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Release
Taylor Swift is back and better than ever with her new single titled “ME!” featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco. The single is from her upcoming seventh album. A few weeks ago, a countdown appeared on Taylor’s website and subsequently appeared on her social media. Taylor began posting seemingly random images all with a pastel color scheme on her Instagram, which ended up being references to scenes from her new video. The countdown ended April 26th at midnight.
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Fans began to speculate about what Taylor was going to do on the 26th during the countdown, especially as a screenshot of the song title made its rounds on social media. On Thursday, April 25th, Taylor dropped a major hint on her Instagram.
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The singer posted a photo of her in front of a butterfly mural, with “ME!” written in bold black letters above her head. Then on Thursday night in an exclusive interview, she announced her collaboration with Brendon Urie as well as the title of her newest single, which was set to be released at midnight, along with the music video. The video was released a little after midnight and racked up almost 82 million views and almost 3 million likes. It has been the number one trending video on Youtube since its release (as of April 27, 2019).
The Video
The video for “ME!” begins by displaying the title of the song over a clip of a snake slithering over pastel-colored bricks. It is an obvious nod to her last album Reputation. The snakes hisses a bit before bursting into a group of multicolored butterflies, signaling the end of the “Reputation era” in favor of a new happier, and light-hearted one.
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One of the butterflies flies to a window where we see Taylor, in a black and white dress with flowers in the skirt, and Brendon, in a light blue button-down with a brown tie and suspenders, inside arguing in French. During this scene, we catch a glimpse of Taylor’s two cats, Meredith and Olivia. Taylor exits the room during the argument and walks down a hallway, which is where the song begins. As Taylor continues walking, she comes into a large room filled with clouds that try to consume her. She is able to walk right through them, showing that she is stronger now and will not let other people’s opinions and comments get to her. As she exits the building, Taylor is suddenly in a pastel yellow suit, surrounded by dancers holding briefcases, also dressed in pastel colored suits.
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They dance along a rainbow brick road, as we see a rainbow in the background and a yellow sidewalk, possibly a reference to the iconic movie, The Wizard of Oz. The video then cuts to Brendon walking out onto the balcony, now dressed in a white suit with a floral pattern and a yellow tie. He jumps off of the balcony, grabbing an umbrella and floating down towards the ground with a bunch of other dancers. This scene a reference to the classic movie Mary Poppins which was released in 1964, and was one of Taylor’s favorites as a child.
Then, the video cuts to Taylor now in a pink dress sitting on a large stone unicorn as Brendon floats down and offers her flowers and an engagement ring, both of which she refuses. He then offers her a kitten, which she accepts. This was a hint to fans that Taylor had adopted a new kitten, which she later confirmed on Instagram.
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Brendon then pulls back his jacket to reveal what looks to be a chocolate heart, and when opened we see a bright and sparkly heart-shaped tunnel, which leads to a heart-shaped stage. Brendon and Taylor dance on the stage in front of a crowd of adoring fans, in a 60’s style scene. Brendon is now in a red suit and Taylor is in a pink long-sleeved dress with a red sequin heart. The video transitions to Brendon and Taylor dressed in teal marching band outfits, with the dancer’s behind them dressed in pink marching band attire in front of a big rainbow.
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After the large dance number, the scene cuts to Brendon and Taylor dressed in matching blue outfits and white boots, dancing on a small platform inside of a rainbow light tunnel. We follow Brendon to a street, where he is dressed in a pink jacket and blue pants, where he runs around controlling large splashes of rainbow colors falling from the sky. Taylor stands in the middle of a rainbow puddle that flows from her dress while Brendon grabs an umbrella and holds it over Taylor as the camera zooms in where they finish out the song before walking off together, as the colors continue to rain down.
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Lyrics and Meaning
The song lyrics are about individuality and uniqueness. They encourage the listener to celebrate themselves, and their differences and learn to love these differences. The song is supposed to be a feel-good tune, that promotes a positive message to all. “ME!” is upbeat, poppy and fun. It’s super catchy and sure to get stuck in your head. Taylor has done it again, and returned with another amazing track that broke records, and is sure to win her some awards.