Taylor Swift’s ‘Father Figure’ Lyrics Reframe Her Early Career—From Her Ex-Boss’s Perspective

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THE RUNDOWN

• Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl track “Father Figure” seems to reframe her early career from the perspective of the record executive who first signed her.
• She sings about a man who prioritizes his profits while saying he’ll be a father figure and mentor to her.
• Swift’s lyrics allude to the fight she faced to buy back her masters after she left her first label, Big Machine Records.

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At first glance, fans might think Taylor Swift’s “Father Figure” lyrics are about another rising female singer who betrayed Swift after she had mentored them.

But Swift, who has sung from the perspective of other people before, seems to explore her own past in the music industry through the eyes of the executive who first took a chance on her. The song’s lyrics focus on the exploitation of talent in the music industry.

Swift portrays him as posing as a “father figure” to win her trust and loyalty—so he can ultimately profit off of her work. As she sings in the chorus, “I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger / This love is pure profit.”

This mentor wanted her to succeed—up to a point. She adds in the second verse: “Said, ‘They want to see you rise, they don’t want you to reign’ / I showed you all the tricks of the trade / All I ask is for your loyalty / My dear protégé.”

The bridge and final chorus portray what happened when Swift parted ways with this person and the conflict that ensued: “You want a fight, you found it / I got the place surrounded.”

Swift did face a real-life battle after leaving her first record label, Big Machine Records, over the masters of her first six albums. The executive Swift worked with was CEO Scott Borchetta.

When Swift’s masters were sold to Scooter Braun in 2019, the singer detailed her frustration in an open letter, writing about her deal with the label and how she believed Borchetta truly viewed her and her work.

She started her letter by saying, “For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.”

She added that her masters being sold to Braun was her “worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value,’ he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.

“When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”

Swift ended her note by saying she left her “past in Scott’s hands and not my future.” She finally bought back her masters this year, leading to a much happier ending.

“Father Figure,” which interpolates George Michael’s 1987 song of the same name, tells a familiar story in the music business and serves as a warning to other young artists. Read the full lyrics and listen to the song below:

Verse 1
When I found you, you were young, wayward, lost in the cold
Pulled up to you in the Jag’, turned your rags into gold
The winding road leads to the chateau
“You remind me of a younger me”
I saw potential

Chorus

I’ll be your father figure
I drink that brown liquor
I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger
This love is pure profit
Just step into my office
I dry your tears with my sleeve

Post-Chorus
Leave it with me
I protect the family
Leave it with me
I protect the family

Verse 2

I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain
Said, “They want to see you rise, they don’t want you to reign”
I showed you all the tricks of the trade
All I ask is for your loyalty
My dear protégé

Chorus
I’ll be your father figure
I drink that brown liquor
I can make deals with the devil because my dick’s bigger
This love is pure profit
Just step into my office
They’ll know your name in the streets

Post-Chorus

Leave it with me
I protect the family

Bridge
I saw a change in you
My dear boy, they don’t make loyalty like they used to
Your thoughtless ambition sparked the ignition
On foolish decisions which lead to misguided visions
That to fulfill your dreams
You had to get rid of me
I protect the family

Chorus

I was your father figure
We drank that brown liquor
You made a deal with this devil, turns out my dick’s bigger
You want a fight, you found it
I got the place surrounded
You’ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you’re drowning
Whose portrait’s on the mantle?
Who covered up your scandals?
Mistake my kindness for weakness and find your card cancelled
I was your father figure
You pulled the wrong trigger
This empire belongs to me

Post-Chorus
Leave it with me
I protect the family
Leave it with me
I protect the family
Leave it with me

Outro

You know, you remind me of a younger me
I saw potential