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Music

25th Aug 2017

WATCH: There’s a very good reason why Taylor Swift’s new song sounds a bit ‘Right Said Fred’

Did you notice the similarity?

Nooruddean Choudry

Have you heard it yet?

Taylor Swift released the first song from her eagerly-awaited new album Reputation on Friday morning, and the reaction was predictably divided. Some find ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ to be a more grown up, less sugary anthem for those who’ve just had enough of other people’s shit, whilst others feel it lacks the hook or actual melody of a great pop song.

Whilst the internet tries to decipher the meaning of the lyrics and whether or not they’re a personal attack on Kanye West, others have noticed a startling similarity to a very unlikely reference point. British trio Right Said Fred’s 1992 hit ‘I’m Too Sexy’ has been cited as a source of inspiration, with some people slicing the songs together to prove the point.

But it’s not just folk putting two and two together and getting five – because there is a very real connection between the two. LWYMMD actually includes RSF in the official blurb, explaining that the song contains ‘an interpolation of a melody’ from ‘I’m Too Sexy’. Indeed the boys have responded via Twitter.

The track credits list Swift, Jack Antonoff, and three members of Right Said Fred: Richard Fairbrass, Fred Fairbrass and Rob Manzoli. Incidentally, we just sampled that last sentence from a Pitchfork article – META!