Taylor Swift Criticized for Lyric Expressing Desire to Live in the 1830s in New Album

Taylor Swift dropped 31 fresh tracks on Friday at 2 a.m., but she's catching some heat for a specific line. In her new album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, Swift expressed her desire to live in the 1830s but without the prevailing racism at the time, as reported by Page Six. In the song I Hate It Here, the 14-time Grammy winner asserts her dissatisfaction with the present era, “My friends used to play a game where / We would pick a decade / We wished we could live in instead of this / I’d say the 1830s but without all the racists / And getting married off for the highest bid."

The lyrics however didn't sit well with netizens online. One person wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "...Pretty astonishing to stipulate that she wants to live in the 1830s, ‘except without the racists,’ and not mention slavery, so slavery still exists but everyone’s chill about it." Another user echoed, "There is no way Taylor Swift said she’d like to live in an era where Chattel Slavery was the law of the land and say ‘but without the racists.’ Like it was some casual microaggressions or something. Is this what we’re doing??"

A third user added, "I know I can’t stfu abt Taylor Swift but of all time periods WHY THE 1830s??? The most notable event from the time period is the trail of tears like I cannot wrap my head around it. Is this another one of her dumbass codes?" According to US Weekly, some critics argue that the 'without all the racists' qualifier ends up trivializing the challenges of that era.

Meanwhile, other users saw it as an opportunity to poke fun at Swift, sharing memes about her private jet. One person wrote, "My interpretation of Taylor Swift wanting to live in the 1830s has to do with the lack of environmental regulations and how economical it’d be to run a private jet." In the song, Swift also mentions that she wouldn't feel at ease living in any period.

On her latest album, dropped this past Friday, Swift appeared to take another swipe at Kim Kardashian, reigniting their feud that dates back to 2016. In the song, she sang, “All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’ / And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel." She added, "Screamed ‘F–k you, Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’ / But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.” Meanwhile, Kardashian appeared unfazed as she was spotted enjoying a meal with friends. On the album, Swift also makes references to her exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, as well as her current beau Travis Kelce.