Source: NME.com
“Betty” by Taylor Swift is a unique song on so many different levels. It has great lyrics and instrumentation. It also tells a story that many people can relate to while keeping the track open to interpretation from a variety of perspectives.
The song is on her latest album Folklore, which released July 24th 2020.
There are many sides to Taylor Swift’s creativity. She began her career as a country singer, and became widely celebrated as one of the best young talents in the genre. However, Swift knew there were other sounds of music that she could create and eventually went on to crossover from country to pop music. It was a big risk that paid off significantly. Her pop music albums exceeded her country pieces due to radio airplay, streaming music and making her songs available to a wider audience. Swift is now crossing over again from pop to folk. The interesting part about this transition is that you can hear both her country and pop music elements working in collaboration in her style of folk music.
“Betty” is a well-written song that tells the story of Swift as a friend that did something in the past to disrupt her relationship with Betty. I recently wrote a song review of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”, and Swift’s song is similar to it from the perspective of lyrics and storytelling.
Swift’s vocals are strong and are as much of a pleasure to listen to in folk as the other genres of music she has explored as an artist.
While the majority of her most recent songs are heavy on the drum machine in order to create a pop sound, “Betty” features more of a folk sound through acoustic guitar, which is somewhat of a throwback to her earlier works. Her performance and the production created a song that all of her fans will find something unique to say about and enjoy.
It is possible that her inspiration for writing the song was simply to tell a good story that everyone can relate to. If so, then she certainly succeeded in that endeavor. The nature of the relationship between the singer and Betty is left open for interpretation, which gives listeners an infinite number of ways to approach and appreciate the song.