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Entertainment September 6, 2017
She rose up from the dead. She does it all the time.
Photo via Instagram / x_music_page_xTaylor Swift officially broke the internet last Sunday when she dropped the music video for her new song, “Look What You Made Me Do,” and with good reason.
The singer’s latest hit, which received 43.2 million views in the first 24 hours, was not only good for her publicity, but was also brilliant from a marketing standpoint and the most artistic video she’s put out so far.
First, let’s look at the records she broke. Those initial music video views landed her new song the spot of YouTube’s biggest 24-hour debut in history, beating out Psy’s 2013 video for “Gentleman,” which got 18.5 million hits and Adele’s 2015 video for “Hello,” which got 27.7 million views in one day. In addition, it also had the most plays for a song’s first day of availability on Spotify, according to Forbes.
But let’s really dive into what makes “Look What You Made Me Do” so successful.
From her famous boyfriends to her even more famous breakups, Taylor Swift often turns love woes into chart-topping hits. Songs like “Dear John” for John Mayer and “Out of the Woods,” which fans assume is about Harry Styles, brought the singer success and deeply engaged fans in her personal life.
Boyfriends weren’t the only ones she targeted. Her celebrity squad seems to change members every month and is also the center of some Taylor controversy. She also wrote “Bad Blood,” which many people assume to be about her feud with ex-friend Katy Perry.
However, her hits always left some ambiguity and kept fans guessing if her songs really were jabs at other A-listers or just creative expression. Her lack of explanations in interviews only garnered more interest to her songs for fans to catch any potential hints.
Not everyone was a fan, though.
Kanye West famously interrupted her in 2009 when she was accepting her VMA for Best Female Video to say that he thought Beyonce should have won the award instead. This later led to Taylor famously saying on Instagram that she “would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.”
The two later reconciled, but 2016 brought their drama back into the spotlight.
And for those of you living under a rock last year, we’ll sum it up for you. Basically, Kanye West included a line in his song “Famous” that said, “For all my Southside n****s that know me best, I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that b***h famous. I made that b***h famous.”
Taylor was pretty mad and claimed she was shocked by the lyrics, which take credit for a career she’s spent 12 years creating. However, Kim Kardashian-West had another narrative. She leaked a video of West allegedly playing the song for Taylor over the phone before “Famous” was released.
In the video, Taylor is heard saying, “It’s like a compliment kind of” and thanking Kanye for consulting with her first. Kanye then tells her he considers her a friend and wants to make sure she’s comfortable with the lyrics. Taylor later denied the conversation leading to Kim calling her a snake on social media and former fans posting endless snake emojis.
Wait it's legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days! ?????????????????????????????????????
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 17, 2016
Jump forward to the Grammys. In Taylor’s speech for Album of the Year for “1989” she said:
“As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I wanna say to all the young women out there: There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or fame, but if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going, you’ll look around and you’ll know that it was you and the people who love you that put you there and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”
Most recently, Taylor was quietly on the positive side of the drama when she won a sexual assault case against radio host David Mueller, earning a single dollar bill out of principle. She also recently put her music back on Spotify after previous issues with the streaming service and their payment to artists.
And then, we didn’t hear much from Taylor after that, until she wiped her social media clean last week and started posting snakes. But, as we soon learned, she wasn’t pulling a 2007 Britney Spears and was actually just teasing her new song, “Look What You Made Me Do.”
Throughout her career, Taylor was criticized for being a fake good girl, a serial dater, crazy cat lady and the ultimate mean girl. She shows in “Look What You Made Me Do” that she is done letting other people define who she is and pokes fun at all the personas and labels she’s accumulated over the years.
However, Taylor’s silence in the past about the drama surrounding her career shouldn’t be confused with weakness. It was a calculated move to give fans exactly what they wanted to hear, carefully wrapped in a marketable box.
“Look What You Made Me Do,” in a way, is no different. Instead of her bubbly innocence that made her marketable and lovable when she first came out, this “new” and “revamped” Taylor embraces an edgier side that is more popular in 2017.
Fans now crave a level of depth and honesty in music that the old Taylor wasn’t fulfilling. And what better way to shut down the haters than to self-deprecate in such a clever way that any further disses would just seem weak and uncreative?
Supporters are loving her for it because they believe she’s loudly saying, “I’m here, let’s put everything on the table. I’ve heard it all and I’m not going anywhere.”
Oh, the new @taylorswift13 song is lit! The best after a while! You are unstoppable now! More power to you! ❤#LookWhatYouMadeMeDo
— Aman Gaur (@amangaur62) September 1, 2017
In addition to the increased publicity Taylor Swift is earning for her new single, fans are also racing to her old music to decode the hidden messages included in her video. Not only is she sparking views and streams for her new song, she’s upping the popularity of all of her music.
