Courtney Love vs. Taylor Swift & Dying Artistry

Do the times make the woman or does the woman make the times?

Apr 17, 2024

April 5th marked the 30th anniversary of singer Kurt Cobain’s death from a self-inflicted gunshot. While his wife (singer/actress Courtney Love) was in rehab at the time, many thought she was a negative influence and even blamed her for causing his suicide. It may be unfair to speculate over what might have been, but knowing what we know now it’s hard not to ask one question after all these years; why couldn’t Courtney Love have married Wil Wheaton instead?

The anniversary isn’t the only cause of an uptick in attention for Love this month. The Standard released an interview with the now United Kingdom resident to promote an upcoming BBC series, “Courtney Love’s Women.”

(Talk about the importance of an apostrophe.)

At 1,292 words into a 1,658-word piece, there is a 26-word quote from Love regarding Taylor Swift. 1

Taylor is not important. She might be a safe space for girls, and she’s probably the Madonna of now, but she’s not interesting as an artist.

A couple people noticed.

Lost in the shuffle of this viral reaction are two realizations.

1. Despite all the baggage and controversy over the years, Courtney Love’s opinion should carry weight as she was always an accomplished artist.

2. You wouldn’t need half of her talent or experience to unravel this mystery surrounding Swift. Or, as Love might say now that she lives in London, “Elementary, my dear Watson.”

Though she probably shouldn’t say that. Or really anything right now. Going into hiding until the Swifties calm down is a good idea. Are Winston Churchill’s old cabinet war rooms still in working order?

The reaction from Taylor’s fans was, er, well…

…swift.

No pun intended?

It’s also been passionate and misguided.

Page Six quotes a fan as saying: 2

“100 years from now, the name Courtney Love will mean nothing,” a third fan added. “Not a single person will know who she is. But when Taylor Swift is mentioned, people will remember how she was able to connect with millions of people thru [sic] her music, cherished her fans, and fought for artists’ rights.”

Connecting, cherishing fans, or business acumen are not relevant here. Love is talking about artistry and songs that carry creative importance. This is not part of Swift’s repertoire, nor could anyone reasonably expect it ever will be.

The first problem is the lack of a distinct voice. This isn’t an indictment of Swift’s singing or vocal range but the songwriter voice, the ideas explored in her lyrics. More often than not, her songs are about herself. We know all about her reputation for writing songs about her ex-boyfriends but even when she deviates with something like Anti-Hero, it’s still about her. Swift uses “I,” “I’ve,” “my,” “me” and other derivations over 40 times during that song.

Granted, she’s not being discreet about it. One could argue it might be done intentionally to complement the storytelling or build the character in the song.

Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism

It remains a song focused on her, whether it is written with self-awareness or not. It also doesn’t explain away any number of other songs in her catalog that do the same. It’s hard to be “interesting” as a singer/singwriter when you mostly avoid telling stories about the world and those in it. She doesn’t have to be political or ideological to accomplish this. She just would have to sing about something, someone, anyone other than herself.

The self-centered theme in her writing isn’t unique to Swift; it’s how many performers are creating music today. It is also understandable for someone who has been the center of attention for what feels like forever, who literally had people being paid to think only about her when she was a teenager. What reason would she ever have to consider that audiences would rather her sing about any subject other than herself?

The result is a lack of diversity and impactful messages in Swift’s music library. It may also be impacting her relationships but, “Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor, not a relationship counselor.”

Becoming famous at an early age impacts creativity in other ways. There’s something to be said about the humility that’s earned by playing in front of 8 people at a dive bar when you are in your 20’s and not sure if you have enough money to pay rent. Experiencing a time when people don’t care about your art is actually beneficial. It also allows more time to experiment with your style before having the expectations that come with a record deal. If you never had the opportunity to try new things before the spotlight, could you do it years into the acclaim?

The counter argument would be that Swift showed she can take risks when she fought her old record label. That’s about the financial side of the industry, demonstrating her “girl boss” power. While commendable, it is actually an argument in favor of Love’s critique. Becoming a recording artist at a young age means she was exposed to the business side quicker and more substantially than artists who get signed later in life. That perspective is both a reason why she’s so successful an entertainer and so “safe” as an artist. It’s the reckless performer who isn’t grounded in the business that is more likely to take the bigger creative risks, right or wrong.

Taylor Swift isn’t alone here. From Justin Bieber to Olivia Rodrigo, we’ve seen entertainers producing music in their teens. Ariana Grande’s first album was released when she was 20 but she’d already spent years exposed to the business side of entertainment as an actress.

Do the times make the man or does the man make the times? While all the cool kids talk about gender swapping, let’s consider generation swapping. If Taylor Swift was performing in the 1960’s, would her songs be about war, or would she sing about dating Joe Namath? If Bob Dylan was generation Z, would he be writing songs about artificial intelligence or snapping selfies at Coachella? So much has changed, including the decline in average song length, social media encouraging singers to be a brand and write songs about themselves, and how fans consume music or engage with their favorite performer.

Does Taylor Swift even care? There’s nothing wrong with taking the “safe” route by avoiding controversy off the stage and risks on it. Debating whether you are an entertainer or artist doesn’t matter when you are the music industry’s equivalent of Procter & Gamble. There’s value in songs that a mother and daughter can enjoy together, or a daughter enjoying music that her father can also ~~enjoy~~ tolerate.

As for Love? Courtney could learn from country singer Morgan Wallen, the last person to run afoul of the House of Swift. He made a joke about Taylor at his concert which prompted the fans in attendance to boo Swift. Wallen wisely got himself arrested so he could be thrown in jail, the only place where Taylor’s wrath could not reach.