Tuesday, July 22, 2025

[Summer Special Day 21] Taylor Swift's next release might be announced... this Thursday???

Hi! Welcome back to the summer special, sorry this one was a bit late. This is all happening very suddenly so I actually didn't start working on this post until yesterday, but there are recent theories swirling that a new project from Taylor Swift may be on the horizon...? We don't know anything yet, but here are my thoughts on it.


Taylor Nation celebratory posts

Taylor Nation is posting some cryptic things on Instagram lately. Starting July 18th, there have been "welcome home" for each of the six stolen albums being under Taylor Swift's ownership now, starting from the self-titled debut and going in chronological order, with lyrics from each album. Taylor's ownership was achieved in May, so there has to be a reason why they're randomly celebrating each album one-by-one now. This news article explains some general details.

By this pattern, after the 1989 and Reputation posts would be 7/24 (also of note that 7+2+4=13, a trend that appears in a few of Taylor's announcement and release dates). If the popular theory is correct, these posts may be a countdown to huge news for Taylor coming on July 24th.


So... what is Taylor's next project?

Many fans are hoping for a new album from Taylor on July 24th, with more specific predictions being a love album, a rock album, and an orange colored album. I personally believe it is unlikely we'll get TS12 in 2025, seeing as TTPD is still only 15 months old. Of course, there was the Lover - Folklore - Evermore run that was even closer together due to COVID potentially changing the album cycles. It's also important to note than TTPD in general didn't have as much longevity on the charts as some of Taylor's other albums, so a new album wouldn't necessarily be "overshadowing" TTPD. I just think it's a bit soon to have a whole album recorded, especially with the Eras Tour ending just seven months ago and Debut TV being recorded no more than two months ago.

Speaking of Debut TV, I haven't seen this talked about much, but I think we might get the announcement/release of Debut TV on July 24th. Taylor said that she already recorded it and would eventually release it from a place of "celebration", even though she owns it now, and if Taylor Nation is celebrating all of her albums, this would fit in well. I think this is my most likely prediction, but anything can happen.

Another thing that's being talked about lately is how Taylor's official website has "randomly" added a new tab on the site labeled "directed projects" and listing every self-directed music video Taylor Swift has done, leading to rumors that a bigger "directed project" is on the way. With that along with the recent Folklore merch released, it is possible that Taylor may be directing a feature film, more specifically one about Rebekah Harkness, the woman who inspired The Last Great American Dynasty who once owned Taylor's Holiday House and had a life story that closely paralleled Taylor's. However, this one seems a bit soon and not quite fitting for this celebration of ownership.

Finally, there's the Eras Tour documentary theory. This would make a lot of sense to celebrate all the eras being hers. Taylor might be announcing a behind-the-scenes documentary of the tour that ultimately led to the masters being bought back by Taylor. There could also be an updated version of the Eras Tour concert film featuring the TTPD set that was added after the original movie, but that seems less likely to me. Ultimately, we can't say for sure yet, but I think something is on the horizon.

That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Sunday, July 20, 2025

[Summer Special Day 20] Hallett's Hits 7/20/25 + Christmas In July Playlist

Hi! Welcome to the penultimate Hallett's Hits + summer playlist post of the summer special. (Wow, we're about two thirds of the way through the summer special already...)

So for today's playlist, we have the Christmas In July playlist. Christmas In July is one of my favorite things about the month of July, but as far as I'm aware, it's not a super widely-celebrated thing, so here's a quick explanation. Christmas In July is a popular thing in the Southern Hemisphere where Christmas happens during the summer months, so they hold holiday celebrations in July to have the wintry atmosphere associated with the northern holiday season. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas In July is basically just an extra commercial holiday some people celebrate. (Because apparently the entirety of autumn and winter wasn't enough red and green commercialized festivity already.) In all seriousness, I love celebrating Christmas In July, so this post comes with a short thirteen-song Christmas In July mix, which is essentially a collection of ten songs that are fitting for a holiday season while also having the atmosphere of the summer months.

As for this week's pretty inactive Hallett's Hits, Laufey is still absolutely blowing everyone away, with all four of her eligible songs being very high on the charts, and her only potential competition right now being the Favors and Lyn Lapid. But that might not be true for long as Olivia Rodrigo and now Taylor Swift (I'll explain the latter in tomorrow's post) are predicted to release new music soon. Here is this week's Hallett's Hits!


Hallett's Top 30

Exits:

Avreya Bloom - Pixel Rain (9 wk: Peak #3)

Avreya Bloom - Battery At 3 Percent (6 wk: Peak #3)


#30: Sombr - Back To Friends (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #30)

#29: Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club (-3) (22 wk: Peak #1 for 1 wk)

#28: Evanescence - Afterlife (+1) (10 wk: Peak #28)

#27: Hayes Warner - Threw Me Away (+1) (13 wk: Peak #15)

#26: Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami - Golden (-5) (3 wk: Peak #21)

Golden Extra: Mitski - Nobody

#25: Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea - Shake It To The Max (+5) (3 wk: Peak #25)

#24: Benson Boone - Mystical Magical (-1) (6 wk: Peak #11)

#23: Caroline Polachek - On The Beach (+1) (3 wk: Peak #23)

#22: Debbii Dawson - You Killed The Music (=) (14 wk: Peak #2)

#21: Ejae & Andrew Choi - Free (+4) (2 wk: Peak #21)

Underground Extra: Ridgely - Hot Cakes

#20: Conan Gray - This Song (=) (4 wk: Peak #18)

#19: Benson Boone - Momma Song (-3) (7 wk: Peak #12)

#18: Michael Clifford - Cool (+1) (4 wk: Peak #18)

#17: Sombr - We Never Dated (+10) (2 wk: Peak #17)

#16: Doechii - Anxiety (+2) (2 wk: Peak #16)

Rising Extra: Tyla - Bliss

#15: Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers - Balcony (=) (10 wk: Peak #7)

#14: Favors - The Hudson (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #14)

#13: Benson Boone - Reminds Me Of You (-3) (3 wk: Peak #10)

#12: Alex Warren & Rose - On My Mind (-1) (3 wk: Peak #11)

#11: Lyn Lapid - Fix (+1) (11 wk: Peak #9)

Almost There Extra: Peggy - Friends To Lovers

#10: Benson Boone - Take Me Home (-1) (3 wk: Peak #9)

#9: Finneas - Same Old Story (+4) (21 wk: Peak #2)

#8: Lyn Lapid - Buttons (+9) (10 wk: Peak #8)

#7: Faouzia - Porcelain (-2) (10 wk: Peak #2)

#6: Laufey - Silver Lining (=) (15 wk: Peak #1 for 4 wk)

Christmas In July Extra: Laufey - Santa Baby (every extra this week is by a one-name artist, that wasn't even intentional)

#5: Favors - The Little Mess You Made (-3) (4 wk: Peak #2)

#4: Role Model & Laufey - The Longest Goodbye (+3) (2 wk: Peak #4)

#3: Laufey - Lover Girl (=) (4 wk: Peak #1 for 1 wk)

#2: Lyn Lapid - Floater Friend (+2) (13 wk: Peak #2)

#1: Laufey - Tough Luck (=) (10 wk: Peak #1 for 9 wk)


Biggest jump: Sombr - We Never Dated (+10)

Biggest drop: Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami - Golden (-5)


Starlight Seven

Removed: Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club

#7: Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Mei Ami - Golden (-2)

#6: Doechii - Anxiety (=)

#5: Alex Warren & Rose - On My Mind (Debut)

#4: Benson Boone - Mystical Magical (-1)

#3: Sombr - Undressed (+4)

