Numerous online commenters have sounded off over Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” calling some of the lyrics in it inappropriate, particularly for the younger girls that make up a large chunk of Taylor’s audience. Particularly, some of the songs’ overly sexual and anti-Christian lyrics drew the ire of many.
In the song “Guilty as Sin,” for example, Swift mocks Matthew 5 and Christian views of sex, singing, “What if he’s written ‘mine’ on my upper thigh only in my mind? / I keep recalling things we never did / Messy top-lip kiss, how I long for our trysts / Without ever touchin’ his skin / How can I be guilty as sin?”
In another song in the album, for example, “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” Swift sings that “your good Lord doesn’t lift a finger” to help in personal situations. She sings, in the chorus of the song, “They shake their heads sayin’, ‘God help her,’ / When I tell ‘em he’s my man / But your good Lord doesn’t lift a finger / I can fix him, no, really, I can. And only I can.” In that same song, Swift mocks the power of prayer and God generally, singing that the “bad boy” remained bad despite her prayers for their relationship and insisting that even if God doesn’t fix him, she can.
Those lyrics and others drew online scorn and commentary. One poster in the Taylor Swift’s Vault Facebook Group, for example, wrote, “I feel bad for all the Taylor Tots because most parents are not going to deem this album appropriate 😬”
Replying to that post, one commenter said, “I don’t think her lyrics are for kids anymore as well. And that’s OK. Let the kids listen to her older stuff then when they are 21, give them the rest and let them figure it out.” Another commenter agreed, “This album is definitely NOT suitable for kids.”
Another commenter in the group, however, wrote that she thinks those who find the lyrics inappropriate should just stop their kids from listening to them. She wrote, “Unpopular opinion. If you don’t like Taylor Swift new album because it’s not for kids this time around , then don’t let your kids listen. Simple 🤗 she’s 34 now and this album was for her older fans and that’s okay. It’s not Taylor’s responsibility to raise your kids she can write what she wants. Never seen so much hate on any other artists albums.”
On X, one person said, commenting on Taylor needing to find Christ, “My heart really feels for Taylor Swift. I related with her songs more before I found true freedom in Christ. She’s desperate for what only Jesus can offer, turning to men and Spirituality instead. She needs our prayers. This world offers temporary highs and big lows.”
Replying, a commenter on that post said, “We should pray for her. If she were to come to faith in Jesus, she would have a very large following that might lead many others to faith. Lord, please surround Taylor with your people, and soften her heart that she might come to repentance and accept You as Savior. IJNA!”
Watch Swift mock Christians in her 2019 song, “But You Need to Calm Down”:
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