The informercial-like retro video was written and directed by Swift and features a coda callback to the "Graham Norton" episode where the idea was seemingly hatched last October.
What if we told you that a simple spray of “Opalite” spray would make you irresistible? That’s the premise of Taylor Swift‘s eagerly awaited video for her The Life of a Showgirl single “Opalite,” which debuted on Apple Music and Spotify on Friday morning (Feb. 6). The retro-themed clip features Swift as a miss lonely hearts who spends her days pining for love in her bachelorette pad with her only companion coming in the form of a pet rock.
The clip opens with a grainy, VHS-like throwback late night informercial ad for the magical Opalite spray, which promises to turn your relationship “crappiness to happiness” with just one spritz. Sitting in her overstuffed living room, a housecoat-wearing Swift is roped into the ad’s pitch, gazing at her giant rock friend longingly, as she takes the stone to the park for a ride on the swing, gingerly treating it like a human companion.
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Between making fold-up “cootie catcher” fortune telling games and friendship bracelets by herself, smearing glitter on herself and her stone, which she takes along to karaoke and a bar, Swift seems content with her inanimate companion. After seeing actress Greta Lee (The Morning Show) on MTV strumming a guitar, Swift orders drinks for her and her pet rock. But when she pours the martini onto her pal, the bartender kindly asks her to leave.
Next, we see Swift doing a Jane Fonda workout on a step along with Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), with her rock taking the place of weights. “You couldn’t understand it/ Why you felt alone,” she sings as we see actor Domhnall Gleeson (The Paper) living an equally lonely life, laying in bed with a sleep mask on his forehead as he looks longingly at his companion, a tiny cactus tucked in next to him. He also takes his pal everywhere, even as his face and hands are increasingly swathed in bandages due to the plant’s spikes.
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Desperate for relief, both he and Swift order some Opalite, which they spray on their significant nothers, at which point a goo-covered Swift magically appears in Gleeson’s living room. The awkward couple begin their unlikely romance, with singer Lewis Capaldi making a cameo as a mall photographer who shoots them in increasingly bizarre poses.
Their mall adventure continues with a stop at a soft pretzel shop and a stroll past a cactus kiosk, where Gleeson’s spurned, spiky ex appears to be giving him two spiny middle fingers up and Swift’s rock displays a not-so-friendly friendship bracelet message. Other cameos include British talk show host Graham Norton as the owner of an Opalite shop and actor Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) as an Opalite pitchman.
The retro fun reaches its peak with a glittery dance routine featuring Swift and Gleeson doing adorable couples choreo at a dance competition where the elderly judges — as well as Swift dancer favorite Kameron “Kam” Saunders — seem unimpressed with their routine.
The clip ends with a call-back to a Norton Show appearance in October featuring the new video’s cast, during which Gleeson expressed his desire to one day be in a Swift music video, which begs the question of whether his comment was a bit, or a long con Easter egg Swift had planned all along?
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In an Instagram explainer Swift revealed, “When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall [Gleeson] made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*. And so a week later he received an email script I’d written for the ‘Opalite’ video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton Show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn’t mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video.”
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The “Opalite” video comes four months after Swift released her The Life of a Showgirl album, the Billboard 200 chart-topper that debuted at No. 1 following its Oct. 3 release and spent a total of 12 weeks at the pinnacle of the album chart. It’s just the second visual from the singer’s 12th studio album. The first, “The Fate of Ophelia,” debuted as part of Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl event, which hit movie theaters before debuting on YouTube two days later.
This time, however, Swifties will have to wait two days to see “Opalite” on YouTube, as it debuted today on Spotify and Apple Music only. The decision to delay the YouTube premiere follows YouTube’s December announcement that it was withdrawing its streaming data from all of Billboard‘s charts.
YouTube’s withdrawal came on the heels of Billboard‘s Dec. 16 announcement of a change to chart methodology that will continue to weigh subscription streams more favorably than ad-supported streams, in a bid to better reflect changing consumer behaviors and the increased revenue derived from streaming in the industry. The change means that paid/subscription streams will be weighted against ad-supported streams at a 1:2.5 ratio, narrowed from the previous 1:3 ratio.
