Taylor Swift calls 'detective work' fans do on her songs 'a little bit weird'

Marina WattsTue, April 28, 2026 at 6:23 PM UTC

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Taylor Swift in Cardiff, Wales in June 2024Credit: Shirlaine Forrest/TAS24/Getty -

Taylor Swift thinks some "detective work" fans do on her songs can be "a little bit weird."

Some fans treat the songs like a "paternity test," Swift said, adding, "That dude didn't write the song, I did."

Swift was named one of the greatest living American songwriters by The New York Times Magazine.

Taylor Swift is addressing the speculation fans have done on her music and its subjects.

Featured as part of New York Times Magazine's list of greatest living American songwriters, the 14-time Grammy winner shared what "detective work" fans do about her songs that she finds "a little bit weird." Swift started writing songs at 12 years old, calling it a "cornerstone" of her life.

When talking about her fanbase, known as Swifties, she admitted that some reading into the meaning behind her songs and who they might be about can be a bit extreme.

She began, “There's corners of my fanbase who are gonna take things to a really extreme place. There's nothing I can do about that. There's people who are gonna try to, like, do detective work, figure out the details — who is that about? What is this?”

Swift performing in Paris in 2024Credit: Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty for TAS Rights Management

“When it gets a little bit weird for me is when people act like it's a paternity test. Like, ‘This song's about that person.' Because I'm like, ‘That dude didn't write the song, I did.' But that's part of it," Swift continued.

Ultimately, Swift is able to maintain perspective on a song even if fans feel one way or another. “You have to hold tight to your perception of your art and your relationship with it and then you kind of have to [mimes blowing something from her palm], there it goes. Hope you like it. And if you don't now, hope you do in five years, and if you never do, then I was doing it for me anyway.”

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Throughout her career, fans have speculated about whether certain songs by Swift were about certain people such as ex-boyfriends including Jake Gyllenhaal, Joe Alwyn, Harry Styles, and Matty Healy. She is currently engaged to NFL star Travis Kelce.

Elsewhere in her interview with the Times Magazine, Swift spoke about the details she likes to include in dozens of her songs, calling them "everything that makes the mythology of those intense feelings that you have."

"I've always tried to, without being a completely unhinged adult, keep that level of detail and intensity when it comes to trying to describe a feeling."

Swift performs in Paris in May 2024Credit: Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Gett

Swift is one of 30 musicians recognized by The New York Times Magazine for their achievements in songwriting. Also included are Bob Dylan, Carole King, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Fiona Apple, Nile Rodgers, Lana Del Rey, Mariah Carey, Diane Warren, and Willie Nelson.

on Entertainment Weekly

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