Home » Albums » THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT » Songs on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT » thanK you aIMee

thanK you aIMee

Bonus Track | THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY (2024)

“thanK you aIMee” is track twenty-four on THE ANTHOLOGY, the double album edition of Taylor’s eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024). Written by Taylor and Aaron Dessner, the track was co-produced by the duo alongside Jack Antonoff. Musically, it blends country and folk elements. On the surface, the song’s lyrics address overcoming a high school bully. However, the distinctive stylization of the title hints at it being a diss track aimed at Kim Kardashian (or Kanye West).

Background and Release

Taylor started working on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, Midnights (2022) for release and continued working on it in secrecy throughout the first US leg of “The Eras Tour” in 2023. She reflected on the creation of the record as a “lifeline” for her, as it took place amidst countless media reports on her personal life and her relationships with Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy, and Travis Kelce:

«TORTURED POETS is an album that I think, more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me, just the things I was going through, and the things I was writing about. It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life. And I’ve never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I’d needed it on TORTURED POETS.»

Taylor Swift

“thanK you aIMee” is part of the double-album edition of the record, THE ANTHOLOGY, which was released digitally on April 19, shortly after the standard edition.

Lyrical Theme

“thanK you aIMee” is a country-folk track that weaves together themes of personal growth, empowerment, and resilience in the face of adversity. The song’s lyrics explore overcoming bullying and using those difficult experiences to become stronger, while also expressing a surprising amount of gratitude for the challenges faced. With its playful title and introspective tone, the song functions as both a diss track and a comment on resilience.

At first glance, the song seems to be directed toward “Aimee,” a fictional character portrayed as a high school bully. In the third verse, Taylor thanks Aimee, acknowledging that despite her past criticisms (“I wrote a thousand songs that you find uncool”), she still “built a legacy which you can’t undo” and that “there wouldn’t be this, if there hadn’t been you.” Toward the end, Taylor points out Aimee’s lack of growth, saying, “I don’t think you’ve changed much. And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues.” But she also expresses gratitude towards Aimee and underscores how negative experiences can inadvertently contribute to one’s strength and success.

At a second glance, the stylized title and suggests that Taylor aimed the song at Kim Kardashian, alluding to their past conflicts. Taylor’s highly publicized feud with Kardashian and her ex-husband Kanye West was ignited by West’s 2016 single “Famous,” in which he controversially claimed to have made Taylor famous.

Live Performance

Taylor first performed “thanK you aIMee” on June 22, 2024, during one of her London shows on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). She played it as a mashup with “Mean” (2010). Introducing both songs, she said:

«You know, getting to play Wembley Stadium, that’s not normal. It’s so insane that you’ve done this for me, and for us on the 'Eras Tour', for every single one of the people that you see on this stage, and for my band and for my crew, because we get to play Wembley Stadium eight times this summer. And when I was thinking about that, you think about just being grateful and being thankful for all the people who wanted this for you, and that’s all of you here tonight. Clearly, you thought this was a good idea, you believed we could do this, you wanted this to happen. It blows me away. I’ll spend forever trying to thank you properly for that. But then on the other hand, it really makes me think about how every time somebody talks shit, it just makes me work even harder, and it makes me that much tougher. So, it also makes me incredibly thankful for those people. I’ve never played this one before, wish me luck!»

Taylor Swift

On August 15, 2024, this live performance was made available for download as part of a limited-time edition of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT available via Taylor’s online store. The title of the track on this edition is stylized “thank You aimEe” (with “Ye” referencing Kanye West). With this move, she ended his years-long streak of reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Critical Reception

“thanK you aIMee” elicited a range of critical responses. Some critics viewed the song as a cathartic expression of personal growth, interpreting it as a narrative of overcoming bullying and finding empowerment. Conversely, others found the track self-indulgent and vindictive, suggesting that revisiting past conflicts did not serve Taylor’s artistic or personal interests.

Commercial Performance

Following the release of the album, “thanK you aIMee” opened at its peak of No. 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In Australia, it reached No. 28 on the ARIA Singles Chart and made her the artist with the most entries in a single week with 29. Elsewhere, the song debuted and peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Global 200 and charted within the countries of Canada (25), New Zealand (29), and Portugal (97). The song also reached the United Kingdom’s streaming and sales charts with respective peaks of No. 55 and No. 33, Sweden’s Heatseeker chart at No. 2, and Greece’s International Top 100 Digital Singles chart at No. 77.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
When I picture my hometown
There’s a bronze, spray-tanned statue of you
And a plaque underneath it
That threatens to push me down the stairs at our school
And it was always the same searing pain
But I dreamed that one day I could say

[Chorus 1]
All that time you were throwing punches
I was building something
And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel
Screamed, ‘fucK you, aIMee’ to the night sky
As the blood was gushing
But I can’t forget the way you made me heal

[Verse 2]
And it wasn’t a fair fight
Or a clean Kill
Each time that aIMee stompеd across my grave
And then she wrotе headlines in the local paper laughing at each baby step I’d take
And it was always the same searing pain
But I prayed that one day I could say

[Chorus 2]
All that time you were throwing punches
I was building something
And I couldn’t wait to show you it was real
Screamed, ‘fucK you, aIMee’ to the night sky
As the blood was gushing
But I can’t forget the way you made me heal
Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman
But she used to say she wished that you were dead
I pushed each boulder up the hill,
Your words are still just ringing in my head, ringing in my head

[Bridge]
I wrote a thousand songs that you find uncool
I built a legacy that you can’t undo
But when I count the scars
There’s a moment of truth
That there wouldn’t be this
If there hadn’t been you

[Verse 3]
And maybe you’ve reframed it
And in your mind you never beat my spirit black and blue
I don’t think you’ve changed much
And so I changed your name and any real defining clues, and one day
Your kid comes home singing
A song that only us two is gonna know is about you

[Final Chorus]
Cause all that time you were throwing punches
It was all for nothing
And our town, it looks so small from way up here
Screamed, ‘thanK you, aIMee’ to the night sky
And the stars are stunning
Cause I can’t forget the way you made me heal
Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman
But she used to say she wished that you were dead
So I pushed each boulder up that hill,
Your words were still just ringing in my head, ringing in my head

[Outro]
thanK you, aIMee
thanK you, aIMee