Why is Taylor Swift singing about Dylan Thomas?
"You’re not Dylan Thomas. I’m not Patti Smith. This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel. We’re modern idiots."
Taylor Swift fans woke up to a new album this morning, The Tortured Poets Department.
But why did she name drop Dylan Thomas, a Welsh poet and writer?
Well, he's been fascinating musicians for decades.
Taylor Swift will visit the country of his birth when she plays the Principality Stadium this summer, with tickets selling out within minutes.
Could she now sing about one of Wales' most famous sons during the Cardiff gig?
The Welshman, a heavy drinker, died aged 39 in 1953, while on tour in New York.
He influenced rock stars such as Bob Dylan (who changed his name from Zimmerman) and The Beatles, who included his image on the album cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Recently, Johnny Depp visited his birth place in Swansea, and said at the time: "I'm still floating a little, having been in the room where Under Milk Wood began."
Who is Dylan Thomas?
Dylan Marlais Thomas is perhaps Wales' best-known writer, with one of his most famous works the radio play Under Milk Wood.
He was born on 27 October 1914 and grew up at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea.
A submission to a BBC poetry competition resulted in it being read on air, which started him on his path in writing.
In 1934 he moved to London where his first poetry collection, 18 Poems, was praised by a number of established poets.
He went from prodigy to a living legend as the first poet to be magnified by celebrity culture - his words, voice, image and private life broadcast on an international scale through the 20th Century’s new media of radio, television, film and audio recordings, according to a 2014 BBC article.
You might have heard his poems Fern Hill, And Death Shall Have No Dominion, and Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, which are staples at memorial services.
In the 1940s, he became a regular presence on the BBC, writing scripts, reading poetry and short stories, as well as acting.
He married Caitlin Macnamara in 1937 and the couple had three children.
The family settled in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire in 1949, with the Boathouse, where he wrote, much-visited to this day.
Thomas first travelled to the USA in 1950 to earn money through a tour.
It set the template that some poets follow to this day.
He died while staying at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, which is also referenced in Taylor Swift's song.
What is The Chelsea Hotel?
You may also be wondering what the Chelsea Hotel is, which is mentioned in the song as well - and no, it's not in London.
The hotel, built in the 1880s in Manhattan, New York, became a long-term residence for generations of singers, bohemians and writers.
Alongside Dylan Thomas, famous visitors include Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, as well as Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin - the hotel being where they met and had their affair, inspiring Cohen's song Chelsea Hotel No.2.
Jack Kerouac wrote his classic book On the Road while staying there in the 1950s.
Writers Mark Twain, Tom Wolfe and Arthur C Clarke also lived in the hotel.
The hotel was also the place where Sid Vicious from punk band, Sex Pistols, was charged with murder in 1978 after Nancy Spungen was found stabbed to death in the room they shared.
Vicious died of a heroin overdose before the case came to trial.
Andy Warhol filmed Chelsea Girls in the hotel in 1966.
Other famous visitors include Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, actress Isabella Rosselini and filmmaker Shirley Clarke.
Could Taylor Swift visit Swansea?
Taylor Swift will be in Wales performing at the Principality Stadium on 18 June for her Era's tour.
The tour, which began on 17 March 2023 and will continue until December 2024, has seen Swift rake in more than $1.04bn - with sold out concerts, hotels and crashed ticket sites.
Not to mention that one concert even caused an earthquake.
The singer's Cardiff concert sold out in minutes, leaving many fans looking for re-sale tickets.
Online scammers took advantage of this, with one Welsh fan losing up to £250 when she was duped.
Some legitimate Cardiff re-sale tickets are being priced at £3,352.
So the question that remains is, could Dylan Thomas' Laugharne or Cwmdonkin Drive expect a visit from Swift this summer?
