Dissect DJs - Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

Time to break down the "song of the summer" with Taylor Swift's char-topping "Cruel Summer". Do the Dissect DJs jive with what all the Swifties have been raving about? Or is there another song that gets conjured up that hits even harder? Time to dissect! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

You know what time it is. It's time for the dot-sex DJ. DJs. You know that I caught it. Boy, shiny toy with a problem is waiting for your devils roll the dice. Angels roll their eyes. Once you move. You know what time it is.

What's going on, everybody? It's your boy DJMC. Jig-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J. With your boy, Steve. What up, Cass. And we are the DJs. I like to spin it. Mix it.

Throw us back. And dissect it. And, of course, video it. And now video it. And I have been told that this is the song of the summer. Are you familiar with this one? No idea.

DJ Jag. No, I told you, man. Are you familiar with this artist? I know Swift. She's been around for quite a while now if you think about it, man. She's been around a solid 15 years. Yeah, no, she has. I still remember way back in, I want to say, 2009.

I was going to a Laker game. And at the same time, there was a Taylor Swift concert happening at, like, the convention center or something and it was nothing but like 13 year old girls walking around all wearing the same like denim skirt like Taylor obviously had a look back then and that was when I first became aware oh this Taylor Swift is a thing so back then she was just kind of like a little country girl and apparently had like a huge following of like young little teenage girls but man has she progressed and just stayed around stayed on top of her game and never lost relevancy and And she has become the biggest star of 2023.

I say that with zero hesitancy. Probably the biggest star of the last decade. It's like her and Barbie this year. They're battling. And one of them is a fictional character. So I think T. Swift wins. Oppenheimer, he's in the mix a little bit. But he's behind, he's not in the finals.

Let's be honest. She's cool. Or whatever. All right. All right, don't let Jaggs negativity run you off right away. Fine, dude, it's just super, super poppy. It just doesn't ring with me, man. I can't dance to this song.

You can't, and then she's, you know, obviously Taylor writes her own stuff. So this is like super written and has some story about her guy and her guy turned blue and then she's a, it's a cruel summer with the hymn. And it's just, I don't know, I just get annoyed by the poppiness and non-danceability of most of her music. Tell me one dance song besides Shake It Off and I can dance to that. I can, like, shake it off when I first heard it.

Beyond that, tell me another dance song of hers that you can. can actually get down and dance to. Can't do it. I'm not going to waste too much podcast time trying to think of the answer to that. Because you can't. That's how bad it is. That's how you much and you realize. I will point out though that this is not the first time we've covered Taylor on the podcast. Yeah, we did a whole album. We did a whole, yeah, I remember that album. I don't. We covered her, what was that? That was during the pandemic, right? It was 2020, 2021 maybe, I think. No, it was 2020. It was, yeah, it was right. And we covered her album folklore. And we had

actually covered every single song. Every single song. On that episode. Look that episode up. It's worth checking out. We give a detailed response of each song. And you guys can get, you know, you'll hear our Siskel and Ebert thoughts on each of the tracks.

It's a very deep introspective of what maybe Taylor was going through at that time. But now we're in 2023 and she is rocking out shows every single night. She's been in L.A. for like, I feel like months. And every single day I hear about somebody that's all excited, and they talk about how this is like the best show they've ever seen. She is the greatest performer. And there's nobody better.

I will say this. I hear that she's doing like 45 song sets. So I respect that. I respect that she. And she like brings in different people that are like featured all the time. So I appreciate the fact that she's just not mailing and doing like the same show all the time. So I respect that because if you're going to be at this level and you're going to gonna be putting on these shows that are not cheap.

Let's be honest. These tickets are not just like, they're not like, Dodger Stadium outfield thing. Oh, I didn't want that expensive. Yeah, yeah, sure. Get out of here. All right.

