Taylor Swift Yells ‘But Daddy I Love Him’ in Viral Resurfaced Clip 16 Years Before ‘TTPD’ Song
Taylor Swift's teenage angst over her first love resulted in two iconic songs 16 yeas apart, including "But Daddy I Love Him" from her latest album, The Tortured Poet's Department, as revealed in a resurfaced video from 2008.
At the time, Taylor, 34, had released her second album, Fearless, and was discussing how her first major hit, "Love Story," came about.
“This song, I wrote it right after my one epic teenage tantrum that I ever threw in my whole life,” the "Fortnight" singer told PopSugar. “And I remember screaming something, like, ‘But daddy, I love him!’ And running out and storming into my room and slamming the door and then I sat down on the floor and wrote this song.”
"Love Story" put Taylor on the map outside of country music. It was her first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 song and went on to be certified eight-times platinum.
Her music video for "Love Story" landed the Grammy winner her first MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video in 2009, beating Beyoncé's "Single Ladies." It resulted in Kanye West storming the stage and berating Taylor's upset win. The incident ignited a feud bewteen the two artists that would last for years.
More recently, the Pennsylvania native included the song "But Daddy I Love Him" on TTPD, which dropped on April 19.
Some fans had speculated that it may have been inspired by a line from Disney's 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid. Ariel told father King Triton, "But daddy I love him," about Prince Eric. To pursue the romance, she gave up her voice to return to the surface.
Other Swifties noted that Taylor's ex-boyfriend Harry Styles wore a T-shirt reading "But Daddy I Love Him" in 2020.
Many of the songs on TTPD are about Taylor's past romances. "But Daddy I Love Him" is speculated to be about her relationship with Matty Healy and how the public did not approve of them being together. Some also thought "BDILH" could have been about Joe Alwyn, as Taylor became deeply private once the pair started dating in 2016 and fans likened it to losing her voice like Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
The "Karma" songstress debuted the song for the first time live when she kicked off the Europe leg of her Eras tour in Paris, France, on May 9.
Taylor opened her TTPD set with “But Daddy I Love Him,” which was followed by “So High School.” Then came a raging rendition of “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and “Down Bad,” which was mashed up with “Fortnight." For the lead single from TTPD, Taylor's performance of the song included shout-outs to the music video, which included a giant bed that tilted on angles.
Then came “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," followed by a costume change. Two dancers came on stage and unzipped her white Vivienne Westwood gown to reveal a sparkly black bra top and shorts hidden underneath. They helped dress Taylor in a long gold blazer and matching shoes before she broke into a rousing rendition of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart" before the set ended.
