Music Review: Taylor Swift, reputation and Delicate music video

When Taylor Swift first burst onto the music scene 12 years ago I wasn't really a fan. I was like, "Taylor who?!" Seriously, I couldn't have cared less about her and didn't see what all the fuss was about. I should say that I also thought the same about Britney Spears when she first released Baby one more time in 1999, but as with all pop music, it's catchy and you end up becoming a fan.

It was in 2013 when I actually did become a fan of Taylor's. The song that converted me was her duet with Ed Sheeran, Everything has changed. From that moment on I was a convert and a total "Swiftie".

I even bought tickets to the Red Tour but because I wasn't a huge fan, I ended up selling the ticket. Yeah a few years later and I regret that big time even though I did see her at ANZ Stadium in 2015 and will be seeing her in November this year as well when she brings the reputation Stadium Tour downunder.

Like most celebrities, everyone loved Taylor for the first few years and then she suddenly became the smelly kid that nobody wanted to be around. This happened after the 1989 era. There was a lot of controversy surrounding her and her friendships with other celebrities including Katy Perry (I'm not naming the others as I don't want their names on my blog) and she lost the public's respect.

It's really sad when this happens to singers. It happened to Britney Spears during the Blackout era, though it was much worse than with Taylor Swift. Swift still has some sanity left, or at least she appears to.

That brings me to the purpose of the blog. Her sixth studio album, reputation was released on the 10th of November 2017 and unlike her previous albums it hasn't done as well on the charts. It did peak at number 1 in both Australia and New Zealand, however it hasn't sold nearly as many copies this side of the world and has only reached Gold status in NZ and Platinum in Australia. That's more than most singers but it's not as good as Taylor's other albums.

There have been mixed reviews to the songs on the album. Look what you made me do was the album's lead single and was rumoured to be about a couple of media personalities including Katy Perry. Swift doesn't conduct interviews like she used to so this has never been confirmed. The song went to number 1 in several countries and is Taylor's angriest song.

The single was followed up with Ready for it, which is a very different sound for Taylor and features som rapping in it. It has not been popular and did not reach number 1 in any country. End Game is a slower track featuring Ed Sheeran and Future. It's about Taylor's reputation and again, it has not been well received.

Last night however, the iHeartRadio Music Awards were held and Taylor Swift debuted the music video for her new single Delicate, and while the charts are not actually out yet, I expect this song to be popular, even if only because of the video.

Delicate starts with Taylor facing the camera and being interviewed by the paparazzi. She's wearing a blue dress and her hair is styled in a smilar fashion to the Red era. It looks as if she's being told what to do and what to say. There's a scene where she's looking in the mirror pulling faces and smiling. It almost looks as if she feels as if she has to be a certain person and that she can't be herself.

Then throughout the video she's seen by herself dancing in various locations including a hotel lobby, a train station and outside in the rain. Nobody is paying attention to her and she is being ignored by everyone. She's trying to get their attention but they keep ignoring her. In some parts of the video she seems deflated and sad. There's one moment in a hall where she's alone and then she worries that people are watching her but they're not. They're just ignoring her. It's the same when she's on a train.

Towards the end of the video she enters a nightclub after she's finished dancing in the rain and sees a guy who is off screen and suddenly she's happy.

So what does this video mean? I'm not going to talk about all the things other bloggers and bloggers have talked about. Instead I'm going to mention that the dress is blue and Taylor said during the Red Tour that colours depict moods for her which would indicate that she's been feeling down and blue since the 1989 era. There is also a woman early on in the video wearing green, and green is the colour of envy and jealousy which could indicate that the media is jealous of Taylor. In another scene Taylor is looking at a woman who is wearing dark red, which is a passionate colour, and that could suggest that she still has a fire burning inside of her and wants to get back to who she was before the 1989 era when she was still a media darling. The video finishes with her going into a nightclub and we see the red lights outside, again, indicating that Taylor wants to get back to who she was during the Red era and that she wants to put the 1989 era when the media turned on her behind her.

This is definitely my favourite Taylor Swift video and Delicate really shows a softer side of Taylor and what she's feeling inside. It shows that she's human and is just like anyone else.

The album isn't as good as her preivous work and is almost two albums in one, with the first half being angry and then the second half being happier. I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.