Look What You Made Me Do
Lead Single | reputation (2017)
Table of Contents
Background
In 2016, when Taylor was at the peak of overexposure, some of her rivals in the industry (including Scooter Braun, Kanye West and Justin Bieber) succeded in launching a worldwide hate campaign against her. As a result, Taylor disappeared from public view for an entire year and thought about quitting music for good. She became increasingly reticent on social media, having previously maintained an active presence with a large following, and avoided interactions with the press. She conceived her sixth studio album, reputation, as an answer to the media commotion surrounding her celebrity.
Release
On August 23, 2017, Taylor announced that the first single from reputation, would come out the following night. The song was released to streaming services on August 24, and earned over eight million streams within twenty-four hours of its Spotify release, breaking the record at the time for the highest first-day streaming for a single track. “Look What You Made Me Do” was then released the next day onto iTunes for digital download through Big Machine Records. It impacted American contemporary hit radio on August 29, 2017.
A lyric video heavily based on the Saul Bass imagery used in the film Vertigo was released through Taylor’s official Vevo account on August 25, 2017. The video was produced by her and Joseph Kahn and directed by ODD. It gained more than 19 million views during its first 24 hours on YouTube.
Lyrical Theme
«It actually started with just a poem that I wrote about my feelings, and it's basically about realizing that you couldn't trust certain people, but realizing you appreciate the people you can trust. Realizing that you can't just let everyone in, but the ones you can let in, you need to cherish. And it had all the verses in it, just basically as is. When the beat hit, we were like 'Oh, look what you made me do, look what you made me do,' and we were just like, 'Oh my God, we've gotta edit out the rest of the words, and just do that.' The most important part of the song is, 'I don't trust nobody, and nobody trusts me, I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams. Oh, I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead.'»
Taylor Swift
Music Video
The music video premiered during the MTV Video Music Awards on August 27th, 2017. It made both VEVO and YouTube history, amassing the most views within 24 hours in history on both platforms, achieving 43.2 million views in its first day. After the music video of “Look What You Made Me Do” was released, Taylor explained the true meaning behind the video: “If everything you wrote about me was true, this is how ridiculous it would look.”
Live Performances
Critical Reception
Commercial Performance
Jack Leopards & the Dolphin Club Cover
As there is no documentation of the band’s existence before the release of the cover, fans speculated that the singer on the track was Taylor’s younger brother, Austin Swift, and that the band’s name references Antonoff and the Swift siblings. Fans also interpreted the cover to be Taylor’s way of bypassing potential licensing issues with her former label Big Machine Records and its owner Scooter Braun, with whom Taylor is involved in a dispute regarding Braun’s acquisition of the label and, subsequently, her back catalogue and master recordings.
Taylor's Version
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I don’t like your little games
Don’t like your tilted stage
The role you made me play
Of the fool
No, I don’t like you
[Verse 2]
I don’t like your perfect crime
How you laugh when you lie
You said the gun was mine
Isn’t cool
No, I don’t like you (Oh!)
[Pre-Chorus]
But I got smarter
I got harder in the nick of time
Honey, I rose up from the dead
I do it all the time
I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined
I check it once
Then I check it twice (Oh!)
[Chorus]
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me–
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me do
[Verse 3]
I don’t like your kingdom keys
They once belonged to me
You ask me for a place to sleep
Locked me out and threw a feast (What?)
[Verse 4]
The world goes on
Another day, another drama, drama
But not for me
Not for me
All I think about is karma
And then the world moves on
But one thing’s for sure
Maybe I got mine
But you’ll all. get. yours.
[Pre-Chorus]
But I got smarter
I got harder in the nick of time (Nick of time)
Honey, I rose up from the dead
I do it all the time (I do it all the time)
I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined
I check it once
Then I check it twice (Oh!)
[Chorus]
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me–
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me do
[Bridge]
I don’t trust nobody
And nobody trusts me
I’ll be the actress
Starring in your bad dreams
I don’t trust nobody
And nobody trusts me
I’ll be the actress
Starring in your bad dreams
I don’t trust nobody
And nobody trusts me
I’ll be the actress
Starring in your bad dreams
I don’t trust nobody
And nobody trusts me
I’ll be the actress
Starring in your bad dreams
[Chorus Variation]
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me–
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me
[Spoken]
“I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now…
Why? Oh,
’cause she’s dead.” (Oh!)
[Chorus]
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me–
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me do
[Final Chorus]
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me–
Ooh
Look what you made me do
Look what you made me do
Look what you just made me do
Look what you just made me do
Artist | Taylor Swift | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Album | reputation | |||
Released | August 25, 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2016–2017 | |||
Studio | Rough Customer (Brooklyn) | |||
Genre | Electro Pop | |||
Length | 3:31 | |||
Label | Big Machine Records | |||
Songwriters | Taylor Swift Jack Antonoff Fred Fairbrass Richard Fairbrass Rob Manzoli | |||
Producers | Jack Antonoff Taylor Swift | |||
REPUTATION CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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