Anyone with internet access has probably noticed that Taylor Swift dropped the first single off her first album in three years this week – Look What You Made Me Do.
Response to it, from what I’ve seen on Twitter and various news sites, has been extremely mixed.
It’s thought to be an obvious revenge track aimed at Kanye West and Kim Kardashian after their much-documented feud (and possibly also at Katy Perry too, thanks to all their ‘Bad Blood’).
But loads of people are criticising Taylor as ‘whiny’ or ‘bitter’ or calling the track ‘cringey’.
My argument in response would be; if almost every pop star ever has released a track about their own love life, why shouldn’t Taylor tap into her own experiences here as well?
Regardless of whatever her involvement in all the feuding was, and how much she was to blame, I definitely get that she’d feel crucified by both the press and certain other celebs, so there is real emotion to mine for a song.
I also enjoyed how much she’s poked fun at herself with the video in particular, lining up and mocking all the past versions of herself, as well as with the infamous ‘I ❤ TS’ Tom Hiddleston vest.
Honestly, I found this track and its vibe more interesting than yet another song about love and sex. Taylor is actually doing something a bit different by giving us her take, finally, on all the tabloid news of the past two years. If that’s bitter, so what? She’s allowed to feel that way – and it makes the song sound more real. And she credits Right Said Fred for their I’m Too Sexy influence in the chorus; I think that’s awesome.
So that’s my brief two cents on Look What You Made Me Do. Give a girl a break and embrace the catchiness. I’d rather it was bitter and original than saccharine and the same as every other track in the charts.
