Patti Smith responds to Taylor Swift name-check on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
Patti Smith has responded to Taylor Swift inserting her name into the title track of her new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.
In the song, Swift makes reference to Smith and the poet Dylan Thomas in the lyric: “I laughed in your face and said, ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel / We’re modern idiots.’”
It is thought that the title track refers to her short-lived relationship with The 1975‘s Matty Healy and her comment about Smith and Dylan refers to the 1975 frontman and herself in the sense that the pair should not take themselves so seriously and they are just “modern idiots”, according to Today.
Now, Smith has had her say on her name being dropped in the song in a social media post featuring a photo of her reading Thomas. “This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor.”
Numerous artists are namechecked throughout ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. The title track refers to a “Lucy”, which fans seem convinced is a reference to Lucy Dacus, one third of the Grammy-winning group boygenius. Charlie Puth gets a shout out on the same song, while fans are also speculating about whether ‘thanK you aIMee’ is aimed at Kim Kardashian.
Swift also namechecked the cult Scottish indie band The Blue Nile on ‘Guilty As Sin?’, which appears to be another nod to Healy.
In NME‘s three star review of Swift’s new album, it spoke further of Healy and Swift’s relationship on ‘But Daddy I Love Him’, which “seemingly exists as her response to the backlash against her brief relationship with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
“Their fleeting romance, which seems to be the muse for much of the record, triggered an explosive reaction from her fanbase who were distraught at Swift’s public association to the singer, given his slew of controversial comments (a few of which centred around her soon-to-be collaborator Ice Spice).”
Following the LP’s release, Swift will resume her career-spanning ‘Eras Tour’ in Europe next month before heading to the UK and Ireland in June. Swift is due to play eight shows at Wembley Stadium in London this summer as part of the run, with support coming from Paramore.
The post Patti Smith responds to Taylor Swift name-check on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ appeared first on NME.
Emma Wilkes
NME
