On the eve of the release of her 12th album, Taylor Swift received a thank-you note from George Michael\u2019s estate for including his work in her version of \u201cFather Figure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we heard the track we had no hesitation in agreeing to this association between two great artists and we know George would have felt the same,\u201d the \u201cFreedom!\u201d singer\u2019s estate posted Thursday on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Taylor\u2019s take on \u201cFather Figure\u201d incorporates an interpolation of Michael\u2019s 1987 song from his album \u201cFaith.\u201d<\/p>\n Both songs share a common thread of telling the tale of a specific relationship. In a 1987 interview with ET<\/a>, the former Wham! singer turned solo star \u2014 who died over the Christmas holiday<\/a> in 2016 \u2014 vaguely discussed the meaning behind his track.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Father Figure\u2019 is just a very, without going into too much detail, it\u2019s just a very specific experience that I wrote about a specific relationship with one person,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a definite pattern in people\u2019s lives where they move away from their parents, then they spend time on their own and then they look for that replacement,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Similarly, the fourth song on Swift\u2019s album \u201cThe Life of a Showgirl,\u201d<\/a> which was released on Thursday, tells the experience of a specific relationship between a mentor and his prot\u00e9g\u00e9. <\/p>\n Hmmm. Who could it be? Are the lyrics imaginative or are the details too specific to brush off as fiction? Let\u2019s dissect. <\/p>\n Swift opens her track with: \u201cWhen I found you, you were young, wayward, lost in the cold \/ Pulled up to you in the Jag\u2019, turned your rags to gold.\u201d<\/p>\n There is one person who turned her into the gold standard of pop \u2014 music executive Scott Borchetta, who signed her to his Big Machine Records label back in the day.<\/p>\n Swift worked with Borchetta on her first six albums until she wanted to buy her master recordings<\/a> from the label, which led to the end of their partnership<\/a>.<\/p>\n The song initially takes the perspective of the mentor who sees potential, profit and the opportunity to be a father figure for the prot\u00e9g\u00e9. In the tail end of the track, the point of view changes to the other side.<\/p>\n \u201cYou want a fight, you found it \/ I got the place surrounded \/ You\u2019ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you\u2019re drowning.\u201d<\/p>\n