A Review of Reputation

On November 10th, Taylor Swift released her fifth studio album, Reputation, the fifteen-song diss-album in response to Kim Kardashian exposing her, ruining her reputation. The album has been dubbed by Ticketmaster’s blog as “one of the most anticipated albums of 2017,” and although I am personally not a fan of Swift, I will admit I was excited to see her response to the tarnishing of her good Southern belle brand she’s upheld for so many years now. I will discuss and dissect each track one by one and hopefully answer the question: do we want the old Taylor to come back to the phone? Before getting into the review, I would like to state that these are my personal opinions; you can feel however you want about these songs, but this is how I feel.

TRACK 1: Ready for it?

In classic Taylor Swift formula, the first song focuses on a past relationship. Personally, I have no problem with her writing about an ex, but I find it somewhat strange she decided to start her album off with a song that directly upholds “the old Taylor’s” reputation of writing about boys. I do believe this was written in response to her ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris, when he was exposed in 2016 as having Taylor help him write his song “This Is What You Came For,” due to lyrics discussing Swift being a “phantom” and saying “he’s a ghost,” possibly referencing her ghostwriting of Harris’s song. Later on in the song, Swift says, “every love I’ve known in comparison is a failure, I forget their names now, I’m so very tame now,” possibly saying her old brand of writing about exes is no more. Paradoxically, “Ready for it” seems to be about Swift leaving her brand of being the girl who only talks about her exes. In terms of the music itself, “Ready for it” features an EDM beat with a quintessential build up to an eventual beat drop, along with Swift’s vocals. When the song first released as a single, many critics said Swift was rapping in this song, but to that, I say a Swift fan should know what rap sounds like due to their constant critique of her arch nemesis, Kanye West. All in all, “Ready for it?” seems to be an interesting way to start off her album and is an okay song all around. I rate it a 7.5/10.   

TRACK 2: End Game feat. Future and Ed Sheeran

“End Game” almost seems to contradict “Ready for it.” The term “end game” references marriage, so I find it peculiar that Swift follows a song talking about moving on from boys with one about wanting to be with someone. Future takes the first verse to rap about the idea of a bad reputation: “I got a bad boy persona that’s what they like” and “I got a reputation, girl, that don’t precede me.” I’ve never been the biggest fan of Future, but after hearing this, I am willing to listen to more of his music. In the second verse Ed Sheeran starts off referencing the line by Future, “I got a reputation, girl, that don’t precede me,” saying, “reputation precedes me and rumors are knee-deep,” almost as a continuation of what Future is saying, except this time it’s about Ed Sheeran’s good boy reputation. Taylor goes on to take the third verse to say, “you shouldn’t use my reputation to judge me.” She repeats the common phrase of “reputation precedes me” to talk about her images in the same way Future and Sheeran did. The song itself sounds like an incoherent mess where you have three complete opposite people talking about how people view them. I don’t think Future should’ve taken verse one because this is Taylor’s song. We should hear her both first and more often on this track. “End Game” seems to be a hypocritical song to follow “Ready for it,” and it is not the best song. I rate it a 5/10.

TRACK 3: I Did Something Bad

“I Did Something Bad” is the first song on Reputation that indirectly references Kanye West. Swift starts the song by saying, “I never trust a narcissist, but they love me, so I play ‘em like a violin,” a reference to Kanye, who loves nothing as much as himself and his brand, and possibly discussing his line in his song “Famous” that says Taylor might owe him sex. The chorus talks about Swift having no remorse for what she did to West, lying on the red carpet of the Grammy’s, and saying it felt good she did that. Swift then goes on to sing “But if he drops my name, then I owe him nothin,’” specifically referencing West’s lyric in “Famous.” The song has a typical pop beat with moany and breathy singing in the chorus and the song sounds choppy and almost unfinished. Along with the sound of the song, it is basically Taylor saying, “I lied on the red carpet to multiple reporters and I don’t really care” so it also isn’t promoting anything good to her fans. All in all, I think this song is continuing a petty beef people don’t care about anymore. I rate it a 4/10.

