Just when you thought the Swift/Albarn dispute over who writes what was dying down, in comes the President-elect of Chile to heat things up again.
Blur frontman Damon Albarn found himself in hot water after drawing the ire of Taylor Swift’s fans, telling the Los Angeles Times that Swift ‘doesn’t write her own songs’.
‘Of course she does. [She] co-writes some of them,’ pop music critic Mikael Wood replied, before Albarn went in a stage further: ‘That doesn’t count. I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I’m not hating on anybody, I’m just saying there’s a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes.’
All well and good – that’s someone’s opinion. And not just any someone’s, in fact, but the view of one of British music’s most influential musicians in recent years – someone who’s reinvented constantly through Blur, Gorillaz, the Good, the Bad & the Queen, and plenty more solo projects.
Yet the tale didn’t stop there. Picking up on the interview, Swift fired a Tweet over toward Albarn. ‘I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.’
@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this. I write ALL of my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW. https://t.co/t6GyXBU2Jd
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) January 24, 2022
‘PS I wrote this tweet all by myself in case you were wondering,’ she added, much to her credit.
Then the fans – or ‘Swifties’, for those who don’t know – piled on. One by one they called out his apparent ignorance, leaping to the defence of their ‘queen’. As the social media frenzy of the day grew momentum, blue-ticked authorities stamped their disapproval at Albarn, calling him out as a ‘nobody’. Even Jedward (remember them?) criticised the singer.
Perhaps most surprisingly of all, though, was the message from Gabriel Boric Font, Chile’s president-elect, who is set to become Chile’s youngest leader in its history, and felt moved enough to Tweet: ‘Here in Chile you have a huge group of supporters who knows that you write you own songs from the heart. Don’t take seriously guys that need to insult or lie to get attention. Hugs from the south Taylor.’
Though this may have initially seemed about as out of place as Jedward at a Gorillaz gig, Font’s support for Taylor is consistent with his progressive politics, and came just four days he announced a women-majority cabinet.
Here in Chile you have a huge group of supporters who knows that you write you own songs from the heart. Dont take seriously guys that need to insult or lie to get attention. Hugs from the south Taylor
— Gabriel Boric Font (@GabrielBoric) January 25, 2022
I totally agree with you. i had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand. – Damon
— Damon Albarn (@Damonalbarn) January 24, 2022
Albarn tried to atone. ‘I totally agree with you,’ he responded, ‘I had a conversation about songwriting and sadly it was reduced to clickbait. I apologise unreservedly and unconditionally. The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand – Damon.’
But even this apology was met with backlash, as many pointed to the full interview, not only for its hypocrisy, given many of Albarn’s songs were co-written, but also because, by chose to praise ‘Billie Eilish and her brother instead’. Does being siblings suddenly remove the tag of co-writing?
Regardless of whether you view it as a slightly off-remark, blown out of context by LA Times editors and social media managers in search of clicks; or as a scathing attack aimed at a hard-working songstress, today was far from Feel Good Inc. for Damon Albarn.
