This week we are playing:

Episode 70

Taylor Swift – State of Grace  from   Red (Taylor’s Version)

Phoebe Bridgers – Nothing Else Matters

Taylor Swift – Nothing New” feat. Phoebe Bridgers from Red (Taylors Version)

The National with Taylor Swift – The Alcott 

Taylor  Swift – “The Last Great American Dynasty” from Folklore

Ed Sheeran with Camilla Cabello and Cardi B – South of the Border 

Taylor Swift – Snow on the Beach” feat. More Lana Del Rey from Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition)

Taylor Swift and Bleachers – Anti-Hero

Haim – “Gasoline” feat. Taylor Swift from Women in Music Part 3

Phoebe Bridgers – Nothing Else Matters

This is not a Taylor Swift song, but Phoebe Bridgers has collaborated with Taylor Swift. That is what I am focused on this week.

This is a good start, an interview with Set Meyers

Taylor Swift Reveals What Phoebe Bridgers Texted Her When Asked to Collaborate

The National with Taylor Swift – The Alcott 

a beautiful song

The National – The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift) (Official Lyric Video)

what’s the story behind this collaboration?

from the Vulture

backstories Apr. 28, 2023

The National Want Their Taylor Swift Duet ‘The Alcott’ Played ‘in Context’

Picture going back ten years and telling someone the National and Taylor Swift would make a song together. Even as recently as the band’s last album, 2019’s guest-heavy I Am Easy to Find, the pairing might have come as a shock. But there it was when the National announced their latest collection, First Two Pages of Frankenstein: an opener featuring their old pal and sometimes collaborator Sufjan Stevens, two tracks featuring Phoebe Bridgers, then “The Alcott” with Swift. No matter what else happened with the group’s long-awaited comeback, this song would be an event.

another incredible story of collaboration – Taylor Swift got back to Aaron Dessner of The National within 20 minutes of him sharing the song, changing some of its elements to create this number. Really worth reading the rest of the article.

Ed Sheeran with Camilla Cabello and Cardi B – South of the Border 

Ed Sheeran collaborates a lot with Taylor Swift, and we have never played him on the show before, so I thought this would be a good time to fix that. And another collaboration!

Ed Sheeran – South of the Border (feat. Camila Cabello & Cardi B) [Official Music Video]
More about the video:

On 12 July 2019, the lyric video for “South of the Border” was released on Sheeran’s YouTube channel. The official music video for the song was released on 4 October, also on Sheeran’s YouTube channel. In the music video, Sheeran plays Teddy Fingers, Cabello plays Mariposa, and Cardi B appears as herself alongside model Alexis Ren as Scarlet Jones and actor Paul Karmiryan as Agent X. As of May 2024, it has received over 250 million views.^[7]

The song was originally on his 2019 album No. 6 Collaborations Project. This version features Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello and Dominican-American rapper Cardi B.

Taylor Swift and Bleachers – Anti-Hero

Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero (feat. Bleachers)

Wikipedia says she wrote and produced this song with Jack Antonoff, but Pitchfork writes that this is a new version of the song:

Jack Antonoff has offered a new version of Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” with his Bleachers bandmates. The update of the Midnights single finds the producer lamenting the presence of “art bros” (instead of Swift originally singing about “sexy bab[ies]”). 

what’s the real story??

Then there is this great movie in a video of Anti-Hero

Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero (Official Music Video)

Then there is this #tsantiherochallenge – share your anti-heroic traits. There is a special YouTube Channel with over 16K videos • 8.2K channels, all featuring It’s Me, I’m the problem with me. Says a lot about female self-esteem. Looks like a good outlet for people self-expression, I think empowering too.

This is a really interesting story – more here from Wikipedia

“Anti-Hero” is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her tenth studio album, Midnights (2022). Swift wrote and produced the song with Jack Antonoff. It is a pop rock and synth-pop song driven by a 1980s-inspired drum loop generated with a LinnDrum and retro synthesizers such as the Juno 6 and the Prophet 5. Inspired by Swift’s insecurities, the lyrics focus on self-loathing and the impact of fame on her wellbeing; the bridge narrates a nightmare where her daughter-in-law murders her for her last will. Republic Records released the song for download and streaming on October 21, 2022.

yet again something I was totally unaware of: According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, it was the ninth-most-streamed song of 2023 worldwide.

