Troops from seven countries came looking for Jack White.
The White Stripes’ lead singer was forced to clarify his comments on Monday after suggesting it would be “boring” to write about a “publicly aired breakup” like Taylor Swift’s.
According to Rolling Stone, White said on his Instagram Stories, “What I wanted to say in the interview about poetry and songwriting was that I don’t think writing about myself in my lyrics or poetry is at all interesting, because what I usually write can be repetitive, it might not be interesting for people who listen to my music to delve into, and imaginary characters are more appealing to me as a writer.”
The 50-year-old went on to praise Swift’s “huge success” as well as other songwriters who have their own unique songwriting processes.
“Just because I say I have my way doesn’t mean I think everyone should do it the same way,” White continued. “They should be doing what works for them, and they are. That clearly appeals to a lot of people, and I’m glad to hear that.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee noted that in an “era of click bait and huge demand for content,” he is “less and less interested in doing interviews.”
He argued, in part, that “any scraps that are interesting” are used for plays and “spit out as fodder.”
Mr White’s statement on Instagram came a day after his interview with the Guardian went viral.
When asked if any of his songs are “autobiographical,” he replied: “Not very many. It’s become very popular now with the Taylor Swift style of pop singers writing about all their public breakups, but I don’t think that’s interesting at all. I think it’s a little boring to write about yourself.”
The six-time Grammy winner also told the outlet that even if he had an “interesting day,” he doesn’t feel the need to rehash it in a song because he’s “already had the day.”
“If it’s really painful, I’m not going to put this important, painful thing that I went through out there for idiots on the internet to stomp on,” he continued. “So you channel some of that into your own actions and morph it into someone else’s character. You can’t really learn about yourself until you put yourself in someone else’s shoes.”
Meanwhile, this kind of songwriting has paid off for Swift, 36, who is scheduled to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame later this year. She will be the youngest woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In 2024, the hitmaker opened up about her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Division, in which she passionately talked about creating from her own pain.
“‘Torchard Poets’ is an album – I think more than any album I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me,” she told the crowd via NME midway through her February 2024 Melbourne Elas tour.
“Just the things I was going through and writing about. It reminded me of why songwriting can actually help you live your life. No album needed more songwriting than Tortured Poets.”
