Taylor Swift has been very open and honest about the fact that the criticism she receives is “fuel” for her work. It’s obvious in her songs, and it’s something she is not afraid to discuss. Now, she’s opening up about why it’s actually “really fun to mock” the people who take shots at her through her music.
During a conversation for The Icon Sessions, the interview noted that he does not think there’s another songwriter who has had to consider public perception as much as Swift has. That led to questions about said criticism and perception, like “How does that not block your creativity?” and “How does that not slow down your process having to think about how it’s going to be interpreted?” Here’s how the singer responded to that:
I don’t know, sometimes it fuels it. Like sometimes when people are mocking me, it’s really fun to mock them back. Sometimes I like to just use words that they have to look up in order to talk shit about it.
Two of the best examples of Swift mocking people back are “Blank Space” from 1989 and Reputation’s “Look What You Made Me Do.” Ironically and iconically, they’re both massive hits. However, it was the Rep album (which fans still want the re-release of) and that aforementioned single that really bit back at the general perception and misinterpretation of Taylor Swift, as she explained:
It was a time in my life when, for the very first time, not the last, people had really actively tried to misunderstand me just in general, and to misunderstand what I was trying to say and to purposely misinterpret it. And it felt very stifling as a person, as a human being. But ultimately, as a writer, it gave me, when I look back on it, this really sort of gnarled bite when I would write my lyrics.
You can feel that bite in a lot of Reputation’s tracks, and you can see that energy on stage if you watch the Eras Tour proshot with a Disney+ subscription. Anyway, Swift went on to say that it was through this album that she learned that when “people are in a hate frenzy,” you can’t reason with them. Here’s what she does instead:
Like when people decide we’re all going to stand around someone and point and mock them, you can’t respond with outward sincerity. Like, any attempts you make to explain yourself earnestly or sincerely will just be mocked even worse. And so it was an interesting challenge as a writer to say, ‘What can you possibly say when everything you say is being returned to you in this sort of, like, distorted [way]?’ Like they just sort of overreact rather than react to anything that you say or do, [or] any position you take.
You can see this kind of extreme reaction from people almost anytime Taylor Swift does anything. However, it feels most prominent when she releases an album. For example, in recent years, while there are tons of Swifties and casual fans who love projects like The Tortured Poets Department and The Life of a Showgirl, the amount of hate and criticism they and Swift receive is overwhelming to witness.
Also, from a personal perspective, the attention on Swift’s love life and her relationships with other celebrities is bright and intense. Before Reputation came out, that spotlight was especially harsh too, as the scrutiny toward the singer intensified to a new level. It was because of that that she wrote “Look What You Made Me Do,” as she explained:
And so I decided to put out a song called ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ as the first single, where I, as a dead corpse, emerge from a grave and then proceed to deliver this very tongue-in-cheek sort of mischievous take on what it’s like to feel cornered in that way.
Overall, Taylor Swift explained that it’s through mocking back and making these tongue-in-cheek and mischievous tracks that she’s able to respond and cope with the criticism she’s faced. As she stated, she’s realized people won’t listen to a sincere response. So, this satirical and mocking music is her way of responding.
It gets people listening too. Tracks like “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Blank Space” and Midnight’s “Anti-Hero” all comment on the mockery Swift faces, and in their own way, they mock people back. However, despite being cheeky and calling people out, they’re also huge hits that further prove why Taylor Swift is the massive pop star she is.
