By MOLLY HOLT
Staff Writer
Taylor Swift released a new single that has everyone talking and playing detective.
Swift first sparked everyone’s attention on Aug. 18 when she wiped all of her social media accounts and official website clean. In the days following, she started posting video clips of slithering snakes with no context.
On Aug. 23, Swift finally announced her sixth studio album entitled “Reputation,” which will be released on Nov. 10. However, eager fans only had to wait until the next day to get a taste of Swift’s new album when she released her new single, “Look What You Made Me Do.”
The song, co-written by Swift and her producer Jack Antonoff, has a very electronic-pop sound to it and even includes a familiar tune in the chorus. The chorus of “Look What You Made Me Do” are repeated to a similar tune and beat of the popular 90s hit “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred. The group does receive a writing credit for the song.
A lyric video for the song was released on YouTube and, according to Variety, this video broke the lyric video record for the site when it reached 19 million views within 24 hours.
The release of the single showed that Swift’s new album seems to be heading in a darker direction. This song, and presumably the rest of the album, is about Swift’s reputation being shattered by the media, other celebrities and online “haters.”
Theories began circling the internet regarding who the song was about and what exactly it meant, but there has been no comment from Swift about the actual meaning of the song. However, some more clues were discovered on Aug. 27 at MTV’s Video Music Awards, when the music video for the single premiered.
The video opens on a tombstone that reads, “Here Lies the Reputation of Taylor Swift,” implying that her reputation is completely dead.
According to CNN, it appears that most people have agreed the song is mostly about Swift’s recent feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, given the many snakes in the video.
The celebrities infamously fought over West’s song “Famous” in which he mentioned Swift by saying he “made that b***h famous.” West claimed that Swift approved the lyrics, but Swift said she never agreed to being called that word.
Kardashian then referred to Swift as a snake and later leaked a video of Swift on the phone with West talking about the song, although no real evidence of her approving that particular lyric was present.
According to CNN, the video may also be referencing her feud with Katy Perry, “robbing” music streaming services, breakups with ex- boyfriends Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston and her recent sexual assault lawsuit.
The music video also includes a dark scene where Swift is seen standing on top of a pile of old versions of herself from her previous music videos as she kicks them down. It is at this point of the video where the lyrics, “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Because she’s dead,” are heard, implying that the Swift everyone knew is gone for good.
The video ends with a scene where the different versions of Swift are fighting with each other. The argument consists of each Swift yelling insults that the real life Swift has heard from the media, such as “You can’t be that surprised all the time” or “There she goes, playing the victim again.”
Before fans could even finish wrapping their head around this video, Swift released a second single, “… Ready for It?” on Sept. 3. In this song, Swift not only sings, but raps as well.
According to Rolling Stone, this song will be featured in ABC Network’s fall season promos.
“Reputation” appears to show a real change in Swift’s musical style and attitude. Fans can look forward for more shocking reveals to come as the album release grows closer.
