Despite what headlines you might have read, Jack White does not in fact think Taylor Swift‘s music is boring.
On Monday (March 9), White shared a lengthy text post to his Instagram, with the White Stripes co-founder explaining that he’s putting the post up for just a day and then taking it down. White then gets straight into business. “I didn’t say I think Taylor Swift’s music is ‘boring,’” White says. “Or whatever click bait the net is trying to scrape together.”
The post is a direct response to backlash from a Sunday interview with The Guardian. When asked if any of his songs were entirely autobiographical, White said that they are not. “Now it’s become very popular in the Taylor Swift way of pop singers writing about all of their publicly aired break-ups.” He then says that he doesn’t find this style of songwriting “interesting at all.”
Naturally, the Internet quickly went ablaze. Less than 24 hours after the interview was published, publications recirculated the quote under headlines announcing that White was “throwing shade” at the “Anti-Hero” singer. Insider Hook‘s managing editor Bonnie Stiernberg shared a think piece titled “There Is ‘No Right’ Way to Write a Song.” And, of course, Swifties were quick to defend their queen. Some called out White for being a “hypocrite,” stating that half of his music was about his divorce with Karen Elson. Others pointed out that White’s comments came out on International Women’s Day. One simply said “not all men but always a man.”
In response to the flak, the “Seven Nation Army” singer clears the air in his Instagram post. He explains that his point was that he found writing about himself in his lyrics uninteresting, and that imaginary characters are “more attractive for me as a writer.”
He continues to acknowledge Swift’s and other similar songwriters’ success in the industry and says that he is “very happy for them that they’ve succeeded in engaging with so many music lovers in their own way.”
After clearing up what he meant regarding songwriting and Swift’s style, White turns his attention to journalists.
“These are the times where I’m made less and less interested in doing interviews,” he says. “Because in the age of this massive demand for click bait and content, any scrape of anything interesting or off the beaten path that can be turned into drama is swarmed over and spit out as bait.”
As a result, White finds himself less willing to give answers with “any sort of romance or passion or reflection” as he feels they may be misconstrued and used to boost page views.
Hopefully, White’s post — which at the time of publication is still up — will lay to bed the newly manufactured beef between the rocker and pop star.
