In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, pop star Taylor Swift gushed about her love of Game of Thrones and how the HBO series inspired her last album, Reputation. She’d started watching the series in 2016, while working on her sixth studio album, and pretty soon, found herself constantly thinking about Game of Thrones — so much so, that key arcs of the show became integrated into the music. “These songs were half based on what I was going through, but seeing them through a Game of Thrones filter,” Swift told Entertainment Weekly. “‘Look What You Made Me Do’ is literally Arya Stark’s kill list. ‘King of My Heart’ was influenced by Khal Drogo and Daenerys. It’s even got this post-hook of drums — I wanted them to sound like Dothraki drums.” “Look What You Made Me Do” was the first single off Reputation, and almost immediately upon release, fans noticed parallels in the lyrics and the very public feud that Taylor Swift had with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. A look at the lyrics definitely does draw up some Arya Stark Kill List comparisons, especially the pre-chorus, which does, in fact, reference a list: But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined I check it once, then I check it twice, oh! It’s not just Arya Stark who inspired the revenge song, though. Swift added that song also has “Cersei vibes. Daenerys, too.” Fans continued to pour over the subsequent music video for “Look What You Made Me Do,” looking for references to other celebrity rivalries involving Swift, including Katy Perry and Beyonce. Every frame of the video is chock full of references, which Swift seems quite pleased about. “Literally the whole video is just an Easter egg,” said Swift in an EW video about her love of leaving little tidbits for fans to pick up on within her work. “There’s like thousands of Easter eggs. There are some people still haven’t found. It will be decades before people find them all.” Reputation mixes songs about vengeance and songs about exploring love. As we head into the final two episodes of Game of Thrones, maybe it’s time to give Reputation another listen, now that we know its origins.<doc-sep>Not only is Taylor Swift a huge “Game of Thrones” fan, but the singer has admitted the hit show even influenced her 2017 album “Reputation.” The 29-year-old started watching the HBO series in 2016, around when she was working on “Reputation,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “So much of my imagination was spent on ‘Game of Thrones,’” she told the outlet. “At the time, I was making ‘Reputation’ and I didn’t talk about it in interviews, so I didn’t reveal that a lot of the songs were influenced by the show.” FANS ACCUSE TAYLOR SWIFT OF ‘COPYING’ BEYONCE’S PERFORMANCE AT 2019 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS Swift explained that the album was focused on revenge, but also finding “something sacred throughout all the battle cries.” “These songs were half based on what I was going through, but seeing them through a ‘Game of Thrones’ filter,” she said. “‘Look What You Made Me Do’ is literally Arya Stark’s kill list. ‘King of My Heart’ was influenced by Khal Drogo and Daenerys. It’s even got this post-hook of drums — I wanted them to sound like Dothraki drums,” she explained. She even wrote some songs based on specific plot points. “‘I Did Something Bad’ I wrote after Arya and Sansa conspire to kill Littlefinger,” she told the outlet. “Game of Thrones” also inspired Swift to drop even more clues in her songs -- something she’s been known to do before. “My entire outlook on storytelling has been shaped by [‘Game of Thrones’] — the ability to foreshadow stories, to meticulously craft cryptic story lines,” she said. “So, I found ways to get more cryptic with information and still be able to share messages with the fans. I aspire to be one one-millionth of the kind of hint dropper the makers of ‘Game of Thrones’ have been,” she added. ‘GAME OF THRONES’ STAR EMILIA CLARKE SAYS SHE FELT ‘DEEPLY UNATTRACTIVE’ FOLLOWING BRAIN ANEURYSM SURGERY Swift has also enjoyed the character development on the show, she said. “You find yourself identifying with different characters several times an episode,” she said. “You go from hating someone to loving someone. You see someone as cold, and then you see the reasons behind why they do what they do.” “I just feel so lucky to exist when ‘Game of Thrones’ is coming out,” she added. The pop star even told the outlet her theory on who would end up on the Iron Throne. “Daenerys, Arya, or Sansa,” she said. “But if I’m being realistic, I think Sansa has the skill set and the ability to delegate and put on a brave face but a stoic demeanor.”<doc-sep>Game of Thrones Close this dialog window Streaming Options Taylor Swift began binge-watching Game of Thrones in 2016. Though she’d heard rumblings about a Red Wedding, the pop star managed to stay away from most major spoilers. “I can avoid pretty much any information,” she tells EW. “For a couple years, every time I’d see my name in print, I’d throw the phone. If you can avoid your own presence, spoilers [are] easy.” Though she began watching the show for pleasure, her interest soon made its way into her life in different ways. As she reveals here for the first time, the dark and twisted world of George R.R. Martin began to infiltrate her music. “So much of my imagination was spent on Game of Thrones,” she says. “At the time, I was making reputation and I didn’t talk about it in interviews, so I didn’t reveal that a lot of the songs were influenced by the show.” (Shout out to EW’s James Hibberd, who called that one.) Swift adds that reputation ended up turning into a split album, with one side featuring weaponized