it's also kind of funny how 90% of modern pop mainstream doesn't write their own stuff... and he says this about one of the few artists that actually does.
He was probably thinking of some other artist's details and mixed up who does what. I do that all the time with celebrities I follow only Peripherally. The only difference is he's a huge artist so everyone gives a huge fuck if you make a slip up
@@brandonayong5823 true, i think it's because 1) for a lot of artists the industry just know it's gonna do well regardless of how authentic the lyrics is and 2) a lot of pop music serves as an accompaniment for when you are doing other stuff, shopping, training, etc. therefore, paying attention to it it's not your main focus. that's just a thought though.
@@agu6863 Right. Rock music or hip hop is usually less global writing wise than pop music. It's more personal or story telling based. But if there's a song about partying at the weekend or random lyrics about love at a surface level no one really cares who wrote it as long as the feeling is there sonically ( even in other genres if that's your subject you will get a pass . That's the kind of stuff drake does and no one really cared when he was exposed as having a ghostwriter)
Damon " Hello Taylor. My name is Damon. You should go back to your early days Don't have a heart attack now Somebody help your girl up Fake pen the page is blank space The real writer can't show up" Taylor " it's funny but so True I'd rather be fake writing Me than real writing you Until I'm hitting old age Still can fill a whole page With a 10 years old rage Got more fans than you in your own city little kid go play Feels like I'm babysitting lil Tay"
What Damon is saying is totally correct for a lot of artists in the industry. The problem is that he name dropped Taylor Swift specifically while obviously not being very familiar with her music and creative process. This all could have been avoided if he just admitted he doesn't really know much about Taylor Swift instead of trying to seem like the cool guy that only listens to good music
One of the worst types of music opinions is when someone tries to explain a personal dislike as if there’s strictly technical reasoning behind it. It’s okay to just not like stuff.
Fucking exactly. In all kinds of entertainment there are always people who just treat everything that they dislike as objectively bad, and that you're dumb if you like this thing that is indisputably bad.
You’re saying this about someone who has a lot more knowledge about music than you do. If he was right about the accusation, then he’d have a point. It’s not a surprise that someone who watches Fantano can’t understand a technical argument
Not to mention that Taylor at 19 was already tired of people complaining about her co-writing songs and wrote the entirety of her third album, Speak Now, as the sole writing credit.
@@hbwestham 1. 2 of 3 Albarn solo albums was self written, not 100%. 2. Do you ever in the studio with Albarn or Swift? How do you know the work process of Albarn and Swift? According to your logic, I can also say that Taylor Swift is the "real" artist cause she regularly cooperates with different people but maintains strong personality while changing her style. Being an independent artist doesn't mean you are more noble or artistic than mainstream artists. For the backlash against Albarn, obviously, he doesn't know Taylor Swift's workflow and her song credits at all. After realizing his mistakes, he even tried to push them on to the journalist. He deserve all of this.
@@hbwestham Content producer. There we go folks! You can write songs about your personal life and your own family and friends and you're a pseudo-artist.
So I was watching The Beatles' Get Back documentary and what struck me the most was that, while it IS known that Lennon/McCartney was a partnership in name only, more than 80% of the song is written by only one of them and the others, besides just John and Paul, chip in ideas and lines. George even essentially co-wrote Octopus' Garden even though Ringo is the sole credit because the song's melody, lyrics and overall idea was his. There are moments in the film where even their engineer suggests arrangement ideas. By modern standards, all 4 Beatles would be credited on every Beatles song. Had that been the case, Damon would be accusing Paul of being just a cowriter (although he might as well accuse himself of the same). I feel like modern writing credits are a double edged sword: On one hand it credits every person even remotely involved in the process, but the person who originated it, whose life experience informed it, who stayed up all night writing the melody and lyrics, isn't singled out as the person who had the biggest say in the process and while they do get CREDIT, they don't get a proportionate amount of it and no one is aware of the scale of their contribution.
I think what you're saying about the modern, much broader meaing of 'co-writing' is what he was getting at originally though. He's basically saying that being a cowriter these days can just mean you were in the room when it was written and recorded, or that it can end up being split 15 ways on a simple 3 minute pop song, rather than dismissing the idea of writing in a collaborative way entirely. Its still BS, because Taylor Swift is not one of those people who just makes a tiny adjustment to her pre-written song and claims co-writing credit, but that's what he was saying more than co-writing is completely bad.
and people are so quick to judge that a pop artist having co-writers means he/she just got the credit because he/she was on the studio during the writing process
Yes but the royalties split won't be the same for everyone like one will get let's say 70% and other three people 10% or even less than that proportionally to their contribution. I think it's fair to credit people even if they apparently had little input because sometimes it's the little things that can MAKE a song :)
@@SandiGlowe I agree, but people outside of the business don't know HOW MUCH of the song came from which writer and end up saying stupid shit like Damon. Although I get the feeling he probably just assumed Taylor didn't write her own songs without knowing anything about her music, which seems pretty clear from his comments. But people DO use the 'oh so many writers for ONE song? Music sucks these days' argument a lot. What I'm saying is, that's ALWAYS been the case, and people are now being credited even the minor contributions. The problem is, we DON'T know who actually did the heavy lifting just looking at a list of writers. Some artists are created for just breathing in the same room, while others like Taylor, actually have a vision.
Honestly I think the tone he uses and the pauses are quite important in this context. It’s possible that when he referred to Billie and Finneas that he was talking about other co-writers. This is why I dislike interviews like this.
Having two close songwriters with no other people influencing the music isn't the same as having seven swedish producers, and multiple producers working on one song. It just isn't
I mean between that song and Bad Blood I wouldn’t blame somebody for dismissing her entire catalogue... mostly because that’s what I did for several years
@@connorross123 I know.. but those are actually really great songs .. melodically. And Taylor actually made a big musical input to those songs, with the progressions and melodies. She is a melody savant.
I've been a working journalist for many years. Story subjects are often taken aback when reading their own words quoted in a story. Maybe they said something that, in their mind, was meant to be taken a certain way, but none of that contextual inner monologue is present in the printed quote, so it hits differently. However, this issue is most prominent among people who aren't quoted regularly. You'd think Damon freaking Albarn would have figured this out by now and would be choosing his words a bit more carefully.
Thing is, he’s 100% correct. There are actual creative songwriters and then people who think they are. He’s a purist and doesn’t have to respect the corrupted ‘creative’ process of performers who say they wrote their own music but really just sit in with the producers and have minimal personal input into the song - but have their name as the writer to legitimise them as an artist. Hence, SO damaging etc. Truth hurts.
If I recall, the reporter tried to correct him and he doubled down. I just think he didn't like the attention he was getting. But yeah, he should know better by now
@@jasbadsirron6424 I agree with what you're saying but Taylor Swift just isn't an example of someone who sits down with producers and gives minimal input. She legit writes her shit.
i saw a tweet saying that if taylor doesn't write her own songs then there's someone writing her songs that likes dragging jake gyllenhaal through the mud and it's kind of concerning and should probably be checked out
Taylor Swift is a very strange artist to levy baseless accusations of insincerity towards. Regardless of if you like her music, very clearly she's been wearing her heart on her sleeve in every song she's released since the beginning of her career.
Maybe he changed his mind. After all he said that thing about electronic production "theres no more ReAl MuSiC that you write at the piano" then barely a year later is working with Gaga on a dance beat
As a huge fan of Damon (love all of his solo stuff, Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad and the Queen) it's really sad when someone you praise comes out with such easily avoidable drama and making comments on something he might very well know very little about
It’s so avoidable! He could’ve just deflected or not mentioned anything about her songs anyway. Just frustrating, but it’ll pass soon. Twitter drama flies by.
We all talk about things we ultimately aren't as clued in on as we thought, not saying Damon's situation isn't different as an interview is very public but at the same time I can't get that disappointed in him for a slip up he apologised for. I might feel different if I was personally invested in Taylor Swift to be fair.
Damon should literally just come out and say, "Yeah, I made a lazy statement generalizing about an artist that I don't know much about that seemed like an easy target for what I don't like about music. I was wrong and I apologize." How hard is that?
Sometimes, it is the hardest thing for people to do to just admit they were wrong. Even when they are compelled to apologize, they still don't want to fully or simply acknowledge that they were dumb and wrong in any way, which is why he's like uhhh my words were taken out of context. What they don't realize is that doing exactly that, is exactly the right thing to make everyone forgive them and move on instead of making themselves into an even bigger doofus
What he said is only partially wrong, she doesn’t write all of her songs alone, for a ‘solo’ artist she has a hell of a lot of co written stuff like every soulless pop artist out there.
@@emirozdemir2037 not really. He "apologised" by basically saying he was just taken out of context and that the interviewer was the one at fault. He didn't cop to actually being wrong.
@@hbwestham She has an entire solo written album that did incredibly well (Speak Now). When watching her discuss her music process and seeing clips of how she put her songs together, I can’t count how many are her writing all of the lyrics, coming up with the song’s tune on her piano one day, etc. I have seen interviews where collaborators say how much they learnt from how she writes and how that was the focus of them working together. She got her headstart based on purely solo writing her own stuff and taking it to record stations. She clearly writes and it’s what started her career. I get that she co-writes more now (essentially her boyfriend adding things to the process at home, and her producer and some other artists she has only recently started reaching out to for her folk stuff). But it feels pretty silly to defend his comments here. His criticism makes more sense for essentially every other pop artist. I have always respected that Taylor’s main talent is her writing, while someone like Ariana has better vocals. I’d go as far as to say Taylor writes her music a lot more than Billie does, who he praised in the same sentence. I think it’s pretty well known that Finneas is a lot of the genius behind her work, but there is nobody you can claim that with when it comes to Taylor. It doesn’t make any sense to use this against her.
"No artist I've ever written with in my career has ever contributed more to the actual song than Taylor Swift... Taylor contributed so much and so quickly, for the first time and only time, I actually felt bad for my share." - Ryan Tedder
It's pretty well-documented that Taylor always brings a nearly-finished song into the studio when she works with a collaborator. Even on something like "All Too Well," the cowriter on that track said that she was basically just Taylor's editor who helped her sharpen what she already had.
As someone who’s a fan of Gorillaz and not a fan of Taylor Swift, Damon Albarn is still in the wrong here. He shouldn’t have publicly said something that he isn’t actually knowledgeable about.
@@zrapboy7 even if taylor has been somehow lying about writing her own songs for the entirety of her almost 20 year career, many who have observed her songwriting process have confirmed that she is extremely talented at it and can finish entire songs relatively fast. most notable of which is ryan tedder who is another gifted songwriter
I love Damon, but he really gives off an "old man yells at cloud" vibe in interviews sometimes. When he's not being flippant about another artist's creative process he'll be going on about the over-saturation of autotune in music (despite using it himself) or talking about how writing an album on an iPad with only synthesizers is some kind of new revolutionary thing.
Agreed, I get the feeling he kind of risks turning into a Gen X Morissey, replete with takes that are luke warm at best, and artic ice sheets at worst.
4:43 This was me. I read his thing about co-writing and then the bit about “songwriter” (singular) Billie Eilish and her brother. WTAF? I don’t like Taylor Swift’s music (mostly because I don’t like her voice), but I’m not going to take shots at her artistry or integrity. And, there are no words for how much I love the whole “Taylor’s version” response to the crap around her rights.
It's literally known that Billie Eilish doesn't write ANY of her songs alone, yet Taylor Swift gets shit for co-writing AT ALL? Kinda just seems like Billie Eilish always gets a pass because she's dark/edgy/not the like the other girls and I'm so bored of it.
And plus, one of the most well-known and highly regarded in songwriting, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, wrote with each other when they were in The Beatles as Lennon/McCartney!
@@you_tubeslonelyheartsclubband in the beginning, yes. eventually they started writing separately but their songs were always credited to Lennon/McCartney regardless
Most art is a collaboration in some way. That doesn’t mean that the “main person” behind the project is untalented or incapable. There was just no need to put down Swift in this way.
Reduced to clickbait in the sense that he was doing an interview and the interviewer decided to ask his opinion on her (Damon never actually wanted to talk about her but he was asked) and he made some little comment which the interviewer then decided to make the actual headline of the interview (in an obvious attempt to start a controversy). Anyone in that position would be pissed off too, even if their answer had been misinformed. He obviously couldn’t care less about Taylor but was thrust into some media shit-storm by the interviewer.
