Is there a reference to “The Little Mermaid” in the song?

When the track list for Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” was released, fans focused on the title of the sixth track: “But Daddy I Love Him.”

The title seems to be taken from a line from The Little Mermaid. It is what Ariel shouts to her domineering father, King Triton, as she begs him to join Prince Eric, her human love: “Daddy, I love him!”

Allie (Rachel McAdams) says a similar line in The Notebook while defending her relationship with a boy from across the tracks: “Yes, Dad, I love him.”

Are the lyrics about Ariel or Allie? Not quite: it seems more like an allegory about rejecting the need for recognition, defying public expectations, and following your heart.

And her words could easily be interpreted as a targeted criticism of fan culture and media scrutiny.

Click here for live coverage of the release of “The Tortured Poets Department.”

From the beginning, Swift’s narrator positions herself in a hostile relationship with, well, everyone else: “I just learned that these people are only raising you to cage you.” (This could possibly recall a line from 2020’s “This Is My Trying”: “They told me all my cages were crazy.”)

She speaks of a world full of people on “high horses” who “try to save you because they hate you,” not because they care.

Her defiance is expressed in romantic freedom – and in the fact that she expresses this loudly.

In the song, Swift sings about a “dutiful daughter” who is brought down by a man who is her complete opposite: “He was chaos, he was exuberance.” The song recalls her description of her romantic interest in 2010’s “Mine,” in which she sings about a boy who “turned the cautious daughter of a careless man into a rebel.”

Romance undoes her brittle appearance, or “tendrils woven into a braid.” Now she walks with her “dress unbuttoned,” a contrast to the “Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best.”

The chorus sounds like something bold was said just to provoke a reaction.

“I scream, ‘But daddy, I love him’ / I’m having his baby, / No I won’t, but you should see your faces,” she sings.

The narrator continues to call out anyone who tells her what to do – even if the tone sounds like they want to help her. People have a problem with their relationship and try to intervene: “Soon afterward, the elders gathered down at the town hall / ‘Stay away from her.'”

Her answer is merciless: “I would rather burn down my whole life than listen to all this whining and complaining for even one second longer.”

But the most intense thing is the bridge that builds on the same idea. People think they know what’s best for them, but they don’t.

She says that judgments, whether made in the name of love or not, are not appreciated, are not listened to – and are not even heard.

“God bless the most prejudiced creeps / Who say they want the best for me / Who hypocritically perform monologues I’ll never see / And think if they touch me it could change my heartbeat,” she sings.

The romance lasts until the end of the song – and now her father loves him too.

At the end she sings, “Scandals have strange effects on pride, but bring lovers closer.” Say what you will: it will only have the opposite effect. Look in the mirror and ask yourself: are you the daddy she sings about?

Read the lyrics to “But Daddy I Love Him”

I forget how the West was conquered,

I forgot if this was ever fun

I just learned that these people only raise you to lock you up

Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best,

They clutched their pearls and sighed: “What a mess!”

I just learned that these people are trying to save you because they hate you

Too high a horse for a simple girl to get over

They slammed the door to my whole world,

The only thing I wanted

Now I walk with my dress unbuttoned,

Screaming: “But Dad, I love him”

I’m having his baby,

No, I’m not, but you should see your faces

I tell him to go full throttle through the fences,

No, I don’t come to my senses

I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want

Dutiful daughter, all my plans have been made,

Tendrils in a braided braid

Growing up precocious sometimes means never growing up at all

He was the chaos, he was the celebration,

Bedroom view as a remedy

Soon after, the elders gathered in the town hall

“Stay away from her,”

The saboteurs protested too strongly

Lord knows the words we have never heard,

Only screeching tires and true love

Now I walk with my dress unbuttoned,

Screaming: “But Dad, I love him”

I’m having his baby,

No, I’m not, but you should see your faces

I tell him to go full throttle through the fences,

No, I don’t come to my senses

I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want

I’ll tell you something right now

I would rather burn down my whole life

To listen to all this moaning and groaning for one more second

I’ll tell you something about my good name,

It is up to me alone to bring shame

I don’t care about all these vipers masquerading as empaths

God save the most judgmental villains

They say they want the best for me

Hypocritical monologues that I will never see

I think it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me

And counteract the chemistry and reverse fate

You don’t have to pray for me

Me and my wild boy and all this wild joy

If everything you want is grey to me then it’s just white noise then it’s just my choice

There are a lot of people in town to whom I give my fakest smile

A scandal has strange effects on pride, but brings the lovers closer together

We came back when the heat subsided, went to my parents and they came over

All wine mothers are still holding on, but damn it, it’s over

Now I dance in my dress in the sun and even my dad loves it

I’m his wife and oh my god, you should see your faces

Doesn’t time give a certain 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 don’t have to pray for me, for me and my wild boy and all this wild joy

If you only want grey for me, then it’s just white noise, it’s my decision

Screaming: “But Dad, I love him”

I’m having his baby… no, I’m not having it

But you should see your faces

But oh my God, you should see your faces

This article was originally published on TODAY.com.