Pop star Taylor Swift has revealed to Variety that her new song “Only the Young” was inspired by her disappointment after Republicans defeated candidates she endorsed for the Senate and Gubernatorial elections in Tennessee in the 2018 midterm elections.
“I was really upset about Tennessee going the way that it did, obviously. And so I just wanted to write a song about it,” Swift revealed in an interview with Variety magazine. “I didn’t know where it would end up. But I did think that it would be better for it to come out at a time that it could maybe hopefully stoke some fires politically and maybe engage younger people to form their own views
Taylor Swift endorsed Democrat Phil Bredesen in the 2018 election, writing on Instagram:
These two Tennessee women⬆️ voted for the candidate who has proven himself to be reasonable and trustworthy. We want leadership, not fear-based extremism. Early voting goes til Thursday and Election Day is November 6. Please don’t sit this one out.
Swift also attacked Republican Marsha Blackburn, saying “I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.”
After Marsha Blackburn won, some Republicans poked fun at swift for her failed endorsement.
Hey @taylorswift13, haters gonna hate. #shakeitoff
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) November 7, 2018
Looks like @taylorswift13 still has terrible taste in men.
CONGRATULATIONS, @VoteMarsha!!
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 7, 2018
Per Variety Miss Americana was keeping another song about America in her back pocket, as it turns out. Taylor Swift recorded a song during her “Lover” album sessions, “Only the Young,” that was held back and kept under wraps for the right occasion — that occasion turning out to be “Miss Americana,” the Lana Wilson-directed documentary that premieres at the Sundance Film Festival Jan. 23 and goes wide to the public in theaters and on Netflix Jan. 31.
In an an interview for this week’s Variety cover story, Swift described the tune’s origins. Its writing followed a personally disappointing moment for the singer after the 2018 midterm elections, when she got involved by endorsing candidates in the senatorial and gubernatorial races in her home state of Tennessee, only to see them go down despite her best efforts — and those of a lot of fans she urged to sign up to vote and campaign.
“I wrote it after the midterm elections, when there were so many young people who rallied for their candidate, whether it was a senator or congressman or congresswoman,” Swift tells Variety. “It was hard to see so many people feel like they had canvassed and done everything and tried so hard. I saw a lot of young people’s hopes dashed. And I found that to be particularly tragic, because young people are the people who feel the worst effects of gun violence, and student loans and trying to figure out how to start their lives and how to pay their bills, and climate change, and are we going to war — all these horrific situations that we find ourselves facing right now.”
It won’t be any secret to anyone watching the documentary just how crestfallen she was when the senatorial candidate Swift had declared stood in opposition to women’s issues and gay rights lost.
“I was really upset about Tennessee going the way that it did, obviously. And so I just wanted to write a song about it. I didn’t know where it would end up. But I did think that it would be better for it to come out at a time that it could maybe hopefully stoke some fires politically and maybe engage younger people to form their own views, break away from the pack, and not feel like they need to vote exactly the same way that people in their town are voting.”