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As many may have already noticed, it was recently revealed that Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson share a distant familial connection as sixth cousins, three times removed. Ancestry.com was the source of this news, which may have been strategically promoted by team Swift as a publicity move for her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department. Some fans calculated that Swift possibly has 3.3 million sixth cousins, thrice removed. This means she could also be related to individuals such as Ayn Rand or past slave owners, as is the case with millions of people. However, these less favorable connections are not being exclusively featured on shows like Today. The presenter’s remark about the “coincidence” is telling, not necessarily in the way the Swift team wants it to be perceived. It suggests a desire to distance themselves from any potential controversy by maintaining a lack of concrete information.
The Dickinson link is mostly harmless entertainment, although it may be overdoing things that are already overly done. (And devoted fans of Taylor Swift probably already knew: it was found in 2020 when she released the folksy Evermore album on Emily Dickinson’s birthday, because she is always purposeful.) However, there are riskier ways that Swift engages in inference, especially given that she has previously stated that she has “trained” fans to search for hints and connections in her work. What started as a cute search for hidden information about the subjects of her songs and upcoming release dates – like deciphering letters in liner notes or counting holes in a fence – quickly spread like wildfire, turning her followers into investigators and causing them to scrutinize every detail of her carefully crafted outfits, nail polishes, and Instagram captions for potential clues. While it may be a clever way for Swift to have promote her work without relying on traditional media, at this point fans may struggle to distinguish genuine hints from promotional tactics. This high level of engagement has also created a sense of entitlement among some groups, who may feel responsible for defending and promoting her image through actions like attacking and spreading rumors on her behalf.
Two months before its release, fans of Swift’s Tortured Poets Department have closely examined the pointed track listing. This has led to intense and sometimes unscrupulous speculation about Swift’s six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, which reportedly ended in early 2023. The album’s title was announced at the Grammy awards and was quickly connected to an interview from December 2022 with Alwyn and Paul Mescal. In the interview, they mentioned being part of the “Tortured Man Club” group chat, started by Andrew Scott. Alwyn also mentioned that the chat has not been active lately, but one wonders if it has recently picked up again. Swift then revealed the track list, including songs like “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” “So Long, London,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” This caused fans to go into a frenzy of speculation.
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Swift has the freedom to express her thoughts on her relationships however she sees fit, without needing to apologize to anyone such as Eamonn Holmes. However, without any music to support them, some fans have been spreading unfounded and hazardous accusations about Alwyn’s behavior, which I am unable to repeat for obvious reasons. Recently, a fan-shot video of them having dinner at a New Orleans restaurant in December 2022 resurfaced online, with artificially altered audio that made it seem as though Alwyn was saying “you don’t get to tell me about sad,” a line featured on one of the physical editions of Swift’s new album. Swift’s previous statement to a crowd about feeling “lonely” while writing her 2020 album Folklore, which was co-written with Alwyn during the pandemic (a time of loneliness for many), was seen by fans as further evidence of their speculations. A live medley of three of Swift’s songs, all of which appear to hint at cheating, added fuel to the fire.
Swift has a history of expressing her displeasure towards entities such as Ticketmaster, Scooter Braun, Spotify, Apple Music, and even political figures. Prior to the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) last year, she gave a subtle speech during a tour concert, urging her fans not to target John Mayer (whom she previously dated at a young age and is believed to be the inspiration behind the song “Dear John”). She stated, “I am not releasing this album so that you feel compelled to defend me against someone you assume I wrote a song about 14 years ago when I was only 19.” However, this time around, for reasons unknown to the public, Swift has chosen to remain silent about her relationship with Joe Alwyn. It is not uncommon or a risky move for artists to establish certain standards of behavior, as seen with Ariana Grande’s recent statement regarding hate messages directed towards her loved ones in the aftermath of her divorce album, Eternal Sunshine.
It feels like the endgame of a cat-and-mouse act that’s gone too far. Swift’s gestures towards meaning have led every single thing she does to be considered a kind of marketing, a clue to be solved. It leaves a superstar who’s usually hot on her messaging open to misinterpretation: hints about her personal life are turned by some fans into witch-hunts for anyone perceived to have wronged her; her current silence on politics allows politicians to invoke her name, from the New South Wales police commissioner quoting Swift’s anti-haters lines while defending police to Joe Biden joking that the matter of her apparently much sought-after endorsement is “classified” on Late Night With Seth Meyers. When Swift made a blandly neutral handwritten post encouraging US citizens to register to vote on Super Tuesday, some fans speculated that her unusual left-leaning handwriting was the real indication of her loyalties – suggesting they’re so starved of substance that they’re reading into empty messages because of this dynamic she has established. (The more likely explanation is the insane way she holds a pen.)
If Swift only controls her fans’ actions when it benefits her, it diminishes her credibility as a honest person. If she takes the comparisons to Dickinson seriously, she should know that words hold immense power in the world.
This remark is extracted from The Guardian’s weekly publication called “Swift Notes” which covers everything related to Taylor Swift. Register here to receive our thorough email.
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Source: theguardian.com
