Patti Smith Thanks Taylor Swift for Her ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Lyric: “I Was Moved”
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Patti Smith responded Saturday to Taylor Swift’s recent mention of her in the title track of her album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Swift name-drops Smith, a rock poet and artist, alongside poet Dylan Thomas in the chorus of her song “The Tortured Poets Department,” released along with its namesake album Friday. She 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’re modern idiots.’”
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On Instagram, Smith posted a photo of herself reading a Dylan Thomas collection on Instagram, writing: “This is / saying I was / moved to be / mentioned in / the company / of the great / Welsh poet / Dylan Thomas. / Thank you, Taylor.”
Thomas, a 20th century writer, was famous for his poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” along with “Under Milk Wood” and “And Death Shall Have No Dominion.” Smith is best known for her 1978 song “Because the Night.” Her 2010 memoir, Just Kids, won the National Book Award for nonfiction. The Chelsea Hotel, located in Manhattan, has long celebrated its reputation for housing writers, painters and other artists.
Swift unveiled The Tortured Poets Department on Friday, initially sporting 16 songs with two tracks featuring Post Malone and Florence + The Machine, respectively. Two hours after the initial drop, the singer-songwriter surprised fans with a “double album” drop, adding 15 more songs in a release titled The Anthology.
Physical copies of the album reportedly included a poem from Stevie Nicks, written for Swift, which was featured on the LP gatefolds or CD booklets.
“For T — and me…” the poem’s header reads.
“He was in love with her / Or at least she thought so / She was brokenhearted / Maybe he was too / Neither of them knew. She was way too hot to handle/ He was way too high to try — / He couldn’t even see her / He wouldn’t open his eyes / She was on her way to the stars / He didn’t say goodbye,” the poem, dated Sept. 13, reads.
“He really can’t answer her / He’s afraid of her / He’s hiding from her / And he knows — that he’s hurting her / She tells the truth / She writes about it / She’s an informer / He’s an x-lover / There’s nothing there for her / She’s already gone.”
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