Applying heavy academic terminology to a bubblegum pop anthem feels less like a scholarly breakthrough and more like an elaborate exercise in over-intellectualizing the mundane. It’s a classic case of using high-brow jargon to grant unearned gravitas to a song designed for radio play, not the lecture hall.
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Superficial Celebrity Criticism in Shake It Off
Added:Welcome to The Swifty and the Scholar, the podcast where we examine the lyrics, lore, and literary legacy of Taylor Swift. I am Angela McDow, the Swifty.
>> And I am Dr. Jerry Coats, the scholar.
>> How you doing, Uncle Jerry?
>> I just opened up a brand new Diet Coke.
It's good.
>> Call us Diet Coke.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, speaking of people who called >> Yes.
>> We got a fun package in the mail today.
Let's see if we can hold this up. It's kind of heavy. Um, you may remember a couple of weeks ago, Uncle Jerry talking about how he went to the um opening of a of the of the Waterburger opening of the local Waterburger.
>> That's right.
>> Waterburger saw you with your foam finger and they said, "Hey, we want to send you something." I have not opened this yet.
>> I'm excited.
>> Chase opened it in front of me. Like I was sitting on this side so I could only see like the lid and he was like, "That's cute." And then closed it. So, I don't know what's in here. You want to open?
>> All right. Shall I open? You want to open?
>> No, you go for it.
>> Okay.
>> It's a really cute box, though.
>> It's a cute box.
>> Oh my gosh. Ketchup.
>> All right. We've got spicy ketchup from Waterburger. They're known for their spicy ketchup.
>> Yeah. This the best ketchup. This is what we use, actually.
>> Oh, is that right?
>> Yeah, it's cuz they sell it at the stores.
>> Uh-oh. And >> oh my gosh, there is so much. Some koozies. Also, ketchup koozies.
>> Very nice.
>> Oh my goodness. A little a little a little pouch. Some sunglasses.
A little lanyard.
>> Good. I'm I'm liking these.
>> Yeah, those are perfect. That's your color.
>> Yeah. You think? Oh, socks.
>> Hamburger socks. Cheeseburger socks.
>> And oh, and a cute little bottle.
>> This is so fun.
>> Wow. Thank you, Waterburger.
>> Thanks, Waterburger. This is exciting.
>> Yeah.
>> From your friends at Waterburger.
>> Well, from your friends at Water Oh, we have friends at Waterburg.
>> Friends at Waterburger.
>> No, I don't want those to get scratched.
>> Okay, that's super cute. Thank you, Waterburger. I will be eating that ketchup immediately.
>> That's fun.
>> Okay, another fun moment for today. I think you're you're you're you have a weird energy today because I think you feel weird about the song that >> I do feel it's it's been it plagued me the last two days. I mean I started working on it um you you guys know we we record and then she edits and posts. But um so yeah, I' I've been working on it for nearly two days and I had to just abandon it and move to the other song that you sent me. Um because that one made sense.
Um yeah, this one bothered me. I mean, not bothered me. This one engaged my academic sensibilities to a high degree.
>> Okay. Well, I don't think any of us were expecting you to say that about Shake It Off.
Um, just in case you're new here or you know don't know this, this was the one song when I pitched this podcast to Uncle Jerry, um, Shake It Off was the one song that he knew as a Taylor Swift song. And he was like, "Well, that girl clearly only writes the glitteriest of gel pen songs that have no depth and no meaning."
>> That was the only song I knew. Yes, that was it.
>> So, what are you talking about doing a podcast with me about this, Angela?
And so I figured it was time for us to look at it more depth. Um, I need you to hold those papers up and show people how thick this is. These are Uncle Jerry.
>> These are my notes from the last two days. It's about 35 pages. And I'm going to read them all slowly.
>> Um, yeah. So before we get into those notes, this is Shake It Off. This is from the album 1989 from the year 2014.
This is a Taylor, Max Martin, and Shellback classic.
>> Oh, Shellback.
>> Yeah. Um, this song went everywhere, which is why you knew it. Why you >> Wait a minute.
>> Like, you you can't not know this song.
I think it spent like four weeks at number one, >> right?
>> People think of Taylor Swift like, you know, a decade ago and you think Shake It Off.
>> Um, obviously not one of my favorites, not one of anybody's favorites probably.
>> What? But when it when she plays it live, when it comes on the radio, >> everybody go crazy.
>> I'm dancing. Everyone's dancing. We're all screaming. This also has a like spoken interlude, and I know you've said before that you hate that.
>> It's It's weird. Yeah.
>> And I kind of agree, but it is my favorite part of this song.
>> Okay.
>> Um, so yeah, let take it away. This feels like I thought it was going to be a quick one, but this feels like it might take a while. So yeah, you know, uh first of all, thanks um because I um I I told Angela when when she got here today, um that while I was going through this, it was it made me go crazy because every line I was singing to myself. I mean, you guys, I mean, you don't know what it's like. I don't know that I don't think you know what it's like to read it as a poem and to analyze it for its literary elements. Um, you know, so I read these things and sometimes I'll say something and and and you'll say, "Oh, no, that's not it at all." Or, "Oh, no. I felt I felt this way when I listened to that song and I've never heard it."
>> You know, like I >> Yeah, you're having a different experience than the rest of us. And and although I sit and I read these things literally a hundred times, I mean maybe more with this one, I I read it more. Um although I do that, I've never heard I've never lived with the song. Right.
>> Right. So this is a 12-year-old song, you know. Um I've actually lived with this song. And so while I was reading it, every one of these lyrics was in my head. It's like, okay, first line, I stay out too I stay out too late and it's in my head, right?
>> So, it's a good call to like have you not listened to the song before we do these episodes. Otherwise, you probably would have quit already a while ago, >> maybe. So, yeah. You know, I mean, the thing the thing for me is I've never heard I've never lived with it. you guys who have lived with it and you have you have listened to it over and over again and you have had personal experiences, things that happened to you in your lives. Yeah. You know, things where oh, this song helped me through my, you know, my crisis, my COVID infection, my divorce, my the loss of, you know, of a relative. And all those are very poignant moments in your lives. And Taylor brings her music to you and you live with them and it helps ameliorate your suffering.
>> Correct.
>> And yes, I just used the word ameliorate, but I don't know. Um, for me, I don't have that experience, right?
>> Except here, and it nearly drove me crazy.
>> Um, >> okay. So, >> not a little.
>> Can I Okay, so I have to tell you a story. when I was uh working at the college uh you know we have an administrative suite of offices and the four deans are kind of all in a row. I was a dean of liberal arts and uh and so I had, you know, I had an administrative assistant in an outer office and then I had, you know, an office with all kinds of books and junk in it. And um I was known as the fun dean.
There there was the mean dean, by the way. Uh but um and so every Friday afternoon I had dance hall.
>> Okay. Different than study hall >> instead of study hall. Yes. Um, my speakers went out on my computer and so the, you know, the the college gives you a budget you get to buy. And so I'm looking on what to order and I looked on Office Depot and by golly, they had these like Altic Lancing big speakers with a boom box and stuff.
>> Oh no.
>> And it was under budget so I bought it.
And um and so every Friday afternoon about 4:40 or so, I put on music.
>> Okay.
>> And it was it was celebratory music for the coming weekend.
>> Uhhuh.
>> And then I would step out into the hall and I would challenge the other deans to a danceoff.
>> Oh no.
>> One of the deans always just shut her door, but the other deans would come out and play along. And I mean, we had administrative assistants. The people in the budget office downstairs always said they could hear the music >> and the stomping on the ground.
>> That's right. So, guess what? One of the songs was I would play >> Definitely Shake It Off.
>> Shake it off. Yes. So, I would play this song, you know. I mean, I had a a whole mix of stuff I would rotate in.
Sometimes it was Sometimes it was Hank Williams. Sometimes it was Eminem. Love Eminem. Um, sometimes it was Lady Gaga.
sometimes shake it off. Um, but yeah, so this is the only Taylor Swift song I have lived with.
>> Do you remember your dance moves for Shake It Off?
>> I'm not not No, mostly we just sat around or stood around in the hall and talked about students.
>> Of course, >> occasionally teachers, >> the gossip.
>> That's right.
>> That's right.
>> Important.
>> Okay. Having said all that, >> shall shall we talk about >> Yes. I Well, I should say that this is t this 1989 was when Taylor fully switched to pop music and this is like her first pure pop album and this was the lead single from that. So, she like really came out swinging with like this is different. This is a different vibe for me, right?
>> Um and her record label was like you can't do this and she was like watch me, you know, and then of course it went to number one. But um that's kind of all I wanted to say that this was this was really kind of like a marked shift in Taylor's career at this point.
>> Well, so I you know I really did want to start off with a question. Um obviously it's from the 1989 album which is her birth year.
>> Yes.
>> As you have told me.
>> Yes.
>> Um so is she I mean does she choose that intentionally? Is it is it like a rebirth for her?
>> I mean maybe. I think it could be. Yeah.
>> And I think Yeah. And I think she wanted to this song I don't think really fits, but a few of the songs on the album really kind of um tackle or kind of use as inspiration like that late8s like synth pop I think. And so I think it could be like hey this is a new me a rebirth. This is a new sound that I want to tackle that's like from around when I was born type thing. So yeah, I think so.
