Both are her most juvenile leads in the history of her career but Shake It Off is at least tolerable in some areas plus it doesn't have "HEY KIDS, SPELLING IS FUN!"

Well for one, Shake It Off is listenable 

nothing, they're both unlistenable

 

We were younger back in 2014

 

The holy trinity that is never getting back together, sio & me!

2 minutes ago, sunbathinganimal said:

nothing, they're both unlistenable

 

This.

 

Queen of unlistenable leads (bar Anti-hero) 

Manslaughter vs murder 

Max Martin

 

Shake it off is camp and something fun for the kids. Plus it wasn't that long after she was releasing songs like WANGBT, so it wasn't a million miles from what people expected. After Reputation she went for a more mature, serious image and Me! felt like a regression.

 

Plus shake it off is almost ironically poking fun at criticism of her but I'm not convinced there's a deeper level to Me!

Shake It Off is marginally worse than ME! so I have no idea. I guess it got lucky. 

idk it's actually not too bad

it's got a more instantly universal message, and the chord progression on the chorus is very infectious

People need to accept the fact that Me! is CAMP

 

shake it off may have childish lyrics, but its still a well crafted song with a good melody and overall strong production. i mean its literally a max martin song, so it prob cost her $100k to get made and tbh it sounds like it. its actually a sonically complex song and like all of max's songs and productions, there is a lot of substance to it even if the lyrics are basic

 

me! on the other hand is a lazy melody throughout, uninspired production, and has no other offerings to help justify the basic lyrics and generic topic. 

 

just bc they are both takes on the "self empowerment" trope, they are def not one in the same. Shake it off may not be providing lyrical masterclass but as a musical composition and when it comes to the sonic elements of the production and overall structure, it really is a great pop song that is honestly way better than people give it credit for these days

3LW callback

Her most juvenile leads are WANEGBT and ME!

SIO is actually written quite well in parts.

Shake It Off is only intolerable during the "hella good hair" bridge while ME! is **** from start to end 

 

idk I don’t like either. 

Well when shake it off came out it was also kinda when she fully transitioned from a country star to a pop star. So there was the novelty of that and then the song was very catchy

ME is one of the worst things. I can’t believe she actually thought yes this is great and let’s make it the first single when she had Cruel Summer right there. 

Nothing was stopping SIO from smashing with that addictive instrumental. Those horns are something else 

19 minutes ago, Josh said:

Both are her most juvenile leads in the history of her career but Shake It Off is at least tolerable in some areas plus it doesn't have "HEY KIDS, SPELLING IS FUN!"

you answered your own question 

 

Shake It Off is nothing special but at least it’s not straight up annoying. 

I think what Shake It Off does had class to it, I'll say that.

They're both embarrassing in the songwriting department 

23 minutes ago, sunbathinganimal said:

nothing, they're both unlistenable

 

@Gelato liking this post when they openly listen to traitor 
 

Max Martin I fear