TAY BETWEEN
THE LINES

Michelle Santosuosso

As the social-media world begins to dissect the meanings underneath the lyrics to Taylor Swift's “Look What You Made Me Do,” some notable observations are emerging that this song is one big, revenge-filled subtweet.

First, can't help but notice that the "Old English" font Tay is using for the reputation album artwork is identical to the one Kanye West featured on his much-coveted Pablo tour merch.

And then there’s the song itself. Taylor is a highly skilled, award-winning songwriter and usually has only one or two collaborators, yet this song is written with four other people— her friend (and 1989 collaborator) Jack Antonoff, plus the three Right Said Fred “I’m Too Sexy” guys, who had a #1 song that became iconic in the pop lexicon because of its playful but totally unhinged braggadocious lyrics that were devoid of reality—a character issue of Kanye’s that is often pointed out. Could she be mocking him here?

Meanwhile, the actual beat of the song is a sample from “Oh Operate” by Peaches, which was used in a key scene in Mean Girls.

Taylor was once called "Regina George in sheep's clothing" and her new song uses the beat from this scene in Mean Girls. 👀 pic.twitter.com/lpRCCIIk1w
— T. Kyle (@tkylemac) August 25, 2017

And then there’s the pure savagery that is the album release date, November 10th. That’s the day in 2007—the tenth anniversary this year, in fact— of Kanye West’s beloved mother Donda's death from surgery complications. A pure coincidence, or gangster on another level? We'll leave that for fans to decide.