>> That's you know, I mean, it kind of fits because it's different from I mean, you know, you played me in one of her earlier works that's more country.
>> Um, >> it fits because it is different. Yeah.
>> And it marks a departure for her career.
>> Um, okay. It is it's a type of poem.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. It it is a catalog poem.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. Uh, sometimes they're called list poems. And uh you know I love to throw these literary terms at you and so I it's it's an homage to one of my professors Jerry Don Van Jay Don Van um who was my thesis director on my masters okay in English >> um he's a great Victorianist and you can look him up look up Don Van and he's got a number of publications >> um but he also taught a bibliography >> and I loved bibliography >> okay that sounds horribly boring >> what a surprise.
Um, and it's all about how books are made, you know, um, how they were historically manufactured, you know, what are the materials. We went and looked at different printing shops and printing presses and, >> um, but you also learn all those literary terms, right? So, we had a book, it was Thrall and Hibbert's introduction to literary terms. Um, it's way out of print now. Now, I use this one, the handbook to literature. This is the the 50th edition or the 50th anniversary edition of the Holman Harmon handbook. And it's got like every literary term you never wanted to know.
Okay.
>> In this book. Everything from abisadarial poetry to zugma. So you know that I'm not making these terms up people. Um >> they're in the book.
>> They're in the book. And they I mean essentially they're the tools that writers use.
>> Yes.
>> Right. And so I mean I think it's important that people know about the tools. Also if you're interested in writing poetry, you know, if you want to write your own songs, um you know, I mentioned before you can write the apology poem, the I'm sorry poem where you apologize to something. This is a great practice poem. Yeah. To make a catalog poem.
>> Okay.
>> So a catalog poem is just sort of a list of stuff.
>> And I even I have some examples.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. So this is Christina Rosetti.
>> Okay. Um, one of her most famous poem is Goblin Market.
>> Oh, >> and it's Yeah, it it it is greatness.
But it starts off with a list, right? It says, "Morning and evening maids heard, the goblins cry. Come by our orchard fruits. Come by, come by. Apples and quinces, lemons and oranges, plump unpecked cherries, melons and raspberries, boom down cheicked peaches, swart I love the word swartheaded mulberries, wild freeborn cranberries, crab apples. It's a list, right? It's kind of fun.
>> Um there's here's one of my favorites.
Um and if you don't know this woman, you need to look her up. Um, Alice Dur Miller.
>> Okay.
>> It was a journalist, poet, novelist. She actually wrote a a short poetic novel called The White Cliffs that was turned into a movie called The White Cliffs of Dover.
>> Oh, that sounds familiar.
>> Yeah, it's She's really really funny and sarcastic and ironic. And this is her poem, Why We Oppose Pockets for Women.
>> Incredible. Still relevant. I don't know when this was written, but >> well, she died in 1942.
>> Okay, so still relevant.
>> And this is prior to suffrage, right?
This is prior to the 19th amendment >> where women won the right to vote. I'm not going to say where women were given the right to vote. Um they >> took back that right.
>> Clearly had to take it, right? Um and essentially she's making a joke about how women don't have pockets and men do, but it's really about voting.
Incredible.
>> Isn't that fun?
>> Yeah.
>> So, it goes number one because pockets are not a natural right.
>> Oh my gosh.
>> Number two, because the great majority of women do not want pockets. If they did, they would have them.
>> Oh my gosh.
>> Number three, because whenever women have had pockets, they have not used them. And it goes on and on. And it's absolutely That's hilarious.
>> It's hilarious. She's she's hysterical.
>> That's funny.
>> Yeah. Oh, you know, she had this great sense of wit. And >> what's her name again?
>> Um, it's Alice Miller.
>> Alice Miller.
>> Yeah. Alice Dur Miller.
>> Okay. I love that.
>> So, yeah, it's kind of fun. Um, okay. I have to give you one more because um this is Lawrence Ferlingetti and um this is my copy of the Coney Island of the Mind.
>> I was going to say you you had you you met him. I remember this story.
>> Lawrence Ferlingetti signed it for me.
Yeah.
>> Thank you, Larry. And this is one of my favorite poems. It is. I am waiting. I am waiting for my case to come up. And I am waiting for a rebirth of wonder. And I'm waiting for someone to really discover America and whale. And I'm waiting for the discovery of a new symbolic western frontier. And I'm waiting for the American eagle to really spread its wings and straighten up and fly right. I know it goes on and on.
It's five pages long. And um I am waiting is just a a a brilliant um work of poetry. So, uh, yeah, try it out. You know, make a catalog poem.
>> Uh, that that's today's poetry corner.
>> I like it. Yeah.
>> Thank you very much. See you guys.
>> It's funny whenever these like these songs fit into a specific I don't know why that like tickles me every time you're like, "This is a blank poem." I'm like, "Oh, that's >> like a concrete poem." Yeah. Um, I mean, it is it's fun, you know. So, she's she makes a list. A matter of fact, she makes several lists as you guys clearly know because if I knew the song, you knew the song. Um, so the the list starts out with line one, I stay out too late, right? It's a list of things she does wrong according to critics. Number one, you again, Alist Alistister Miller would say, number one, she stays out too late. Number two, she's dumb. Got nothing on her brain. got nothing in my brain.
>> So, you know, I should point out immediately a lot of these are mono syllables, right? I stay out too late. Got nothing on in my brain.
>> Yeah, >> that's what people say. Mhm. So, in the first three lines, we only have two words that have more than one syllable.
>> Yeah.
>> So, why, you know, why mono syllabism?
I I mean I think because she's imitating the fact that people say she's >> just dumb.
>> Dumb. Just a dumb blonde. She's Hey, people say I'm dumb.
>> You also pointed that out on Blank Space.
>> Yes.
>> Which is also from 1989. Is also a pop song is also Max Martin and Shellback with Taylor.
>> And and at the end I I think I list Blank Space as one of the comparative poems for this one. Yeah. Okay.
>> Yeah, I think it is. Um, I also think this is an argument poem.
>> So, she's Yeah.
>> Yeah. She's into She's going to create an argument here. You know, she's going to say, "All right, here's what people say, and now here's what I say, and now here's what they say, and now here's how I feel about it, and now here's what you should think, right?" And so, it's not exactly what we call the toolman model.
>> Okay? Um, hey, I don't know if any of you learned the Tulleman model where you have to lay down a case and you have different principles that you follow.
So, it's not quite that, but it is a form of argument, which would be another type of poem. You can create an argument poem. She she's kind of blending the catalog poetry with the argumentation poem. Um, it is a technique of rhetoric.
>> Okay, I stay out too late. First of all, this involves characterization, >> right? She is introducing the public version of herself before revealing how she inside feels. This is, you know, this is their perspective. This is going to be my perspective.
>> Uhhuh.
>> Okay. It's also understatement. I mean, come on. Staying out too late is relatively ordinary, right? And she's making the criticism disproportionate to the rather ordinary practice of staying up late.
>> Gotcha. Yeah.
>> Right. And what it also does is it creates what we call an argument ethos.
Um you know there's pathos, ethos and I think dartion. No no those are musket those are musketeers. Um yeah these are these are things we use in argument.
Ethos is is a level of believability of credibility. And by using the first person you know she's saying you know I'm credible. this is going to involve the audience and this is going to involve me and this is going to be opposed to my critic's idea. So rather than stepping out and saying I don't stay out too late, >> she says I stay out too late. You know that's what they're >> kind of internalized it.
>> Yeah. And she flips the argumentative value by not saying I don't stay out too late. I'm really smart. I mean come on.
The second someone says, "I'm really smart."
>> Yeah.
>> No.
>> No. You shouldn't have to say that.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. So, uh, got nothing in my brain.
Self-parody. You know, she's she's so she's taking the argument. She's exaggerating. She's inflating it so that it becomes humorous, >> which if it's inflated, it's a hyperbolic claim, >> right?
>> It's also ironic. So the the lyric itself demonstrates a level of of wit that goes beyond the fact that she has no brain.
>> Uhhuh.
>> So she's proving she has a brain by saying she's got nothing in her brain.
>> Well, I love that.
>> Um I also like to use the word nothing.
You know, >> me too.
>> Colloquial, casual. It's like she's just kind of tossing it off.
>> It's the superficiality of celebrity criticism.
>> Okay. Yeah.
>> Okay. That's a good phrase.
>> So, this is what this is this is about the point the 83rd time I read through uh this is about the point that I started thinking this is a a larger more worthwhile subject than just this poem.
>> Okay. And that is um how does Taylor Swift establish and maintain celebrity?
>> Okay, >> we've talked a little bit about celebrity before, >> right? and and taken one way, this poem is about the reinforcement of celebrity imagery, >> you know, and and step by step, she's building a case for maintenance of celebrity, which made me step back and think, wait, so at what level are all of her poems, are all of her songs scaled, including her interviews and everything else, scaled towards maintaining and polishing an image of celebrity.
>> Yeah. Taylor Swift TM rather than Taylor Swift the human. Like >> Yes.
>> Yeah. Taylor Swift the brand.
>> Sure. I mean, we don't know Taylor Swift the human. I certainly don't.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, you know, you may think you do.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> But I I certainly don't, you know. Um, and so I want to talk a little bit about that maybe at the end.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. We're already to the third line.
>> We're moving right along.
>> That's what people say. Mhm.
