Taylor Swift dropped her new song “Me” featuring Brendon Urie, of Panic! At the Disco, on April 26. The music video is interesting, yet overwhelming. It is plastered with pastels to the point it is excessive and gives no chance to breathe. The song seems standard, and honestly quite bland, until Urie arrives, sparking a charming duet of young love, confidence and liberation. Although, it is not a song I would personally look for to add to my playlist.

Beginning with symbolism from the moment the video begins, with a pastel snake slithering down the road, an ode to her reputation as cold blooded, the snake suddenly then bursts into butterflies, an evolution in not only Swift’s music, but her personality and reputation as well. She had initially gained the reputation as a response from her feuds with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, after West had referred to her in a song in a way that she believed to be misogynistic, in which not only did she not approve, but was offended by how she was referenced. Kardashian had responded with snake emojis, claiming later through a video as evidence that Swift had approved of the lyrics, spawning thousands of people to send snake emojis to Swift. In her recent music Swift has been trying to shake this image, with the symbolism in this opening scene emblematic of that.

Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days! 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 17, 2016

The secondary scene of “Me,” an adorably pasteled scene of Swift and Urie speaking French, is an obvious nod to an over dramatized breakup, of which Swift is infamous for. Swift’s accent is quickly distinguishable as not authentic, nor accurate to a Parisian French accent, which is bothersome at best and cringeworthy at worst. This scene is not the only nod to the iconic French capital, with classic Parisian styles of both clothing and architecture littered throughout the music video, all painted in pastels.

Throughout the video there is multiple changes of styles, all coated in colors, but with the same degree of seemingly happy emotion. One of the best things with the video as a whole was the animation, with multiple portions that had animations that Swift and Urie interact with in a seamless way.

Swift has said that this latest release is “a song about embracing your individuality and really celebrating and owning it.” Her goal with “Me” was “to be [a pop song] that makes them feel better about themselves, not worse,” Swift had stated according to the New York Times.

Garnering 65.2 million views in 24 hours, it has acquired the second most views in it’s first day, behind the South Korean group BTS, which had acquired 74.6 million views with their music video “Boy with Luv” featuring Halsey. She did however beat out BLACKPINK, who had set the record just a month ago, being surpassed by BTS, and now dropping to third after Swift’s release.

The song seemed like something we need right now, but are not currently ready for. The video is overly optimistic in a time that many people are in a position of the exact opposite. Although a good effort by Swift, the video and song seems like it should have come out in early 2013, released by Katy Perry, to go with the other hits by artists such as Kesha.