#2: Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else (+2)

#1: Alex Warren - Ordinary (=)


Almost There

Lyn Lapid - Where Is My Mind (Debut)

Audrey Hobert - Bowling Alley (Debut)

Em Beihold - Brutus (Debut)

Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Mei Ami - How It's Done (2)

Will Linley - Cinematic (Debut)

Mgk - Vampire Diaries (2)

Lenay - Miami (Debut)

Maren Morris - Lemonade (4)

Maroon 5 - California (Debut)

Mikayla Geier - Piano In The Sky (5)

Peggy - Friends To Lovers (Debut)

Haim - All Over Me (5)

Renee Rapp - Why Is She Still Here (Debut)

Mariah The Scientist - Burning Blue (6)

Addison Rae - Times Like These (Debut)

Ridgely - Hot Cakes (Debut)

Tyla - Bliss (Debut)


Dropouts:

Ed Sheeran - Drive (4)

Henry Moodie - Comedown (4)

Lewis Capaldi - Survive (3)

Kehlani - Folded (2)

Raye - Grandma Calls The Boy Bad News (1)

Foo Fighters - Today's Song (1)

Justin Bieber - Daisies (1)

Daniel Caesar & Rex Orange County - Rearrange My World (1)

Conan Gray - Vodka Cranberry (1)


Abyss

Alex Warren - Ordinary

Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else

Connie Francis - Pretty Little Baby

Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Mei Ami - What It Sounds Like

Pinkpantheress - Illegal

Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco & Gracie Abrams - Call Me When You Break Up

Sombr - Undressed


Christmas In July Playlist

Taylor Swift - Tis The Damn Season

Lyn Lapid - Old Fashioned Christmas

Simple Plan - Christmas Every Day

Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton - You Make It Feel Like Christmas

Ariana Grande - Not Just On Christmas

The Staves - Home Alone, Too

Taylor Swift & Lana Del Rey - Snow On The Beach

Sabrina Carpenter - White Christmas

Pearl Jam - Someday At Christmas

No Doubt - Oi To The World

Dan + Shay - Holiday Party

Laufey - Santa Baby

Taylor Swift - Christmases When You Were Mine


That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Saturday, July 19, 2025

[Summer Special Day 19] Last week's Hallett's Top 30 in order of how many times the songs' titles are sung

Hi! Welcome back to the summer special. (I'm finally caught up again!) So this is a concept inspired by some YouTube videos I've seen where songs are organized by how long the titles are sung. Well, I ordered all of the songs from last week's Hallett's Top 30 by how many times the title is sung in the lyrics. Ties are split by their actual positions on last week's chart. (I think it's interesting just how many songs say their titles three, six, or eight times...) Titles must be sung exactly, so even one word makes a difference, which you'll see in the song that took the bottom spot. Anyway, without further ado, here it is!


#30: Sombr - We Never Dated (0) (the four mentions of "we never even dated" technically don't count)

#29: Benson Boone - Momma Song (0)

#28: Role Model & Laufey - The Longest Goodbye (0)

#27: Lyn Lapid - Floater Friend (0)

#26: Laufey - Lover Girl (2)

#25: Evanescence - Afterlife (3)

#24: Debbii Dawson - You Killed The Music (3)

#23: Lyn Lapid - Buttons (3)

#22: Finneas - Same Old Story (3)

#21: Laufey - Silver Lining (3)

#20: Faouzia - Porcelain (3)

#19: Avreya Bloom - Battery At 3 Percent (4)

#18: Favors - The Little Mess You Made (4)

#17: Ejae, Audrey Nuna & Rei Ami - Golden (5)

#16: Caroline Polachek - On The Beach (6)

#15: Benson Boone - Mystical Magical (6)

#14: Conan Gray - This Song (6)

#13: Avreya Bloom - Pixel Rain (6)

#12: Ejae & Andrew Choi - Free (8)

#11: Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers - Balcony (8)

#10: Lyn Lapid - Fix (8)

#9: Benson Boone - Take Me Home (8)

#8: Alex Warren & Rose - On My Mind (9)

#7: Hayes Warner - Threw Me Away (10)

#6: Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club (12)

#5: Benson Boone - Reminds Me Of You (13)

#4: Laufey - Tough Luck (15-17...?) (I was fully expecting this to land MUCH lower on the list, but this song's total is majorly boosted by the many faint harmonized vocals repeating "tough luck" in the background in the bridge and final chorus - it's actually quite difficult to count exactly how many there are since they fade into each other so smoothly, especially the last few, but they're definitely there. Luckily there's no confusion about placement since there's definitely more than 13 total instances, and the top three songs are way above it either way.)

#3: Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea - Shake It To The Max (24)

#2: Michael Clifford - Cool (26)

#1: Doechii - Anxiety (41) (I was certain this would win by a landslide, and surprise not surprise, it did)


Well, that was a bit of a different style of post so I hope that was moderately interesting. That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Friday, July 18, 2025

[Summer Special Day 18] The end of an era for my favorite music artist... what's next?

Hi! Welcome back to another summer special catchup post. (Wow I'm only one day behind now!) So, the absolutely insane Guts World Tour officially ended on July 1st, and Olivia Rodrigo's summer festival run is about to come to a close. Olivia just performed at Lollapalooza Paris and is performing at festivals through August 3rd. This is a similar style of post to my Eras Tour post (but actually a much better post since I actually got to experience the concert firsthand rather than just through videos, and it's not eight months late) where I'll pretty much be reflecting on my favorite performances on the tour, as well as some revised predictions for what this third era might look like.


My firsthand experience as a Guts World Tour attendee, sixteen months later

I tend to avoid talking about my personal life on here, but you may remember me mentioning a few times that I have seen Olivia Rodrigo live in concert, and it was insane. You may remember my Olivia Rodrigo ranking post where I mentioned that I was listening to Olivia Rodrigo on shuffle in the car before the concert and Deja Vu kept playing, and I joked that I was getting deja vu... well, then there was the concert itself, which was unlike anything I'd experienced before. 

First of all, Chappell Roan opened, and she pleasantly surprised me with her set. I had already known a few Chappell Roan songs like Kaleidoscope, Red Wine Supernova, and Casual, but I didn't even know how huge it was to see her at the time because I saw her before she became one of the top artists of the decade. A lot of the audience was just learning the Hot To Go dance for the first time, which seems crazy now. 

Then Olivia came on, and she opened with an angsty mashup of Bad Idea Right and Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl, followed by some piano songs. Her emotional performances of Vampire and Drivers License were two of my favorite performances of the night. Obviously Teenage Dream was really powerful, and I was honestly surprised at how loud the crowd was during that song considering how underrated I think it is. The tour just made me love that song even more, especially when paired with the intimate live piano and the video from one of her earliest performances. 

There were many stellar performances that followed, including the acoustic guitar songs that she performed while riding the most famous moon within Earth's atmosphere, and a highly unexpected song that I was one of the first people ever to hear - Obsessed, weeks before its official release. As the concert came to a close, Olivia still hadn't performed Good 4 U or Get Him Back, and the entire crowd was chanting "Get Him Back". Honestly I was worried she wouldn't perform Good 4 U since the crowd wanted Get Him Back so badly. But sure enough they were both encores, and they were both fantastic. And the iconic confetti at the end! All I can say is... she got us good, she got us really good. 

Wow. It's been almost a year and a half, and Olivia still has two shows left to perform in 2025. The Guts World Tour is one of the biggest tours of the decade... but the real question is what do we predict will happen in this third era?


