, like I'm starting to dip out of Marvel stuff

[00:14:17] because I don't like the fact that there's so much homework to enjoy a Marvel stuff.

[00:14:21] Like I shouldn't have to know the entire life history of what Taylor Swift has been

[00:14:25] up to to appreciate a Taylor Swift.

[00:14:27] Is that is that what is going on with people who are Taylor Swift mega fans?

[00:14:32] Is it that they want to know about Taylor's life and what she's feeling

[00:14:39] and what's going on that when they listen to her new album, it's like

[00:14:44] opening a book and reading reading the lyrics and being like, oh,

[00:14:50] now now we know what's going is that what it is that this is like?

[00:14:53] It might be.

[00:14:54] So have you ever listened to the NPR podcast, Dysect?

[00:14:59] I have not. OK.

[00:15:01] So I my girlfriend, Barb, just had me listen to a season of it.

[00:15:07] So what they do is they pick one album and track by track.

[00:15:11] They like meticulously dissect that song

[00:15:14] and try to like help you better understand the album.

[00:15:17] And it mostly focuses on hip hop.

[00:15:19] And my girlfriend's favorite album is because the Internet by Childish Gambino.

[00:15:25] So I'm listening to the which I'm liking it now as I'm like understanding it more.

[00:15:30] I thought it was a very good Childish Gambino album, but like it wasn't like.

[00:15:34] But I didn't understand that you had to like read a script while listening to it

[00:15:38] and like I didn't do that.

[00:15:40] And I loved it.

[00:15:42] So that's well, that's what this dissecting is about is Childish.

[00:15:45] Donald Glover in like they just put like interview clips.

[00:15:49] They're not like sitting in the studio talking to him.

[00:15:51] But he keeps saying that like in this modern day of music,

[00:15:54] it's not enough to put out a good song.

[00:15:56] It has to be this full blown immersive experience for the audience

[00:16:02] because otherwise just a good song, they're just going to pass right by it.

[00:16:04] So when he released because the Internet,

[00:16:07] it came with a script that you would download from his website

[00:16:10] that would tell you would read the script and then it would say now

[00:16:13] play this track and you would like understand the carrot,

[00:16:17] the mindset of the main character that that whole album is told from the perspective of.

[00:16:22] And it's it's interesting.

[00:16:24] I think that Taylor Swift has like not to that level,

[00:16:28] but has latched on to that same thing where being a Taylor Swift fan.

[00:16:32] I think barely means that you care about the music of Taylor Swift.

[00:16:37] You care about the entire immersive experience of being a Taylor Swift fan.

[00:16:42] And that involves following her on social media,

[00:16:45] knowing what she's doing in her dating life, like going, having split.

[00:16:50] The fact that she can do a tour called the era's tour

[00:16:53] where she's going to play songs from every single album that she's ever released

[00:16:58] and that she encourages audience members to cosplay

[00:17:01] as their favorite era of Taylor Swift and that these fans are so ingrained

[00:17:07] in that that you can show up in an outfit and people immediately know

[00:17:11] which album that outfit represents like you couldn't do that with Punchline.

[00:17:15] You couldn't be like this is the Punchline era's tour dresses,

[00:17:18] your favorite Punchline album.

[00:17:19] Like no one would be able to tell one.

[00:17:21] It's a whole different thing.

[00:17:23] And I would never compare my band to what Taylor Swift is doing.

[00:17:27] I'm saying it's this it's a creed.

[00:17:30] It's so much more than people could have done that with Madonna.

[00:17:34] Madonna Madonna. Yes. Of course.

[00:17:37] But the songs, it was always the song stood on their own.

[00:17:42] And I do think that like up until recently, Taylor Swift did have songs

[00:17:47] that stood out on their own as songs.

[00:17:50] I'm not a person who's diving deep into the backstory and love life

[00:17:53] of Taylor Swift minus the surface level stuff that everybody knows.

[00:17:57] But a song like Style or Shake It Off or whatever.

