Taylor Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’: YouTube Record Breaker Decoded

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We are living now in the days when the number of likes and shares or comments could help us make our day. We get encouraged if we see how many views our videos get, which we somehow correlate with the thought that many people support us or that many people found our content funny or interesting.

Just imagine how Taylor Swift felt when she broke the record this year for her song “Look What You Made Me Do.” It turned out that the music video for that song had earned the most watched in 24 hours. The song was the first song to be released under the album “Reputation,” which was just released in November.

It can also be remembered that Swift stalked her fans, which are called Swifties, during her hiatus, liking their posts, commenting on these, or reacting on Instagram Stories, among many other things. Of course, fans of the pop star were more than happy that their idol had graced their social media accounts. Little did they know that the singer/songwriter had been keeping a tab on her supporters, noting each and every one of them.

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Prior to the release of “Reputation,” Swift invited 100 lucky guests who were also her fans, to a listening party in London. Attendees heavily teased some of the songs on the album and were very loud on social media about the unforgettable night. Some said that they were more than surprised that Swift know them by name, while some claimed that Swift had known some milestone events in their life.

“Look What You Made Me Do” also shook fans when it came out after the country singer turned pop star returned to the busy scene with a new song. Its music video, though, was heavily teased prior to its official release during the MTV Video Music Awards. The album landed on the top spot in Billboard Top 200 for weeks after it was released, which meant that it had clung to being the most popular album during that time in the United States.

Look What You Made Me Do

The controversial song initially showed Swift being a zombie, connoting that the old Taylor is dead, a line that nods with “The Old Taylor can’t come to the phone … because she’s dead,” before turning into more glamorous shots. It has clearly been received well by her fans.

The video starts with a frame on a tombstone with an engraved “Nils Sjoberg.” Swifties might remember that it was her pseudonym, which was heavily publicized during the rubble with ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris. The controversy was when Harris had released the song “This is What You Came For” with Swift claiming that she had written the song.

She had also referenced her triumph over a Colorado DJ, who had groped her during a photo-op. She sued the DJ for a symbolic $1, which was seen in the video when she was lying in a bathtub full of bling. The dollar was noticeably beside her.

“Look What You Made Me Do” stirred a lot of buzzes after eagle-eyed fans and self-titled critics claim that the song was used to throw shade to rapper Kanye West and wife, reality star Kim Kardashian. There are a lot of references in the music video, including to her old self, seemingly trying to say that she has changed now.

The jab stems from a long-running feud between West and Swift in 2009 MTV VMAs. During the time, Swift won as the Best Female Video, beating “Lemonade” singer Beyonce, among others. When Swift was on stage to gi8ve her acceptance speech, West took the moment and announced that Beyonce should have won instead of Swift.

Taylor Swift’s Shocking Event

The event had, to say the least, shocked everyone. But the two had since made efforts to cut the ugly tie, though the jab at “Look What You Made Me Do” seemed to say otherwise.

It was just amplified when the former mentioned the name of the latter in his song “Famous.” It included the lyrics: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex/ Why? I made that bitch famous.” The video also showed Swift naked, as well as other prominent people.

The 28-year-old singer did not take the lyrics too well and had denounced being called a “bitch” and for being told that he had made her famous. Kardashian gets into the picture when she publicized a recorded phone conversation between her husband and Swift, slamming Swift of her actions. In the conversation, Swift seemed to have known of the lyrics of “Famous.”

In “Look What You Made Me Do,” West was not named though it could be noted that the music video aired some voices over the phone, a strong reference to the rapper and the clearly recorded conversation.

And basically, it could be easily said that that was where she was leading, considering her journey from being a country singer to a pop star. Her songs suddenly turned to fierce and dark after being famous for her heartbreak songs.

Taylor Swift’s Decoded YouTube Record-Breaker Video

Understandably, with her massive following and supportive fan base, “Look What You Made Me Do” toppled the reigning song holding the record as YouTube’s most viewed music video in 24 hours. In fact, Swift’s song garnered numbers that were far more than that of its predecessor, Korean singer Psy’s “Gentleman.”

The viral “Gentleman” had held the record for four years after it earned 36 million views in one day. Swift garnered 43.2 million hits in the same timeframe, with views increasing to more than 3 million every hour. This meant that there were over 30,000 views every minute.

Aside from “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Despacito” by Lusi Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee reached a milestone for being the first to reach 3 billion views. What does this say about viewers? The song became popular, viral, and a tune that was really hard to remove from our minds. This only meant that even though not everyone can understand what the song is trying to say, the catchy tune and rhythm were enough to grab the attention of the people.

Date: October 9, 2018 / Categories: Explainer, / Author: Rich Drees

October
9
2018

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