There are lyrics on Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” that are sparking backlash online in the song titled “I Hate It Here.”
Here’s what you need to know.
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Why is Taylor Swift facing backlash for the song “I Hate It Here”?
The album itself is a reflection on his fame and relationships from a more raw and depressing perspective. In “I Hate It Here,” Swift sings about discontent and how our memories can be distorted by nostalgia — and how easy it can be to romanticize the past.
“My friends used to play a game where we picked a decade we wished we could live in instead of this one/I’d say the 1830s but without all the racists and without marrying for the highest bid,” Swift sings in the piece. .
A card with the lyrics began circulating online with this phrase, and several people were upset due to the historical context of the 1830s. The Civil War began in 1861, more than 30 years after the decade Swift is referring to in the song. Slavery was still active in the United States at this time.
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Social media reacts to “I hate it here”
Reactions on online social media have been mixed. Some listeners are upset by the ignorance of selecting a time when slavery was legal and including it in his song; others just think it was a bad take.
Others see no problem with the lyrics in the context of the entire song. Some people think that was the point of the song, to choose a romanticized era, but it also would have ended up hating it.
Watch and listen to the lyric video for “I Hate it Here”
Jay Stahl of USA Today contributed to this report.
Katie Wiseman is a trending news intern at IndyStar. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @itkatiewiseman.