[00:18:02] These are undeniable hits.

[00:18:05] And look, I don't think she has to make every song a hit.

[00:18:09] I think you could make personal weird music.

[00:18:12] But if Rob Sheffield called this album chaotic, I think that's so wrong.

[00:18:20] It's it's the opposite of chaotic.

[00:18:22] It is like boring, boring.

[00:18:27] I found it.

[00:18:29] Here's I just wanted to look this up because this is her 11th album.

[00:18:33] So by comparison, I was like, what was Madonna's 11th album?

[00:18:36] Now that you've brought Madonna into it.

[00:18:39] Madonna's 11th album was 2008's Hard Candy, which is an album

[00:18:45] that I think we've all agreed to not remember existed.

[00:18:49] Yeah, yeah, featuring, featuring production and collaboration

[00:18:53] from Justin Timberlake, the Neptune's in Timbaland as like a hip hop dance.

[00:18:59] Like so I don't know.

[00:19:02] Like I'm just I that has nothing to do with your argument.

[00:19:06] I just became curious of like what was Madonna up to by 11 albums?

[00:19:10] I think here's what I'm going to say.

[00:19:14] At this point in time, before we hit play on this record,

[00:19:17] the only thing we had heard off of it was Fortnite.

[00:19:20] And I thought that that was bad.

[00:19:22] A lot of the things that we're saying, I also felt when I listened to Midnight.

[00:19:27] Like immediately I listened to that today, it came out and I thought,

[00:19:31] OK, there's nothing memorable on this.

[00:19:33] It all bleeds together.

[00:19:34] Then like antihero became like this massive earworm song.

[00:19:40] So I am curious because you know that whatever song she puts out

[00:19:45] as singles are going to be inescapable to you, me and the rest of the world.

[00:19:50] I'm curious of these 31 songs.

[00:19:55] Like which ones do we even two months from now

[00:20:02] feel like I can't escape this damn song.

[00:20:04] It's everywhere and it's stuck in my head.

[00:20:06] Is it going to be Florida, the song with Florence and the machine?

[00:20:10] I did write that down as a noteworthy song for sure for us to mention.

[00:20:14] I mean, I guess why I said none of that one's kind of memorable.

[00:20:17] I don't really like it, but at least it's memorable.

[00:20:23] After first listen and hey, that's OK.

[00:20:28] That's a pretty good point about Madonna,

[00:20:29] but on a absolutely sucked by her love of the album.

[00:20:32] Taylor Swift has taken some swings, taken some chances.

[00:20:36] And also, hey, if this is what you want to make,

[00:20:40] if you want to make something that's extremely personal to you and you.

[00:20:44] I mean, she could do whatever she wants.

[00:20:47] It's not she doesn't have to care what I think about it at all.

[00:20:52] But I'm just saying as someone who went into this today,

[00:20:55] thinking I was going to like it and be like, oh, this is undeniable.

[00:20:59] I really didn't.

[00:21:00] And Matt, I also thought how amazing would it be instead of post Malone on that first

[00:21:04] song? What if it would have been Violent J? What about God?

[00:21:07] Oh, yeah. Could you imagine this is this is the collab we need in this world?

[00:21:12] Is the I CP T Swift the ICT?

[00:21:16] I see. Wow.

[00:21:18] Could you imagine?

[00:21:22] In St. Clown, Tyler. Yeah.

[00:21:26] Do we have any other closing thoughts on this?

[00:21:28] Because I mean, like I said, I I'm still open minded to the idea

[00:21:34] that this album could grow on me.

[00:21:37] But similar to Midnights, I don't think that that like I said the same thing

[00:21:42] when we did the Grammys episode like Midnights to me is not

[00:21:46] the album of the year or like the album worthy of album of the year

[00:21:50] when it won that like I thought that that was such a mediocre

[00:21:54] Taylor Swift release, but everybody else loves it.

[00:21:56] And and I think that that's the case with this one, too.

[00:21:59] And like, who am I really?

