Taylor Swift has revealed that the intense scrutiny from her fanbase, who often go to “extreme” lengths to decode hidden meanings in her lyrics, can become “a little bit weird”. The US pop superstar admitted she must “hold tight” to her own interpretation of her music, as fans frequently overanalyse elements, turning her songs into what she describes as a “paternity test”.
Speaking to The New York Times about her songwriting process, the 36-year-old explained: “There’s corners of my fan base who are going to take things to a really extreme place. There’s nothing I can do about that. There’s people who are gonna try to do detective work, figure out the details – who is that about? What is this?”
The chart-topping artist elaborated on her discomfort, stating: “When it gets a little bit weird, for me, is when people act like it’s sort of like a paternity test – like this song’s about that person, because I’m like, ‘that dude didn’t write the song, I did’. But that’s part of it. You have to hold tight to your perception of your art, your art, and your relationship with it. Then you just kind of have to be like, there it goes, I hope you like it. If you don’t now I hope you do in five years and, if you never do, then I was doing it for me anyway.”
Swift also reflected on how criticism has served as a “huge fuel” throughout her career, describing it as “a huge jumping off point, like a creative writing prompt or something.” The star has faced ongoing scrutiny over her high-profile relationships, including those with Matty Healy, Harry Styles, Tom Hiddleston, Calvin Harris, and Jake Gyllenhaal. She has often been accused of exclusively writing about former partners, a notion she has previously challenged by highlighting the double standard applied to male artists.
She cited specific examples, saying: “There are so many songs in my career that would not exist, like Blank Space would not exist if I hadn’t had people being like, ‘here’s a slideshow of all her boyfriends’. Then Anti Hero is a song that I’m so proud of still – that song doesn’t exist if I don’t get criticised for every aspect of my personality that people have a problem with or whatever.”
Offering advice to emerging artists, Swift added: “When I sit down with new artists or songwriters I’m like, ‘why are you reading your comments?’ Like, that’s too much of it, you’re inundating yourself with too much criticism that doesn’t really have a focus. But, I think a little bit of it, you’ve got to just be like ‘this is part of it’. Don’t make this make you stop writing, or make you edit yourself, or whatever. If it’s an interesting point for you to kind of respond to, then that’s a gift for you to be able to write something. Don’t respond to like trolls in your comments. That’s not what we want from you. We want your art.”
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