I really don’t mess with Woody Allen’s films at this point, but I did see Midnight In Paris one time, and I sort of enjoyed the premise of modern people being so nostalgic for a different era, they sort of willed themselves into their preferred era at midnight in Paris. Owen Wilson’s character longed to see the Lost Generation’s exploits in 1920s Paris – Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, etc. I get that kind of nostalgia. What I don’t get is Taylor Swift seemingly longing for antebellum America??? And not even a particularly noteworthy or fascinating time in antebellum America either – like, you could make a historical argument for wanting to see the Lincoln-Douglas debates or wanting to meet Harriet Tubman. But 1830s America? You want to go back in time to see Andrew Jackson’s presidency??? So that’s where we are. Taylor’s lyrics in her song “I Hate It Here” have caused some controversy.
Taylor Swift released 31 new songs on Friday, but she’s facing some criticism for one line in particular. In “I Hate It Here,” track 23 on The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, Swift says she wants to live in the 1830s. The full lyric reads: “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.”
The Tortured Poets Department double album runs more than two hours long and contains 10,663 words, according to a noble soul at The Ringer who spent 45 minutes counting them up, but this one line is standing out among social media critics.
Observers noted that it’s hard to separate the decade from “all the racists” or other atrocities of the time. Other listeners were quick to point out that the 1830s were best known, historically, for the Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears, in which around 60,000 Native Americans were forcibly displaced from their homes, with many dying in the process. In Europe, it was also the time of a cholera pandemic that claimed tens of thousands more lives.
The 1830s were also three decades before the Civil War, and slavery was still legal in the United States. Some critics say that the lyric minimizes the struggles of the time, even with the “without all the racists” caveat.
One X user wrote, “I mention Taylor Swift once for a joke and now I’m getting news about her, and I gotta say: pretty astonishing to stipulate that she wants to live in the 1830s, ‘except without the racists,’ and not mention slavery, so slavery still exists but everyone’s chill about it.”
Others used the controversy as an opportunity to make fun of Swift, posting memes or making quips about her private jet. “My interpretation of Taylor Swift wanting to live in the 1830s has to do with the lack of environmental regulations and how economical it’d be to run a private jet,” said another user.
Added a third, “Taylor Swift name one thing that happened in the 1830s that wasn’t racism. Quickly.”
The private plane joke is excellent, lmao. Yeah – it’s bad. It’s an atrocious lyric. I get that she’s trying to analyze her own nostalgia and describe what it’s like living in her own romanticized interior spaces. But can she get some producers or friends she trusts to tell her “girl, you better change these f–king lyrics.” Does Taylor literally surround herself with yes-men to the point where everyone okayed this?
You know I would’ve lived in the 1830s if there were no racists. pic.twitter.com/NHJjT39DaT
— benet (@benshotonfilm) April 20, 2024
romanticizing the 1830s is crazy because what was ever good about the 1830s?! slavery was rampant, the indian removal act displaced and killed so many natives, anti-mexican sentiments were at a high, womens rights were nowhere to be found… like what ? https://t.co/0ahm9YzGTF
— dandelion ✿ (@faerieriver) April 19, 2024
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red. Covers courtesy of Taylor Swift.