Talk:This Is Me Trying/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: MarioSoulTruthFan (talk · contribs) 13:03, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

Infobox

• Recorded: 2020 → how do you know that? Comment: It is stated within the Folklore article that production began in 2020, but I'll remove it anyway.

  I'm not saying to remove stuff if you have a source to prove it. Add the source and the info to the body of the article, "the Folkore" article is quite big... and please reply below my comments and sign them. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 00:02, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

• No release date? Comment: Added
• No source or mentioned in the body of the article. Comment: Everything in the Infobox is now sourced and mentioned in the body.

 Done

Lead

• "This Is Me Trying" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is taken from her eighth studio album Folklore (2020), which was released on July 24, 2020, via Republic Records. Swift and Jack Antonoff wrote the song, which they produced with Joe Alwyn. → "This Is Me Trying" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It is the ninth track on her eighth studio album Folklore (2020), which was released on July 24, 2020, by Republic Records. "This Is Me Trying" was written by Swift and Jack Antonoff and produced by the latter two along with Joe Alwyn. It is an orchestral pop and dream pop song supported by an organ, slow-paced beats and horns.

• Critics lauded the song's production and lyrics, with some of them praising Swift's vocal performance. In the United States, "This Is Me Trying" peaked at number 39 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. The song entered the top 30 on singles charts of Australia, Canada, and Singapore. "This is Me Trying" was used in a commercial celebrating American gymnast Simone Biles' return to the 2020 Summer Olympics after she withdrew from several events due to medical issues.+ wikilink
• More to come

Comment: All done

The song is written "from three different characters' perspectives"; Swift conveyed the emotions felt in 2016 and 2017. The narrator of "This Is Me Trying" embraces the perspective of "the rejected party to devastating effect". Swift tries to hide as the narrator of the track, as she accepts someone's else point of view of her. Swift, in her 2020 concert documentary Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, said that the song also touches on alcoholism. → second paragraph of the lead  Done

Background and release

• This section needs to be re-written
• Taylor Swift and producer Jack Antonoff had written and produced songs for Swift's previous studio albums 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017), and Lover (2019). They collaborated again on Folklore, which Swift surprise-released amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[first Entertainment Weekly source] Folklore was released on July 24, 2020, through Republic Records.[The Washington Post source] Swift wrote or co-wrote all songs on the album, and Swift and Antonoff produced six, including "This Is Me Trying".[Folklore (booklet) source] Swift wrote the lyrics "from three different characters' perspectives"; she conveyed the emotions felt in 2016 and 2017, "I just felt like I was worth absolutely nothing."[First Entertainment Weekly source] The first verse regards "someone who is in a life crisis and trying and failing in a relationship," while the second verse is about "someone who has a lot of potential, but has feels they have lost in life", falling into alcohol addiction and has "issues with struggling every day." On the third verse, Swift wondered how The National would approach the song.[The two Entertainment Weekly sources in the article]
• Don't forget to wikilink when appropriate.

• Rewritten, Ippantekina (talk) 04:15, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

Here you added some of the production part. I will need you to add everything, who played what along with engineers. Because if you start something you must finish it. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 23:22, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

 Done

Composition

• I'm going to re-write the whole section.
• Remove the sample of the track, the description will do just fine in this case.

• "This is Me Trying" was written from multiple perspectives. The song was inspired by her state of mind in 2016–2017 when she "felt like [she] was worth absolutely nothing".[1] It also contains themes of addiction[1] and existential crisis.[6] According to Swift, she struggled "not to fall into old patterns", she felt people didn't realize and appreciate that.[1] In the documentary concert film Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020), Swift affirmed that the song touches on alcoholism.[7] The lyrics also address the "where her life is", noticed in the verse, "I got wasted like all my potential".EW The song documents the accountability and regret of someone who admits feeling that they are not enough. However, there are "feelings of hope and growth."[10]

• On "This Is Me Trying", Swift embraces the "POV of the rejected party to devastating effect".Slant She makes an effort to hide as the narrator of the track, as she gives "credence to the other person's view of her".EW[Slant] Swift transmits the idea that she has a habit of needing "the last word, in public and private" and that has been her downfall.Guardian "This Is Me Trying" is an orchestral pop and dream pop song.[8][9] Its instrumentation features a "yawning" organ,[11] "subtle" horns,[12] percussions, strings and a saxophone.(missing source(s)) The track was written in the key of A major and has a moderately fast tempo of 136 beats per minute.[14] Swift's vocal range spans between D3 to C5.[13] "This Is Me Trying" evolves into a "wracked orchestral grandeur". The Guardian's Alex Paris admitted the song, "sounding more unsettling still for how Swift's voice, processed at a ghostly, vast remove, seems to encompass the whole song with her desperation."[Guardian]

Note: If a source is listed here with a number it's because it is the same number as it is in the article already.

Rewritten, Ippantekina (talk) 14:54, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

 Done

Critical reception

• Needs to be re-written
• "This Is Me Trying" received positive reviews from most music critics. Alexandrea Lang from the Dallas Observer named "This Is Me Trying" as one of the "most profound and underrated" songs on Folklore, as well as praising Swift's "gorgeous, breathy vocals" and the "flawless" capture of emotions of someone struggling with motivation and mental illness. Jonathan Keefe from Slant Magazine affirmed that the track "still demonstrates Swift's masterful grasp of song structure." 1 Clash's Lucy Harbron lauded Swift's "penchant for blending the last remnants of her country roots with a more modern edge". 2 Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield said that the track is "the disturbingly witty tale of someone pouring her heart out, to keep herself from pouring more whiskey." Regarding the song's metaphor set around curve and sphere, Sheffield commented: "Taylor could have invented geometry, but Euclid couldn't have written this song."+ wikilink everything.

• Rob Harvilla of The Ringer called the song one of the album's "most luscious and intense songs", soaked in regret, failure and booze, "as luminous as it is dolorous". He praised Swift's "sharp and specific" writing and the "gauzy lusciousness" of Antonoff's production. New Statesman critic Anna Leszkiewicz defined "This Is Me Trying" as an "expansive, atmospheric portrait" of someone opting vulnerability over "defense mechanisms" in a relationship. Despite viewing the song less favorably, Eric Mason, writing for Slant Magazine, praised Swift's vulnerability in the song, stating that she was "mining both her vulnerability and her ability to do harm" on the track.

• "This Is Me Trying" was featured on a list of the best songs of 2020 by Teen Vogue.3 In Clash's list ranking the writer's 15 favorite Swift songs, Lucy Harbron remarked on the singer's vocals: "It's one of the first times her voice ever sounded this mature and jagged as the bridge seems to bite at your ears". 4 In Vulture's list ranking all songs in Swift's discography, Jones wrote about "This Is Me Trying": "The climax sneaks up on you like a moment of clarity."5 Sheffield picked it among the best 20 songs of Swift's discography, "The easiest Folklore song to underrate, because it seems so deceptively straight-ahead." 6

Note: If a source is not listed here it's because it's already in the same section of the article.

Rewritten, Ippantekina (talk) 15:08, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

 Done

Commercial performance

• Upon Folklore's release, "This Is Me Trying" debuted at number 9 on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. The song also debuted at number 39 on the all-genre Hot 100 as one of 10 tracks from Folklore to chart inside the top 40.[21] It further reached number 15 on the Singapore Singles chart, number 18 on Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, and number 30 on the Canadian Hot 100. → Upon the release of Folklore, "This Is Me Trying" debuted on various singles charts. In the United States, the song entered at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated August 8, 2020. The song simultaneously debuted and peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, where it stayed for 14 weeks on the chart. "This Is Me Trying" peaked within the top 40 on singles charts of Australia, Canada, and Singapore. On the US Rolling Stone Top 100, the song peaked at number 13 in July 2020. + source everything and wikilinks.

