Admit it, Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version) is a huge disappointment

Go on girl, give us nothing.

Look, I know we’ve been demanding so maybe it’s our own fault.

Ever since we discovered we were getting re-recorded versions of Taylor Swift’s first six albums, we have been screaming at Taylor to give us reputation.

I actually can’t believe we’re still clowning over it, and we look like fools. Stupid, broke fools. To be fair, that’s an essential part of the Taylor Swift experience, and I will continue to look like an idiot in the name of Swiftie-ism. I’m just a 34 year old teenage girl, but one day I’ll be 60 with a clown nose and a dream (and probably still won’t have Rep TV, let’s be honest).

We haven’t shut up about this for six years, and it’s come back to bite us. They always told us to be careful what you wish for.

Two years ago, Taylor Swift dropped a snippet of her re-recorded version of Look What You Made Me Do, a polarising gag of a lead single that left me stunned at 5am one morning. The lyric video was a journey I’ll never forget. At the time, we were bewildered and maybe a little bothered, to say the least. You either loved it or hated it.

I know a diva when I see one, and I remember going for a drive with a friend and listening to the song on repeat for hours. It took a while and we would stumble over the words. We kept going anyway, getting tongue tied until we learned to sing the words. It’s hard to imagine a time where I didn’t know them, because they’re now stamped into my skull. But once upon a time, the lyrics were a damn mouthful. LWYMMD is possibly one of Taylor’s least relatable songs, yet somehow we still managed to make it fit the shape of us. It’s funny how we always do that. I felt like she understood my experience, even if I couldn’t quite relate so specifically to hers.

Fast forward to today, and the original reputation has had its redemption arc. Since it’s initial release in 2017, more and more people have gradually retracted their original judgement and reactions. Reputation was jarring, noisy and misunderstood, making it easy to reject. Eventually, it was appreciated. You could argue that this is exactly what’s happening now, that I’m being too judgemental and I’ll eat my words one day.

I disagree, I love reputation and all I want is to be able to replace the originals on my playlist with the new ones. It’s controversial to say, but no one’s stopping us from listening to the originals. They still exist, but it’s kind of not the point. She wants us to replace the originals with the TVs, even if at it’s core this project is simply about owning her work. She still wants them to succeed. Have you ever paid the slightest bit of attention to her? She loves praise, and she loves it when we love her. I’m not wrong, mirrorball proves it.

Back in 2023, we didn’t know everything we know now. We could ascertain that Reputation (Taylor’s Version), was probably near completion and there is no way on earth any of us even considered we still wouldn’t have it by now.

For the last two years, we’ve been clowning every few days for Rep TV, and she knows it. We’ve been waiting, begging and pining for it- usually with very little grace or shame. I have personally humiliated myself at least 12 times for this woman, and let me be clear, I’m no better than anyone else. My own healing journey rests in the hands of Rep TV.

While I was sleeping through the early hours of Tuesday morning, The Handmaid’s Tale dropped a lengthy trailer for its latest episode - long enough for us to make a complete judgment on its accompanying song.

It wasn’t the full track, but it was enough. Sure, we can take into account that some of it may be adjusted for the sake of the trailer, but I feel fairly confident that this is pretty much the finished product. By now, of course it is. It has to be.

The internet at large is screaming, crying and throwing up at Taylor finally giving us a longer preview of the song, with some people (fools) declaring it the first premiere of the song. Guys, we need to open the schools. It was two years ago that we heard the first snippet, this isn’t completely new to us. The timing of it is what is suspicious, but that’s a whole other conversation about collective clowning that I simply can’t get into right now.

I had my concerns back in 2023, but I find myself so irritated with the state of Look What You Made Me Do (TV), given that there have been an additional two years where tweaks and polishes could have so easily been made. If only she had listened to us, and I find it quite upsetting that she didn’t. It’s almost as if she doesn’t care, right?

Don’t come at me for this, because she nurtured this relationship and ultimately, the fans are the ones supporting her through the process of reclaiming her life’s work.

There is a distinct lack of critical thought in our fan spaces and communities, and anyone who dares let criticism fall from their mouths is immediately marked as greedy, ungrateful, and a “new fan” (derogatory). Our online spaces cannot tolerate anything other than worship.

Let me set things straight, I am not new here.

I have been a Swiftie since 2006, I have grown up with Taylor and as I am the same age as her, I have experienced my own version of her events. I love Taylor, and I want the re-records to succeed. I want to be excited and automatically waking up before an alarm before release day. I want to love the new versions more than what came before them. I am rooting for her.

But guys, she can be so frustrating and we need to be able to talk about it. I say it all the time, but everyone can take a note. Even Taylor Swift.

I know she can do better and she proved it with the Eras Tour version, which quite frankly makes me feel like I can kick down a door. Sure, it’s a live version and it’s going to be different, but it’s the perfect example of something old becoming new, refreshed, and better for it. We didn’t hate it because it wasn’t the same, we wholeheartedly embraced it.

The blame isn’t solely on her, because trust me when I say Jack Antonoff, we will be having words. Without rambling about production, I do not understand how he could not replicate his own work. He is a seasoned, celebrated producer and it should have been safe in his hands.

Not all is lost, because to be quite honest there has never been a 100% success rate with the Taylor’s Versions. There are songs that were given the makeover of the decade, and career defining hits that got flattened. It’s actually a very interesting habit of hers, because many of my favourite songs have been treated with so little care, almost as if she relied on a belief that we’d love them no matter what.

