Current:Home > MarketsTaylor Swift draws backlash for 'all the racists' lyrics on new 'Tortured Poets' album -NextGenWealth
Taylor Swift draws backlash for 'all the racists' lyrics on new 'Tortured Poets' album
View
Date:2025-04-18 21:48:39
Taylor Swift released a new album Friday, but not all listeners are loving a controversial line from her new song, "I Hate It Here."
In the track off of "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," a deluxe version of her new album, the Eras Tour singer sings about discontent and the way our recollections are distorted by nostalgia. In it, she says she wants to return to an era that ended more than a century before her career began.
"My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this / I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid," Swift sings in the track.
What we know about Taylor Swift's'The Tortured Poets Department' album so far
The Civil War began in 1861, more than 30 years after the decade Swift references in the song. Slavery was still active in the United States during this time.
"Everyone would look down 'cause it wasn't fun now seems like it was never even fun back then / Nostalgia is a mind's trick if I'd been there, I'd hate it," she sings. "It was freezing in the palace."
'So many wrong things about this:' Social media users react to Taylor Swift's 'I Hate It Here' lyrics
The controversial line has drawn the ire of the internet and fueled conversations around Swift's lyricism. Users on X, formerly known as Twitter, reacted to Swift's "I Hate It Here" lyrics.
"y’all .. there are so many wrong things about this," one user wrote, while posting a screenshot of the song's lyrics from Genius.
Slavery's explosive growth, in charts:How '20 and odd' became millions
"'I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists' now Taylor …" another user commented.
Other fans on X defended Swift's songwriting capabilities as historical analysis.
"It's an interesting commentary on how we sometimes idealize certain eras without fully considering the realities of living in them," one commenter said.
'The Tortured Poets Department' features 31 songs
Swift's 11th album "The Tortured Poets Department" features 31 songs, when you add in the 15-song deluxe version "The Anthology," which includes "I Hate It Here." The album draws on heartbreak and coming of age, traditional themes for one of the world's most famous people and songwriters.
Lead single "Fortnight" features rapper and singer Post Malone.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- New Hunger Games book announced for 2025 — 4 years after last release
- North Carolina House speaker says university athletics scheduling bill isn’t going further
- Robinhood to acquire Bitstamp crypto exchange in $200 million deal
- Plunge Into These Olympic Artistic Swimmers’ Hair and Makeup Secrets
- Vanna White sends tearful farewell to Pat Sajak on 'Wheel of Fortune': 'I love you, Pat!'
- Wheel of Fortune's Vanna White Says Goodbye to Pat Sajak in Emotional Message
- Gabourey Sidibe Gives Birth, Welcomes Twins With Husband Brandon Frankel
- Euphoria's Hunter Schafer Says Ex Dominic Fike Cheated on Her Before Breakup
- Kickoff Pride Month with Kate Spade Outlet's Super Cute Pride Collection, with Deals Starting at $29
Ranking
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- The prosecution is wrapping up in Hunter Biden’s gun trial. There are 2 more witnesses expected
- Zombies: Ranks of world’s most debt-hobbled companies are soaring - and not all will survive
- Halsey reveals private health battle in The End, first song off new album
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Billie Eilish and Nat Wolff come to blows in dizzying 'Chihiro' music video: Watch
- Report shows a drop in drug overdose deaths in Kentucky but governor says the fight is far from over
- Police won’t bring charges after monster truck accident injures several spectators
Recommendation
EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
Glee's Darren Criss And Wife Mia Swier Welcome Baby No. 2
Who is Chennedy Carter? What to know about Chicago Sky guard, from stats to salary
Dangerous heat wave in the West is already breaking records and the temperatures could get worse
Audit: California risked millions in homelessness funds due to poor anti-fraud protections
Russia is expected to begin naval, air exercises in Caribbean, U.S. official says
Russian warships to arrive in Havana next week, say Cuban officials, as military exercises expected
Robinhood to acquire Bitstamp crypto exchange in $200 million deal