The Swiftie sleuths are working overtime in The Tortured Poets Department, analyzing clues from Taylor Swift’s newly-released 11th album.
While the 34-year-old songstress had previously shared the track list and three bonus songs prior to her Tortured Poetsrelease, she still managed to surprise even her most diligent fans with a double album drop at 2 a.m. ET on Friday. With the release of The Anthology, came a new batch of songs and even more content to decipher.
Fans were quick to zero in on “thanK you aIMee,” due to the obvious capitalization in the title spelling “KIM.”
The song itself is rooted in the story of a hometown bully “throwin’ punches” at the narrator. As she copes with “searing pain” from the attacks, she ultimately finds that it’s made her stronger in the end.
With the bridge, Swift really hits home.
“And maybe you’ve reframed it / And in your mind, you never beat my spirit black and blue / I don’t think you’ve changed much,” she sings. “And so I changed your name and any real defining clues / And one day, your kid comes home singin’ / A song that only us two is gonna know is about you.”
Swift herself has a storied history with Kim Kardashian, stemming from a public disagreement involving Kanye West’s 2016 song “Famous.” At the time, Kardashian was married to West.
In short, Kardashian previously released secretly recorded video of a phone call between West and Swift in which they discussed a line in the song.
Last year, Swift addressed the intense public fallout that followed in a Time interview.
“Make no mistake—my career was taken away from me… I thought that moment of backlash was going to define me negatively for the rest of my life,” she told the mag. “That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before.”
Regarding her current superstar moment, she noted, “This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt, and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been.”
On Friday, Swifties shared their hot takes about the song on X (formerly known as Twitter).
First Verse:
When I picture my hometown
There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you
And a plaque underneath it
That threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school
Pre-Chorus:
And it was always the same searing pain
But I dreamed that one day, I could say
Chorus:
All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ something’
And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel
Screamed ‘F**k you Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’
But I can’t forget the way you made me heal
Second Verse:
And it wasn’t a fair fight, or a clean kill
Each time that Aimee stomped across my grave
And then she wrote headlines
In the local paper, laughing at each baby step I’d take
Pre-Chorus:
And it was always the same searing pain
But I dreamed that one day, I could say
Chorus:
All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ something’
And I couldn’t wait to show you it was real
Screamed ‘F**k you Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’
But I can’t forget the way you made me heal
Post-Chorus:
Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman
But she used to say she wished that you were dead
I pushed each boulder up the hill
Your words are still just ringing in my head, ringing in my head
Third Verse:
I wrote a thousand songs that you find uncool
I built a legacy which you can’t undo
But when I count the scars, there’s a moment of truth
That there wouldn’t be this if there hadn’t been you
Bridge:
And maybe you’ve reframed it
And in your mind, you never beat my spirit black and blue
I don’t think you’ve changed much
And so I changed your name and any real defining clues
And one day, your kid comes home singin’
A song that only us two is gonna know is about you ’cause
Chorus:
All that time you were throwin’ punches, it was all for nothin’
And our town, it looks so small, from way up here
Screamed ‘Thank you Aimee’ to the night sky, and the stars are stunnin’
‘Cause I can’t forget the way you made me heal
Post-Chorus:
Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman
But she used to say she wished that you were dead
I pushed each boulder up the hill
Your words are still just ringing in my head, ringing in my head
Outro:
Thank you Aimee
Thank you Aimee
