by Asha Varma ’20, Staff Writer

Following the success of her album 1989 and world tour in 2014, Taylor Swift took a well deserved break from music, only releasing one song in the span of three years: a collaboration with former One Direction member Zayn Malik entitled “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” in January of 2017. After a hiatus from her music, Taylor Swift fans were shocked when she cleared the contents of all her social media accounts and posted a series of videos on Instagram and Twitter in late August, hinting that something big was coming. The videos have no sound but show what appears to be a slithering snake. This sent fans into a media frenzy, some even claiming that Taylor’s decision to delete her posts was a sign of a new chapter of her life, and a whole new Taylor.

Within the next three days of the initial videos posted by Taylor, she announced that her new album “Reputation” would be released on November 10th, and on August 24th, she dropped the first single of the album, “Look What You Made Me Do”. In order to promote her music even more, she announced that the world premiere of the “Look What You Made Me Do” music video would be released live at the Video Music Awards, not only adding much anticipation for the music video, but helping to increase the ratings of the VMAs, primarily because fans of Taylor around the world tuned in. Immediately after the premiere of her video, social media feeds starting blowing up with mixed reviews.

Many fans do not know how to feel about the video because it is so different from Taylor’s usual style. They speculate that this comeback with her new album will completely demolish Taylor’s good girl reputation, which, ironically, is also the name of her new album. “I didn’t like the song that much and I think that some fans didn’t like it because they didn’t like how she’s changed,” said Lizzie Schwartz ’19. After listening to the song, many others were disappointed, like Lizzie, by the repetitive spoken-sung chorus instead of Taylor’s signature vocal showcase, with one fan even writing on Twitter, “I really don’t like the new Taylor Swift song, the chorus is so beige and trashy.”

Taylor alludes to many of the controversies and scandals that have surrounded her past in almost unnoticeable details in her video, though fans have been quick to catch them. One scene in the video shows Taylor sitting in a bathtub filled with diamonds, with a single dollar bill lying on top of the diamonds. This is most likely a direct reference to her recent court case against David Mueller, a Colorado DJ whom Swift accused of sexually assaulting her during a meet-and-greet in 2013. Mueller was found guilty of sexual assault and battery, and Taylor was awarded the full damages she wanted: just one dollar. In another scene, Taylor stands in a formation with dancers behind her all wearing shirts that said “I <3 TS”, which many fans believe is a reference to her most recent ex boyfriend, actor Tom Hiddleston, whom paparazzi once photographed in a shirt with the same message on it. Other references included the pseudonym she used to write “This is What You Came For” for her ex Calvin Harris’ collaboration with Rihanna on a gravestone, and the etching of the phrase “Et Tu Brute” on her gold throne, referencing a quote from Julius Caesar about being stabbed in the back by former friends. In the ending scene, multiple T-Swift clones start making fun of each other using some of Taylor’s most newsworthy moments. Taylor does a good job of addressing the common conceptions people have of her “always playing the victim,” and addresses the ongoing feud between her and Kanye West by dressing up in her 2009 VMAs outfit, reminiscent of the iconic moment when Kanye interrupted her on stage following her win for Video of the Year. Though the creativity and the artistic choices of the video were very creative and well thought out, the intention of the video was disappointing for many fans. “Taylor’s new song seems more like a diss-track that focused on calling out people, rather than focusing on the skill of her voice and songwriting ability. It reminds me of her Bad Blood video,” said Rhea Mishra ’20. Many fans believed these “hidden messages” were Taylor’s way of calling out the people who have wronged her, and finally standing up for herself and telling her side of the story.

Although many fans thought it to be controversial, others found it very relatable and interpreted “Look What You Made Me Do” as Taylor’s “savage” comeback. She included the line “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now…Why? Oh, ’cause she’s dead!” in the middle of the song, insinuating that she is stripping away her old reputation and is creating a new image for herself. This is a very common phase of many artists’ careers. People have witnessed celebrities like Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus go through the same image change from “good” girls to more sassy and carefree, and related this line in Taylor’s song to a past comment of Cyrus’ in which she said that her breakout role as Hannah Montana was dead.

It seems that Taylor is on the brink of that same change, though even from watching her evolution over the past 10 years, it’s hard for fans to imagine that the now pop queen was once a 16 year old girl from Nashville with an innocent country image. Besides the release of her new album “Reputation” early this month and whatever is ahead for Taylor in this next chapter in her career, it’s certain that she’s left her good-girl attitude behind, and is doing things her way.