Um, so the line the line shifts responsibility of from the speaker to the accuser.
>> Okay. So she starts out, I stay out too late. I've got nothing on my brain. And then she says, oh, that's not me talking. It's them.
>> Uhhuh.
>> Um, we're going to run into that that literary term anafa, you know, repetition, right? The repeating opening. it emphasized that's what people say it's going to be an you know emphasis of public opinion um it's also mutonomy people represents not just um critics but the broader public at large the gossip media the anonymous critics the people who write in Reddit >> um >> literally everyone >> everyone has an opinion >> you know can I just say >> this does seem to be everyone these days >> you know I'm still stunned by uh the amount of comments in Reddit you know, since we've been doing this.
Um, I mean, I never looked at it, honestly. I never looked at it. And, um, and I never look at it for when when I'm reading the poetry, but it pops up on my newsfeed stuff >> all the time. And it's always some comment about Taylor Swift here or Taylor Swift there or this song lyric and and you know, eight times out of 10 there are songs I've never even heard of because you you haven't shown them to me yet.
Um, it's kind of stunning.
>> Yeah, it really is. It's wild right now.
>> Um, and then there's >> Mhm.
>> Okay, that is an anamanopic vocalization.
>> Yes.
>> Right. Anamanopia, right?
>> I know this one.
>> You know that one? What is anamanopia?
>> It's like when a when a when when a when a >> I'll give you a moment.
>> It's like when a when a sound is a thing. It >> shall I frighten her now?
>> I think you should do that.
>> That's automatopia. The word boom.
>> Yeah. The sound is the word.
>> The sound mimics the word. So a crow's call is call, right? And it's a word, but it's also the sound. So mhm is is a word. It's kind of a non- lexical sound.
Um it you know it's it's rhythmical but it's also very dismissive.
>> Right. Right. Like >> Uhhuh.
>> Yeah. That's what people say. Mhm.
>> Yeah.
>> And this is where you know you're back inside my head because uh because I've seen the video like you know dozens of times like everybody else in the world apparently. And you know I see her head pop up and she goes mhm.
>> Yeah. I think she also like when she's performing it live I think she's like >> shaking her head or nodding her head I guess.
>> Yeah. So I mean essentially what she's doing with it is she's like drawing a demarcation line. She says okay you know here is here is the external narrative >> and then no yeah here is my own identity.
But is it is it really her identity or is an identity that she is shaping for us consumers in the context of this poem?
>> Interesting.
>> See, that's what makes this really interesting stuff.
>> Yeah.
>> Cuz we really don't know her identity, >> right?
>> Right. I mean, maybe Travis does.
>> Yeah.
>> I would hope so.
I should also say that um nothing to do with this episode, but um >> I saw a lot of people like cuz everyone chimed in about the wedding and has opinions about the wedding and then a lot and the Adam Sandler um >> as the officient and people are like Adam Sandler isn't even like a an actual officient. This isn't even a real wedding. And I would be like, well, actually, as someone who has background knowledge of these things, you can get a one-day efficient like pass, basically a license, which is what you did.
>> It's exactly what I did.
>> So, maybe you and Adam Sandler have that in common now.
>> You know, the state of New York has has vested in us the power to, you know, officiate. I don't know.
>> So, I just wanted to say that you and you and Adam Sandler have something in common.
>> Something in common.
>> Yeah. And we both like basketball.
>> Yeah. So there you go.
>> Well, that's what people say.
>> Yeah.
>> So she repeats the same line over, right?
>> Um Okay. Now, here is today's You thought um that making a list poem or a catalog poem was today's literary term, but no.
>> Okay.
>> Today's literary term is epizus.
>> Oh, >> I think you said this one before.
Epizus. Exukus is immediate repetition.
Okay?
>> So it you know by So why does she do that? Why does she immediately repeat exactly the same line? Well, for emphasis, right? She is reinforcing that relentless and wrongheaded view of her critics.
>> It's also really this nice rhythmic device, >> right? So, you know, it's going to sound good in the context of the song. It also drove me crazy because I heard it over and over. But it's that in it it's also very circular. I mean, you think about it as representing the incessant unseasing um public commentary on the nature of her being.
>> Yes. They're always saying, they're always saying. They're always saying, >> right? Yeah.
>> It is the incessant cycle of public commentary.
>> Um it's also parallelism, right?
Identical structure.
Um, yeah, the repetition I think it also implies that that the criticism is monotonous, >> right?
>> I mean, for her after a while, surely it just becomes a bore.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. She Well, she said that, you know, like last year when she was on Travis and his brother's podcast, she said like at this point, like I'm not seeing it.
I'm not hearing it. You my name like none of it's my business. She said, "My name can be in a headline and it's still none of my business. Like I have no like it's not actually about me basically, right?" You know?
>> Yeah. No, her name appears just to sell a magazine.
>> Yeah. It's clicks and and and sales and and all of that, you know. She's like, "This actually has nothing to do with me." So, >> yeah. It just goes round and round and round and so you get the line the same line over and over.
>> Yeah.
>> I think that's what happens at the end as well, >> right? Yeah. Um, okay. You know, I go on too many dates. Haha.
Okay. Uh, it's hyperbolic. You know, too many. Um, that's a kind of subjective judgment, right? How many is too many?
>> Um, you know, I don't know how many boyfriends is too many. It's subjective.
It's not an objective fact, right?
>> You know, you don't know how many people she's dated or how often or how many times they go. Um, you know, it it contributes to that exaggerated media image of, and I'm going to use air quotes, Taylor Swift.
>> Right.
>> Right. So, here's the image of who Taylor Swift is. And and you even see that in the parenthetical laughter, >> right? She's like, "This is not serious criticism."
>> Right. It's like it's like a stage direction, right? It's like you're reading a play and this becomes like a stage direction and she just refuses to treat the criticism as if it's serious, >> right?
>> Um and for her throughout this song, humor is a rhetorical strategy.
>> Yes.
>> She's going to laugh at um these things that are essentially outside of her power. And by doing so, she reclaims the power of her narrative. And I like that.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Um, but I can't make them stay.
Okay. The coordinating con conjunction but, >> yes, >> introduces complexity into this little caricature.
>> So, she has lots of dates. However, um, you know, she's got a contrasting line, juxtaposed lines. You know, here I have lots of dates, but I can't keep any of them. It's kind of an emotional understatement. Um, it's narrative compression. She doesn't have to tell the whole story of every one of her dates. Right.
>> Right. And so it's it's actually very clever. I mean, you think about the nature of what what I mean when I say narrative compression. Um if she was going to go in and tell the whole story, >> right?
>> It would be a 10-minute song. And Lord knows we can't have that.
>> Never. Yeah. That's it's the same thing you were saying or a similar thing you were saying with like the economy of language. like we get we get the story in just those two lines.
>> Yes. It's the whole story. It it's right there >> pent up in that line.
>> Um you know it's it's a single conversational observation and we can just move on.
>> Yeah.
>> Um it also I think make light makes light of the criticism >> for sure. Yes.
>> At least that's what people say.
Okay. And so what we have is a kind of rhetorical shift here. Here she uses the phrase at least, you know, and literally may mean at the very least because she takes these as um as as qualified statements, >> right? Because the phrase at least is a qualifying statement where she introduces doubt into the statements of her critics, >> done with two whole pages now.
>> Look at us go.
>> That's what people say.
M um you know we've got circular structure. Um she's introduced kind of that motif of going back to the people say over and over again. It becomes a recurrent motif of external judgment, >> right?
>> Um and it's also you're going to like this phrase because I I typed it up and I have to use it. Cadential repetition >> like a cadence.
>> Yeah, it's a cadence bump. Right. Bump.
So it's troic um in terms of you know which one of these um you know rhythmic patterns troies I am zanipest dactyls um look them up in your home handbook um yeah but it's a type of cadence you know and the effect is that the the verse ends not with selfdefin but with other people's opinions making the shift in the speaker's own voice when she comes to I keep cruising feels significant.
>> Okay.
>> Right. So verse one ends with that's what they say.
>> Okay.
>> And now we are going to suspend the moment. We're going to go to the pre chorus and you're going to hear what I say and do.
>> Yeah.
>> Right.
>> Okay.
>> So she lays out the argument. Here's the argument.
>> Yeah. This is people's arguments against me. That's right.
>> And here's what I have to say.
>> And now here's my rebuttal.
>> Okay. I like that.
>> Yeah. It's fun. Uh yeah, I I think structurally the the poem is really fun.
Um I mean I liked it as a song for goodness sakes.
>> I mean it's a perfect pop song.
>> Yeah, >> cuz it's it's probably been in your head all >> all this the last few days.
>> 72 hours at this point.
>> Yeah, I know. I know. It's a perfect Friday afternoon dance hall for a bunch of very serious deans.
Um actually when when different teachers found out about and we had uh when when the students from the um honor society that I was one of the mentors for the honor society found out about they would come up and we would we have a snack cart.
>> Oh my gosh.
>> In my office, we would roll the snack cart out >> just eating and dancing and >> Yes. Yes. Well, it's fun. It sounds fun.
>> End of an academic week.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh pre chorus.
>> Yes.
But I keep cruising. Okay. Again, introduction of the uh coordinating conjunction, but um you know, clearly it's important for the pre chorus. We're going to signal the reversal of perspective.
