By Lily O’Connor:
Taylor Swift is known for going outside the box, that’s probably why her mysterious “4.26” tweets and posts generated so much spark. Conspiracies raged from her defeating Thanos, as Endgame also came out on April 26th, to an acoustic version of her single ‘Story of Us’ which runs for four minutes and 26 seconds, to the most popular theory of a new single or album.
She quickly put these theories to rest by announcing on April 25th that she was releasing a new single entitled ‘ME!’ featuring Panic! at the Disco’s Brendon Urie. The video and single dropped at midnight eastern time on the 26th and many fans believe it was filled with hidden messages, some of which about the unannounced album that will go along with this single. And, with the album comes a new “era” of Taylor Swift. She is known for creating almost a completely different persona with each album; her last album ‘reputation’ was about having a bad image with the public eye, an edgy era.
This new single is almost the antithesis of the ‘reputation’ era. It is filled with bright colors, butterflies, and a fantastical world. It has also been speculated that the video is full of Easter Eggs.
Though the single and music video have broken many records, there has been some negative backlash about the single and the video.
Since the release of her fifth album ‘1989’ Swift has been criticized for trading in her country routes for pop music. Many of her singles have been regarded as low-quality pop music, and many fans have been disappointed throughout the last couple of years. Beginning with the release of her single ‘Shake it Off’ Swift has been targeted with more online trolls, and though she remains popular and one of the most powerful women in the public eye, one can’t help but wonder if she is losing her fan base.
College students make a large demographic of many pop music fan bases. And current sophomore Mikaela Newman speculates that even as Swift changes eras and personas her fan base will be ever-present. “She has an extremely loyal fan base,” says Newman “they grew up with her, so they aren’t going anywhere.” Newman, a fan of Swift herself, does not like her new single at all, but will continue to listen to the new album upon release. Newman believes that Swifts best album was 2012’s ‘Red,’ but continues to listen nearly seven years later.
So what do you think about Taylor Swift’s new single? New era? New music video? Will you continue to listen? Tweet me @LBO_AC301
THE AC301 