I remember having this type of incorrect opinion about pop musicians WHEN I WAS 17 AND I THOUGHT I WAS BETTER THAN EVERYONE FOR LISTENING TO SKINNY PUPPY.
I mean that kind of attitude is common at every age, even with pros like Damon. But now it's his word vs all of Swift's collaborators who back her up in the idea she's a huge part of what makes "hher songs hers.
Haters really went from Taylor only writes songs about her ex to Taylor doesn't write her own songs. Who exactly is writing songs about Taylor's ex then? lol Just make up your damn mind.
Not only does she write all her own songs, she has written hits for other artists and has won countless awards for writing as opposed to performing. She is well respected by all the top industry writers, been called a songwriting genius and has even been compared to Bob Dylan. She's written countless hits since age 14 and was even hired by a record label as a country music songwriter before she got a record deal. Her first after school job in high school! The songs she writes without cowriters are actually her best ones. And when she works with cowriters she is almost always the primary writer. You would have to have been living under a rock to not know this. Dude should do his research before dissing Taylor.
@@TheCrain no she didn't yalll claim these as facts but don't do any more research beyond looking at credits Liz helps taylor process what she's gonna write taylor is creating all the lyrics
@@Celesteanos Now why on earth would a professional songwriter not write any songs? You really think Liz just sits there in the corner and acts like Taylor's emotional support bear? They both wrote her songs and that's why they both won awards for the same songs. Jeeze. Do YOUR research. Lol
Him saying that Taylor Swift’s songs are “endlessly happy” all the time is hysterical considering the fact that many of her fans much like myself have fallen in love with her because of her heart-wrenching songs and lyrics. Examples: Dear John, Teardrops on My Guitar, Treacherous, Haunted, All Too Well, Innocent…. all from Red or earlier albums. He may have wanted to choose someone who’s discography he knows more about before making an ass of himself in this interview. Lost a lot of respect for the guy 😢
Heart-wrenching is a pretty strong way to describe some of those songs. Some of her earlier sad songs are not very punchy in my opinion, but you're totally write thay she has been exploring darker subject matter for at least like twelve years now
@@hideyourwenches i'd definitely call all to well heart wrenching! especially the 10 minute version. i'd also say this about songs off folklore and evermore like champagne problems, exile, betty, marjorie
@@kitchensinkchronicles3272 heard. I am not too familiar with her discography post-1989, so I was commenting on the pre-Red examples you mentioned. It seems likely that her ability to drive home sincerely tragic and impactful stories in her lyrics has improved based on the fan reception.
@@mynameisreallycool1 bahahahahaahah honestly anyone who doesn’t know her work prior to 1989 needs to dive into before claiming to know her work. 1989 was very different and pivotal and though with Folklore and Evermore she’s brought back some of that folk/country vibe her roots are in her early albums. As always, music is so subjective and some may not find Teardrops really sad but tween me felt very sad and very seen. Happy to see so many come to bat for her around this comment. As opposed to being constructive and based in sound knowledge of her work it was just disrespectful and untrue.
Gorillaz only works if the combo is odd in some regard. NGL she's not the first person I'd pick for a Gorillaz feature, but I'm sure they could've made something great.
@@TitosTheSalty When gorillaz does music with indie artists it's either the most beautiful shit you've heard (little dragon) or the weirdest (robert smith)
it's not like Taylor wrote an entire album by herself at age 19 because people kept discrediting her for co-writing. crazy how it's always taylor, arguably the best lyricist in pop rn, who gets called out for this shit when she's one of only few who actually writes her songs. I mean she did a whole series dedicated to her songwriting process on Rep, videos of her writing songs with her collaborators or alone. videos you can easily find on RUclips. it seems like Damon heard "shake it off" on the radio once and never bothered to follow up and learn more. I don't know, man, she's the biggest artist in the world. maybe you should get your head out of your own ass sometimes and keep up with the world. he seems so pretentious and elitist. arguably number one fact about taylor is that she writes her own songs.
@@lightningmonky7674 The way they make it sound is like Taylor is just some shitty songwritress who is a literal whore, but she's dated less than 10 men in her life and won so many awards
@@transakira no doubt, she's not an omega genius or anything, her take on pop music is just refreshingly sincere and I don't feel like I'm simply consuming a product like I do with so much other pop music
As a teenager (not too long ago tbh) I used to dismiss pop artists in the same spirit and with the same argument, claiming none of them wrote their own songs. Of course having no clue on whether they actually did. Especially attractive young women. Because hey, they can't have any other attribute besides being hot, right? Funny to see how a grown ass man who's been part of the scene for 20+ years can be so certain of the same stupid concept.
Just about any Taylor Swift song, from the greatest to the worst, lyrically sound like Taylor’s own vernacular. She has certain topics, references, and words that she likes to go back to. Hell, look at “This is What You Came for” by Calvin Harris and Rihanna. Taylor ghostwrote that song and lyrically you can tell it is “Reputation” era Taylor writing it.
ORORORORO!!! I spend half of my day sleeping! ORORORO!!! Then I sometimes get up and tell you that I am a famous content creatorORORORORO!!! Please don't sleep while driving, dear cro
from all of those pop artists he came for taylorswift??🤣she is probably the only superstar that i know that actually cares about music and writes all of her stuff.
this is a pretty nonsensical take from Damon. Implies Swift’s not a real songwriter because co-writing isn’t “real songwriting.” Contrasts her with Billie, a “real” artist, despite the fact that billie also co-writes??
I said this before on another comment, and Melon honestly might have misinterpreted it too. But the tone he uses and the pauses are quite important in this context. It’s possible that when he referred to Billie and Finneas that he was talking about other co-writers. Transcripts of an interview don’t offer the whole picture. It’s like if I said “Bicycles suck and are quite hard to get used to. I used to ride a tricycle as a kid a lot, but I think Motorcycles are cool. They appeal to me more than Bicycles.” It’s the EXACT same thing, but obviously I’m comparing motorcycles and bicycles as something with a similarity.
Taylor has 60+ people credited the biggest hits of the new albums. She writes some parts of the songs but she clearly isn't composing every single element of her LPs, as is stated in the credits. I think this is what Damon meant, if not it's nonsense lol.
@@raph2k01 jack antonoff her producer on most of ger songs says taylor comes in woth a already good song but they only tweak it a little when producing he’s actually said it many times even before yesterday shes a real songwriter if you are gonna try and discredit her at least have facts right
I think part of the reason this is so frustrating for me is that Damon Albarn, if nothing else, is like the premier collaborator of modern music. There really aren't many other artists who fearlessly collaborate with artists seemingly from every inch of the industry, irrespective of style, genre, language, etc. You would think that if there was any one person in the industry who has unconditional respect for their fellow artist, it'd be Damon Albarn. And yet, here he is flippantly (and inaccurately) criticizing and attacking an artist whose work he isn't even remotely up to date on.
My thoughts exactly. It’s ironic too that these veteran Brit pop artists are criticizing the modern state of music, when a generation ago they themselves were being called a cheap imitation of the rock bands that came before them
He just said she doesn’t write her songs while he was going on about the differences between collaborative music and solo written music, You’re all so anxiety ridden that you took as he if he just completely said “taylor swift sucks fuck her music, doesn’t even write it, bad artist, bad songs, bad”, I didn’t read it as him talking shit and ATTTaccccKKKKiiiinNNnng her, the interviewer brought her up lol
@@pokemon2274 dude the answers were pretty flippant and embarrassing. He's Damon Albarn, not some newcomer whose words in an interview don't matter. It's embarrassing of he didn't know because Taylor Swift is Taylor Swift, and if he did know and just wanted to diss her music he could have done so without claiming she doesn't write her songs fully, comparing her to Ella Fitzgerald (who is iconic btw but ?). So on the one hand this interview was offensive because what he argued was wrong and on the other because to be so misinformed and not own up to it is childish.
@@Matt3683683 agreed! and the fact that damon makes LITERAL pop music nowadays with gorillaz and still doesn't have that level of self awareness is honestly kinda sad lol.
I'm guessing this is just a case of Damon being uninformed and being like "I want to riff on this big pop artist so lemme just draw a name that sounds suspect out of a hat." It's easy to believe that Taylor Swift doesn't write her own music because of how non-provocative and pop-friendly it is. But yeah, he just came across as kind of stupid here. Why even shade someone/people that you don't specifically have beef with? Your words are literally going to be plastered all over the internet.
Having watched Damon in video interviews over the years, he was most likely hungover, drunk, tired and or bored. Grumbling from one answer to another without really giving much thought to his words. His guard was down and the interview looked to have shifted to a more conversational tone which may have caused him to let spill an ignorant comment that he believes Taylor doesn't write her own songs. His comment is kinda like something you would say around a group of friends that have never listend to her music or bothered to research it. So in that sense, I don't believe he had any malice in saying what he said, in his mind it was probably an off the cuff statement. Hey after all this, I just think it would be cool for Taylor to ft. on a Gorillaz album.
i love damon and tbh i never expected this behavior from him. i'm not into taylor swift, but just by listening to some of her last songs you can just tell that they are personal. and if he never listened to her music, he shouldn't have commented on it in the first place
It's funny cause taylor has 50 self written song without any co writers( source: billboard) & billie has ZERO self written songs. All her songs are co written with her brother. But that man goes around & started saying this about one of the best songwriter of all time.
The difference is taylor acts like she’s as good as real artists. Taylor doesn’t know how to record anything other than vocals and her capo’d g chord guitar
Im usually very quick to be like "i doubt that artist writes their own songs" but i genuinely believe Taylor does write her own tracks. I believe she writes the lyrics, no doubt. The co writing aspect of her tracks i believe would be mostly instrumental. Her lyrics are so personal and reflective of her personality, i doubt anyone else is writing them. Most ghost writers write for a broad variety of artists, theyll get pitched to the artists, labels and producers, theyll either buy the track or wont. Similar with beat producers. Of course there are exceptions to this, but i doubt taylor is one of them
I think Damon is just unversed in Taylor’s music beyond Shake it Off, and assumed there wasn’t more to it. When the interviewer asked him about her, he took it as an opportunity to condemn mainstream pop music at large. Was it ignorant? Yes. A calculated attempt to start beef? Hardly.
Top 10 fuck ups: 90% of the mainstream doesn't write his own songs, and Damon mentions exactly the one artist that does write her songs + he mentions and prays Billie and Phineas which is funny since most of the writing/producing is made by Phineas, Billie just does her part.
I think Damon doesn’t know much about Taylor other than her radio hits, and therefore he pigeonholes her. He’s a person who’s been very openly critical of manufactured pop music for 21 years now
For someone who is critical for 21 years, he should have watched his mouth talking about someone who worked in the same industry as his for more than a decade. Taylor exists way longer before Billie, where was all that time to at least familiarize with her works, it just shows the dude didn't really care to do research, that's not critical at all to me.
@@BiPhBiPhBiPhBiPh it's not like he knew hes going to be asked about Taylor Swift. He just openly shared his opinion having certain amount of knowledge about Taylor at the time. Reporters do quite often drag artists in these problems by asking questions that will make artist saying something controversial.
Society: "Uh oh! Don't date Taylor Swift! She'll write a song about you! Omg she's such an awful person for exposing her exes by writing about them! Let's figure out who she wrote this song about!" Also society: "There's no way that Taylor Swift writes her own music! She makes girly pop music! Obviously she can't be writing her own stuff."
Wow. There must be at least two perspectives in society then. That's crazy!! Yo, what if there are even 3 or 4 possible perspectives? Wow, someone get my xanax.
I have a bunch of young co workers that do the "Billie's a better artist cause she's dark and edgy!" shtick and you can always tell they're not really familiar with Taylor's music outside of "Shake It Off." This has "I'm not like other girls" vibes and its funny as hell coming from a 40 year old man. Jokes aside though, I like the music of everyone involved in this situation and I get the vibe that Damon just doesn't know who Taylor is and assumed she doesn't write lyrics because she's a pop artist. But with as long as he's been in the industry he should know better than to make an inflammatory statement like that about someone he doesn't have any real knowledge of. Now he looks like an ass for talking mess about one of the few mainstream artists that's known for writing and being the brains behind all of her stuff. Who else would make a lyric like , "you keep my old scarf from that very first week cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me". For better or worse her best shit is detailed and personal to a degree that's almost awkward. But I think that's what her die hards like about her lyrics. Honestly though I'm here for a Taylor- Gorillaz collab 🤝
Most of Swift's music is awful tho. I say this as someone who loved Red and even enjoyed 1989 as a great pop record. Her material since then has been mostly trash.
