Taylor Swift’s New Album Faces Controversy over Lyrics

Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department: debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart on April 19, 2024.

The surprise double-album consists of 31 songs, ranging from the heartbreak ballad, ‘So Long, London’ to the upbeat summer anthem, ‘So High School’.

Despite the immediate success of the album, certain songs have caused controversy among Swift’s fanbase. Songs ‘I Hate it Here’ and ‘thanK you aIMee’ have received the most scrutiny. 

‘I Hate it Here’ focuses on feelings of nostalgia and becoming disenchanted with the past. One line in particular, however, has some people criticizing Swift. The line reads, “My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade we wish we could live in instead of this. I’d say the 1830’s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid.”

According to Jay Stahl, writing for USA Today, some fans have called the lyric insensitive and unnecessary. They feel as though Swift is placing “rose colored glasses” on the past at the expense of people of color. 

Others, however, feel as though the lyric only adds to the overall theme of the song. These fans say that the whole idea of the song is to point out that the past is not as pure and desirable as it seems, and this line is a prime example of that theme. 

Current Fleetwood Area High School senior Hailey Olivieri said, “I do think it’s a really good song. I think it adds to and is beneficial to the album.”

Another surprise among the extra songs, ‘thanK you aIMee’ has received backlash. The song seems to focus on the mid-2000’s feud between Swift and Kim Kardashian. Between the capitalization in the song’s title and lines about mean girls and bullies, fans are convinced the song is a dig at Kardashian. 

Although there has been no official response from Kardashian, Entertainment Tonight and People Magazine have reported that individuals close to Kardashian claim that she believes Swift should simply move on.