[00:22:02] Like, I'm about to jump in my car and drive to a convention

[00:22:05] and I'm going to be listening to fucking like a Disney CD

[00:22:09] and probably like a bunch of Christian ska music.

[00:22:12] So like take every piece of my opinion with the tiniest grain of salt.

[00:22:17] But like, I am curious to see

[00:22:22] two months from now, three months from now when these songs are everywhere

[00:22:26] and used in like commercials and are playing in grocery stores.

[00:22:30] Do I go, OK, I find the song is kind of good.

[00:22:34] You know what I mean? Like I think the problem.

[00:22:37] I don't.

[00:22:39] I don't think people are making albums

[00:22:42] the way that I like albums being made anymore,

[00:22:45] which is to say that like I like a good concept album

[00:22:50] or I like that you sat down and these were the like

[00:22:55] 10, 12 or 13 best songs that you had written.

[00:23:00] Right. I think now albums, especially for a big artist like this,

[00:23:05] it's like it's almost like spray and pray.

[00:23:09] You know what I mean?

[00:23:09] Like it's just like we're going to drop 31 songs in one day

[00:23:13] because if just four of them are great and do really well,

[00:23:18] then we're going to be fine.

[00:23:20] Someone needed to narrow this down to the best 12.

[00:23:23] They really did.

[00:23:24] And well, but I also think that Taylor Swift is here's another weird comparison.

[00:23:30] But I think Taylor Swift has hit that point where she is to music.

[00:23:33] What like Stephen King is to horror novels

[00:23:36] where at this point in time, Stephen King answers to no one.

[00:23:41] He has no editor.

[00:23:42] You know, I mean, like he just sends first drafts of books and they get published.

[00:23:47] Right. Like there's no chance that there is anybody

[00:23:50] in any piece of any entourage or anything telling telling Taylor Swift,

[00:23:54] like this song's not good. Don't release it.

[00:23:56] Well, also it'll probably be like Taylor Swift breaks record by having

[00:24:00] numbers one through 31 on the top 40 or something.

[00:24:04] So that's probably part of it too.

[00:24:06] Everyone's interested.

[00:24:08] Everyone wants to read the lyrics, decode the lyrics, even though

[00:24:13] there's not mysterious enough.

[00:24:15] That's not they're just they're just saying what happened.

[00:24:19] Like no one's even questioning who what song is about or anything.

[00:24:25] There's no air of mystery. It's just all here's what happened.

[00:24:30] You know, she might as well write have written a blog.

[00:24:34] Yeah.

[00:24:36] One day she's going to release a book and we're going to buy it.

[00:24:38] And it's just going to be the lyrics to her last like four albums as chapters.

[00:24:45] It's like, oh, yeah, no, this is the story.

[00:24:47] We knew the story already.

[00:24:48] Yeah. That being said, do what you want when you are this huge

[00:24:54] and you are this this powerful and famous.

[00:24:58] Do what do whatever you want like.

[00:25:01] But part of it is maybe two guys on a podcast

[00:25:05] the morning it comes out or talking about it.

[00:25:07] You you created this conversation.

[00:25:11] And that's a good thing.

[00:25:12] I like talking.

[00:25:13] I like talking about music and stuff like this.

[00:25:16] It's it's a fun conversation piece.

[00:25:18] And for that, I give Taylor Swift credit and for being,

[00:25:23] as we've said many times, a pretty cool person who's released

[00:25:25] a lot of great music and made a lot of people happy.

[00:25:28] I just don't think this is her best effort in my opinion.

[00:25:31] Now, and I agree with you on that.

[00:25:33] And again, I'm sure that they're Chris,

[00:25:37] this bonus episode might do exactly what we hope it does,

[00:25:40] but it also might be a lot of angry,

[00:25:42] swifty one star reviews coming out.

[00:25:44] Oh, no.

