Kanye West is about as provocative as they come these days, but there was a point in his life, years ago, when swiping the microphone from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was considered a relatively major controversy for him. Fast-forward to present day: Taylor Swift just released her latest re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). One of the previously unreleased “From The Vault” songs is a Hayley Williams collaboration called “Castles Crumbling,” and Swifties are convinced the song is about the West situation.
One fan on Twitter theorized, “‘they used to chant my name now they’re screaming that they hate me’ oh my god she wrote castles crumbling after the VMAs when she thought she was getting booed… she thought everyone hated her… i’m gonna jump off a bridge #SpeakNowTaylorsVersion.” Another wrote, “i just realized that castles crumbling is about what happened after the vmas when she thought everyone was booing her.. ‘my frozen friends watched my reign end’….’used to chant my name now now they’re screaming that they hate me..’”
“they used to chant my name now they’re screaming that they hate me” oh my god she wrote castles crumbling after the VMAs when she thought she was getting booed… she thought everyone hated her… i’m gonna jump off a bridge #SpeakNowTaylorsVersion
— swiftie wins 🩷 (@swifferwins) July 7, 2023
i just realized that castles crumbling is about what happened after the vmas when she thought everyone was booing her.. “my frozen friends watched my reign end”….“used to chant my name now now they’re screaming that they hate me..” #SpeakNowTaylorsVersion pic.twitter.com/umWMOpc1TC
— abby (taylor’s version) (@ablovestay) July 7, 2023
Swift hasn’t addressed this, but Williams recently said of Swift, “Taylor was the first industry friend I ever made and hung out with outside of work things. When Speak Now dropped, I bought my friend’s record (as you do!) and listened to the whole thing in my first car, sitting still in the driveway. It’s my favorite Taylor Swift album for so many reasons.”
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic. Find more information here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.