@@mewgiah8057 I gotta disagree with ya there. I think lyrically Folklore and Evermore are some of her strongest albums since Red (I like 1989 quite a bit, I didn't care for Reputation much at all outside of a few songs and ditto for Lover). I like the whimsy, folksy country vibes (for lack of a better description) especially on songs like "Ivy" and "Willow" and I appreciated the vivid stories she was telling throughout the albums. I'd like to hear more about the characters she created, particularly Augustine.
I think the whole point is exceptionally ironic considering he chooses to contrast Taylor Swift, who undoubtedly has written her material, to Billie Eilish who has been repeatedly put under scrutiny for mostly using Finneas’ writing for her songs. Not that this is always the case, just goes to show how little Damon knew on the subject that he failed to know the obvious thing that someone would use to debase his statement.
exactly. from what I see, he just prefers Billie's music over Taylor's and there is nothing wrong with that. But by trying to justify it based on who writes or who co-writes their songs he made himself look like an idiot. I love both, but it is a known fact Taylor wrote speak now on her own when billie has always been co-writing with finneas, and some of her biggest songs (ocean eyes and when the party's over) Finneas wrote on his own.
@@user-rv7ge1tc4l it actually makes everyone else look like an idiot for not understanding that he was clearly directly comparing taylor and billie as two people who have both engaged in cowriting. I don't understand how anybody - much less fantano - can see a paragraph entirely focused around cowriting, and then assume that the famous example of cowriting used as a comparison point was supposed to be an example of independent songwriting. He even gave two names.
@@Madx2326 this a personal preference though, that is completely subjective. And he did make a bald claim saying she doesn't write her own songs, which sounds like she has others doing the work for her. I love both billie and Taylor but comparing them, is so foolish since they are completely different artists. Taylor's last two albums (not the re-recordings) are a lot more lyrically complex than billie's music, and it is evident he did not give her discography a chance and probably just heard shake it off on the radio in 2015.
I thought Billie's brother wrote her songs, so it kind of seems hypocritical to like Billie and hate on Taylor. And this is coming from someone who LOVES Damon's work and is not a huge fan of Taylor.
afaik, billie and her brother co-write her songs. i’m sure there are ones he’s mostly written or she mostly wrote but i’m pretty sure they collaborate on the writing for basically all her stuff.
Albarn actually mentioned that in the interview. I think he just sees them as a kind of writing-duo, while he seems tot think Taylor just let's rando's send her songs to sing without much input from her own.
People talk about how Taylor Swift had rich parents with music industry connections, but all of that would have meant nothing without Taylors songwriting and performing ability.
I think He just didn't really know about her and just thought she was another manufactured pop star, it's just embarrassing that he went on a rate about something untrue lol it's a shame for him that he chose to criticize one of the only mainstream artist that actually cares and is fully involved in her art lol
@@saaw8344 She started writing and auditioning her own songs at the radios at a very young age and she's always super careful about having control over her career and artistic evolution, you can not like her or her songs but she's definitely passionate about music and she's definitely not manufactured
@@saaw8344 she's started from country music and signed with indie record label that doesn't even have a building, she's their first artist and the only successful artist from that record label, she's working on that since she was 14, started writing since 12, debut album at 16, absolutely coming from 0, so stfu
This is kind of shameful to hear from Damon, as a fan of Gorillaz. Ofc he's from the Britpop era, but he made statements on an artist he probably doesn't listen to that much, one that happens to have an insanely large audience and genuine talent. Even his apology comes out bad, as he accuses his interviewer of clickbait, but when you actually read the entire interview, it still seems iffy. Albarn went through beef with the Gallaghers, then Adele, now it's Swift. I really hate to see this guy dragged down since he's uplifted so many diverse artists, and definitely creates excellent music. But this time, Albarn spoke out of turn.
''He made statements on an artist he probably doesn't listen to that much'' Well, for a lost of great artists that i discovered thanks Gorillaz tracks, i think he listened a lot. Not Taylor and yeah Billie? Of course yes.
As some people get older it happens unfortunately. He probably only sees Swift as a what used to be refferred to as a "top 20 radio" artist and the rooms full of people that assembled those pop songs. She's obviously more involved than that, as I'm not a fan of her music, but can see it is a personalized process which therefore must include a signifigant portion of the song writing process. That's not to defend Damon, it's just kind of a vibe I've noticed many musicians and fans have held on to since the 90's and probably prior. In a few years, as great as some of his music or COLLABERATIONS might be (Damon can't take all the credit for Gorillaz as a certain artist has damn near as much to do with much of their overall success) in a few years he'll be yelling at clouds about remeber when Napster was a think and the only streaming he used to be aware of was the flow of industry money into his coffers. Also not entirely a bad thing. He's just from a decidely different era and spoke with little regard for the modern industry, it's artists, and their process. At least he wasn't shouting racist stuff or being a transphobe and that is about all I can hope for these days when seeing aged artists I used to enjoy from days gone by when they trend.
@@lucasdiego5028 I mean, when I said "an artist...", I was referring to Taylor Swift. Hell, there's a possibility that he may listen to Swift, but his statements make it seem like she only sings upbeat songs and revenge songs about boys. It's the classic "indie rock vs industrial pop" argument. Not to mention the Eilish siblings and Damon both participate heavily in cowriting, especially in Blur and Gorillaz. Interesting fact: Billie Eilish is a fan of Swift and Albarn. I wonder if she'll speak out on this.
Damon could've just said "I made a mistake. I said that out of ignorance. My bad" & this whole thing could've been avoided. Welp. Didn't expect 2022 bringing us Damon & Taylor beef.
As someone who loves Damon's music I'm kind of surprised/disappointed he talked about Taylor Swift of all people in this way... She's definitely one of the most talented artists in the mainstream. Could have mentioned someone like Justin Bieber who has all his music co-written but comes out with a miles less interesting/original result... But hey a Gorillaz x Taylor Swift collaboration would be a great way to bury the hatchet
@@eminemfan50098 dont be that guy shes made some pop bangers and her lastest two albums were critically acclaimed , so wether you like it or not , she is seen as talented by a big part of the music community
@Kovie Brion Marinay it's ironic how they think they know everything-when it's the exact opposite as they don't even listen to the artist they're talking about
Its like apart from her being one of the few mainstream pop artists that actually writes all her songs, she has such a recognizable writing style you dont even need to go and check the writing credits cmon did damon even listen to a Taylor Swift song ever
to be honest I know so many people who would offhandedly say something like this about most big mainstream pop stars. It may have just been a mistake, still, not cool in a public forum
@@jezbread8111 The fact that he doubled down on it makes it even worse. So I do personally blame him for his assumption seeming he seemed so sure of himself. Still, I don't think he's a liar.
It's honestly not cool and pretty annoying anyway, but it's especially bad when the person doing it is a famous and respected fellow musician who does have some influence.
@@97HawksFlyI think that's the point he's making though, like 2/3rds of what draws you to an artist is their sound and attitude, but if you put the song in a vacuum would it still be a good song? Do you like the song because of how it makes you feel (sound/attitude as well as music) or because of how it sounds (just the music)? Nothing wrong with songs/artists that are good because of their sound/attitude, they're still good, but there is something extra admirable about artists that can just straight up make good songs.
The most charitable reading of the interview would probably be that the distinction he tried to make wasn't about whether or not other people are involved in the songwriting, but rather the degree to which your own creative contributions are driving the process. Not saying he'd be correct in the case of Swift, only that it makes a little more sense given that he immediately cited a duo as an example of actual songwriting.
sounds like he made an incorrect assumption about taylor swift's level of contribution in the songwriting process (since producers can dress songs in disparate sounds) and doubled down when the interviewer balked at his reply and i'm sure the la times couldn't contain itself to run tell that
He was half-correct and half-wrong because in some songs Swift is the only writer and in other songs she's not. But yes, exactly, he was making a distinction between writing and co-writing, then twitter account did take his words out of context of this assumption, then Swift read the tweet (and, apparently, not the interview) and understood it as a denial of her involvement in a songwriting. So I think Albarn was right at least about his words being taken out of context.
the "making of a song" series she has on yt clearly shows her songwriting process and that she brings almost fully finished songs to the studio which then she co-produces with her producer. and she credits her producers as writers on the song too
Can we get some justice for Mariah Carey, now that the spotlight is on female singer-songwriters? She's never been taken seriously as a songwriter, but just like Taylor, she is that.
yes and her songwriting was overshadowed by her vocal ability and the stigma that artists with big vocals are just there for delivery. Why do artists have to constantly prove that they wrote their material? can't just people stop talking bs of things they know so little about like we get it if you're not a fan, just don't give off that "pick me"/ "not like the others" vibe
Taylor Swift has 51 songs written by herself, while Damon only has 36 songs. Their rest songs are all co-written. I don't know why he has the right to say this. "She is not songwriter because she co-writes he her songs". Just because she co-writes with Max Martin, and he co-writes with some independent artists? Does this make him more artistry? WOW
Taylor swift hires underling professional songwriters whose job it is is to create commercial music. Damon collaborates with other artists sharing the same artistic vision. One is motivated by money fame and power, the other is motivated by creating good music and expressing himself. One is an artist the other is a pop star. Imagine if you found out Van Gogh or Shakespeare had an editor to improve their work….
@@gianmariarusso413 then why does her songwriting credits have numerous Grammy winning professional songwriters that are known to write songs for pop stars?
@@smkxodnwbwkdns8369 Like who? Plus all of the songwriters who worked with her states that they all refine her lyrics, not to count she wrote most of them alone as well credit wise
@@gianmariarusso413 look up her publishing. And I’m not talking about lyrics, lyrics are unimportant, I’m talking about the music, hooks, and instrumentation.
This is hilarious considering her songwriting literally describes events from her own life and experience in detail. Who tf does Albarn think wrote the songs when she's singing songs about being 19 dating Gyllenhaal or whatever the fuck.
Tbh, I think he had musical production in mind as "songwriting" and Taylor does work with famous producers. However, using standard definition of songwriting, she definitely is an author of her songs.
From what I see, he just prefers Billie's music over Taylor's and there is nothing wrong with that. But by trying to justify it based on who writes or who co-writes their songs he made himself look like an idiot. I love both, but it is a known fact Taylor wrote speak now on her own when billie has always been co-writing with finneas, and some of her biggest songs (ocean eyes and when the party's over) Finneas wrote on his own.
this whole thing is so funny to me because he could've picked ANYONE else to name drop (even if he was still incorrect) and i don't think they would've cared enough to respond.
exactly, i feel like taylor has had so much public beef with other celebrities who have wronged her, it's crazy that he thought he could say that without at least an angry tweet.
@@diogoBZHA I did, as a immense folk and Bon Iver fan, and it was just 2 average folk ablum, as you can find pretty much thousands on spotify. Can't understand what so genuinely great about Swift. But I prefer that to the terrible Pop songs tbh
@@VoOrT3xX I think that what’s great about her lyricism is that she can paint real clear pictures about what she is singing. “My Tears Ricochet”, a Folklore track for example, made me realize that she really is a exceptional songwriter, and I am not even into her music that much.
Billie and her brother cowrote both of her albums alone. She writes her own music. If co-writing isn't writing, then Taylor doesn't write her own music either.
@@donnybuoy This person is saying, Billie Eilish doesn’t literally write music on her OWN, by herself. Her brother writes with her. I would also not claim something is my own if I was co-writing it.
When people so easily drops subjective bullshit into their theories behind composition, the entire argument shits itself. What a dumb-ass interview. Name drop Theonious Monk as an influence, then drop nonsense about co-writing when HALF HIS CAREER was co-writing. He’s such a brute.
The fact that there's still people in the comments trying to say she doesn't write her songs when there is literally VIDEO FOOTAGE of her writing songs. What more proof do you need? Smh.
As a songwriter, the songs I wrote with other people are less personal than the ones I wrote by myself. Collaboration can make you go to places you would not ordinarily go as a solo writer, which can be quite liberating. The songs I have written myself were at times like stepping into a confessional.
