Reputation is the sixth studio album by pop singer Taylor Swift. This album serves as a follow-up to her 2014 album, 1989. It was released on November 10, 2017.
...Ready For It is about 'finding you own partner in crime'. On the first verse when Swift sings, "Some boys are tryin' too hard, he don't try at all though/ Younger than my exes, but he acts like such a man, so", she is referencing to her exes DJ Calvin Harris and actor Tom Hiddleston who woere 32 and 35 when Swift dated them. The youngest one was singer Harry Styles who was 18 when him and Taylor dated. She is currently in a relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn which implies to the lyrics, "I see nothing better, I keep him forever/ Like a vendetta-ta".
End Game featuring Ed Sheeran and Future is about Taylor wanting to be her lover's soulmate singing, "I wanna be your endgame/ I wanna be your first string/ I wanna be your A-team/ I wanna be your endgame, endgame", and then Future exchanges his verse with, "You so dope, don't overdose/ I'm so stoked, I need a toast/ We do the most, I'm in the Ghost like I'm whippin' a boat/ I got a reputation, girl that don't precede me/ I'm one call away whenever you need me". Then Sheeran shows off his rapping skills with the lyrics, "Knew her when I was young/ Reconnected when we were little bit older, both sprung/ I got issues and chips on both of my shoulders/ Reputation precedes me, in rumors, I'm knee-deep/ The truth is, it's easier to ignore it, believe me/ Even when we'd argue, we'd not do it for long/ And you understand the good and bad end up in the song". Taylor sings on the third verse saying, "Reputation precedes me, they told you I'm crazy/ I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me", and then begins to rap on the last four verses with, "It's like your eyes are liquor, it's like your body is gold/ You've been calling my bluff on my usual tricks/ So, here's the truth from my red lips".
I Did Something Bad is a trap song that explores with Swift's darker side as she begins with, "I never trust a narcissist/ So I play 'em like a violin/ And I make it look oh-so-easy/ 'Cause for every lie I tell them, they tell me three/ This is how the world works/ Now all he thinks about is me", and then starts to take pleasure in being a bad girl singing, "They say I did something bad/ Then why's it feel so good?/ They say I did something bad/ Then why's it feel so good?/ Most fun I ever had/ And I'd do it over and over and over again if I could/ It just felt so good, good".
Don't Blame Me is about Taylor comparing herself to being in love with drugs singing on the chorus, "Don't blame me, love made me crazy/ If it doesn't, you ain't doin' it right/ Lord, save me, my drug is my baby/ I'll be usin' for the rest of my life".
Delicate is a synth-pop track with elements of tropical house music. This is also the first time that Swift uses a vocoder on this song as she sings on the intro, "This ain't for the best/ My reputation's never been worse, so/ You must like me for me.../ We can't make/ Any promises now, can we, babe?/ But you can make me a drink", and then goes to the chorus with how anxious she is about this relationship with the lyrics, "Is it cool that I said all that?/ Is it chill that you're in my head?/ 'Cause I know that it's delicate (delicate)/ Is it cool that I said all that?/ Is it too soon to do this yet?/ 'Cause I know that it's delicate/ Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?/ Isn't it... delicate?"
Look What You Made Me Do is an electroclash song that talks about revenge and becoming a stronger person with the lyrics, "But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time/ Honey, I rose from the dead, I do it all the time/ I got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined/ I check it once, then I check it twice, oh", and then goes on to the chorus with, "Ooh, look what you made me look do/ Look what you made me do/ Look what you just made me do/ Look what you just made me/ Ooh, look what you made me do/ Look what you made me do/Look what you just made me do/ Look what you just made me do". This track also contains a sample of "I'm Too Sexy" by the band Right Said Fred.
So It Goes... is a song that originates from the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, written in 1969. She talks about being a "bad girl" once again with the lyrics, "And all our pieces fall/ Right into place/ Get caught up in the moment/ Lipstick on your face/ So it goes.../ I'm yours to keep/ And I'm yours to lose/ You know I'm not a bad girl, but I/ Do bad thing with you/ So it goes".
Gorgeous opens with a voice from James Reynolds, daughter of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively as she says on the intro, "Gorgeous". The song is mainly about an unrequited love about a man that has grab Taylor's attention and he's so attractive. She then starts to have feeling for him, even though she already has a boyfriend with the lyrics, "And I got a boyfriend, he's older than us/ He's in the club doing I don't know what/You're so cool, it makes me hate you so much/ ( I hate you so much)", and "Whiskey on ice, Sunset and Vine/ You've ruined my life by not being mine". On the chorus, she sings to the man of dreams with, "You're so gorgeous/ I can't say anything to your face/ 'Cause look at your face/ And I'm so furious/ At you making me feel this way/ But what can I say?/ You're gorgeous".
