Inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places, and for Taylor Swift, it turns out that it came from Game of Thrones.

The singer’s sixth album reputation included the hit singles Look What You Made Me Do and End Game, the latter featuring Ed Sheeran and Future.

Now Swift has revealed that much of the inspiration for the album came from Game of Thrones, and in particular its female characters, which she combined with what she was going through at the time.

Swift told Entertainment Weekly that she began binge-watching Game of Thrones in 2016, having somehow managed to avoid spoilers about the show until then.

“So much of my imagination was spent on Game of Thrones,” Swift said.

The songs on reputation were “half based on what I was going through”, said Swift, but “through a Game of Thrones filter”. The result was an album that was half about vengeance and half about love and looking to find “something sacred through all the battle cries”.

Look What You Made Me Do is inspired by Arya Stark’s kill list, and if you look at the lyrics, it’s pretty obvious. Lines from the song include “I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time” and “I’ve got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined”. The song continues: “The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama / But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma.”

The relationship between Daenerys and Khal Drogo influenced the song King of My Heart, with lyrics including “let the king of my heart / be the mountain where I run”. Swift also told Entertainment Weekly that the song has a post-hook of drums that she wanted “to sound like Dothraki drums”.

Season seven of Game of Thrones aired just before reputation was released, but still makes its presence felt in the album. I Did Something Bad, said Swift, was written after she watched Arya and Sansa Stark plotting to kill Littlefinger. That song and Look What You Made Me Do also have “very Cersei vibes, too. Daenerys as well.”

It’s not just in her lyrics that Swift has been influenced by Game of Thrones. She said the show had also shaped her “entire outlook on storytelling”, including “the ability to foreshadow stories, to meticulously craft cryptic storylines”.

“I just feel so lucky to exist when Game of Thrones is coming out,” she added.

And Swift also shared her prediction for who would end up on the Iron Throne, saying it could be any one of Daenerys, Arya or Sansa.

“But if I’m being realistic,” she said, “I think Sansa has the skill set and the ability to delegate and put on a brave face but a stoic demeanour.” Arya, said Swift, would be the Hand of the King.

With Swift’s admissions about reputation, we’re now not only looking forward to seeing who triumphs on Game of Thrones, but also whether it will influence any more catchy pop songs by Swift.

Images: HBO, Getty