I love Gorillaz but Damon can come up with some really shitty takes, like when he said: “I do not sample, I create music." when referring to Kanye, Like, mf, Gorillaz is full of samples lmao
People can say she's not a good vocalist or performer but saying she doesn't write songs is the most stupidest thing ever. Her songwriting ability is the only reason why she's so relevant & successful to this date
Man I’m a huge fan of Blur/Gorillaz, but I really wish Damon would have just said “she doesn’t write her own songs, jk” to avoid all this. Crazy what one sentence can do, but where he really messed up is the following lengthy answer, yikes.
Billie's song that made her famous wasn't even written by her at all. It was written by Finneas for his band. Finneas had a manager for his band and that's how Billie got her manager. She wasn't "discovered". Finneas produces ALL of her songs. Finneas is 150% the only reason Billie Eilish is even a thing and she knows this. Apparently Albarn doesn't. For some reason this dude is on the side of someone who's practically stolen her brothers entire career. "Exceptional". lolz.
People are under the immediate impression that it's "assembly line music" whenever more than two writers appear on a song Wiki for a solo artist, and that might have been Damon's mistake as well. The reality is that "intellectual property" has begun to infect every legal precedent in the music industry, to the point where melodies, phrases, beats, and even "feel" can be own-able. The Gaye estate is making millions now from "Blurred Lines", none of which is deserved in my opinion, but the law doesn't agree with me. Likewise, "Sour" was, legally, written in part by Taylor Swift and members of Paramore. Don't ask me how that's possible; it's officially true, and nothing can be done about it at the moment. But people with Damon's ignorance will look up the notes on "Sour", see a bunch of names, and decide that Olivia Rodrigo doesn't write her songs.
In this day and age any attempt to apologize will simply be met with accusations of "backpedaling." Especially from a fanbase as rabid and obsessive as Taylor Swift's. They'll never let him live this down as long as he lives lol
It's 2022 and some ppl still think Taylor Swift writes only lyrics . She's the youngest artist in history to self-write and perform a no.1 country song and her first international hit Love story is entirely written by her alone .
Was it recorded entirely alone tho? Or did she NEED daddy max Martin to come in and record all the instrumentation? This is the point Damon is trying to make.
@@mitchmcturtle6890if that's the point he's trying to make then why did he immediately praise Billie Eilish who, no offense, has zero solo-written songs or or solo-produced songs lol
@@drawl13 two reasons, 1) Billie eilish believe it or not has more input in the making of her songs than taylor does 2) Billie gives credit to finneas, while taylor has some big name producer do ALL of the heavy lifting and then sits there and acts like she did everything. And when you point that out, she gets all shocked and offended and writes a song like “if I were a man” lmao
ive never been into taylor. Big blur and gorillaz fan, and usually i have a pretty high respect of Damon politically as well. I was surprised at his quote. Even if I don't listen to Taylor's music shes a talented and impressive woman and his comment was just so dismissive. I don't get why men are so dismissive of her. (I do know why but ugh)
Okay so out of all the things i could say, did Damon listen to Folklore, Evermore, Reputation, the country albums, some of Red, and other songs? Taylor is not endlessly upbeat. Say what you will about the country albums but they are typically more midbeat, Reputation, though not for everyone, is more dark and the two new ones, especially Folklore, are pretty dark.
Funny how she always referring herself to be a big fan of an artist before dragging them like she's the best friend and supporter of everyone in the music industry, but in fact the opposite
Taylor is a bit thin-skinned, always been. Albarn is hitting boomer-level gatekeeping. *"It is valid co-writing when I like the song, it isn't when I don't."* Also, Billie Eilish's "The party is over" (for instance) was written by Finneas alone... so not co-written.
I'm pretty sure she does, lyrically she seems not over complicated although very binding narrativly to story telling and progressive with tie ins, I've not got a great understanding of all her work, but from a creative perspective she rides her angelic personality in her country roots very faithfully and is the most unchanged musically by the fame machine, although this is not my forte nor favourite style it's greatly attractive to see dedication and authenticity to a certain genre of style and work, Kudos to swifty.
this is so great because probably the most central thing about taylor swift as a public figure is that she writes her own songs. all of her drama is about her songs because they’re so obviously about specific people that she dated. it’s like the worst possible person to diss this way
damon is in the music businesss since the late 80s, has connections to dozens of famous artists (including pop stars) worldwide and whatnot and still doesn't know how dedicated taylor swift is in her work? i haven't heard much of her music besides some of her folk stuff and i mostly ignore her and even i know that she definitely writes her songs.
it’s kinda weird for him to love Billie but hate Taylor? like, their fanbases have a fair bit of overlap edit: he doesn’t actually hate taylor, poor choice of words.
To be fair, the dude's getting on in age. I remember an interview coming out before the most recent Gorillaz album where he said that the only way he knew about what artists to include on his new songs is from his daughter. I bet he's just a crotchety older dude who only knows Taylor Swift from radio songs. Not an excuse, however.
it's also kind of funny how 90% of modern pop mainstream doesn't write their own stuff... and he says this about one of the few artists that actually does.
He was probably thinking of some other artist's details and mixed up who does what. I do that all the time with celebrities I follow only Peripherally. The only difference is he's a huge artist so everyone gives a huge fuck if you make a slip up
I don't think writing is as important in the pop world as it is in the rap world or even the rock world
@@brandonayong5823 true, i think it's because 1) for a lot of artists the industry just know it's gonna do well regardless of how authentic the lyrics is and 2) a lot of pop music serves as an accompaniment for when you are doing other stuff, shopping, training, etc. therefore, paying attention to it it's not your main focus. that's just a thought though.
@@agu6863 Right. Rock music or hip hop is usually less global writing wise than pop music. It's more personal or story telling based. But if there's a song about partying at the weekend or random lyrics about love at a surface level no one really cares who wrote it as long as the feeling is there sonically ( even in other genres if that's your subject you will get a pass . That's the kind of stuff drake does and no one really cared when he was exposed as having a ghostwriter)
yeah, I don't even like Taylor but out of all the artists like, he could have picked randomly and been less likely to be, erm, wrong lol
Taylor Swift and Damon Albarn is a more unexpected beef than Freddie Gibbs and Gunna
Got the streets talking
Damon
" Hello Taylor. My name is Damon.
You should go back to your early days
Don't have a heart attack now
Somebody help your girl up
Fake pen the page is blank space
The real writer can't show up"
Taylor
" it's funny but so True
I'd rather be fake writing Me than real writing you
Until I'm hitting old age
Still can fill a whole page
With a 10 years old rage
Got more fans than you in your own city little kid go play
Feels like I'm babysitting lil Tay"
It rivals the bizarre beef between Azealia banks and Elon musk
@@coldwar7920 Azaelia Banks vs Brazil
@@coldwar7920 azealia banks vs (INSERT BASICALLY ANYONE HERE) tbh, they're all bizarre
What Damon is saying is totally correct for a lot of artists in the industry. The problem is that he name dropped Taylor Swift specifically while obviously not being very familiar with her music and creative process. This all could have been avoided if he just admitted he doesn't really know much about Taylor Swift instead of trying to seem like the cool guy that only listens to good music
yeah I bet this is basically what happened
Why are most of her hits co-written by the Swedish hit machine then? Lame.
@@leerylifeform most of them? more like 2 or 3 bro, she was a hit way before making music with them
Spot on. That’s why I’m guessing this will all blow over fairly quickly.
@@henrysoprano7 You mean when Liz Rose wrote her songs?
One of the worst types of music opinions is when someone tries to explain a personal dislike as if there’s strictly technical reasoning behind it. It’s okay to just not like stuff.
Fucking exactly. In all kinds of entertainment there are always people who just treat everything that they dislike as objectively bad, and that you're dumb if you like this thing that is indisputably bad.
The same as Ben Shapiro defining music in his own weird way and then saying that rap doesn't fit his 'objectively correct' definition...
@@harryleigh982 It's not the same because the intention behind Ben doing that is to discredit rap for political purposes.
@@anentiresleeveoforeos2087 I interpreted what Damon Albarn said as him disparaging co-writing and Taylor’s use of it. Might have read it wrong
You’re saying this about someone who has a lot more knowledge about music than you do. If he was right about the accusation, then he’d have a point. It’s not a surprise that someone who watches Fantano can’t understand a technical argument
Not to mention that Taylor at 19 was already tired of people complaining about her co-writing songs and wrote the entirety of her third album, Speak Now, as the sole writing credit.
tell that to Max Martin
@@hbwestham Only Reputation is fully co-written. 30% of her songs are self-written, the highest among all mainstream artists.
@@hbwestham Albarn has 2 self-writen albums while Swift has one. So that is the difference between the "pseudo artist" and "artist"?
@@hbwestham 1. 2 of 3 Albarn solo albums was self written, not 100%. 2. Do you ever in the studio with Albarn or Swift? How do you know the work process of Albarn and Swift? According to your logic, I can also say that Taylor Swift is the "real" artist cause she regularly cooperates with different people but maintains strong personality while changing her style. Being an independent artist doesn't mean you are more noble or artistic than mainstream artists. For the backlash against Albarn, obviously, he doesn't know Taylor Swift's workflow and her song credits at all. After realizing his mistakes, he even tried to push them on to the journalist. He deserve all of this.
@@hbwestham Content producer. There we go folks!
You can write songs about your personal life and your own family and friends and you're a pseudo-artist.
So I was watching The Beatles' Get Back documentary and what struck me the most was that, while it IS known that Lennon/McCartney was a partnership in name only, more than 80% of the song is written by only one of them and the others, besides just John and Paul, chip in ideas and lines. George even essentially co-wrote Octopus' Garden even though Ringo is the sole credit because the song's melody, lyrics and overall idea was his. There are moments in the film where even their engineer suggests arrangement ideas. By modern standards, all 4 Beatles would be credited on every Beatles song. Had that been the case, Damon would be accusing Paul of being just a cowriter (although he might as well accuse himself of the same). I feel like modern writing credits are a double edged sword: On one hand it credits every person even remotely involved in the process, but the person who originated it, whose life experience informed it, who stayed up all night writing the melody and lyrics, isn't singled out as the person who had the biggest say in the process and while they do get CREDIT, they don't get a proportionate amount of it and no one is aware of the scale of their contribution.
I think what you're saying about the modern, much broader meaing of 'co-writing' is what he was getting at originally though. He's basically saying that being a cowriter these days can just mean you were in the room when it was written and recorded, or that it can end up being split 15 ways on a simple 3 minute pop song, rather than dismissing the idea of writing in a collaborative way entirely.
Its still BS, because Taylor Swift is not one of those people who just makes a tiny adjustment to her pre-written song and claims co-writing credit, but that's what he was saying more than co-writing is completely bad.
and people are so quick to judge that a pop artist having co-writers means he/she just got the credit because he/she was on the studio during the writing process
Yes but the royalties split won't be the same for everyone like one will get let's say 70% and other three people 10% or even less than that proportionally to their contribution. I think it's fair to credit people even if they apparently had little input because sometimes it's the little things that can MAKE a song :)
@@krombopulos_michael oh no I agree with that. I was merely stating the pros and cons of how credits tend to look these days to an outsider.
@@SandiGlowe I agree, but people outside of the business don't know HOW MUCH of the song came from which writer and end up saying stupid shit like Damon. Although I get the feeling he probably just assumed Taylor didn't write her own songs without knowing anything about her music, which seems pretty clear from his comments.
But people DO use the 'oh so many writers for ONE song? Music sucks these days' argument a lot. What I'm saying is, that's ALWAYS been the case, and people are now being credited even the minor contributions. The problem is, we DON'T know who actually did the heavy lifting just looking at a list of writers. Some artists are created for just breathing in the same room, while others like Taylor, actually have a vision.
Speaking negatively about cowriting and then specifically mentioning Billie and Finneas is just funny
I think there's a hint of sarcasm there lol
Honestly I think the tone he uses and the pauses are quite important in this context. It’s possible that when he referred to Billie and Finneas that he was talking about other co-writers. This is why I dislike interviews like this.
