Big Reputation
And what a big reputation indeed. Taylor Swift’s sixth album titled Reputation sold over 1 million copies in the first four days of its release, launching last Friday, November 10th. Reputation actually broke multiple records even before its release. Taylor broke her own personal record by selling over 400,000 copies just in pre-sale, which is double the amount sold during pre-sale of her last album, 1989.
Taylor paired exclusively with Target to release the album, along with two exclusive magazines featuring some of her poetry. It was Target’s biggest pre-sale ever! Yes,Taylor is slaying AND record breaking. Billboard reported that the album sold more than 700,000 copies in its first day, making it the largest sales week of 2017. The record was previously held by Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN, which didn’t even sell that much in its first week. It is also the fastest selling album to hit No. 1 on iTunes, in just six minutes no less! Us Swifties know how to help a girl out. Her last three albums all sold over 1 million copies in their first week of being released, 1989 with 1.29 million, Red with 1.21 million, and Speak Now.
Now let’s talk about the album itself. First off, slay Tay slay! This album is SO good. Although I don’t know if I can say it is her best album yet. It is quite hard to choose of course, who can honestly say Red didn’t deserve a grammy??? But Reputation is also definitely a lyrical masterpiece and has some hardcore bops! My top favorites so far are Don’t Blame Me, Getaway Car, I Did Something Bad, and New Year’s Day.
Her single …Ready For It? starts of her album, followed by End Game which features Future and her long time friend, Ed Sheeran. Her album ends on a more romantic and intimate note with her singing her new song New Year’s Day, while she plays the piano. It a beautiful, melodious song that reminds me of All Too Well with the story it tells. Lyrics urge you to “hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you.” One particular lyric that touched me was “Please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere.” Isn’t that just so relatable and honestly beautifully written? It’s reminiscent of Enchanted to me, and specifically the lyric, “please don’t be in love with someone else.”
Here are some of my favorite lyrics from each song:
1. …Ready for it?
“Wondered how many girls he had loved and left haunted But if he’s a ghost, then I can be a phantom”
So true, who hasn’t been ghosted by someone or haunted by a past relationship?
2. End Game
“I wanna be your endgame I wanna be your first string”
Isn’t that what everyone wants, to be someone’s end game?
3. I Did Something Bad
“If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing I don’t regret it one bit, ’cause he had it coming”
We don’t owe any man anything!
4. Don’t Blame Me
“Don’t blame me, love made me crazy If it doesn’t, you ain’t doin’ it right”
Love makes everybody a little crazy, and if it doesn’t, as Taylor says, you ain’t doing it right.
5. Delicate
“Sometimes when I look into your eyes
I pretend you’re mine, all the damn time
‘Cause I like you”
Don’t we all.
6. Look What You Made Me Do
“But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time”
I just honestly love the way she sings this, especially when she says “honey.”
7. So It Goes…
“And all our pieces fall
Right into place”
Again, she sings this so beautifully, and it’s so damn catchy! You’ll never forget the chorus with a beginning like that.
8. Gorgeous
“You’ve ruined my life by not being mine”
But also,
“You’re so gorgeous I can’t say anything to your face ‘Cause look at your face”
You can just relate to it so much, can’t you? Ever just not know what to say to someone because they’re so beautiful?
9. Getaway Car
“X marks the spot, where we fell apart
He poisoned the well, every man for himself”
It’s tragic every time she sings about a relationship falling apart.
9. King Of My Heart
“Is the end of all the endings?
My broken bones are mending
With all these nights we’re spending
Up on the roof with a school girl crush”
This just has a really nice beat to it and the rhyme adds to it.
10. Dancing With Our Hands Tied
“I, I loved you in spite of Deep fears that the world would divide us”
Love isn’t love without the fear of losing them. We all worry about these things and looks like even pop stars do too.
11. Dress
“Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me
Flash back to my mistakes
My rebounds, my earthquakes
Even in my worst lies, you saw the truth in me”
First of all, what a saucy song. But you go girl. It’s truly a new Taylor, but I am all here for it. And we all know the old Taylor isn’t actually dead.
12. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
“And here’s to my momma Had to listen to all this drama”
I LOVE this song! It’s about fake friends and everyone can relate to that! If I told you every lyric I loved, you’d be reading the whole song. Isn’t it at least a little comforting to know that even Taylor Swift has experienced fake friends? Also shoutout to my mom for always listening to the drama in my life.
13. Call It What You Want
“I want to wear his initial on a chain round my neck Chain round my neck
Not because he owns me But ’cause he really knows me”
I just love seeing Taylor so happy. She’s glowing through her lyrics and it’s beautiful to see that.
14. New Year’s Day
“There’s glitter on the floor after the party
Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby
Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor
You and me from the night before”
Taylor even makes cleaning up a party sound like the most romantic thing. She frames her relationship as a storybook, saying “Don’t read the last page but I stay when you’re lost, and I’m scared and you’re turning away.” She has used a book as a metaphor before in her songs “The Story of Us” and “Enchanted”. If we had any doubts that the old Taylor was dead, this song ultimately proves us right. The old Taylor is very much alive.
Altogether I think this album slays. It’s amazing from start to finish. Too early to ask for more? Long live Taylor Swift, pun intended.