A New Music Video Begins a New Era of Taylor Swift

“The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now,” Taylor Swift’s signature red lips murmur. “Why? Oh…’cause she’s dead.” That might just be a line in Swift’s new single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” but to me, a self-proclaimed “swiftie,” Swift confirmed what I had been fearing before the single came out. We have officially lost the blonde, curly, love song strumming, pop-country girl who had me hooked on her music. I saw this coming after “Red,” her first album to feature non-country pop songs, debuted. However, even as her catchy single “Shake It Off” and the rest of the songs from “1989” came out, I never lost hope that she might go back to the country style of her older songs. Maybe this was because I had grown so attached to the old Swift that I didn’t want to adjust to a new one, but it is undeniable—Swift has changed, and she’s not going back to her old ways any time soon.

After accepting Swift’s new style and persona, I had to judge: Do I like the new Taylor? Sure, some parts are catchy, but the main chorus, “look what you made me do, look what you made me do,” sounds incredibly repetitive and unfortunately, does not hold any of the stories or meaning that her older songs, such as “Fearless,” held. Because I disliked the song, I held low expectations for the music video, but once it came out, I watched in awe.

What Swift did in this video makes a bold statement, one I hadn’t expected coming from an artist who is so constantly talked about for scandals and feuds. In the first scene, a graveyard, Swift is shown crawling out from a grave with an inscription that read, “Taylor Swift’s Reputation.” In the third scene, Swift sits upon a throne crawling with snakes, making her the queen of snakes. Other than describing a reptilian animal, a snake can be used to describe someone who often does traitorous and malicious things behind others’ backs. A snake is not something one normally wants to be called, yet in her video Swift seems to be embracing the label.

After many feuds with a variety of celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry, Swift’s name has been dragged through the dirt. People consider her someone who can’t be trusted. In these scenes, Swift does something many artists would fear to do: not only does she make it clear that she knows her old, innocent persona is long-gone, but she accepts her new reputation as a snake.

In the rest of the video, Swift features many references to pop culture events and opinions that have affected her in the public eye. In one scene, she is featured robbing a streaming company, perhaps alluding to the hate she got for refusing to sell her music to streaming companies such as Spotify. She is also spotted wearing a sweater saying “blind for love,” a direct nod toward her infamous dating cycle.

Though these references are clever, the video set is elaborate, and the overall filming is well done; the best part of the entire video for many swifties like myself is the last 10 seconds—the round-up of Swifts. In this final scene, different versions of Taylor Swift, such as the nerdy Swift from the “You Belong With Me” video and the ballerina Swift from “Shake It Off,” line up in a row in front of a cheering audience. They are shown arguing with each other, the old country Swift is crying while the new goth Swift calls her out for “playing the victim, again.”

The video ends with a comedic last line, referencing the feud between Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, and Taylor Swift, who is dressed in the exact outfit she was wearing at the 2009 VMA’s when West famously declared Swift unfit for the “Video of the Year Award.” This version of Swift mimics what Swift had said to West and Kardashian, during their most recent dispute: “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.” Swift, yet again, owns up to past actions that have earned her public hate.

Just like she embraced her reputation of being a snake in the beginning of the video, in this scene, she seems to call herself out on the things that made others angry or annoyed with her. It is unclear whether she did this to say she doesn’t care if they ridicule her actions or because she wants to show others that she understands her past mistakes. Either way, it is interesting and refreshing to see such a high-level celebrity like her bring up unfortunate past events of her lifetime directly into the limelight.

So is the “new Taylor” better or worse than the “old Taylor”? She’s neither, but she is definitely different. I can’t judge whether her new style and persona is better or worse because I have to keep in mind that I’m not the only “swiftie” out there. The “new” Taylor may be better for some and worse for others, like me. That’s the beauty of Taylor Swift: she attracts such a variety of fans, especially as her musical style changes.

Even though I wish she would go back to her 2009 self, her change may be for the best. Swift started her official career in 2006 when her debut album, “Taylor Swift,” came out. Since then, she has produced five complete albums and many more individual songs, aged 11 years, and has been involved in endless amounts of drama. I avoided the complete realization of this, but in the time since 2006, Swift was bound to change. Music styles change, fashion changes, and sometimes, due to certain events, even a persona can change. I might not like the songs of the new Taylor, but it’s comforting to know that just like when I was nine and watched the music video of “You Belong With Me” over and over again, Swift’s sense of humor and cleverness regarding music videos has not changed. “Look What You Made Me Do” combines the new Taylor’s attitude and musical style with the old Taylor’s facial expressions and dramatics, creating a whole different Taylor, one as lovable as before.