Singer Taylor Swift has called out Blur frontman Damon Albarn for his comments made about her song writing.
Albarn, who is also the co-founder of Gorillaz, had told the Los Angeles Times in an interview that Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.”
Swift took to Twitter to defend herself on January 25 following the release of the article.
“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 [expletive] up to try and discredit my writing. WOW,” she wrote, adding: “PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering.”
In the interview, Albarn was talking about modern music and how artists such as Swift rely on “sound and the attitude” more than the value of their work.
When the journalist said that 11-time Grammy winner Swift was an “excellent songwriter” and that she writes or co-writes all of her songs, Albarn challenged that claim.
“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,” Albarn said. “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 odd. I think she’s exceptional.”
Other musicians and Swift’s fans weren’t happy with Albarn’s statements and took to social media to share their views.
Songwriter and record producer Jack Antonoff, who is Swift’s friend, tweeted: “I’ve never met Damon Albarn and he’s never been to my studio but apparently, he knows more than the rest of us about all those songs Taylor writes and brings in. If you were there ... cool ... go off. if not ... maybe ... shut the [expletive] up?”
Singer Richard Marx also came to Swift’s defence: “Hey @Damonalbarn everyone is free to express their opinions, but also open to being called out. @taylorswift13 has written many songs ALONE. Billie co-writes all her songs. They’re both very talented. And we already have talentless critics bashing artists, so please [shut up.]
The ‘Folklore’ singer’s fans had lots to say as well.
“Taylor Swift did not write Speak Now the entire album ALL by herself for somebody to claim that she doesn’t write any of her lyrics,” one person tweeted.
“It’s funny because if taylor swift didn’t write her own songs she wouldn’t be able to re-record them ... yet she’s been doing so for the past year,” another wrote, referring to Swift’s intent to re-record and re-release her albums after the master recordings of her back catalogue were sold to record executive Scooter Braun. She re-released two albums in 2021 — ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ and ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’.
Albarn later apologised to Swift on Twitter: “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.”
