Speaking for just myself here, but I loved Shake It Off and WANGBT from the get go, talking parts included. The voicemail part isn't even that bad. I just think musically this sounds super dated, like a bad parody. If this were anybody besides Taylor I'd have turned it off halfway through on first listen and written it off completely. Alright I'll stop throwing shade at this song now, still thinking positively about the record
i dont get all the hate for the new song. outside of the chorus its a decent song. its catchy as fuck and i really love the voice mail thing its kinda savage
OK, so, as someone who hasn't found 1989 to age well and likes Speak Now and Red eras the best... ...I dig this single. It's melodramatic. It's campy. It's also fully-embracing the pop sound. To me, it sounds like a much better version of "Bad Blood." Far from my favorite Taylor single, but I have a feeling that it'll get stuck in my head for quite a while once it hits the airwaves.
Not feeling this. Honestly sounds like a half-baked Lorde song to me. I'm still optimistic for the rest of the album though.
It's...okay. I don't hate it. It's catchy, for sure. I think the voicemail part is hilarious and fantastic. I think there's a better song here with a different chorus. I will say that it's my least favorite lead single from her since I became a fan, and that it is pretty much the direct opposite of the direction I wanted her to go on this album. My expectations are dampened a bit, but I don't hate the song.
My least favorite lead single from her is still "We Are Never Getting Back Together" (which is funny 'cause Red is her best album). Great hook, lame rest of that song. Definitely like this new song more than that one as a whole.
This song is way better than i expected from reactionary hot takes I saw floating around here and Twitter. It's not her best--but her lead singles never are. And lol that people said Katy's laughing at how bad this is--let's not pretend this isn't still better than Katy's last shitshow. If this is our preamble to the actual music side of this album, I'm stoked. Even if it's not a return to Red yet.
So she's making a play for the clubs, which is the one place she's really never been successful. Interested to see if that works for her. The gamification of her album sales takes an existing trend to a whoooooole new level and weaponizes fans in a way that could change a lot of shit. Her legal team and Ticketmaster's must have spent months on this. Can't decide if it's evil or genius. Probably both.
And before everyone calls her calculating for the presale method she came up with, remember that Jay Z had pictures taken with his platinum plaques before 4:44 even dropped. If you're on a certain level, this is just how you do things now. Numbers are just a news story.
Also there is a VERY interesting dynamic (sexist?) going on where people are like "I thought she was gonna shake it off lol" when she was attacked (rightly or wrongly) for years. The fact she remained quiet this long despite being a twenty-something (like the rest of us addicted to clapbacks) is impressive.
And because of this, and guaranteed she knew it was coming, I'm really curious if that's why we're getting this song (and whatever the album ends up looking like if this song is any indication). She calculated they would hate anything she did next, so she spun it into whatever this song is.
I have to say I'm just a little disappointed. There are certainly catchy parts and I enjoy the phone part, but I like the T-Swift with huge choruses.