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Taylor Swift \'Reputation (TV)\' easter eggs
Taylor Swift \'Reputation (TV)\' easter eggs
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The Meaning Of Taylor Swift’s “Slut!” Is Different Than Fans Thought

Karly Ramnani

When Taylor Swift announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) as her fourth re-record on Aug. 9, she made sure to note that it was her favorite one yet because of how good the vault tracks were. As if this wasn’t enough to send Swifties into a frenzy, the superstar quite literally broke the internet when she revealed the titles of these vault songs, one of which was a vault track called “Slut!” On social media, fans shared their thoughts on the significance this track could hold, due to the media’s portrayal of Swift as a serial dater during the original 1989 era back in 2014. Now that “Slut!” has finally arrived with 1989 (Taylor’s Version), I can confirm it’s a masterpiece — but the meaning of “Slut!” was much different than what I (and other fans) had expected.

As part of her efforts to reclaim the masters to her first six albums, Swift delivered 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on Oct. 27. Each re-release contains a “vault” of previously unheard tracks that didn’t make the final cut of the album — and sometimes, this gets fans scratching their heads over why Swift kept certain songs in her back pocket for so long. I can understand Swift’s hesitation to put out a song called “Slut!” back then, but it seems that I’m not the only one surprised by its sound and meaning. 

Many Swifties imagined the track to be a powerful reclamation that would follow in the footsteps of “Blank Space,” which satirized rumors about her love life. “Slut!” turned out to be a soft, sultry anthem about forbidden love. With lyrics like “Got love-struck, went straight to my head / Got lovesick all over my bed / Love to think you’ll never forget / Handprints in wet cement,” as well as, “The sticks and stones they threw froze mid-air,” Swift focuses on a strong connection forming, ignoring what everyone else says. 

While the song overall has me weak, I can’t help but notice the frustration and pain in Swift’s voice during the line “if they call me a slut.” I mean, the quotation marks and exclamation point in the song’s title should speak for themselves. Swift has always been aware of and frustrated with the talk around her relationships. In a 2016 Vogue interview, she expressed that she wished she could warn her 19-year-old self that in the future, she’d become “a lightning rod for slut-shaming.” On multiple occasions, Swift has pointed out how men in the industry can write about dating women free of criticism, but different rules seem to apply when the roles are reversed. 

Safe to say that Swift has outdone herself with “Slut!” and I can’t imagine a more perfect song to serve as her next official single. 

Karly Ramnani is a junior at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, studying music industry, with a strong passion for art and journalism. They discovered this amazing community shortly after starting college, and are super stoked to a national writer for Her Campus this semester. Karly worked with Her Campus in Fall 2022 as well, as the Entertainment & Culture Editorial Intern. Other outlets they've written for include All Country News, The Honey Pop, Medium, Newsbreak, and their own startup music blog Playlists & Polaroids. They currently serve as a campus ambassador for Amazon Prime Student and Tinder. When they're not writing blogposts and music reviews, you can find them composing and performing music, putting their nose in a rom-com book, binge watching "The Summer I Turned Pretty," or crying over Taylor Swift.