Here are my main issues with LWYMMD Taylor’s Version, at least the two minutes or so that I’ve heard.

Look what you made me dew.

Let’s get this out of the way. Vocally, this is one of the most distracting re-records she’s given us. I cannot unhear how she sings the titular line, the peculiar pronunciation of “do” taking me out of the song whenever I hear it. Girl, give me something.

She’s bored, and I hate that for us. I hate it for her too. I understand her predicament, the Taylor’s Version project has been long and drawn out. We can all appreciate that she probably is bored by now, but she still has a point to prove. This is usually when she’s at her best.

Nobody expects her to channel the same anger from 2016, but we do know she still harbours it. thanK u aIMee is irrefutable evidence that the deep, psychological wound over Snakegate still weeps from time to time. To be honest, that is her right and I too have never gotten over anything, so same.

The Eras Tour proved that Taylor can play the bad guy and still stomp and slither around with conviction, delivering her vocals with a little bit of bite. It’s not lost on any of us that it’s a little bit camp, and makes being the villain so much fun.

The tour production is alive and could probably wake me from a coma. She could have replicated that for the studio version and we’d have clapped and cheered for weeks.

The TV feels distant, and something about the production is akin to listening to the song through a can on a string. It’s almost half asleep, and even a little lazy.

She’s had time to fix it.

The wait for Reputation TV has been long, protracted and unnecessarily frustrating at times. My own theory (and a popular one) is that we were meant to have the re-recordings wrapped up by the end of the tour, but Taylor had Tortured Poets up her sleeve. I get it, she wanted The Tortured Poets Department to be the centre of attention, but strategically speaking, some of her decisions don’t make a lot of sense to me.

It’s been so long, and honestly, I don’t think Rep TV can ever meet expectations. We’ve had too much time to stew, speculate, and convince ourselves that good things come to those who wait.

I’m not a billionaire, so what do I know?

What I do know is Swiftie culture, and it’s clear that excitement has dwindled over time. There have been so many false starts and although some of that is our own fault, we’ve gotten tired. When she finally announces Rep TV, we might not actually believe her, even when the UMG store receipt lands in our inbox.

The long wait is what irritates me the most. Because I could have forgiven a few fumbles while she was on tour, but we know the re-records have been done and dusted for quite some time. She’s had the time and space to reflect on them, and she could easily have fixed the clear issue with this particular song by now. After all, we pointed it out two years ago.

I think I might breathe a sigh of relief when she finally drops the release date, rather than losing my goddamn mind over it. I might not refresh the store everyday at 3pm for merch drops, nor will I rush to buy the variants from her store- they’ll be everywhere and I’ll still get them anyway. I might still clown, but I’ll be a bit of a sad, sleepy clown this time, and where’s the fun in that?

I’ll still be up at 5am to stream Reputation (Taylor’s Version), and I know not every song will be what I expect it to be. Some might have the wronged-woman-glow-up we’ve been waiting for, while others might fall flat. You win some, you lose some. I wish there was a little more care.

Swifties have more teeth than she does, and it’s not a good thing.

Swifties will insist that this isn’t about us, and we should be eternally grateful for the food we receive. Don’t bite the hand that feeds, or something.

If you love the TV, then more power to you- but we are not hearing the same thing. Speak your truth and celebrate it if you love it, but understand that equally, some other version of the truth exists for the rest of us. You’re allowed to love it, we’re allowed to be disappointed. There’s room for discussion and criticism, it’s not always hate. There is a very significant difference that seems to be lost on a huge portion of the community.

It is impossible to criticise Taylor without being labelled as fake or stupid. How can we be so ignorant? This isn’t about us, it’s about her. It’s her work, we’re lucky to even be receiving it, right?

The truth of the matter is this: this is her job and she is paid handsomely for it.

She rarely lets us see her life these days, except for a pap walk or a Game Day strut at Arrowhead. Her social accounts are now those of a brand, not a person. It pains me to say that she’s put a fair bit of breathing room between us. Ultimately, that is absolutely fine, because it is her job and she doesn’t have to extend any personal courtesies to us. Nor does she owe us glimpses of her life, but that has its own consequences, because she’s never been so far away.

We’re just normal people and we only know Taylor Swift the celebrity, rather than the person. I get that. Still, I feel far away from her after almost 20 years of parasocial nourishment, and let me be clear: Taylor herself has eagerly embraced and weaponised our love for her. UMG has exploited it. That’s fine, to an extent. We’re dumb enough to do whatever she wants anyway, but it almost feels like she just sees us as the job.

The door swings both ways. If we are just a job, then we could argue that so is the music - and it is not just a lifetime of art but a product she wants to sell us. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for some attention to detail and tender loving care to be given to that final product itself.

The old Taylor might have been dead, but she left the 2016 Taylor with a lot more bite.

Reputation never met anyone’s expectations, but the difference being that the original version prompted an entire cultural movement of rep eras and reclaimed narratives. It empowered us when we needed to pick ourselves back up. The original helped us sharpen our fangs, but snakes lose their teeth eventually and replace them with new ones. Ours got sharper, but I think maybe hers didn’t.

One more thing that’s pissed me off, and I know it’s selfish.

How am I meant to get revenge under these conditions?