I followed a link to an article from a digest post from my favorite music industry curmudgeon Bob Lefsetz this morning that literally made me shiver in disgust. The article discussed, or more accurately, panned Taylor Swift singing the classic “As Tears Go By” with Mick at a Stones concert in Chicago. Curious, I watched the video, and when she started singing and prancing around the stage like a little fairy princess, I shuddered.
The original recording was so melancholy and introspective, and was one of my favorite Stones tunes. But Taylor Swift completely butchered the song, singing it as if it was some cutesy kids tune. Then doing her little pop diva arms and doing a little dance with Mick made me absolutely cringe.
It’s sad to see the Stones have to resort to antics like this: Bringing pop divas on stage like Taylor Swift who completely butcher a song by not feeling it nor understanding anything about where the song is coming from. I’m not especially a fan of Ms. Swift, and by no means do I begrudge her professional success, but she did a disservice to the Stones with that performance. She’s a professional for goodness’ sake – she should know better. But the Stones continue to do a disservice to their fans by doing things like this, or charging $600 a ticket for their concerts. Downward spiral indeed.
They’re starting to look and act like a real-life Spinal Tap. Such a shame.
Guitar Gear 
Well said. The only reason I can see this even happening would be an attempt by The Stones, to try and expose themselves to a younger audience that may never otherwise pay attention to them. But after all of their success, that doesn’t compute either.
I’m going to respectfully disagree but, in a very particular context: compared to other magnificently atrocious special guest footage from the tour (Gwen Stefani, Tom Waits), this one is a peach.
Everybody is slamming Taylor for this but, I think she was playing the role of the unattainable, detached Lolita pretty well. Mick comes across as a nursing home Lothario.
Love that word “Lothario.” 🙂 I think that my own particular dislike for Taylor Swift trying to do rock and roll stems from when she performed “Pour Some Sugar…” with Def Leppard. That just didn’t fit.
I blame not the Stones or Taylor Swift, they are simply catering to what the audience wants. As long as people pay to see this, they will keep doing it. I blame all of those people in the audience for this.