ta còn yêu nhau - tb cover

“Dear John” is an ode to Taylor’s short-lived relationship with fellow singer-songwriter John Mayer. Taylor conveys her feelings of frustration over the way she was treated by John and how she disregarded the warnings from others.

Besides the obvious song title, there are multiple references to Mayer directly, including the mention of their over ten-year age gap. Sonically, Taylor purposefully added guitar slurring to the background instrumentals, a guitar playing technique seen all throughout Mayer’s music.

The two notably collaborated on Mayer’s 2010 song “Half of My Heart,” which was released 4 months before “Dear John”.

Besides John’s public statement to Rolling Stone in 2012, Mayer also replied to “Dear John” three years later, in his 2013 song “Paper Doll.” In the song, John directly replies to Taylor’s line, “you paint me a blue sky then go back and turn it to rain” with, “and if those angel wings don’t fly, someone’s going to paint you another sky.”

Notably, “Dear John” was the third song to contribute to Taylor’s streak of having “emotional vulnerable” ballads as the 5th track of an album.

This is my cover of the song.

Artwork by Nguyen Thuy Quynh, Luong Hoang Quan

Speak Now (Kevin's Version)

Dear John (Originally by Taylor Swift)

“Never Grow Up” is track number eight off Taylor Swift’s third album, Speak Now.

She wrote the song when she was in her late teens, but during one of her performances, she dedicated it to the baby of one of her dear friends, model Jamie King, after she made Taylor the godmother.

I wrote it when I was like 18 or 19, but my friend just had a baby and she made me godmother of it and I was holding this little baby the other night, and I was just thinking differently. When you’re holding onto something that’s so innocent and so perfect and has no idea what’s coming for it with the world. The world is going to throw so many things at you as we grow up.

This is my cover of the song.

Artwork by Nguyen Thuy Quynh, Luong Hoang Quan

Never Grow Up (Originally by Taylor Swift)

n “If This Was A Movie,” Taylor daydreams about a lost love coming back to her.

The track is only available on the deluxe edition of Taylor’s 2010 album Speak Now. Lyrically and thematically, it resembles her 2008 song “Breathe.”

The track has received some backlash for supposedly being grammatically incorrect.

It is the only song on the album with a co-writer.

Artwork by Nguyen Thuy Quynh, Luong Hoang Quan

If This Was A Movie (Originally by Taylor Swift)

Inspired by and written for the 2022 movie Where the Crawdads Sing, “Carolina” follows the life and adventures of a young girl named Kya as she grows up isolated in the marsh of North Carolina. Swift wrote the haunting song entirely by herself, with frequent collaborator Aaron Dessner on the production side.

Artwork by Bui Pham Quynh Anh, Luong Hoang Quan

Carolina (From the Motion Picture "Where The Crawdads Sing") (Originally by Taylor Swift)

Sour Grapes (Originally by LESSERAFIM)

august (from taylor) cover by tobias

The closing track on reputation uses a New Year’s party as a metaphor to discuss holding on to people and memories from both good and bad times. Taylor recognizes that when the ‘parties’ in her life are over and the ‘new year’ begins, such memories are all she will have left to hold on to and learn from. She relates a lasting love to someone who shares a midnight kiss with you on New Year’s, but who still stays with you the next morning for the aftermath of the party and begins the new year together with you.

Musically, the song is reminiscent of Taylor’s older tracks, with sparse production and simply guitar and piano as backing. Contrasting many prior songs on the album where Taylor takes shots at various people, she creates a more mature image here–thankful for her past and ready to ‘clean up’ and move on in the future.

Artwork by Vu Thanh Huyen, Luong Hoang Quan

New Year's Day (Originally by Taylor Swift)

Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) is placed under arrest by the new sultan of Agrabah, Jafar (Marwan Kenzari). As she’s being led away by the guards, she reflects on a lifetime of having men tell her that her opinion is invalid or never wanted. She determines not to stay silent this time, with her kingdom being taken over by a dictator.

The song was penned for the 2019 live-action adaptation by the Oscar-winning Broadway and film songwriting trio of Alan Menken, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Menken is best known for writing an extensive catalog of iconic Disney songs, including ”A Whole New World”, “Go The Distance”, and “Part of Your World”; Pasek and Paul have been lauded for their work on The Greatest Showman, La La Land, and Dear Evan Hansen.

Speechless (From Aladdin)

With the song utilizing an inside light pop rhythm with a mix of some synth sounds, “Midnight Rain” finds Taylor singing about ending a relationship to focus on her singing career more. It then ends off, with their relationship being forgotten, as if it never happened.

The song also reflects on a relationship where the two were opposites of each other, in which this case is “Sunshine” and “Midnight rain”. Each wants something different out of the relationship and has different expectations.

Artwork by Luong Hoang Quan, Vu Thuy Trang(?)

Midnight Rain (Originally by Taylor Swift)

I really wonder how do I come up with these things.

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