New predictions for OR3

Some of you may remember UFOs, which was one of the installments in my 12 days of Christmas series. I wouldn't call it an actual "theory", but it was an album concept paired with a few very general predictions. Now that we have more information about a potential new era for Olivia, I have more specific predictions.

There is a common theory among the Livies that her next album will be called Luck. There was the infamous birthday post captioned "I feel like the luckiest girl alive!!!" with a possibly intentional three exclamation points, constant use of ladybugs and polka dots in posts and outfits, the Guts anniversary photo in front of a rainbow, and most recently, on a Glastonbury show of the Guts Tour just last month, where she said "as LUCK would have it, I really like English boys". 

It's already been heavily theorized that OR3 will be a love-focused album due to her closing the Guts era with So American, a lyrical departure and love song about her London boy Louis Partridge, and this quote is just further reinforcement of that. Since Sour was mainly about falling out of love, and Guts was mostly about trying to recover from the fallout, it would make sense to have an album about falling back in love. I think an entire album of songs like So American, further exploring being in love and all the feelings that come along with it, would be cool to get from Olivia.

As for the "color" of the era, after Sour's light blue and purple color scheme and Guts's deeper, darker purple, there seems to be a theory that the third album will be red, due to the recently frequent red outfits, ladybug imagery, and associations with love and passion. I imagine this album being accompanied with rich burgundy visuals and darker shades of red, and most likely, Olivia's purple imagery will run through this album alongside a red color palette.

And finally, the question we're all trying to figure out the answer to... when will it release? Well, I don't really have a strong theory for this one. Of course, we know the album has been in production for months. But... I'm not expecting an album anytime soon, since Olivia's still actively performing. She should have some time to rest after this incredibly long world tour, and release the album whenever she's ready. Right now it's looking like autumn 2025 is most likely, but not much has been confirmed yet. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.


That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Thursday, July 17, 2025

[Summer Special Day 17] Hallett's Hits Summer Starlight Seventeen & Underground Seventeen

Hi! Welcome back to the summer special! I'm still catching up on posts, but I'll likely be back on schedule by Sunday for Hallett's Hits and I'll ideally be able stay more consistent to the schedule now that I have settled on pretty sound plans. This is a Hallett's Hits special where I've compiled two single-week summer charts: the Starlight Seventeen (seventeen high-performing songs that are some of my top picks for the songs of the summer) and the Underground Seventeen (seventeen underrated songs that are not charting but should be more popular).


Starlight 17

#17: Miley Cyrus - End Of The World

#16: Sombr - Back To Friends

#15: Tyla - Bliss

#14: Kpop Demon Hunters - How It's Done

#13: Sombr - We Never Dated

#12: Rose - Messy

#11: Katseye - Gabriela

#10: PinkPantheress - Illegal

#9: Alex Warren & Rose - On My Mind

#8: Role Model - Sally When The Wine Runs Out

#7: Sombr - Undressed

#6: Doechii - Anxiety

#5: Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea - Shake It To The Max

#4: Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else

#3: Kpop Demon Hunters - Golden

#2: Benson Boone - Mystical Magical

#1: Alex Warren - Ordinary


Underground 17

#17: Audrey Hobert - Bowling Alley

#16: Peggy - Friends To Lovers

#15: Will Linley - Cinematic

#14: Ridgely - Hot Cakes 

#13: Lenay - Miami

#12: Debbii Dawson - Chemical Reaction

#11: Haim - All Over Me

#10: Mikayla Geier - Piano In The Sky

#9: Favors - The Hudson

#8: Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers - Balcony

#7: Debbii Dawson - You Killed The Music

#6: Lyn Lapid - Buttons

#5: Favors - The Little Mess You Made

#4: Role Model & Laufey - The Longest Goodbye

#3: Laufey - Silver Lining

#2: Laufey - Lover Girl

#1: Laufey - Tough Luck


That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

[Summer Special Day 16] My favorite lyric from every Olivia Rodrigo song

Hi! Welcome back (FINALLY!) to my summer special. I've been way behind on the series due to a combination of sudden sickness, internet issues, and constant changes of plans for posts, but I'm back and will be catching up as best as I can in these next few days before Hallett's Hits.

So, as you may have been able to tell from some of the other posts in the series, I'm listening to Olivia Rodrigo a lot more than usual (almost as much as I did before I saw her in concert), with the Guts tour coming to an end and a third era likely to begin soon. I think she will always be my top artist, but I hadn't been listening to her as much before July with Lyn Lapid having a lot of music I hadn't listened to yet and Laufey being amidst an album cycle & regularly releasing new music. But I've realized that Olivia is one of those artists who I'll randomly decide to listen to once and then suddenly be compelled to relisten to her songs for a while nonstop. After noticing more and more hard-hitting lines I hadn't caught onto before, I thought it would be a cool idea to compile a list of my favorite lyrics from each song. Anyway, without further ado, here it is!


Sour

1. Brutal

"If someone tells me one more time 'enjoy your youth', I'm gonna cry"


2. Traitor

"Now you bring her around just to shut me down / Show her off like she's a new trophy"


3. Drivers License

"I still hear your voice in the traffic / We're laughing over all the noise"


4. 1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back

"And maybe in some masochistic way, I kind of find it all exciting / Like, which lover will I get today?"


5. Deja Vu

"I bet you even tell her how you love her in between the chorus and the verse" (with a whispered "I love you" in the background")


6. Good 4 U

"I guess the therapist I found for you, she really helped / Now you can be a better man for your brand new girl"


7. Enough For You

"I don't want your sympathy, I just want myself back"


8. Happier

"I hope you're happy but don't be happier"


9. Jealousy, Jealousy

"I wanna be you so bad and I don't even know you"


10. Favorite Crime

"I say that I hate you with a smile on my face"


11. Hope Ur Ok

"Address the letters to the holes in my butterfly wings"


Guts

1. All American Bitch

"Coca-Cola bottles that I only use to curl my hair"


2. Bad Idea Right

"I know I should stop but I can't"


3. Vampire

"You can't love anyone cuz that would mean you had a heart"


4. Lacy

"I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you / And I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you"


5. Ballad Of A Homeschooled Girl

"Thought your mom was your wife / Called you the wrong name twice / Can't think of a third line"


6. Making The Bed

"Every night I wake up from this one recurring dream where I'm driving through the city and the brakes go out on me / I can't stop at the red light, I can't swerve off the road"


7. Logical

"Two plus two equals five and I'm the love of your life"


8. Get Him Back

"And when he said something wrong, he'd just fly me to France"


9. Love Is Embarrassing

"I told my friends you were the one after I'd known you, like, a month / And then you kissed some girl from high school"


10. The Grudge

"You have everything and you still want more"


11. Pretty Isn't Pretty

"I could try every lipstick in every shade but I'd always feel the same"


12. Teenage Dream

"They all say that it gets better, it gets better the more you grow / And they all say that it gets better, it gets better but what if I don't?" (and the entire rest of this song lol)


13. Obsessed

"I'm staring at her like I wanna get hurt"


14. Girl I've Always Been

"You say I'm cruel beyond my years"


15. Scared Of My Guitar

"Why is there a pit in my gut in the shape of you?"


16. Stranger

"You are the best thing that I'll ever keep so far out of my life"


17. So American

"He's like a poem I wish I wrote"


That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

[Summer Special Day 15] Happy 17 to Beautiful Eyes... let's take a look at what I think are some of Taylor's most underrated and overrated songs

Hi! Sorry this post is late. In case you couldn't already tell, I've been having uploading issues in Blogger, so my next few posts will all be a bit late, but ideally I should get caught up as quickly as possible. Anyway, since July 15th marks the seventeenth anniversary of Taylor Swift's long-forgotten Walmart-exclusive extended play, Beautiful Eyes, I decided this would be a good opportunity to share what I believe are Taylor's 13 most underrated songs. (Spoiler alert: Beautiful Eyes gets acknowledged!) Along with that, I also decided to share a more controversial list of what I think are her most overrated songs... remember, this is all my opinion. I would honestly love to hear if you agree or disagree, as long as you don't attack me, which I'm sure you all will want to after this lol. Anyway, here it is!


