Look What You Made Me Do (2024)

"Look What You Made Me Do" is the sixth track and lead single from American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift's sixth studio album, reputation, released on August 24, 2017, through Big Machine Records.

Background[]

In the week leading up to the track’s release, Swift cleared all previous social media presence and released three videos on her social media of asnake’s tail^[1],body^[2], andhead^[3]. She then revealed thealbum title and cover and announced the single’s release date.^[4]

Music video[]

A 20-second teaser of the video was shown on Good Morning America on August 25. The teaser, upon release, was criticized on Twitter due to similarities to Beyoncé's "Formation" video. Joseph Kahn turned to Twitter to dismiss the claims, stated that he had "worked with Beyoncé a few times", and that the music video is not in the way of her "art space". Kahn also remarked that the video is derived from "[an] obscene K-Pop video made in [a] North Korean prison in 2006".

The official music video premiered on August 27, 2017, at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. The song's music video broke the record for the most-watched music video within 24 hours by achieving 43.2 million views on YouTube in its first day. It topped the 27.7 million Vevo views that Adele's "Hello" attracted in that timeframe, as well as the 36 million YouTube views of Psy's "Gentleman" video. It was viewed at an average 30,000 times per minute in its first 24 hours, with views reaching over 3 million views per hour. It became the fastest video to reach 100 million views in less than 4 days, and as of July 2024, the video has over 1.4 billion views.

Preparation for the music video began in January 2017, while the shooting took place in May. The video was choreographed by Tyce Diorio, who had worked with Swift before on "Shake It Off" in 2014. Swift's make-up as a zombie was done by Bill Corso. The post-production of the video lasted until the morning of its release.

It was also revealed that the diamonds used in the bathtub scene of the video were authentic. The diamonds, loaned from celebrity jeweler Neil Lane, were said to be worth over $10 million, hence triggering tight security measures. The top layer of the tub was covered with these real diamonds, but the rest were plastic beads.

Behind the scenes[]

Gallery[]

Lyrics[]

Easter eggs and references[]

In the lyrics[]

• "Don't like your tilted stage" is a reference to the titled stage that Kanye West used on his Saint Pablo tour.

In the music video[]