TRACK 4: Don’t Blame Me

“Don’t Blame Me” takes a different approach to the idea of a reputation and one’s own. This song takes a bluesy and ballady approach to talk about Swift’s emotions. It almost discusses how actions she’s taken in regards to love have not been done out of spite but because of her true emotions. She talks about being in love and how she gets so connected to people she is involved with and how it makes her almost out of her mind. “Don’t Blame Me” is done to back up Swift’s previous actions of mostly writing her songs about her exes, going back the idea of a reputation, and simply states she was in love and she was mad it was over. I enjoyed her take on her own actions and the way the song was executed through a style unique to Swift, 8/10.

TRACK 5: Delicate

“Delicate” starts out soft, almost as a ballad, but eventually picks up to be more of a full-fledged pop song. “Delicate” explores Swift’s issues with how she thinks people view her and her reputation. She says “My reputation’s never been worse, so you must like me for me,” basically saying it’s odd for her to have someone take genuine interest in her. “Delicate” shows a raw and delicate (no pun intended) side of Swift and how this whole Kardashian drama villainizes her. This song is also Swift playing the victim in all this, even though she initiated her drama with the Kardashian/West clan. 8/10.

TRACK 6: Look What You Made Me Do  

“Look What You Made Me Do” was the first single released off Reputation, and at the time of release I didn’t like it. I have grown more accustomed to it, but I am still not a fan. Obviously this video was prefaced on social media with videos of snakes slithering, alluding to how everyone called Swift a snake after her ordeal with the Kardashian/West clan. The song takes digs at West, saying, “I don’t like your tilted stage,” in reference to his suspended stage from the St. Pablo tour. This song has a basic beat behind it with lyrics that sound like she is complaining and a series of unnecessary moans.This song was not well executed, and with Swift suggesting that West made her do this (whatever this stands for) shows that West has the power in this scenario. Swift chose to reply to the drama with a poorly written song on top of a basic beat. 7/10.

TRACK 7: So It Goes…

“So It Goes…” is a coming of age song for Swift. Odd to be talking about maturing and discussing more mature topics as a 27 year old, but to each her own. The song is very much about moving on from the good girl reputation Swift used to have. The song talks about what goes on behind closed doors and gives a look into the intimate details of Swift’s relationships. The song has another unique beat to Taylor’s repertoire, further taking her away from her good girl reputation. The song generally isn’t that bad, but at the same time is not that good. 6/10.

TRACK 8: Gorgeous

“Gorgeous” harkens back to Taylor’s quintessential upbeat pop sound so many of us love. The song details her fluctuation in emotion towards her current love affair and how she’s mad he’s so great. The song also features little Easter eggs poking fun at some of her exes like in the lyric “You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk” in reference to Harry Styles and one time at an award show she did a British accent, or “And I got a boyfriend he’s older than us / He’s in the club doing I don’t know what,” making fun of the comments on Swift dating actor Tom Hiddleston, who was eight years older than Swift, and making fun of Calvin Harris, her ex who is a DJ  usually playing at clubs. “Gorgeous” itself is a fun song that showcases a side of Swift willing to joke about her exes and talk about her current affairs. 8/10.

TRACK 9: Getaway Car

“Getaway Car” is a commentary on romance, according Swift. The public views her being in a relationship as something people should be wary of because she’ll write about you. The song uses the imagery of crime and getaway cars to represent her reputation of doomed romances, using the getaway car to talk about how it won’t get you far and it won’t do you any good. The song features a fun pop beat not unfamiliar to Swift’s discography and, to my mind, it is one of the better songs on Reputation. 8/10.

TRACK 10: King of My Heart

“King of My Heart” Swift’s emotional ties—how she enjoys being with someone. The song uses vernacular commonly in the UK, such as “fancying someone,” in reference to two of her more recent exes, Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston, both UK natives. There are also specific parts of the song pointing out Swift being from America, further alluding to the idea that the song is discussing the two more recent foreign exes she has. Like many other songs normal to Swift, it features an upbeat beat (shocker) and normal shallow lyrics to follow. Not the best, but not bad. 7/10.