Underrated

#13: Happiness

#12: Closure

#11: The Other Side Of The Door

#10: I'm Only Me When I'm With You

#9: The Joker & The Queen

#8: Beautiful Ghosts

#7: Renegade

#6: I Heart ?

#5: Carolina

#4: Safe & Sound

#3: Eyes Open

#2: Beautiful Eyes

#1: Christmases When You Were Mine


Overrated

#13: Style

#12: Afterglow

#11: New Romantics

#10: Lavender Haze

#9: Mean

#8: So It Goes...

#7: Betty

#6: Exile

#5: All You Had To Do Was Stay

#4: Mr. Perfectly Fine

#3: Picture To Burn (my actual least favorite Taylor Swift song, but not AS much of a fan favorite as the other two)

#2: Dress

#1: Our Song


That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Monday, July 14, 2025

[Summer Special Day 14] Taylor Swift: The Complete Eras Megamix by Joseph James

Hi! Welcome back to the summer special with a post that will likely be completely overshadowed by the literal mistake post I predict will become my most infamous upload ever. (I'm sure you already found it by now.) So, this is a post where I'm just going to share a video that I've been obsessed with for a while now, and some info about it.

Joseph James is a relatively well-known music YouTuber who primarily makes mashups and "megamixes" of songs by pop musicians. One of his most popular videos, and one of my favorites, is his Taylor Swift: The Complete Eras Megamix, a 13-minute-long mashup of every Taylor Swift song (up until Speak Now TV - the video was posted before 1989 TV and TTPD came out), including features, non-album singles, and official remixes, plus two fanmade orchestral remixes. The megamix is split into seven thematic chapters: Shadow, Ultraviolet, Cherry, Rust, Sapphire, Amber, and Aurora. The whole thing is amazing and I recommend you listen to it if you haven't already.



*indicates song used in multiple chapters


Shadow

Production in order of appearance:

Lover (First Dance Remix) - The Last Great American Dynasty - Wildest Dreams (orchestral edit by Marcus Coronel) - Peace - Willow - I'm Only Me When I'm With You - Wildest Dreams (orchestral edit by Joseph James) - Haunted - ...Ready For It? - High Infidelity - Christmas Tree Farm - Wildest Dreams (regular version) - Cruel Summer* - Birch - I Did Something Bad - The Other Side Of The Door - Fearless*


Vocals in order of appearance:

Bigger Than The Whole Sky - Castles Crumbling - Sad Beautiful Tragic - Glitch - Call It What You Want - You're Not Sorry - You Are In Love - Safe & Sound - Lover - Lover (Shawn Mendes version) - Should've Said No - ...Ready For It? - Today Was A Fairytale - Wildest Dreams - Haunted - Begin Again - Shake It Off - Exile - Willow - Would've Could've Should've - I Knew You Were Trouble - Tis The Damn Season - Stay Beautiful - Eyes Open - Peace - Everything Has Changed - Babe (2021)*


My favorite moments:

  • The intro!
  • The subtle but powerful use of Peace in a majority of the production.
  • The percussion buildup from I'm Only Me When I'm With You.
  • The part where one line is used from each album.
  • The orchestral versions of Wildest Dreams.
  • "I knew you were trouble when you walked in / I watched it begin again / You should've said no"

Ultraviolet

Production in order of appearance:

Long Live - Blank Space - Cruel Summer* - Invisible - Beautiful Ghosts - Tell Me Why - Bad Blood* - Enchanted - 22 - Antihero (Bleachers version) - Maroon - New Romantics*


Vocals in order of appearance:

Babe (2021)* - Babe (2018) - Fearless* - Clean - Long Live (Paula Fernandes version) - Antihero - Bad Blood* - Blank Space - Tell Me Why - That's When - Untouchable - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Change - Cold As You - Paper Rings - Death By A Thousand Cuts - Bye Bye Baby - I Forgot That You Existed - Marjorie - Seven - London Boy - August - Foolish One - The Way I Loved You - Enchanted - 22 - I Heart ? - All You Had To Do Was Stay - Fifteen - This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - Cruel Summer* - Karma - Picture To Burn - Hits Different - Coney Island - Hey Stephen* - Dorothea - Hoax - Maroon


My favorite moments:

  • The prominence of Long Live and the combination of Long Live / Fearless / Clean / Antihero.
  • "When I was drowning, that's when I was SCREAMING LONG LIVE"
  • "Say that we'll be together / We are never ever ever getting back together"
  • "Gone was any trace of you, I think I could finally win / I've never been anywhere cold as / You-ooh-ooh-ooh / I'd marry you with paper rings / Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts / Bye bye / I forgot that you existed / The autumn chill that wakes me up / I still got love for you / It's me / You loved the amber skies so much / Wanna be with you / To live for the hope of it all, cancel plans just in case you called and said meet me behind the mall / Hi / I know how to act like I'm fine / And that's the way I loved you / Please don't be in love with someone else, please don't have somebody waiting on you" (these lyrics combined are a full-on love story in themselves)
  • The 22 / Blank Space duet with brief interjections from WANEGBT and I Heart ?
  • The Blank Space / New Romantics / Maroon buildup into the next chapter.


Cherry

Production in order of appearance:

Speak Now - Christmas Must Be Something More - How You Get The Girl - Both Of Us - Afterglow - Dress* - Welcome To New York* - Look What You Made Me Do*


Vocals in order of appearance:

The Outside - Electric Touch - I Can See You - Mine - You Belong With Me - Superman - Sparks Fly - Message In A Bottle - New Romantics* - Both Of Us - The Very First Night - Welcome To New York* - Speak Now - Hey Stephen* - Paris - How You Get The Girl - Snow On The Beach - Snow On The Beach (more Lana Del Rey version) - Christmases When You Were Mine - The Moment I Knew - Forever Winter - Half Of My Heart


My favorite moments:

  • The simplicity of the production - Speak Now!!!
  • The percussion fill from Christmas Must Be Something More to transition between Speak Now and How You Get The Girl.
  • The fact that the Christmas songs are even acknowledged.
  • "IIII wiiiish IIII / COULD FLY-EE-Y"
  • "Sparks / FLY-EE-Y"
  • "I'd write this IN THE SKY-EE-Y / You are the best thing that's ever been mine"
  • "Welcome to New York / Like we were in Paris"
  • Half Of My Heart jumpscare at the end of the chapter.


Rust

Production in order of appearance:

Look What You Made Me Do* - Dress* - I Wish You Would - This Is What You Came For*


Vocals in order of appearance:

Karma (Ice Spice version) - Look What You Made Me Do* - Right Where You Left Me - I Think He Knows - King Of My Heart - Ronan - I Don't Wanna Live Forever - Cowboy Like Me - Illicit Affairs - The Archer* - Question...? - Dress* - Bad Blood* - My Tears Ricochet - Sweet Nothing - It's Nice To Have A Friend - Midnight Rain - Don't Blame Me - Bad Blood (Kendrick Lamar version) - A Place In This World - Forever & Always - The Man - Labyrinth - The Great War - Gold Rush


My favorite moments:

  • Again, the simplicity of the production, and how Dress (my second-least-favorite Taylor Swift song) is actually improved upon by having more full production.
  • The not one but two occurrences of Ice Spice saying "grrah" in the Karma remix.
  • The brief Sweet Nothing / My Tears Ricochet / It's Nice To Have A Friend / Midnight Rain mashup.
  • "BUT I'M READY TO FLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! / I don't think so"
  • The polyrhythm between Don't Blame Me and TIWYCF / LWYMMD.
  • The surprisingly prominent usage of This Is What You Came For.
  • The Great War / Gold Rush duet.
  • The chapter starting and ending on the same line - "look what you just made me do, look what you just made me do".


