Entertainment

Taylor Swift’s New Song "Ready For It" Might Mean Old Taylor Isn’t So Dead After All

by Lilli Petersen
Christopher Polk/Getty Images for TAS

On Saturday night, Taylor Swift blessed us with a new track off her upcoming album, Reputation. The new song, called “Ready For It,” debuted during a college football game on the evening of Sept. 2, and the full track dropped early the next day. And between the flirtatious tone, the references to a dude, and some very familiar-sounding lyrics, it's leaving everyone wondering, what does “Ready For It” mean?

The song is, in some ways, classic Old Taylor. It's about a dude, it's about a dude who's probably bad for her (or maybe she's bad for him, IDK, but "let the games begin" is not the best indicator of a healthy relationship on either side). Fans are already speculating who it might be about — and a few early contenders are her ex Calvin Harris, her other ex Harry Styles, or her current flame, Joe Alwyn. (The lyric, "younger than my exes but he act like such a man" is keeping the options limited.)

And despite all the assurances that Old Taylor is dead, the song has some pretty clear references to Old Tay. For one thing, parts of it sound pretty familiar to her song "Wildest Dreams," off of her 2014 album 1989, and a whole lot of the references match up, too. Both songs refer to the idea that "no one has to know," that our girl Tay can see how things are going to play out (WD: "I can see the end as it begins my one condition is," and RFI: "I see how this is gonna go"), and heck, the line "I see how this is gonna go" even kind of sounds like it came out of "Wildest Dreams," if you ask me.

Given that "Wildest Dreams" was rumored to be about Harry Styles, that's maybe points in the "it's about Harry" category? Listen, I'm not making definitive calls here. I'm just presenting the evidence and letting it speak for itself.

Either way, the song is sexy as hell and definitely sexier than "Wildest Dreams" ever was, so there's points in the New Taylor column too. I, for one, am definitely ready to accept that Taylor Swift's innocent ingenue era Over and declare myself ready for her Bad Girl era and Reputation. She may have meant the question "are you ready for it" to be aimed at the subject (dude) of the song, but let's be real, it's also for the fans. Are we ready for it? Well, are we?

Why, yes, Taylor. Yes we are.