The only person I know of powerful enough to try (and succeed) in outshining a solar eclipse is Taylor Swift.
On the three year anniversary of the Shake It Off release, Taylor blacked out her social media and sent the internet into a frenzy. We heard nothing for four long days. Then, on the day of the eclipse (the twenty-first), Tay decided to be extra and post an enigmatic, tail-like gif with no context. The following day we received the second piece of the puzzle which many believed to be a snake. Day three we were proven right when Taylor posted the last piece of the photo and revealed the head of a snake. But, she wasn’t done yet. The singer then proceeded to post three more photos. First, a black photo with the words “first single out tomorrow night”. Second, her 6th studio album cover, and third, the album’s release date.
From the first ominous gif drop on to now, here is everything you need to know about Taylor’s new album.
It’s called Reputation. It releases on November 10th. It has 15 tracks.
So far we know 4 out of the 15 songs, Look What You Made Me Do (track 6), . . . ready for it? (track 1), Gorgeous (track 8), and most recently Call It What You Want (track 14). However, as many have pointed out, Taylor likes to hide clues in plain sight. The Instagram caption on LWYMMD’s picture read “. . .ready for it? New single #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo out now”. And, of course, . . . ready for it? turned out to be the title of the second song she released in the Reputation era.
Target is blessing us.
Target will be selling two special editions of TSwizzle magazines along with Reputation. Each spread consists of 72 pages and features watercolor paintings, handwritten lyrics, poetry, fashion, photos and more.
The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now.
“I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now” / “Why?” / “Oh, ’cause she’s dead!”
Taylor is reclaiming herself and it’s everything. In the past ten years of Swift’s stardom, she’s had quite the reputation thrust upon her. Of course she isn’t perfect. She has made mistakes in the past, but she’s acknowledged them and grown from them. It seems as though every celebrity can be forgiven and have their mistakes expunged – except for Taylor. This album is her showing the world that she no longer cares what they think. In LWYMMD she plays into the stereotype pop culture has created for her. The superstar has already teased this idea with the hit song, Blank Space, a song where Taylor actively divulges into the psychotic, victim-playing character the media has created for her. In LWYMMD Ms. Swift continues this saga and gives a new meaning to the term ‘snake’ which has been used disparagingly against her.
If you still don’t believe me, watch the Look What You Made Me Do music video and pay extra special attention to the last 30 seconds. Taylor is making fun of herself and spitting everything used negatively against her back in the bullies faces. It’s a satire! But, then again, the ones who don’t get it are the ones the song is aimed at anyways.
Moral of the story here is that, according to the media, Taylor only writes love songs until she doesn’t. . . then she’s just playing the victim. What people don’t understand about LWYMMD is that it’s not about playing the victim. The song is about Taylor refusing to go along with their victimization. It’s not to say she has never played the victim, because she has. She’s been the victim of the media and the gender double bind for years now. She’s simply standing up for herself.
Perhaps if the general public didn’t want the old Taylor to die they shouldn’t have played into the trend of hating her when it’s popular to do so.
Taylor is still Taylor.
“I’ll never change, but I’ll never stay the same either.” -Taylor Swift
Despite the media trying to portray Swift as a ruthless, greedy diva, she continues to be the most generous celebrity I know. Just like she did with her last album, 1989, Swift previewed her album at what’s deemed a ‘secret session’ to a few lucky fans on Friday, Oct. 13 which was just the beginning of these events. The songwriter invited fans over to her house to hang out, take pictures, and listen to the new album a month before it releases. WHEN WILL YOUR FAV EVER.
This is an album for the fans, and it’s set out to be her best work yet.
LWYMMD has broken an impressive number of records. Largest of them all, the song’s official music video received 43.2 million views within 24 hours of release. This toppled Adele’s Hello Vevo record (27.7 million), and smashed Gangnam Style‘s record of 36 million views in the first 24 hours. Not a bad way to start a new album. An album, according to the incredibly lucky fans who attended the secret session in London, that is her best yet. An opinion Tay seems to agree with as she reblogged this fan’s answer on her tumblr (shown below). As of right now, Reputation has over 400k pre-order sales making it the highest music pre-sale in retail chain’s history. That’s double the pre-sales for her last album, 1989. Legends only.
So.
Nov. 10th, are you ready for it?