• Graveyard scene
  • The video starts with an aerial view of gravestones arranged to spell "TS".
  • "Here lies Taylor Swift's reputation" is engraved on the gravestone that Swift emerges from.
  • The name Nils Sjöberg is also seen on other gravestones, which is the pseudonym Swift used to co-write "This Is What You Came For" with her then-boyfriend Calvin Harris.
  • Swift's first outfit in the video, a blue dress, is similar to the outfit she wore in the "Out of the Woods" music video.
• Bathtub scene
  • In the scene, Swift is sitting in a bathtub surrounded by jewelry, referencing something she said before her performance of "Blank Space" at the Grammy Museum, Swift explained the song by talking about the character the song is written about: "She jet sets around the world collecting men, and she can get any of them but she's so clingy that they leave and she cries and gets another one in her web and she traps them and locks them in her mansion. And then she's crying in her marble bathtub surrounded by pearls."
  • A one-dollar bill is also seen in the bathtub, which is a reference to the single dollar counter-sue that Swift won during the Swift vs. Mueller sexual assault trial.
• Gold throne scene
  • The scene where Swift is sitting on a gold throne with a multitude of black snakes surrounding her is a reference to how the public had perceived her as a "snake" and had filled her social media comments with snake emojis as a response to a post made by Kim Kardashian. However, in this scene, Swift is showing those people that she has adopted this "snake" persona.
  • Swift wears many snake rings, which she sold on her merchandise store.
  • The snakes bring her tea, an internet euphemism for drama.
  • There is also "Et tu, Brute" written in the columns and the armrests of the throne. This refers to the assassination of Julius Caesar, conducted by a group of senators including his close friend Brutus. He allegedly said, "Et tu, Brute?", which translates roughly to "Even you, Brutus?". This references Swift feeling betrayed by the media and the public.
• Car crash scene
  • When the song reaches its first chorus, the music video shows Swift in a gold car crashing into a lamppost. Inside the car, viewers can see her swinging forward and backward in slow motion. The car door is then open and a crowd of paparazzi is revealed to be there, aiming their cameras at Swift and taking pictures of her. Although she is holding out a Grammy, all the paparazzi seem to care about is the crash. This may symbolize the times where the public has shamed her, and even though she has gotten many awards and achievements, the public only seems to care about the times she has made mistakes and enjoy watching her crash and burn.
• Birdcage scene
  • The scene in which Swift sits on a swing in a giant birdcage scene is a reference to when Swift did an interview with ICI Radio Canada in 2014 and said "I would feel sort of like I lived in a gilded golden cage if I had a team managing my image."
  • Her orange outfit represents the color of the jumpsuits that criminals would wear when they are in prison, suggesting that she is being imprisoned in that cage (as seen as the bodyguards that surround the base of the cage).
  • Swift has a snake tattoo on her upper right thigh in this scene.
  • This scene also references the song "So It Goes...", where she sings "Gold cage, hostage to my feelings."
• Stream Co. scene
  • When Swift, along with a few other women, are robbing a bank, a digital banner reading "Stream co." can be seen above the vault. This is a reference to Swift's previous experiences with music streaming platforms. She wrote a personal letter to Apple Music on Tumblr and removed her entire discography from Spotify for a period of time as a result of both these platforms not paying artists appropriately. People then start to claim that Swift was "money-hungry" and only wants these music platforms to pay her, when really, she was trying to help less well-known and newer artists get paid for the content that they make and use it to help them improve and progress in their careers.
    • This is further shown as the woman Swift goes into the bank with takes a large amount of cash, but Swift doesn't even steal a single dollar.
  • Her Gucci sweater has "blind for love" written on it, which symbolizes the media's perception of her being a playgirl.
• Squad scene
  • The scene where Taylor is standing in front of a crowd of women who look almost identical to each other with the words "U Squad" projected on a screen is a reference to the times she'd get criticized by the media about her group of friends. Many people bashed the squad and the members, complaining they only consisted of "tall and thin Caucasian women". It is soon revealed that these women are actually a bunch of mannequins, with their body parts disconnected and laying everywhere. This could reference Swift cutting off many of her friends when she disappeared from the public eye in 2016.
• Dance scene
  • Swift then enters a room full of men. They all rush to form a line when she comes in. The dancers then take off their blazers, revealing "I Heart TS" crop tops underneath them. This is a reference to her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Tom Hiddleston, when the media claimed that Swift forced Hiddleston to wear that shirt during their Fourth of July party in 2016.
• "Old Taylor" mountain scene
  • As the bridge of the song begins, Swift stands on top of a mountain of different old versions of herself, wearing a black outfit with "rep" written on it, referencing the then-upcoming album's title.
  • The "Old Taylors" fight to reach to the top, but none of them can reach it. Swift then extends her arms and all the "Old Taylors" fall in different directions on the line where she sings that the old Taylor is dead.
  • The "Old Taylors" featured in this scene are: "22" Taylor, "Shake It Off" ballerina Taylor, "You Belong with Me" prom dress Taylor, 1989 album cover Taylor, "Tim McGraw" cover Taylor, Red Tour ringmaster Taylor, "Shake It Off" cheerleader Taylor, Fearless Tour marching band Taylor, Speak Now World Tour purple dress Taylor, "Our Song" blue dress Taylor, Billboard Music Awards 2013 Taylor, 1989 World Tour black leather Catsuit Taylor, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" squirrel pajamas Taylor, "You Belong with Me" "Junior Jewels" t-shirt Taylor, New Year's Eve 2015 Taylor, BMI Awards 2016 Taylor, Billboard Music Awards 2015 Taylor, ACM Awards 2014 Taylor, Red Tour letterman jacket Taylor, Fearless Tour silver fringe dress Taylor, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" polka dot Taylor, 1989 World Tour blue sequin bomber jacket Taylor, ACM Awards 2007 Taylor, Fearless Tour gringo boots Taylor, 1989 World Tour sparkly dress Taylor, Speak Now World Tour gold dress Taylor, MTV Video Music Awards 2015 Taylor, Country Weekly red dress Taylor, The Voice 2015 Taylor, Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014 Taylor, and "Love Story" ball Taylor.
• Phone scene
  • Swift is seen holding a phone, similar to the phone from the "Our Song" music video. This could reference how the "Old Taylor" is "dead".
• End scene
  • The ending scene consists of fifteen different versions of Swift (one is seen in the background standing on a plane). Some of these versions are from previous eras, while others are versions of her that appeared earlier in the music video.
  • These versions include, from left to right, motorcycle scene Taylor, Stream Co. Taylor, Taylor mountain Taylor, Red Tour ringleader Taylor, Fearless Tour intro Taylor, crash scene Taylor, 2009 MTV Video Music Awards Taylor, 2014 Met Gala Taylor, dance scene Taylor, plane Taylor (back), "You Belong with Me" "Junior Jewels" t-shirt Taylor, zombie Taylor, "Shake It Off" ballerina Taylor, snake throne Taylor, and gold cage Taylor.
  • These old versions of Swift start to fight and mock one another, with references pointing toward some of the things she is known for.
  • The "Junior Jewels" t-shirt-wearing Taylor looks surprised, and zombie Taylor says "Stop making that surprised face, it’s so annoying." to which ballerina Taylor responds with "Yeah, you can’t possibly be that surprised all the time." This references Swift’s signature surprised face that she makes after winning awards, which has been criticized by the media for being fake.
  • Dance scene Taylor says "What’s with that bitch?" pointing to zombie Taylor. Zombie Taylor responds with "Don’t call me that", referencing how the public and media had no problem calling Swift "a bitch" among other things.
  • Fearless Tour Taylor tries to break up the fighting, saying "Y’all", and ringleader Taylor responds by saying "Oh, stop acting like you’re all nice, you are so fake." This makes Fearless Taylor cry, and ringleader Taylor mocks her for it. This represents how the media thought of Swift as fake during the backlash in 2016. Motorcycle Taylor says "There she goes, playing the victim, again." People have said that Taylor plays the victim when it comes to drama, especially the Kim Kardashian-Kanye West drama.
  • When crash scene Taylor says that she is "getting receipts" and "going to edit this later", Swift could be referring to Katy Perry's song, "Swish Swish", which is rumored to be about her. In the song, one of the lines is "And karma's not a liar, she keeps receipts". This can also refer to how Kim Kardashian recorded a conversation that Swift had with Kanye West and edited it to make it look like she was fully responsible for theirfeud. 2009 VMAs Taylor says that she wants to be "excluded from this narrative", which is a reference to the post Swift made explaining that she doesn't want to take part in the drama with Kardashian and West, to which all the other versions of Swift say "Shut up!".

