But Daddy I Love Him

She reflected on The Tortured Poets Department as a "lifeline" for her,[1] and its conception took place amidst intense media reports on Swift's personal life, including a breakup after a long-term relationship with Joe Alwyn and a brief romantic linking with Matty Healy.

[27] The title is a quote from the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid; the protagonist Ariel says the line in response to her merman father's disapproval of her human love interest, Prince Eric.

[20][30][31] In the opening verse, Swift's narrator establishes her tension with her critics ("I just learned these people only raise you just to cage you")[32] and her resentment against them for disapproving of her romantic life ("Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best" / "Clutching their pearls, sighing, 'What a mess'").

[30][33] In the bridge, she directly confronts her critics—the "Sarahs and Hannahs", the "wine moms", and "the elders"—that only she has the authority to "disgrace" her good-girl reputation ("I'd rather burn my whole life down/ Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning").

[32] Towards the track's conclusion, this romance receives approval from the father of Swift's narrator ("Now I'm dancing in my dress in the sun, and even my daddy just loves him"), and she tells her critics that they are not welcomed at her wedding.

[30] Several journalists interpreted "But Daddy I Love Him" as an autobiographical song about the scrutiny Swift received for her dating history, specifically the short-lived linking with Healy.

[36] Bryan West from The Tennessean thought that the romantic freedom and defiant attitude of "But Daddy I Love Him" were reminiscent of the sentiments in Swift's 2017 track "Don't Blame Me".

[27][41][42][43] Some critics, like Vulture's Craig Jenkins[19] and Billboard Philippines' Gabriel Saulog,[40] saw "But Daddy I Love Him" as Swift's message of asserting her authority over her personal life, despite the intense attention she received from her fans and the press.

[20] For Jenkins, the song sees Swift wrestling with her own image as a "dutiful daughter" of Americana, serving as "an examination of faith-based striations within white society".

[25][47][48] Many reviews focused on its lyricism; they found it fascinating that Swift expressed her anger towards the press, the public, and even her fans to defend her personal life choices.

[12] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis thought that Swift "pulls it off" with the risk of offending her fan base in the song, finding her expression of "fatigued exasperation" both believable and affecting.

Contrary to the tracks that strayed into verbosity, "But Daddy I Love Him" succeeded thanks to Swift's "nimble" and "heel-turning" details that stacked up towards "flights of fantasy unlike anything else on this album".

[20] The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber highlighted the country and rock influences, the live-sounding drums, and Swift's "keening" voice, finding the musical combination "perfect".

[54] Following the album's release, its tracks occupied the top nine of the Billboard Global 200; "But Daddy I Love Him" debuted at its peak of number seven on the chart, where it extended Swift's top-10 entries to 33.