“Swift” Swift, Another Song in the Top Charts

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Have you noticed the lack of breakup songs on the radio? Well that might be due to the absence of Taylor Swift.  With her last album, 1989, released in 2014, it was pretty clear she would need to put out new music sooner or later. Last Friday, Aug. 25th, Taylor dropped her new song titled “Look What You Made Me Do”. There are many mixed opinions on the song. Some bash the song because it’s nothing like the “old Taylor” while others are loving the new era she’s starting.

“It took me a few listens to really start liking it, but now I listen to it in the car every morning. I wasn’t originally a fan of the chorus but now I really enjoy the whole song,” said Avery Copeland, 10.

During the VMAs on Sunday, Aug. 27, the music video for “Look What You Made Me Do” was released and everyone who watched it had some very interesting theories about it. In the video, there was hints about Taylor’s feud with Katy Perry. In one scene, Taylor is sitting in a car, holding a grammy, while looking very similar to Katy Perry. Katy also has an identical car scene in her music video for “Unconditionally”. Supposedly, this is a stab toward Katy because she doesn’t have any Grammys unlike Taylor who has ten.

She also makes references toward Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. In one scene, it shows Taylor sitting in a bathtub filled with diamonds. This seems as though Taylor is taking a shot at the time Kim Kardashian was robbed of her diamonds while she was at a hotel. The reason that scene was included is because it references the 2016 drama about Kim and Kanye West. Kanye blatantly uses Taylor’s name in his song “Famous” even though Taylor claims she didn’t give him permission to do that, but Kim and Kanye say otherwise. A part in the “Look What You Made Me Do” video shows Taylor saying, “Getting receipts! Gonna edit this for later.” Which is rumored to be about how there was something edited together to make it appear as though Taylor gave Kanye permission to reference her directly in a song.

“I think [the music video] could be taken a little harshly, but I also like this new “era” of Taylor that she’s suggesting. One of my favorite parts of the video is when she has all of the old Taylors climbing up to the current Taylor,” said Copeland.

Another significant part of the video was Taylor bashing herself. She makes fun of all her old eras including the red era, the 1989 era, and even the “You Belong With Me” era. The opening scene even starts off with a shot of a tombstone that reads, “here lies Taylor’s reputation”. It then shows her being buried in her 2014 Met Gala dress. The day of the Met Gala was one of the last few days before all the drama started which “ruined” her reputation. The point of all of that is basically her way of admitting that she knows most people do not have the best opinion of her, but she’s fighting back against it and she’s trying to move on from all of her past drama by referencing it herself.

“I liked [Taylor’s song]. I think she was saying bye to her past self, and she was wanting a new beginning. I think she was referencing the criticisms [in the music video] to herself that other people said to her,” said Jessica Beary, 10.

There’s a few dozen more theories and hidden meanings in the song and music video that have been brought up. Some to do with ex boyfriends, more frenemies, and even more references to Taylor’s past self. There’s a lot going on with Taylor right now, and this surely won’t be the last of all the talk surrounding her. Her new album, Reputation, releases November 10th and at this point, no one really knows what to expect.