>> So now they've had their say. Here's what I do about it. Here's what I have to say about it.
>> It is in fact a rhetorical turn. Um I'm trying to remember the literary device that describes it's a vulta.
>> This is a vulta and emot changes emotional directions from the passive reception to criticism to active preservation of her identity.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. Um, it also has for me what is a possible double on tandra and I'm really curious if she intended this or or how it works.
The use of the word cruising because when when a woman is cruising.
>> Oh, like looking for more boys.
>> She's looking for more boys.
>> Oh, that's fun.
>> Right. You know, I mean certainly it means moving, right? Right. And so moving movement will become a um a functional artifice for this poem. It'll become a symbol of her continuence in her life and her adventures in music.
>> Right.
>> Right.
>> And I wonder if Cruz if she's also echoing that line that she goes out on too many days.
>> That's a fun thought.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I I did wonder about it. Um it is it is ironic that uh you know that we pin we we make valuations of of people based on their gender or sexual preferences um and their sexual adventures >> you know um I mean you know what do you call a woman who is cruising oh she's a harlot or something worse >> you know what do you call a guy who's cruising he's a player >> or he's like just a guy.
>> Yeah. Or just to go, you know, and that's uh that's hardly a fair valuation, >> right?
>> Um you know what I was reminded of just now is uh you know Dion Dion and the Belellmonts, an old group.
>> No.
>> Oh yeah. They had a song um about a girl who um plays around. Gosh, I cannot remember the the title of it. What What was the >> Runaround Sue?
>> Ah, that's it. Thank you very much. She looked at Yeah. The song is Runar Around Sue.
>> Okay. That's terrible.
>> It's terrible, right? Yeah. You can't trust her. She goes out on one of the lines is she goes out on dates with other guys.
>> And yet that was a hit. So they wrote another song and the other song uses almost exactly the same melody and it's about a guy and it goes, "I'm the kind of guy who likes to play around >> and it's like positive."
>> It's positive. Yeah. Yeah, he's okay.
But run around Sue, you want to stay away from.
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah. So, I think that she has to feel some of that gender bias.
>> Yeah, for sure.
>> Inside this song.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, >> okay. You know, the the use of the word cruising is, I think, also part of an extended metaphor that's going to go.
Um, also it has to do with cars.
>> Yeah, that's what when you said cruising, I thought, "Oh my god, it's a car."
>> Yeah, it's a We're back to the cars. Um and it it extends this metaphor of the comparison uh the larger metaphorical idea of motion being emotional resilience uh you know pressing on with life and creative exploration that kind of thing.
>> You just made me think talking about the you know men get a pass and women get judged for the exact same activity on a a vault track from 1989. So we just got it like in 2023. So, it wasn't on the original 1989, but is on 1999 1989 Taylor's version is a song called >> Oh, really?
>> And in it, she says she's like talking to the guy and she says, um, I'll pay the price, you won't.
>> Yeah.
>> So, that is kind of like she is like, you know, she already has at this age like understood that, you know.
>> Yeah. We that's that's Dion's runaround Sue versus the wanderer.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Yeah. It's uh, you know, Unfortunately, I think it's a cultural valuation that um I'm not going to say women should or have to put up with. I think that, you know, this this type of expression is important.
>> Yeah.
>> Um Oh my, did I just say this song is important?
>> Uhoh.
>> Um next line, can't stop moving. So, it intensifies motion from the previous one.
>> Parallelism. Can't stop won't stop is kind of an anafallike repetition. It's also here's your second literary device for the day. Polyptoten.
Yes, I know. P O L Y P T O T O N.
Paliptoten is using the same word in slightly different grammatical context.
Can't stop. Won't stop. Okay.
>> Right. It highlights the inability and the refusal. So you see how they're two it's the same word but they're two different grammatic context.
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah. So she she's unable to stop doing what she does and she by her own valition and conscious decisionmaking won't >> she's not not interested in >> won't stop doing it. So the first one kind of suggests that the momentum of movement has taken over but the second one really makes it a deliberate choice.
Interesting.
>> Yeah. Yeah. And I like that too. Um, >> you know, and then motion itself is a symbol and I I said it's a symbol of emotional recovery. It's a symbol of adaptability. It's a symbol of resilience. It's a symbol of the refusal to dwell on criticism. She's going to move past all of that. So, yeah, the recovery is victory itself.
>> Right. Right.
Oh, it's like I got this music in my mind, which I I actually thought that was a lynch pin of a line for this poem.
>> So, agreed. Um, oh, several months ago, I asked people on Instagram and Tik Tok, what one lyric is like the thesis statement to Taylor Swift and to Taylor Swift's whole >> Yeah.
>> discoraphy. And there were several that came up and several that I had like three or four that I thought were that and then some some people commented like two or three different people commented that it would it might be it's like I got this music in my mind saying it's going to be all right and it's like you know what that might be it because all of her songs are just how she's dealing with literally everything that happens to her you know and so I think that could be that could be like the lynch pin not just to this song but like to Taylor's entire career.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I I liked it in the context of this of this poem a great deal. I think that it's, >> you know, I mean, you can say it's a simile. It's like it's as if I have this. I'm not sure it's a true simile because it's not comparing two dissimilar things.
>> Um, but certainly she says that she has something inside of her that impels her um to explore her creative self, >> right? And you know nothing is going to stop that you know so that music becomes for her a symbol of um self- appreciation. It becomes a symbol of joy um kind of internal creativity that you know that you can't stop >> um I think it's also it it's part of her artistic identity >> you know I mean it's who she is to say it's in my head.
>> Yes.
can't stop, won't stop moving. It's like I got music in my mind.
It's a metaphor for art. She is the artist. Um symbolizing self-expression, creativity itself, >> saying it's going to be all right. Um personification. The music is kind of personified as something capable of of speaking. We're we're at the end of the chorus and this is her argument at the end of the pre chorus. So, we get to the chorus and here comes the very famous, very controversial players got to play play.
Uh, I understand she had some legal difficulties on this.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Some guy said that.
Actually, I think there's been a couple of lawsuits about this song.
>> There have been. Yeah. I I did um look it up because I was interested.
>> Yeah. And there have been two different lawsuits from two different artists who say that >> that he um or he wrote the original lyric. Um you know both cases were dismissed um you know to say players going to play >> uh haters going to hate is are common expressions. Again this is a catalog poem >> so she's making a list.
>> Yeah. And she's saying like these like it's like this is it is common phrases on purpose kind of right.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. And uh you know again I think that she is you know maintaining that um monocyllism of tone because she's she's constantly poking humor at the fact that she's not aware of these things. Of course she is.
>> Right.
>> Um so these are also archetypes you know um large symbolic images you know the player. Okay >> the hater right? know their archetypal images. Um, it is also to say players got to play or haters got to hate is a tautological expression.
>> Okay.
>> You have lots of lots of big phrases for us.
>> I got big words for you. I got I'm real smart.
>> I didn't wasn't expecting any of this for shake it off.
>> So, you didn't expect me to to discuss tautology?
>> I didn't. No.
>> Ah, yes. Tautology. Taologgical expressions are when embedded in an expression are words that don't really need to be said.
>> Oh, okay.
>> It's like uh the expression free gift.
>> Okay. Okay.
>> If it's a gift, >> it's free.
>> Okay. Okay. Okay.
>> ATM machine.
>> Yes. Oh, I hate that one. Pin number.
The worst.
>> Yeah. I mean, it's like ATM. Well, the M means machine. All right. The automatic teller machine. Machine, right? That is tautological. You don't really need to say it. So you don't need to say players going to play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play play you just need to say there are players there are haters right um but so why does she engage in tautology so I can say the word >> yeah because it's fun >> I know cuz it's fun um it's also epizus so let's not forget but um >> a tutological expression where using epiz that is correct men.
So, yeah, I think that she is deliberately stating the obvious.
>> Right.
>> Right. And she's saying this should be so painfully apparent to anyone who cares or watches, but somehow or another, people still read this crap and care.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> And now, you know, 12 years later, it's worse than ever.
>> We're Yes. We're still doing it. Um, let's not forget her poetic chops. you know, players play nice alliteration.
>> Um, haters hate, >> parallelism, archetypes, epiz, >> you know, consonants. So, more alliteration. Um, all of that is poetically really fun. And it also is is a catalog of people who, you know, are going to say these things should be tautologically expuned from from the public conscious. But somehow all she has to do is just shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. Right.
>> You got a baby in there, too.
>> And a baby. Baby. I'm just going to shake shake shake shake shake. You know, I love the word baby in my poetry.
>> You loved it.
>> So shaking extends the uh the governing metaphor of motion.
>> Right.
>> Right. So motion leads to joy, self-expression, self- fulfillment, um you know, moving on, rationalization, internal rationalization. Um, so shaking is is synonymous with the cruising.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. It's it's nice. And she knows what she's doing.
>> She sure does, doesn't she?
>> What do you know?
I will shake it off. Um, so shaking it off is a metaphor, you know, like physically removing dust, water. Um, you know, it's deliberately essentially metaphorically releasing the emotional burden of all the criticism, >> right? Just going to >> Yeah.
>> release it and move along.
>> Yes. I'm just like some old dog who who is going to That's a dog. Um, it's it's also really kind of fun performative language, right? So, it's um kinetic imagery, >> you know, because the shaking itself is very kinetic.