Sapphire

Production in order of appearance:

Look What You Made Me Do* - The Archer* - This Is What You Came For* - Welcome To New York* - Mastermind - Starlight - Red - Girl At Home - Happiness - You're On Your Own, Kid - Gasoline - Timeless - Mary's Song (Oh My My My) - Mirrorball - Crazier - A Perfectly Good Heart - Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince* - You All Over Me*


Vocals in order of appearance:

Look What You Made Me Do* - Run - Mirrorball - Carolina - Treacherous - The Best Day - Nothing New - Mastermind - Love Story - Never Grow Up - Cardigan - You're On Your Own, Kid - State Of Grace - The Lucky One - Don't You - This Is Me Trying - False God - This Love - Innocent - Mad Woman - Sweeter Than Fiction - When Emma Falls In Love - Better Than Revenge - Breathe - Come In With The Rain - Gasoline - Two Is Better Than One - Jump Then Fall - Mr. Perfectly Fine - Back To December - The Story Of Us - Better Man - Dear John - I Almost Do - If This Was A Movie - Highway Don't Care - Come Back... Be Here - So It Goes... - The Joker & The Queen - Mean - Dancing With Our Hands Tied - Tied Together With A Smile - Holy Ground - Renegade


My favorite moments:

  • The fact that this chapter contains more songs than any other chapter.
  • The way LWYMMD is used in a different way from the previous chapter - in Rust it gave it a dark tone, and in Sapphire it contributes to the sparkly, nostalgic atmosphere. (Fun fact - LWYMMD is the only song used in three chapters.)
  • The unexpected return of Welcome To New York, one of only two songs (along with Bad Blood) used in two nonconsecutive chapters.
  • The Starlight / Red / Girl At Home buildup.
  • "We were both young when I first saw you / Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little / When you are young, they assume you know nothing / You're on your own, kid, you always have been"
  • "Another name goes up in lights / Begging you please don't go / So if I see you again / This is me trying"
  • The intentional overlap of False God ("still worship THIS LOVE") with the song This Love.
  • The softer moments with Happiness and You're On Your Own, Kid followed by a jumpscare slew of songs (Gasoline / Timeless / Mary's Song / Mirrorball) fading into the production.
  • "I know why we had to say goodbye like the back of my hand / And I hope you know that / Come back, come back / Cuz I can't live without you baby / Come back, be here / Come here, dressed in black now, so, so, so it goes / The joker & the queen / Why you gotta be so mean"
  • "I'd hold you as the water rushes in / The water's high, you're jumping into it" (even more important because these are from songs that already had parallel titles - Dancing With Our Hands Tied and Tied Together With A Smile)


Amber

Production in order of appearance:

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince* - You All Over Me* - Getaway Car* - Bejeweled* - Delicate* - Vigilante Shit - You're Losing Me* - Wonderland* - All Too Well (10 Minute Version)* - All Too Well* - Cornelia Street* - Champagne Problems* - Teardrops On My Guitar - Me!* - Getaway Car* - Out Of The Woods* - Closure - Tolerate It - Style* - Beautiful Eyes*


Vocals in order of appearance:

Daylight* - Tim McGraw - End Game - Long Story Short - It's Time To Go - Invisible String - Last Kiss - The 1 - Betty* - No Body No Crime - Cornelia Street* - You're Losing Me* - Soon You'll Get Better - All Too Well (10 Minute Version)* - Out Of The Woods* - Style* - Teardrops On My Guitar - Me!* - I Bet You Think About Me - I Know Places - Lavender Haze* - You Need To Calm Down* - Gorgeous* - Getaway Car* - The Last Time - Ivy - Wonderland* - White Horse* - Epiphany - Evermore* - All Of The Girls You Loved Before - Stay Stay Stay* - The Lakes


My favorite moments:

  • The subtle use of You All Over Me - it's one of the few infamous "hidden" instrumentals in this megamix that I can easily identify, with the pulsating guitar from the intro being used as a pedal point of sorts.
  • "I wanna be your end game / Fatefully / I wanna be your first string / Sometimes to run is the brave thing / I used to think I would meet somebody / Just like our last / (Ooh-ooh)"
  • "The worst thing that I ever did / He did it"
  • The All Too Well / All Too Well Ten Minute Version / Cornelia Street / Champagne Problems / Teardrops On My Guitar mashup, and the way this takes advantage of the distinct production of both All Too Well editions.
  • The percussion feature with Out Of The Woods / All Too Well / Closure / Delicate / Me!
  • The part that immediately follows with NINE instrumentals seamlessly blended together - if I hadn't watched the video with the song tags, I never would've guessed Out Of The Woods, All Too Well, Closure, Delicate, Me!, Cornelia Street, Tolerate It, Getaway Car AND Style were all being used at the same time at the end of the chapter, because it sounds like one big, full, gorgeous track, and now that I see it I can listen closely and hear each individual layer, which is really cool.


Aurora

Production in order of appearance:

Beautiful Eyes* - Getaway Car* - Style* - Only The Young - Bejeweled* - Wonderland* - New Year's Day


Vocals in order of appearance:

Me!* - Gorgeous* - You Need To Calm Down* - Our Song - Out Of The Woods* - All Too Well (10 Minute Version)* - Style* - Getaway Car* - You're Losing Me* - Lavender Haze* - Delicate* - Stay Stay Stay* - Ours - Cornelia Street* - White Horse* - All Too Well* - Betty* - Evermore* - Superstar - Champagne Problems* - We Were Happy - Dear Reader - The Alcott - Daylight*


My favorite moments:

  • Beautiful Eyes being acknowledged (and for a long time at that, even though I can't really hear it the way it's buried in the production).
  • "Back before you lost the one real thing you've ever known / Just take me home / And I'm so furious at you for making me feel this way"
  • "Don't pretend it's such a mystery, think about the place where you first met / ME-HEE-HEE"
  • The callback to the first chapter where every album in chronological order gets one line.
  • The way the pianos from New Year's Day and Wonderland are used over the heartbeat from You're Losing Me - absolutely gorgeous.
  • "Superstar / I remember / All too well / You won't remember all my champagne problems / Delicate / And goodbye's so much harder / Dear reader / I can't find a pulse, my heart won't start anymore"
  • The fact that the production fades away down to just the subtlest piano line, ending with the intro from New Year's Day.
  • "I tell you my problems, you tell me the truth / I'll tell you the truth but never goodbye", especially when paired with that echo.
  • The fact that the ending makes me want to listen to the whole thing again.


That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Sunday, July 13, 2025

[Summer Special Day 13] Hallett's Hits 7/13/25 + Summer Relaxation Playlist

Hi! Welcome to another installment of Hallett's Hits with the third of five playlists in this series: the Summer Relaxation Playlist, a 13-song collection of chill songs for the more relaxing moments of summer. This was a pretty average week for Hallett's Hits, with Sombr getting his first top 30 entry after four Almost There songs, Kpop Demon Hunters slowly taking over the chart, a semi-high debut from a long-time Almost There song that needs no introduction, and a very high debut that I'm sure everyone was expecting to see. Anyway, here it is!


