New Taylor Swift Song “Anti-Hero” Lyric Sparks Backlash – But It’s Just a 30 Rock Reference

Taylor Swift released her new song “Anti-Hero” along with her new album Midnights, and like all T-Swift music it seems like the track is on a rocket-propelled rise through the charts. That said, “Anti-Hero” is making headlines for a different reason: a particular lyric of the track that has sparked major backlash.

 In the song, Taylor Swift opens the second verse by singing: 

Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby
And I’m a monster on the hill
Too big to hang out
Slowly lurching toward your favorite city
Pierced through the heart but never killed

Not surprisingly, a lot of listeners have heard the “sexy baby” line and started to question if Taylor Swift hasn’t been hanging out in Hollywood too long and developed some… unsavory tastes. Not to worry Swifties: the Internet and social media have been quick with the receipts, pointing out that Swift was simply using a term that’s been floating around since Tina Fey and 30 Rock made it (in)famous back in 2011. 

30 Rock’s “Sexy Baby” Quote Explained

In 30 Rock S5E16 “TGS Hates Women”, Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon takes it to heart when her late-night sketch show TGS is accused of being misogynistic due to skteches and jokes written by an almost-entirely male staff. Liz tries to hire a rising-star comedienne named Abby Flynn (The Resort’s Cristin Millioti) to the staff but is horrified when Abby turns out to be a pig-tailed bimbo with a ditsy persona. The storyline focuses on Liz Lemon’s attempt to “emancipate” Abby from male-controlled social stereotypes of sexuality, and embrace her more “feminist” attributes like her wit and intelligence. 

The scene that Taylor Swift references comes when Liz tries to really drive home her point to Abby, telling her that by working at TGS she is in a safe environment and can therefore drop “the Sexy Baby act.” It all blows up in Liz’s face when she “exposes” Abby’s real name, appearance, and non-sexualized persona – only to discover the girl’s facade was a camouflage to hide her and elicit male protection from her psychotic and abusive ex-boyfriend. 

What Does “Sexy Baby” Mean? 

Like so many things in 30 Rock, Liz Lemon’s “sexy baby” line became meme-worthy quote that struck a a deeper societal chord. If the term is wildly uncomfortable that’s kind of the point: Tina Fey was making very real reference to muddled societal views on making young girls dress in more sexually-provocative clothes; older women to dress or present themselves in younger fashion – really the lurking spectre of child abuse and exploitation of underage girls that has now become mainstream knowledge in a post “Me Too” era, but was a small but damning signal from 30 Rock back in 2011. 

Why Does Taylor Swift Use the “Sexy Baby” Son Lyric? 

While she will  likely explain for herself (eventually), Taylor Swift’s “sexy baby” lyric in “Anti-Hero” seems to be about her view and/or insecurity of not fitting in, physically, with the typical Hollywood/celebrity image of beauty and glamour. 

While Swift sees the creepy “sexy baby” look around her in Hollwyood, in her tall body she seems to feel apart from that persona, making herself out to be like a Kaiju monster “lurching” toward a city (Godzilla, King Kon, etc…). 

It’s both a condemnation of modern beauty standards and self-deprecation all in one set of lyrics. Classic T-Swift!

Sexy Baby? WTF?!

If there is a winner for “Most WTF Lyric” on Midnights, it is this. 

Sexy Baby Explained

…It’s not the gross thing you’re probably thinking. 

K E E PC A L MA N DS W I F TO N

No, your favorite wholesome pop-star hasn’t gone insane. That was the 2000s. 

Taylor Swift: 30 Rock Stan?!

Blerg! Who knew? 

Twilight Gets It

The last time pop-culture got uncomfortable like THIS, it was thanks to Jacob and Esme in Twilight: Breaking Dawn. 

Too Old To Swift?

Is 30 Rock a reference Taylor Swift would even make? I mean, the show is still popular, but… 

LONG LIVE 30 ROCK

This is (once again) a clear demonstration of the failures in the American (Entertainment) Education System.