For example, comments on YouTube on songs like “You Belong With Me” and “Out of the Woods” say “Who’s here because of nostalgia in ‘Look What You Made Me Do video?'” and “Came here to see if the dress is similar to Zombie Taylor in ‘Look What You Made Me Do.'”
Taylor personas from different eras in her career appear throughout the video and every detail – down to the placement of jewelry, etchings on the wall and costume choices – allude to a hidden message. Fans also can’t help but discuss their possible meanings online in forums like this one on Reddit.
While Taylor symbolically killed her old personas in the “Look What You Made Me Do” video, what she actually did was revive all of them. This will only gain her more popularity and success in the long run.
Hello, big paycheck to the Taylor Swift net worth.
Taylor wasn’t holding back in the “Look What You Made Me Do” video. Here’s a scene-by-scene analysis of everything you missed the first time in Taylor’s new video.
The “Taylor Swift’s reputation” headstone isn’t the only notable one.
If you look to the left of Taylor, there is also a headstone that reads “Nils Sjoberg.”
While it may not seem like anything at first glance, true fans know what the Swedish-sounding name really means. Taylor used it as her pseudonym when she wrote “This is What You Came For” for then-boyfriend Calvin Harris. After they broke up, Taylor revealed she was really Nils Sjoberg in the song’s credits.
In the beginning of the song, Taylor sings, “I don’t like your little games, don’t like your tilted stage, the role you made me play, no I don’t like you.”
Many fans think this line references Kanye West and their feuds over the years. To really drive the theory home, Kanye performed on a tilted stage during his last tour.
But hidden clues and lyrics weren’t the only creative part of this scene. Taylor’s costume is also telling. Zombie Taylor is wearing the same dress she wore in “Out of the Woods.” This is pretty creepy if you consider “Out of the Woods” ends with Taylor finding herself on the beach.
Which means, if this video is picking up where that one left off, Taylor never quite made it out of the woods.
Even creepier is the fact that Zombie Taylor is burying Met Gala Taylor. The two personas represent two periods of Taylor’s life. The buried Taylor is wearing the dress she wore to the Met Gala in 2014, which marked the beginning of the “1989” era. It’s only fitting that the Zombie Taylor represents the last song released from “1989,” signifying an end to that era of Taylor’s life.
Two hidden clues appear as soon as the second scene starts. To the left of Taylor, jewelry on the floor spells out “No.” Many fans think this is a hidden clue relating to an engagement ring found in a later scene that symbolizes her turning down a marriage proposal from ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris. Why? They say the bottom of the “N” resembles the locket he gave her for their anniversary.
Also hidden in the bathtub is a single dollar bill, signifying the sexual assault case she won, where she was awarded one dollar.
Another popular theory is that the bath of diamonds represents an old Taylor quote, where she says:
“She jet sets around the world collecting men and she can get any of them but she’s so clingy that they leave and she cries and then she gets another one in her web and she traps them and locks them in her mansion. And then she’s crying in her marble bathtub surrounded by pearls.”
The quote was in reference to the character she plays in the “Blank Space” music video.
However, some fans think it has a more sinister message directed at Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
The scene also has an eerie resemblance to Kim Kardashian’s robbery in Paris. Kim stayed at a Paris mansion-turned hotel. Thieves robbed her at gunpoint and locked her in the bathroom while stealing her diamond jewelry.
The crime was referred to as a VMA or “vol a main armee,” which translates to armed robbery. It just so happens, Taylor debuted her music at the MTV Video Music Awards, often referred to simply as the VMAs.
If that’s not enough to make you scratch your head, the robbers attacked Kim because they saw a picture on Instagram of the reality star showing off her $4 million diamond ring and jewelry on her teeth.
In the next scene, “Et tu Brute,” which means “You too Brutus,” is etched into the pillars and Taylor’s throne. Fans think this may be another jab at Kanye West, who referred to Taylor as his friend in the leaked Snapchat video where they allegedly discuss “Famous.” Others think she is referring to her so-called friends who chose not to stand up for her while the drama circulated.
Continuing with the symbolism, the snakes clearly represent Kim Kardashian’s comment. After Taylor denied knowing about the “Famous” lyrics beforehand, Kim attacked her on social media by referring to her as a snake on National Snake Day. Fans bombarded Taylor’s social media with snake emojis but it seems like she’s now really embraced the identifier.
However, the Kardashian disses don’t stop there. Taylor also sips tea as a snake pours it, wearing a flowing maxi dress. If this look seems like deja vu, it’s because it is. Kendall Jenner wore a similar outfit in an Instagram photo following the feud between her sister Kim, Kanye and Taylor in support of her sister. She captioned the photo “tea time.”
Probably the funniest and most clever part of the snake scene is the fact that it shows 12 snakes, including the two on the candle holders. Every true Taylor fan knows her favorite number is 13. So where is the 13th snake? Oh that’s right, it’s herself.
Fans quickly picked up on Taylor alluding to her song “Red.” The lyrics start out with, “Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street.” However, killing off the Red era Taylor wasn’t the only purpose of the car crash scene.
