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Fans praised the singer for ‘soundtracking rage and rebellion’ following parallels with her own life
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Taylor Swift has delighted fans by releasing the first song from her highly anticipated new album, Reputation (Taylor’s Version), in a surprising way.
The musician is re-recording her rebellious sixth studio album, Reputation, which was first released in 2017, as part of her series of “Taylor’s Versions” albums.
A new version of the hit “Look What You Made Me Do” debuted in the opening scene of the latest episode of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu. The show stars Mad Men actor Elisabeth Moss as June Osbourne (Offred), who is forced to serve as a Handmaid and bear children. It is based on the book by the same name, written by Margaret Atwood.
In the ninth episode of the sixth season, released on Monday (19 May), Moss’s character is leading a rebellion against the Commanders of Gilead. Many praised the perfect alignment between the song, which explores themes of anger and retribution, and the scene on the show.
“Taylor soundtracking rage and rebellion? As she should!” wrote one person on X/Twitter.
Others were less impressed: “It’s just the same song… I’m not falling for these reheated nachos.”
Swifties also noticed the poetic justice of the track appearing at the peak moment of a women’s rebellion, as Swift’s struggles to regain ownership of her music have been well-documented.
“Taylor: Reclaims music rights. Also Taylor: Soundtracks a rebellion. Us: Standing, clapping, crying,” noted one fan.
Swift’s struggle began back in 2019, when the music label Big Machine Records, which the singer had been signed to from 2006 to 2018, was sold to music mogul Scooter Braun – best known as the man who discovered and signed pop star Justin Bieber.
Along with ownership of the company, Braun also gained rights to the master recordings of all the music Swift had created during her time with the label. This included her first six albums: Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014) and Reputation (2017).
This meant that anybody who wanted to licence any of Swift’s old songs for a movie or TV show would have to get Braun’s permission and pay him a fee.
Swift said she was dismayed by the news that her master recordings had been sold, claiming she had previously begged for the chance to buy back her own work. Less than two months later, Swift revealed that she would be re-recording her first six studio albums in order to gain total control and ownership of her past work.
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