Oct. 27 was an eventful day for simple yet annoying fan girls such as myself. The Swiftie in me awakened the second the clock struck midnight because Taylor Swift dropped her highly anticipated re-record, 1989 (Taylor’s Version). However, lurking in the distance like an eerie, haunting shadow was another facet of my personality that went dormant once I entered high school. She was hidden beneath the depths of my past, locked behind the closed doors of my mind due to her dorkishly obsessive nature. On Oct. 27, she was also finally set free.
Oh darling, it was definitely not a daydream because all at once, the nightmare that was my Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF) obsession returned with the release of the new film adaptation, Five Nights at Freddy’s. As I was listening to the re-recordings, I simultaneously refreshed myself on the extensive lore behind a fictional children’s entertainment company, its possessed and “quirky” animatronics, and rewatched MatPat’s game theory videos. My extensive knowledge of FNAF lore easily returned. It was second nature, muscle memory, a part of me that yearned to be released out of her high-security cage.
Since both of my worlds decided to collide, I thought it would be appropriate to combine them. So, as a certified Swiftie and FNAF enthusiast, here are songs from 1989 (Taylor’s Version) that best fit the characters from Five Nights at Freddy’s.
“Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)” & Mike Schmidt
Played by White Boy of the Month Hall of Famer Josh Hutcherson, Mike Schmidt is FNAF‘s protagonist who decides to become a nighttime security guard at an abandoned pizzeria. Juggling the responsibility of raising his younger sister Abby and earning money at his new job, Mike suffers from lack of rest, so he uses sleeping pills to not only help him sleep but also to revisit the memory of his kidnapped brother, Garrett. He does so in hopes of finding clues to his disappearance.
I felt that “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)” captured Mike’s constant anxiety, particularly through the repetition of the question, “Are we out of the woods yet?” Throughout the film, Mike was constantly searching for answers surrounding his brother’s horrific death, hoping to find concrete evidence and a sense of closure.
“Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version)” & Abby Schmidt
Abby Schmidt, Mike’s younger sister, was minding her own business throughout the whole movie. She would draw her little doodles and blissfully talk to her imaginary friends, and I feel that she perfectly captured the essence of the 1989 era.
“Shake It Off (Taylor’s Version)” is about ignoring the haters and walking through life with your own rhythm. Abby followed this to a tee. Did her brother tell her not to walk around the pizza place at night? Yes. Did she listen? No. Instead, she became friends with the murderous animatronics! See, she’s marching to the beat of her own drum; Taylor would approve.
“Blank Space (TAylor’s Version)” & Steve Raglan/William Afton
Posing as a job agent under the alias Steve Raglan, William Afton is the psychotic man who kidnapped and killed Mike’s little brother. With the use of Springtrap (the golden bunny suit), Afton would lure children and murder them, stuffing their bodies into the animatronics. “Blank Space (Taylor’s Version)” sarcastically paints Swift as a psychotic girlfriend who is creepily obsessed with her boyfriend. In the music video, she is depicted attempting to murder said boyfriend.
I felt this energy best reflected Afton’s character. Afton took “Darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream” to the extreme as he not only tricked his victims, but controlled Freddy and the rest of the FNAF gang through the suit. He had blank spaces to fill, and he did so by stuffing children into machinery! Aw, so 1989 core!
“Welcome to New York (Taylor’s Version)” & Freddy Fazbear
Freddy Fazbear is the face of an iconic game series and film. Why? Because he’s a certified entertainer! Sporting a black top hat, classy bow tie, and microphone, Freddy came to sing, deliver quality performances, and murder anyone who stepped foot into his restaurant.
“Welcome to New York (Taylor’s Version)” is the opening track to the album. It’s a quintessential part of 1989‘s pop vibe and aesthetic. Depicting the rush and exhilaration of New York City, the song’s upbeat tempo and catchy lyrics mirror Freddy’s top-notch fashion sense and significance to the plot and lore of the FNAF franchise. Also, he would absolutely GIVE performing this song. Too bad the child inhabiting him is from the ’80s; he would have totally been a Swiftie.
“Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version)” & Bonnie
According to Scott Cawthon, creator of the FNAF franchise, Bonnie is the scariest out of all the animatronics he created. Cawthon once had a chilling nightmare of the infamous blue bunny standing outside his bedroom. In the film, this threatening depiction of Bonnie shines, because he did not come to play.
From staring intensely into the security cameras to cold-heartedly slicing his victims and ominously leaving traces of their blood as evidence, this animatronic parallels the cut-throat nature of “Bad Blood (Taylor’s Version).” Bonnie and Swift in this song are the epitome of “If you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned,” because both highlight the details of what happens when either is crossed. Of course, how both take out their grievances are drastically different, with one expressing their feelings through song, and the other resorting to murder, but it’s the thought that counts!
“Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar) (Taylor’s Version)” & Foxy
Don’t be confused: Foxy and Bonnie may share the same song, but the vibes are extremely different. “Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar) (Taylor’s Version)” is edgier, grittier, and colder than the original. Foxy has battle wounds (the patch over his eye), battle scars (his hook), has been body bumped and bruised (murdered, courtesy of Afton), and stabbed in the back (tricked and manipulated by Afton), so he clearly reflects the anger of this version of “Bad Blood.” Side note: his entrances and murder scenes were cold and he did NOT come to futz around.
“Style (Taylor’s Version)” & Chica
Chica is the It girl and she knows it! With her menace of a cupcake, Chica knew exactly how to locate her victims and handle them efficiently, doing her job with absolute ease, or dare I say style.
“Style (Taylor’s Version)” has the iconic guitar strums that lead into the synth beat of the song, which to me, captures the cool essence of someone walking into a room. She may not have “good girl faith” due to her previous murderous rampages, but Chica does know how to make an entrance. Both she and her devilish cupcake were quick to attack and arrive at the most inconvenient times for Mike, so every time I think of Chica entering a scene, I suddenly hear the heavenly guitar riffs from “Style.”
Now that I’ve combined Taylor Swift and FNAF, the two different fan girls in me can finally rest. I’ll see y’all next time when I match Reputation (Taylor’s Version) songs with another piece of media that is totally unrelated and probably shouldn’t be paired with Taylor Swift. But alas, this may be what I was put on this Earth to do.
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