洋楽ブログ(17) Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

Yoshinori

Where I live, September is gone, and gone with it is the T-shirt season. It's now too chilly to sleep in a tee at night. How about where you live? As you may have learned in school, seasons are opposite in the northern and southern hemispheres. So, in countries like Australia, it's April right now. Anyway, following the successful (or unsuccessful) sales of Cafetalk T-shirts, I'm hoping that the Cafetalk Shop will come out with Cafetalk long johns in time for winter as part of a hypothermia awareness campaign called "Long Johns Challenge," where Cafetalk teachers post their long-johns-clad selfies on Teachers' Columns. That'd be fun! (Please don't challenge me because I don't want to gross people out... any further.)

*hypothermia >>> See Tutor Rozitah's column here.

Anyway, I hate the season I'm in now. (Random Superscript Testing, yay!) I hate it because there are two ways to call it: fall and autumn. Why the heck do you need two different words to refer to the same thing??? That drives me nuts! I guess that annoys the heck out of you, too. (Random Superscript Testing, yippie!) So, let me take a quick poll here: If this season is to be given only one name, which do you think it should be, "fall" or "autumn"? Please leave your answer in the comment section below. I'll post the results on my Cafetalk Facebook page, which I don't have. (Random Superscript Testing, yahoo!) In the meantime, to shake off all the possible confusion from both words being used in one article, I'll temporarily ban the use of the word "fall" in this blog, including the comment section, starting right now. (Random Subscript Testing, yay!)

Are you ticked off yet? I hope you are, because today I want to introduce another effective way to deal with an annoying Cafetalk teacher blogger, to those of you who need more than the La La La method.

Take it from American singer Taylor Swift, who has been constantly bashed by haters. Her coping method: Shake It Off, which is also the name of this song. No matter what people say about her, she just shakes it off. You can, too, whenever something I say gets on your nerves... like, every five nanoseconds.

Anyway, let's look at a couple of lines from the lyrics and do some reality checks. Here are three examples she mentions of what people say about her that she shakes off:

1) "I stay up too late"
Time is different from time zone to time zone, so she can always use the "It's still before my bedtime somewhere" excuse. Why didn't she think of that? She's got nothing in her brain???

2) "Got nothing in my brain"
Obviously so. And this means she does have a brain. So, this is actually a compliment.

3) "I go on too many dates / But I can't make 'em stay"
Sorry, Taylor, but this is absolutely true. She seems to autumn in and out of love so easily. Here's the list of guys she dated:
・Joe Jonas (singer, of the Jonas Brothers)
・Taylor Lautner (actor)
・John Mayer (singer)
・Jake Gyllenhaal (actor)
・Conor Kennedy (JFK's brother's son's son)
・Harry Styles (singer, of One Direction)

Anyway, what saddens me about Taylor Swift is that she's gone too pop. This song is 100% pop. Her musical roots are in country music, and she debuted as a country singer in 2006. So, please don't shake off country completely just yet! "Shake It Off" is the lead single from her upcoming new album titled "1989," which is the year when she was born. I hope the album contains some country tracks, too. Also, in this song, she says "this sick beat" and "hella good." These slang words are appropriate for Gwen Stefani, but too urban for Taylor Swift. She seems to be trying to shake off her cute/pure/sweet image. I want her to stay an innocent little country girl until she turns 21.

*sick >>> See the video in Tutor Nicole K. (ニコールK)'s column here.
*hella >>> See the comment in Tutor Maruyama's column here.

What's going on in the music video for this song has nothing to do with the lyrics, except that there's lots of "shaking" involved. And, man, she can't dance! She should be voted Miss Priority Seat 2014.

OK, that wraps up this post! Thank you for reading and shaking off every word I said, especially if you're a Swiftie. Likes and comments are greatly appreciated as always. By the way, I finally shook 計画中(Coming Soon) off my profile page, if you know what I mean. I also shook 10% off, if you know what I mean.


