Taylor Swift used her 23rd birthday yesterday to show the world that she’s not a little girl anymore by debuting her video for “I Knew You Were Trouble.” In the video for the third single from her Red album you won’t find one sundress, one glimpse of Paris, or even a flower. You will find an all grown-up Taylor Swift, although you may not recognize her at first.

Donning fedoras and flannel, sleeveless t’s and ripped jeans, and perhaps most shocking of all, a pink and blonde dip-dyed wig, Taylor stands in a parking lot looking around at the trouble that has been caused from her latest relationship. Different? Definitely. Believable? Not if you’ve been following Taylor’s career.

Wardrobe aside, this video provides for many of Taylor’s firsts. It is the first time she’s ever had an on-screen kiss in any video, it’s the first time as far as we can tell that she includes a spoken intro to the video, and it’s also the first time we’ve ever seen Taylor in a bar. A really tough, gritty bar.

That bar is one of the many settings in this video that portrays a punk lifestyle that just hasn’t been part of Taylor’s bag of tricks in the past. These settings are used as flashbacks from a time when she was happy with her boyfriend (Broadway star, Reeve Carney), to when she saw him cheating on her. A fight between her and her beau in a broken down apartment is also added in to make certain lyrics even more poignant; and to add to the “rougher side of the tracks” scenario Taylor’s trying to create.

The song is a good one, and definitely strays from Taylor’s musical roots, as does much of Red. But does this one go too far? While definitely not predictable, this one goes into a nearly surreal side of the sweet country girl we’ve seen with her past tracks, as well as videos. But, is that also the exact point Taylor’s trying to drive home? That’s for you to decide.

Check out the video here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2012 at 10:02 pm and is filed under Concerts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.