Everything you might have missed in Taylor Swift’s new music video

Look what we made her do

On Sunday Taylor Swift dropped her new video for fiery comeback single ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ at the VMAs; and as expected the tea has been well and truly been spilt.

Every aspect of the video has been thought through, referencing Taylor’s infamous beefs, past videos and poking fun at her previous self.

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But did you manage to spot every reference included in the video? Which of these did you see?

The ‘Out Of The Woods’ dress

As zombie Taylor prances around a graveyard, if you look closely you’ll see that the muddy dress she’s wearing is the same as the one she wore in the ‘Out Of The Woods’ music video, the last video from her ‘1989’ era; possibly another sign that that era of Taylor is dead?

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Nils Sjoberg

“The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now. Why? Because she’s dead”.

Well it looks like the old Taylor includes her pseudonyms, as in the opening, as a dead zombie-fied Taylor appears in a graveyard, we see a tombstone with ‘Nils Sjoberg’ on it. This is the pseudonym that Swift wrote under, when involved in co-writing her ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris’ Rihanna collab ‘ This Is What You Came For’. When it was reportedly leaked that Taylor was involved in writing the track, Harris went on a Twitter rant calling out Taylor for her beef with Katy Perry.

https://twitter.com/archivetay/status/901973626781650944

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In one scene Taylor lies in a bathtub full of jewelry, and next to her is a single dollar bill. This could be a reference to the single dollar bill she won in her sexual assault case against radio DJ David Mueller.

Snakes serving tea

The snake has become an ongoing reference in Taylor’s latest music drop – first with the snake videos across her social media accounts, and now in this video. Fans are speculating that it’s a reference to the snakes that got posted on her instagram following her fall out with Kimye; and in one scene in her music video, the snakes literally serve her tea (the tea could be a reference to an Instagram that Kim’s Kardashian’s half sister Kendall Jenner posted saying “tea time”)

Maserati down a dead end street

Taylor then crashes a gold Maserati which she is driving down a dead end street – a reference to the titular song from 2012 album ‘Red’, where she sang: “Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street“. The door then opens, and you see Swift clutching a Grammy – perhaps a reference to a fact this record didn’t win Album of the Year in 2014.

Katy Perry style

Or could that scene be a reference to Katy Perry and their ongoing beef? The grammy could be a reference to the fact that Taylor has won a tonne, and Katy has always failed to win one? Taylor is also sporting an angular crop and a flashy leopard print coat, styles that bare a certain similarity to Perry’s. Also – the video is reminiscent of Katy’s ‘Waking up in Vegas’ video.

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Stream Co.

Taylor and her squad break into a bank vault, and if you look carefully you’ll see that it has the name “stream co.” in the background – a reference to her turbulent relationships with streaming services in the past.

I, Robot meets Girl Squad

In one scene, Taylor stands in front of an army of models – poking fun at the criticism she gets which says her squad is only formed by models:

It could also be reference to that scene in ‘I, Robot’ where hundreds of robots assemble in a similar fashion.

I heart TS shirts

An obvious one here – Taylor’s dancers are wearing ‘I heart TS shirts’ that bear a striking similarity to the one that Tom Hiddleston infamously wore during their short relationship; but another more subtle reference that some fans are picking up on is the eight dancers – is that one for each of Taylor’s famous exes?

Old versions of Taylor Swift

Towards the end of the video we see various incarnations of Swift over the years. First is this scenario – which again looks like Taylor is making a statement about how these old versions of her are dead.

And then again in a lineup at the very end – where we see Swifts past and present.

You belong with me shirt

When we see the ‘You Belong With Me’ she’s wearing the ‘junior jewels’ shirt; but this time it’s covered in the names of her infamous “squad” including Selena Gomez, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, and the Haim sisters; we also see a reference to the “Taylor Swift Surprised Face” – which has been criticised and called fake over the years.

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Getting receipts

As Taylor dressed in a cheetah jacket takes selfies, another Swift asks what she’s doing. “Getting receipts! I’m gonna edit this later,” she declares – a direct jab at Kim Kardashian, and how she released a video of Taylor on the phone with Kanye as ‘receipts’.

“I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative”

Possibly the most direct throwing of shade throughout the entire video. At the very end, when a lineup of Taylor’s past and present stand together, the Taylor who’s dressed in her 2009 VMAs frock (the infamous event where Kanye jumped on stage halfway through Swift’s acceptance speech for best female video) declares “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative” a direct quote from when she responded to Kim Kardashian leaking the video of Kanye asking Taylor about being mentioned in his track ‘Famous’.

 

Taylor Swift Abandon Thread GIF by 2018 MTV Video Music Awards - Find & Share on GIPHY

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