ぼくの住んでるところでは、9月が過ぎ、それとともにTシャツシーズンも過ぎてしまいました。今では夜にTシャツで寝るには寒すぎです。みなさんの住んでるところではどうでしょうか? みんさんたぶん学校で習ったと思いますが、北半球と南半球とでは季節が逆です。なので、オーストラリアなどの国々では、現在4月です。それはいいとして、売れ行き好調(または不調)のカフェトークTシャツに引き続き、Cafetalk Shop が低体温症(hypothermia)啓発キャンペーンの一環として、冬前に「カフェトークももひき」を発売することを期待してます。キャンペーン名は「ももひきチャレンジ」で、カフェトークの先生方がももひき姿の自撮り写真を講師コラムにアップするというものです。楽しそうですよね!(ぼくのことを指名しないようにお願いします。みなさんに不快な思いをさせたくないので。。。これ以上)

*hypothermia >>> Rozitah講師のコラム参照(ココ)。

それはいいとして、ぼくは秋が大嫌いです。(脈絡のない上付き文字実験、イェーイ!)なぜ大嫌いかというと、英語でのその呼び方が2通りあるからです→「fall」と「autumn」。同じものを指すのに一体なぜ異なる2つの言葉が必要なのでしょうか??? これにはぼくはキレル寸前です! みなさんもこれには超イラついてるんじゃないかと思います。(脈絡のない上付き文字実験、ワーイ!) ということで、ここで簡単なアンケートです。「秋」という季節に1つだけ英語名をつけるとしたら、みなさんは「fall」「autumn」のどちらにすべきだと思いますか? 下のコメント欄に答えを記入してください。結果はぼくのカフェトーク講師用 Facebook ページに掲載するつもりです。ところで、ぼくにはカフェトーク講師用 Facebook ページはありません。(脈絡のない上付き文字実験、ヤッホー!) それまでの間、1つの記事内で両方の語を使うことによって生じ得る混乱を振り払うため、このブログ内での「fall」という語の使用を一時的に禁止することにします。コメント欄も含みます。それでは今から開始です。(脈絡のない下付き文字実験、イェーイ!)

みなさんもうムカつきましたか? そうだといいんですけど。なぜかというと、今日はあるウザイ Cafetalk 講師ブロガーに対処するのに効果的な新たな方法を、みなさんのうちで La La La 法だけでは不十分という方に紹介するので。

こういうことは、アメリカ人歌手テイラー・スイフト(Taylor Swift/【スウィフトゥ】)に聞くのが一番です。彼女は常にヘイターたちから悪口を浴びてるので。で、彼女の対処法は、「それを振り払う(Shake It Off)」です。これはこの歌の曲名でもあります。人が彼女について何と言おうと、彼女はそれを振り払ってしまうということです。みなさんもそれができます。ぼくが言った言葉が癪に障るたびに。。。5ナノ秒に1度みたいな割合で。

それはいいとして、歌詞の中の数行に注目して、事実チェックをしてみましょう。以下が、彼女が人から言われて振り払うと言ってる言葉の例の3つです↓

1) 「I stay up too late」(寝るのが遅すぎる)
時間はそれぞれの地域が属する時間帯によって異なるわけなので、「どこかではまだ私の寝る時間じゃないわ」っていう言い訳がいつも使えるはず。なぜ彼女にはそれが思いつかなかったのか。脳の中身が空っぽなのか。

2) 「Got nothing in my brain」(脳の中身が空っぽ)
明らかにそう。で、これは脳はあるっていうこと。なので、これは実は褒め言葉。

3) 「I go on too many dates / But I can't make 'em stay」(デートの数が多すぎる/なのに相手にすぐ逃げられてしまう)
申し訳ないですが、テイラーさん、これはまったくその通りです。彼女はすぐ恋に秋るっぽいです。以下に彼女が付き合った男性を挙げておきます↓
・Joe Jonas (歌手、Jonas Brothers の1人)
・Taylor Lautner (俳優)
・John Mayer (歌手)
・Jake Gyllenhaal (俳優)
・Conor Kennedy (ジョン・F・ケネディの兄弟の息子の息子)
・Harry Styles (歌手, One Direction の1人)

