Getty (2)
Poet Patti Smith Thanks Taylor Swift for Mention on ‘TTPD’ Song: ‘I Was Moved’
Patti Smith got a shout-out from Taylor Swift on the song “The Tortured Poets Department” and she is touched by the mention.
“This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor,” Patti, 77, wrote in an April 20 Instagram post. She also shared two photos of herself reading a book about Dylan, who died at age 39 in 1953.
Taylor, 34, referenced both of the famous poets on the title track of her 11th studio album, which was released on April 19. “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith, this ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots,” she said on the song, which is speculated to be about Matty Healy.
The song also mentioned Charlie Puth when Taylor sang, “You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate, we declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.” The singer has not publicly commented on the praise.
Taylor and Matty, 35, dated in the spring of 2023 following her breakup from Joe Alwyn. Their highly-publicized relationship lasted about a month before it fizzled out. Taylor seemingly sings about the split on several TTPD songs, hinting that Matty “ghosted” her, leaving her blindsided and heartbroken. The romance was a rekindling of the pair’s 2014 fling.
Writing TTPD helped Taylor move on from the heartbreak. “[It’s] an anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure,” she shared. “This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”
The “Karma” singer is now dating Travis Kelce and has made it clear that she is in a good place today. She shared footage of herself and Travis, 34, in a YouTube Short video on April 19, which was posted as part of her “Fortnight Challenge.” The video featured 14 clips, giving fans a glimpse into a two-week period of Taylor’s life. In one clip, Travis leaned in to kiss Taylor on the cheek as she cooked. Another showed the Grammy winner playing pickleball with a Kansas City Chiefs paddle.
