The National‘s Aaron Dessner has spoken out on whether Gracie Abrams’ ‘Death Wish’ is about Taylor Swift.
The popstar released her latest album ‘Daughter From Hell‘ on July 17 – and one track in particular has fans speculating that Taylor Swift might be its subject.
‘Death Wish’, the album’s second track, contains biting lyrics such as “You’re everything I’ll never be, you live to look for enemies” and “I ruined your plans of some grand self-promotion“. Some fans have interpreted these words to be about Taylor Swift, for whom Abrams was a support act for the ‘Eras’ tour.
However, ‘Daughter From Hell’ producer Aaron Dessner has denied such allegations. Along with his work in The National, Dessner has collaborated with Abrams for six years, and has also produced several Swift albums including 2020’s ‘folklore’ and ‘evermore’.
He told Billboard that ‘Death Wish’ was “definitely not” about the ‘Opalite’ singer. “It was written at a time when [Gracie] was writing about a friend’s ex, being in a bad relationship,” he told the outlet. “So it was kind of about that person, I think. I wouldn’t even actually know who that person was”.
This explanation is backed up by Abrams herself, who told fans of the song’s origins during its live debut at her London O2 Arena stop in March 2025. “This song is about a friend of mine who recently was dating, like, a mega narcissist,” she told the crowd at the time. “A sincere friend of mine was recently dating someone who kind of sucked. And I was listening to them talk about it a lot, and so this song is about that!”
Abrams has been friends with Swift for a number of years, once claiming that no man has “come close to defining pop culture” like Taylor Swift has.
“There’s also nothing that comes close to what she has done,” she told Cosmopolitan for her cover story. “People will still gaslight her and her capabilities and all this shit. But please point me to one man who has come close to defining pop culture in this way. There is nothing! But people are not ready for that conversation.”
She has also performed a live cover of Swift’s ‘All Too Well (10 Minute Version)’ during her headline show at the Kia Forum last August. On the final ‘Eras’ leg in Vancouver, Abrams and Swift delivered a mash-up of Abrams’ ‘I Love You, I’m Sorry’ and Swift’s ‘Last Kiss’ on stage together.
Abrams also attended the singer’s wedding to footballer Travis Kelce on July 3.
Elsewhere, we reviewed ‘Daughter From Hell’ when it dropped last week, giving it three stars. “‘Daughter From Hell’ is meant to be a reflection, so it’s fitting that the title track serves as an apology to Abrams’ parents for terrorising them as a teenage tearaway,” we wrote. “It’s a shame that it ends up feeling plodding and dirgey, the slow, distorted guitar making it feel more torturous than enlightened.
“Perhaps that in itself is a reflection – that, at 26, Abrams still, as we all do, has more growing to do.”