The 5 Best Taylor Swift Music Videos
Taylor Swift is many things: a singer, a songwriter, a musician, a savvy businesswoman, and a polarizing figure. But whether or not you personally enjoy her art, you can't deny the impact she's had on pop culture. And one of her best creations is every single one of her music videos. I think Taylor is underrated in terms of making amazing videos for her equally amazing singles.
Taylor seems to have four types of videos: innocent ones with a narrative from her country music days, artsy and creative ones with a narrative from her pop music days, carefree ones, and self-deprecating ones.
Here are my favorite videos from each category, and my favorite video of all time from Taylor.
Innocent Country Video with a Narrative: You Belong With Me
Taylor's most iconic video, and the video that launched her career outside the country world. Now I love the “Single Ladies'' video just as much as the next person, and I begrudgingly agree with Kanye when he said, “Beyoncé had one of the greatest videos of all time!" However, Taylor deserved the VMA for this video. The story is about a “nerdy" girl, played by Taylor, who has a crush on her popular neighbor. Unfortunately, he has a cheerleader girlfriend, played by Taylor in a brunette wig. This video is so good because it is so relatable. Everyone at one point in his or her lives has probably felt like an outcast and wanted to be with someone who was taken. Taylor's best skill was her ability to relate to her fans, and this song and video are the best example of it.
Artsy Pop Video with a Narrative: Bad Blood
The definition of “squad goals." Taylor concocts a superhero story with a cast that would put Marvel and DC to shame. She's betrayed by Selena Gomez, and trains with all her fellow assassins to get revenge. Kendrick Lamar makes an exclusive appearance in the video and on the track, which is a lovely surprise. The costumes, editing, and cinematography are amazing, and the VMA for Video Of The Year was well deserved.
Carefree: End Game
Taylor's newest video, featuring Ed Sheeran and Future, is an international party. The video was filmed in Miami, where Tay meets up with Future on a yacht, Tokyo, where she steals Ed's glasses, and a double decker bus in London. The video is simple, but fun, and features Taylor in a lot of amazing outfits. One of my favorite scenes is when Taylor rides down the streets of Tokyo on a motorcycle wearing a snakeskin suit, because she's a “snake."
Self-Deprecating: Blank Space
1989 was when Taylor really stepped up in terms of self-deprecating videos, hello, Shake It Off. However, this is her best effort into the fine art of self-deprecation. First of all, the song is about her reputation, see what I did there?, about being a serial dater who uses men just to write catchy hooks. Taylor takes that up to one hundred in this video, playing a rich woman having a gentleman over for a weekend at her mansion. The weekend goes downhill when Taylor starts screaming at him and takes a golf club to his car. When the man leaves, Taylor seemingly starts the cycle over again when a new lover arrives. Taylor's cat, Olivia Benson, makes a cameo, while T-Swizzle is stabbing a heart shaped cake in bed. I've always wanted to do that.
Best Overall: Look What You Made Me Do
Clearly Tay's best video, Look What You Made Me Do is exactly what Taylor needed to release. It's a classic example of her self-deprecating humor, while still making a statement to all her detractors. I'm no longer the sweet girl you can push over; I'm a badass, who now can dance. Todrick Hall makes a cameo as one of Tay's dancers, and welcome cameos are made by all of Taylor's old selves, who are all killed off by the end.