>> Um >> that's a fun connection between this and last week's episode with State of Grace.
You were talking about the kinetic energy.
>> That's kinetic energy. Yeah. There's a really fun poem by uh Theodore Rethki.
Um I wake to sleep and take and take my waking slow. I learn by going where I have to go. And he says, "This shaking keeps me steady. I should know."
>> Oh, >> yeah. He uses the line, "The shaking keeps me."
>> That's That's nice. That's what this song is about.
>> It's It's all about it. Yeah. Yeah. It's It's ironic. It is counterintuitive.
It is paradoxical that shaking would keep her steady, >> but it does, right?
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah. That shaking keeps me steady. I should know. And then she goes on with the list. Heartbreaker is going to break break break. Okay. So, she's cataloging again. We've got players, haters, heartbreakers. Um, you know, don't forget Polyto. Um, she's there, too. Um, and then fakers got a fake fake fake fake fake. And this rounds out our list of four suspects, players, haters, heartbreakers, and fakers. So, they're all archetypal. Um, they're all images of the falsity um of of public criticism. And she says, "Baby, I'm just going to shake, shake, shake, shake, shake." So the repetition becomes this incremental repetition becomes a motif for her. She's going to shake it off. And that gets us to the end of the chorus.
>> Yeah. Did it.
>> So I made a a list. I I went back and I kind of rerounded up all the different literary devices.
you know, and it's it's really for a poem that is monoselabic and apparently very simple.
The functionality of the literary devices is really interesting. I mean, you got the extended metaphor, the shaking that symbolizes emotional release, resilience, self-determination.
Um, you've got the parallelism, the repeated lines suggesting that human behavior follows certain patterns that there's a circularity about all the ridiculous criticism. Um, epizukus, the immediate repetition of playing, hating, shaking, breaking, faking, right?
Creates a rhythmic energy, reinforces her key ideas. You got the archetypes of the big four, >> right? Right. The players, haters, heartbreakers, and fakers that are these universal social types that she says, you know, these aren't people.
>> Right. Right.
>> These are not your friends. These are these are not people I grew up with.
These this is not you or me. This is not someone in our family or someone you know. These are, you know, who knows who who are anonymously posting on Reddit.
>> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
>> Yeah. Um you've got cataloging of all the archetypes. You got the refrain, all the sound devices with alliteration, consonants, rhythmic repetition, making the chorus memorable and movement really, really fun.
>> Okay, I have a question for these people. I need you to tell me in the comments if you thought that Uncle Jerry was going to find all of this stuff and shake it off because I did not. This is shocking to me.
It really is. Not not because I doubt you. I just doubted the song.
>> Okay. So, you know, it is interesting that that we the song appears simple.
>> Right.
>> Right. But as you pointed out, it was like four weeks at number one and and Yeah. I mean, I I looked it up. Um it's like number one in in 30 different nations.
>> Yeah. So many countries. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
>> And 10 10 million downloads in America.
And I mean it's like um 10 times platinum and multiple gold. And and the Aussies love it, you know. I don't know.
Um yeah, it's there are reasons why these things are good and and a part of it is the rhetoric of the song.
>> Interesting. Yeah.
>> Yeah. And I I really do believe that. I think that that embedded in the upscale music and the fun video and the alluring um imagery that you see inside the video, which by the way is visual rhetoric.
>> Yes. Yeah.
>> You know, are are a number of rhetorical devices that simply please our mind.
>> Yeah.
>> You know, I mean, if you think about it, rhetoric is all about about how we perceive things. You know, in the words create perceptions in our brain, >> right?
>> You know, and really good rhetoric does a good job of of pleasing our brains.
>> Interesting.
>> Yeah. And so this has really good rhetorical elements.
>> I feel like people are skipping this episode because they're like that what are they even going to talk about, >> you know?
>> And you shouldn't tell your friends.
Listen to it.
>> Skip it.
>> I mean, you should never miss a beat.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly >> what I'm saying.
>> Cuz we are lightning on our feet.
>> That is correct.
Um Oh, that's the next line.
>> Verse two.
>> Yes.
>> Are you ready?
>> Yeah.
>> I never miss a beat.
Um okay. The second verse opens with a declaration of confidence. Right. She has laid out the argument of others. She has laid out her rebuttal, her refusal to accept it. And she has characterized them in one of four arctypal areas where they all sucky.
>> Yeah.
>> And now she's going to say, "I never miss a beat." Right. She she has confidence. It contrasts with the insecurity of the criticism in the first verse.
>> Right.
>> Um it is an idiom, you know, to never miss a beat. You know, literally means to be composed, um to be adaptable under pressure. Uh for her, it's a double entandra. Right.
>> Right. She never misses a beat because she is composed and adaptable under pressure, but also she's a musician.
Right. And she's saying, "I'm a consumate musician. I don't miss a beat."
>> Right. So, uh, I think it's kind of fun.
Me, >> too.
>> There's also a little foreshadowing, you know, because we're going to keep dancing.
>> Um, I'm lightning on my feet. Okay. So, so I made a note compared to feet in Marjorie. Feet on the ground. In Marjorie, right, the feet were you couldn't touch. And in Peter, she hoped someday his feet would be on the ground.
>> Yes. Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes. Coming to the ground, >> but they're not. And then in Opalite, >> they're dancing through the lightning lightning strikes. Yeah.
>> And I knew I knew you. She's memorizing the sound of bare footsteps.
>> Oh, that's right. Bear footsteps running wild.
>> Oh, so clearly Taylor Swift has a foot fetish problem.
>> This is actually a thing that people think.
>> Oh, no. Really?
Well, I'm glad we came upon it, though.
>> Only just because like in like her first album like on the CD, you know, back when we I know. I was I was like ready I was ready for you to say that after. I was like, he's going to say it. He's going to try to make a joke, but I'm gonna She had a picture like of her feet on the like her feet were the picture on the CD and they're just always like she her feet she's always barefoot in pictures and she's always showing off her feet and people it I don't think people actually think it but it's like a joke that Taylor has something weird with feet.
>> Yeah.
>> And um I'm glad you picked up on that.
>> Yeah. So now we have to add uh add to the list of of haters, liars, fakers, and foot fetish people.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
Gosh.
Okay. It's a metaphor.
>> Yes.
>> Gotcha.
>> Comparing lightning to having exceptional speed, ability, vitality, right? It's hyperbolic. It's also kinetic imagery, >> right?
>> And alliteration. And maybe it has to do with a foot fetish. I'm not sure.
>> Hopefully not. And that's what they don't see.
Okay. So, now we've got contrasting lines. Yeah. That's what people say, but now it's this is what they don't see.
>> Yeah. They're saying it because they don't see the real meaning.
>> They don't see it. Yeah. So, she's she's constructing this compare contrast or contrasting imagery. Essentially, she's setting it up an us versus them because we see it >> or it's a me versus them, >> right? she sees it or it's a reality versus perception kind of thing, right?
You know, this is their perception, but here is the reality.
>> Yeah. She's saying this is who Taylor Swift is at home versus Taylor Swift the brave.
>> That's right. At home, I bet she just has her feet up, you know, give her a break. Um, that's what they don't see.
Epizus, she's repeating parallelism.
It's got that motif of repetition. Um, you know, so you know, one thing to say about repetition that I hadn't mentioned is the more times rhetorically the more times you say a thing, the more acceptable it becomes to people.
>> Um, >> interesting.
>> Yeah. And I think it works in this song.
It can also be a little scary.
>> Okay.
>> Right. Because politicians will use the same catchphrase over and over and over again. And despite all evidence to the contrary, >> yeah, keep keep saying it.
>> They keep saying it and people will begin to believe it because they hear it over and over again. But but it does work uh episodically.
>> I'm dancing on my own. Okay. Um dance, you know, takes goes back to that central image of motion, right? She's she's shaking, she's dancing, she's moving, she's cruising. Um, you know, dancing is also an artistic expression, >> right?
>> Um, and notice that she says, "On my own," which is interesting. She's declaring her being single.
>> Maybe she really is cruising.
>> Um, so it adds to that extended metaphor.
U, I was interested in the phrase on my own because it felt ambiguous.
Literally, she's dancing without a partner. But figuratively, she's choosing her own path regardless of other people's opinions.
>> Okay.
>> Right. And I think that she does intend it both directions. Yeah. She's saying, "I'm following my own >> um you know, my own inspiration, my own artistic creativity, you know, and she's she's also saying I'm doing it despite and without the help of what the critics have to say or offer."
>> Yeah, that's a nice thought. She's like, I'm doing what I got to do, so come with me or not.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, I make the moves up as I go.
This may be one of her philosophies of life, you know. Um, extending the idea of dance. Uh, I think that improvisation here is symbolic. It It's about adaptability. It's about confidence.
It's about self- authorship, >> right? You know, I'm creating my own work and I'm creating my own public persona. you know, I want that creative freedom. Thank you. I don't need your input.
>> Right. Exactly. Yeah.
>> Right. Um and that's what they don't know. Mhm.
Yeah.
Um you know, it's a kind of progression.
So in verse one, she says that's what people say. Early in verse two, she says that's what they don't see.
>> And now here, she says that's what they don't know.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. And so the the internal integrity of the poem is constructed at a sophisticated level.
