Written by Kristina Calhoun
At the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards on Sept. 16, country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift performed her song “Betty,” from her 2020 album “Folklore.” The album itself was released as a surprise only 11 months after her “Lover” album. The song was written in the perspective of a 17-year-old boy. Swift went on to say about the song, “Everyone makes mistakes, everybody really messes up sometimes.”
Swift officially announced her appearance at the ACMs to fans on Sept. 13. She wrote on Twitter, “Bout to show up at your party,” where she also tagged the ACMs’ Twitter account. Most country music lovers were less than impressed with Swift’s performance. Since the chorus of “Betty” has a couple of f-bombs, a lot of people thought it wasn’t appropriate for television in general. Swift solved the issue by saying “hell” instead. Some fans tagged Swift on Twitter, mentioning her changed lyrics; others, however, had no idea what they were talking about.
Since switching music genres seven years ago, with no intention of turning back, most were shocked to see Swift performing. The last performance Swift did at the ACMs was when she sang her song “Red,” from the album under the same name. While Swift talked about her departure from the country genre in her 2015 ACMs’ acceptance speech, she has moved so far into the pop culture with songs like “Shake it Off,” “Look What you Made Me Do,” and many others that fans didn’t think she would ever return to the country music scene. Many people thought Swift did not sound quite country at the ACM award ceremony. But as the saying goes, you can always go back to your roots.
Swift has not mentioned if she is looking to make a slight comeback into country music. Regardless, the world is excited to see what will come next in the star’s career.
