Looking at the tracklist for The Anthology version of Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department album you wouldn’t think a song called “thanK you aIMee” would be about Kim Kardashian.
No, I didn’t have a tiny stroke writing that song title. Taylor chose to stylize it that way and it should only take you a second to realize why. The capitalized letters spell out “KIM,” and there’s really only one Kim it could be referencing.
By now, the history between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian is general knowledge for those of us who stay up to date with pop culture and the celebrity world. Long story short (“I survi-i-i-ved”), the reality television star was married to Kanye West when he released his song “Famous,” featuring lyrics about Taylor as well as a realistic model of her naked body in its music video.
The couple insisted they had asked for the singer’s permission, but Taylor retaliated saying she never signed off on being called a “bitch” or being portrayed that way in the video. Kim, of course, stood by her husband’s side and stoked the fires of the #TaylorSwiftIsOver party any chance she had. At the time, Taylor was branded a manipulative liar with a victim complex. In other others, a “snake.”
What does Taylor Swift say about Kim Kardashian in “thanK you aIMee”?
“thanK you aIMee” addresses the history between Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian through a more general narrative about being bullied by the mean girl in school as a kid and overcoming it through her success.
Taylor keeps the real-life references purposefully vague, but there’s still no room for doubt about who the song is about — after all, it’s hard to explain that title any other way. The singer-songwriter starts off strong by taking a little dig at Kim’s fake tanning habit.
When I picture my hometown /
There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you.”
Taylor also imagines a plaque underneath that statue that is threatening to push her down the stairs at school, and then confesses to dreaming about the day she could tell her bully that the entire time she was hurting her, Taylor was “building something.” She remembers the pain and screaming “F-ck you Aimee” as she was getting beaten down, but she also remembers healing from it.
And it wasn’t a fair fight, or a clean kill /
Each time that Aimee stomped across my gravе /
And then she wrote headlines /
In the local paper, laughing at each baby step I’d take.”
In the post-chorus, Taylor becomes even more revelatory by singing about how even her mother, known for being “a saintly woman” at one point wished her bully was dead. She also speaks about trying her best to overcome the situation but never quite managing to shake off Aimee’s words.
Then there’s a moment of realization when the singer talks about the legacy she has built through her music and how it eventually dawned on her that “there wouldn’t be this if there hadn’t been you.” The “F-ck you, Aimee” from the previous choruses turns into “Thank you, Aimee” by the end, with Taylor saying “All that time you were throwin’ punches, it was all for nothin’ / And our town, it looks so small, from way up here / Screamed “Thank you, Aimee” to the night sky, and the stars are stunnin’ / ‘Cause I can’t forget the way you made me heal.”
That is the message of the song, but we would never forget the bridge, of course, as that is usually the best part of any Taylor Swift song.
And maybe you’ve reframed it /
And in your mind, you never beat my spirit black and blue /
I don’t think you’ve changed much /
And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues /
And one day, your kid comes home singin’ /
A song that only us two is gonna know is about you.”
In case you’re wondering, yes, there is evidence that North West likes to sing Taylor Swift songs every now and then, and she drags her mom into it, too.
The song “Cassandra” from The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology also seemingly reflects on Taylor’s feud with Kim and Kanye, more specifically the moment when the world realized she had been telling the truth about them the entire time. The musician mentions “The family, the pure greed, the Christian chorus line,” which fans have interpreted to mean the Kardashian family, their business-oriented personalities, and Kanye West’s deeply religious turn in the last few years.
Taylor says an undefined “they” all knew she was “onto something” the entire time but remained silent as her reputation was destroyed.
