Taylor Swift's 'But Daddy, I Love Him' Lyrics Are a Scathing ...

Taylor Swift’s brief summer fling with Matty Healy upset some of her fans, in part because Healy has a history of problematic comments. His controversial remarks about Ice Spice, women, and even Swift herself had concerned them. Swift said nothing about their public appeals to her to stop dating Healy...until now.

In her song “But Daddy, I Love Him,” from The Tortured Poets Department, Swift revealed the anger she felt about them.

In the song’s most brutal verse, she sings, “I’ll tell you something right now / I’d rather burn my whole life down than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning / I’ll tell you something about my good name, it’s mine alone to disgrace / I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing.”

This outrage isn’t terribly surprising, given a source spoke to People in June about how Healy’s public scandals did not factor into Swift’s opinion of him. They didn’t cause the former couple’s breakup either.

“He likes to provoke a response out of people,” the source said. Then they addressed fan concern for the singer, saying Swift is “a grown woman more than capable of forming her own opinions about people. No one forces her into anything, especially not these days. She’s on top of the world.”

Swift’s “But Daddy, I Love Him” lyrics say a lot about her feelings that summer. Not only do they offer a rare scathing comment to some “judgmental” fans (“all these vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing,” as she put it), but they show Swift’s own dark humor and willingness to poke fun at the public’s perception of her.

Swift did this before in her song “Blank Space.” She explained of its premise in 2016:

It got pretty out of control there for a couple of years. ... Every article was like, “Taylor Swift, standing near some guy—watch out, guy!” ... My first reaction was to be like, That’s a bummer. This isn’t fun for me. But then my second reaction ended up being like, Hey, that’s actually a really kind of interesting character they’re writing about. She jet sets around the world, collecting men, and she can get any of them ... but she’s so clingy, so they leave and she cries and then she gets another one in her web and she traps them and locks them in her mansion and then she’s crying in her marble bathtub surrounded by pearls. So I was like, I can use this.

Read Swift’s latest commentary in her full “But Daddy, I Love Him” lyrics below, courtesy of Genius. Swift has several songs about her Healy romance on The Tortured Poets Department, including the album’s titular track (link to Erica’s explainer). Learn more about Swift and Healy’s full history here.

Verse 1:I forget how the west was wonI forget if this was ever funI just learned these people only raise youTo cage youSarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday bestClutchin’ their pearls sighing, “What a mess”I just learned these people try and save you'Cause they hate you

Pre-Chorus:

To high a horse for a simple girlTo rise above itThey slammed the door on my whole worldThe one thing I wanted

Chorus:

Now I’m running with my dress unbuttonedScrеamin’, “But, daddy, I love him”I'm having his baby, no, I'm notBut you should see your facesI’m telling him to floor it through thе fencesNo, I’m not coming to my sensesI know it’s crazyBut he's the one I want

Verse 2:

Dutiful daughter all my plans were laidTendrils tucked into a woven braidGrowing up precocious sometimes means not growing up at allHe was chaos he was revelryBedroom eyes like a remedySoon enough the elders had convened down at the city hall

Pre-Chorus:

“Stay away from her,” the saboteursProtested too muchLord knows the words we never heardJust screeching tires of true love

Chorus:

And I’m running with my dress unbuttonedScreaming, “But daddy I love him”I’m having this babyNo, I’m not, but you should see your facesI’m telling him to floor it through the fencesNo, I’m not coming to my sensesI know it’s crazyBut he’s the one I wantI’ll tell you something right nowI’d rather burn my whole life downThan listen to one more second of all this bitchin’ and moanin’I’ll tell you something ’bout my good nameIt's mine alone to disgraceI don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing

Bridge:

God save the most judgmental creepsWho say they want what's best for meSanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never seeThinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches meAnd counteract the chemistryAnd undo the destinyYou ain’t gotta pray for meMe and my wild boyAnd all of this wild joyIf all you want is gray for meIt's just white noiseIt's just my choice

Verse 3:

There’s a lot of people in town that I bestow upon my fakest smilesScandal does funny things to pride but brings lovers closerWe came back when the heat died downWent to my parents and they came aroundAll the wine moms are still holding outBut fuck ’em, it’s over

Chorus:

Now I’m dancing in my dress in the sun andEven my daddy just loves himI’m his ladyAnd oh my God you should see your facesTime, doesn’t it give some perspectiveI know you can’t come to the weddingI know it's crazy but he’s the one I loveI'll tell you something right nowYou ain’t gotta pray for meMe and my wild boy, and all of this wild joyHe was chaos, he was revelryIf all you want is gray for meIt’s just white noise, it’s my choice

Outro:

Screaming, “But daddy, I love him”I’m having this babyNo, I’m notBut you should see your facesAnd oh my God, you should see your facesHe was chaos, he was revelry