Continuing the tracklist of my version of Taylor Swift’s latest album…
Taylor Swift’s Asylum
Track #9: ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’
Swift is angry on much of The Tortured Poets Department — at her exes, at her fans, at her rivals, at the media and the music industry. My Asylum tracklist includes a few of those songs, and none more bracing and compelling than today’s SOTD.
‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’ finds Swift embracing the villain label slapped on her by the haters. If you paint me as the big bad wolf, she argues, don’t be surprised when I bite.
One of my favorite lyrics in this song is the opening line of the excellent bridge: “So tell me everything is not about me / But what if it is?” That couplet really captures what it must feel like to be the most scrutinized woman in the world while simultaneously being shamed for hogging the spotlight.
This song also contains the line that inspired my album title — “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me” — from that same bridge. Another crackerjack lyric on one of the album’s very best songs.
The who’s who of “Who’s that?” is poised for the attack
But my bare hands paved their paths
You don’t get to tell me about “sad”
[Pre-Chorus]
If you wanted me dead, you should’ve just said
Nothing makes me feel more alive
[Chorus]
So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street
Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream
“Who’s afraid of little old me?”
You should be
[Verse 2]
The scandal was contained
The bullet had just grazed
At all costs, keep your good name
You don’t get to tell me you feel bad
[Pre-Chorus]
Is it a wonder I broke? Let’s hear one morе joke
Then we could all just laugh until I cry
[Chorus]
So I lеap from the gallows and I levitate down your street
Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream
“Who’s afraid of little old me?”
I was tame, I was gentle ’til the circus life made me mean
“Don’t you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth”
Who’s afraid of little old me?
Well, you should be
[Post-Chorus]
(You should be) You should be
(You should be) You should be
You should be (You should be)
You should be (You should be)
You should be
[Bridge]
So tell me everything is not about me
But what if it is?
Then say they didn’t do it to hurt me
But what if they did?
I wanna snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me
You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me
So all you kids can sneak into my house with all the cobwebs
I’m always drunk on my own tears, isn’t that what they all said?
That I’ll sue you if you step on my lawn
That I’m fearsome and I’m wretched and I’m wrong
Put narcotics into all of my songs
And that’s why you’re still singin’ along
[Chorus]
So I leap from the gallows and I levitate down your street
Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream
“Who’s afraid of little old me?”
I was tame, I was gentle ’til the circus life made me mean
“Don’t you worry, folks, we took out all her teeth”
Who’s afraid of little old me?
Well, you should be
[Post-Chorus]
(You should be) You should be
(You should be) You should be
‘Cause you lured me (You should be)
And you hurt me (You should be)
And you taught me
[Outro]
You caged me and then you called me crazy
I am what I am ’cause you trained me
So who’s afraid of me?
Who’s afraid of little old me?
Who’s afraid of little old me?
Meet Me In Montauk 
I hadn’t gotten to this song on the album. It’s a powerful one.
Another amazing choice – this was an instant standout too. I’ve been loving the videos of her performing this one live; her scream on “but what if they did” is so visceral.
It totally makes sense to frame the whole album in the unique asylum that Taylor was raised in. I continue to marvel at the way she has coped with situations that could have easily turned her into a monstrous type of person. The imagery and general lyric flow on this track is some of the strongest across both albums.