Taylor Swift Reveals Real Meaning Behind 'Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?' Lyrics

17 May 2024, 12:49

By Sam Prance

"What do we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives? We put them through hell."

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Taylor Swift has opened up about the meaning behind 'Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?' and why she wrote the "bitter" song.

In her new album 'The Tortured Poets Department', Taylor Swift delves deep into heartbreak. Songs like 'So Long, London', and 'loml' feature some of Taylor's most devastating lyrics to date. However, the album is also a commentary on fame and Taylor even takes aim at some of her fans on songs like 'But Daddy I Love Him' and 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart'.

With 'Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?', Taylor really goes in on the ways in which we as a society raise up artists just to tear them down. It's dark, it's twisted and it's one of the standout tracks on 'The Tortured Poets Department' project.

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What is Taylor Swift's 'Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?' about?

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Discussing 'Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?' in Amazon Music's track-by-track experience of the album, Taylor explained that she wrote it "alone, sitting at the piano". She then explained: "I felt bitter about just all the things we do to our artists as a society and as a culture. There’s a lot about this particular concept on 'The Tortured Poets Department'".

Discussing the meaning further, Taylor said: "What do we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives? We put them through hell. We watch what they create, then we judge it. We love to watch artists in pain, often to the point where I think sometimes as a society we provoke that pain and we just watch what happens.”

In the song's lyrics, Taylor takes this concept to dramatic heights. She imagines herself as a witch wreaking havoc on the town that tried to execute her singing: So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street / Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream / "Who's afraid of little old me?" / You should be.

Alluding to the experience of fans turning on her at various stages of her career, Taylor later sings: Is it a wonder I broke? Let's hear one morе joke / Then we could all just laugh until I cry.

In a voice memo first draft of the song, Taylor also said: "Yeah, it’s just a song about being crazy".

Taylor Swift - Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? (Official Lyric Video)

On the bridge, Taylor says that her critics wouldn't be able to endure her fame while poking fun at the fact that their children listen to her. She sings: I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me / You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me / So all you kids can sneak into my house with all the cobwebs.

She even pokes fun at aspects of her public reputation singing: That I'll sue you if you step on my lawn / That I'm fearsome and I'm wretched and I'm wrong / Put narcotics into all of my songs / And that's why you're still singin' along.

Taylor writing an equally hilarious and heartbreaking song about the constraints of fame? We have no choice but to stan.

Taylor Swift - 'Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?' lyrics

VERSE 1
The who's who of "Who's that?" is poised for the attack
But my bare hands paved their paths
You don't get to tell me about "sad"

PRE-CHORUS
If you wanted me dead, you should've just said
Nothing makes me feel more alive

CHORUS
So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street
Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream
"Who's afraid of little old me?"
You should be

VERSE 2
The scandal was contained
The bullet had just grazed
At all costs, keep your good name
You don't get to tell me you feel bad

PRE-CHORUS
Is it a wonder I broke? Let's hear one morе joke
Then we could all just laugh until I cry

CHORUS
So I lеap from the gallows and I levitate down your street
Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream
"Who's afraid of little old me?"
I was tame, I was gentle 'til the circus life made me mean
"Don't you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth"
Who's afraid of little old me?
Well, you should be

POST-CHORUS
(You should be) You should be
(You should be) You should be
You should be (You should be)
You should be (You should be)
You should be

BRIDGE
So tell me everything is not about me
But what if it is?
Then say they didn't do it to hurt me
But what if they did?
I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me
You wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me
So all you kids can sneak into my house with all the cobwebs
I'm always drunk on my own tears, isn't that what they all said?
That I'll sue you if you step on my lawn
That I'm fearsome and I'm wretched and I'm wrong
Put narcotics into all of my songs
And that's why you're still singin' along

CHORUS
So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street
Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream
"Who's afraid of little old me?"
I was tame, I was gentle 'til the circus life made me mean
"Don't you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth"
Who's afraid of little old me?
Well, you should be

POST-CHORUS
(You should be) You should be
(You should be) You should be
'Cause you lured me (You should be)
And you hurt me (You should be)
And you taught me
Who's afraid of little old me?

OUTRO
You caged me and then you called me crazy
I am what I am 'cause you trained me
So who's afraid of me?
Who's afraid of little old me?