WI’ve heard Taylor Swift sing about her romantic relationships and tell stories from history. On his new album, Department of Tortured Poets, Swift explores another topic: fame. Swift is without a doubt the most famous person in the world. She is boosting entire economies, she has been named as TIMEis Person of the Year and has a particularly fanatical fan base. So it makes sense that the 34-year-old singer would address how to deal with this level of fame at this point in her career.
Mega-stardom doesn’t seem to be all it’s cracked up to be, and Swift makes that known in new songs called “But Daddy I Love Him” and “Clara Bow.” The first is a more scathing critique of her fans and fame with some of her more scathing lyrics which could be referring to the way her fans have spoken critically about the rumors of her relationship with Matty Healy or the way people discuss her history. of dating as a whole.
Healy and Swift briefly dated in 2023 after her relationship with Joe Alwyn ended. Criticism of their relationship quickly began to mount after rumors surfaced that they were linked because of comments Healy made on a podcast about rapper Ice Spice’s appearance and heritage. He kind of apologized in interview The New Yorker. Swift never really addressed their relationship.
About Department of Tortured Poetsshe directly addresses her fans: “I’m going to tell you something now, I’d rather burn my whole life than listen to another second of all this bitching and moaning,” She sings. “I’ll tell you something about my good name, it’s only mine to misfortune, I don’t answer to all these vipers dressed in clothes of empathy.” The bridge goes even deeper. “God save the most critical scoundrels, who say they want the best for me, performing hypocritical soliloquies that I will never see,” Swift says of the criticism of her relationship. “To think that it could change the rhythm of my heart when it touches me, And neutralize the chemistry and undo the destiny.” Towards the end of the song, she says that scandal “does a funny thing to pride, but it brings lovers closer.”
“Clara Bow” refers to the actress who was a darling of the silent film era before successfully crossing over to the “talkies” at the start of the Great Depression in 1929. Because of her fame, Bow was one of the first celebrities to be received the nickname “It Girl”. The parallels between Bow and Swift are more than apparent, especially at this point in Swift’s career and with Margot Robbie playing a fictional version of Bow in 2022 Babylon.
The song begins with Swift seemingly singing to herself from a younger perspective, saying she looks like Clara Bow and wondering if she knew she would be “plucked like a rose” for this life of unimaginable fame. “No one in my little town thought I’d see the lights of Manhattan,” she sings, saying people doubted her as she ascended.
Swift continues to compare herself to Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and says people doubted she would “know the suits in Los Angeles.” The song ends with her singing, “You look like Taylor Swift in this light, we’re loving it. You have an advantage, she never did. The future is bright and dazzling.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
