REVIEW: Taylor Swift’s ‘ME!’ is the comeback she deserves

By Lauren Carlton, Brand Manager

The 13 days between April 13 and 26 were some of the most stressful in years for Taylor Swift fans. Rumors began to fly after Swift added a cryptic countdown to her Instagram story, which was set to end April 26.

As the days went on, billboards emblazoned with the “4.26” countdown began popping up worldwide, and all the while, Swift uploaded one mysterious post after another to Instagram. People began speculating whether Swift was releasing a new song, an album or even a clothing line.

Celebrity drop culture is nothing new. Beyoncé released her visual album Lemonade and Jay-Z did a similar promotion with his 4:44 album.

Swift remained silent until the morning of April 25, when she paid a visit to Nashville  and revealed a mural she commissioned as promotion for the new single.

She then announced she would be doing an interview on ABC, where she then revealed “ME!” was the name of the single and added that Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco would be featured on the track.

“‘ME!’ is a song about embracing  individuality and celebrating it and owning it,” Swift said during the interview.

The song and its corresponding video premiered via YouTube livestream and set a Vevo world record by acquiring more than 65.2 million views in just 24 hours. As of press time, it has been viewed approximately 132 million times.

The song is a catchy, self-love anthem with lyrics like, “I promise that you’ll never find another like me.” The video, co-directed by Swift, matches the energetic song. It opens with an iridescent snake that explodes into a swarm of butterflies, signifying how the days of “bad reputation” have ended. The video then cuts to a short scene between Swift and Urie acting out a heated argument between a couple. The song begins, and Swift switches into performance mode.

The video features an array of colors, flashy outfits and a choreographed dance break between the two singers. Swift holds most of the vocals on this track, but Urie gets his solo in the second verse and during the bridge when the two playfully sing, “You can’t spell awesome without me!”

Throughout the song, the singers sport a number of elaborate outfits from Swift’s yellow suit, to her and Urie’s matching marching band attire before ending with animated rain falling from the sky to create Swift’s dress.

People have criticized the song by calling it repetitive or cheesy, however, none of Swift’s lead singles have ever matched the album perfectly.

For example, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the lead single from her album Red, was surface-level pop and made for radio plays. It did not represent the album as a whole. Lead singles are usually made to get stuck in your head, and “ME!” does just that.

While Swift has not announced the album title or even when the next single will be released, fans are happily bopping along to this new song in the meantime. Taylor Swift fans or not, this upbeat pop song easily gets stuck in people’s heads, but is anyone really complaining?