3LW v. TAYLOR SWIFT: Shake It Off Lawsuit.
By: Lauren Pevehouse
When Taylor Swift writes a song, everyone has something to say about it. Some people are obsessed, some are wrongfully opposed to listening, and some claim that they wrote it first!
Swift is known for her moving lyrics, sad prose, and dancey pop bops. Her lyricism is on full display in her song from the surprise Folklore album titled, “The Lakes” where she penned, “I want auroras and sad prose; I want to watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet; ‘cause I haven’t moved in years.” It’s hard to imagine someone who wrote that lyric is in a legal dispute over the simple and bland lyric, “shake it off.”
Taylor’s hit song, “Shake it Off,” is one of those songs that you can’t help but sing along to. Its catchy lyrics make it easy, “players gunna play play play play… haters gunna hate hate hate hate hate… I’m just gunna shake shake shake shake, shake it off!”
If you’re the girl band 3LW, this is one of those songs you claim you wrote.
3LW was an iconic girl band from our childhood days. One of the members even went on to find Cheetah Girl fame. Iconic. 3LW claims that their song “Playas Gon’ Play” is the inspiration behind Taylor’s lyrics. And they want credit for that.
Of course, Taylor claims that the lyrics were written entirely by her and that he had never heard of the song or the girl group in her life. Suspicious?
Take a listen to both songs:
Taylor Swift supports her defense with a declaration that she was not allowed to even watch TRL (Total Request Live) until she was 13-years-old. She never owned a 3LW CD or a NOW! That’s What I Call Music 6 OR 7… which we assume must feature this 3LW bop.
Swift admits she didn’t invent the sayings. In her declaration, Swift acknowledges that she heard the phrase in many songs, films, and other works. She even used to have an Urban Outfitters shirt that said “playa gunna play.” I’m not sure I would have my client admit to such a shirt, but cest la vie!
Here’s what Taylor has to say:
In writing the lyrics, I drew partly on experiences in my life and, in particular, unrelenting public scrutiny of my personal life, “clickbait” reporting, public manipulation, and other forms of negative personal criticism which I learned I just needed to shake off and focus on my music. With “Shake It Off,” I wanted to provide a comedic, empowering approach to helping people feel better about negative criticism through music, dance, and the personal independence enabling one to just shake off the negative criticism.
The lyrics to “Shake It Off” also draw from commonly used phrases and comments heard throughout my life. Prior to writing “Shake It Off,” I had heard the phrases “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” uttered countless times to express the idea that one can or should shrug off negativity. I recall hearing phrases about players play and haters hate stated together by other children while attending school in Wyomissing Hills, and in high school in Hendersonville. These phrases were akin to other commonly used sayings like “don’t hate the playa, hate the game,” “take a chill pill,” and “say it, don’t spray it.” I drew on those commonly used player and hater phrases in creating the lyrics “Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play / And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.”
I also recall hearing similar player and hater phrases in many songs, films, and other works prior to “Shake It Off.” For example, I was present at the 2013 Country Music Awards and heard Eric Church perform his song “The Outsiders,” which includes the lyric “the player’s gonna play and a haters gonna hate.”
So, what do you think? Did Taylor Swift lift the lyrics from 3LW?
