One Direction’s video for their new single, “Perfect,” is finally here. The British foursome dropped the new song last week, when it was already being compared to the sound of Taylor Swift’s hit single, “Style.”
In fact, One Direction’s new song seems like a response to Taylor Swift’s 2014 hit song “Style.” It didn’t take long for Directioners or Swifties to figure out the lyrics in the song are about Taylor Swift and Harry Styles’ short-lived relationship.
When “Perfect” was released last Friday, some of their fans listen to the song repeatedly and noticed that the lyrics in the new 1D song say, “And if you like midnight driving with the windows down,” which could be a response to “Style.” The song includes the opening line, “Midnight, you come and pick me up. No headlights.”
If you followed Styles and Swift closely during their relationship, then you would know that the two often met up in hotel rooms in the U.S. or the U.K. The song “Perfect” sums up their relationship with the line, “But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms, and if you like having secret little rendezvous.”
Of course, there’s the dead giveaway lyric that talks about a girl who’s known for writing breakup songs about her exes. The line says, “And if you’re looking for someone to write your breakup songs about baby, I’m perfect,” which made some think it was an outward diss to Taylor Swift!
Not only do the lyrics sound like a response to “Style,” but the song itself also sounds like Swift’s hit song. It didn’t take long for a fan to mash “Style” and “Perfect” together to create a song that sounds one-part annoying, and one-part interesting. The lyrics answer each other at the same time, and even end around the same time. It’s kind of like Styles is getting the last word on his relationship with the singer-songwriter.
Now that One Direction’s video for “Perfect” was released on Tuesday night, fans have been finding cues to that relate to Harry Styles’ relationship with Taylor Swift. If you pay attention, the video has a few cues that even relate to Swift’s “Style” video.
First off, let’s just say that 1D’s new video is set in a hotel overlooking New York City. The couple known as “Haylor” spent most of their three-month relationship in the city before the singer made the permanent move there. Swift and Styles were even photographed leaving and entering the same Manhattan hotel that’s used in the “Perfect” video.
At the beginning of the video, Liam Payne holds up a Polaroid photo . Tay Tay’s 1989 era has been all about her love for Polaroid photos. Even her album cover is a Polaroid photo of herself. In the song “Out Of The Woods,” she sings, “You took a Polaroid of us,” which is said to be about her short-lived relationship with Harry Styles.
There’s also the most obvious reference to Taylor Swift’s “Style” video, and that’s Harry Styles himself. Most of the focus is on him in the video. There’s also a seen that shows Styles laying down on a bed as smoke bellows in the background, which is similar to Swift’s “Style,” where her head fills up with smoke at the beginning of the video.
Style by Taylor Swift & Perfect by One Direction pic.twitter.com/vW1sBstIhR
— horan (@wisterianiall) October 20, 2015
#1DJapan #PerfectMusicVideo #onedirection #EMABiggesFans1D #style #TaylorSwift pic.twitter.com/wPeyaXBoR6
— SEIA. (@chErish_QuiNn21) October 21, 2015
The Hollywood Life missed this other cue, but there’s another shot of Harry pondering about Taylor as he sits on the bed. Then a pair of eyes appear out from behind them, like a pair of eyes appear behind Taylor in the “Style” video. But it’s clear that “Perfect” and “Style” are not similar, since one is shot in black-and-white, and another is shot in what looks like an Instagram filter.
One Direction’s “Perfect” video is not all about Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. The new video shows all four guys getting into their own trouble in hotel rooms, having a business meeting, and smoldering for the camera. There are also shots of Liam Payne mixing music on his laptop and getting tattooed, as Niall Horan plays a guitar and plays some golf in his hotel room. Tomlinson gets into mischief by kicking a soccer ball in the hallways, and Styles tries on some luxury suits.
The boy band had to cancel their Belfast concert because Liam Payne was too ill to take the stage. It looks like One Direction’s new music video for “Perfect” made up for it, since it was the top trending topic on Twitter on Tuesday night.
What are your thoughts on One Direction’s “Perfect” video? Do you think the song and video is about Harry Styles and Taylor Swift? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.
[Photo by Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images]