Look What You Made Her Do

“The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, because she’s dead.”

Even though hating her is popular, I don’t hate Taylor Swift. Well, as a person I think she’s a bit grim, what with her refusing to add her music to Spotify because she thought she deserved to be paid more than roughly $73,500,000 a year, and she only added songs to Spotify to upstage her rival Katy Perry (which is funny because it’s unbelievably petty but also so unprofessional). But TayTay has the odd song I like. Shake It Off is the kind of song I like having on in the car, catchy and simple, and I quite enjoy Out Of the Woods even though I could have written better lyrics than that when I was five. And let’s not forget the classic memes that spawned from I Knew You Were Trouble, with the classic sheep (sheep, not goats, as people commonly believed) screeching instead of her own screeching. Generally her songs are catchy, and I can see why she has such a large fan following, particularly among teenage girls. Her problems that she sings about are, to an extent, relatable; refusing to get back with an ex, unrequited love, and being excited about a new relationship are things that happen to most of us. So I can see why so many people were excited about the announcement of her latest hit, Look What You Made Me Do.

And I can see why so many people are disappointed scratching their heads in confusion.

This song is strange. It’s honestly fitting that the music video, which is an artsy lyric video as there isn’t a proper one yet, that accompanies the song is ‘created by Odd’ because the song is odd. It sounds odd. The intro is this tinkly, strings/xylophone instrumental (as you can see my B grade in GCSE music serves me so well) that sounds like it belongs in a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon level going through creepy woods, just before a small boss battle. When Taylor sings the verses the only accompaniment is a thudding beat, and her singing itself is very repetitive. The pre-chorus is as screechy as a banshee and so rapid it makes you feel nervous. Plus, I saw a meme where someone had compared the chorus to Right Said Fred’s classic I’m Too Sexy song (you know, the one Prince Charming sang in Far Far Away Idol on the Shrek 2 DVD) and now I can’t un-hear it. She’s totally ripped that song off, and I hope she gets sued.

Lyrically I’ve always found Taylor to be rather basic, but I still favour that over the pretentious nonsense you hear in the likes of ‘proper musicians’ that the people who think Taylor Swift is the worst thing since private healthcare love to reference. Still, this song achieves new levels of naff song-writing. ‘I don’t like’ are the first words of what feels like every line in this song, and it just ends up making her sound like a sulky child. And you were not ‘made to play a role’, Taylor. You chose to be a singer-songwriter. You could have easily quit and enjoyed your absurd wealth in peace.

‘I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red underlined’ is one of the lyrics that has everyone talking, mainly because it enforces the petty, angry tone of this song. I saw a comment on YouTube that the ‘Karma’ she references could be K for her nemeses Kanye West (who, let’s not forget, made that bitch famous), Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry. But as a literature student, I don’t want to think Taylor is clever enough to be analysed so deeply. I think she just mentioned ‘karma’ because she wanted a word that rhymed with ‘drama’. Say what you like about TayTay but she at least knows how to make songs rhyme. Granted, Kanye West did perform on a ‘tilted stage’ that Taylor mentions not liking, and the 'threw a feast' line could genuinely be a reference to Katy Perry's ridiculous Bon Appetit music video, in which she is literally served on a platter covered in food - and Taylor has proved she isn't above a good diss track (see all of her songs ever). Still, one things’s for sure; 'maybe I got mine but you’ll all get yours’ is a strange thing to sing. Makes her sound a bit psycho and threatening, in my opinion that no one asked for. Her enemies need to up their security.

And let’s not overlook the ‘old Taylor is dead’ bit. I get that she’s an adult now and doesn’t want to be the country singer that wears cute dresses and cries about boys as she strums a guitar, but this new change of style is so aggressive and weird. And I see the irony in slagging her off, since it’s slagging her off that ‘made her’ write this awful song, but there’s so much anger in this song that I can’t get on board with it, unlike the thirteen-year-olds that made reaction videos, talking about how they ‘can’t speak’ and ‘dig’ Taylor’s new style. Ugh. Teenagers.

So overall, do I like this song? Obviously I don't. But that hasn’t stopped me from listening to it about ten times now, and researching the meaning behind this song. *Sighs*

Images accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K0RzZGpyds