The Tortured Poets Department: Why did Taylor Swift namecheck Patti Smith on the album?

There’s been nothing but chatter today regarding all the easter eggs and references in Taylor Swift’s new album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” Whether the songs are aimed at any ex-boyfriend in particular, or if the whole thing was pointed at just one. 

But for some (of us) older music fans, there’s a curiosity as to why the megastar has referenced an iconic musician in the past, and one some could consider an “iconoclast” - Patti Smith.

Smith’s name-check occurs during the song “The Tortured Poets Department,” with Swift singing: “I laughed in your face and said, "You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith, This ain't the Chelsea Hotel, we'rе modern idiots," namechecking the hallowed New York hotel in the process. That hotel in particular has famously housed writers, painters, authors and the who’s who of fashionable socialites.

While the Dylan Thomas reference is one English students may have gotten in an instant, owing to him being one of Wales' greatest poets, the inclusion of Patti Smith is somewhat baffling. Or is it?

Why did Taylor Swift namecheck Patti Smith in “The Tortured Poets Department?”

There are two prevailing reasons for the inclusion: the biggest theory for the name-check is simply because of the tale that both Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith stayed at the Chelsea Hotel, according to John Brinnin's 1955 biography, “Dylan Thomas in America.”

But Taylor Swift has also admitted that Patti Smith has been an influence on her career. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2012, Swift spoke about the impact of reading Smith's memoir “Just Kids” and how it inspired her to pursue her creative path with dedication and integrity.

"The reason I read [Just Kids] was because I kept hearing Patti Smith’s name, and then I read that she had written this book. The honesty with which she writes about her relationships with people and what she’s gone through in her career is just so admirable,” she revealed. “And her quotes — I really just found myself highlighting sentences on every single page. I read that book in two days. She’s a poet. I can’t imagine writing a book that well."

It is perhaps that creative path with dedication and integrity that led Swift to her one-time stand against Spotify, for the sake of artists getting paid fairly. Maybe the line in “Just Kids” rang true for Swift: “The business can sometimes overshadow the art. Record labels often want to mould artists into something more marketable, but it's crucial to hold on to your own vision.”