songs about vengeance, and the other exploring love and looking to find “something sacred throughout all the battle cries.” Sounds like the recipe for an epic, Westerosi-style plot. “These songs were half based on what I was going through, but seeing them through a Game of Thrones filter,” Swift says. “‘Look What You Made Me Do’ is literally Arya Stark’s kill list. ‘King of My Heart’ was influenced by Khal Drogo and Daenerys. It’s even got this post-hook of drums — I wanted them to sound like Dothraki drums.” She also wrote lines based on plots from season 7 right before the record dropped. “‘I Did Something Bad’ I wrote after Arya and Sansa conspire to kill Littlefinger,” she says. That and “Look What You Made Me Do,” she adds, “are very Cersei vibes, too. Daenerys as well.” Though she hasn’t confessed the Thrones connection to any cast members (she’s met both Sophie Turner and Emilia Clarke), Swift did tell series creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff once at a party. “I was sitting there going, ‘Do I tell them? Is that weird? No one asked for this information.’ [But] one of the first things they said was ‘Our daughters love your music.’ I’m like, ‘This is my in.’” (The showrunners were flattered by Swift’s fandom.) While Swift loves adding little clues in her songs for fans to find, GoT influenced her to up her game. “My entire outlook on storytelling has been shaped by [Thrones] — the ability to foreshadow stories, to meticulously craft cryptic story lines,” she says. “So, I found ways to get more cryptic with information and still be able to share messages with the fans. I aspire to be one one-millionth of the kind of hint dropper the makers of Game of Thrones have been.” Another reason Swift loves the show is the way it builds characters. “You find yourself identifying with different characters several times an episode,” she says. “You go from hating someone to loving someone. You see someone as cold, and then you see the reasons behind why they do what they do. I just feel so lucky to exist when Game of Thrones is coming out.” So who does she think will end up on the Iron Throne? “Daenerys, Arya, or Sansa,” she says. “But if I’m being realistic, I think Sansa has the skill set and the ability to delegate and put on a brave face but a stoic demeanor.” Then what happens to Arya? “Arya [would] be Hand of the King.” And then, hopefully, Swift will write an anthem called “Not Today.” For more on Taylor Swift, pick up Entertainment Weekly’s special double music issue on stands Friday, or buy it here now. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW. Close this dialog window Streaming Options Related content:<doc-sep>
Taylor Swift has revealed in a new interview how Game of Thrones helped to inspire her last album, ‘Reputation.’ Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Swift said many of the songs on her last album were influenced by the show, which she began “binge-watching” in 2016. Swift said: “So much of my imagination was spent on Game of Thrones…I was making ‘Reputation’ and I didn’t talk about it in interviews, so I didn’t reveal that a lot of the songs were influenced by the show.” Later in the interview, Swift added that Game of Thrones was also an influence the album’s “split” structure, with one half of the album exploring “vengeance” and the other finding “something sacred through the battle cries.” Swift explained: “These songs were half based on what I was going through, but seeing them through a Game of Thrones filter….‘Look What You Made Me Do’ is literally Arya Stark’s kill list. ‘King of My Heart’ was influenced by Khal Drogo and Daenerys. It’s even got this post-hook of drums — I wanted them to sound like Dothraki drums.” Swift also revealed that she even wrote songs based on Season 7 immediately before the record was released. “‘I Did Something Bad’ I wrote after Arya and Sansa conspire to kill Littlefinger. That and ‘Look What You Made Me Do,’ have “Cersei vibes, too. Daenerys as well,” Swift added. Swift said that she began watching the show in 2016 and whilst she hasn’t spoken about the influence publicly before, she has revealed the influence to the show’s creators, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, at a party. Swift revealed: “I was sitting there going, ‘Do I tell them? Is that weird? No one asked for this information.’ [But] one of the first things they said was ‘Our daughters love your music.’ I’m like, ‘This is my in.’” “My entire outlook on storytelling has been shaped by [Game of Thrones] — the ability to foreshadow stories, to meticulously craft cryptic story lines…So, I found ways to get more cryptic with information and still be able to share messages with the fans. I aspire to be one one-millionth of the kind of hint dropper the makers of Game of Thrones have been.” Swift said she’d also learned a lot about characterisation from the show: “You find yourself identifying with different characters several times an episode…You go from hating someone to loving someone. You see someone as cold, and then you see the reasons behind why they do what they do. I just feel so lucky to exist when Game of Thrones is coming out.” Meanwhile, Swift recently revealed the title for her next album is hidden in the video for her comeback single, ‘ME!’. The track, which features Panic! At The Disco’s Brendon Urie, was released last week (April 26), after the pop star teased a big announcement with a countdown clock posted on her Instagram story. During a new interview on the Zach Sang Show, Swift confirmed that fans could find the name of her next album, currently dubbed ‘TS7’, within the Dave Meyers-directed clip. “A few people have gotten it,” she added. “I haven’t told them yet.”