Fans connect Taylor Swift’s song ‘imgonnagetyouback’ to Olivia Rodrigo’s single ‘Get Him Back!’
Taylor Swift’s release of “The Tortured Poets Department” brought plenty of surprises — including 15 extra songs as part of a “surprise double album.” One of those songs released as part of the 2 a.m. surprise — “imgonnagetyouback” — has sparked comparisons to another hit pop song: “Olivia Rodrigo’s “Get Him Back!”
The Rodrigo track, released in September 2023 as part of her sophomore album, “Guts,” has her struggling to decide if she wants revenge or to rekindle a relationship.
Revisit our live coverage of the release of “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Swift sings: “Whether I’m gonna be your wife or/ Gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet/ But I’m gonna get you back.”
Rodrigo’s bridge goes: “I wanna key his car/ I wanna make him lunch/ I wanna break his heart/ And be the one to stitch it up."
"imgonnagetyouback is good but this is just Get Him Back by olivia," one fan wrote on X.
imgonnagetyouback is good but this is just Get Him Back by olivia😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/VXqmAs1Pkh
— hannah🥨 (@lemonclever) April 19, 2024
“no cause if olivia had released get him back! after imgonnagetyouback she would’ve had to enter some sort of protection program,” one user wrote on X.
The comparison is notable due to the apparent falling out between Swift and Rodrigo after the release of “Sour,” Rodrigo’s debut album in 2021. The two publicly praised the other at the beginning of 2021, with Rodrigo calling Swift “the kindest individual in the whole world.” In an April 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, Rodrigo also shared that Swift’s song “Cruel Summer” inspired parts of her song “Deja Vu.”
Rodrigo later faced accusations of plagiarism; many believed “Deja Vu” sounded too similar to “Cruel Summer” and another track called “Good 4 U” was too much like Paramore’s “Misery Business.” Later, Swift and her collaborator Jack Antonoff were given retroactive writing credits on “Deja Vu” and Paramore members for “Good 4 U.”
Rodrigo told Time in December 2021, “It was really frustrating to see people discredit and deny my creativity.”
Some fans also suspected Rodrigo’s 2023 song “The Grudge” was about Swift. In the track, she sings about a relationship that has soured. The bridge narrates someone “building her up” just to “watch her fall”: “Ooh, do you think I deserved it all?/ Ooh, your flowers filled with vitriol/ You built me up to watch me fall/ You have everything and you still want more."
Rodrigo was asked outright by The Guardian if songs on “Guts” were inspired by Swift.
“How do I answer this?” she said. “I mean, I never want to say who any of my songs are about. I’ve never done that before in my career and probably won’t. I think it’s better to not pigeonhole a song to being about this one thing. I was very surprised when people thought that.”
Read the lyrics to the two songs below:
Taylor Swift's 'imgonnagetyouback' lyrics
Lilac short skirt, the one that fits me like skin
Did your research, you knew the price going in
And I’ll tell you one thing, honey
I can tell when somebody still wants me, come clean
Standing at the bar like something’s funny, bubbly
Once you fix your face, I’m going in (Yeah)
Whether I’m gonna be your wife, or
Gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet
But I’m gonna get you back
Whether I’m gonna curse you out, or
Take you back to my house, I haven’t decidеd yet
But I’m gonna get you back
I hear the whispers in your eyes
Oh, make you wanna think twice
You’ll find that you were never not mine
(You’re mine)
Small talk, big walk, act like I don’t care what you did
I’m an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch
Then ran and hid
And I’ll tell you one thing, honey
I can take the upper hand and touch your body
Flip the script and leave you like a dumb house party
Or I might just love you ‘til the end (Ah-ah-ah)
Whether I’m gonna be your wife, or
Gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet
But I’m gonna get you back
Whether I’m gonna flip you off, or
Pull you into the closet, I haven’t decided yet
But I’m gonna get you back
I hear the whispers in your eyes
Oh, make you wanna think twice
You’ll find that you were never not mine
(You’re mine)
I can feel it coming, honey, in the way you move
Push the reset button, we’re becoming something new
Say you got somebody else, say, “I got someone too”
Even if it’s handcuffed, I’m leaving here with you
Bygones will be bygone, eras fading into grey (Fading into grey)
Rebuild all the pieces, but still wanna play the game (Oh)
Told my friends I hate you, but I love you just the same
Pick your poison, babe, I’m poison either way (Ha)
Whether I’m gonna be your wife, or
Gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet
But I’m gonna get you back
Whether I’m gonna curse you out, or
Take you back to my house, I haven’t decided yet
But I’m gonna get you back
I hear the whispers in your eyes
Oh make you wanna think twice
You’ll find that you were never not mine
I’m gonna get you back
Olivia Rodrigo's 'Get Him Back!' lyrics
One, two, three
Wait, is this the song with the drums?
I met a guy in the summer and I left him in the spring
He argued with me about everything
He had an ego and a temper and a wandering eye
He said he’s six-foot-two, and I’m like, “Dude, nice try”
But he was so much fun and he had such weird friends
And he would take us out to parties and the night would never end
Another song, another club, another bar, another dance
And when he said something wrong, he’d just fly me to France
So I miss him some nights when I’m feeling depressed
‘Til I remember every time he made a pass on my friend
Do I love him? Do I hate him? I guess it’s up and down
If I had to choose, I would say right now
I wanna get him back
I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad
Oh, I wanna get him back
‘Cause then again, I really miss him, and it makes me real sad
Oh, I want sweet revenge
And I want him again
I want to get him back, back, back
So I write him all these letters and I throw them in the trash
‘Cause I miss the way he kisses and the way he made me laugh
Yeah, I pour my little heart out, but as I’m hitting “Send”
I picture all the faces of my disappointed friends
Because everyone knew all of the shit that he’d do
He said I was the only girl but that just wasn’t the truth
And when I told him how he hurt me, he’d tell me I was trippin’
But I am my father’s daughter, so maybe I could fix him
I wanna get him back
I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad
Oh, I wanna get him back
‘Cause then again, I really miss him, and it makes me real sad
Oh, I want sweet revenge
And I want him again
I want to get him back (and then? And then)
I want to get him back, back, back
I wanna key his car (I want to get him back)
I wanna make him lunch (but then I, I want to get him back)
I wanna break his heart (but then I, I want to get him back)
And be the one to stitch it up (but then I, I want to get him back)
Wanna kiss his face (but then I, I want to get him back)
With an uppercut (but then I, I want to get him back)
I wanna meet his mom (but then I, I want to get him back)
Just to tell her her son sucks (but then I, I want to get him back)
Oh, I wanna key his car (I want to get him back)
I wanna make him lunch
I wanna break his heart (but then I, I want to get him back)
Stitch it right back up
I wanna kiss his face (I want to get him back)
With an uppercut
I wanna meet his mom (but then I, I want to get him back)
And tell her her son sucks, yeah
I wanna get him back
I wanna make him really jealous, wanna make him feel bad
Oh, I wanna get him back
‘Cause then again I really miss him, and it makes me real sad
Oh, I want sweet revenge
And I want him again
I want to get him back (and then? And then)
I want to get him back, back, back, back
I’ll get him, I’ll get him, I’ll get him, I’ll get him back
Get him back, come on, come on
I’m gonna get him so good, he won’t even know what hit him
He’s gonna love me and hate me at the same time
Get him back, girl, you better get him back
I don’t know I got him good, I got him really good
This article was originally published on TODAY.com