PHOTO: Big Machine Records

If you have a pulse, you’ve undoubtedly heard Taylor Swift’s new song “Look What You Made Me Do,” in which she declares the “Old Taylor” is dead. The meaning behind this lyric is still a mystery. Fans originally thought it meant Swift was abandoning her old, smiley personality, but that went out the window when she appeared in an AT&T ad filled with cuddly cats and cookie dough. Perhaps the line is directed at the media: The “Old Taylor” sat back and ignored tabloids, but “New Taylor” is firing back in the form of an album where half her face is filled with newspaper print on the cover. Maybe it means she’s no longer going to wear her hair in loose curls.

Or maybe “Old Taylor” doesn’t mean anything at all—that’s what Joseph Kahn sort of suggests in his new interview with Variety. The director, who helmed the “Look What You Made Me Do” video, says that Swift is “consistent” in who she is—which basically means “Old Taylor” and “New Taylor” are the same.

“Taylor is Taylor,” Kahn said. “She’s so consistent in who she is. Her imaging may be changing depending on what the thematics of the art is that she’s producing, [but] the person remains the same. There’s a core person there that’s really a fantastic human being.”

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In other words, Swift is doing what dozens of pop artists do every few years: She’s reinventing. This doesn’t mean she’s altering herself: She’s just adapting her public image to fit the story she’s telling. Madonna and Rihanna are pros at this—and now so is Swift. Her former self isn’t dead—just her former image.

It’s interesting many people think Swift is literally changing herself with this new music, like she’s “method singing” or something. This is a phenomenon I’ve noticed with female performers: Oftentimes, people can’t separate the work from the artist. Their public personas and real lives are inextricably linked, which is very frustrating. Female artists should be able to express themselves creatively without the world thinking there’s trouble or change in their personal lives. Sometimes, it really isn’t that deep.

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