Taylor Swift fans who picked up a physical copy of new album Reputation were treated to a heartfelt letter from the singer. The 27-year…
Taylor Swift fans who picked up a physical copy of new album Reputation were treated to a heartfelt letter from the singer.
The 27-year-old superstar released her sixth studio album on Friday (10 November) after months away from the limelight following her high-profile break-ups with Calvin Harris and Tom Hiddleston, and A-list feuds with Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry.
She discusses her struggles with fame and fallouts in a lengthy letter to fans in the album booklet entitled ”Here’s something I’ve learned about people.”
She says: “We think we know someone, but the truth is that we only know the version of them they have chosen to show us.
“This is the first generation that will be able to look back on their entire life story documented in pictures on the internet, and together we will all discover the after-effects of that.
“Ultimately we post photos online to curate what strangers think of us. But then we wake up, look in the mirror at our faces and see the cracks and scars and blemishes, and cringe.”
She goes on: “We are never just good or just bad. We are mosaics of our worst selves and our best selves, our deepest secrets and our favourite stories to tell at a dinner party, existing somewhere between our well-lit profile photo and our drivers license shot.
“I’ve been in the public eye since I was 15 years old. On the beautiful, lovely side of that, I’ve been so lucky to make music for a living and look out into crowds of loving, vibrant people.
“On the other side of the coin, my mistakes have been used against me, my heartbreaks have been used as entertainment, and my songwriting has been trivialised as ‘oversharing’.”
Swift concludes: “Let me say it louder again, louder for those in the back… We think we know someone, but the truth is that we only know the version of them they have chosen to show us. There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation.”
Swift – who has made the full transition from country to pop music – still appears to be writing about her love interests, with the track Gorgeous being said to be about new boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
The album’s first single Look What You Made Me Do, released in August, is thought to take aim at West, which continues on the track This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.
One lyric states: “Friends don’t try to trick you / Get you on the phone and mind-twist you,” referring to her infamous phone call with West that was leaked by Kardashian.
#reputation is out. Let the games begin.
A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Nov 9,2017 at 8:24pm PST
