Meaning of “SWINE” by Demi Lovato

“Swine”, which was released on 22 June 2023, marks Demi Lovato’s first standard single of this year. She wrote this track with Laura Veltz, Upsahl and its producers, Keith Sorrells, Alex Niceforo and Oak. The director of the song’s music video is Meriel O’Connell. Also to note, at the time of its issuance, “Swine” is acting as a standalone single.

The Background behind the Song

Approximately a year ago, on 24 June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned a decision commonly known as Roe v. Wade which had been in place for approximately five decades. In other words, they gave each of the individual 50 states within the country the right to decide if abortion is legal within their respective borders. 

While some people supported this amendment others did not, and as we have pointed out in the past, the mainstream music industry has been just about unanimously against states being given the right to make abortion illegal. And at the forefront of such efforts stands the likes of Demi Lovato, who for instance has pledged to donate the profits which Swine generates for the next year to various pro-choice NGOs.

The Lyrics of “Swine”

Some may argue that pro-lifers such as Lovato are blowing things out of proportion. After all, it isn’t as if abortion is now illegal throughout the United States. In fact as of this writing, only 14 of out the 50 states have banned the practice outright. And a few others have instituted gestational limits, basically meaning that a woman cannot abort a fetus after carrying it for a certain amount of weeks. 

So to reiterate abortion has not actually become illegal but just more difficult to attain in some parts of the United States.

That said, as implied at the beginning of this song, the way women such as this vocalist perceive the matter is as if their sexual choices have now been limited. Or as relayed, Demi wants to be able to freely bonk, including having guys cum inside of her, without having to worry about birthing an unwanted child later down the line.

And to illustrate the seriousness of the situation in her mind, in the second verse Lovato instructs listeners to “imagine [if] your God or even your Holy Bible” were likewise banned. 

So in a roundabout way, she goes about establishing that she doesn’t believe in such things. Indeed in the second verse, she goes on to argue that the Bible is “your book”, while having the right to an abortion is “her survival”, thus implying that the latter is more important than the former. 

“My life, my voice
My rights, my choice
It’s mine, or I’m just swine
My blood, my loins
My lungs, my noise
It’s mine, or I’m just swine (Hey, hey, hey, hey)”

But in furthering her argument, Demi actually makes a pretty valid point, that caring for a child is a major responsibility, and neglecting to do so results in a woman being demonized. Or viewed otherwise, a woman should not be forced to birth a child that she doesn’t want. 

But with that being noted, the way she goes about wording the second verse makes it sound as if Lovato believes that Christians especially were behind getting Roe v. Wade overturned. And she proceeds to relay in the pre-chorus that follows that her goal is thus to “give these motherf*–ers hell”.

Later on, the songstress uses the bridge to, most simply interpreted, depict herself and likeminded women, i.e. pro-lifers, as being oppressed. Indeed in describing this song, she explained it as a call to action for “everyone who stands up for equality”. 

And the title is based on a related notion, that Demi perceives those who try to control her body as considering her to be “swine”, or let’s otherwise say less than human, i.e. an animal that is not intelligent enough to make rightful decisions on her own.