Forget bad blood, Taylor Swift [1] is going in for the kill this time around.
After teasing fans with some cryptic snake videos [2], the singer dropped the first single from her sixth album, Reputation [3], at midnight on Thursday. Not only does "Look What You Made Me Do [4]" sound pretty different [5] from the standard bubblegum pop we're all used to from her, but the lyrics also skew darker than usual. At one point, she actually answers the phone and says the old Taylor Swift can't come to the phone because she's "dead." Yes, really.
Obviously, Swift is taking the snake symbolism to a whole new level and "shedding her skin" for this new album. Here are just a few more lyrics that suggest this Swift era will be the darkest one yet.
- "Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time." — Each Swift era has been a complete reinvention of her image and sound, and this album will be no different. She's rising from the ashes like she has done time and time again.
- "The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama. But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma." — The media attention surrounding her infamous feuds [7] may have died down, but she's letting us know that they're far from over. While she's been hiding in the shadows, she has actually been plotting her comeback.
- "Maybe I got mine, but you'll all get yours." — This almost reads as a warning to her enemies. Kim Kardashian may have outed her on Snapchat [8] and Katy Perry [9] may have dissed her in interviews and shady tweets, but Swift is notorious for calling out people in her songs. She may be shedding her skin, but it seems like she doesn't plan on changing that about herself.
- "I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me." — After everything that has happened, Swift is no longer America's sweetheart with curly blond hair and cowboy boots. She understands that no one trusts her anymore, but at the same time, she doesn't trust them either. She has shielded herself, put up walls, and become cold and dark.
- "I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now. Why? Oh, 'cause she's dead!" — This is perhaps the most striking lyric in the entire song. She is letting us know that the "old Taylor" isn't just gone, she's dead. Like, in the grave, RIP, never, ever coming back — like, ever. Now what exactly does the "new Taylor" entail? We guess only time will tell.