Taylor Swift has taken musical inspiration from boyfriends and exes, friends and family … and even historical figures. Her 2012 song “Starlight” from her Red album was inspired by the romance between 64th United States attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and his wife, Ethel Kennedy. The sweet story behind the tune resurfaced in October 2024 amid Ethel’s death at age 96.
Who Was Ethel Kennedy?
Ethel met Robert, who was nicknamed “Bobby,” because he was the brother of her roommate at Manhattanville College, Jean Kennedy, in 1945. They got married in 1950 and remained together until Bobby’s death at 42 years old in 1968. The couple shared 11 children, although two of their sons passed away during her lifetime. Son David Kennedy died of a drug overdose in 1984, while son Michael Kennedy died in a ski accident in 1997.
Ethel was a human rights activist who founded the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights following her husband’s assassination. The organization was taken over by her daughter Kerry Kennedy.
Kerry confirmed via X on October 10, 2024, that her mother had died “from complications related to a stroke suffered last week.”
“She was a devout Catholic and a daily communicant, and we are comforted in knowing she is reunited with the love of her life, our father, Robert F. Kennedy; her children David and Michael; her daughter-in-law Mary; her grandchildren Maeve and Saoirse; and her great-grandchildren Gideon and Josie,” Kerry’s statement continued. “Please keep our mother in your hearts and prayers.”
What Is Taylor Swift’s ‘Starlight’ About?
Taylor revealed that she was inspired by the Kennedy couple in a 2012 interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“I get a lot of style inspiration from the 1960s, so I’ll go and look at black and white pictures, and look at [photos from the] ’50s and ’60s, and I came across this picture of these two kids dancing at a dance,” she said. “It immediately made me think of, like, how much fun they must have had that night. It was back in the late ’40s.”
The pop star explained that the description of the photo revealed it was Robert and Ethel. “So I just kind of wrote [‘Starlight’] from that place, not really knowing how they met or anything like that,” she said.
Taylor also had a connection to the Kennedy family, as she was dating Ethel’s grandson Conor Kennedy at the time.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Starlight’ Lyrics
In “Starlight,” Taylor sings about two teens meeting, falling in love and dancing together.
“I said, ‘Oh my, what a marvelous tune’/ It was the best night, never would forget how we moved/ The whole place/ Was dressed to the nines/ And we were dancing, dancing/ Like we’re made of starlight,” the lyrics read.
The song is written from Ethel’s perspective and references Robert in the line, “I met Bobby on the boardwalk summer of ’45.”
“Picked me up late one night out the window/ We were seventeen and crazy running wild, wild/ Can’t remember what song he was playing when we walked in/ The night we snuck into a yacht club party/ Pretending to be a duchess and a prince,” the song continues.
The song is not an exact retelling of Bobby and Ethel’s love story — they met in the winter of 1945, and only Ethel was 17 at the time, while her would-be husband was 20 — but it is very similar. Taylor even sings about the couple having “10 kids and [teaching] ’em how to dream.”
