Taylor Swift’s and Florence + The Machine’s Florida!!!: A Modern Twist on 70s Murder Rock.

For most of the 70s rock bands, male fronted bands of course, found themselves singing about killing someone and heading to Mexico. This was usually either a girlfriend who did them wrong, or a man who was hooking up with the girlfriend who did them wrong. These are 70s spins on classic murder ballads. Think of Hendrix’s Hey Joe, Johnny Cash’s Cocaine Blues and early ZZ Top’s on the nose track Goin’ Down to Mexico. For these tracks, Mexico symbolised this oasis where you could outrun your past and find freedom. Much like how Swift turned murder ballads on their heads in folklore and Evermore, she is taking this 70s rock trope and placing it within a modern context.

Musically, this is a bit different for Swift. Produced by the pop power production duo Swift and Jack Antonoff it has some classic Swift electro percussion and synth, but it is the chorus that really breaks from tradition. The crushing percussion with about 45 vocal tracks layered on each other gives you this epic vibe that really jumps off the page. As the song progresses it falls into what we expect from a Swift pop track with pop vocal effects and guitar. However, the layering of Swift’s and Florence Welch’s vocals over verses and over choruses is very dramatic and gives the track a noir vibe. This is not the wall of sound we experienced on 1989, but the sparse nature of the track is accented well with rousing choruses and dramatic vocal effects. These contrasts gives the track a great pace.

Speaking of contrasts, Swift’s lush pop vocal contrasted to Welch’s dramatic and theatrical vocal is captivating. They compliment each other well and asking her to be on this track was a stroke of genius by Swift…as was giving Welch such a large role on the track instead of relegating her to backing on the chorus. The song itself was an idea Swift had about running to Florida to escape your past, which Welsh loved and dug into. They both wrote the song, which chronicles how these women kill cheating men and run to Florida for escape and freedom. Home becomes nothing but a name as they seek refuge in an exotic locale full of drugs, clubs and people beating murder charges. There are also hints to a coming of age story for both Welch and Swift who sing about both leaving home and being caught between smoking weed and parenting.

There are a lot of layers to this track, but Welch’s and Swift’s take on men running to Mexico to get away with murder is both fresh and very catchy. It taps into a feeling for everyone…the idea of leaving everything behind for ultimate freedom and escape. On top of that, Florence Welch’s vocal is incredible. She is dramatic, haunting, powerful and dark all in the same verse. In a lot of ways, she steals the track from Swift, which is very difficult to do. This is definitely going to be a top 10 track for me and I can’t stop listening to it.

Listen to Florida!!!