Taylor Swift Reveals Fans' Habit of Looking at the Men Behind Her Songs

Taylor Swift (Instagram @taylorswift)

JAKARTA - Taylor Swift openly talked about the habit of some of his fans who often conduct excessive investigations into the subject behind his works.

As is known, Swift is known for her songwriting style that takes inspiration from her personal life - such as the hits "All Too Well" to "Love Story".

However, the 36-year-old pop star was uncomfortable when listeners focused more on the figure of the man in the song than on his own creative process. He likened fans' attempts to match lyrics with his ex-girlfriend to a "paternity test" that was going in the wrong direction.

"There are people trying to do detective work, finding out the details - who is this? What is this? When it became a little strange for me was when people acted as if this was like a paternity test," Swift said in a recent interview with The New York Times.

"Like, 'This song is about this person.' Because I feel, 'That guy didn't write the song. I did it,'" he continued.

The singer of "Anti-Hero" is aware that public speculation is a consequence of his massive popularity. However, he emphasized the importance for an artist to remain true to his own perception of his art without being distorted by outside opinions. For him, a song belongs entirely to the creator, regardless of who was the inspiration behind it.

Interestingly, Swift admitted that harsh criticism and negative spotlight often became the main fuel for her productivity. He cited the song "Blank Space" which was born as a form of satire against the image of "male collector" that the media attached to him in the past. He emphasized, without criticism that attacked his personality, reflective works like in the album "Midnights" would never have been created.

"There are so many songs in my career that wouldn't exist - like 'Blank Space' wouldn't exist if I hadn't found people saying, 'Here's a slide show of all his girlfriends.' And then 'Anti-Hero' is a song I'm still very proud of, that song wouldn't exist if I hadn't been criticized for every aspect of my personality," he said.

Despite using criticism as inspiration, Swift gave a stern warning to young musicians not to get caught up in the social media comment section. According to him, being exposed to too much unfocused criticism can damage mental health and inhibit creativity.

He also suggested that artists respond to hatred through art, not through statements on note applications or arguing with followers on the internet.

"Don't go to the Notes app and upload it. Write about it. Make art about it. Don't respond to trolls in your comments. That's not what we want from you. We want your art," Taylor Swift concluded.