“I’ll be the actress, star in your bad dreams.” I never thought that a Taylor Swift lyric would or could be so menacing. Did you? But well, it is and now maybe she is too? This past week, T. Swift said “SURPRISE” and dropped a new single, Look What You Made Me Do. It was number 1 on iTunes in 56 countries the week it came out. Which means, people are willing to pay to hear the “new” Taylor Swift. I mean she says it herself on the song, “The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now because she’s dead”. Damn. I really don’t know her anymore.
I’m not complaining though. She has been on a mission to reinvent herself ever since I met/heard her. From the country girl crying on her guitar to the cheerleader pop star telling us to shake it off and now the kill Bill/Kanye Tay. She’s been through a lot and I’m not talking about all her famous boyfriends. A fall out with almost all her ex boyfriends. Frenemy status with Katy Perry. A public sexual abuse court case (Which she won). Being called and maybe proved a liar by a Kardashian. The past year has been mean to Taylor and I think it created a monster. A beautiful monster with millions of dollars and millions of fans and millions of friends. A small part of me wants to say: sit down, be humble, get over your white privilege. A bigger part of me wants to say, you show them Taylor, show them what a young girl can do when she gets the platform to do it.
Welcome back princess Tay Tay. You were missed and now I’m listening to your new song on loop and getting images of Arya Stark and her To Kill List running through my head. You’re saying the old Taylor Swift is dead but I’m just imagining her to be taking a long nap. I love this new Taylor and I think it’s okay that you wanted to shed your skin. It must have been hard to let go of all that you had built up but I really don’t think all is lost.
You’ve still got your talent. You’ve still got your fans and huge bank balance and string of BFFs. And come on, let’s all just admit, YOU’VE STILL GOT IT. I think I’m going to look at people who have irked me a little differently today and look them straight in the eye while I sing the line, Look what you made me do.
Reputation is the first album I have ever pre-ordered on iTunes.
The writer is a radio presenter at Indigo 91.9 fm.
