This Is My Taylor Swift Thinkpiece.

A dark room, angst. A lonely computer. An English degree. Delivered wine, possibly avocado toast. Perhaps a poster of Bernie Sanders collecting dust. 

I have an opinion, dammit. On many things, but most notably right now ... the current state of Taylor Swift's career.

I HAVE AN OPINION, DAMMIT.

As I sip coffee that most certainly did not come from a vending machine, I feel we need to have a real conversation about Taylor Swift that no one else has ever had, ever will have, ever could have. Because these people are not me. And I'm important.

Yes, I went there. CLAP BACK.

A few weeks ago, Taylor Swift introduced her new song to the world, "Look What You Made Me Do." Even the title alone conveys exactly what Taylor's shtick has been in the media for the past several years. Or does it? I personally am not a huge fan of her song - "1989" is one of my favorite pop albums, though, and I entirely think it's going to be impossible to top. She could give it her best shot, but she had her "Jagged Little Pill" or "Great Gatsby" (see? another inside joke. That one is META and you probably don't get it, you bougie face). 

The video, though, was PURE TAYLOR SWIFT GENIUS. I would like to believe these ideas come straight from her head, as opposed to a board room full of marketing professionals. The video depicts Taylor Swift doing something she hasn't owned quite as completely until now ... massive shade.

The speculated targets of this song are Kim and Kanye, who pretty much earned it. Taylor Swift had a bad year last year. I mean 2016 sucked for a lot of us peons, yes, but Taylor Swift's reputation (I'm on fire today) was dragged through the mud. I don't know who else this song could be about, but I strongly doubt Katy Perry. I think there's been enough with that Katy Perry feud that we can put it to rest. RIP. Also, the song is probably about the media and the public's perception of her. Did you know Taylor shunned some of her fans at a wedding in Martha's Vineyard this past weekend? WELL NOW YOU DO, HOW DARE SHE.

Then, this past Friday, Taylor released "Ready for It" during a college football game. I have heard mixed reviews of this song, and I myself don't like it really. She raps in one part, which is like ... you know how Gwen Stefani thinks she can rap sometimes? And sometimes it's cute in a weird topiary llama type way, but other times it's like "MOM STOP EMBARRASSING ME, NOW NO ONE WILL TAKE ME TO PROM?" Yeah well with Taylor it's the latter. I commend her for trying, tho. She is certainly trying for "image overhaul" here. 

Honestly, I think Taylor is suffering from what I termed as "the Chipotle Effect." And it's not a reflection of her music, really. Even though we can argue some parts of what she presented are problematic, sure. Constant victimization is never a healthy thing - we are all assholes sometimes. And it's especially an issue if your fanbase is primarily young women (and uh, me, hi). But Taylor's music has at least proven enjoyable and honestly, I can think of more insufferable celebrities (a certain Bieber comes to mind). I consider the Chipotle Effect to be anything that gets so popular it becomes widely ridiculed and hated. Everyone loved Chipotle before the food poisoning. Okay, there were real dangers with the food poisoning, but they had disaster after disaster on their hands for a while. Fun fact: I still eat at Chipotle. But what I mean is something can get so popular that we start hating it after a while. And then we end up with a Mariah Carey situation, where somebody is lip syncing on New Year's Eve and then denying it ever happened. 

TL;DR - Do I have high hopes for "Reputation?" Do I think Taylor Swift is headed for a career low? A.) Not really, I haven't heard any track that has immediately hooked me like "Shake It Off" did in 2014. I keep an open mind though. B.) No, not really. I think she's going through a transitional phase. And tbh, who isn't these days.

I will leave you with the song Father John Misty wrote about taking acid while seeing Taylor Swift. I actually have been getting wayyyy into Father John Misty lately. Drinking craft beer and listening to him on my record playing while dawning a cashmere sweater and looking at cat memes.

Sorry I disappeared for a while. Totally unintentional. I didn't have much to write about for a while.

P.  much.

That was my Taylor Swift thinkpiece. Thank you v. much.