 Done

Usage in media

• The song also soundtracked the seventh → The song was featured in the seventh

 Done

Credits and personnel

• Use two columns

 Done

Charts

• The US Rolling Stone has an incorrect archive source. On top of that, the previous week was the song's peak see

 Done

References

• Source check: 1-3, 6, 8-10, 12, 15-17, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30
• Elity Daily is not wikilinked, missing author and date
• Unreliable sources that need to be removed and/or replaced: The Daily Beast
• Vulture and Rolling Soone need an url-access=limited parameter.
• New Statesman is dead, please find the archive
• There is no need for music notes and TuneBat, they have the same info. Use the former

 Done

Overall

• The song passes WP:Notability as Rolling Stone, Insider, Vulture(s) sources are considered "multiple published works", the latter two are part of an album review but they are very detailed.
• Studio where this was recorded?
• We are trying to reduce the quote from EW as the violation of copyright is quite high. See
• The article is on hold for you to fix. I will finish the correction of the lead once you have addressed everything else. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 14:33, 18 June 2022 (UTC)

• Hello, the nominator seems to be busy so I hope I did not overstep the line taking over this GAN. I have addressed your comments except two minor issues; Beats Per Minute is included in Metacritic's consensus so it should be reliable for a GA at least, and I think the sample is pretty useful to demonstrate the points made in the article. Ippantekina (talk) 15:21, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

  No problem for me. I will take a look at the comments and questions you raised very soon. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 18:12, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

  @Ippantekina and MarioSoulTruthFan: Hi, yes, so sorry about this! I have been very busy with finals and graduation-related activities and I admit I have slacked a bit on the GAN. If it is okay with both of you Ippantekina and I could complete it together? Apologizes again for the delays. TheCartoonEditor_{(he/him/they)} (talk) (contribs) 22:40, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

  Fine by me. Let me know once you are done with it. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 22:47, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

  Ippantekina Really? You state "A sample of the song, in which Swift delivers the bridge after a slick saxophone, over muffled beats and a hazy organ, followed by soaring strings that lead to the final chorus." I hear no saxophone in the sample, no final chorus and the strings are barely there. On top of that, this description "This Is Me Trying" evolves into a "wracked orchestral grandeur". The Guardian's Laura Snapes wrote the song "[sounded] more unsettling still for how Swift's voice, processed at a ghostly, vast remove, seems to encompass the whole song with her desperation" on the composition section shows, completely, what the song is like. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 11:16, 23 June 2022 (UTC)

  I'm not the one who wrote the sample's caption, but unless the OG TheCartoonEditor deems it important to keep, I'd wish them to voice their opinion on the sample's inclusion. Either way it's fine for me whether removing or keeping the sample, Ippantekina (talk) 05:49, 25 June 2022 (UTC)

  Let's leave that while we wait for the other editor. However, you can address the remaining issues. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 15:47, 25 June 2022 (UTC)

  All done! Ippantekina (talk) 11:52, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

  Not yet, check the Infobox, Credits and personnel and Charts MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 12:26, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

  I replaced the Rolling Stone ref and set colwidth to the div col in case you missed them; what remaining issue is there for the infobox? Ippantekina (talk) 03:36, 29 June 2022 (UTC)

  The original nominator affirmed the song was recorded in 2020, because Folklore was recorded in 2020. However, instead of adding a source and add it to the body of the article he removed the information. I just want to check if the song was indeed recorded in 2020 or not. If so please add said information. I wrote the second paragraph of the lead, feel free to add any information you feel is relevant. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 11:56, 29 June 2022 (UTC)

  @MarioSoulTruthFan: the whole album was reportedly recorded in 2020, but there is no source confirming the recording time for each track, so I'd prefer to keep it blank. Ippantekina (talk) 10:40, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

  Good job! Only missing the sample issue. Other than that, everything was addressed. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 10:58, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

@Ippantekina and TheCartoonEditor: Before I add the last paragraph to the lead there are some sections that need to be fixed. Background and production, Credits and personnel, Charts and references. The infobox needs the date the song was recorded, something the nominator said was present on the folklore album but decided to remove, despite having a source? Not sure if he understood what I meant. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 11:29, 23 June 2022 (UTC)

All's done now, except for the recording time as I replied above. Cheers, Ippantekina (talk) 10:42, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

See my reply above. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 17:00, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

@Ippantekina: Maybe you can reword the sample description to match the sample, something like "A 19-second sample of the song, in which Swift delivers the bridge over muffled beats and a hazy organ. It is followed by soaring strings that lead to the final chorus". Needless to say, this description lacks references. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 11:52, 12 July 2022 (UTC)

I edited the caption to make sure all the bits added are sourced. Ippantekina (talk) 02:03, 17 July 2022 (UTC)

Nice. Passing now. MarioSoulTruthFan (talk) 13:09, 17 July 2022 (UTC)