Zoomers finding out about Patti Smith thanks to Taylor Swift

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Google has reported that Patti Smith is being more Google searched than ever before. Here’s why Taylor Swift is responsible for it.

Taylor Swift’s Refers to Patti Smith on 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department Album
In April 2024, Taylor Swift released her much-anticipated new music album, The Tortured Poets Department. It broke several records, including the most album downloads in a single day on Spotify– 300 million.

In the title song, Swift refers directly to Patti Smith:

“You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith
This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’rе modern idiots”

This lyric is undoubtedly what’s caused Patti Smith to be Googled more than ever before in U.S. search history. Google data shows that her search volume has skyrocketed 4X, coinciding with Swift’s album release:

So, Who is Patti Smith and Why Did Taylor Swift Refer To Her?
The lyric has left millions of Taylor Swift fans wondering who Patti Smith is and why Taylor Swift refers to her.

Patti Smith is a famous singer, poet, painter, and author. In the late 1970s, Patti Smith was part of New York City’s punk rock movement. In 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone named her 47th on its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and called her a “solider [who] will not be defeated.”

Likewise, Taylor Swift is a songwriter who’s been forced to defend herself and assert her power in the music industry against the likes of Kanye West.

Taylor Swift fans who love finding Easter eggs in her music will love to hear that her connection to Patti Smith runs even deeper than this one reference.

In the song “loml” on The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor sings:

“We embroidered the memories of the time I was away
Stitching, ‘We were just kids, babe'”

This is another Patti Smith reference!

In 2010, Patti Smith won the National Book Award for her book Just Kids. In the popular book, she details her youthful relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whom she called “the artist of my life.”

Patti Smith Responds to Taylor Swift
In light of the renewed interest in her, Patti Smith was quick to respond to Taylor Swift. On Instagram, she posted a black and white photo of herself, inspired by the aesthetic of The Tortured Poets Department, reading a Dylan Thomas book. She captioned it:

This is
saying I was
moved to be
mentioned in
the company
of the great
Welsh poet
Dylan Thomas.
Thank you Taylor.