Patti Smith has responded to Taylor Swift’s mention of her on her new album, The Tortured Poets Department.
The pop star name-checks the punk icon on the title track to her 11th studio LP, which arrived on Friday. In the chorus, Swift sings: “I laughed in your face and said, ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith’ / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’rе modern idiots.”
Smith, in turn, responded to the nod on Instagram on Friday night, posting a photo of her reading Thomas’ short story collection Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. “This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas,” Smith captioned her post. “Thank you Taylor.”
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What Has Patti Smith Previously Said About Taylor Swift?
Smith has spoken positively about Swift in the past, expressing sympathy for the pressure she faces on a daily basis. In a 2019 New York Times interview, Smith mused on Swift’s comments at that year’s MTV Video Music Awards, where Swift called out the Trump administration for not promptly responding to a petition urging lawmakers to pass the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ rights.
“She’s a pop star who’s under tremendous scrutiny all the time, and one can’t imagine what that’s like,” Smith said. “It’s unbelievable to not be able to go anywhere, do anything, have messy hair. And I’m sure that she’s trying to do something good. She’s not trying to do something bad. And if it influences some of her avid fans to open up their thoughts, what does it matter? Are we going to start measuring who’s more authentic than who?”
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