>> Interesting. Yeah.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean that's very intentional to have that progression of these three lines and I don't think you should miss that. You know I don't it the three lines sound simple. You know that's what people say that that's what they don't see and that's what they don't know. But um but they're not simple.
>> Yeah. But taken in the in the verse they all that tells a real story, >> right?
>> Yeah.
>> So we get to the last line. That's what they don't know. So she's underscoring, reiterating, creating that circularity that we saw in in the previous area, that cad that credential closure.
>> Um I I don't know. I just uh I I really like it a lot. And I I liked it so much I I wrote a little paragraph.
>> Okay, let's hear it. verse two's contribution to the song.
>> Okay.
>> Um I think it transforms the song from a simple rejection of criticism into a a mediation of the limits of public criticism.
All right. Because she's really I mean she's asking this question making a case for herself.
>> Yes. But is she not also asking these questions and making a case for every other celebrity or every other person or you in the context of your life, >> right? Any anyone we don't really know >> anyone, right?
>> You know, we know our friends probably, but like anybody like at work, we don't know what those people are like actually going through. We don't know what their actual motivations are, >> right? you know, and and I have to say that I, you know, I will use myself as an example when, you know, 19 years ago, 20 years ago now, when I became a dean and I I moved from professorial ranks into being a dean into administration, you know, I still had dozens of friends >> who were professors and yet, you know, and and in in the closest cases, their perception of me didn't change a bit, Right.
>> But some of them did change in their perception of me based on my being an administrator.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, you know, it it it's hard to walk around the corner into a dining room and hear someone talking about Dr. >> Coats. Yeah.
>> In a most projorative way because of a decision that I made that may or may not have affected their life at that time.
And that's a hard thing. I mean, I would I would wish that they would trust me and know that I'm making the best decision possible, but >> Yeah. But you're not on the same team anymore. Really?
>> No.
>> Yeah. No. And I am I am subject to that criticism. So essentially in verse two, rather than simply dismissing her critics, she suggests that they are fundamentally incapable of seeing the qualities that matter most. Resilience, creativity, adaptability, uh explorations and expressions of joy.
>> You know, here's what I'm trying to do.
I'm just I'm just trying to make things adaptable, joyful. I'm just trying to explore my own self-expression and you gotta go cast shade on me. You know, why you gotta do that?
>> Um, I think that the recurring imagery of the dance extends that um that metaphor of self authorship. She not only wants to maintain authorship of her own music, but authorship of her own self-image.
>> Yeah.
>> Right.
>> Yeah. And choosing dancing now that you're saying all this is funny. Like this this song is like I think she's talking about just dancing, shaking it off. That's the motion that we're that we're feeling that we're seeing. And at this time, I mean, still to this day, but at this time especially, people were always making fun of how bad of a dancer she was.
>> Oh, is that right?
>> Yes. Like that was like a huge thing is like this girl is a terrible dancer.
She's not a good performer. Like I don't understand why anyone pays to go to those concerts cuz she's a horrible like she just looks so awkward up there. And so it's funny to like use dance in a >> Oh, that is funny.
>> In a way to be like, well, y'all can say whatever you want, but I'm gonna stay over here like looking like a dork and I'm gonna have fun with it, you know?
>> Yeah.
You know, I I hate to be selfdeprecating, but you know, when I was in the musical um Hairspray, I played Edna. And um um one one of the dance teachers did the choreography for it >> and um I I actually I sing fairly well.
Um dancing is not my forte.
>> And so in the big final number, I'm supposed to dance and sing. And uh at one point during rehearsal, she said, "Um, Jerry, if you'll just move your arms, it will look like you're dancing."
>> So, Taylor, you and I have something in common. Barely, >> but you're doing it in heels. Yeah, she does it in heels.
>> I know. It's It's That's difficult.
>> Okay, back to the second part. So yeah, I think the second verse is really important for us. Um I think that what she's doing is she's claiming an authentic identity inside of self-expression despite external judgment.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. She says, you know, those people external to my life, external to your life. Um you know, and I'm just trying to make music here and I'm not missing a beat.
>> Yeah.
>> Um and then we get to the pre chorus, the chorus, the post chorus. And to be honest with you, it's more of the same.
Yeah, >> it is um repetition. She's underscoring her ideas. Uh so really it's it's nothing that we haven't already seen.
>> The only changes from in the first pre chorus is can't stop, won't stop, move, and the second pre chorus is can't stop, won't stop, grooving.
>> Yeah, grooving is good.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh then we got to the interlude.
>> Yes. Hey, hey, hey, >> hey, hey, hey. Uh the interlude begins with an attention getting exclamation.
And I'm reminded of the very first word of ba wolf in Anglo-Saxon hat which essentially means no one quite knows how it translates way.
Um but means um hey or listen. It's usually translated listen something like that. Yeah. Um so she starts out hey um she's she's going to create an apostrophe. An apostrophe is a direct address of someone who is not present.
>> Yes.
>> Right. So she is um yelling hey trying to get the audience's attention. Um remember this is an oral performance. Um so she's going to say just think while you've been getting down and out about the liars and the dirty dirty cheats of the world.
You could have been getting down to this sick beat. Yes. To the illness of her music. Um, yeah. It's so what's different here in the interlude is she's talking directly to us. Right.
>> Right. So, you notice the second person address shift. Um, just think while you've been getting down. Um, >> and you know, she's going to use ambiguity in the word or um, polyptoon in the word down. Um, because to get down means to be emotionally depressed, right?
>> But to get down means to >> dance.
>> To dance, it to groove it out. Yes. So, we have colloquial addiction and I think she means both. Um, >> right. you know, she creates she uses the Diteration kind of um sonically heavy and um she goes back to those liars for the archetypal group to pick out.
>> Um so, you know, she's she's what I find interesting are the first two words.
Just think that's an imperative mood.
So, she's telling us, >> okay, yeah, >> you'd better she's telling you, not asking you, telling you. and addressing you directly rather than getting sad and depressed about all the dirty dirty cheese of the world.
You know, back to cataloging hyperbolic language. She says, "You could have been getting down in a different way." So, we have the double meaning rather than feeling discouraged, dancing enthusiastically, >> um to this sick beat. And sick here does not mean illness. It means >> good.
>> Good.
>> Fun.
>> That's right. The beat is really fun.
And then we get the bridge. Um, you know, as much as I like this poem, the bridge is a funny turn for me.
>> It is. Yeah.
>> You know, um, it's I mean, I think I understand why she does it.
>> Okay.
>> But, um, I'm not sure it works poetically.
You know, if she were to publish this as a poem, I think I would um maybe use my um edit editing pen and say maybe not or maybe amend it to just a couple of lines.
>> Okay.
>> But the bridge um she says, "My ex-man brought his new girlfriend."
Um she's like, "Oh my god." But I'm just going to shake. And to the fella over there with the hella good hair, won't you come on over, baby? We can shake, shake, shake. Yeah. Oh. Oh. Oh.
>> That was delightful to hear you read.
>> Uh, the phrase my ex-man. Deliberately informal, slightly playful. You know, if she wanted to have a little more respect, she would say my former lover or my ex-boyfriend.
But she says my ex-man.
Um, again, she's, this is called slanted argument, rhetorically slanted argument.
Um, with his new girlfriend, um, and I wondered if either the ex-man or the new girlfriend are real, or are they symbols of moving social awkwardness and mutonomy? You know, are they examples of things you see in public? Um, she creates this scene whereby she walks into someplace, sees her ex with a girl, and the girl says, "Oh my god." And she just says, "I'm going to shake, shake, shake, shake, shake."
Um, >> it is kind of it is kind of like you're talking about all this motion that's happening, and it is kind of like here is more motion like he moved on.
There's a new girl, but what I'm going to do is I'm going to move on and shake and then I'm actually going to say, "Oh, there's another guy." They said I I date too much, but um there is another guy and I'm going to move forward with him and I'm going to go dance with him instead.
>> That's right. Cuz he has hella good hair after all.
>> Can't say no to a nice a man with nice hair.
>> Exactly. Right. And internal rhyme with there and hair.
>> Uhhuh.
>> Right. Um Yeah. I mean, I think that's why she does it. She she's been talking in abstracts and in archetypes up till now, >> right? In this poem, she's been creating an argument whereby um you know, critics are going to say these certain things about her, but she's going to ignore it.
She's going to move on and she's going to indulge in her or you know, in her artistic endeavors and to explore her own persona. All right, perfect. But what she hasn't given us is a concrete example, right? And so I think that what she's doing here is she's giving us a concrete example. For example, if I walk into a social situation and one of my exes is over there with a new girlfriend who says, "Oh my god, you know, um then I don't care. I'm going to move on with the next guy." So there.
>> Yeah. Yeah. We're just going to shake it together.
>> That's right. Um also notice the use of direct dialogue. "Oh my god," says the girl.
>> She says, "Oh my god." You know, last time I talked about um free indirect dialogue or free indirect discourse, you know, where you slide into the mind of the person, but this is direct. It's essentially objectifying the girlfriend.
>> Interesting.
>> And all she has to say is, "Oh my god."
Well, if there was ever a vacuous thing to say, that would be it. So, you know, now who doesn't have a brain, >> right? And it's the exboyfriend and it's the new girlfriend. They're the ones.
