Who was Clara Bow? The original ‘it girl’ who inspired Taylor Swift’s new song
Taylor Swift’s latest album has been out for less than a day – but fans and critics alike are already deep into decoding the meaning of her somewhat cryptic lyrics.
The pop icon’s mammoth project, The Tortured Poets Department, ended up being a secret double album, with the first part ending on a track simply titled Clara Bow.
Unless you’re something of a Hollywood history buff, the reference may have been lost on you.
So here’s what you need to know about Bow and more on how Swift referenced her and the possible reasons why.
The original ‘it girl’
American actress Clara Bow was one of the most successful film stars of the silent era and became the original “it girl” after starring in the 1927 hit film, It.
Pic: AP
And although her profession doesn’t match Swift’s, there are clear parallels when it comes to the trajectory of her career and some of the attention that followed.
Born in 1905, Bow became accustomed to extraordinary fame as a young woman and as a consequence, her romantic life was thrust into the public eye.
Read more:
Breaking down The Tortured Poets Department
The hidden meanings and the people Swift appears to reference
She was regularly linked to a number of high-profile men and was often a source of gossip and speculation for the public.
Perhaps this, along with the actress having a difficult time adjusting to being considered a sex symbol, are where the similarities end.
Clara Bow with Harry Richman. Pic: AP
It was rumoured Bow’s career plummeted because her harsh Brooklyn accent wasn’t desirable for talking films.
However, Swift has been dominating her field since she was a teenager, and the now 34-year-old’s career shows no signs of stagnating whatsoever.
Bow, according to reports from the 1940s, later attempted to take her own life and was sent to an asylum.
The actress died after having a heart attack at the age of 60 in 1965, according to The New York Times.
What could the song mean?
It starts with the following verse:
You look like Clara Bow in this light… remarkable
All your life, did you know
You’d be picked like a rose?
And the song ends with a similar verse, only this time, Bow’s name is replaced by her own:
You look like Taylor Swift in this light
We’re loving it
You’ve got edge she never did
The future’s bright… dazzling.
Pic: Beth Garrabrant
All songs, of course, are down to interpretation. But it’s certainly interesting to see Swift take the name of the “it girl” of almost 100 years ago and, by the end of the song, replace it with her own.
Bow’s industry eventually forced her to pass the mantle on, and it seems Swift is under no illusions that, at some stage (though it seems rather far off), she’ll be forced to do the same – and her successor may even have “the edge she never did”.
Our arts and entertainment reporter Bethany Minelle gives us her take on Swift’s lyrics:
“She gives us a self-referring dig which touches on both the fickleness of the music industry and pokes fun at her own ever-inflating success.
“We hear a young wannabe praised by ‘suits in LA,’ telling her: ‘You look like Taylor Swift in this light, we’re loving it. You’ve got edge she never did.’
“Always looking ahead, to her next era, perhaps when her ‘girlish glow flickers’, a now 30-something Swift is always one step ahead of the industry she’s currently dominating.
“As she tells us: ‘The future’s bright… Dazzling’.”
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
Kate’s ’emotional’ words for tearful tennis star
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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Who is being targeted in Trump’s immigration raids?
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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President threatens to revoke US comedian’s citizenship
Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
Read more from Sky News:
Kate’s ’emotional’ words for tearful tennis star
Music festival cancelled as headliner pulls out
Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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