Dear Reader,
🎶 All I know since yesterday, is everything has changed 🎶
I’m so excited to introduce you to the first issue of my “Recent Recs Roundup”, a new series where I share recommendations of things I’ve been enjoying as a Swiftie, that I think you might enjoy too! Some are directly Taylor Swift-related, and others are more adjacent. Either way, I hope they can give you inspo for some fun things to check out every month. Today’s “Recent Recs” include 1 podcast, 1 movie and 1 song, but those could change to other categories in future issues. This series is for paid subscribers of Dear Reader. But like I did for my Eras Tour Roundup series, I wanted to send the first issue out to everyone to give an idea of what the series will look like. If you’re interested in getting access to this newsletter and future ones like it, you can find more info here, and upgrade your subscription here. 🫶
It feels like after last weekend’s shows in Melbourne, everything truly has changed. We’ll be chatting about that more in Rec #1 😅 But I also chose the above lyrics to kick off today’s newsletter because it’s one of the few times Taylor uses the word “Yesterday” in her songs - relating to Recs #2 and #3!
This Recent Recs Roundup Includes:
🎙️ Rec #1 Podcast: The 13 Podcast + New Surprise Song Prediction Rules
🎥 Rec #2 Movie: 13 Reasons Why a Swiftie Might Enjoy Yesterday
🎶 Rec #3 Songs: My Current Go-To Listens (1 by Taylor Swift, 1 by Someone Else)
Podcast: The 13 Podcast + New Surprise Song Prediction Rules
The 13 Podcast is a podcast hosted by a super fun group of Swifties. Ana, Nick, Amy and Lacey are wonderful, and their podcast does deep dives into Taylor Swift’s eras and happenings. I love seeing clips from their show pop up on my Instagram feed, especially their surprise song predictions. Speaking of…
Taylor Swift’s announcement of new surprise song rules during Melbourne N3’s show completely changed the surprise song prediction game. Basically, the new rule is that there are no rules. Taylor, the mastermind that she is, explained how she wants to have all songs at her full disposal, so that she can be her most creative during the Acoustic Set of the tour. It’s super exciting, and I think we can expect more of the unexpected in the future, including mashups!
Now I don’t know about you, but I really enjoy predicting surprise songs - just for my own fun and amusement. I share my predictions in my Instagram stories, and ask for yours too! I don’t often get them right, but this year I started tallying up the ones I do predict correctly (so far it’s a grand total of 1) 😂
I saw this reel from The 13 Podcast about how they’re updating their surprise song prediction rules, and I loved their ideas! With the potential of a three song mashup in one surprise song (like she did on Melbourne N2), I think it makes sense to add some more guesses into the mix. I decided to incorporate their rules, plus some other ideas, into how I’ll handle my own surprise song predictions for each Eras Tour show. Here’s what I’m planning to do:
3 song guesses per night
2 honorable mention guesses
1 correct song guessed on the correct night = 1 point
1 correct song guessed on another night, but in the same city = 1/2 point
1 correct honorable mention guess = 1/2 point
1 correct mashup guess = 2 points
I hope that makes sense 😅 If you want to see my surprise song predictions, just check out my Instagram stories the day before each Eras Tour show. The 13 Podcast also shares their predictions on their Instagram and YouTube channel. Let me know your own predictions for Sydney’s Eras Tour Shows in the comments of this newsletter!
Movie: 13 Reasons Why a Swiftie Might Enjoy Yesterday
Earlier this week my youngest sister came over to celebrate her birthday! Ma and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to introduce her to one of our favorite films: Yesterday. Have you seen it?
Yesterday is directed by Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), written by Richard Curtis (Love Actually), and stars Himesh Patel, Lily James, and Ed Sheeran (as himself!). The tagline, “Everyone in the world has forgotten The Beatles. Everyone except Jack…” pretty much sums up the premise of the movie. It’s so so fun! Here are 13 reasons why a Swiftie might enjoy the movie, Yesterday:
The movie is about a struggling singer-songwriter whose dream is to make a career in music.
The idea of exploring a world where The Beatles don’t exist is such an interesting one. Throughout the movie the main character tries to remember the lyrics to all of The Beatles’ songs. My sister remarked how difficult that could be, and I agree! But I also pointed out that it’d be similar to us trying to remember the lyrics to all of Taylor Swift’s songs. I couldn’t do it perfectly, of course, but I think I could do pretty well since I listen to them so much! How do you think you’d do?
The main character plays all his music on guitar and piano - like Taylor.
One of his original songs talks about how “it started young, I found a guitar and it all begun". Which makes me think of baby Taylor with a guitar.
Taylor Swift has been compared to The Beatles, especially as she has reached and passed some of their incredible records.
Taylor has said how much she looks up to Paul McCartney, one of The Beatles. McCartney also revealed that he wanted to invite Swift on stage with him at Glastonbury 2020 to play “Shake It Off” together. Taylor actually moved her Evermore release date as a courtesy to Paul McCartney, so that their release dates wouldn’t coincide.
The movie is written by Richard Curtis, who also wrote such British classics as Love Actually, Notting Hill and more. Taylor spent years of her life thinking of London and the UK as almost a second home. Even though some circumstances have now changed (I’m a bit afraid to hear the song “So Long, London” from TTPD 🥺), Swifties can still appreciate the British humor and culture in this movie.
Ed Sheeran, a good friend and frequent collaborator of Taylor’s, stars in the movie! Fun fact, the movie is mainly set in Suffolk, where Ed was raised.
There’s a songwriting battle scene in the movie. I think Taylor, as my favorite singer-songwriter, would also appreciate.
Ed experiences his own “Nothing New” moment in the movie, at the end of that songwriting battle. After singing a sweet song about penguins on the ice.
Ed’s rapping gets comedically called out in the movie. He’s a really good sport about it and takes the ribbing and jokes in the movie, and offscreen, so well. Not exactly the same, but it reminds of Taylor imitating Ed’s accent.
Coldplay lead singer, Chris Martin, was actually first offered the role Ed Sheeran ends up playing. Their song, “Fix You” gets a shoutout in the movie. Taylor actually covered a Coldplay song, “Viva La Vida” on BBC Radio 2. (Her voice has come so far since those early days, and you can even see Paul Sidoti next to her in this video.)
Lily James is brilliant in this movie, and she previously starred as the Disney princess, Cinderella. Taylor incorporated the Cinderella story into her music video “Bejeweled”.
Some of these reasons may be a bit of a stretch (especially that last one?) 😋 But if you haven’t seen Yesterday yet, I highly recommend! I enjoy this movie so much on every single rewatch, and I just think it’s a lovely, feel-good film.
Songs: My Current Go-To Listens
Taylor Swift song: “You’re Losing Me” - after she sang it on Melbourne N1, I can’t stop listening to both the recorded version, and her live performance too. 😭
Non-Taylor Swift song: “One Life”, from Ed Sheeran’s = (Tour Edition) album - I think the whole Yesterday movie soundtrack is great, but the song I can’t stop listening to whenever I rewatch Yesterday is “One Life”. It’s the sweetest! I waited literal years for Ed to finally release it to the public, and he finally did on = (Tour Edition).
I hope you enjoy these “Recent Recs”! Let me know if you check out any of these recommendations, and leave any of your own recent recs below. Enjoy the weekend of shows in Sydney, I can’t wait to see what happens! In the meantime…
Dust off your highest hopes,
Bekah
🎶 Can I Ask You a Question? 🎶
What’s a podcast and/or movie you listened to, or recently saw, that you would recommend to other Swifties?
What’s your current go-to Taylor Swift song? And non-Taylor Swift song?
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