Hallett's Top 30

Exits:

Alex Warren - Ordinary (4 wk: Peak #27)

Debbii Dawson - Chemical Reaction (7 wk: Peak #8)

Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco - Younger & Hotter Than Me (12 wk: Peak #9)

Haim - Everybody's Trying To Figure Me Out (13 wk: Peak #7)


#30: Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea - Shake It To The Max (=) (2 wk: Peak #30)

#29: Evanescence - Afterlife (-1) (9 wk: Peak #28)

#28: Hayes Warner - Threw Me Away (-3) (12 wk: Peak #15)

#27: Sombr - We Never Dated (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #27)

#26: Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club (-6) (21 wk: Peak #1 for 1 wk)

Golden Extra: Beabadoobee - Glue Song

#25: Kpop Demon Hunters - Free (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #26)

#24: Caroline Polachek - On The Beach (+2) (2 wk: Peak #24)

#23: Benson Boone - Mystical Magical (-4) (5 wk: Peak #11)

#22: Debbii Dawson - You Killed The Music (-5) (13 wk: Peak #2)

#21: Kpop Demon Hunters - Golden (+8) (2 wk: Peak #21)

Underground Extra: Favors - The Hudson

#20: Conan Gray - This Song (-2) (3 wk: Peak #18)

#19: Michael Clifford - Cool (+2) (3 wk: Peak #19)

#18: Doechii - Anxiety (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #18)

#17: Lyn Lapid - Buttons (-1) (9 wk: Peak #13)

#16: Benson Boone - Momma Song (-3) (6 wk: Peak #12)

Rising Extra: Justin Bieber - Daisies

#15: Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers - Balcony (-4) (9 wk: Peak #7)

#14: Avreya Bloom - Pixel Rain (-2) (9 wk: Peak #3)

#13: Finneas - Same Old Story (-7) (20 wk: Peak #2)

#12: Lyn Lapid - Fix (+3) (10 wk: Peak #9)

#11: Alex Warren & Rose - On My Mind (+3) (2 wk: Peak #11)

Almost There Extra: Kpop Demon Hunters - How It's Done

#10: Benson Boone - Reminds Me Of You (=) (2 wk: Peak #10)

#9: Benson Boone - Take Me Home (=) (2 wk: Peak #9)

#8: Avreya Bloom - Battery At 3 Percent (-4) (6 wk: Peak #3)

#7: Role Model & Laufey - The Longest Goodbye (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #7)

#6: Laufey - Silver Lining (-1) (14 wk: Peak #1 for 4 wk)

SummeRelaxation Extra: Laufey - From The Start

#5: Faouzia - Porcelain (-2) (9 wk: Peak #2)

#4: Lyn Lapid - Floater Friend (+3) (12 wk: Peak #3)

#3: Laufey - Lover Girl (-2) (3 wk: Peak #1 for 1 wk)

#2: Favors - The Little Mess You Made (+6) (3 wk: Peak #2)

#1: Laufey - Tough Luck (+1) (9 wk: Peak #1 for 8 wk)


Biggest jump: Kpop Demon Hunters - Golden (+8)

Biggest drop: Finneas - Same Old Story (-7)


Starlight Seven

Removed: Sombr - Back To Friends

#7: Sombr - Undressed (-1)

#6: Doechii - Anxiety (-2)

#5: Kpop Demon Hunters - Golden (Debut)

#4: Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else (-2)

#3: Benson Boone - Mystical Magical (=)

#2: Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club (+3)

#1: Alex Warren - Ordinary (=)


Almost There

Favors - The Hudson (Debut)

Henry Moodie - Comedown (4)

Kpop Demon Hunters - How It's Done (Debut)

Lewis Capaldi - Survive (3)

Justin Bieber - Daisies (Debut)

Sombr - Back To Friends (9)

Conan Gray - Vodka Cranberry (Debut)

Maren Morris - Lemonade (3)

Daniel Caesar & Rex Orange County - Rearrange My World (Debut)

Ed Sheeran - Drive (4)

Mgk - Vampire Diareis (Debut)

Mikayla Geier - Piano In The Sky (4)

Foo Fighters - Today's Song (Debut)

Haim - All Over Me (4)

Raye - Grandma Calls The Boy Bad News (Debut)

Mariah The Scientist - Burning Blue (5)

Kehlani - Folded (2)


Dropouts:

Avreya Bloom - I Wasn't Pretty Enough To Be Me (1)

Benson Boone - Mr. Electric Blue (1)

Pinkpantheress - Illegal (1)

Katseye - Gameboy (2)

Eli Vorn - 404 Heart (3)


Abyss

Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else

Chappell Roan - The Giver

Connie Francis - Pretty Little Baby

Kpop Demon Hunters - What It Sounds Like

Sabrina Carpenter - Dumb & Poetic

Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco & Gracie Abrams - Call Me When You Break Up

Sombr - Undressed


Summer Relaxation Playlist

Laufey - Lover Girl

Taylor Swift - Clean

Connie Francis - Pretty Little Baby

Lyn Lapid - Buttons

Nicky Youre - Eyes On You

Jasontheween & D4vd - Summer Uptown

Laufey - Silver Lining

Tyla - Bliss

Beabadoobee - Glue Song

Grentperez & Lyn Lapid - Room For You

Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea - Shake It To The Max

Taylor Swift - Call It What You Want

Laufey - From The Start


That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Saturday, July 12, 2025

[Summer Special Day 12] Wheel Of Names decides my next Hallett's Hits!

Hi! So, before tomorrow's Hallett's Hits + summer playlist post, I decided to try a pretty funny idea. I entered a collection of songs into wheelofnames.com, a pretty well-known site that randomizes entries, to let it "decide" tomorrow's Hallett's Hits. 

The randomized collection was made up of last week's countdown, Almost There, and abyss, along with what will be this week's AT debuts, and, just to make things a little more interesting, my five least favorite songs of the year so far - those five songs are marked with *asterisks, and four of them (all but my #1 least favorite) made the countdown, lol. How I did this was I started by filling in the countdown with whatever 30 songs it decided first, then the next 17 would be Almost There, and all the remaining songs would be in the abyss. (The collection I gave it just happened to be.. 69 songs in total. That also means it will be a twenty-twoooooo-song abyss.)

Anyway, welcome to Wheel Of Names' hits! Let's get into this... very chaotic chart.


Hallett's Top 30

Otherworldly list of more than half of last week's countdown exiting:

Kpop Demon Hunters - Golden (1 wk: Peak #29)

Evanescence - Afterlife (8 wk: Peak #28)

Alex Warren - Ordinary (4 wk: Peak #27)

Caroline Polachek - On The Beach (1 wk: Peak #26)

Debbii Dawson - Chemical Reaction (7 wk: Peak #8)

Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club (20 wk: Peak #1 for 1 wk)

Benson Boone - Mystical Magical (4 wk: Peak #11)

Lyn Lapid - Buttons (8 wk: Peak #13)

Lyn Lapid - Fix (9 wk: Peak #9)

Benson Boone - Momma Song (5 wk: Peak #12)

Benson Boone - Reminds Me Of You (1 wk: Peak #10)

Favors - The Little Mess You Made (2 wk: Peak #8)

Finneas - Same Old Story (19 wk: Peak #2)

Laufey - Silver Lining (13 wk: Peak #1 for 4 wk)

Avreya Bloom - Battery At 3 Percent (5 wk: Peak #3)

Faouzia - Porcelain (8 wk: Peak #2)

Laufey - Tough Luck (8 wk: Peak #1 for 7 wk) (excuse me WHAT NOW?!!!)


