Taylor Swift "Shakes It Off"- Country Music, Haters, and Rules
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Taylor Swift "Shakes It Off"- Country Music, Haters, and Rules

T-Swizzle releases a new single, drops some deets on her fifth album, and states the obvious- that she's moving from country to pop. Tell us something we don't know.

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Taylor Swift "Shakes It Off"- Country Music, Haters, and Rules

Before I begin, I feel it is only fair to present you with a simple disclaimer:

I do not care for Taylor Swift. 

I do believe she's got a few songs that are gold, but I generally don't like her music, dating history, career choices, or snarky comments. I'm jealous that she gets to wear some absolutely gorgeous dresses and gowns to award shows and that she's dated Joe Jonas (aka love of my tween life), but other than that- I do not particularly care for Taylor or anything she does.


But because it's 2am and I've decided to take a break from marathoning the second season of House of Cards, I've learnt that Taylor released not only a new single recently, but also some deets (including an album cover) about 1989, her fifth studio album. 

Apparently, Taylor had been dropping her fans clues via social media to lead up to her live stream on top of the Empire State Building. These clues included an Instagram video, a screenshot of her phone, and a screenshot of the Yahoo! homepage. While she's far from reaching Beyoncé status and actually needs to create a media buzz before dropping a single (vs an album in Bey's case), I have to admit that the clues were pretty adorable. Snaps to you, Taylor. 

They were all pretty straight-forward and even if you weren't Nancy Drew, you could figure out that something big was happening on August 18th at 5PM. 

This something big ended up being a live stream where Taylor gave fans not one, not two, but three surprises.


1. Her new single, "Shake It Off"

Soon after the live stream starts, Taylor gets right to business. The fans want a song and she delivers. While explaining her inspiration for the first single of her new album, Taylor recounts a lesson she's had to learn time and again- "people can say what they want about us, at any time and we cannot control that. The only thing we can control is our reaction to it." She further explains that in such situations, we have two options (three if you count writing songs)- "let it change you" or "just shake it off." Subtly has never been Taylor's mantra and her segue into the audio was anything but.

And so, the single was thus released. Produced by Max Martin and Shellback ("I Knew You Were Trouble," "WANEGBT"), "Shake It Off" is an over-the-top pop song with a funky beat and grossly repetitive lyrics about them haters. That, combined with Taylor's vocals and stardom should lead the song to do pretty well on the charts. Are there better songs out there? Without a doubt. However, after the first 27,401 times you'll hear this jam on the radio in the next month, your brain will probably try and convince you that the song is BRILLIANT because your cerebral capacity has turned stagnant from listening to the same monotonous beat and chorus over and over again.

To be fair though, Taylor did leave behind her usual antics of writing about her love-life and decided to go with a more fun and upbeat song. Instead of writing about her heartbreak, she pokes fun at herself when she sings "I go on too many dates/ But I can't make 'em stay." She even gets close to rapping on the track so kudos to her for trying out something new.

2. Her fifth album, 1989

After releasing "Shake It Off," Taylor moved on to the next order of business- her new album. With it being almost two years since the release of Red, fans knew that the time for a fifth album was approaching. So, Taylor dished out the album name, release date, album cover, and *wait for it* genre. 

Yes. You read right. Taylor has FINALLY accepted what most of the world and solar system already knew- that she doesn't really do country music anymore. If "I Knew You Were Trouble" didn't make it obvious enough, she has now admitted to being a full-fledged pop star and went as far enough as to call the new album "the most sonically cohesive album" she has recorded. What inspired her? Well, apparently, she's been listening to lots of late 80's pop music and the "bright colors, bold chances, (and) rebellion" helped finalize her decision on officially changing her genre to pop instead of country. 

If you're interested in buying the album, it releases on October 27 but is currently available to pre-order. Also, fun fact- the deluxe addition of the album contains three recordings from Taylor's phone and hard copies will have 13 unique photo prints. 

3. The Music Video for "Shake It Off" 

And lastly, Taylor decided to go all out and even released the music video for her fresh new single. Her thought behind it was that "you can tell a lot about a person by how they dance."

However, the video is honestly just a huge let down. After some pretty stellar music videos ("Everything Has Changed", "You Belong With Me", "Mine"), "Shake It Off" is almost abysmal. It's uninspired and has been done a million times over by pop artists before her. She dances with different groups of people and while she's adorably awkward as a ballerina, that's about the only saving grace of the video. She seems to have tried to latch onto what's worked for other successful artists like Lady Gaga, Iggy Azalea, Nicky Minaj, and basically every other person who's got it going for them in the industry. 

The whole thing is just superbly unoriginal and while I get that it's supposed to be humorous, I'm left here hoping that I missed something and/or that those four minutes I wasted watching it weren't intentional on the part of the Mark Romanek, the (usually amazing) director. 


So while I'm stoked that Taylor is accepting the obvious and has stopped pretending to be a country singer, is pushing boundaries, and is taking herself more lightly (or is at least doing so in this first single), I think she's also oddly losing some of her USP. But for her sake, here's hoping the rest of the album is a hit!

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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