Damon Albarn says Taylor Swift “doesn’t write her own songs;” she responds, “Completely false and SO damaging”Damon Albarn says Taylor Swift “doesn’t write her own songs;” she responds, “Completely false and SO damaging”
Swift: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images; Albarn: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Damon Albarn must have a social media death wish: In a new interview, he claimed that Taylor Swift “doesn’t write her own songs” — and Taylor came for him immediately.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the Blur and Gorillaz front man insinuated that “modern music” is relying solely on “the sound and the attitude.” He then challenged the interviewer, “Name me someone who’s not.”
“Taylor Swift is an excellent songwriter,” responded the interviewer. “She doesn’t write her own songs,” Albarn shot back. “Of course she does. Co-writes some of them,” the interviewer said.
In fact, Swift has written or co-written every one of her songs; she wrote her third album, the Grammy-nominated Speak Now, entirely by herself.
But Albarn then went on to insist, “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.”
He continued, “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 odd. I think she’s exceptional.”
But Swift, of course, wasn’t going to let Albarn’s comments stand. On Twitter, she wrote, “@DamonAlbarn 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 f**ked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.”
She then snarked, “PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering.”
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