'But Daddy I Love Him' lyrics: Does the song reference 'The Little Mermaid'?
When the track list to Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" dropped, fans zoomed in on the title of track six: "But Daddy I Love Him."
The title appeared to be lifted from a line in "The Little Mermaid." It's what Ariel shouts at her domineering father, King Triton, while pleading to join Prince Eric, her human love: "Daddy, I love him!"
Allie (Rachel McAdams) in "The Notebook" says a similar line while defending her relationship with a boy from the other side of the tracks: "Yes, daddy, I love him."
Are the song's lyrics about Ariel or Allie? Not quite: They appear to be an allegory, though, about rejecting the need for approval, defying public expectation and following your heart.
And her words could easily be read as a pointed takedown of fan culture and media scrutiny.
Click here for live coverage of the release of “The Tortured Poets Department.”
From the start, Swift's narrator positions herself in an adversarial relationship to, well, everyone else: "I just learned these people only raise you just to cage you." (This could potentially echo a lyric from 2020's "This Is My Trying": "They told me all of my cages were mental.")
She speaks about a world of people on "high horses," who "try and save you 'cause they hate you," not because they care.
Her defiance comes in the form of romantic freedom — and being loud about it.
In the song, Swift sings about a “dutiful daughter” being undone by a man who is her total opposite: “He was chaos, he was revelry.” The song echoes her romantic interest's description in 2010's “Mine,” in which she sings about a boy who “made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter.”
The romance undoes her prim appearance, or "tendrils tucked into a woven braid." Now, she's running with her "dress unbuttoned," a contrast to the "Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best."
The chorus sounds like something audacious said just to provoke a reaction.
"Screaming, “But daddy I love him” / I’m having his baby, / No I’m not, but you should see your faces," she sings.
The narrator continues to call out anyone who is telling her what to do — even if they take on a tone of trying to help. People have an issue with her relationship and try to intervene: "Soon enough the elders had convened down at the City Hall / 'Stay away from her.'"
Her response is merciless: "I’d rather burn my whole life down than listen to one more second of all this b----ing and moaning."
But it's the bridge that is most intense, building on the same idea. People think they know what's best for her; they don't.
She says judgment, whether in the name of love or not, isn't appreciated, won't be listened to — and won't even be heard.
"God save the most judgmental creeps / Who say they want what’s best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see / Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me," she sings.
The romance persists until the end of the song — and now her father loves him, too.
In the end, she sings, "Scandal does funny things to pride but brings lovers closer." Say what you want: All it will do is have the opposite effect. Look in the mirror, and ask yourself: Are you the daddy she's singing about?
Read the lyrics to 'But Daddy I Love Him'
I forget how the West was won,
I forget if this was ever fun
I just learned these people only raise you to cage you
Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best,
Clutching their pearls, sighing, “What a mess”
I just learned these people try and save you ‘cause they hate you
Too high a horse for a simple girl to rise above it
They slammed the door on my whole world,
The one thing I wanted
Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned,
Screaming, “But daddy I love him”
I’m having his baby,
No I’m not, but you should see your faces
I’m telling him to floor it through the fences,
No I’m not coming to my senses
I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want
Dutiful daughter, all my plans were laid,
Tendrils tucked into a woven braid
Growing up precocious sometimes means not growing up at all
He was chaos, he was revelry,
Bedroom eyes like a remedy
Soon enough the elders had convened down at the City Hall
“Stay away from her,”
The saboteurs protested too much
Lord knows the words we never heard,
Just screeching tires and true love
Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned,
Screaming, “But daddy I love him”
I’m having his baby,
No I’m not, but you should see your faces
I’m telling him to floor it through the fences,
No I’m not coming to my senses
I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want
I’ll tell you something right now
I’d rather burn my whole life down
Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning
I’ll tell you something about my good name,
It’s mine alone to disgrace
I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empaths' clothing
God save the most judgmental creeps
Who say they want what’s best for me
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see
Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me
And counteract the chemistry and undo the destiny
You ain’t gotta pray for me
Me and my wild boy and all this wild joy
If all you want is gray for me, then it’s just white noise, then it’s just my choice
There’s a lotta people in town that I bestow upon my fakest smiles
Scandal does funny things to pride but brings lovers closer
We came back when the heat died down, went to my parents and they came around
All the wine moms are still holding out but f--- ‘em, it’s over
Now I’m dancing in my dress in the sun and even my daddy just loves him
I’m his lady and oh my God, you should see your faces
Time, doesn’t it give some perspective?
And no you can’t come to the wedding
I know he’s crazy but he’s the one I want
I’ll tell you something right now
You ain’t gotta pray for me, me and my wild boy and all this wild joy
If all you want is gray for me, then it’s just white noise, it’s my choice
Screaming, “But daddy I love him”
I’m having his baby ... no I’m not
But you should see your faces
But oh my God, you should see your faces
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