それはいいとして、テイラー・スイフトに関してぼくが悲しく思うのは、彼女があまりにもポップ化してしまったことです。この曲は100%ポップ。彼女の音楽のルーツはカントリーミュージックで、彼女はカントリー歌手として2006年にデビュー。なので、まだカントリーを振り払わないで~! 「Shake It Off」は近々発売予定の「1989」(←彼女が生まれた年)っていうタイトルのニューアルバムからの先行シングル。そのアルバムにカントリーの曲も含まれてることを願います。それから、この曲の中で彼女は「this sick beat」と「hella good」って言ってます。こういうスラングは、Gwen Stefani には向いてますが、テイラー・スイフトには都会的すぎです。彼女は「キュート・ピュア・スイート」っていうイメージを振り払おうとしてる感じです。ぼく的には彼女には純真無垢なカントリー少女のままでいてほしいです。21歳になるまでは。

*sick >>> Nicole K. (ニコールK)講師のコラム中のビデオ参照(ココ)。
*hella >>> Maruyama講師のコラムのコメント参照(ココ)。

この曲のミュージックビデオの中身は、歌詞とはまったく関係なしです。あるとすれば「振り振り」がたくさんあるだけ。それにしても彼女は踊りが下手すぎ! 彼女は「ミス優先席2014」に選ばれるべき。

といったところで、今回はおしまいです! みなさんぼくの言葉1語1語を読んで振り払ってくれてありがとうございます。Swiftie である方は特にです。いつもと同様、「Like」やコメントには大感謝です。ところで、プロフィールページにあった「計画中」をついに振り払ってしまいました。何の話かわかる方にはわかると思いますが。しかも、10%振り払ってしまいました。何の話かわかる方にはわかると思いますが。

This column was published by the author in their personal capacity.
The opinions expressed in this column are the author's own and do not reflect the view of Cafetalk.

Comments (5)

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  • LLE

    Yoshinori-sensei, keep this private, please. Now I'm beginning to worry what I should do if a surprising number of big fans of me come to your blog for further information of ME. That's a big issue, right? .....No! At any rate, it's good that a lot of people come to your blog. Yay! By the way, maybe, I was talking about carpentry. I guess....

  • Yoshinori

    >>> Ms. tattokochan I kinda worry that you may have given out too much information about yourself in your comments already. As I said a few posts back, anyone can read this blog. Even if your comment is intended to be private, it's not private at all. Thousands of people might have read your comments already. Who knows. (Maybe the view count does.) You may want to be more careful next time. In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, you revealed your preference for the word "autumn." That information is too personal. Anything else is OK, including your traumatic experience and your oyaji gag. Anyway, are you sure you were talking about gymnastics? Bars, beams, floors, vaults, dowels... That sounds like autumntecture to me.

  • LLE

    I think I'm naive enough to autumn into a pitautumn easily. Anyway, l need to talk a bit more about gymnastics so that you can imagine what "fall", sorry, "autumn" I went through. ( I think it easy to guess though...anyway....) In gymnastics, there are four kinds of evens: the uneven parallel bars( only for women ), the balance beam( only for women ), the floor and the vault. While I was doing my performance on the balance beam, I failed to step on the right place of the bar and autumed off. I bruised all over my leg. By the way, thanks for the info about long johns. I'd like to wear the one like Taylor Swift wears in the video. Even if I feel down looking at me on it in the mirror, I'll shake it off. ^^; I'm always looking forward to your blog. P.S. I guess ausumn means "おお寒", right? ( ブルッ )

  • Yoshinori

    >>> Ms. tattokochan I'm really glad you so easily autumned for the trap (or just totally ignored or defied the ban) and used the banned word! Not once, but twice! That's ausumn! As for your question about long johns, I think some women wear them, too. Watch the music video on this post if you haven't yet. All the ballerinas (including Taylor Swift) are wearing long johns. Anyway, I'm still stuck at "As you've already guessed" in your comment because I haven't guessed it yet. Why did you have to make it something so hard to guess? Until I figure it out, I can't comment on anything mentioned in the rest of your comment because I can't read it yet.

  • LLE

    In the place where I live, autumn has also come. As a matter of fact, I live in the northern hemisphere. As you can see, I prefer autumn to fall. Actually fall reminds me of what happened to me in a gymnastic event in my high school days. As you've already guessed, I fell off the balance beam and got injured. I'm not making up a story. By the way, I'm wondering if "long johns " is only for men. If there were something like "long mary", let me know. I suffer from hypothermia every winter.

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