Um, which I found to be an interesting an interesting moment because essentially is she casting shade on >> Yeah. Is she like doing the same thing that she's saying that people shouldn't do to her?
>> Taylor.
>> Interesting.
>> Um, and then we have this mini Volto where she suddenly turns to the guy with the hella good hair and says, "You know what? That's part of my life. I'm going to explore that, too. Want to come over here? Let's shake shake shake." Yeah.
Oh. Oh. O.
Um, I thought the O's were kind of cathartic. It also signals a sort of musical transition. So, we end that little tableau, >> that little scene, and we just go, >> we're right back into it.
>> We're just Yeah, we go playing off into the musical wilderness because the whole rest of the poem, the chorus and the post chorus is essentially, you know, these repeated elements. the final choruses. I mean, I think they're seeking affirmation through the repetition, >> right? So, they Yeah. So, they conclude that there's I don't know that it reflects on any important psychological insight.
>> No. Yeah.
>> It's just >> we're just shaking.
>> We're just shaking. It's just like, whoopy, I'm shaking it off and I'm moving out. Thank you very much.
And that's the song overall motifs and theme.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh several recurrent motifs performance versus authenticity.
Right. She distinguishes between her true self and the version created by public discourse. And she suggests that her identity is partly bound to performance.
>> Motion versus paralysis. You know, she's not going to be paralyzed by what critics have to say. She's going to prefer motion. Dancing becomes an antidote that to the to the immobilizing and shaming effects of public criticism.
So on um Speak Now, which is two albums before this, there's a song called Mean, and it's about a a I think it's about a specific critic, but it's about critics in general. And she's like, "All you are is mean. I'm someday I'm going to be this big thing living in a big old city, but all you'll ever be is mean."
>> And I think Taylor was probably, you know, 18 when she wrote that song. And in this song, she's probably like 22, 23. And I think there is a lot of growth from mean to this because this song that song is almost like she's very much like why are you being mean to me? I'm just a little kid, you know, like I'm just a child trying to live my dreams. Like why are you criticizing everything I do? And in this one, she's just like accepted like, oh, this is just part of life, you know? So I just need to like tune that out and keep moving forward, >> you know? It's it is kind of stunning. I mean, I can't imagine what goes on in her head as she matures as a human being. Um, you know, you pointed out to me that she started that she first got noticed when she was 14.
>> Mhm. Yeah. She had like a songwriting deal. Like she wasn't It was just a songwriting like publishing deal when she was 14 and then her debut album came out when she was 16.
>> When she was 16. Yeah, I remember that.
>> And she got the actual record deal.
>> That's just stunning.
>> Uhhuh.
>> So, um, so how old is she when she's writing this? This is >> This is like probably 22ish.
>> Yeah.
>> 23.
>> 12 years ago.
>> Yeah.
>> Wow.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. It's It's a lot to live with.
>> Yeah. But she's she's doing all right.
>> Okay.
Uh taken as a whole.
>> Yes.
>> Holistically shake it off. Um, you know, I think that it's uh, you know, I mean, the first few times you actually read through and pay attention to the lyrics, it feels like she's trying to put up a persona of indifference toward the critics, but but it's more than that.
She is essentially this a rhetorical performance, a rhetorical argument of resilience and resistance. Yeah. She's saying, you know, you guys are not just bad, you're the worst. And here's a list of the types of things you do. Um, you know, she essentially takes the criticism and she reframes it through her humor by laughing at it. And you know, it is it it's by laughing at something that you can effectually render it powerless.
>> Right. Exactly. And so I think that's what she's doing is she is, you know, no one's going to ever achieve in silencing your critics.
>> No, >> but you know, you can render them less powerful by laughing at them and you can, you know, maintain your own inner peace by by shaking.
>> Yeah. Ignoring it and dancing on your own over there.
>> That's right.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Well, I know you already heard this song.
>> I have.
>> Do you want to hear it again?
I I have intentionally not listened to it.
>> Okay.
>> Um but it's been playing in my head nigh these last few days.
>> Maybe if we you listen to the whole thing, it'll get out of there.
>> Sure.
>> Sometimes that helps me. Okay.
>> And then should we have a word about the visual rhetoric?
>> Oh, do you want to talk about that now or after we watch the video?
>> Uh we can talk about it now. Do you want to?
>> Sure.
>> Yeah. It's um I I mean I understand that people talked about um cultural appropriation. I I can understand why they would say that.
>> Um it it is a concern, you know. Um >> I I will say that I mean if my if my sister listens to this episode, she's going to be very disappointed because um for me the movie White Christmas is is flawed.
Yeah, I could see your face. You knew I was going to say White Christmas, didn't you?
>> Yeah, that was exactly what I thought.
>> The very next thing you were thinking.
>> Yeah. If you've ever seen White Christmas, 1954, Danny Kay, Bing Crosby, >> I love that movie.
>> Rosemary Cleaning.
>> Yeah.
>> Um the menstrual show >> that they put on >> Yeah.
>> is troubling to me. It's genuinely troubling. I mean, you know, in in minstal shows, for those of you who are not Americans and don't know what a minstrel show is, um they're originally performed in the early 1800s by white people, and they essentially made fun of black people, African-Americans, and black culture. Um, so there is a white interlocular called Mr. Interlocular, and then there are two black characters generally called Mr. Tambbo and Mr. Bones. And Mr. Tambo plays a tambourine.
Mr. Bones rattles Bones and they tell jokes and they were played in blackface by white people. Right >> after the Civil War, they began to be played by black people. Um but but audiences still required the black people to wear black face because they thought it was funny.
>> Oh Jesus, I didn't know that part.
>> Yes. And um the expression Jim Crow may effect um originate out of menstrual shows. um you know the characterization of them as lazy, flippant um you know from this song without a brain. It troubles me in White Christmas that they have that scene and they literally call one of them Mr. Tambbo and the other one Mr. Bones. Um they actually thought of they decided not to do it in blackface.
Thank goodness.
>> Oh wow. They really saved themselves there.
>> Yes. But but 12 years earlier in the movie um Holiday N also starring Bing Crosby there was a blackface um musical number in that movie that was the first use of the song White Christmas by Irving Berlin.
>> Okay.
>> So a lot of the elements from Holiday and were reprised in White Christmas.
The other scene that bothers me a lot is I like modern dance. Mhm.
>> Um I didn't always like modern dance. Um I've I've always liked ballet. I used to take students to ballet. Um high school.
When I taught high school, I taught I took high school students to the ballet.
Um but when I became dean of liberal arts, I was also over dance and the dance teachers primarily, you know, contemporary dance instruction. And they gave me a really good education.
>> Yeah. Um, I got to sit in on their classes and I I learned about a little enough about modern dance to understand some of it and to be just a huge admirer of it and a huge appreciator of it. And in White Christmas, Danny Kay has a parody moment where he come where he drops into a modern dance scene and it's the song choreography. Okay.
>> Where they make fun of the American contemporary dance scene.
>> Gotcha.
>> And I have a problem with that. I I do.
I have a problem with making fun of someone's art >> for sure. Yeah.
>> You know, and if you if you've never seen modern dance, if you've never seen the athleticism and the creative and the beauty of it, then and and and the dance teacher on campus would be so proud of me for saying that.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, you know, then then you have to be an admirer of it. And it's painful for me to watch Danny K make fun of it.
>> Yeah.
>> It's just hard. Um, so I get it when I watch this video, when I think about it, you know, when she drops into the various scenarios with the >> different different kinds of dance.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I understand why some people were critical of that.
>> Yeah. To me, it was what I was just saying like everyone was saying she's a terrible dancer and terrible performer and so she was like playing that up with being like, "Yeah, these people are all amazing performers and here I am trying and I'm like failing at all of it and I'm, you know, I'm the mockery." But I do also understand where that was coming from >> at the same time.
>> And please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that I agree with the critics. You know, I I I really I disagree with those critics. You know, I I do believe that she is, as you say, you know, having fun and mocking herself, >> you know, like like this song, there are moments of self-depreciation that make this a believable, credible.
It adds to the ethos, right, >> of the song. I think it adds to the ethos of of what we see in terms of this visual rhetoric.
>> Yeah.
>> Um and I I still when she comes out with the glasses and the straight hair and she looks like Lady Gaga, I laugh every time.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I do enjoy the video. I was watching I hadn't watched that in many years. And last night I was like finding links and figuring out what we were going to watch today. And I ended up watching the video a couple of times. I ended up watching the performance of Shake It Off through like the 1989 tour.
the rep tour, the eras tour, the last the final show of the eras. Like I was watching so much and I was like, is this my favorite song? I don't know. But I was having a really good time with it.
But yeah, um so let's watch the video.
>> Okay.
>> And um we'll come back after that.
>> Sounds great.
>> Okay.
>> It is a fun It's a fun song.
>> It's fun. I never I never I'm never turning shake it off on, but if it comes on, I'm there, you know.
>> Okay, I got one more for you.
>> Okay.
>> Okay. So, this is when I I need my my true scholar hat. I was really one of the reasons why I stopped Friday night working on this song and went to the other one.
>> Uhhuh.
>> Is because I kind of got overwhelmed. Um I thought about a book by um Richard Dyer titled Star. It was published in 1979.
>> Okay.
>> And I don't have a copy of it here. How many how many of you are shocked by that?
