Taylor Swift’s ‘Vault’ Track ‘Slut!’ – Lyrics And What It's About

5 January 2024, 10:06 | Updated: 5 January 2024, 17:57

Taylor Swift shares cryptic teaser for the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) vault

By Capital FM

@CapitalOfficial

Taylor Swift has a new song ‘from the vault’ on the ‘1989 – Taylor’s Version’ track list, titled ‘Slut’, here we're taking a closer look at the lyrics and her inspiration for the song.

Taylor Swift hit back in her song ‘Slut!’, from the vault of ‘1989 – Taylor’s Version’, reclaiming the word as her own after having spent the early part of her career being publicly shamed about her dating life.

‘1989’ was originally released in 2014 and includes songs like ’Blank Space’, ’Style’ and ‘Bad Blood’, but for the re-release she’s added five previously unheard songs which Tay wrote at the time but never made the track list.

Around the time of the album’s release on 27th October, interviews resurfaced in which Taylor addressed being slut-shamed throughout her life, moments which no doubt inspired her song 'Slut!' – which was originally meant to feature The 1975.

• READ MORE: Which Albums Is Taylor Swift Re-Recording? A Guide To The Remake Of Her First Six Albums
• READ MORE: Who Is Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ Album About?
• READ MORE: Who Is 'Now That We Don't Talk' About? Decoding Taylor Swift's Lyrics

‘1989’ was her fifth album after she soared into the spotlight as a teenager, and by this point Taylor knew all too well what it was like to be under constant scrutiny, especially when it came to her dating life.

As fans listen to new song ‘Slut!’ here are the lyrics and everything Taylor’s said about being slut-shamed.

Taylor calls out sexism in the music business

In a Beats1 interview with Zane Lowe in 2019, Taylor shared the perspective she’d gained having started out in the music industry so young.

She said coverage of her private life and break-up-inspired lyrics were used to diminish her songwriting skills.

Taylor recalled on the show: “When I was, like, 23 and people were just kind of reducing me to … kind of making slideshows of my dating life and putting people in there that I’d sat next to at a party once and deciding that my songwriting was like a trick rather than a skill and a craft.”

She went on: “In a way, it’s figuring out how to completely minimise that skill by taking something that everyone in their darkest, darkest moments loves to do, which is just to slut-shame, you know? That happened to me at a very young age, so that was a bit hard. That was one of the first times I was like, ‘Wow, this is not fair.'”

Alongside the interview clip Swifties have resurfaced the multiple appearances Taylor made on The Ellen Show, where she was constantly grilled about who she was dating. In one interview, she was asked to ring a bell every time a picture of someone she’d dated came up on the screen and Taylor looked visibly uncomfortable throughout.

Taylor addresses being slut-shamed in 2016

In 73 Questions with Vogue, Taylor was asked the advice she’d give to her 19-year-old self and she said she’d warn her younger self she’d ‘date like a normal 20-something', but would be slut-shamed regardless.

She answered: “If I could talk to my 19-year-old self I would say, ‘you’re gonna date just like a normal 20-something should be allowed to, but you’re going to be a national lightning rod for slut-shaming.’”

Taylor says she didn’t date for two years after being ‘slaughtered’ for dating

In her 2016 interview with Vogue, Taylor said that after her fame turned into what she branded ‘incredibly sexist Men-of-Taylor Swift slideshows’ she stopped dating for a while.

She said: “You know, I went out on a normal amount of dates in my early 20s, and I got absolutely slaughtered for it. And it took a lot of hard work and altering my decision-making. I didn’t date for two and a half years. Should I have had to do that? No.”

Taylor has tried to keep her relationships private ever since; her most recent long-term relationship with Joe Alwyn pretty much stayed out of the spotlight for their entire six years together.

What are the lyrics to 'Slut!' by Taylor Swift?

Flamingo pink, Sunrise Boulevard
Clink, clink, being this young is art
Aquamarine, moonlit swimmin' pool
What if all I need is you?

Got love-struck, went straight to my head
Got lovesick all over my bed
Love to think you’ll never forget
Handprints in wet cement
Adorned with smoke on my clothes
Lovelorn and nobody knows
Love thorns all over this rose
I'll pay the price, you won't

But if I’m all dressed up
They might as well be lookin' at us
And if they call me a slut
You know it might be worth it for once
And if I'm gonna be drunk
I might as well be drunk in love

Send the code, he's waitin' there
The sticks and stones they throw froze mid-air
Everyone wants him, that was my crime
The wrong place at the right time
And I break down, then he's pullin' me in
In a world of boys, he's a gentleman

I might as well be drunk in love
Got love-struck, went straight to my head (Straight to my head)
Got lovesick all over my bed (Over my bed)
Love to think you’ll never forget
We’ll pay the price, I guess


But if I'm all dressed up (If I’m all dressed up)
They might as well be lookin' at us (Lookin' at us)
And if they call me a slut (If they call me a slut)
You know it might be worth it for once (Worth it for once)
And if I'm gonna be drunk
I might as well be drunk in love


Half asleep, takin’ your time
In the tangerine, neon light, this is luxury
You're not sayin' you're in love with me
But you're going to
Half awake, takin' your chances
It's a big mistake, I said, "It might blow up in your pretty face"
I'm not saying, "Do it anyway" (Do it anyway)
But you're going to


(Up)
And if they call me a (Slut)
You know it might be worth it for once
And if I'm gonna be (Drunk)

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