Some fans are reading the lyrics to one of Taylor Swift’s new songs as an attack on Swifties (Picture: Getty Images)
Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated new album The Tortured Poets Department is finally out, making it an almost religious holiday for devotees of the singer.
While most Swifties are rejoicing in the latest offering from their favourite musician, some are taking offense at the lyrics of one of the songs on the new album.
But Daddy I Love Him, the sixth song on the LP, seems to reference Swift’s brief romance with The 1975 front man Matty Healy, a fling that upset many fans last year.
Healy has previously come under fire for problematic comments he’d made about women, including Ice Spice and even Swift herself. As a result, Swifties all over the world took to the Internet to plead with Swift to stop dating the singer.
In the midst of this, Swift herself said she’d ‘never been more happy,’ but otherwise never publicly commented on the relationship or subsequent breakup.
When the split did come, a source told Entertainment Tonight: ‘They are both extremely busy and realized they’re not really compatible with each other.
Swift and Matty Healy dated briefly in the summer of 2023 following Swift’s breakup with longtime partner Joe Alwyn (Picture: Robert Kamau/GC Images)
‘Taylor’s friends want what’s best for her and aren’t shocked that their relationship fizzled out since she recently got out of a long-term relationship.’
Swift’s fans rejoiced in the end of the relationship, something she seems to take aim at now in the new song, criticising Swifties for not trusting her to make her own choices.
In one of the song’s verses, she scathingly sings: ‘I’ll tell you something right now / I’d rather burn my whole life down than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning / I’ll tell you something about my good name, it’s mine alone to disgrace / I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing.’
The Tortured Poets Department came out on April 19th 2024 (Credits: AP)
While Swift herself never commented on the controversy at the time, a source spoke to People in June about Healy and Swift’s romance.
‘He likes to provoke a response out of people,’ the source said. They continued to say that Swift is, ‘a grown woman more than capable of forming her own opinions about people. No one forces her into anything, especially not these days. She’s on top of the world.’
She seems to take even more direct aim at overinvolved fans in the pre chorus, singing: ‘“Stay away from her,” the saboteurs / Protested too much.’
Swift also makes fun of all the media attention and speculation her time with Healy provoked, singing on the track: ‘I’m having his baby, no, I’m not / But you should see your faces.’
Much of the promotional material for the new album portrays a darker, more unapologetic image of Swift (Picture: Taylor Swift / Instagram)
Fans were quick to notice the criticism Swift was laying at their door, taking to X to share their feelings about the new song.
User @makingthishurt wrote: ‘But daddy I love him literally being a f*** you to everyone in the month of may is genuinely the f***ing funniest thing she could’ve done and for that I applaud her.’
@eyesopens simply posted: ‘But daddy I love him swiftie diss track.’
@holy_schnitt wrote: ‘LMAO Taylor saw your think pieces about Matty Healy and wrote But Daddy I Love Him’
Throughout the song Swift repeats, ‘I’ll tell you something ’bout my good name / It’s mine alone to disgrace,’ firmly telling fans to let her live her life and make her own mistakes in peace.
But Daddy I Love Him full lyrics
Verse 1:
I forget how the west was won
I forget if this was ever fun
I just learned these people only raise you
To cage you
Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best
Clutchin’ their pearls sighing, “What a mess”
I just learned these people try and save you
‘Cause they hate you
Pre-Chorus:
To high a horse for a simple girl
To rise above it
They slammed the door on my whole world
The one thing I wanted
Chorus:
Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned
Scrеamin’, “But, daddy, I love him”
I’m having his baby, no, I’m not
But you should see your faces
I’m telling him to floor it through thе fences
No, I’m not coming to my senses
I know it’s crazy
But he’s the one I want
Verse 2:
Dutiful daughter all my plans were laid
Tendrils tucked into a woven braid
Growing up precocious sometimes means not growing up at all
He was chaos he was revelry
Bedroom eyes like a remedy
Soon enough the elders had convened down at the city hall
Pre-Chorus:
“Stay away from her,” the saboteurs
Protested too much
Lord knows the words we never heard
Just screeching tires of true love
Chorus:
And I’m running with my dress unbuttoned
Screaming, “But daddy I love him”
I’m having this baby
No, I’m not, but you should see your faces
I’m telling him to floor it through the fences
No, I’m not coming to my senses
I know it’s crazy
But he’s the one I want
I’ll tell you something right now
I’d rather burn my whole life down
Than listen to one more second of all this bitchin’ and moanin’
I’ll tell you something ’bout my good name
It’s mine alone to disgrace
I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing
Bridge:
God save the most judgmental creeps
Who say they want what’s best for me
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see
Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me
And counteract the chemistry
And undo the destiny
You ain’t gotta pray for me
Me and my wild boy
And all of this wild joy
If all you want is gray for me
It’s just white noise
It’s just my choice
Verse 3:
There’s a lot of people in town that I bestow upon my fakest smiles
Scandal does funny things to pride but brings lovers closer
We came back when the heat died down
Went to my parents and they came around
All the wine moms are still holding out
But fuck ’em, it’s over
Chorus:
Now I’m dancing in my dress in the sun and
Even my daddy just loves him
I’m his lady
And oh my God you should see your faces
Time, doesn’t it give some perspective
I know you can’t come to the wedding
I know it’s crazy but he’s the one I love
I’ll tell you something right now
You ain’t gotta pray for me
Me and my wild boy, and all of this wild joy
He was chaos, he was revelry
If all you want is gray for me
It’s just white noise, it’s my choice
Outro:
Screaming, “But daddy, I love him”
I’m having this baby
No, I’m not
But you should see your faces
And oh my God, you should see your faces
He was chaos, he was revelry
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