Coffee With Kate #11
Random thoughts and my dream TTPD setlist for the Eras Tour
Here are some of my most random thoughts and observations from the past couple of weeks:
Longchamp Le Pliage large totes are in! Last year it was all about the little Longchamp bags with Gen Z. If you’re like me, upon my college graduation in 2010 I got my first Longchamp Le Pliage and have loved it ever since. I think they are classic and beautifully minimalist. And while the lack of organization can be a turnoff to many, I’ve always been a big fan of bags in bags. Well, I’ve observed many youths carrying the large Le Pliage totes recently and I’m very happy about it. I felt very cool when I went into the office earlier this week and saw 3 Gen Z carrying their black Le Pliage totes while I was also carrying my black Le Pliage tote.
The episode of SNL that Ryan Gosling hosted a couple of weeks ago may be the best in years. Not only was there an alien abduction sketch that Kate McKinnon returned for, but the Beavis and Butt-head sketch was hilarious and I’ve watched the opening monologue with Emily Blunt no less than 5 times. I will also add that the Jumanji sketch from the week prior with Kristin Wiig is also one of my recent favorites!
Did you see that the Spice Girls quickly reunited at Victoria’s 50th birthday? David Beckham played the role of proud husband and manager by recording and posting the video to his Instagram and it’s just the best thing ever. Scary Spice shared the video and used #tourdatescomingsoon which may be a tease or may be true and I’m hoping it’s true!
We’ve had the Ninja coffee maker for years and while I love it, it somehow leaks everywhere. It doesn’t work well with white granite countertops 🙃 so I declared to be done with it and have entered my French Press era. I’m still figuring it out, but I’m enjoying the simplicity of the French Press and the coffee tastes great! I’ve always been intimidated by French Presses but it’s not complicated and I can see the steps of using it can become a little morning ritual.
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One Week Post-TTPD Release
Now that we’re a little over a week since the release of The Tortured Poet’s Department, I have more thoughts! Like I cannot stop thinking about how So Long, London fits so perfectly with Call It What You Want. I’m still processing the parallels of these songs to her older songs and maybe I’ll share that at some point. It’s a lot to wrap my head around. But some lyrics have dug deep into my brain one week post-release and will not let go.
You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me - the build-up leading to this line is just incredible and then she delivers it and I’m just left in awe. Plus it’s fun to sing-yell in your car
How dare you think it's romantic / Leaving me safe and stranded / 'Cause fuck it, I was in love / So fuck you if I can't have us / 'Cause fuck it, I was in love - The call back to New Romantics here was so unexpected and I’m obsessed with it. But also “fuck you if I can’t have us” is heartwrenching.
What if he’s written “mine” on my upper thigh only in my mind - the line I cannot stop singing. Actually, this whole song has found its way into my head and is playing at all times but I usually start mentally singing it with this line.
I was tame, I was gentle ’til the circus life made me mean/ Don’t you worry folks we took out all her teeth … You caged me and then you called me crazy/ I am what I am ’cause you trained me. - if that doesn’t speak to the female experience idk what does
You shit-talked me under the table/ Talking rings and talking cradles/ I wish I could unrecall/ How much we almost had it all. - Fuck all the fuckboys and love bombers. But any relationship that ends when you thought it was the one has you wishing you couldn’t remember it at some point.
Lights, camera, b—h, smile/ Even when you wanna die/ He said he’d love me all his life/ But that life was too short/ Breaking down I hit the floor/ All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting, ‘More!' - This is just such a fun pre-chorus to sing even though it’s devastating
Old habits die screaming - Paired with the angry drums here is so good!
Come one come all, it’s happening again/ The empathetic hunger descends/ We’ll tell no one except all of our friends/ We must know, how did it end? - I never thought I’d be randomly singing about empathetic hunger but I love this line so much. It’s so perfectly descriptive of the public’s need to know everything or even everyone’s need to know everything when something horrible happens.
Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? / Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed? / Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? / In fifty years, will all this be declassified? / And you'll confess why you did it / And I'll say, "Good riddance" / ‘Cause it wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden / I would've died for your sins / Instead, I just died inside - The best bridge of the album for me
Please / I’ve been on my knees / Change the prophecy / Don't want money / Just someone who wants my company / Let it once be me / Who do I have to speak to / About if they can redo / The prophecy? - I didn’t get into romantic relationships until my late 20s and I swear this is how I felt 90% of the time in my 20s. I always wondered what was wrong with me and why I wasn’t the one getting picked.
It looks like Taylor will may add a segment of TTPD to the Eras Tour setlist. Here are the songs I’d love to see her add to the setlist:
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart: I think it’s so meta and has to happen that she perform this catchy upbeat tragedy live on the tour that inspired it. And it won’t be sufficient as an acoustic song. It needs full choreography.
The Black Dog: Going with a storytelling theme here, we’re moving from the upbeat heartbreak song into this sad heartbreak song as she watches her lover move on from her and live his life without her.
Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?: Then, we need to bring it back and shove it to the media and music industry. It would just be therapeutic to scream this song. And the dancers can use the witchy costumes from the Evermore set!
But seriously, you can’t tell me these shoes are not meant to go with this song!!
Down Bad: Idk if she would actually perform this one as there are so many “fucks”, but it seems to be a fan-favorite so I’m putting it out into the universe. I think this one could continue the story of her rebounding in an attempt to find happiness.
If not Down Bad due to the profanity, Fresh Out The Slammer would be a good alternative that could achieve the same story.
The Alchemy: Finally, we need to finish the TTPD set with The Alchemy. It’s the best song we have about Travis - a relationship that exists because of the Eras Tour. Our healed queen can sing this about “the guy on the Chiefs” every night for the remainder of the tour!
Honorable mentions:
So Long, London: As much as I think this song would be great in a set, it’s too good for the acoustic set and she has a bunch of upcoming London shows so I think she’ll save this one for them specifically.
But Daddy I Love Him: I think it would be such a fun song to see performed live. To me, this song is the yin to Blank Space’s yang and speaks to how she’s been treated about her relationships for her entire career, not just about her recent relationships. Since it’s such a defining part of why people love and hate her as an artist, it would be a great addition!
🔗 Interesting Links
🤍 I want to be one of those people who can sit down with a new Taylor Swift album and record my initial thoughts. I don’t know why, but I do. I sort of tried that with her new album and got too overwhelmed after the second song. I also tend to find reaction videos to be VERY dramatic. Like, we don’t need a big reaction after every single line. So I loved reading
’s 96 thoughts as a therapist. It’s straightforward and a really fun read.👧🏻 I thought this post
was really insightful to learn more about what is happening in my child’s brain development and to help us understand that it’s normal and reasonable, which I think is just an excellent addition to setting expectations for myself.✨
shared this post titled Good Girl and I’m just in awe of it. I’ve always followed the rules and I feel like I’ve been going through a personal crisis for the past couple of years being like “what’s the point?!”I don’t want to be a good girl anymore. It’s unsustainable. You don’t accrue points for good behavior, you only get them docked when you stop being a doormat. I thought that if I was perfect, it would protect me. If I was honest, followed the agreed upon rules, and tried my fucking hardest, then the people around me would do the same. But life doesn’t work like that; it’s just what they tell you so that you keep your mouth shut and smile.
🪩
shared this essay on Deep Joys and surface-level thoughts and fixes versus the ones that nourish our souls and it’s an incredible read. There is a lot of talk about body image and thoughts that really spoke to me and how I feel about my own body. She starts off the essay with this line which is an excellent hook:The only thing I have fantasized about changing more than my body is the amount of time I spend thinking about my body.
ICYMI
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Three cheers for TTPD content that resonates with my fangirl heart. And loved Kaitlyn’s post!
-I had not seen that Spice Girl video and I needed that. 🙏🏼
-Ry Gos doesn’t need to be so good at SNL but he just cant help himself. I watch his Santa Baby sketch from few years ago quarterly.
-It would be so delightfully meta to see her sing I can do it with a broken heart 💔
-I’ve saved all the links you shared. The line about how being a good girl is unsustainable from Michelle’s piece 🙌🏽
I’m so flattered to be among your roundup here. Thank you 💕