Here's Why Taylor Swift’s New Album TTPD Received Criticism for the Lyrics, ‘All the Racists’

Taylor Swift's most anticipated album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology has successfully made its mark. However, there's one thing that received flak from many. The track I Hate It Here has sparked conversations around the representation of nostalgia. One particular line that has caught attention expresses a desire to return to an era that predates her career by over a century.

"My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade we wished we could live in instead of this / I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists and getting married off for the highest bid," Swift sings in the track. "Everyone would look down 'cause it wasn't fun now seems like it was never even fun back then / Nostalgia is a mind's trick if I'd been there, I'd hate it," she sings. "It was freezing in the palace," Swift continues in her latest track. The lyrics about "all the racists" on the other hand faced severe criticism by many per USA Today. 

Swift's reference to a decade more than 30 years before the start of the Civil War in 1861 points to an era when slavery was still prevalent in the United States. A user @cinemiaelordi on Twitter stated, "'I'd say the 1830s but without all the racists' now Taylor …" Another user @err_aticaf chimed in saying, "It's an interesting commentary on how we sometimes idealize certain eras without fully considering the realities of living in them." In Swift's 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, there are 31 songs. When you include the 15-song deluxe version titled The Anthology, which features I Hate It Here, the album is a reflection of heartbreak and coming-of-age experiences.

In her recent post, the Anti Hero hitmaker posted a poster of her first single in the album, Fortnight. Swift captioned the Instagram post, "The first single from The Tortured Poets Department is…………. Fortnight featuring @postmalone 🤍 I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation, and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight. Honestly can’t wait for you guys to hear this song at Midnight TONIGHT and see the video at 8 pm ET TOMORROW," as she informed her fans of its release giving due credit to Post Malone. 

In another post, the Grammy Award-winning singer wrote, "When I was writing the Fortnight music video, I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for making this music. Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner of the album or another. For me, this video turned out to be the perfect visual representation of this record and the stories I tell in it. @postmalone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I’m so grateful to him for everything he put into this collaboration."