Taylor Swift shows off feisty side in punchy new music video

Taylor Swift unveiled her darker side in her revenge-seeking new music video, laced with fun jibes at both herself and her contemporaries.

The star’s feisty song Look What You Made Me Do was released on Friday and is believed to be a diss track aimed at the likes of her reported foes Kanye West and Katy Perry. The video was debuted at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.

The highly stylised clip begins with Swift dressed as a zombie climbing out of a grave topped with a headstone reading “Here lies Taylor Swift’s reputation”.

Swift then proceeds to take on a series of other gritty personas, including a leather-clad biker, a car-crashing celebrity, a glamorous woman bathing in a bath of diamonds, a bank robber wearing a kitty mask and a dominatrix.

She appears to poke fun at her relationship with former partner Tom Hiddleston as her backing dancers wear tops emblazoned with “I (heart) TS”, referencing a much-mocked vest the British actor was pictured wearing last year.

The video culminates in different iterations of her ‘former’ self, from music videos and performances, falling down into the abyss.

Dressed in outfits she has previously worn, they are then lined up in front of an aeroplane with the word of Swift’s new album Reputation written across it.

One Swift says to a crying version of herself: “There she goes, playing the victim – again.”

The pop star also mocks the moment West crashed the stage as she gave an acceptance speech during the MTV VMAs in 2009.

Wearing the same outfit, Swift repeats words used in a statement given last year in response to a feud with the rapper: “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.”

Within seven hours of the music video airing during the awards ceremony, it had notched up more than 10 million streams online.

Viewers enjoyed the video, with one writing on Twitter that “no on can roast Taylor Swift better than Taylor Swift herself”.

Another said: “This is the best version of Taylor Swift we’ve ever seen. And all of her past versions had been amazing.”

One excited fan wrote: “Taylor Swift playing Taylor Swifts dragging Taylor Swifts in one of the most epic videos of all time. Yeah, she’s won.”

For some, the symbolism in the video had them working hard.

One person said: “Taylor Swift got me dissecting metaphors and imagery like I haven’t done since my book report on To Kill A Mockingbird in 9th grade.”

“I watched the video for Taylor Swift’s new single. Am quite confident that every frame is laden with meaning that I don’t get,” another added.

Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do is the first track from her forthcoming album Reputation, set for release in November.

The release of the track and video came after Swift wiped her social media channels last week before sharing cryptic videos of snakes on her pages.