By Jadyn Buccilli
Staff Writer
Taylor Swift has released her deluxe album “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” with mixed reviews coming in from listeners worldwide. The album contains four new songs in addition to its pre-existing tracks: “Babylon,” “Pink Clouding,” “Cleveland!” and “Patient Zero.” The latter of the four has sparked quite a bit of controversy ever since its teaser was aired on news and social media platforms.
The teaser for “Patient Zero’s” song and music video was released on Sept. 24, just a day before the full single was made available to the public. While some fans expressed their excitement for a new song to listen to, others commented on the similarities of the teased instrumentals of the song to the chorus of “Wait for Me,” which is one of the most popular songs from “Hadestown.”
I am not what people would consider to be a “Swiftie,” but I am definitely a proud member of the “Hadestown” fandom, so I immediately decided to give the teaser a listen when I caught word of this controversy. While I cannot say for sure if this is intentional or not, I would be lying if I said that I thought that they did not sound almost identical.
Obviously, the fandom for “Hadestown” is smaller than Swift’s fanbase, but even people who are not in either fandom could tell that the two songs sound painfully similar. For instance, multiple friends of mine have commented on how the instrumentals to “Patient Zero” sound basically identical to “Wait for Me” if I play the songs side by side, regardless if they have heard either of the songs prior to me discussing the matter to them.
Swift is yet to address the accusations made by the “Hadestown” fandom, but this will not be the first time that she has experienced a copyright accusation. Earlier this year, Swift faced a lawsuit from self published poet, Kimberley Marasco, for themes that were used in various songs by Swift. I examined the case and I agree that it should have been dropped, but only a couple of months later is she gaining accusations once again.
Interestingly enough, Swift has been in a music video with an original Broadway cast member from the musical. In a viral clip from a recent interview, Reeve Carney talks about his time in the music video for “I Knew You Were Trouble,” in which he plays the role of Swift’s rebellious ex-boyfriend, years before he originated the iconic role of Orpheus in the Broadway production. Though this likely is not the reason that “Patient Zero” sounds so familiar, it is interesting that Carney and Swift crossed paths in the past, which is not necessarily helping Swift’s case.
I do not want to point fingers and say that Swift is doing this out of sheer malice, because I truly do not know if this was intentional or not. My biggest problem with this controversy is that thousands of people are commenting on the similarities and there is nothing being addressed by Swift or her team of people. Music artists sample songs all the time, however it is not a good look to not give credit to said artists when it is due.
