Article by Jordan Hanson
Taylor Swift has risen from the grave with news of a new album and two new songs, and if you haven’t at least heard of them, you’ve probably been living under a rock. Swift’s new sound is like another costume change, but for many, it’s a welcome one.
Swift is well known for her many personas, both in her music and in the media. She started off in 2006 as a sweet, young country singer, with her signature sparkles, blonde ringlets, and guitar in hand. There are classics from Swift’s earlier albums that we all still know the words to, like “Teardrops On My Guitar”, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me”. You can’t deny that you jam out and think about your middle school crushes when you hear them.
Swift started to move toward pop in her later albums, with songs like “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “22.” She finally had an all-pop album in 2014 with the release of 1989 and tracks like “Shake it Off” and “Blank Space”. Throughout all of this, Swift was winning awards and, at the 2009 VMAs, started her on-and-off feud with Kanye West. Swift, no stranger to feuds, got into several spats on social media with other stars and ex-boyfriends.
Swift has also gained a reputation from the media for being a serial dater. Now, she’s taking her issue with the media’s portrayal of her a step further. Swift finally broke her social media hiatus and posted about her new single on Aug. 23, including the album cover and release date (Nov. 10). The song “Look What You Made Me Do” dropped on YouTube on Aug. 24. According to Forbes, the lyric video received 19 million views on the first day, crushing the previous record for most first-day lyric video views of 9 million. When the music video came out, millions watched it break the record for most-viewed video on YouTube in 24 hours. It seemed the whole world was watching as Swift mercilessly tore down her previous selves and took control of her own narrative. This week, according to the Billboard, “Look” climbed to the top of the Top 100, and “…Ready For It?” made it to the fourth spot. Plenty of students are excited about Swift’s new releases, including freshman Jessica White, “I’m in love with ‘Look’. I walk to my 8:30 with it blaring in my ears every single I walk to my 8:30 with it blaring in my ears every single morning because it’s the only thing that gets me ready for class, ready to dominate the world.” White said. Freshman Donovan Hill prefers “Ready For It” over “Look”. “I get the vibe that the underlying message is to hype up her next album,” Hill said. Both students said that they were looking forward to Reputation. There are, of course, people who dislike Swift or just don’t really care. “I think that Taylor Swift’s new song kind of reminds me of an overplayed middle school feud. I feel like there’s a lot of redundancy in the themes…It’s hard for me to take the music seriously,” Kreutzer said. He does have a point. Even supporters such as White say that the ever-changing persona of Taylor Swift is not exactly genuine. “I know she’s fake, but I want her to embrace her fakeness,” White said. Some people don’t care as much about the image of Swift as they do about her music. “If people say she’s selling out, so be it, I guess. I just appreciate the vibe and sounds of her latest music,” said Hill. Rest in peace, old Taylor. The new Taylor’s album will be available on Nov. 10. Are you ready for it?
Freshman Donovan Hill prefers “Ready For It” over “Look”. “I get the vibe that the underlying message is to hype up her next album,” Hill said. Both students said that they were looking forward to Reputation. There are, of course, people who dislike Swift or just don’t really care. “I think that Taylor Swift’s new song kind of reminds me of an overplayed middle school feud. I feel like there’s a lot of redundancy in the themes…It’s hard for me to take the music seriously,” Kreutzer said. He does have a point. Even supporters such as White say that the ever-changing persona of Taylor Swift is not exactly genuine. “I know she’s fake, but I want her to embrace her fakeness,” White said. Some people don’t care as much about the image of Swift as they do about her music. “If people say she’s selling out, so be it, I guess. I just appreciate the vibe and sounds of her latest music,” said Hill. Rest in peace, old Taylor. The new Taylor’s album will be available on Nov. 10. Are you ready for it?
Both students said that they were looking forward to Reputation. There are, of course, people who dislike Swift or just don’t really care. “I think that Taylor Swift’s new song kind of reminds me of an overplayed middle school feud. I feel like there’s a lot of redundancy in the themes…It’s hard for me to take the music seriously,” Kreutzer said. He does have a point. Even supporters such as White say that the ever-changing persona of Taylor Swift is not exactly genuine. “I know she’s fake, but I want her to embrace her fakeness,” White said. Some people don’t care as much about the image of Swift as they do about her music. “If people say she’s selling out, so be it, I guess. I just appreciate the vibe and sounds of her latest music,” said Hill. Rest in peace, old Taylor. The new Taylor’s album will be available on Nov. 10. Are you ready for it?
There are, of course, people who dislike Swift or just don’t really care. “I think that Taylor Swift’s new song kind of reminds me of an overplayed middle school feud. I feel like there’s a lot of redundancy in the themes…It’s hard for me to take the music seriously,” Kreutzer said. Even supporters such as White say that the ever-changing persona of Taylor Swift is not exactly genuine. “I know she’s fake, but I want her to embrace her fakeness,” White said. Some people don’t care as much about the image of Swift as they do about her music. “If people say she’s selling out, so be it, I guess. I just appreciate the vibe and sounds of her latest music,” said Hill. Rest in peace, old Taylor. The new Taylor’s album will be available on Nov. 10. Are you ready for it?