>> Yeah, I actually checked it out from the library. Um, but it's it's really about a movie actress, but it can it's been applied to any kind of celebrity anywhere. And um Stanford, University of Stanford, Stanford University in California um has a project where they they explore the nature of star and he's got a a whole rubric for analyzing for example dissonance between um you know a celebrity's self-perception and reception in public and um you know perception of skills. you know, we we we begin to evaluate celebrities in in different ways with a whole set of expectations. And what they do is they kind of explore expectations. So, you take somebody like Tom Cruz, >> okay?
>> Right. Um, you know, what do you know about Tom Cruz? You know, what's your opinion of Tom Cruz? What do you read about him in uh articles? What do you see about him in interviews? What do you know about his private life? Um, you know, do you know about his romances? A couple of them are kind of famous. Yeah.
What types of movies are is Tom Cruz in?
>> Action movies.
>> Action movies. Um, he's very famous for, you know, doing his own stunts. So, the expectation among fans is he's going to be athletic. He's going to do his own stunts. There have been some stunt men who say, "Well, he doesn't do all of them."
>> Yeah.
>> Right. And so there's a dissonance between the story that that his press group puts out and what other people put out. And essentially the nature of celebrity is that it is crafted from a variety of desperate from from different elements >> like like who you are really, who you want to be, who you aspire to be. um who how you're characterized by your press agent, how your movies represent you, how your songs represent you.
>> Yeah.
>> Um and if you think about what Taylor Swift does is she very carefully crafts a persona that allows people to buy into the nature of of that crafted persona.
>> Absolutely. Yeah.
>> For example, I mean, I I thought about the song Marjorie.
>> Uhhuh. You know what she what's she saying there on a macro level? She's saying, "I loved my grandmother."
>> Yeah.
>> Right. Who doesn't respect that? Right.
>> Right. We respect that. Um you know what's she saying in a song like Peter?
She's saying, "I remember my childhood and I miss it."
>> You know, I'm I'm sorry that celebrity has taken me away from that.
>> Oh, we respect that. Mhm.
>> You know what's she saying in in this poem? She's saying, you know, other people write about me and it's just not true. You know, I'm not that person. I'm just trying to pursue my craft.
>> Right.
>> Right. Are any of those really her?
>> Yeah. I guess not. I mean, we don't know.
>> We don't know.
>> It could be.
>> Right. You know, and then you take your life >> and you superimpose that onto some of her songs.
>> Yeah. Cuz she's a mirror ball. because she is a mirrorball, right? Um, you know, a couple of weeks ago, you know, we did a song about, you know, lost love, about trying to transition through lost love. She has a lot of those. Um, you know, well, everybody's lost love, right?
>> And so when we hear that, we superimpose it. And so we say, "Oh, she's just like me."
>> Yeah, she's just like me.
>> That's right.
>> So, >> we're best friends, me and Taylor. I think it would be interesting to take Richard Dyer's rubric in Star and and do her whole catalog of songs and try to see how she's crafting through the interviews, through the grand expose like her marriage, >> um you know, through her public appearances and performances. And please tell, please know that showing up at a Chiefs game and sitting in a box where she knows she is going to be featured is a performance, >> right? And people are going to look and see how did she dress, right? What was she wearing? What was that jewelry like?
Yes. I mean, I even remarked on the jewelry she wore on Steven Colbear.
>> Oh, yeah. With the red and the Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I remember. Yeah. The rubies.
>> Yeah. And so everybody everyone's going to be analyzing all those and and those are intentionally crafted elements that create celebrity. Exactly.
>> It would be interesting to see how she crafts her own celebrity.
>> Interesting. Yeah.
>> And this song would be a part of it.
>> Absolutely. Yeah. And I I mean that I feel like that is a little bit of like a conversation a part of the conversation that people have been having recently because she is just so like you can't I mean you know it now like you can't you're people are talking people are asking you about Taylor now, >> right? and people that you wouldn't assume would have any any um desire to know anything about Taylor. Like they want to know things. They want to know what you know. And it is so interesting to um to think about how she's almost become like I can't think of the word I'm trying to think of, but like >> she's like a lightning rod.
>> She certainly is a lightning rod. I guess that I mean maybe that is like the right word. She is the lightning rod for like everything that we want, everything that we think is bad about celebrity and money and all the things like people put all of that onto her.
>> Yeah.
>> Whether it's fair or not, you know?
>> Oh, sure. I mean, so she made a book selling music.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> What's wrong with that? Exactly. Yeah. I I don't know. It's It just was It was kind of overwhelming because I guess a number of these songs kept coming back to me, you know. Um, I mean, in love's story, she talks about falling in love, you know, at first sight. Oh, isn't that sweet?
>> Taylor Swift is a kind of girl who falls in love at first sight. Taylor Swift is a kind of girl who wants the fairy tale.
>> Taylor Swift is a kind of girl who loves her grandma, right?
>> You know, I mean, and she's essentially sending message after message after message after message, you know, through these songs and interviews and appearances and, you know, does she ever get mad at her dancers and yell at them?
I I don't know. I wonder if she does. I didn't see it when we went to see the movie.
>> Yeah.
>> You know, um it was always just like happy times, >> right? Yeah.
>> I wonder if they would show that.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
>> You know, it's a crafted image and I I guess I just got really really interested in it.
>> And you can cut this whole last part if you >> No. No, not at all. Well, I think that's it's like such a and I feel like that's such a um a timely conversation, too, because I just feel like she kind of is like the celebrity at the moment that we're all throwing positive or negative things at, you know, and I think it really does say more about all of us than it does hurt.
>> I wondered about that, too, because Yeah. each each of our individual personalities is going to have an opportunity to interact with everything that we see.
>> Yeah. Exactly.
>> Yeah. And you know, it's like I see her video and I think, yeah, I understand how some people might consider that to be cultural appropriation, but if you really want to see u cultural appropriation as worst, go watch White Christmas, you know.
>> Um, you know, and that's in me, right?
Because I'm a movie buff and I recall those things and think about that movie and and its reception.
>> Yeah, it's um it's I don't know, fascinating. Someone asked me, you guys have been asking, when am I going to write a book? And I I told my wife I'm not going to write a book. And now I'm thinking, you know, >> then you've got like a hundred pages there on Shake It Off.
>> I know. And I'm thinking, you know, it would be interesting to analyze the message, the celebrity messages she is crafting through her songs because these are messages >> for sure. Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> That's a fun thought.
>> Okay, that's all I got. That's Shake It Off. Simple, easy. Not >> this. This has been a shocker of an episode for me. I'm not going to lie.
It's fun though.
>> Okay, good.
>> I'm having a great time. Okay, you ready to grade?
>> Yes, I am.
>> All right, Shake It Off from 1989, Lyrical Strength.
>> Uh, you know, uh, the multifased repetition and, uh, it just it didn't have a lot of the same typical Taylor elements, you know, it didn't have the heavy metaphorical >> use. Um, it did have the focusing metaphor of motion. It's really nice.
Yeah.
>> So, I'm going to say a 93.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> Um, narrative and structure.
>> So, uh, you know, I'm going to say maybe a rhetorical ability and structure.
>> Okay.
>> Because the rhetoric to me is what was really interesting.
>> Okay. Yeah.
>> You know, the way she crafts an argument. She says, "Here's what they say. Here's what I say. Here's what we should feel. Here's what you should feel. And here's an example.
>> Yeah.
>> Right. Um 96.
>> Okay.
Production and atmosphere.
>> I mean, come on. I I played this for dance hall on Fridays. Um I mean, it's it's a number one hit. It's a hundred.
It's >> Okay.
>> I know.
>> Yes.
>> Is that the first hundred I've given for maybe >> I don't know. Maybe Peter.
>> Um New Romantics. You gave a hundred for production.
>> Yeah, that was fun.
>> And Peter. Yeah, those are the only two.
>> That's funny.
>> Yeah, >> it's like the the gamut, you know.
>> Yes.
>> Shake it off to Peter to New Romantics.
Okay. Um lore and literary references.
>> Oh, >> yeah.
>> You know, I just uh I don't know that it counts for this.
>> Yeah, I guess not.
>> Um I mean 88.
>> And emotional impact.
>> I was uh I was twisted up by this. I was going to say you really >> Yeah, I was um and not in a happy way.
I mean, uh it it was really fascinating to me to begin to think of it rhetorically and to begin to think of it as as one tiny Lego chip in this whole edifice that we call Taylor Swift.
>> Taylor Swift. Yeah.
>> Yeah. Um so 98.
>> Oh my goodness. Okay, that gives us a 95 for Shake It Off.
>> Kind of all over the place, though.
>> Yeah, there was the the grades go from 88 to 100 on that one.
>> Yeah, >> not very consistent. Oh, those look great.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay, this is a higher score than I was expecting this to get. I thought this was going to be another B.
>> Oh, no.
>> But she she did it. She knocked it out of the park.
>> She did. That glitter gel pen just she whipped it out. And there you go.
>> Okay. Is that all you got?
>> That's all I got. And you got a little dog.
>> Got a little lady here. Okay. Please come back next week for our oneyear anniversary episode.
>> What?
>> And um on social you can follow us at Swifty and Scholar Pod. You can follow Uncle Jerry at Dr. Unclejerry. You can follow me at Angela Wyatt McDow. And we will see you next week.
Bye. Peace out.
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