Taylor Swift, aka our modern Queen of Pop, has done it again: she’s produced a music video that puts all others to shame. “Wildest Dreams,” the fifth official single from her hit album 1989, made its visual debut at this year’s VMAs. And while the video has been the subject of some backlash, let’s still acknowledge that Taylor’s latest videos have been exceptionally noteworthy. Stunning imagery, gripping acting, cute costars…but they weren’t always that way. Let’s take a step back and talk about how Taylor’s videos have evolved as she’s made her ascent on the charts and in our hearts.
1. Teardrops on my Guitar
Though not Taylor’s first single, I distinctly remember watching the “Teardrops on my Guitar” video on CMT Country Countdown when I was eleven and immediately becoming her biggest fan. Wide-eyed and curly-haired, this video perfectly captures what it’s like to be in high school and be heartbroken for the first time. Then sixteen years old, Taylor looks perfectly at home in the school library and a modest little bedroom. Watching this video, I’m hit with a wave of nostalgia remembering exactly what it was like to be in high school. Oh how things have changed, both for Taylor and I.
2. Love Story
Many people cite “Love Story” as Taylor’s crossover into more mainstream music. The song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains to be one of the best-selling singles of all time. Not too shabby for a song Taylor wrote at age eighteen. The music video, while not amazing by any means, is such more “professional” than Taylor’s earlier videos, with Shakespearean-inspired costumes, sweeping camera pans, and—oh yeah—an actual castle. Casual.
3. You Belong With Me
Easily one of Taylor’s most iconic music videos, she plays not only herself—or rather, her dorky girl-next-door counterpart—but also the video’s “villain.” Donning a dark brown wig and a cheerleading uniform, Taylor tests out the acting waters, and while no one’s handing her an Oscar for her performance, the video goes off without a hitch. Well, kind of—let’s not forget that this video won her the VMA for “Best Female Video,” and we all know what happens next…
4. Mean
This video—in my opinion at least—marks the beginning of the end of Taylor’s country career. Those blond ringlets, that banjo…this video is definitely worth noting. Plus, it was so cool of Taylor to share the stage and shed light on bullying in this video. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all related to this song at some point or another; I know I’ve definitely watched this video more than once when I was feeling down.
5. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Guys, it’s hard picking which videos to highlight here. They’re all so good. But I had to include this one: this video marks the dawn of a new era. Plus it’s super well done from a technical standpoint: notice how the entire video is one continuous shot.
6. Wildest Dreams
Finally, we’ve made it all the way to the present. Like I touched on earlier, Taylor’s latest video goes above and beyond in terms of aesthetics, budget, and storyline. What other artist low-key flies to another continent to film a video? Last I checked, no other pop princess is really going to much trouble to film their videos…lookin’ at you Katy Perry. And on top of that, can we all just acknowledge that Taylor’s videos have been so on point lately? Shake It Off, Blank Space, Bad Blood…I’ve definitely watched all of them upwards of one hundred times each. Keep up the good work, T-Swift.
That’ll about do it for this brief recap on Taylor’s music video history. Except one quick thing: I couldn’t help but notice there’s quite the parallel between the Teardrops on my Guitar video and the Wildest Dreams video.
Just goes to show that even though Taylor’s been in the business for a long time, she still is the same curly-haired girl we all fell in love with back in 2008. To quote Queen Tay herself, “I’ll never change, but I’ll never stay the same either.”