#30: Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea - Shake It To The Max (=) (2 wk: Peak #30)

#29: Connie Francis - Pretty Little Baby (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #29)

#28: Sombr - Back To Friends (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #28)

#27: Benson Boone - Take Me Home (-18) (2 wk: Peak #9)

#26: Conan Gray - This Song (-8) (3 wk: Peak #18)

#25: Kpop Demon Hunters - Free (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #25)

#24: *Ravyn Lenae - Love Me Not (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #24)

#23: Laufey - Lover Girl (-22) (3 wk: Peak #1 for 1 wk)

#22: *Jennie - Like Jennie (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #22)

#21: Doechii - Anxiety (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #21)

#20: Teen Jesus & The Jean Teasers - Balcony (-9) (9 wk: Peak #7)

#19: Avreya Bloom - I Wasn't Pretty Enough To Be Me (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #19)

#18: Hayes Warner - Threw Me Away (+7) (12 wk: Peak #15)

#17: *Tate McRae - Sports Car (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #17)

#16: Debbii Dawson - You Killed The Music (+1) (13 wk: Peak #2)

#15: Haim - All Over Me (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #15)

#14: Michael Clifford - Cool (+7) (3 wk: Peak #14)

#13: Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco & Gracie Abrams - Call Me When You Break Up (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #13)

#12: Kpop Demon Hunters - How It's Done (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #12)

#11: Sombr - We Never Dated (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #11)

#10: Lyn Lapid - Floater Friend (-3) (12 wk: Peak #3)

#9: Alex Warren & Rose - On My Mind (+5) (2 wk: Peak #9)

#8: Haim - Everybody's Trying To Figure Me Out (+14) (14 wk: Peak #7)

#7: *Charli XCX - Party 4 U (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #7)

#6: Kpop Demon Hunters - What It Sounds Like (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #6)

#5: Lewis Capaldi - Survive (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #5)

#4: Sabrina Carpenter - Dumb & Poetic (Re-entry) (4 wk: Peak #3)

#3: Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco - Younger And Hotter Than Me (+21) (13 wk: Peak #3)

#2: Avreya Bloom - Pixel Rain (+10) (9 wk: Peak #2)

#1: Jasontheween & D4vd - Summer Uptown (Debut) (1 wk: Peak #1 for 1 wk)


Almost There

Maren Morris - Lemonade (3)

Faouzia - Porcelain (PT30 Re-entry) (2)

Chappell Roan - The Giver (PT30 Re-entry) (2)

Alex Warren - Ordinary (PT30 Re-entry) (2)

Laufey - Silver Lining (PT30 Debut)

Laufey - Tough Luck (PT30 Debut)

Katseye - Gameboy (3)

Mikayla Geier - Piano In The Sky (4)

Benson Boone - Reminds Me Of You (PT30 Debut)

Mgk - Vampire Diaries (Debut)

Role Model & Laufey - The Longest Goodbye (Debut)

Conan Gray - Vodka Cranberry (Debut)

Benson Boone - Mystical Magical (PT30 Re-entry) (2)

Evanescence - Afterlife (PT30 Re-entry) (2)

Daniel Caesar & Rex Orange County - Rearrange My World (Debut)

Lyn Lapid - Buttons (PT30 Debut)

Henry Moodie - Comedown (4)


Dropouts:

Benson Boone - Mr. Electric Blue (1)

Kehlani - Folded (1)

Pinkpantheress - Illegal (1)

Ed Sheeran - Drive (3)

Eli Vorn - 404 Heart (3)

Mariah The Scientist - Burning Blue (4)


Abyss

Avreya Bloom - Battery At 3 Percent

Benson Boone - Momma Song

Benson Boone - Mr. Electric Blue

Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else

*Bruno Mars & Sexyy Red - Fat Juicy & Wet (newly added!) (lollllll not this being the only bottom 5er not to make the top 30)

Caroline Polachek - On The Beach

Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club

Debbii Dawson - Chemical Reaction

Ed Sheeran - Drive

Eli Vorn - 404 Heart

Favors - The Hudson (newly added!)

Favors - The Little Mess You Made

Finneas - Same Old Story

Foo Fighters - Today's Song (newly added!)

Justin Bieber - Daisies (newly added!)

Kehlani - Folded

Kpop Demon Hunters - Golden

Lyn Lapid - Fix

Mariah The Scientist - Burning Blue

Pinkpantheress - Illegal

Raye - Grandma Calls The Boy Bad News (newly added!)

Sombr - Undressed


Well that was interesting. Anyway, just another reminder to submit to Bubby's March Madness event before the final round tomorrow. That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Friday, July 11, 2025

[Summer Special Day 11] Ranking weird sounds in Taylor Swift songs!

Hi! This is a slightly larger post, so sorry it was a bit late. It's a kinda niche rankdown that I think I'm the first person ever to do, and it probably won't be a successful post but I love these kinds of things: a ranking of every "unconventional sound" that I know of in Taylor Swift songs. There are a lot of times throughout Taylor Swift's discography where she'll include a sound effect that's just meant to contribute to the atmosphere, and I love these. There are also a decent number of... "errors", I guess? Mostly in the rerecords when the production was slightly rushed, there are some noticeable glitches in the production, and some of them work better than others. So, this ranking includes all of those as well. The entries that are likely unintentional glitches are marked with an *asterisk. I don't think I need to explain further, so... here is the ranking!


#33: *Ed Sheeran's "AEHHH" in Everything Has Changed TV - Pretty obvious last place. This is one of the only major mistakes in Taylor's discography, and definitely the only one that truly disrupts the flow of the song, regardless of how much attention you pay to small musical details. Like, you can't really miss this one unless you're medically tone deaf. All-around, this song is significantly worse in the TV.

#32: *Buzzing in 1989 TV - I never experienced this infamous glitch firsthand, but it sounds horrible from what I heard about it.

#31: *The entire existence of Track 3 - This is just hilarious. For those of you who don't know, a few years back Taylor accidentally uploaded a song on streaming titled "Track 3" and it was eight seconds of static. Rather listen to this than "AEHHH".

#30: *Noticeable mixing imbalance in The Last Time TV - Another infamous glitch, where Gary's vocals are WAY louder than Taylor's for most of the song.

#29: "STAY!" in All You Had To Do Was Stay OG & TV - The first non-mistake on the ranking, and it's more annoying than most of the mistakes.

#28: *Metronome in Forever & Always TV - Fearless TV has a lot of errors, and this one is subtle but audible in the guitar solo. As someone who already doesn't really like F&A because of the lyrics, this just brings down the production for me.

#27: *"FooOOOcus" in Jump Then Fall TV - Reputation and Midnights called and want their autotune back. You don't belong on Fearless.

#26: *"YOUUUUUUuuuuuuu" in Sparks Fly TV - Slightly less noticeable version of the last one.

#25: *"And th--fAdEd picture" in The Other Side Of The Door TV - She's honestly so real for not having enough breath to get through this song's outro in one take, but I feel like the transition between takes could've been smoother. Luckily the other TOSOTD production error is accidental genius, and this one audio cut is not nearly enough to bring this song out of my top 22 favorite Taylor Swift songs.

#24: *Random backing vocal cuts in Lucky One TV - As someone who's more familiar with the TV than the OG, this doesn't bother me as much as anyone else, but still, it's a bit annoying.

#23: *"We were both young when I first saw you-FFFFSSSS-I close my eyes" in Love Story TV - This one isn't super noticeable, but I can never unhear that little static sound on this line. I can't tell if this is something in the production or just a weird closed-mouth breath, but it's a weird one.

