Dripping in red and revenge, Taylor Swift crashes the wedding of her ex-boyfriend in spectacular style for her “I Bet You Think About Me” music video, which arrived on Monday.
Swift announced on Sunday that the previously unreleased song from her rerecorded album “Red,” which features country star Chris Stapleton, would get the music video treatment with Blake Lively at the helm in her directorial debut.
“The reddest video EVER is out now,” the 11-time Grammy winner wrote on social media. “Directed by @blakelively who SMASHED it just like I smashed this cake.”
The scorching takedown track about confronting a status-obsessed lover unfolds at a wedding, where the groom, played by actor Miles Teller, opens by somewhat shakily practicing his vows in the mirror.
Soon enough, the festivities begin. But Swift dressed all in red, is also in attendance as some sort of nuptial-ruining chaos demon, playing a waiter, master of ceremonies, wedding singer and, yes, even a bride.
The climax sees Swift gift Teller’s new wife (played by his real-life spouse Keleigh) a red scarf ― presumably the same one she famously references in her song “All Too Well.” She then joins him on the dance floor in a full wedding gown, as the music drops out in a particularly arresting moment.
But the video quickly cuts back to red, with Swift’s dress shape-shifting into a blood-red ballgown, as the entire wedding becomes infused with color.
“I bet you think about me when you say / ‘Oh my god, she’s insane, she wrote a song about me,’” Swift sings in the closing line. “I bet you think about me.”
Though the singer has never confirmed which ex her songs are about, fans insist that many of the tracks on “Red” are inspired by her short-lived romance with movie star Jake Gyllenhaal. Casting a well-known actor like Teller in the role of her former partner doesn’t exactly dispel the theory.
In Swift’s eyes, “I Bet You Think About Me” is what she called the “drinking song” off the album that’s meant to have a relatively light touch.
“We wanted this song to be, like, a comedic, tongue-in-cheek, funny, not caring what anyone thinks about you, sort of breakup song,” Swift said in a radio interview over the weekend. “Because there are a lot of different types of breakup songs on Red. Some of them are very sincere, some of them are very stoic and heartbreaking and sad. We wanted this to be, like, the moment where you’re like, ‘I don’t care about anything!’”
The single is one of a handful of previously unreleased tracks included on “Red (Taylor’s Version).” The album is a rerecording of Swift’s beloved 2012 album and part of her ongoing effort to reclaim ownership of her music catalogue.
Listen to “I Bet You Think About Me” below.