@vexingsibilant said: what’s up with the britboo song.

London Boy? Well, it’s a few things.

Checking off classic Swift boxes, it’s a straight-up “here’s a song about things you saw in the tabloids” AND a “rip and riff on a competitor’s style” taking on Lily Allen, which really pushes the “back to the early 2010s” vibe

Also a lot of her stuff’s really marked by particular cities - Red is the LA album, 1989 is NY, the country stuff was obviously Nashville, and she’s riffing on that, isn’t there somewhere else in the album where she compares herself to New York City?

But mostly, in an album where she presents herself as an avatar of America - “Miss Americana” - it’s an assurance to her British fans that she still appreciates them. Since Red when she was hanging out with Ed Sheeran all the time, she’s devoted some effort specifically to the UK market (where her familiarity with country, and more generally American tropes is less useful). I’d like to read something about her British fandom someday.