«thanK you aIMee»: Taylor Swift’s Response Song to a Long-Time Feud with Kim Kardashian

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Taylor Swift has everyone talking this Friday with her new album, The Tortured Poets Department. It’s a record that covers all bases. While we expected it to explore the stages of a breakup, it’s more than just Joe Alwyn’s presence. 

There’s a track dedicated to the transitional guy, Matt Healy, and it doesn’t paint him in the best light. And, of course, Swift revisits the Super Bowl to discuss her new significant other, Travis Kelce. But it’s not all romance and heartbreak; there are also elements of revenge. Kim Kardashian gets her own song, where Swift finally addresses their long-standing feud. 

A Feud That’s Lasted for Years

It all started when Kanye West began a feud with Taylor when she was just 18. He famously interrupted her Grammy acceptance speech, arguing that Beyoncé deserved the award more. 

@tanaslaughter Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 VMAs #kanyewest #taylorswift #popculture #2000s ♬ som original – tana

Back then, Taylor didn’t respond and chose to stay quiet. But Kanye seemed to want to make amends, and they were seen together, until he hit her hard again with «Famous.» He released a music video featuring a lifelike wax figure of Taylor in the middle of an orgy scene. 

Kanye said he had talked to Taylor and got her okay for it, but she denied it. That’s when Kim Kardashian jumped in to defend her then-husband and leaked a recording of the conversation, supposedly confirming Taylor’s approval for the song.

Getting Back at Her

In Reputation, Taylor started speaking up, showing she’s done staying quiet. In this new album, she takes a shot at Kim Kardashian, dedicating a whole song to her. Just look at the title, with the capital letters spelling out KIM: ‘thanK aIMee.’ However, she never says her or any full name throughout the song.

She starts by mentioning Kim’s obsession with having a tan: “When I picture my hometown. There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you.” Earlier this year, the Kardashian admitted to having a tanning bed at home. 

Also, Taylor doesn’t hide the pain she caused her: “And it was always the same searing pain. But I prayed that, one day, I could say: All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’. And I couldn’t wait to show you it was real. Screamed, ‘Fuck you, Aimee’ to the night sky as the blood was gushin’”.

Swift was just a teenager when Kanye launched his attacks, always with Kim’s support. Now, Taylor admits that “it wasn’t a fair fight or a clean kill. Each time that Aimee stomped across my gravе. And then she wrote hеadlines. In the local paper, laughing at each baby step I’d take”.

And perhaps the toughest part is what her mother thought about all of it: “Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman. But she used to say she wished that you were dead”.

Haunting Words

She admits that those words still haunt her, even though she acknowledges that she wouldn’t be the same without all the pain she caused her. That’s why she thanks her: “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”.

And she also brings her daughter into this theme, with whom one day Kim shared a TikTok dancing to one of Taylor’s songs: “And one day, your kid comes home singin’. A song that only us two is gonna know is about you, ‘cause. All that time you were throwin’ punches, it was all for nothin’”.