TRACK 11: Dancing with Our Hands Tied

This track starts off with a faster paced beat, something similar to the 2000’s hit “Everytime We Touch” but then transitions into a more modern pop beat. This isn’t just in the beginning but in each verse of the song. The lack of cohesiveness between beats of the song sets the listener into a state of confusion and (personally) a state of discomfort. The song talks about this whole album’s focus—Swift’s tarnished reputation,—and by track 11, I don’t know how many more times she will be able to blame her actions on being emotionally attached to someone. It is a redundant point to bring up when other tracks on the album, like “Don’t Blame Me” or “Getaway Car,” do this same thing and even do it better. So far this track seems to be an unnecessary addition to the album and easily could’ve been omitted. The beat is messy and the lyrics aren’t anything special. 6/10.

TRACK 12: Dress

This song sounds somewhat familiar to the song she did with Zayn for Fifty Shades Darker, and that song wasn’t that good. Similar to “So It Goes…,” “Dress” talks about the private and intimate relations that we as the public don’t see or hear about. Similar to what Ariana Grande did in her most recent album Dangerous Woman, Swift uses this album to talk about more adult things she’s never wrote about before. The song talks about how Swift wants intimacy with her partners, saying she wants said person to take her dress off. I am all for people exploring and expressing their sexuality in any way they choose, but the way Swift goes about it is in a faux rebellion way. It feels like Taylor Swift believes just because she wore black lipstick once it means she’s a beacon for teenage rebellion and sex. The song has an oddly slow beat and features more breathy and moany vocals. 6.5/10.

TRACK 13: This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

“This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” is another song in reference to Kanye West. Swift discusses the brief period of neutrality the two people shared until the eventual fall-out after West’s lyric in “Famous.” She references feeling backstabbed and even talks about the phone call he and Swift shared discussing the lyric from “Famous” by saying “Get you on the phone and mind-twist you.” The song takes another dig at West talking about his friendship with Jay-Z and how it’s no longer a thing by saying, “But I’m not the only friend you lost lately if only you weren’t so shady.” With its fun beat and fun references to West, this is one of the songs on this album I’ve enjoyed the most. 8.5/10.

TRACK 14: Call it What you Want

Continuing the trend of uninteresting slow pop beats, “Call it What you Want” talks about what Swift’s exposure did to her as a person. She talks about her one-year social media hiatus, that no one noticed, and how’s she’s doing better now. Clearly she’s not much better if she’s hung up on drama from over a year ago that caused her to write a whole album on it. The song discusses Swift feeling scared to trust but also the feeling of loneliness she’s felt. She conveys the idea of her life not being totally perfect, and that’s understandable. The song is another song that could’ve easily been dropped and wouldn’t have made a difference and probably shouldn’t have been a promo single. 7/10.

TRACK 15: New Year’s Day

“New Year’s Day” is the final song on Reputation and doesn’t directly reference anything having to do with her reputation. You can try to stretch the idea it’s about the memories of the past year and it now being a fresh and new beginning, but I don’t think it’s that deep. This song is in quintessential Taylor Swift style, being a cute ballad talking about quirky things like Polaroids and glitter. It’s a good song with good piano and fun lyrics. 8/10.

To wrap it all up, Reputation isn’t necessarily a bad album, but it is not that good. Following 1989, I knew it would be difficult to repeat a pop album of that caliber, and I wasn’t surprised that Reputation is not as good as 1989. That being said, I personally don’t like the idea of this whole album, sparked by a lyric that Taylor Swift gave the okay to, and then lied about knowing on a red carpet, and then got mad when people found out she’d lied. It’s stupid to me than one line, which was meant in good fun, caused an entire album fueled by anger. Swift also pushes the victim narrative throughout the album and continues the idea of the media villainizing black men like Kanye West. The whole lyric from “Famous” was all in good fun and Taylor even knew it was a joke. All in all, the album isn’t terrible, but the idea behind it is not good and to me further clouds Swift’s reputation. Speaking just for myself, I think the old Taylor should really pick up the phone.