Sometime during the 11 o'clock hour of August 24, 2017 Taylor Swift ended her 3 year music drought and released the first single off of her highly anticipated album Reputation, set for release on November 10, 2017. And believe me when I say that you would have to be living under a rock to not have heard Look What You Made Me Do in the short time since its release. Look What You Made Me Do had immediate success in the music industry becoming the fastest song to reach #1 on iTunes in just 30 minutes, breaking the previous record held for most spins on the radio during a debut, and crushing Adele's Vevo record for most views in 24 hours just 18 hours after it's release. However, the success of this track came at a heavy price and was surrounded by criticism and controversy. Here's the thing: Look What You Made Me Do is genius. Taylor Swift saved music in 2017.
First off, Taylor Swift wrote a diss track that everybody knows is probably about Kanye, or Katy Perry, or Calvin Harris, or anybody else that she has feuded with the past 3 years. However, unlike most modern diss tracks, Taylor executed the song in the most classy way possible. In 3 minutes and 31 seconds, she clearly made her point but never once swore, specifically called anyone out, or said anything in anywhere degrading. And for that, I applaud her.
And if her iconic, yet classy, song wasn't genius enough, her music video proved her point even further. The Look What You Made Me Do video told a story in itself, something rare these days, but I wouldn't expect anything less from Miss Swift. Within the story, every scene of the video was a different metaphor for an event that's happened in Taylor's life over the past 3 years and how the media has portrayed her as being a villain. So, in case you missed it and still think that Taylor Swift spent 4 minutes in a music video to an incredibly annoying song making a fool of herself, you're wrong. Here's the music video explained:
1. The Obvious Beginning
The tombstone at the beginning of the video reads "Here lies Taylor Swift's reputation". Not only is this a reference to the title of her new album, but it seaways into her ongoing theme of the "old Taylor" being dead.
2. Out Of The Woods Taylor
The Taylor Swift that's seen rising from the grave at the beginning of the video is wearing the same outfit from the Out Of The Woods video. This Taylor Swift is then seen burying the 2014 Met Gala Taylor Swift. The 2014 Met Gala was considered the beginning of the 1989 era and Out Of The Woods was considered the end of it. Essentially, the 1989 era Taylor Swift is now dead.
3. Nils Sjoberg Tombstone
Taylor is seen digging a grave next to a tombstone that reads "Nils Sjoberg". Not a coincidence that this is the name that she wrote Calvin Harris' This Is What You Cam For under.
4. The Bathtub of Jewels
This scene is the first portrayal of the media's claims to Taylor Swift being "money hungry" as she bathes in a bathtub of diamonds. However, if you notice to her left there is a single dollar bill. This dollar bill is symbolic of the $1 she won in her trial against the DJ who sexually assaulted her.
5. Queen of Snakes
Taylor is seen sitting on a throne surrounded with a bunch of snakes at her feet. This is a reference to Summer 2016 when Kim Kardashian publicly called Taylor a snake on her Snapchat.
6. The Car Crash
There are two theories surrounding the car crash scene. The first comes from Taylor's song Red which starts off with they lyrics "Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead end street". Her crashing this new Maserati may be a symbol for killing off the Red era. The second theory is that she's shown in the car holding a Grammy. In her Grammy acceptance speech in 2016 for Album Of The Year Taylor threw shade at Kanye West. The car crash may be symbolic of her career crashing down after her Grammy speech.
7. Bank Robber
Taylor Swift is seen dressed up in thuggish clothing with money spewed all over the floor in the background. On the wall, a scrolling banner reads "Stream Co.", which is a reference to all of the times the media called Taylor "money hungry" for not putting her music on Spotify.
8. Girl Squad
Taylor is seen as a leader for a "squad" of girls who all have the same plastic look and seems to be brainwashing them. This is a reference to the media's claims that Taylor Swift only allows girls into her girl squad who look a certain way.
9. Dancing Taylor
When Taylor is seen in the black outfit dancing with a bunch of guys behind her there is again, two possible meanings. One is that she is proving that she can actually dance after years of being the punchline and being made fun of for her awkward dancing. The second is that there are 8 guys behind her, symbolic for her 8 ex boyfriends. Each guy is wearing an "I <3 TS" shirt, which Tom Hiddleston wore while dating Taylor Swift and was criticized for.
10. Reputation Taylor
Lastly, the new Reputation era Taylor is seen standing on a mountain of her old self. Pictured are iconic outfits that she's worn in previous music videos, previous tours, and previous events. Not only is she seen killing them all off, this is symbolic of the claims that Taylor has no problem changing who she is to stay on top of the industry.
And for the ending of the video with all of the Taylors lined up next to each other? I think that speaks for itself.
