Swift wrote the song after the 2018 midterm elections.
Taylor Swift has dropped a new song with a political message! Following Friday's release of her new Netflix documentary, Miss Americana, the 30-year-old singer also released the new song, "Only the Young."
In the documentary she shares the inspiration for the song, which came after she publicly declared her political stance in the 2018 midterm elections, speaking out against Republican Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn.
Breaking tradition, Swift publicly urged her fans to register and vote against Blackburn, who ultimately won the Senate seat. The documentary follows Swift's decision to speak out, followed by her subsequent disappointment when Blackburn still managed to win.
The "You Need to Calm Down" singer was devastated by the political loss, calling Blackburn "Trump in a wig." She then seemingly channeled her frustrations into this new, uplifting song.
"The first verse I want to be all about hearing the news. You know, if you were a kid who loved Beto [O'Rourke] and thought that was the future of Texas," she explains in the documentary. "Or you really thought Stacey Abrams would win and you went door to door and you were trying to make it happen and she still gets beat. And it just didn't happen."
Swift then adds, "But statistically we have three to four million people turning 18 before the next one? It's basically saying don't lose hope... It's basically saying, 'Resist.' If you could just shift the power in your direction by being bold enough. Then it won't be like this forever."
The song begins as Swift describes it, with the lyrics, "It keeps me awake the look on your face the moment you heard the news. You're screaming inside and frozen in time. You did all that you could do. The game was rigged, the ref got tricked the wrong ones think they're right. You were outnumbered -- this time."
It then goes into the chorus, "But only the young, only the young, only the young can run."
Swift adds in Miss Americana, "I feel really good about not feeling muzzled anymore."
The film received a standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this month. For more, watch the clip below:
RELATED CONTENT:
