Cue the pen click.
one track in particular stood out: “Slut!”
You know, like a long-lost sister to “Blank Space.”
Taylor Swift performing during her Eras Tour.Kevin Winter/TAS23/Getty
Fans may be surprised, then, now that1989 (TV)has dropped, that “Slut!”
is none of those things.
For starters, it’s firmly mid-tempo.
The song is actually quite dreamscape-y.
However, it’s impossible to hear “Slut!”
and not think of it as a foil to “Blank Space.”
By writing the song from the perspective of that character, she reclaimed the narrative.
It was the mostReputation-y moment on a Taylor Swift album not namedReputation.
Swift uses similar imagery in the songs.
she’s got “love thorns all over this rose.”
she’s “all dressed up” and ready to go out with her man.
In “Blank Space,” she sings about rumors flying; in “Slut!”
the “sticks and stones they throw froze midair.”
Might blow up in your pretty face."
you could tell me when it’s over, if the high was worth the pain."
“Blank Space” basks in wink-faced snark, while “Slut!”
settles on the other end of the spectrum.
“And if I’m gonna be drunk, might as well be drunk in love.”
In other words, with “Slut!”