#22: Birds & sirens in Exile - Twenty-twooooooo... Ranking these relatively low might have been in part biased by the fact that I hate this song for personal reasons I won't disclose. It's a nice touch but it doesn't really do much for me.

#21: Car tires in This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things - Gets annoying after a while but for the most part sounds cool.

#20: Police car in No Body, No Crime - Amazing unless you listen in the car.

#19: *"OoO-kay" in All Too Well 5MV TV - Possibly Taylor's most infamous production error, and for some reason I think this one is kinda cool. Nothing too special.

#18: *Off-key chimes in Holy Ground TV - Unsurprisingly, I seem to be the only person who doesn't mind the fact that those chime sounds are way out of tune. They're so high-pitched that it just makes it feel even more confused and natural. If it was a vocal it would be a different story.

#17: *"PPPPPAGE" in Lucky One TV - Very angry, very explosive, very ranty.

#16: Gunshots in I Did Something Bad - Very intense, very rageful, very angsty.

#15: VHS tape in I Know Places OG & TV - Because they're being recorded the whole time, even when they think they know places to hide. Genius.

#14: *Screeching noise in The Other Side Of The Door TV - It's a controversial opinion, but I love the way this sounds. It's very eerie, very raw, very rocky, and only makes me love this song more. Unfortunately the other TOSOTD production error is pretty egregious.

#13: Pen click in Blank Space OG & TV - Iconic. Earns the lucky 13 spot.

#12: Windshield wipers in Cornelia Street - Now this is how you do a sound effect in a song.

#11: Massive volume increase in Tell Me Why TV - This one is probably intentional since it happens after 13 seconds, and I think it sounds gorgeous.

#10: RADIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDYAHHDYAHH in I Did Something Bad - So glad she had that dream.

#9: Tolling bell in It's Nice To Have A Friend - The subtly sophisticated instrumentation of this song is a standout in Taylor's discography.

#8: High heels on cobblestone in Cardigan - A surprisingly gorgeous sound.

#7: Typewriter bell in Fortnight - Adds a touch of brightness to this otherwise very dark song.

#6: *Bridge layering in You Are In Love TV - This mistake improved the song from the original for me. Understandably, many people find it annoying that the "you are in love" line got accidentally copied over the first line of the bridge, but I think it's really cool how the bridge just kind of emerges out of the chorus in this way.

#5: Heartbeat in Wildest Dreams OG & TV & You're Losing Me - Another very iconic production choice that appears twice in Taylor's discography, and for good reason.

#4: Elephant trumpet in Labyrinth - The synths in this song are incredible.

#3: Metal clattering in Closure - Gets WAY too much hate.

#2: *Shaky breath in Last Kiss OG - Wow. I honestly wish this was in the TV because there's so much emotional depth in just this ONE BREATH, and it was so clearly not forced. The tradeoff? Taylor's Version has an even more hard-hitting sound effect that the OG also has, but the TV does it even better.

#1: Tolling bell in Last Kiss OG & TV but mostly TV - Okay, I'm about to go all-caps. HOW IS THIS NOT TALKED ABOUT MORE? Seriously, I want a 10-minute version of 4:41 of Last Kiss (Taylor's Version), and yet I haven't seen anyone else mention it. I don't even know why I'm obsessed with this. It's such a simple synth effect that could be achieved in just a few seconds, but... one could say it's e n c h a n t i n g. This sound, and the way it's paired with the emotive lyrics and vocals, especially in such a pivotal moment in the song, are the main things that boost Last Kiss into my top 13 favorite Taylor Swift songs of all time.


Well, I probably missed some, but for now that's my ranking of Taylor Swift's weird sound effects, which can also in turn be used as somewhat of a guide to what songs have these kinds of sounds. That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Thursday, July 10, 2025

[Summer Special Day 10] Olivia Rodrigo songs for each of my Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers

Hi! Welcome back to the summer special with the third of three Animal Crossing: New Horizons posts, now that ACNH may be on its last legs with all the recent events in the Nintendo universe. This has been one of my favorite games for about 2-3 years now, so I've had a lot of time to get to know these villagers. As you saw in yesterday's summer special post, I assigned Taylor Swift Eras to each ACNH villager, and now... they each get an Olivia Rodrigo song.

This is a bit different from yesterday because I was able to make it work by grouping Folklore & Evermore so that there'd be an even number of eras and villagers, but this time I'm just using any random 10 songs from Olivia's discography. Anyway, here it is! 

(Wow, this blog has diverged very far from its original premise.)


Audie

Species: Wolf

Personality: Peppy

Song: So American






Hornsby

Species: Rhino

Personality: Lazy

Song: Teenage Dream





Sparro

Species: Bird

Personality: Jock

Song: Get Him Back!





Lucy

Species: Pig

Personality: Normal

Song: Hope Ur Ok





Chadder

Species: Mouse

Personality: Smug

Song: Jealousy, Jealousy






Whitney

Species: Wolf

Personality: Snooty

Song: Logical





Katt

Species: Cat

Personality: Sisterly

Song: Vampire




Tipper

Species: Cow

Personality: Snooty

Song: Happier





Spike

Species: Rhino

Personality: Cranky

Song: Good 4 U





Goose

Species: Chicken

Personality: Jock

Song: Can't Catch Me Now






That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

[Summer Special Day 9] Taylor Swift Eras for each of my Animal Crossing: New Horizons villagers

Hi! Welcome back to the summer special with the second of three Animal Crossing: New Horizons posts, now that ACNH may be on its last legs with all the recent events in the Nintendo universe. This has been one of my favorite games for about 2-3 years now, so I've had enough time to get to know these villagers to do what I seem to do with everything nowadays - surprise not surprise, assigning Taylor Swift eras to each of them. (Since there are only 10 villagers for 11 eras, Folklore and Evermore are grouped together.) Also, this will be the first time I reveal exactly which villagers I have, so for those of you who also play ACNH, you can see if we have any of the same!


Audie

Species: Wolf

Personality: Peppy

Era: 1989






Hornsby

Species: Rhino

Personality: Lazy

Era: Folklore/Evermore





Sparro

Species: Bird

Personality: Jock

Era: Fearless





Lucy

Species: Pig

Personality: Normal

Era: Red





Chadder

Species: Mouse

Personality: Smug

Era: Midnights






Whitney

Species: Wolf

Personality: Snooty

Era: The Tortured Poets Department




Katt

Species: Cat

Personality: Sisterly

Era: Speak Now




Tipper

Species: Cow

Personality: Snooty

Era: Lover





Spike

Species: Rhino

Personality: Cranky

Era: Reputation





Goose

Species: Chicken

Personality: Jock

Era: Taylor Swift/Debut





That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

[Summer Special Day 8] Taylor Swift Eras outfits in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Hallett's Version)

Hi! So... no, before you ask, this is not the "larger post" I mentioned yesterday. I think I underestimated just how much "larger" that post is, and so it likely won't be ready until at least day 11. This is a post that I had been working on compiling in these last few weeks where I designed outfits for every Taylor Swift era in Animal Crossing. Let me know what you think of the outfits I made! 

(Unfortunately I didn't think to make note of all the elements that make up each outfit, but they're all in my storage and I might come back to this post eventually to add that information. Also, I have no clue why but this post seems to be loading incorrectly on mobile. You can see everything but it's a complete mess, and it looks much cleaner on the web version.)

















































That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!

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[Summer Special Day 21] Taylor Swift's next release might be announced... this Thursday???

Hi! Welcome back to the summer special, sorry this one was a bit late. This is all happening very suddenly so I actually didn't start wo...

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