It all started when Taylor Swift wiped her social media platforms clean 3 months ago. Swifties were confused, shocked, and excited at the prospect of a new album. They were right.
After teasing several cryptic snippets of a snake, the mega superstar unveiled the cover art of her 6th studio album, “Reputation”. Fans didn’t have to wait long before the official music video to “Look What You Made Me Do” debuted. In addition to a physical CD, fans can also purchase 2 exclusive magazines in the special editions.
It doesn’t matter if you haven’t listen to the entirety of “Reputation”. We’ve decided to compile a list of interesting fun facts about what you may not know about the songs in her latest album and the magazine copies that come along with it.
1. Volume 1 and Volume 2 of Swift’s magazines contain the “Reputation” CD. They both feature personal Polaroids and professional shots. Psst, there are even full-page photos of her famous cats, Meredith and Olivia.
2. Although the introductory note (where she reflects on her reputation and life’s circumstances) on both volumes are the same, the poem on the back flap is different.
3. The poem in Volume 1 is called “Why She Disappeared”. In it, the singer seems to be talking about her “fall” from grace. “When she turned to go home/She heard the echoes of new words/’May your heart remain breakable/But never by the same hand twice.” reads one of the lines.
4. Volume 2’s poem is titled “If You’re Anything Like Me”. The line “And no amount of friends at 25/Will fill the empty seats/At the lunch tables of your past/The teams that picked you last… /But Darling you keep trying” basically talks about Swift facing her past and learning to grow from there.
5. Swift confirms on the page that the child who speaks on “Gorgeous” is Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s eldest daughter, James.
6. It is highly speculated that the inspiration behind “Gorgeous” is her current British boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. The suitor is apparently so cool that it irritates the pop star.
7. Swift on “King Of My Heart”: “I think it’s really interesting when people talk about their love stories. There seem to be these definitive phases. And it doesn’t matter how long that phase lasts. There seems to be a moment when you knew it transitioned to the next phase. Everybody has a different story with how they connect with someone else, and what I find interesting are the moments where it switches because you always hope that that switch is going to move you forward and not backward.”
8. According to E! News, the singing sensation references Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston. She makes it clear that Alwyn is the king of her heart “cause all the boys and their expensive cars, with their Range Rovers and their Jaguars, never took me quite where you do“. Harris owns a Range Rover while Hiddleston drives a Jaguar.
9. Now that the old Taylor is dead, the 27-year-old reveals that she’s now more open to romance and sexuality as she sings about buying a new outfit just so her man can take off her “Dress”. “Almost every line is something I came up with a year before and then when I was writing the song I just cherry picked. I was really proud of the hook because it sounds like a pick-up line, and yet it is a love song about deep and tender feelings,” she said.
10. Swift on “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”: “This is about when people take nice things for granted like friendship or trusting people or being open. Letting people in on your life, trusting people, and respect are all really nice things.”
11. On “Call It What You Want”: “I feel like the album starts with getting out any rebellion or anger or angst and then falling in love and realising that you settle in to what your priorities are and your life changes, but you welcome it because it’s something that matters to you. This last part of the album feels like settling in to where I am now. So it kind of started with where I was when I started making the album and ends with my emotional state now. And this song reflects that probably the best on the album.”
12. On “New Year’s Day”: “There’s something even more romantic about who is going to deal with you on New Year’s Day, who is willing to give you Advil and help you clean up the house. I think that states more of a permanence. And so I was thinking about that and wrote this song. There are 2 lines in this song that I’d been saving for a really long time for the right moment. The 1st is ‘please don’t ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognise anywhere’ and the other is ‘hold on to the memories they will hold on to you’.”
What are your favourite tracks from “Reputation”? Share them with us in the comments section below.
Sources: Oh No They Didn’t, Entertainment Weekly, E! News / Featured image: Facebook.
