Aaron Dessner has shut down speculation suggesting Gracie Abrams’s song, Death Wish, is about Taylor Swift.
The That’s So True hitmaker first performed the track live at the London stop of her The Secret of Us Tour in March 2025 and included it on her recently released third studio album, Daughter from Hell.
Speaking to Billboard for an interview published on Wednesday, Dessner – who produced the album alongside Abrams and Dan Nigro – denied any of the lyrics alluded to Swift.
“Yeah, definitely not. It was written at a time when (Abrams) was writing about a friend’s ex, being in a bad relationship,” he told the outlet. “So, it was kind of about that person, I think. I wouldn’t even actually know who that person was.”
The National star Dessner, who has also frequently collaborated with Swift, went on to emphasise that artists don’t necessarily reveal to him who they are thinking of when they are working on new music.
“(Abrams is) very aware of my personal life, and I’m of course aware of hers – she’s close with my kids, for example. So I think, naturally, if she writes something, I’ll know. But we don’t really talk about it. It’s weird. It’s kind of unsaid,” the 50-year-old continued. “I would say the same thing for other people I’ve worked with. (I’m) giving feedback at times, lyrically, but I tend to… you don’t want to be like, ‘Well, you’re talking about this, right?’ It’s more mysterious not to.”
Abrams, who served as the opening act on the music superstar’s Eras Tour from 2023 until 2024, has not yet responded to the online speculation.
Previously, the Hit the Wall singer asserted that the song was inspired by a “mega narcissist” whom a friend had been dating.