Having two close songwriters with no other people influencing the music isn't the same as having seven swedish producers, and multiple producers working on one song. It just isn't
@perryola 💄 btch you're here too
" And I don't say the Hook unless I wrote the hook"
For the worse or for the better, all of her songs are very clearly made by her
LOL
Taylor calling her ghostwriter
" I knew you were trouble when you walked in"
Max Martin was a clear main writer in a lot of her albums so cut the crap
@@brandonayong5823 "We are never ever every writing another song together"
@@tahamohammedi5898 but Taylor directed all of it, still. She didn’t just say “Max please write me a whole album for me”
This dude heard shake if off once and projected it onto her entire music discography
I mean between that song and Bad Blood I wouldn’t blame somebody for dismissing her entire catalogue... mostly because that’s what I did for several years
@@connorross123 I know.. but those are actually really great songs .. melodically. And Taylor actually made a big musical input to those songs, with the progressions and melodies. She is a melody savant.
Shake It Off is literally her only hit that people who aren't raving Swifties care about.
@@zx7-rr486 Melodic genius again? Literally look at the sheet music for Shake It Off.
I've been a working journalist for many years. Story subjects are often taken aback when reading their own words quoted in a story. Maybe they said something that, in their mind, was meant to be taken a certain way, but none of that contextual inner monologue is present in the printed quote, so it hits differently. However, this issue is most prominent among people who aren't quoted regularly. You'd think Damon freaking Albarn would have figured this out by now and would be choosing his words a bit more carefully.
Thing is, he’s 100% correct. There are actual creative songwriters and then people who think they are. He’s a purist and doesn’t have to respect the corrupted ‘creative’ process of performers who say they wrote their own music but really just sit in with the producers and have minimal personal input into the song - but have their name as the writer to legitimise them as an artist. Hence, SO damaging etc. Truth hurts.
If I recall, the reporter tried to correct him and he doubled down. I just think he didn't like the attention he was getting. But yeah, he should know better by now
It's pretty obvious what he said - let's not excuse his idiocy.
@@jasbadsirron6424 I agree with what you're saying but Taylor Swift just isn't an example of someone who sits down with producers and gives minimal input. She legit writes her shit.
@@jasbadsirron6424 Nice cope. But guess what, this doesn't apply to Taylor.
i saw a tweet saying that if taylor doesn't write her own songs then there's someone writing her songs that likes dragging jake gyllenhaal through the mud and it's kind of concerning and should probably be checked out
😂😂😂😂😂
that means she never dated him lol
I'm dying 😂
She tell the whole context and story to songwriters and they help to convert those story into songs .
Taylor Swift is a very strange artist to levy baseless accusations of insincerity towards. Regardless of if you like her music, very clearly she's been wearing her heart on her sleeve in every song she's released since the beginning of her career.
This is just like the time when Elton John slammed Madonna for lip syncing then turned around and praised Katy Perry lol
He also did a mumble rap cover of one his songs. Wasn’t lip synced tho!
Yeah, Elton likes to gossip. On the other hand, he's Elton freaking John, so he can say whatever he wants.
Are these just ok boomer things?
Maybe he changed his mind. After all he said that thing about electronic production "theres no more ReAl MuSiC that you write at the piano" then barely a year later is working with Gaga on a dance beat
Elton john is so fucking cringe
As a huge fan of Damon (love all of his solo stuff, Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad and the Queen) it's really sad when someone you praise comes out with such easily avoidable drama and making comments on something he might very well know very little about
It’s so avoidable! He could’ve just deflected or not mentioned anything about her songs anyway. Just frustrating, but it’ll pass soon. Twitter drama flies by.
Yeah, he's always been a bit of a prick.
We all talk about things we ultimately aren't as clued in on as we thought, not saying Damon's situation isn't different as an interview is very public but at the same time I can't get that disappointed in him for a slip up he apologised for. I might feel different if I was personally invested in Taylor Swift to be fair.
@@NeapolitanDynamite99 I think he's got that sometimes abrasive lack of filter which probably made him pals with Jamie Hewlett in the first place.
That's not sad. Not being able to eat the cake at your birthday party because you're diabetic and your mom forgot and got cake with sugar. That's sad.
Damon should literally just come out and say, "Yeah, I made a lazy statement generalizing about an artist that I don't know much about that seemed like an easy target for what I don't like about music. I was wrong and I apologize." How hard is that?
Sometimes, it is the hardest thing for people to do to just admit they were wrong. Even when they are compelled to apologize, they still don't want to fully or simply acknowledge that they were dumb and wrong in any way, which is why he's like uhhh my words were taken out of context. What they don't realize is that doing exactly that, is exactly the right thing to make everyone forgive them and move on instead of making themselves into an even bigger doofus
What he said is only partially wrong, she doesn’t write all of her songs alone, for a ‘solo’ artist she has a hell of a lot of co written stuff like every soulless pop artist out there.
he did just that
@@emirozdemir2037 not really. He "apologised" by basically saying he was just taken out of context and that the interviewer was the one at fault. He didn't cop to actually being wrong.
@@hbwestham She has an entire solo written album that did incredibly well (Speak Now). When watching her discuss her music process and seeing clips of how she put her songs together, I can’t count how many are her writing all of the lyrics, coming up with the song’s tune on her piano one day, etc. I have seen interviews where collaborators say how much they learnt from how she writes and how that was the focus of them working together. She got her headstart based on purely solo writing her own stuff and taking it to record stations. She clearly writes and it’s what started her career.
I get that she co-writes more now (essentially her boyfriend adding things to the process at home, and her producer and some other artists she has only recently started reaching out to for her folk stuff). But it feels pretty silly to defend his comments here. His criticism makes more sense for essentially every other pop artist. I have always respected that Taylor’s main talent is her writing, while someone like Ariana has better vocals. I’d go as far as to say Taylor writes her music a lot more than Billie does, who he praised in the same sentence. I think it’s pretty well known that Finneas is a lot of the genius behind her work, but there is nobody you can claim that with when it comes to Taylor. It doesn’t make any sense to use this against her.
"No artist I've ever written with in my career has ever contributed more to the actual song than Taylor Swift... Taylor contributed so much and so quickly, for the first time and only time, I actually felt bad for my share." - Ryan Tedder
It's pretty well-documented that Taylor always brings a nearly-finished song into the studio when she works with a collaborator. Even on something like "All Too Well," the cowriter on that track said that she was basically just Taylor's editor who helped her sharpen what she already had.
the kurt vonnegut picture! pretty cool my dude
Who is Ryan Tedder?
@@jordanlonsdale9468 lead singer from one republic
@@jordanlonsdale9468 pretty big producer who’s worked with most of the big pop acts and also helms OneRepublic.
As someone who’s a fan of Gorillaz and not a fan of Taylor Swift, Damon Albarn is still in the wrong here. He shouldn’t have publicly said something that he isn’t actually knowledgeable about.
Celebs have been doing that since the dawn of time😂
As a Swiftie, I appreciate this. You’re based AF
Lmao no one cares
What if he's right? Are you taking Taylor Swift's word when it comes to defending herself?
@@zrapboy7 even if taylor has been somehow lying about writing her own songs for the entirety of her almost 20 year career, many who have observed her songwriting process have confirmed that she is extremely talented at it and can finish entire songs relatively fast. most notable of which is ryan tedder who is another gifted songwriter
I love Damon, but he really gives off an "old man yells at cloud" vibe in interviews sometimes. When he's not being flippant about another artist's creative process he'll be going on about the over-saturation of autotune in music (despite using it himself) or talking about how writing an album on an iPad with only synthesizers is some kind of new revolutionary thing.
Agreed, I get the feeling he kind of risks turning into a Gen X Morissey, replete with takes that are luke warm at best, and artic ice sheets at worst.
He’s still salty over Oasis being more universally successful than anything he’s done
When did he complain about autotune?
@@johnd1464 Nah bro, they're still rubbish
@@bexrayspex I hugely doubt he'd be getting into far-right politics though thankfully
4:43 This was me. I read his thing about co-writing and then the bit about “songwriter” (singular) Billie Eilish and her brother. WTAF?
I don’t like Taylor Swift’s music (mostly because I don’t like her voice), but I’m not going to take shots at her artistry or integrity. And, there are no words for how much I love the whole “Taylor’s version” response to the crap around her rights.
It's literally known that Billie Eilish doesn't write ANY of her songs alone, yet Taylor Swift gets shit for co-writing AT ALL? Kinda just seems like Billie Eilish always gets a pass because she's dark/edgy/not the like the other girls and I'm so bored of it.
And plus, one of the most well-known and highly regarded in songwriting, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, wrote with each other when they were in The Beatles as Lennon/McCartney!
@@you_tubeslonelyheartsclubband in the beginning, yes. eventually they started writing separately but their songs were always credited to Lennon/McCartney regardless
I don't blame her for it, I blame the people
i think it’s cause the person she writes with is her brother and he’s a known as a huge part of making her music
Billlie is honestly so overrated
Most art is a collaboration in some way. That doesn’t mean that the “main person” behind the project is untalented or incapable. There was just no need to put down Swift in this way.
He did say that being a co writer isn’t a bad thing and that some of the best music ever made was co written
His apology makes no sense talking about “reduced to clickbait” you said it pretty clearly that she doesn’t write their own songs?
Reduced to clickbait in the sense that he was doing an interview and the interviewer decided to ask his opinion on her (Damon never actually wanted to talk about her but he was asked) and he made some little comment which the interviewer then decided to make the actual headline of the interview (in an obvious attempt to start a controversy). Anyone in that position would be pissed off too, even if their answer had been misinformed. He obviously couldn’t care less about Taylor but was thrust into some media shit-storm by the interviewer.
his word was quoted lol it's impossible if it were reduced to clickbait
He also is straight-up incorrect about Ella Fitzgerald lmao. She didn’t write *many* songs, but she definitely did write.
I remember having this type of incorrect opinion about pop musicians WHEN I WAS 17 AND I THOUGHT I WAS BETTER THAN EVERYONE FOR LISTENING TO SKINNY PUPPY.
He rubbed me the wrong way on the Nardwuar interview, I don't see how everybody is so surprised he doesn't have tact.
😂😂😂😂
You were
I mean that kind of attitude is common at every age, even with pros like Damon. But now it's his word vs all of Swift's collaborators who back her up in the idea she's a huge part of what makes "hher songs hers.
Lol I used to be this way as a teenager, now I am a swiftie as well as a Sunn O))) fan
Haters really went from Taylor only writes songs about her ex to Taylor doesn't write her own songs. Who exactly is writing songs about Taylor's ex then? lol Just make up your damn mind.
😂 so true! Like Whoa?!?
@GeRia-be3js this would make a good taylor swift song
@@datjasminecat😂
Very strange line to draw, when Billie quite famously co-writes her songs with her brother. Feels like Damon had a bit of hipster knee-jerk reaction.
3:35 Albarn does bring that up in fairness. He's still hadn't done his research over Swift of course.
Somehow I doubt Billie and Finneas do the writing on their songs
that's the point of the comment, an example of people cowriting in a more inventive way, omg do any of you people in the comments know how to read?
@@grantrupe2957 yeah it's mostly finneas
@@mannyoftheeast3318 No, I'm saying that I'm pretty sure they're ghostwritten
Not only does she write all her own songs, she has written hits for other artists and has won countless awards for writing as opposed to performing. She is well respected by all the top industry writers, been called a songwriting genius and has even been compared to Bob Dylan. She's written countless hits since age 14 and was even hired by a record label as a country music songwriter before she got a record deal. Her first after school job in high school! The songs she writes without cowriters are actually her best ones. And when she works with cowriters she is almost always the primary writer. You would have to have been living under a rock to not know this. Dude should do his research before dissing Taylor.
Liz Rose co wrote with her on about 20 of her hits. Couple others too.
@@TheCrain Yeah, but that doesn't make Taylor less of a songwriter
@@racheldistasioliveira3871 Of course not.
