I listened to the song for a few times, and my opinion is just the same as after the first time: this song is simply not good. The lyrics contains a "kind of haters gonna hate" message but it's very weak, doesn't really work. It doesn't stand as a standalone song, it's more like background music you can hear in the elevator. Many critics analyzed the video's racist aspects so I wouldn't got into that.
And about the video: Taylor dancing together with a bunch of other dancers in different styles. Actually, she's not following those different styles (balet, twerking etc.), but doing her own moves all along, just like she says in the lyrics ("I'm dancing on my own, I'll make the moves up as I go"). The result is she's like trolling the professional dancers in their scenes.
Am I just another hater? I wouldn't like to consider myself as one. I'm a huge fan of Taylor, I like her unique style and I even used Taylor's Red album as a musical background in Office Sluts 3: Travels Abroad:
"But he said nothing, only pressed the Play button on the media player in the car. First I thought it would be AC/DC or Def Leppard or some other classic rock, maybe metal but it proved to be Taylor Swift’s new album, you know, the Red. I wouldn’t think about this guy listen to a country-pop female singer. He was actually thrumming on the wheel and singing the lyrics along!
“Taylor Swift was singing ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ when we arrived to the Doctor’s house. It was a beautiful villa at the side of the city, among the trees. It had large glass walls and a cubic structure."
But 'Shake It Off' is not good. That's it. It's lyrics is too simple, misses any unique cuteness Taylor did in songs like 'Red' or 'We Are Never Getting Back together'; and even its message has been told many times, more professionally, like Robbie Williams did recently:
Sorry, Taylor. For me, this song simply doesn't work. You simply didn't nail it this time. I hope the new album '1989' coming out in October, 2014 will contain better songs.
