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Father Figure (Taylor Swift song)
2025 song by Taylor Swift From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Father Figure" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl (2025). The song is inspired by George Michael's 1987 song "Father Figure" and incorporates part of its melody. The song is mainly about Swift's early career and her masters dispute.[1][2]
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Background
In December 1987, Michael released "Father Figure" along with his album Faith, which became a commercial success. The song was mainly about the singer being involved in a sexual relationship with a person he loved, looking after and protecting them.[3] In 2016, Michael died at the age of 53.[4]
Music and lyrics
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The song contains an interpolation of Michael's song in the form of a re-recorded melody and lyric. As a result, Michael is credited as a co-writer on the track.[5] Following its release, two primary interpretations of the song's subject emerged among listeners and critics. One suggests the lyrics reference Swift's early career and her business relationship with Scott Borchetta, including the subsequent sale of her master recordings to Scooter Braun.[6] The other posits that the song addresses a rumored feud with singer Olivia Rodrigo, alluding to a dispute over songwriting credits.[7]
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Swift stated the song depicted a mentor–protégé relationship, and was written from the perspective of the mentor. She stated that she related to the protégé character in the song, despite the song being from the perspective of the "father figure".[8]
While Michael's song was about intimacy and protection, Swift's is mainly about revenge and betrayal, alluding to her masters dispute. Lyrics like "When I found you, you were young" reference her initial signing with Big Machine.[1] Lyrics like “I can make deals with the devil 'cause my dick's bigger" and "This love is pure profit" reference how Big Machine Records used Swift as a major source of profit after her initial success.[9] Furthermore, the song alludes to Swift re-gaining her masters by lyrics like "This empire belongs to me", with "empire" referencing her first six albums.[2]
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Reception
Pitchfork's Shaad D’Souza considered "Father Figure" a standout from the album, describing it as Swift's "most straightforward appraisal of her own power"; D’Souza described how it hides its bitterness "beneath actual jokes".[10] Variety described Swift's "lingering capacity for pure vituperation" in contrast to her romance songs.[11] The New York Times described Swift as singing the song with "cool nerve" and being an "assassin acquiring her target".[12] The Guardian stated the song has "some spiky lines here and there", though "they don’t really click", in part because the song "revisit[s] very well-trodden ground".[13]
"Father Figure" has diverse rankings among other songs in the album. Some described how Swift lays out her career struggles "out for the listener to experience",[14] and that listeners "expected a little bit more with the interpolation".[15][unreliable source?] Others praise the song for Swift's confidence and authority, saying that she "is the music industry" in the song and is one of the "many roles that she played in the album".[16][unreliable source?]
Personnel
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Credits adapted from album liner notes.[17]
Studios
- Produced at MXM Studios and Shellback Studios, Stockholm
- Recorded at Shellback Studios, Stockholm
- Violins recorded and engineered at IMRSV Studios, Stockholm
- Horns recorded and engineered at Studio 112, Jonstorp, Sweden
- Strings engineered and edited at Studio 112, Jonstorp, Sweden
- Mixed at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach
- Mastered at Sterling Sound, Edgewater, NJ
Personnel
- Taylor Swift – lead vocals, songwriting, production
- Max Martin – production, songwriting, programming, keyboard, recording
- Shellback – production, songwriting, programming, bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, Omnichord, percussion, recording
- David Bukovinsky – cello
- Tomas Jonsson – clarinet
- Johan Randén – electric guitar
- Stefan Wingefors – upright bass
- Mattias Bylund – Hammond organ, orchestra arrangements, recording, engineering, digital editing
- Erik Arvinder – violin, recording, engineering
- Conny Lindgren – violin
- Daniela Bonfiglioli – violin
- Fredrik Syberg – violin
- Lola Torrente – violin
- Matthias Johansson – violin
- Henrik Langemyr – strings copyist
- Willem Bleeker – recording, engineering
- Stefan Pettersson – recording, engineering
- Lasse Mårtén – recording, engineering
- Serban Ghenea – mixing
- Bryce Bordone – assistant mixing
- Randy Merrill – mastering
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References
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