Bob’s notes

In the past, the venerable Old Fellas podcast has occasionally focused on a special theme like Christmas or Canada Day.  But never have we zoomed in to celebrate one artist.  Except for now. Welcome to the Old Fellas Taylor Swift Era.!  To begin I was inspired to make my own Taylor Swift friendship bracelet. Lacking proper materials, I made one out of No Name Penne Rigati and decorated it with a sharpie.

Taylor Swift –  “State of Grace” –   Red (Taylor’s Version)

Due to publishing disputes Swift decided to rerecord some of her earlier albums to regain control of her material. I chose two tracks off this album for the podcast.  First up is the one song by Swift that I can sing along with by heart.

Of course Swifties spent countless hours and blogs comparing the two versions.  Kelsei breaks it down for us: 

Taylor Swift – Nothing New” – Red (Taylors Version)

The second selection from Red (Taylor’s Version ) features Phoebe Bridgers. Both ladies have a mutual admiration society and finally got to work together. Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed it as a song you need to know. 

Judge for yourself 

Taylor  Swift – “The Last Great American Dynasty” – Folklore

“The Last Great American Dynasty” is a song about the life of the American socialite Rebekah Harkness, who once lived in Swift’s Rhode Island mansion. 

This is one of Swift’s many collaborations with Aaron Dessner of the band The National. 

It’s time to talk about The Squad. For year’s the media have referred to Taylor’s pals as “The Squad”.  Members have included:

  Blake Lively       Cara Delevingne      Ed Sheeran      Ellie Goulding      Karlie Kloss     Selena Gomez     Gigi Hadid     HAIM (Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim)    Lorde    Lena Dunham     Jack Antonoff

   Jennifer Lawrence   Emma Stone    Serena Williams    Dakota Johnson    Sienna Miller  Nicki Minaj  Bob Kennedy (pending)  Paul McGuire ( pending)

  

Taylor Swift – Snow on the Beach” feat. More Lana Del Rey -Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition)

Although not included in the list above, Lana Del Ray gains admission to the squad based on her wonderful contribution to “Snow on the Beach”. Del Ray, Swift and Jack Antonof cowrote a song  about two people falling in love with each other simultaneously. Taylor’s F-bombs in the song are even amazing!  

Small Role On Taylor Swift’s ‘Snow On the Beach’

By Aimée LutkinPublished: Feb 25, 2023 3:02 PM EST

Taylor Swift’s 2022 album Midnights featured quite a few guest musicians, including artist Lana Del Rey on Swift’s track “Snow on the Beach.” But her vocals are largely just in the background of the song, though she is credited as a featured artist.

Del Rey co-wrote the song with Swift and producer Jack Antonoff, and in a recent interview with Billboard she said she was asked to sing a verse, but had “no idea” she was “the only feature.”

“Had I known, I would have sung the entire second verse like she wanted,” Del Rey explained. “My job as a feature on a big artist’s album is to make sure I help add to the production of the song, so I was more focused on the production.”

But the singer “really liked” how the song sounded in the end, and insisted that Swift was “very adamant that she wanted me to be on the album.”

Haim – “Gasoline” (feat. Taylor Swift)- Women in Music Part 3

All three Haim sisters are charter members of The Squad. They have been performing together and releasing music since 2012.  I am more familiar with them from their wonderful performances in Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie Licorice Pizza.

Due to COVID the Women in Music Part 3 album was constantly delayed. One of the tracks “Gasoline” was eventually  included as one of two bonus tracks of the album’s expanded edition. The remix was released as a single in February 2021, by. It marks Haim’s second collaboration with Swift, following “No Body, No Crime” on Swift’s Evermore.

If you can’t be at the Rogers Centre this weekend enjoy this!