Taylor Swift's namecheck for The Blue Nile sees her join Nirvana and Prince as US megastars who like less well-known Scottish bands – Scotsman comment

Taylor Swift’s new album contains the line that she is ‘drowning in The Blue Nile’

Prince was apparently a fan of Bellshill’s The Soup Dragons, while Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain famously covered songs by Glasgow band The Vaselines. Now another American megastar – none other than Taylor Swift herself – has put the spotlight on a Scottish band that is, fair to say, not quite as well known as she is.

The lyrics of Guilty as Sin? – the ninth song on Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department – include the line: “Drowning in The Blue Nile. He sent me Downtown Lights. I hadn’t heard it in a while.” For those not in the know, there is no need to be concerned about Swift’s safety, she is not singing of a narrow escape after a recent boating accident.

For “Downtown Lights” refers to a 1989 song by The Blue Nile, another Glasgow band. Literally gazillions of diehard ‘Swifties’ now know their name, that their idol likes to listen to their music, and that they are kindred spirits to all “tortured poets”. Swift’s upcoming, sold-out Murrayfield shows just got an extra dimension.

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