Will Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” Be 2015’s Song Of The Summer?
Slip on your shades, grab a glass of lemonade and check back each weekday over the next week as we present you each Song Of The Summer contender.
Spectacle used to be an essential element of pop, where larger-than-life superstars ruled the charts with equally large music and campaigns. (Think Madonna burning crosses or Michael Jackson burning his Pepsi-heeeee!) There are still a few major superstars, but it’s the pop spectacle that has gotten small — especially when the closest thing we have is Beyoncé commanding us to become vegans on Good Morning America.
Praise Yeezus, then, for the volcanic level of pop spectacle unleashed by chart assassin Taylor Swift and her howl of righteous fury, “Bad Blood.” Whether or not you think it’s one of the better cuts on 1989, there is no denying that the song, video and its surrounding buzz have electrified a sluggish summer on the charts.
First, the world has been living for the “Bad Blood” backstabby backstory, allegedly starring one Katy Perry. When it was revealed that the hardened Prism-er was playing the Super Bowl, we frenzied over the possibility the singer would use the world’s biggest stage as the launch site for a retaliatory nuclear strike. Although Perry hasn’t fired back…yet, the delicious tingle of anticipation as these two world powers face off has sent shockwaves through both fandoms.
Then, there was the release of Taylor’s accompanying (and uber-stylish) Sin City-inspired music video. Epic in scope, it’s a clip for the ages that recalls the golden era of MTV, when big-event videos captured the world’s attention. Surrounded by a constellation of hotter-than-hot megatalents (and Selena Gomez), the popstress stuffed it with an escalating succession of did-you-see-that? moments — including the return of Cindy Crawford as “Headmistress.”
Finally, there’s the single itself. Too often, Songs of the Summer can be boiled down to “Love is nice. Sex is great. We boink now?” We need more nastiness like “Bad Blood,” which sounds like a playground taunt from those Village of the Damned children spliced with the elegant venom of Shakespears Sister’s 1989 “You’re History” tune (click here if you need a refresher). While the Kendrick Lamar remix is hot, I think the album’s Taylor-only version is hotter, especially the way that she Aretha-wails her anguish at Potentially-Katy-Perry around 3:16 into the song.
Although “Bad Blood” slashed its way to the top of the charts, its reign only lasted one week. It’s been hovering at number two, while eyeing the #1 spot. With more than 213 million views on the video and airplay rising, it wouldn’t surprise us if Taylor gets her revenge atop the Hot 100 once more. Simple to sing and impossible to forget, “Bad Blood” is better than it should be because it’s powered by the most popular, unstoppable dream team in pop today: Swift, Max Martin and Shellback.
Still ascendant, Taylor Swift is one of the few links we have to the previous eras of global superstars who once ruled the earth, especially after the tragic self-extinction of the Bitch-I’m-Madonnasaurus. “Bad Blood” proves that she’s only gotten bigger and better — so much so that she doesn’t just release a new single: Swift creates a postmodern pop spectacle experience. If the charts are Jurassic World, she’s the Indominus Rex. And anyone who tries to stop “Bad Blood” from becoming Song of the Summer? Well, they’re lunch.
Do you think Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” will be the song of the summer? Let us know below!