[00:25:46] But but like I can't stress enough that like we are not

[00:25:51] Tay haters like we both I actually genuinely think

[00:25:55] in a world where I believe that there are no good billionaires,

[00:25:59] I feel like she's the one that's trying the hardest to be

[00:26:03] an example of a good billionaire.

[00:26:05] And and I hope that more people kind of attempt

[00:26:10] to follow in that model if they find themselves blessed enough

[00:26:14] to be making that much money to like just tip every person.

[00:26:18] You see a couple thousand dollars as you're like leaving,

[00:26:21] like, you know, I mean, like it's it's like she does.

[00:26:26] She does insanely nice things.

[00:26:28] And I do think that she gives a shit about her fans.

[00:26:32] I don't think that even as big as she's become, she's lost.

[00:26:36] Right. She's lost that.

[00:26:38] You know, I mean, like there are those.

[00:26:39] Pops are in Helen.

[00:26:40] She didn't pull in Helen.

[00:26:42] Exactly. Like I think I think that and she's going to be fine.

[00:26:47] If she hears this episode, she'll cry a little bit

[00:26:49] and then she'll get over the fact that the guys at One

[00:26:51] Hit Thunder didn't like her new album.

[00:26:54] I guess guys are one one of your wonder podcast.

[00:26:58] They're talking about her album.

[00:26:59] That's how big she is.

[00:27:00] People that make a one hit wonder podcast are talking about it.

[00:27:03] But I would I would encourage anyone out there

[00:27:07] who, you know, if you're a giant Taylor Swift fan,

[00:27:10] you might relate and think the songs are better

[00:27:14] by someone who isn't a billionaire

[00:27:17] and still is feeling the struggle.

[00:27:20] I know we all feel Taylor Swift's struggle, but she is.

[00:27:24] She has I don't see how she could have any worries in life ever.

[00:27:28] Exactly. I don't know. All right.

[00:27:31] Well, real quick, whenever we do these bonus episodes,

[00:27:34] the one big benefit of them is that they are probably

[00:27:37] the most timely recordings we ever do.

[00:27:41] So if you're listening to this, the day it came out

[00:27:43] and you happen to live near Gettysburg, I'm at the

[00:27:47] Treacher Future Weekend Convention right now.

[00:27:50] It's coming. Come and say hi.

[00:27:51] I'm moderating three events there, so that should be fun.

[00:27:57] And Chris, not only I think last time we did one of these,

[00:28:01] you were talking about the pre-sale tickets for Spilled

[00:28:04] Canvases Up, but you've also announced kind of the show

[00:28:07] that everybody was waiting for, which was when the action

[00:28:10] anniversary Pittsburgh show is happening.

[00:28:13] Are when are those tickets up for pre-sale?

[00:28:15] They are up for sale today.

[00:28:18] The day this episode comes out and the show is until November 30th.

[00:28:22] But hey, if you like my band, it should be our biggest show ever.

[00:28:28] So pretty fun, pretty fun thing to look forward to.

[00:28:31] Maybe by November 30th, Matt and I will be talking backstage

[00:28:35] saying, man, remember when we said that Taylor Swift album

[00:28:37] wasn't that good and it might be our our favorite album ever

[00:28:40] made by then? Yeah, who knows?

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[00:30:10] Hello, everybody.

[00:30:12] I'm Bruce and I'm Nolan.

[00:30:14] And this is the corner of Gray Street podcast.

[00:30:17] As longtime Dave Matthews band fans, we set out to create a podcast

[00:30:21] to dive deep into the past, present and future of DMV.

[00:30:25] Not only do we recap and review shows within an ongoing tour,

[00:30:30] but we revisit past shows from throughout the band's history,

[00:30:33] conduct interviews with a wide variety of guests with ties to DMV

[00:30:38] and create unique and exclusive content

[00:30:41] like our concerts on the corner series.

[00:30:44] Whether you're a fan of the band or just a fan of great music,

[00:30:47] we think you'll find something you'll enjoy.

[00:30:49] We can't wait to see you on the corner of Gray Street.