Justin's bringing all the heat, like, before he even reaches first base. You can't even dance this on first of all. And then, I don't know, you know what, real quick, before we can go farther, the thing that's, the audacity of her naming this cruel summer, when cruel summer has already been taken.

When I heard that the song of the summer, which is something somebody told me a couple weeks ago, they said, this is the song of the summer, Cruel Summer. And I was like, oh, word, I love Cruel Summer. And they were like, yeah, it's a Taylor Swift song. And I was excited to hear it, and I was a little disappointed because I thought maybe it was a remake,

but no, we got this. But the Cruel Summer I know goes something like this. You know what the best part of that song? Go back to the beginning real quick. Cool Summer. Like five seconds at the beginning. Don't act like Not the beginning

Oh, that is the beginning Exactly Oh, that's such a good beat That's such a Can you dance to that? Yes Does it in your ear enjoy it? Yes

Is it by a cool name That like, I don't know How they came up with that name But they were like Let's put a ramma On front of a banana And what? I think you figured it out

There it is. You did the math Yeah So yeah That's the original crew summer So that's why I got a hate On her Having the audacity

To name this cruel summer to also play off the fact that there was another song named Cruel Summer so she can get more hits. It's all marketing and all thing. But her Cruel Summer, I'm sorry, I'm not into it. I'm already not into it. Like, this song is not ringing my bell. It doesn't get me dancing immediately,

like the Banana Rammer version. You know it does ring my bell, though. What? Banana Ramah. I was going to go into lyrics, too, but it's just Taylor writing a bunch of poetic stuff. A fever, dream high, and a quiet night. You know that I caught it.

Bad Boys, Shottie Toy at a price. You know that I bought it. You're just running through the words. Just take one of those lines and just try to make sense of it. I don't want you just like... I'm going to go with the third one, third one. Just like anger walk through it. That's not fun for anybody.

And it's new, the shape of your body. It's blue, the feeling I got. There we go. Dissect that. What does that mean? Okay. She thought a guy was hot and then he dissed her. All right.

Say the lines again. I will... And it's new. The shape of your body. It's blue, the feeling I got. Well, the blue, the feeling that I got. God is blue. I feel like I need to know the line before to know where she jumped into that point. It's okay. What doesn't kill me makes me want you more? So yeah, she's

viving on this guy's body. And he dissed her. And the, yeah, the feeling that she has right now is blue. That's why it's a cruel summer. So cruel summer is always the reference to a summer that's sad because you're leaving me here on my own. So I feel like she probably took that concept, which let's be honest. That's not a foreign concept for Taylor. to take on. Like, I'm sad this summer because you left me on my own. Oh, no, what am I going to do? Except for find the next, like, hot meal celebrity to link up with and have all the media

accounts be buzzing about it. But I'm going to get to that point by being sad about the last one. So she's blue because the feeling that she's got is that she can't be with the shape of his body because, I don't know, something he did. Is there anything in the lines that suggest? That something went awry for a reason. Bad boy, shiny toy with a price. You know that I bought it.

Always going for the bad boys. I can't figure out what's going wrong. That's shiny toy, bad boy. Taylor, just got an eye for these kind of things. Killing me slow at the window, I'm always waiting for you to be waiting below. Devils roll the dice. Angels roll their eyes. Makes me want you more.

It's kind of, okay, all right, let me, I'll sum this song. Go ahead, because I'm already annoyed. No, I mean, just, I haven't spent that much time breaking down or looking at Taylor Swift lyrics and trying to figure out exactly what it is that she is saying went wrong with a relationship, but she kind of feels like the classic red flag chaser, who then gets stunned when the red flag, you know, burns her red, yeah, red flags out. She literally just was talking about bad boy with a shiny new toy. She bought it, fell for it.

She fell for it. And then what doesn't kill me makes me want you more basically being like, you do your bad boy things. You red flag out my window. You look like a car sale out of Carson City Toyota. I think you're looking too, dear. Let me finish my point. I hear what you're saying, but she doesn't make sense.

