Why Did Taylor Swift Remove ‘Spelling Is Fun’ Lyric From ‘ME!’?
RIP, cheesy Taylor Swift song lyric. Yes, Swift removed the lyric “Hey kids! Spelling is fun!” from her upbeat jam “ME!” featuring Brendon Urie — and fans are left wondering why exactly.
‘ME!’ gets an update
Two days before the release of her new album Lover, the lyric “Hey kids! Spelling is fun!” is noticeably absent from the Apple Music version of “ME!” (though the version still lives on Spotify, for now).
At the time the song came out in April, Swift took some heat for the lame lyric, but explained during an interview on The Hit Network’s Carrie and Tommy, “With this song, we really just wanted to have this song not really be fully taking itself seriously.”
She added: “So the lyrics, that’s a tone decision that we made in the studio. We literally were like, OK, let’s say ‘Hey, kids! Spelling is fun’ because we want everyone to know that this song is not really serious because it’s not, like, a serious love song.”
Given her explanation, it’s hard to understand why Swift would make the change rather than stick to the original tone. One Twitter fan noted the reason behind the now removed lyric: “Because stans made fun of her for being childish.”
Fans sound off
On Twitter, fans weighed in with their feelings over the changeup, with one user tweeting: “y’all really bullied her into removing ‘hey kids spelling is fun.’ Taylor WROTE that line and they both really like that part.”
Another fan shared: “genuinely upset that taylor took the spelling is fun line out of ME!, y’all bullied her about it and now this has happened and i Will Not forgive not forget.”
One fan was definitely feeling the loss, writing: “I know everyone has a right to their own opinion but honestly guys the ‘hey kids spelling is fun!’ Was a fun cute line. It wasnt serious, like why did it have to be hated on? I’m upset Taylor felt the need to cut it out.”
On Reddit there was plenty of discussion as well, as one user thought the line was “strangely condescending to me,” sharing, “Like, she’s talking down to her listeners, as children with the line.”
Others agreed, but think Swift shouldn’t have changed anything, with one Redditor noting: “Personally I hated it and still do but its sad that Taylor found the online hate for that lyric so massive that she removed it entirely from the album.”
Another fan agreed, stating: “She shouldn’t change her songs because of the reception. She made the choice to include the line, she should have stand [sic] by it.”
Many were mourning the loss of the lyric because it would have been a great opportunity when sung live on tour. One Redditor explained: “people can criticize that line all they want, but i’m not gonna lie i was really looking forward to her on tour singing “hey kids, [INSERT CITY NAME] is fun!” like she did in vegas.”