Getaway Car is about picturing a criminal in a speeding car as a metaphor for a doomed relationship. Taylor sings on the intro, "No, nothing good starts in a getaway car", and then moves on the next verse with, "It was the best of times, the worst of crimes/ I struck a match and blew your mind/ But I didn't mean it/ And you didn't see it/ The ties were black, the lies were white/ In the shades of gray in candlelight". And then she talks about the joy of riding in a "getaway car" saying, "You were drivin' the getaway car/ We were flyin', but we never get far/ Don't pretend it's such a mystery/ Think about the place where you first met me/ Ridin' in a getaway car/ There were sirens in the beat of your heart/ Shoulda' known I'd be the first to leave/ Think about the place where you first met me/ In a getaway car, oh-oh-oh/ No, they never get far, oh-oh-ahh". She also makes a reference to the criminal duo Bonnie and Clyde with the bridge, "We were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde (oh-oh)/ Until I switched to the other side/ To the other si-i-i-i-ide/ It's no surprise I turned you in (oh-oh)/ 'Cause us traitors never win/ I'm in a getaway car/ I left you in a motel bar/ Put the money in the bag and I stole the keys/ That was the last time you ever saw me/ (Oh!)".
King of My Heart is about Taylor having her own personal and intimate kingdom in where she has a new love interest that begins to rule her "heart, body, and soul". The pre-chorus starts off with, "Salute to me, I'm your American Queen/ And you move to me like I'm a Motown beat/ And we rule the kingdom inside my room/ 'Cause all the boys and their expensive cars/ With the Range Rovers and their Jaguars/ Never took me quite where you do", and continues on the chorus with, "And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for/ King of my heart, body, and soul, ooh whoa/ And all at once, you're all I want, I'll never let you go/ King of my heart, body, and soul, ooh whoa".
Dancing With Our Hands Tied shows Taylor exploring with house music and heavy beat drops on this track. She sing on the chorus with, "But we were dancing/ Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied/ Yeah, we were dancing/ Like it was the first time, first time/ Yeah, we were dancing/ Dancing with our hands tied, hands tied/ Yeah, we were dancing/ And I had a bad feeling/ But we were dancing". She is also the first time that Swift had ever hit high notes in vocal ranges on the chorus of the song that she has never done before, F5 and G5.
Dress has been described as Taylor's "most sexual song to date." Swift finds herself lusting over another lover singing on the chorus, "Say my name and everything just stops/ I don't want you like a best friend/ Only bought this dress so you can take it off/ Take it oh, ha, ha, ha-ah/ Carve your name into my bedpost/ 'Cause I don't want you like a best friend/ Only bought this dress so you can take it off/ Take it oh, ha, ha, ha-ah", and then moves with like lyrics, "I'm spilling wine in the bathtub/ You kiss my face and we're both drunk/ Everyone thinks that they know us/ But they don't nothing about", and "All of the silence and patience, pining and anticipation/ My hands are shaking from holding back from you/ Ha, ah, ah/ All of the silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting/ My hands are shaking from all this/ Ah, ha, ha, ha-ah".
This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things is a lighthearted, comical track in which Taylor throw some major shade at all of her haters. She begins with, "It was so nice throwing big parties/ Jump into the pool from the balcony/ Everyone swimming in a champagne sea/ And there are no rules when you show up here/ Bass beat rattling the chandelier/ Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year/ So, why'd you have to rain on my parade?/ I'm shaking my head and locking the gates", and moves on the chorus, "This is why we can't have nice things, darling/ Because you break them/ I had to take them away/ This is why we can't have nice things, honey/ Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me?/ This is why we can't have nice things".
Call It What You Want is synth-pop love song that has Taylor talking about her love for her boyfriend Joe Alwyn with her singing, "My baby's fit like a daydream/ Walking with his head down/ I'm the one he's walking to/ So, call it what you want, yeah/ Call it what you want to/ My baby's fly like a jet stream/ High above the whole scene/ Loves me like I'm brand new/ So, call it what you want, yeah/ Call it what you want to".
New Year's Day is a piano driven song that closes out the album. It uses a New Year's Eve party as a metaphor as she sings, "There's glitter on the floor after the party/ Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby/ Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor/ You and me from the night before", and it goes on to talk about the person who stays with you to help you clean up after the party with the lyrics, "Don't read the last page/ But I stay when you're lost, and I'm scared/ And you're turning away/ I want your midnights/ But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day".
I would this album a 10/10 because Taylor did so much with this album. From hitting notes in her vocal range to experimenting with trap, tropical house, and house music. Reputation is considered as a clap back to all of Taylor's haters and this shows that Taylor has really gone from good girl to bad girl. My favorites songs are Call It What You Want, I Did Something Bad, ...Ready For It, Look What You Made Me Do, New Year's Day, Dress and Gorgeous. Make sure that you purchase "reputation" on Amazon Music, Google Play, Spotify and Apple Music. You can also listen to it on SoundCloud Go+. Support Taylor Swift. Here are the links for the album:
