Let’s get it out of the way. While I am a Taylor Swift fan, I have been disappointed with the last few albums that featured songs with lyrics even more repetitive than a valley girl’s “OMG!”
That being said, I like the new song. I love the good girl Taylor persona, but I also love the—dare I say it—new reputation that she seems to have accepted.
Sometimes, it is good to live a little on the edge.
I have always liked the songs where Taylor is fighting back. I love “Bad Blood,” “Mean” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Sometimes, you just feel like the world is completely against you and you need songs like this.
However, there is a lot of criticism about her new persona. I do not think anyone has taken as much trash talk as Taylor Swift.
Considering the sweet persona she has had throughout her career, I find it amazing the press bothers her so much.
Thus far, she hasn’t broken like some other pop stars, developed public eating disorders or drug problems or ended up in rehab.
Still, the lyrics in this new song are kind of edgy. You can tell Taylor Swift is seriously miffed at somebody or multiple somebodies.
The chorus is still fairly repetitive, but it has more depth than most of the songs on her last two albums.
I am especially in love with the pre-chorus: “But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time/Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time/I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red underlined/I check it once, then I check it twice, oh!”
She has taken all the anger from several of her songs and thrown it into this song.
It is loaded with passion and all the teenage angst I incurred when Mississippi State raised college tuition by ten percent.
The teaser trailer for the music video is twenty-one seconds. It starts out with Taylor Swift in a perfectly sculpted ponytail.
Are you channeling Ariana Grande?
The next clip is of Taylor sitting on a gold throne with armrests that look like skulls, with “Tu Brute,” engraved into it.
Obviously, this is a reference to Julius Caesar and the fact Taylor Swift feels that she’s been stabbed in the back.
Taylor has at least five snake rings in the video, and has deleted all of her social media and replaced it with videos of snakes. Is it a reference to those who have figuratively stabbed her in the back?
Soon after, she’s seen wearing red lipstick and biting diamonds.
Is this because life is as hard as diamonds and she’s supposed to look great living it? For about half of a second, she is seen looking super vintage (think the outfits from the “Blank Space” music video.)
Lastly, she channels her inner Beyonce with a black leotard in fish nets, in the style of “Formation.”
I can say anything I want about the new song. It really comes down to the fact you should listen to the song now or watch the music video.