Taylor Swift on Blake Lively's Daughter in 'Betty': 'I Named the Characters After My Friends' Kids'
Taylor Swift has officially returned to the country charts.
The singer, 30, recently introduced her new song "Betty" from her folklore album on country radio and shared the meaning behind her single, which revealed the name of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' third daughter.
"[James] has lost the love of his life basically and doesn't understand how to get it back. I think we all have these situations in our lives where we learn to really, really give a heartfelt apology for the first time," Swift explained of the song, which uses the name of Lively and Reynolds' eldest daughter James, 5?, in a male pronoun.
"Everybody makes mistakes, everybody really messes up sometimes and this is a song that I wrote from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy. I've always loved that in music you can kinda slip into different identities and you can sing from other people's perspectives. So that's what I did on this one," she continued.
"I named all the characters in this story after my friends' kids... and I hope you like it!" Swift concluded, confirming that she used the names of Lively and Reynolds' daughters, including 3?-year-old Inez, as inspiration.
Shortly after the July 24 release of folklore, a source with knowledge of the situation previously told PEOPLE that "Betty" was named in part for Lively and Reynolds' third daughter, who was born Oct. 4, 2019. Reps for Lively and Reynolds did not return a request for comment at the time.
"Betty, I know where it all went wrong," Swift sings. Later lines include: "You heard the rumors from Inez/ You can't believe a word she says" and "She said, 'James, get in, let's drive."
RELATED: Taylor Swift's Song 'Betty' Confirms the Name of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds' Third Daughter
Lively, 32, recently praised Swift and her folklore album. "Can we all please crawl inside that piano with you and live in this album.." the actress wrote on Instagram Story, making a nod to the "Cardigan" music video. "Like you, Folklore is full of heart, soul, humor, passion, intelligence, wit, whimsy, reality, imagination, strength, vulnerability, and above all things: Love," the mother of three said.
Lively and Reynolds, who wed in 2012, have been close friends with Swift since 2015. The pair's daughter James previously made a voiceover cameo in Swift's song "Gorgeous" in 2017.
Folklore is categorized as an alternative album but Swift's "Betty" is her latest country song on radio and streaming services. The hit follows her country collaboration with The Chicks, "Soon You'll Get Better," which was released on her pop album, Lover, in August 2019.
The return to the country genre comes six years since Swift shifted gears to pop with her 1989 album in 2014.