The Lyric video for “You Need to Calm Down” is a fun, font-focused celebration of color, and gay pride. It might also be a subtle dig at Trump and Trumpism.
In a video posted by Beats 1 on Twitter, Taylor says, “It’s about how I’ve observed a lot of different people in our society who just put so much energy and effort into negativity, and it just made me feel like, “You need to just calm down, like you’re stressing yourself out. This seems like it’s more about you than what you’re going off about. Like, just calm down.”
There’s a shout out to GLAAD, the the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation that you’d miss if you were just listening to the song. The line is, “Why are you mad when you could be GLAAD? (You could be GLAAD).”
My favorite line is, “And control your urges to scream about all the people you hate ‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay.”
It’s surely no accident that Taylor released this song right in the middle of Pride Month. She’s a marketing genius with impeccable timing. Taylor kicked off Pride Month by making a generous donation to support the advocacy work of GLAAD, and by encouraging fans to sign a petition supporting the passage of the Equality Act. At the time of this post 179,803 people have signed the position. You can add your name here.
“You Need To Calm Down” Lyrics
You are somebody that I don’t know
But you’re taking shots at me like it’s Patrón
And I’m just like, “Damn
It’s 7 a.m.”
Say it in the street, that’s a knock-out
But you say it in a tweet, that’s a cop-out
And I’m just like, “Hey
Are you okay?”
And I ain’t trying to mess with your self-expression
But I’ve learned the lesson
That stressing and obsessing
‘Bout somebody else is no fun
And snakes and stones never broke my bones, so
Oh
You need to calm down
You’re being too loud
And I’m just like
Oh
You need to just stop
Like, can you just not step on my gown?
You need to calm down
You are somebody that we don’t know
But you’re coming at my friends like a missile
Why are you mad
When you could be GLAAD?
(You could be GLAAD)
Sunshine on the street at the parade
But you would rather be in the dark ages
Making that sign
Must’ve taken all night
You just need to take several seats and then
Try to restore the peace
And control your urges to scream
About all the people you hate
‘Cause shade never made anybody less gay, so
Oh
You need to calm down
You’re being too loud
And I’m just like
Oh
You need to just stop
Like, can you just not step on his gown
You need to calm down
And we see you over there on the internet
Comparing all the girls who are killing it
But we figured you out
We all know now
We all got crowns
You need to calm down
Oh
You need to calm down
You’re being too loud
And I’m just like
Oh
You need to just stop
Can you stop?
Like, can you just not step on our gowns
You need to calm down