Taylor Swift might lastly be addressing her rumored fallout with Olivia Rodrigo. On her new album The Lifetime of a Showgirl, one music particularly, “Father Determine,” has followers buzzing over whether or not it’s a pointed message to her former protégé.
The monitor interpolates George Michael’s 1987 hit of the identical identify, however Swift offers it a pointy, sinister twist. As an alternative of a romantic dynamic, Swift steps into the position of a robust business mentor, likening herself to a mafia boss who takes a younger artist beneath her wing. “You remind me of a youthful me / I noticed potential,” she sings, establishing a bond constructed on loyalty — and energy.
Like Michael’s unique, which featured strains about being a “preacher” and “trainer,” Swift’s model borrows the melody and a few construction, incomes Michael a songwriting credit score alongside Swift, Max Martin and Shellback. However this time, the “love” between the mentor and protégé is “pure revenue,” with Swift dropping mafia-coded threats like, “You’ll be sleeping with the fishes.”
All through the music, Swift layers in Easter eggs. One lyric, “They don’t make loyalty like they used to,” mirrors a phrase followers just lately decoded on Apple Music tied to her Repute period. There are additionally nods to her personal historical past of business battles — Swift famously re-recorded her albums after dropping her masters to Scooter Braun, ultimately shopping for them again in Might. The George Michael interpolation might also be a wink to his personal authorized battle with Sony within the ’90s, when he claimed the corporate handled him like “a bit of software program.”
Followers instantly linked “Father Determine” to Swift’s real-life historical past with Rodrigo. The pair have been shut in early 2021, with Rodrigo usually referring to Swift as her idol. However later that 12 months, Rodrigo retroactively gave Swift and Jack Antonoff songwriting credit — and lots of of hundreds in royalties — for 2 interpolations on her debut album Bitter. After that, their friendship seemingly fizzled, and the 2 haven’t interacted publicly since.
Many imagine Rodrigo’s 2023 monitor “the grudge” supplied her perspective, with the lyric, “You constructed me as much as watch me fall / You will have the whole lot and you continue to need extra.” Now, Swift’s “Father Determine” appears to return the serve. She ends the monitor with a chilling finale: “You made a cope with this satan, seems my d*ck’s larger / You need a battle, you’ve discovered it / I’ve received the place surrounded / You’ll be sleeping with the fishes earlier than you’re drowning.”