@@TheCrain no she didn't yalll claim these as facts but don't do any more research beyond looking at credits Liz helps taylor process what she's gonna write taylor is creating all the lyrics
@@Celesteanos Now why on earth would a professional songwriter not write any songs? You really think Liz just sits there in the corner and acts like Taylor's emotional support bear? They both wrote her songs and that's why they both won awards for the same songs. Jeeze. Do YOUR research. Lol
Him saying that Taylor Swift’s songs are “endlessly happy” all the time is hysterical considering the fact that many of her fans much like myself have fallen in love with her because of her heart-wrenching songs and lyrics. Examples: Dear John, Teardrops on My Guitar, Treacherous, Haunted, All Too Well, Innocent…. all from Red or earlier albums. He may have wanted to choose someone who’s discography he knows more about before making an ass of himself in this interview. Lost a lot of respect for the guy 😢
Heart-wrenching is a pretty strong way to describe some of those songs. Some of her earlier sad songs are not very punchy in my opinion, but you're totally write thay she has been exploring darker subject matter for at least like twelve years now
@@hideyourwenches i'd definitely call all to well heart wrenching! especially the 10 minute version. i'd also say this about songs off folklore and evermore like champagne problems, exile, betty, marjorie
@@kitchensinkchronicles3272 heard. I am not too familiar with her discography post-1989, so I was commenting on the pre-Red examples you mentioned. It seems likely that her ability to drive home sincerely tragic and impactful stories in her lyrics has improved based on the fan reception.
He really just listened to Shake It Off and thought that's all he needed to know to be an expert on Taylor Swift.
@@mynameisreallycool1 bahahahahaahah honestly anyone who doesn’t know her work prior to 1989 needs to dive into before claiming to know her work. 1989 was very different and pivotal and though with Folklore and Evermore she’s brought back some of that folk/country vibe her roots are in her early albums. As always, music is so subjective and some may not find Teardrops really sad but tween me felt very sad and very seen. Happy to see so many come to bat for her around this comment. As opposed to being constructive and based in sound knowledge of her work it was just disrespectful and untrue.
It’s easy for an artist to criticize someone they don’t want to work with. Although Gorillaz feat Swift is so odd it almost works
Gorillaz only works if the combo is odd in some regard. NGL she's not the first person I'd pick for a Gorillaz feature, but I'm sure they could've made something great.
@@TitosTheSalty When gorillaz does music with indie artists it's either the most beautiful shit you've heard (little dragon) or the weirdest (robert smith)
@@TitosTheSalty to true
She pulled off a colab with Kendrick so anything's possible 😂
@@wokeil Robert Plant isn't enough of a contrast that's why.
This man definitely heard some taylor swift on the radio and presumed it was her whole discography
it's not like Taylor wrote an entire album by herself at age 19 because people kept discrediting her for co-writing. crazy how it's always taylor, arguably the best lyricist in pop rn, who gets called out for this shit when she's one of only few who actually writes her songs. I mean she did a whole series dedicated to her songwriting process on Rep, videos of her writing songs with her collaborators or alone. videos you can easily find on RUclips. it seems like Damon heard "shake it off" on the radio once and never bothered to follow up and learn more. I don't know, man, she's the biggest artist in the world. maybe you should get your head out of your own ass sometimes and keep up with the world. he seems so pretentious and elitist. arguably number one fact about taylor is that she writes her own songs.
She's got millions and millions of fans but the way the internet talks about her you'd think she gets nobody at her concerts lmfao
@Sullen Glow better than Carly Rae jepson 🤣
@@lightningmonky7674 The way they make it sound is like Taylor is just some shitty songwritress who is a literal whore, but she's dated less than 10 men in her life and won so many awards
There are more complex lyricists in pop than Taylor tbh. Tove Lo is an example
@@transakira no doubt, she's not an omega genius or anything, her take on pop music is just refreshingly sincere and I don't feel like I'm simply consuming a product like I do with so much other pop music
As a teenager (not too long ago tbh) I used to dismiss pop artists in the same spirit and with the same argument, claiming none of them wrote their own songs. Of course having no clue on whether they actually did. Especially attractive young women. Because hey, they can't have any other attribute besides being hot, right?
Funny to see how a grown ass man who's been part of the scene for 20+ years can be so certain of the same stupid concept.
Just about any Taylor Swift song, from the greatest to the worst, lyrically sound like Taylor’s own vernacular. She has certain topics, references, and words that she likes to go back to.
Hell, look at “This is What You Came for” by Calvin Harris and Rihanna. Taylor ghostwrote that song and lyrically you can tell it is “Reputation” era Taylor writing it.
ORORORORO!!! I spend half of my day sleeping! ORORORO!!! Then I sometimes get up and tell you that I am a famous content creatorORORORORO!!! Please don't sleep while driving, dear cro
@@AxxLAfriku did you forgot to take your meds?
@@AxxLAfriku oh god it’s this guy
Yeah, it lyrically sounded like a sister of I did something bad in "so light me up, light me up, light me up, Go ahead and light me up"
from all of those pop artists he came for taylorswift??🤣she is probably the only superstar that i know that actually cares about music and writes all of her stuff.
He didn’t really “come for her”. The interviewer brought her up and he expressed his (admittedly low) knowledge about her.
this is a pretty nonsensical take from Damon. Implies Swift’s not a real songwriter because co-writing isn’t “real songwriting.” Contrasts her with Billie, a “real” artist, despite the fact that billie also co-writes??
I said this before on another comment, and Melon honestly might have misinterpreted it too. But the tone he uses and the pauses are quite important in this context. It’s possible that when he referred to Billie and Finneas that he was talking about other co-writers. Transcripts of an interview don’t offer the whole picture. It’s like if I said “Bicycles suck and are quite hard to get used to. I used to ride a tricycle as a kid a lot, but I think Motorcycles are cool. They appeal to me more than Bicycles.” It’s the EXACT same thing, but obviously I’m comparing motorcycles and bicycles as something with a similarity.
Taylor has 60+ people credited the biggest hits of the new albums. She writes some parts of the songs but she clearly isn't composing every single element of her LPs, as is stated in the credits. I think this is what Damon meant, if not it's nonsense lol.
@@raph2k01 She writes most parts of the song. "60+" is honestly just a joke. That is blatantly wrong.
Lennon and McCartney aren’t “real” writers 🥴
@@raph2k01 jack antonoff her producer on most of ger songs says taylor comes in woth a already good song but they only tweak it a little when producing he’s actually said it many times even before yesterday shes a real songwriter if you are gonna try and discredit her at least have facts right
I’m not a fan of Taylor. BUT: I will always admit that she writes her own music, and I’m happy that she now has the rights to her own songs.
Same. She been going downhill artistically since reputation but somehow getting more popular idk. But it's definitely her.
@@pokermitten9795downhill?? Imma keep my opinions to myself 😭
@@pokermitten9795 no way lol
@@pokermitten9795rep sucks wdym
@@pokermitten9795folklore would like to disagree with you
I think part of the reason this is so frustrating for me is that Damon Albarn, if nothing else, is like the premier collaborator of modern music. There really aren't many other artists who fearlessly collaborate with artists seemingly from every inch of the industry, irrespective of style, genre, language, etc. You would think that if there was any one person in the industry who has unconditional respect for their fellow artist, it'd be Damon Albarn. And yet, here he is flippantly (and inaccurately) criticizing and attacking an artist whose work he isn't even remotely up to date on.
My thoughts exactly. It’s ironic too that these veteran Brit pop artists are criticizing the modern state of music, when a generation ago they themselves were being called a cheap imitation of the rock bands that came before them
He just said she doesn’t write her songs while he was going on about the differences between collaborative music and solo written music, You’re all so anxiety ridden that you took as he if he just completely said “taylor swift sucks fuck her music, doesn’t even write it, bad artist, bad songs, bad”, I didn’t read it as him talking shit and ATTTaccccKKKKiiiinNNnng her, the interviewer brought her up lol
Perfect comment
@@pokemon2274 dude the answers were pretty flippant and embarrassing. He's Damon Albarn, not some newcomer whose words in an interview don't matter. It's embarrassing of he didn't know because Taylor Swift is Taylor Swift, and if he did know and just wanted to diss her music he could have done so without claiming she doesn't write her songs fully, comparing her to Ella Fitzgerald (who is iconic btw but ?). So on the one hand this interview was offensive because what he argued was wrong and on the other because to be so misinformed and not own up to it is childish.
@@Matt3683683 agreed! and the fact that damon makes LITERAL pop music nowadays with gorillaz and still doesn't have that level of self awareness is honestly kinda sad lol.
I'm guessing this is just a case of Damon being uninformed and being like "I want to riff on this big pop artist so lemme just draw a name that sounds suspect out of a hat." It's easy to believe that Taylor Swift doesn't write her own music because of how non-provocative and pop-friendly it is. But yeah, he just came across as kind of stupid here. Why even shade someone/people that you don't specifically have beef with? Your words are literally going to be plastered all over the internet.
@@runnersdialzero1244 funny that he went on to praise two other women right after
It's partially because she's a woman, too.
@@runnersdialzero1244 he praised billie eilish🤔
Folklore and evermore are not pop friendly. It’s Indie folk music
@@davishughes5992 ok buddy
Having watched Damon in video interviews over the years, he was most likely hungover, drunk, tired and or bored. Grumbling from one answer to another without really giving much thought to his words. His guard was down and the interview looked to have shifted to a more conversational tone which may have caused him to let spill an ignorant comment that he believes Taylor doesn't write her own songs. His comment is kinda like something you would say around a group of friends that have never listend to her music or bothered to research it. So in that sense, I don't believe he had any malice in saying what he said, in his mind it was probably an off the cuff statement. Hey after all this, I just think it would be cool for Taylor to ft. on a Gorillaz album.
Agree lol
I get you man, I really love both of them and it sucks to see them beef. Always wondered what they'd sound like together too
he then said billie eilish is good seconds later lol
Totally. Everyone is taking too seriously
I remember one time he was asked about Tame Impala saying no to working with him and he just went „David Bowie didn’t say no, I never asked him”.
The fact that the reason she's able to re-record her albums is because she's written every single one of her songs...
i love damon and tbh i never expected this behavior from him. i'm not into taylor swift, but just by listening to some of her last songs you can just tell that they are personal. and if he never listened to her music, he shouldn't have commented on it in the first place
@aloevv𖤐 no, but you should have.
@aloevv𖤐 wtf bro
@@agu6863 W
All of the members of Blur are somewhat known for being assholes so this didn't surprise me that much tbh
He probably meant her older stuff & most likely didnt hear her newer stuff. He didnt prepare for this question from reporter & told what he knew.
"Do most modern musicians rely on sound and attitude?" That's such a stupid question
exactly, good writing relies on good sound and personality as well
“Do most chefs rely on taste and presentation?”
@@ilz_y do most athletes rely on training and endurance?
I feel the only songs this guy heard from Taylor were Shake it off and Me! And decided to label all her music as “endlessly upbeat”
It's funny cause taylor has 50 self written song without any co writers( source: billboard) & billie has ZERO self written songs. All her songs are co written with her brother. But that man goes around & started saying this about one of the best songwriter of all time.
The difference is taylor acts like she’s as good as real artists. Taylor doesn’t know how to record anything other than vocals and her capo’d g chord guitar
Im usually very quick to be like "i doubt that artist writes their own songs" but i genuinely believe Taylor does write her own tracks. I believe she writes the lyrics, no doubt. The co writing aspect of her tracks i believe would be mostly instrumental.
Her lyrics are so personal and reflective of her personality, i doubt anyone else is writing them.
Most ghost writers write for a broad variety of artists, theyll get pitched to the artists, labels and producers, theyll either buy the track or wont. Similar with beat producers.
Of course there are exceptions to this, but i doubt taylor is one of them
I think Damon is just unversed in Taylor’s music beyond Shake it Off, and assumed there wasn’t more to it. When the interviewer asked him about her, he took it as an opportunity to condemn mainstream pop music at large. Was it ignorant? Yes. A calculated attempt to start beef? Hardly.
I love damon but this is so dumb from him lmao, her entire brand is writing her own songs
With ghost writers lol
EXACTLY! So cringe and WRONG!
Her entire brand is being a victim
@@cmonman3639 cut the sexism
@@cmonman3639 always the fatherless men being shit about women
Yeah it was a shitty thing to say. As much as I’m not a huge fan of hers, her last two albums are evidence enough that she’s a gifted songwriter.
"gifted"
@@Y-e-e-t while that is up for debate, she still writes songs at least
@@Y-e-e-t Yes
@@Y-e-e-t yeah the songwriting on her last two records was very good
Are you Max Martin
Top 10 fuck ups: 90% of the mainstream doesn't write his own songs, and Damon mentions exactly the one artist that does write her songs + he mentions and prays Billie and Phineas which is funny since most of the writing/producing is made by Phineas, Billie just does her part.