Taylor also takes a major stab at her ex-friend Katy Perry. In head-to-toe cheetah print, Katy’s iconic look, and her bangs styled to look like Katy’s new hairstyle, Taylor isn’t really hiding this one. To top it off, she flaunts one of her 10 Grammys. Sadly, Katy Perry doesn’t even have one.
The cage scene seems to be more about the lyrics rather than messages hidden in the video itself. “I don’t like your kingdom keys, they once belonged to me,” Taylor sings.
This lyric seems to refer to how she was once seen as the top female musician with the most skill and popularity. In essence, the music world belonged to her. But, when the various relationships in her life ended in drama and gossip, people became less interested in her talent and more interested in the wild stories.
If she is still addressing fans, this scene may also depict her resistance to follow music as it becomes less about the music itself and more about the personality. “Look What You Made Me Do” in this sense would be Taylor saying that to stay relevant, she had to reinvent herself into what it means to be a musician in 2017.
She continues on, “You asked me for a place to sleep, locked me out and threw a feast.” This could refer to a number of people in Taylor’s life who rode her coattails long enough to gain fame while she was still considered “on top.” Once she started to fall in popularity in the public eye, she seems to be saying they deserted her while still basking in the name she made for them.
Taylor takes the whole “cat lady” persona to a whole other level while robbing a bank in a cat mask.
Also hidden in the cat scene, is the engagement ring box (to the right of Taylor’s hand) that fans connected to the Calvin Harris-inspired locket in the diamond bath scene.
Taylor also doesn’t seem too concerned about money, since the fire depicts the fact that she literally has money to burn.
Having money to burn seems fitting because the scene depicts Taylor robbing the streaming company like they robbed her in artist royalties. Stream Co. scrolls across the screen in the background. And yes, she’s referring to Spotify, which might be kind of awkward now that they’ve worked things out.
Fans are still trying to figure out what the motorcycle scene alludes to. However, some believe it refers to the motorcycle jackets Kimye wore after they married.
It also may just be another depiction of Taylor embracing her new bad girl attitude.
Taylor is also infamous for her girl squad. She’s received many criticisms in the past about her squad being cult-like and how she banded together models with the ultimate mean girl as their leader.
From a style standpoint, Taylor embraces her “Bad Blood” era vibes, which also signifies the times she feuded with former girl friends like Katy Perry.
And Taylor’s squad would obviously be empty if it wasn’t for her army of clones. The singer received criticism in the past for her friend group being a little too perfect, including women like Cara Delevingne and Zendaya.
However, these same friends were the ones who allegedly left her squad.
Taylor seems to be saying that her mannequin-like friends are ultimately replaceable and in the end she ends up being the only one left. In the frame where the mannequins seem to be dead on the floor, they eerily resemble Zendaya, Cara and other friends that have been in and out of her life through the years.
Taylor definitely channels Beyonce’s formation music video in this mansion dance scene. This definitely seems like Taylor is addressing Kanye’s 2009 comment that Beyonce’s album was superior to her own.
The eight male backup dancers also have significance. They represent Taylor’s eight famous past boyfriends: Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor Kennedy, Harry Styles, Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston.
To really drive the point home, they are all wearing “I heart TS” crop tops, the same shirt Taylor made Tom Hiddleston wear on Fourth of July, while they dated.
Taylor cuts the wing off her plane. This is the first time in the video that we see the real Taylor. She’s the only Taylor that is unrecognizable as a past era Taylor.
Combined with Taylor painting “Reputation” on the side of the plane, she seems to be saying her reputation isn’t going anywhere.
No matter what Kanye says, it’s pretty evident by all her past personas that Taylor’s path to fame was paved with the various ways she reinvented herself. Looks like Taylor is the actual one who “made that bitch famous.”
With the “T” behind her, the reputation Taylor seems to be crucified. Many fans think this is Taylor saying the media crucified her reputation but she refuses to give up.
In the final scene, all of Taylor’s past personas take their final bow. The only Taylor seen not bowing out is the real Taylor standing on the reputation plane in the background.
The new and improved real Taylor is here to stay.
Taylor also uses the final scene to self-deprecate and pay homage to the different characters she’s embraced over the years. She first targets “You Belong With Me” Taylor and the haters who called her fake.
She also shows how various versions of herself over the years were so different from each other that if they were actually separate people, they wouldn’t get along.
Then she criticizes country Taylor for always playing the victim.
And the Katy-Perry inspired Taylor records the whole thing, making sure to get receipts to prove what really happened later. This seems to be a final blow to Kim Kardashian and the secretly recorded call.
Lastly, Taylor repeats her famous 2009 line about being excluded from this narrative.
But, as we’ve gone over, it doesn’t seem like Taylor is excluding herself much anymore.
Whether you love her music or hate it, she seems to be saying that she is here to stay and will keep reinventing herself to always be relevant. You killed it, girl.