It's like she's passing Carson City Toyota, full of red flags just waving in the breeze that are like, oh, there's a new shiny car here. You should give it a test drive. And then Carson Toyota has a giant gorilla. He starts wrecking shit. He starts being like, I'm going to cause all kind of havoc. And by the way, I come with a brand new car that you buy.

And she's like, I don't know why. But something about that is attracting me. And I want to bring that home. Then she gets it. Goes through the nine hours in negotiation that happens at Carson City, Toyota. Just bought a new car. So I know that process. It can't go.

It can happen under an hour. I don't know why. It's like five back and four things of them going to. Who are they talking to who in the back? By the way. When they're like, let me talk somebody in the back. You know what it reminds me of? Do you remember that show, deal or no deal?

Where like if you win more, they're like, oh, we're going to see if he makes a deal. And there's just this guy, the shadowy figure in the back. And he just picks up the phone. And then he's like, okay, he's ready to make a deal. That's what I feel like. Like, who is the guy in the back that they go talk to for 25 minutes at a time? and then come back with like, all right, let me budge a little bit, but I couldn't go that far.

You know what I mean? Here's the deal. You know, it's like, I don't know, whole bullshit. I'm sorry. I used the car buying reference, and it triggered me. Wait a minute. All right, you're right. I had to get back on track.

So Taylor then decides, all right, you know what? I'm going to buy that car with that giant ape. I get to bring that home. And then she gets home, and he ends up tearing up her living space. kicks out the windows he throws non-sanitary dish fluid into her dishwasher it makes it explode naturally

does a preheat of the oven never puts anything in and never turns it off leaves the TV on all night thus bumping the speakers and by the way he killed her pet dog and she's now sad because this enormous gorilla that came with her new car

has now destroyed everything and she's like I can't believe I went for the shiny toy I should have known but you know what You went for the red flag Carson City Toyota, Guerrilla Corvette. You got what you paid for. He said, don't come at me with your sadness, Taylor.

He went really far with that, so I think we needed to get back to the regular song. Listen to what else she has to say, because I don't know where this gorilla or Carson Toyota, but she got with a new guy, and he dissed her is basically what I summarized is. So let's hear what else she has to go through. Did you stop that for a second?

Yes. I do think... I'll stop it for more than a second. Okay. I have no problem. I do think I've heard this song before. I can't recall when. It's actually a song that's been four years released.

Did you know that? I looked it up. Yeah, it's been around for four years. It's kind of weird how actually music doesn't need to be. And I actually like this about music nowadays. It doesn't need to be a new release to get like newly popped out. Maybe it just gets featured in a film. Yeah.

Maybe it gets shown in a Netflix series. Maybe just like a viral meme starts like making it get airplay. Whatever. Whenever the song wants to get featured, it can get thrown around the world. So I appreciate the fact that Taylor has been able to get this song, like rejuvenated after maybe it didn't hit the first time around. And that's cool.

But I like it better when it sounds like this. Banana Ramma. What a name. Yeah. I don't know. Can you hear the difference, though? Like, we're about to go back in the Taylor song. And just the energy just dies.

I got to be honest. When we actually went back on a Taylor one, I did get like a little sad. It's not, it's just like this song doesn't make me get excited. I, look, Justin's bringing the general DJ Jag Heat that he likes to bring. And I'm trying to be fair to Taylor on this one. I don't think the lyrics differentiate much from any other Taylor Swift song that I've kind of come across. And the fact that she called it Cruel Summer kind of forces us to pair it to a song that we've heard in the past. And that's not really, you cut yourself off there.

That wasn't even me. It was an accident. It's not really fair to her, but guess what? It totally is, because if you name your song, Cruel Summer, all I'm going to think of is this. Banana! That's it. All right, let's finish this trailer, so let's see what else she has to say.

