It is the era of the diss track, and Taylor Swift, who is no stranger to writing a song about every event that’s ever happened to her, has joined in on the fun with her newest single “Look What You Made Me Do.” This song is the lead single from her upcoming album Reputation, and the music video for the song will be released during the 2017 MTV Music Video Awards later tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Taylor Swift has dominated the VMAs over the past several years, so this music video announcement comes as no surprise.
Which brings us to the song itself. “Look What You Made Me Do” bids farewell to the old country-gone-pop queen and opens the door to new Taylor (who is emo now?). The song starts off promising with its orchestral introduction, beat-driven verse, and angsty lyrics; it’s almost reminiscent of an old school Panic! at the Disco song. The verses tell the story of a Taylor Swift who’s tired of playing games with people in the industry, which builds into a piano driven pre-chorus where Taylor stands her ground, saying she’s gotten smarter and stronger through the years. And then we reach the chorus. The chorus loses all momentum, and all we’re left with is a simple beat underneath Taylor speaking the repeated lyric of “look what you made me do.” It’s jarring, doesn’t sound great, and is honestly disappointing. The chorus is supposed to be the strongest and catchiest part of any song, and Taylor Swift has a record of doing exactly that. Yet, “Look What You Made Me Do” takes a potentially good track that marks another genre shift for Taylor and drops the ball due to its lackluster chorus.
There’s no telling exactly who this song is about. People have theorized it’s a clap back at Katy Perry’s diss track “Swish Swish,” which is speculated to be about Taylor Swift. Or it could be about Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who have had issues with Taylor for years. Or it could even be about her recent sexual assault lawsuit. Either way, this song is about Taylor taking control of herself and saying that she won’t put up with this anymore. However, the songs lacks the punch that similar songs by other artists utilize (think “Sorry Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato) and honestly falls short as a lead single. That being said, it is interesting to hear another different sound from the singer-songwriter, and with Reputation set to come out this November, time will tell if this new sound is here to stay. Because the old Taylor is dead anyways; who’s to say the new Taylor can’t be emo?
All images from Billboard
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