Taylor Swift’s new double-album The Tortured Poets Department came out on Friday, and it’s full of namechecks. On the title track, the pop star mentions rock legend Patti Smith; on “The Black Dog,” she summons pop-punk band the Starting Line. Both acts have shared their reactions.
On Instagram, Smith posted a photo of herself reading Dylan Thomas, who Swift name-drops in the same sentence as Smith. “This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas,” Smith wrote in the caption. “Thank you, Taylor.”
The Starting Line also took to Instagram to give their thanks. “Dear Taylor,” the band wrote. “We heard the song, thank you for name checking our band. We feel flattered and humbled by the reverberations of love that have come back to us as a result. It’s an honor to have TSL memorialized on such a lovely song. You didn’t have to do that, but you did, and we appreciate it wholeheartedly. Respect! Love, The Starting Line.”
Along with those musicians, actor Alyson Hannigan responded to the reference to the 1999 film American Pie in “So High School.” “I’m watching American Pie with you on a Saturday night/ Your friends are around, so be quiet,” she sings. When fans in Hannigan’s Instagram comments asked how she felt to have the movie she starred in namechecked, she answered, “I could barely function yesterday in the very best way.”
Someone check in on Charlie Puth.