He sounds dramatic, dude. Isn't that the worst thing you've ever heard? I love you. Isn't that the worst thing I've ever heard? Shut up. You're so dramatic, crying on the back of a car. Get out of you. Read the lyrics of the part you're referring to.

Because I got to be honest, I spaced out. I didn't. Exactly, dude. I actually this time. I'm drunk in the back of a car and cried like a baby coming home from the bar, said, I'm fine, but it wasn't true. I don't want to keep any serious just to keep you. And I snuck into the garden gate.

She basically snuck in the garden gate. And every night that summer, every night that summer too. Every night just to seal the fate. And she screamed for whatever it's worth. I love you. Ain't that the worst thing you ever heard? Yeah, yeah, shut up. Thank you.

Bye, Crossman. No, that's, okay, that's annoying. I love you. Isn't that the worst thing you've ever? Yeah, I'm hearing it now. Okay. Yeah. That's like, yeah, that's just trying.

Like, that's the intentional, like, throwing yourself on the floor and trying to be victim and, like, trying to be, make somebody feel sad for you with all the full intention of, like, trying to receive pity and return. Yeah. Terrible. The fact that you're combining. I love you with isn't that the worst thing you've ever heard. Yeah, that's annoying. Taylor. And then it.

And then he looks up. grinning like a devil. That shit didn't work on them. And you know why? Get out of here. Because he's the red flag that you brought home from Carson Toyota. He's the gorilla. Yeah.

When what you should have done, when what you should have done is bought that 1983 Wrangler that was banana yellow and when you turned in the key, you sounded something like this. Banana Ramah. All right, let's finish this Taylor thing.

Just about. Taylor. It's around one of the words things I've ever heard for sure. But you know one of the best things I've ever heard is? No original crew of summer. Banana ramma. Banana. That's what I'm talking about, man.

All right. Taylor told us about her loves. All right, I got a question. What? Castle. Front row. Okay. What exactly?

Let's actually try to digest this and dissect this proper. As only the dissect DJs. D'S DGISC DJ. What exactly is it about the sound of Taylor because it's a very specific sound and it's a very specific type of song and we've dissected what she's saying in the song and we get it we know what it is we get it what is it what is it from your perspective that you think resonates so much with pretty much like it feels like all females like what is it you think that like really hits them exactly in the place where they're like

this is my one know what i think i think it's um how taylor resonates with this generation is quite simply, this generation has fucking no taste and doesn't understand good music, so therefore you get somebody that plays some basic ass shit, and then they all love it. That's it. That's what it is. A generation doesn't have good musical taste. Go listen to, you know what you got to listen to guys?

You know what you want to listen to? Music. Banana Ramah. Come on. She definitely... All right, let's not beat around the bush, okay? Women are emotional types, and that doesn't necessarily mean it's like... I don't know, I'm pretty emotional. You've seen me.

Look at me. Look at me right now. I'm not, you're as emotional as almost anybody I know. Possibly the most, probably the most. You're the most emotional. It just progressed. I know, I'm not trying to say it's like just strictly women are emotional and men are. And of course, men are emotional.

I get emotional too. I'm not trying to like pitch and all that. But, yeah, women obviously have a lot of strong emotions. And I think Taylor really taps into that. And the feelings that she describes in this song and every other one of her songs, is moments that I think every girl has experienced and every girl has gone through and mistakes every girl has made and feelings of she kind of like gets it out the things that have frustrated her and the feelings that she wants to have the experience that she wants to feel and like the regrets

mixed with the mistakes that she's willing to make and willing to make again but doesn't actually like want to embrace them but kind of knows the person that she is I think that there's a certain person within her that she puts out there. She's a very open book with her music, you know? And I think that there's a person in there that she puts out that most girls can resonate with. So for that, I think that she provides a real strong service to what all girls, you know, feel, or most girls do at least.

And that's what really resonates with them about Taylor. And that's great. I like my idea better. But you know what resonates more with me? I don't. Oh, yeah, okay. Banana. That's right.

You ever see Karate Kid? No, that song in there? Dude, this song, like, invented Karate Kit. Really? Yeah. We did a podcast about it. When he was about to play soccer or whatever? It's just kind of like later in the movie, like, as they're going through the summer portion.

And we actually did a podcast on the Karate Kid on the Three Things About podcast. Go look it up. Great episode. and I specifically called out Banana Ramah. Cruel Summer. Great song. I loved its usage in this video. And you know what?

One of the many reasons I love Cobra Kai, they brought it back. They featured it. They have a great way of like doing callbacks to the original movie. Such a great series. Shout out Cobra Kai. You resonate with me.

Almost as hard as Banana Rama. Snaps and snaps. What are you giving Taylor Swift's version of Cruel Summer? Hmm. One slap, two snaps, and a light microphone rub. That's exactly correct. It was kind of like was going in for the second slap, but determine, let's just kind of fade those into two snaps. Yeah, I'm never going to play the song.

I know. Song of the summer my ass. Song of the summer my ass. I'm not the audience, though. And clearly Taylor is having a moment, and I respect that. and I respect that she's going for. She's working her ass off. And she is crushing the business,

and she's apparently putting on good shows. I'm not going to try to, like, say that, you know, people that are wasted their time going to see them because everybody I've heard that senior said, it's an amazing show and that she is putting on a performance. And she, I think, has literally elevated to being, like, the biggest star in the music industry in 2023. She's at the top of the mountain right now.

Well, she's been in the mix for the last decade. Well, she's been in the mix for the last decade, but I really feel like this year, she has cemented herself as like the biggest start in the industry. So if you can do that, I respect it and the drive. And I would have more issue with it if she was some girl that just came out of nowhere in the last like year or two. And I was like, who was this girl?

But like I said, I have a memory of seeing all these Taylor Swifties walking around downtown LA when I was, what, 2009. And so she's been climbing up some from this like little country girl to this point. And she just kind of keeps moving this way. and she's had a lot of things that could have maybe knocked her off, and she's just kind of persevered, including a lot of self-inflicted wounds. I'm not going to, I'm not going to lie.

Like a lot of her open bookness has come back to bite her a lot, but it all just seems at this point to have worked in her favor, and everybody's on board, Swifty at this point. Not everybody. Not everybody. Trust me. Trust me, not everybody. At least we gave a full dissection this time, unlike folklore.

Yeah, we went through it. But like, okay, you want to give my slaps and snaps? Let me get your slaps and snaps for out of five slaps, how many we give in. You know, it's going to help me give a better answer on this? Hold it. Let me hear it. The nanorama. Nanorama.

All right, here we go. Banana. That's my cruel summer. When my summer wants to be cruel, it goes and turns to the fruit-based name. That somehow also sounds like a roller derby event. Cruel Summer, Nannerama. You know who actually also covered that? Ace of Bass.

Should we play that one real quick? Yeah. It's not as good as Banana Ramah, but, you know, if we're doing Cruel Summers right now... Listen to that real quick. And apparently... We had like a little hip-hop beat in the back and stuff. I love Aza Bass.

They have a soft spot for them. That was good. They were my favorite group when I was eight. But back to my slaps and snaps, which I gave no snaps and only one slap. It's, you know, it's fine. It's not my... favorite. I'll never play it. It's a Taylor Swift song. It's clearly a popular song.

It's a very Taylor Swift song. Like I said, I like Taylor Swift's shake it off. I will probably shake it off quite a few slaps and a couple snaps. But this one, and this, somebody having the all fucking dacity to call this the summer song simply because it says summer in it. And no, okay? No. Okay. No. Sorry, Swifties. That's all you get. You wanted us to dissect, hey? We actually went through the song this time. So, you know what? It's like Taylor Chase on the red flag that she knows is going to burn her. You throw Taylor Swift in the dissect DJ engine.

Justin's gonna... I hate it!