I think Damon doesn’t know much about Taylor other than her radio hits, and therefore he pigeonholes her. He’s a person who’s been very openly critical of manufactured pop music for 21 years now
yeah it just sounds like it was just an ignorant take, if the interviewer said "cardi b" instead he would probably said the exact same thing lmao
Holy shit thats based
@@NaikoArt 150% with Cardi B
For someone who is critical for 21 years, he should have watched his mouth talking about someone who worked in the same industry as his for more than a decade. Taylor exists way longer before Billie, where was all that time to at least familiarize with her works, it just shows the dude didn't really care to do research, that's not critical at all to me.
@@BiPhBiPhBiPhBiPh it's not like he knew hes going to be asked about Taylor Swift. He just openly shared his opinion having certain amount of knowledge about Taylor at the time. Reporters do quite often drag artists in these problems by asking questions that will make artist saying something controversial.
Society: "Uh oh! Don't date Taylor Swift! She'll write a song about you! Omg she's such an awful person for exposing her exes by writing about them! Let's figure out who she wrote this song about!"
Also society: "There's no way that Taylor Swift writes her own music! She makes girly pop music! Obviously she can't be writing her own stuff."
^THIS
Wow. There must be at least two perspectives in society then. That's crazy!! Yo, what if there are even 3 or 4 possible perspectives? Wow, someone get my xanax.
@@pokermitten9795 r/whoosh
I have a bunch of young co workers that do the "Billie's a better artist cause she's dark and edgy!" shtick and you can always tell they're not really familiar with Taylor's music outside of "Shake It Off." This has "I'm not like other girls" vibes and its funny as hell coming from a 40 year old man.
Jokes aside though, I like the music of everyone involved in this situation and I get the vibe that Damon just doesn't know who Taylor is and assumed she doesn't write lyrics because she's a pop artist. But with as long as he's been in the industry he should know better than to make an inflammatory statement like that about someone he doesn't have any real knowledge of.
Now he looks like an ass for talking mess about one of the few mainstream artists that's known for writing and being the brains behind all of her stuff. Who else would make a lyric like , "you keep my old scarf from that very first week cause it reminds you of innocence and it smells like me". For better or worse her best shit is detailed and personal to a degree that's almost awkward. But I think that's what her die hards like about her lyrics.
Honestly though I'm here for a Taylor- Gorillaz collab 🤝
ngl billie kidna lost most of her edginess with her recent album imo
Most of Swift's music is awful tho. I say this as someone who loved Red and even enjoyed 1989 as a great pop record. Her material since then has been mostly trash.
W co workers
@@mewgiah8057 I gotta disagree with ya there. I think lyrically Folklore and Evermore are some of her strongest albums since Red (I like 1989 quite a bit, I didn't care for Reputation much at all outside of a few songs and ditto for Lover). I like the whimsy, folksy country vibes (for lack of a better description) especially on songs like "Ivy" and "Willow" and I appreciated the vivid stories she was telling throughout the albums. I'd like to hear more about the characters she created, particularly Augustine.
I definitely prefer Billie any day over Taylor. Definitely not an edgy teen though..
I think the whole point is exceptionally ironic considering he chooses to contrast Taylor Swift, who undoubtedly has written her material, to Billie Eilish who has been repeatedly put under scrutiny for mostly using Finneas’ writing for her songs. Not that this is always the case, just goes to show how little Damon knew on the subject that he failed to know the obvious thing that someone would use to debase his statement.
exactly. from what I see, he just prefers Billie's music over Taylor's and there is nothing wrong with that. But by trying to justify it based on who writes or who co-writes their songs he made himself look like an idiot. I love both, but it is a known fact Taylor wrote speak now on her own when billie has always been co-writing with finneas, and some of her biggest songs (ocean eyes and when the party's over) Finneas wrote on his own.
@@user-rv7ge1tc4l it actually makes everyone else look like an idiot for not understanding that he was clearly directly comparing taylor and billie as two people who have both engaged in cowriting. I don't understand how anybody - much less fantano - can see a paragraph entirely focused around cowriting, and then assume that the famous example of cowriting used as a comparison point was supposed to be an example of independent songwriting. He even gave two names.
@@Madx2326 this a personal preference though, that is completely subjective. And he did make a bald claim saying she doesn't write her own songs, which sounds like she has others doing the work for her. I love both billie and Taylor but comparing them, is so foolish since they are completely different artists. Taylor's last two albums (not the re-recordings) are a lot more lyrically complex than billie's music, and it is evident he did not give her discography a chance and probably just heard shake it off on the radio in 2015.
I thought Billie's brother wrote her songs, so it kind of seems hypocritical to like Billie and hate on Taylor. And this is coming from someone who LOVES Damon's work and is not a huge fan of Taylor.
afaik, billie and her brother co-write her songs. i’m sure there are ones he’s mostly written or she mostly wrote but i’m pretty sure they collaborate on the writing for basically all her stuff.
@@erikerikerikerikerik Dawg for most of her career she was legally a child. Finneas is the songwriter.
Albarn actually mentioned that in the interview. I think he just sees them as a kind of writing-duo, while he seems tot think Taylor just let's rando's send her songs to sing without much input from her own.
@@lamestudiosinc418 what does that have to do with it? plenty of 16-17 year olds write songs.
@@lamestudiosinc418 bro kids can write songs too lmao
People talk about how Taylor Swift had rich parents with music industry connections, but all of that would have meant nothing without Taylors songwriting and performing ability.
She's not really rich. Just fortunate enough to get a job in the industry.
@@brandonkinzjuliusjaugan7601 her oil tycoon father bought half of her early career she had a jumpstart that most people don't have.
@@peperoni9757 Her dad was a banker
@@peperoni9757 Her dad, wasn't an oil tycoon.
@@enlightenedsoul8897 He is one lol
I think He just didn't really know about her and just thought she was another manufactured pop star, it's just embarrassing that he went on a rate about something untrue lol it's a shame for him that he chose to criticize one of the only mainstream artist that actually cares and is fully involved in her art lol
She is still a manufactured pop star tho.
Is that why I never listen to her music?
@@saaw8344 She started writing and auditioning her own songs at the radios at a very young age and she's always super careful about having control over her career and artistic evolution, you can not like her or her songs but she's definitely passionate about music and she's definitely not manufactured
@@shuheihisagi6689 I don't see the connection between our comments
@@saaw8344 she's started from country music and signed with indie record label that doesn't even have a building, she's their first artist and the only successful artist from that record label, she's working on that since she was 14, started writing since 12, debut album at 16, absolutely coming from 0, so stfu
This is kind of shameful to hear from Damon, as a fan of Gorillaz. Ofc he's from the Britpop era, but he made statements on an artist he probably doesn't listen to that much, one that happens to have an insanely large audience and genuine talent. Even his apology comes out bad, as he accuses his interviewer of clickbait, but when you actually read the entire interview, it still seems iffy. Albarn went through beef with the Gallaghers, then Adele, now it's Swift. I really hate to see this guy dragged down since he's uplifted so many diverse artists, and definitely creates excellent music. But this time, Albarn spoke out of turn.
''He made statements on an artist he probably doesn't listen to that much''
Well, for a lost of great artists that i discovered thanks Gorillaz tracks, i think he listened a lot. Not Taylor and yeah Billie? Of course yes.
As some people get older it happens unfortunately. He probably only sees Swift as a what used to be refferred to as a "top 20 radio" artist and the rooms full of people that assembled those pop songs. She's obviously more involved than that, as I'm not a fan of her music, but can see it is a personalized process which therefore must include a signifigant portion of the song writing process. That's not to defend Damon, it's just kind of a vibe I've noticed many musicians and fans have held on to since the 90's and probably prior. In a few years, as great as some of his music or COLLABERATIONS might be (Damon can't take all the credit for Gorillaz as a certain artist has damn near as much to do with much of their overall success) in a few years he'll be yelling at clouds about remeber when Napster was a think and the only streaming he used to be aware of was the flow of industry money into his coffers. Also not entirely a bad thing. He's just from a decidely different era and spoke with little regard for the modern industry, it's artists, and their process. At least he wasn't shouting racist stuff or being a transphobe and that is about all I can hope for these days when seeing aged artists I used to enjoy from days gone by when they trend.
@@jeremysmith4620 anyone could understand that but why would you speak if you know nothing? Just a stupid decision.
@@lucasdiego5028 I mean, when I said "an artist...", I was referring to Taylor Swift. Hell, there's a possibility that he may listen to Swift, but his statements make it seem like she only sings upbeat songs and revenge songs about boys. It's the classic "indie rock vs industrial pop" argument. Not to mention the Eilish siblings and Damon both participate heavily in cowriting, especially in Blur and Gorillaz.
Interesting fact: Billie Eilish is a fan of Swift and Albarn. I wonder if she'll speak out on this.
To be fair, the Gallaghers deserve every bit of criticism they get. Oasis is a boring band and both brothers are absolute egotistical wankers.
Damon could've just said "I made a mistake. I said that out of ignorance. My bad" & this whole thing could've been avoided. Welp. Didn't expect 2022 bringing us Damon & Taylor beef.
Please, Damon Albarn? I hear he doesn't even draw his own Gorillaz.
BRUH
I actually spit my drink out while reading this
But he writes his own songs (i think). Were talking bout music here not the drawing
As someone who loves Damon's music I'm kind of surprised/disappointed he talked about Taylor Swift of all people in this way... She's definitely one of the most talented artists in the mainstream. Could have mentioned someone like Justin Bieber who has all his music co-written but comes out with a miles less interesting/original result... But hey a Gorillaz x Taylor Swift collaboration would be a great way to bury the hatchet
Talented? Lol
@@eminemfan50098 dont be that guy shes made some pop bangers and her lastest two albums were critically acclaimed , so wether you like it or not , she is seen as talented by a big part of the music community
@@eminemfan50098 if you don't think she's talented you know nothing about songwriting lol
@@eminemfan50098 all I can say is listen to folklore
@Kovie Brion Marinay it's ironic how they think they know everything-when it's the exact opposite as they don't even listen to the artist they're talking about
Its like apart from her being one of the few mainstream pop artists that actually writes all her songs, she has such a recognizable writing style you dont even need to go and check the writing credits cmon did damon even listen to a Taylor Swift song ever
to be honest I know so many people who would offhandedly say something like this about most big mainstream pop stars. It may have just been a mistake, still, not cool in a public forum
People are straight up calling him a liar instead of probable ignorance. Who can even blame him for assuming so?
@@jezbread8111 The fact that he doubled down on it makes it even worse. So I do personally blame him for his assumption seeming he seemed so sure of himself. Still, I don't think he's a liar.
@@kobealegendforever1310 sure, whatever, that's a mistake obviously but it has been blown way out of proportion
It's honestly not cool and pretty annoying anyway, but it's especially bad when the person doing it is a famous and respected fellow musician who does have some influence.
Is ghostwriting like the assualt allegation of the music industry or something what am I missing here.
"Name me a musician with no sound or attitude." What a way to look at music.
such a good point lol isn't 2/3rds of music about sound and attitude
@@97HawksFlyI think that's the point he's making though, like 2/3rds of what draws you to an artist is their sound and attitude, but if you put the song in a vacuum would it still be a good song? Do you like the song because of how it makes you feel (sound/attitude as well as music) or because of how it sounds (just the music)? Nothing wrong with songs/artists that are good because of their sound/attitude, they're still good, but there is something extra admirable about artists that can just straight up make good songs.
LOL.
By reading this comment section.
Having a pop artist who writes their own lyrics is scary for metalheads and hip hop heads.
The most charitable reading of the interview would probably be that the distinction he tried to make wasn't about whether or not other people are involved in the songwriting, but rather the degree to which your own creative contributions are driving the process. Not saying he'd be correct in the case of Swift, only that it makes a little more sense given that he immediately cited a duo as an example of actual songwriting.
sounds like he made an incorrect assumption about taylor swift's level of contribution in the songwriting process (since producers can dress songs in disparate sounds) and doubled down when the interviewer balked at his reply
and i'm sure the la times couldn't contain itself to run tell that
He was half-correct and half-wrong because in some songs Swift is the only writer and in other songs she's not. But yes, exactly, he was making a distinction between writing and co-writing, then twitter account did take his words out of context of this assumption, then Swift read the tweet (and, apparently, not the interview) and understood it as a denial of her involvement in a songwriting. So I think Albarn was right at least about his words being taken out of context.
