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TikTok can’t stop dancing to Taylor Swift’s ‘The Fate of Ophelia’
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” music video dropped, and TikTok creators are recreating the viral dance with their own flair.
Taylor Swift’s twelfth studio album “The Life of a Showgirl” talks a lot about Swift’s journey in the spotlight, but unfortunately, there is no behind-the-scenes look at the showgirl’s downtime at her Watch Hill mansion.
However, in a recent interview with SiriusXM, Swift discussed how certain lines in “The Fate of Ophelia,” the opening track and lead single from her new album, reference one of her many Rhode Island Fourth of July parties.
While the song overall says that fiance Travis Kelce coming into Swift’s life saved her from the fate of Ophelia from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” in the first verse, Swift talks about exactly when Kelce came into her life: “I swore my loyalty to me, myself and I / Right before you lit my sky up.”
In a recent interview with “Morning Mash Up” on SiriusXM Hits 1, host Nicole Ryan tells Swift she noticed the connection between her Instagram post and “The Fate of Ophelia” lyrics, with Swift responding “Oh my god, right?”.
Swift went on to talk about the irony in the timing of the caption, saying “how deranged is that post? I think back on that, I’m like that’s – there’s no way.”
“The fact that it was right before the Kansas City show, where like, I’d been like, ‘Happy Independence Day from your local, single girlies’ or something like that. And then I the next day go and play in Kansas City – not knowing that Travis was gonna come to the show,” Swift added. “It’s unreal.”
Here’s a breakdown of this reference, and how it involves Rhode Island.
Kelce first entered Swift’s life – or “lit her sky up” – by attending an Eras Tour concert in Kansas City, Missouri on July 8, 2023. Famously, Kelce brought a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it for the singer, and while he did not get to give it to Swift during the concert, the gesture launched their romance.
Where was Taylor Swift “right before” Kelce attended her concert? She was celebrating the Fourth of July with friends at her Rhode Island mansion. On July 7, 2023 – just one day before Kelce went to The Eras Tour – Swift posted on Instagram about the Ocean State celebration, sharing pictures posing in front of the water, laughing in the kitchen and enjoying red, white and blue popsicles with friends Este, Danielle and Alana Haim, as well as Selena Gomez, Ashley Avignone and Sydney Ness.
More interestingly, Swift’s caption for the post declared the single status of herself and her friends: “Happy belated Independence Day from your local neighborhood independent girlies.”
Swift directly references this declaration of her independence with the line “I swore my loyalty to me, myself and I.”
As if the callback to the specific caption is not enough, Swift solidifies the reference to her Rhode Island Taymerica bash with other clever references to Independence Day throughout “The Fate of Ophelia,” such as repetitions of “I pledge allegiance” in the chorus of the song and the image of a firework exploding with the line “you lit my sky up.”
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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