In which Mattie dissects Taylor Swift’s lead single from her anticipated sixth album Reputation.
In Taylor Swift’s return to music after a three-year hiatus, she proves herself to still be the reigning ruler of music and streaming sales. “Look What You Made Me Do,” the lead single off her upcoming sixth studio album Reputation, may be one of her most daring tracks to date — Swift’s snarky voice tiptoes over the track while layers of symbolism punctures every line heard throughout the song. This is not uncommon for Swift who is known for her confessional lyrics, but something is different, and much more sinister, about this song.
Over the past three years, Swift’s name has been dragged through the mud more than your average celebrity, but why? From the Kimye phone conversation leak fiasco, to her controversial streaming views, to being hated on for everything you could possibly think of, Swift cannot catch a break. In “Look What You Made Me Do,” Swift unapologetically recognizes the unfairness of it all. For her loyal fans, Swifties, this was a rallying call to once again solidify as Swift’s full-fledged defense team. For her haters, it was yet another excuse to roll their eyes and say, “There she goes, playing the victim again.” For the rest of us, it gave us the opportunity to marvel at the speed at which the song broke records (most watched lyric video in its first day of release of all time, most Spotify streams in its first day, and most watched music video in its first 24 hours of all time garnering 43.2 million views) while having no promotion whatsoever.
As for Swift? She sits on her throne, unbothered by the ensuing chaos pooling at her feet. After being in the music industry for 13 years, Swift has finally learned to accept what people will say, good and bad. “Look What You Made Me Do” was made because her reputation was destroyed because people made a sport of making fun of her. And now, as Taylor said, there will be no explanation, just reputation.
Pre-order Reputation, coming out November 10th, on iTunes.
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