If Damon wants to know that Taylor writes her own songs he now just has to wait to receive his inevitable backlash track.
waiting for his track when reputation (taylor's version) comes out
That would actually be fire even tho I don't want more drama lol
can't wait for her to write a whole album about this
the "making of a song" series she has on yt clearly shows her songwriting process and that she brings almost fully finished songs to the studio which then she co-produces with her producer. and she credits her producers as writers on the song too
But without the producer she’s nothing. How are you guys not getting this?
Can we get some justice for Mariah Carey, now that the spotlight is on female singer-songwriters?
She's never been taken seriously as a songwriter, but just like Taylor, she is that.
THIS!!!! It wasn’t until a few years ago I realized she write all her songs. That lady is sitting on a throne of publishers royalty gold!!!!
Wow, I didnt have a clue she writes her own songs! Damn
She’s overshadowed by that on Christmas song
yes and her songwriting was overshadowed by her vocal ability and the stigma that artists with big vocals are just there for delivery. Why do artists have to constantly prove that they wrote their material? can't just people stop talking bs of things they know so little about like we get it if you're not a fan, just don't give off that "pick me"/ "not like the others" vibe
@@LarnuuWorks She wrote possibly the last modern Christmas classic; that is a testament to her songwriting abilities
Taylor Swift has 51 songs written by herself, while Damon only has 36 songs. Their rest songs are all co-written. I don't know why he has the right to say this. "She is not songwriter because she co-writes he her songs". Just because she co-writes with Max Martin, and he co-writes with some independent artists? Does this make him more artistry? WOW
Taylor swift hires underling professional songwriters whose job it is is to create commercial music. Damon collaborates with other artists sharing the same artistic vision. One is motivated by money fame and power, the other is motivated by creating good music and expressing himself. One is an artist the other is a pop star.
Imagine if you found out Van Gogh or Shakespeare had an editor to improve their work….
@@smkxodnwbwkdns8369 That is just not true, she didn't do that not even in her pop era let alone now
@@gianmariarusso413 then why does her songwriting credits have numerous Grammy winning professional songwriters that are known to write songs for pop stars?
@@smkxodnwbwkdns8369 Like who? Plus all of the songwriters who worked with her states that they all refine her lyrics, not to count she wrote most of them alone as well credit wise
@@gianmariarusso413 look up her publishing. And I’m not talking about lyrics, lyrics are unimportant, I’m talking about the music, hooks, and instrumentation.
This is hilarious considering her songwriting literally describes events from her own life and experience in detail. Who tf does Albarn think wrote the songs when she's singing songs about being 19 dating Gyllenhaal or whatever the fuck.
Tbh, I think he had musical production in mind as "songwriting" and Taylor does work with famous producers. However, using standard definition of songwriting, she definitely is an author of her songs.
writing lyrics is not songwriting
@@hermanubis96 what? lol
Not to play devils advocate, but the entire first Jake Bugg album was writen by someone else, and thats super personal. It's easily doable
@@hatifnat13 billies brother literally producers her songs so he’d sound like even more of an idiot. And I like damon but he’s so wrong here lol
From what I see, he just prefers Billie's music over Taylor's and there is nothing wrong with that. But by trying to justify it based on who writes or who co-writes their songs he made himself look like an idiot. I love both, but it is a known fact Taylor wrote speak now on her own when billie has always been co-writing with finneas, and some of her biggest songs (ocean eyes and when the party's over) Finneas wrote on his own.
this whole thing is so funny to me because he could've picked ANYONE else to name drop (even if he was still incorrect) and i don't think they would've cared enough to respond.
exactly, i feel like taylor has had so much public beef with other celebrities who have wronged her, it's crazy that he thought he could say that without at least an angry tweet.
He didn’t because it was the interviewer who brought her up, not him. He just went along with it (which was a mistake tbf)
I have the feeling that Damon says that just to emphasize his preference for Billie Eilish’s style.
Same
He should have just said her song writing is mediocre or that he just doesn’t like it. It’s clearly written by her.
It's clearly written by her because it's mediocre :/
@@VoOrT3xX It’s really not mediocre :/ go listen to folklore or evermore and you’ll see
@@diogoBZHA she can write a melody, but her lyricism leaves a lot to be desired
@@diogoBZHA I did, as a immense folk and Bon Iver fan, and it was just 2 average folk ablum, as you can find pretty much thousands on spotify. Can't understand what so genuinely great about Swift. But I prefer that to the terrible Pop songs tbh
@@VoOrT3xX I think that what’s great about her lyricism is that she can paint real clear pictures about what she is singing. “My Tears Ricochet”, a Folklore track for example, made me realize that she really is a exceptional songwriter, and I am not even into her music that much.
Damon: “Taylor Swift doesn’t write her own songs.”
*54 songs including all of Speak Now disappear*
Billie Eilish doesn’t write anything of her own (she’s said this in interviews…).
So that take is hilarious.
Billie and her brother cowrote both of her albums alone. She writes her own music. If co-writing isn't writing, then Taylor doesn't write her own music either.
@@donnybuoy This person is saying, Billie Eilish doesn’t literally write music on her OWN, by herself. Her brother writes with her. I would also not claim something is my own if I was co-writing it.
@@paolagutierrez7044 Then Taylor Swift doesn't write her own music.
Billie and Phineas write ALL of her music. Do you even look at her liner notes???
When people so easily drops subjective bullshit into their theories behind composition, the entire argument shits itself. What a dumb-ass interview. Name drop Theonious Monk as an influence, then drop nonsense about co-writing when HALF HIS CAREER was co-writing. He’s such a brute.
The fact that there's still people in the comments trying to say she doesn't write her songs when there is literally VIDEO FOOTAGE of her writing songs. What more proof do you need? Smh.
As a songwriter, the songs I wrote with other people are less personal than the ones I wrote by myself. Collaboration can make you go to places you would not ordinarily go as a solo writer, which can be quite liberating. The songs I have written myself were at times like stepping into a confessional.
Fantano doesn't write his own reviews smh
I love Gorillaz but Damon can come up with some really shitty takes, like when he said: “I do not sample, I create music." when referring to Kanye, Like, mf, Gorillaz is full of samples lmao
People can say she's not a good vocalist or performer but saying she doesn't write songs is the most stupidest thing ever. Her songwriting ability is the only reason why she's so relevant & successful to this date
Man I’m a huge fan of Blur/Gorillaz, but I really wish Damon would have just said “she doesn’t write her own songs, jk” to avoid all this. Crazy what one sentence can do, but where he really messed up is the following lengthy answer, yikes.
Could've just said I respectfully dislike her music.
Done.
@@kamallb4650 😂😂😂
Billie's song that made her famous wasn't even written by her at all. It was written by Finneas for his band. Finneas had a manager for his band and that's how Billie got her manager. She wasn't "discovered". Finneas produces ALL of her songs. Finneas is 150% the only reason Billie Eilish is even a thing and she knows this. Apparently Albarn doesn't.
For some reason this dude is on the side of someone who's practically stolen her brothers entire career. "Exceptional". lolz.
People are under the immediate impression that it's "assembly line music" whenever more than two writers appear on a song Wiki for a solo artist, and that might have been Damon's mistake as well. The reality is that "intellectual property" has begun to infect every legal precedent in the music industry, to the point where melodies, phrases, beats, and even "feel" can be own-able. The Gaye estate is making millions now from "Blurred Lines", none of which is deserved in my opinion, but the law doesn't agree with me. Likewise, "Sour" was, legally, written in part by Taylor Swift and members of Paramore. Don't ask me how that's possible; it's officially true, and nothing can be done about it at the moment. But people with Damon's ignorance will look up the notes on "Sour", see a bunch of names, and decide that Olivia Rodrigo doesn't write her songs.
Gorillaz is my #1 favorite band. A little disappointed that he said this. But at least he walked it back and apologized.
" Its time to separate the Sheeps from Goats
And I hold No faith in your writers I don't believe in Ghosts"
Gorilaz " This MF spittin"
He was backpedaling lol
In this day and age any attempt to apologize will simply be met with accusations of "backpedaling." Especially from a fanbase as rabid and obsessive as Taylor Swift's. They'll never let him live this down as long as he lives lol
@@Arinisonfire as a non TS fan, I think he was backpedaling.
@@MostlyLoveOfMusic why lmao he was straight up wrong
It's 2022 and some ppl still think Taylor Swift writes only lyrics . She's the youngest artist in history to self-write and perform a no.1 country song and her first international hit Love story is entirely written by her alone .
Was it recorded entirely alone tho? Or did she NEED daddy max Martin to come in and record all the instrumentation? This is the point Damon is trying to make.
@@mitchmcturtle6890if that's the point he's trying to make then why did he immediately praise Billie Eilish who, no offense, has zero solo-written songs or or solo-produced songs lol
@@drawl13 two reasons, 1) Billie eilish believe it or not has more input in the making of her songs than taylor does 2) Billie gives credit to finneas, while taylor has some big name producer do ALL of the heavy lifting and then sits there and acts like she did everything. And when you point that out, she gets all shocked and offended and writes a song like “if I were a man” lmao
As a Gorillaz fan, I can't wait to see how Taylor shades Damon in her next music videos
Being a Damon Albarn fan is like watching a child play in the street
Spot on for real LMFAO
Listening to pop music just makes you plastic as fuck, top 40 on repeat lmao
As a gorillaz fan I can confirm that whenever he pulls something like this we just say “ok grandpa time for bed”
ive never been into taylor. Big blur and gorillaz fan, and usually i have a pretty high respect of Damon politically as well. I was surprised at his quote. Even if I don't listen to Taylor's music shes a talented and impressive woman and his comment was just so dismissive. I don't get why men are so dismissive of her. (I do know why but ugh)
Okay so out of all the things i could say, did Damon listen to Folklore, Evermore, Reputation, the country albums, some of Red, and other songs? Taylor is not endlessly upbeat.
Say what you will about the country albums but they are typically more midbeat, Reputation, though not for everyone, is more dark and the two new ones, especially Folklore, are pretty dark.
Not to mention her work with Justin Vernon. Her set on NPR is excellent
Damon has always co-written songs too that’s what gets me.
Funny how she always referring herself to be a big fan of an artist before dragging them like she's the best friend and supporter of everyone in the music industry, but in fact the opposite
Taylor is a bit thin-skinned, always been.
Albarn is hitting boomer-level gatekeeping. *"It is valid co-writing when I like the song, it isn't when I don't."*
Also, Billie Eilish's "The party is over" (for instance) was written by Finneas alone... so not co-written.
I'm pretty sure she does, lyrically she seems not over complicated although very binding narrativly to story telling and progressive with tie ins, I've not got a great understanding of all her work, but from a creative perspective she rides her angelic personality in her country roots very faithfully and is the most unchanged musically by the fame machine, although this is not my forte nor favourite style it's greatly attractive to see dedication and authenticity to a certain genre of style and work,
Kudos to swifty.
this is so great because probably the most central thing about taylor swift as a public figure is that she writes her own songs. all of her drama is about her songs because they’re so obviously about specific people that she dated. it’s like the worst possible person to diss this way
damon is in the music businesss since the late 80s, has connections to dozens of famous artists (including pop stars) worldwide and whatnot and still doesn't know how dedicated taylor swift is in her work? i haven't heard much of her music besides some of her folk stuff and i mostly ignore her and even i know that she definitely writes her songs.
@@kh2371 Taylor's dad didn't buy a label either. That nonsense has been debunked for as long as it's been spread around.
I mean, Swift surely does not record the whole Reputation album song making process just for this thing to come out
it's 2022, how does anyone think taylor DOESN'T write her own music? speak now?? hellooo
it’s kinda weird for him to love Billie but hate Taylor? like, their fanbases have a fair bit of overlap
edit: he doesn’t actually hate taylor, poor choice of words.
He never said he hated taylor swift lmao, he just said that taylor co-writes her songs, which is true.
To be fair, the dude's getting on in age. I remember an interview coming out before the most recent Gorillaz album where he said that the only way he knew about what artists to include on his new songs is from his daughter. I bet he's just a crotchety older dude who only knows Taylor Swift from radio songs. Not an excuse, however.
@@nehuenrotta772 The point is that while he praises Billie (who co-writes her songs), he criticizes Taylor for also co-writing songs.
I mean Billie doesn't write her own material to be fair
not really