Taylor Swift: How the Scottish connection, Blue Nile, in The Tortured Poets Department is making me a Swiftie

With The Tortured Poets Department hitting the shops, Scott Reid talks about how he might be making his very first Swiftie purchase.

Taylor Swift's new album, "The Tortured Poets Department," has finally arrived. (Credit: Taylor Swift on Instagram)

I’m not a Taylor Swift fan. My record and CD collection numbers in the thousands but not one of those discs is by the world’s most talked about/listened to/bankable/Instagrammable artist. The closest I come is a copy of Ryan Adams cover album/tribute 1989, and I wouldn’t rank that as one of his finest efforts.

I certainly won’t be breaking open the piggy bank, or consulting with my bank manager or local loan shark, in order to purchase an inflated ticket to join the Murrayfield mob this summer when Ms Swift comes to town.

However, having gleaned one little fact about her latest creation I now intend to make a beeline for my local record shop this afternoon.

And it’s all down to one of the tracks on The Tortured Poets Department referencing one of Scotland’s finest ever musical exports - the elusive but quite simply stunning Glasgow three-piece outfit that is, or rather was, The Blue Nile. Never the most prolific band - four albums in a little over two decades from the early 1980s to 2004 - their work has influenced many headline acts, including the world’s most talked about singer of the moment, it would appear.

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I gather the said Swift track is a bit of a lovey-dovey/break-up number with a bit of a backstory that others can chew the fat over, but it does contain the lyric: “Drowning in the Blue Nile, he sent me Downtown Lights.” And that’s enough for me to fork out a tenner or so for Swift’s new CD.

The Downtown Lights. One of the best, most mesmerising songs ever. From one of the finest albums ever - Hats, The Nile’s second studio creation. OK, their debut offering, A Walk Across the Rooftops, released in 1984 on Glasgow’s Linn Records, possibly pips it.

Regardless, expect The Blue Nile to start trending and their music to gain a new audience.

So there we go, a wee Scottish connection and I’ve turned into a full-on Swiftie, on the eve of Record Store Day no less. Or perhaps not. Provided stocks haven’t run dry when I battle the crowds later I will be asking for my copy to be popped in a brown paper bag.

Read more here: Why is Taylor Swift so popular? We help explain what makes the singer so beloved.