Pop music stars clash! Pet Shop Boys’ charismatic singer Neil Tennant threw shade at Taylor Swift. Neil Tennant has been discussing pop music, and during the aforementioned panel in London this Monday, April 22, 2024, he shared his insights on Taylor Swift’s work.
Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys claims Taylor Swift doesn’t have any famous songs:
“Taylor Swift sort of fascinates me as a phenomenon because she’s so popular, and I sort of quite like the whole thing, but then when I listen to the records … for a phenomenon as big as she… PIC.TWITTER.COM/MTLK1ZBYT6
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) APRIL 25, 2024
Tennant and Swift are giants of the music scene. Tennant founded Pet Shop Boys with Chris Lowe in the 80s, releasing the decade’s most famous hits, “West End Girls,” and effectively redesigning pop music forever. Swift, on the other hand, has been the master of storytelling and uplifting melodies from the get-go, from gracing the charts to others. In 2023, she published The Tortured Poets Department, an album that shattered records.
Finally, while acknowledging Swift’s popularity, Tennant expressed skepticism. He stated that:
Swift is a “fascinating phenomenon” to him, in that he enjoyed the “whole thing,” but asked where was a “signature song,” a cultural landmark as significant as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean?” Thus, Tennant even argued that “it’s totally nonsense saying “Shake It Down” is [Swift’s] “Billie Jean” is.”
Tennant didn’t buy counters like “Shake It Off.” As he put it,
“It’s a dope song, I mean, it’s catchy, but it’s not ‘Billie Jean’” . Nonetheless, there were a few compliments in the statement. “Know what?” he said, “she’s a pretty good singer , and whoever’s making her Ohs and ahs it does it right. But the tunes wouldn’t stand up 20 years ago.”
Nevertheless, Tennant argues that Swift’s appeal is all-encompassing. “It’s the experience she creates,” he postulated. Tennant recalled Pet Shop Boys citing society’s irrepressible desire for unified moments in a feature interview , as it was incredible how we have now lived through the pandemic and continuous isolation. Her music attracts fans of all ages, “but I find the music itself lacking” .
It is also critical to remember that this is all Tennant’s individual opinion. He noted that he really admired Swift’s voice and the excellent quality of the tracks. Nevertheless, he had a couple of musical notes. “Her melodies are almost restless,” he noted. sequentiera: Such tracks mix up the usual blocks but do not excel in complexity. Tennant noted that it is excellent that Swift’s music attracts fans of all ages, but I want more music from it.
Tennant speculated whether Swift’s music might be so well-received because people wanted to have something in common. He talked in a previous episode with Lowe about the way music nowadays is experienced, and the type of personal connection the artists need to establish with their listeners.
So, does Taylor Swift have her “Billie Jean” ? Tennant agreed that this is “the Holy Grail of pop music podcasts”. What do you think? What does your list look like? Let us know in the comments! Let’s discuss!
