TAYLOR Swift is currently fuming with Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, who stated in an interview with the LA Times on Sunday that Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.”
Swift furiously hit back on Twitter yesterday and said: “I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs, but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.
“P.S.,” she continued, “I wrote this tweet all by myself, in case you were wondering.”
Mic. Drop. Albarn has issued an apology to Swift and blames what he perceived as “clickbait” journalism from the LA Times.
Replying to her Twitter thread, the English musician said: “I totally agree with you. I had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand. – Damon”.
The confusion erupted when the LA journalist put to Albarn that Taylor Swift was “an excellent songwriter”, to which he responded: “She doesn’t write her own songs.”
When the reporter then pointed out that Swift co-writes some of her music, Albarn replied: “That doesn’t count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes. Doesn’t mean that the outcome can’t be really great.”
“And some of the greatest singers — I mean, Ella Fitzgerald never wrote a song in her life,” Albarn continued. “When I sing, I have to close my eyes and just be in there. I suppose I’m a traditionalist in that sense. A really interesting songwriter is Billie Eilish and her brother. I’m more attracted to that than to Taylor Swift. It’s just darker — less endlessly upbeat. Way more minor and odder. I think she’s exceptional.”
Albarn’s comments are made all the more confusing by the fact that Billie Eilish also co-writes some songs with her brother Finneas.
Artists have jumped to Taylor Swift’s defence over the comments. Recent collaborators such as Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner both worked with the singer on Folklore and Evermore.
One unexpected message of support Swift received was from the president-elect of Chile Gabriel Boric, who is reportedly a huge fan of her music. The 35-year-old tweeted in English: “Here in Chile you have a huge group of supporters who knows that you write you[r] own songs from the heart. Don’t take seriously guys that need to insult or lie to get attention. Hugs from the south Taylor.”
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