The reputation Singles: A Music Review
With the release of Taylor’s latest singles from her new reputation album (releasing tonight at 12 a.m.), comes an evaluation of the messages, musical qualities, and artistic growth displayed in each single. The much anticipated reputation album singles have shocked, disappointed, thrilled, and excited listeners across the globe, and have subsequently reinvented the way fans and listeners perceive America’s sweetheart, Taylor Swift.
1. …Ready for It?
First Impression: Guys…Taylor Swift is rapping.
The first track on Taylor’s new album reinvents the way listeners view her. Her music is the kind that gets people hooked on the playfully redundant struggle for companionship. However, …Ready for It? acts as a beckon into the new age of Taylor. The chorus alone is a reminder of the old Taylor as she seemingly greets the new. The tune and technique of the breathy vocals definitely nod to some of her older hits such as Wildest Dreams and Style. She then collides these qualities with a newer, more intense attitude reminiscent of Bad Blood throughout the verses and bridge. Overall, the song is edgy and commanding but still genuine to Taylor’s evolving personality.
2. Look What You Made Me Do
First Impression: No More Mrs. Nice Girl
Look What You Made Me Do is a bit of a wildcard for some people. The song definitely is an ode to Taylor’s “dead” former identity, but still serves up the usual dose of T.S. justice. Taylor has always had a whimsical and theatrical way about her, but this song inserts a modern element to the album. It is a more sophisticated, yet unsympathetic approach to calling someone out. The song consists of an eerie rhythm that resembles a beating heart, perhaps to symbolize the rebirth of Taylor’s image. The song does sound like a plethora of concepts and ideas that could have been refined to be more understated, but the purpose and effect of the song might have been diluted in that process.
Taylor definitely paints the picture that someone (cough Kanye cough), left the smoking gun in her hands and forced her to abandon any conventional method of conflict-resolution. The new, smarter, harder Taylor Swift has stepped out of the ashes of the formerly sweet and innocent teenager with the bedazzled guitar.
3. Gorgeous First Impression: Will the Real Regina George Please Stand Up?
Does anyone else get the impression that Taylor is struggling with the back and forth feelings of intense longing and indifference? It seems that the overall message of Gorgeous is that she is so enamored by a guy she cannot have that she intentionally finds reasons (like the fact that he’s gorgeous) to be irritated or avoid him. Secretly, she knows that the real reason behind her standoffishness is that it is difficult for her to be around someone that beautiful while she is in a relationship with another. Her infatuation with this guy (probably her current beau, Joe Alwyn), creates a tantalizingly fickle relationship that mainly consists of teasing him yet trying to distance herself.
This song has a lot of classic Taylor elements. However, she is rarely this indecisive when it comes to relationships. Gorgeous portrays a new side of Taylor Swift; an analytical, moody, and aloof Taylor to which many women her age can relate. Musically, the song is fresh and feisty, but can be a little repetitive and juvenile at times.
4. Call it What You Want
First Impression: Come at me, bro
The musicality of Call it What You Want has a mood similar to that of This Love. The hushed tone of the song creates this very intimate and deep communication with the listener. Taylor is trying to say that regardless of the way people paint her, or what is thrown at her, she has found someone that loves her regardless. She does not need him to take care of her, but he does. She even says in one of the verses that her man “loves me like I’m brand new”, meaning that he sees her as more than a heartbroken adolescent with a bone to pick with every ex-boyfriend, former friend, or nemesis she’s ever had. The song is very beautiful and relatable because many people experience longing for someone to love them beyond their flaws. It seems that Taylor has found that.
Of the four singles, Call it What You Want is probably the most conventional. Some of the verses are marginally predictable and overly literal, but it does not significantly hinder the song. Overall, the song possesses a strong and edifying theme that is much more mature than some of her former music.
reputation is a new era for Swifties, and while some may find the music conforming and perplexing, others have welcomed this new personality that Taylor is working to establish. Taylor Swift is a classic example of a young woman trying to figure out who she wants to be and what she wants to represent, and she has successfully reinvented herself in an original, refreshing, and sophisticated manner.
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