Awards and nominations[]

"Look What You Made Me Do" received one award from fifteen nominations.

Taymoji pack[]

Achievements[]

Note: All of the records listed here were broken by the song upon its release in 2017. Many have since been broken again by other songs.

iTunes[]

• Fastest song to reach #1 on iTunes for a lead female artist
• Biggest iTunes lead for a song of all time (95%)

Spotify[]

• The most first-day debut of all timeby a female artist in the US (3.82M streams)
• Spotify's global first-day streaming record of all time (10,129,087 streams)

Youtube/VEVO[]

• Most video views in 24 hours on YouTube (43.2 million views)
• Fastest video to reach 100 million views/get VEVO Certified on Youtube (less than four days)
• Fastest video to reach 200 million views on Youtube
• Fastest video to reach 300 million views on Youtube

Billboard[]

1. 1. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 3 consecutive weeks.

Live performances[]

Swift performed "Look What You Made Me Do" throughout 2018 on the Reputation Stadium Tour, as the fifth song on the setlist.^[16] The song is also performed on the ongoing Eras Tour, as the final song during the Reputation act.

Both the Reputation Stadium Tour and the Eras Tour versions of the song feature a dramatic extended intro. During the Reputation Stadium Tour, a recording was played on the screen of Tiffany Haddish saying the infamous "The old Taylor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, cause she's dead!" line.

The Eras Tour version features a transition from "Don't Blame Me" and an electric guitar in the background. In this performance, Swift screams the iconic "old Taylor" line. The Eras Tour version also features an extended outro to the song.

Trivia[]

• Swift stated in 2019 that the music video is "[Her] most 'Easter-eggy' video" and that "It will be decades before people find them all".
• The bridge of the song samples the song "Innocent" from Speak Now; a song about Swift forgiving Kanye West after the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards controversy.
• Snippets of "Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)" were used in the TV show The Wilderness.
• The song is one of Swift's only songs with a diminished chord (minor chord with a lowered fifth), with an Fdim (F Ab B) chord in the intro.

References[]