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Annika Harris

Professor Hellmers

Eng Comp 1201

Feb 9, 2022

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

The song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” by Taylor Swift was first released

along with the accompanying music video in 2012. That same year Megan Nicole made her own

version of the music video. Both videos tell a story about an ex-boyfriend who wants forgiveness

and why the relationship cannot be repaired. The videos also send a message to their audience

of empowerment and respecting yourself enough to avoid toxic or one sided relationships. The

two videos are rather similar in style and message. Despite the Taylor Swift video being better

funded, Megan Nicole's version communicates the message much more vividly and effectively.

Taylor’s music video “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” begins with Taylor in

her apartment. Her boyfriend shows up looking for forgiveness and Taylor kicks him out. The

scene then segues into dancing followed by Taylor and her boyfriend arguing over breakfast. In

a later scene he calls her from a bar to apologize. Even though there is a lot of arguing between

the characters, the video does not provide examples of why the relationship is toxic or

one-sided. The video also uses many props and costumes along with a lot of switching scenes

and dancing. There are more scenes of arguing and an example of Taylor and her boyfriend

happily taking a walk towards the end of the video. During the chorus, there is a lot of dancing

and showcasing the musicians who are all wearing fuzzy animal costumes. Throughout the

video, the costumes change constantly and there are lots of props. The backgrounds in each

scene are often cluttered and include irrelevant details that cloud the story along with making it

more difficult for the audience to quickly determine the setting/context of the story. Despite
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Taylor Swift being a big name and having a larger budget, many of the props are obviously

props. For example, there is a car that is made out of cardboard. Taylor often looks directly at

the camera, which makes the story harder to follow by constantly breaking the fourth wall and

acknowledging the audience. Since the story is so hard to follow, the impact of why the

relationship needs to end is completely lost.

From the very first scene of Megan Nicole's version of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back

Together”, the actors demonstrate why the relationship is not healthy and why some boundaries

need to be set. In this video the backgrounds are simple and the context of each scene can be

determined in a glance. In addition the actors are interacting with each other instead of with the

camera/audience. Megan's “boyfriend” is patronizing towards her by patting her head like she is

a young child and then leaves to take a call. When her boyfriend calls wanting to get back

together, Megan sheds new light on lyrics such as “Then you come around again” and “We

called it off again last night” referring to the vicious cycle the relationship is in. Next the video

shows examples of the boyfriend paying more attention to other girls than to her and putting his

friends' opinions over Megan. Finally the video ends with Megan deciding enough is enough.

The singer completely rejects the guy by throwing away flowers he brings her, burning their

pictures, and breaking up for good. These examples demonstrate the growth of the character

over the course of the video and empowers one to end a toxic relationship.

Although the two videos are by different artists they do have many similarities. Megan

Nicole's remix of Taylor's song stayed true to the original lyrics and upbeat tune. Both videos are

geared towards an audience of teenage and college aged girls. Taylor’s audience would appeal

to a slightly older woman since the video shows she has her own apartment and lives with her

boyfriend for a while. Megan’s video is set in one bedroom of a larger house appealing to those

still living at home. Another similarity in both videos is the use of phones as a prop and to tie into

lyrics such as: “You called me up again tonight.” Both singers showed a break-up from their

point of view and used the video to augment the song. Taylor’s video highlights her talents as a
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singer, dancer, and actor while minimizing the larger message. Megan's to the point video gets

the message across with more clarity and is a more powerful example for the audience.

The difference in budget for the two videos is obvious. As a big star, Taylor’s video has

many more sets, costumes, and a lot of side characters/backup dancers. However Taylor’s

message is lost in all of the frivolous and random extras. In contrast, the simplicity in Megan

Nicole’s video makes the story stand out more and creates a stronger message that is easily

perceived. Taylor originally wrote the lyrics. However in Taylor’s video the meaning of the lyrics

is often lost in the dancing and props because the focus is on the singer and her band. One

video fixates on Taylor Swift, the popstar, and the other is more intent on the story and message

of the song. Megan Nicole’s video is the more lasting and impactful of the two since it does such

an excellent job of empowering women to step away from an unhealthy relationship and

normalizing healthy boundaries.

Works Cited

“Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” YouTube, uploaded by Taylor Swift,

31 Aug. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4iX5D9Z64 Accessed Feb 7, 2022

“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together-Taylor Swift (cover) Megan Nicole” YouTube,

uploaded by Megan Nicole, 19 Aug. 2012,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkw8O180ouI Accessed Feb 7, 2022