Taylor Swift has released the second single from her upcoming album Lover, and shuts down bigots who target the LGBTQ+ community in its lyrics.
After facing criticism for remaining silent on political matters in the past, Taylor has begun using her platform to speak out about issues close to her heart, which has included standing up for the LGBTQ+ community.
She’s since taken this a step further, sharing her love for the community on new track You Need To Calm Down.
“You just need to take several seats and then try to restore the peace, and control your urges to scream about all the people you hate,” she sings. “Because shade never made anybody less gay.”
Alluding to organisations including the Westboro Baptist Church, Taylor also sings: “Sunshine on the street at the parade, but you would rather be in the dark ages, makin’ that sign must’ve taken all night.”
Taylor has become renowned for sneaking hidden details into her songs and music videos, and You Need To Calm Down is no exceptions.
In the song’s accompanying lyric video, it’s revealed she’s spelling the word “glad” as “GLAAD”, referring to the LGBTQ+ rights campaign group of the same name (further proof that, in her words, “spelling is fun!”).
The singer told Beats 1 of the song: “It’s about how I’ve observed a lot of different people in our society who just put so much energy and effort into negativity, and it just made me feel like, ’you need to just calm down, like you’re stressing yourself out’.
“‘This seems like it’s more about you than what you’re going off about. Like, just calm down’.”
Taylor will release her seventh album Lover on August 23, featuring You Need To Calm Down and lead single ME!, which features Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco.