Mom of Late Boy Who Inspired Taylor Swift’s ‘Ronan’ Tearfully Reacts to New Video
“It is so painstakingly perfect,” Maya Thompson, mother of Ronan Thompson, said of Taylor Swift’s new video
Taylor Swift’s re-release of her 2012 album Red includes a new version of her tribute to Ronan Thompson, whose death from cancer days before his 4th birthday inspired the song named after him. In an all-new lyric video for the emotional song Ronan, family pictures show the little boy throughout his life, including heartbreakingly sweet footage of Ronan saying “I love you” at the opening of the song.
The materials for the video were provided by his mum Maya Thompson, who reacted to the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) on Twitter.
“This is how I’ll be all day. I just listened AND watched Ronan, Taylor’s version. I couldn’t tell you about the music video until now,” said Maya alongside a tearful selfie. “It is beyond perfection and I can’t wait for you all to see it. @taylorswift13 You are one of the greatest loves of my life. TY for loving him.”
Reacting to the lyric video, Maya wrote, “Forever ours, thanks to @taylorswift13. I am sobbing. It is so painstakingly perfect.”
Back in July, Maya revealed in a blog post that Swift asked her permission to include the song on the Red updated album. The original intention for the song “Ronan” was that it was meant to be a single, with proceeds benefiting a children’s cancer charity. The lyrics took quotes from Maya’s blog and was written from the point of view of a grieving mama. Thompson got a co-writing credit for the song.
From Ronan:
I remember your bare feet down the hallway I remember your little laugh Race cars on the kitchen floor, plastic dinosaurs I love you to the moon and back
“Red was an album of heartbreak and healing, of rage and rawness, of tragedy and trauma, and of the loss of an imagined future alongside someone,” Swift said at the time, according to Thompson. Swift re-recorded Red in an effort to win back control of her work, which resulted in a very public battle with music exec Scooter Braun and much-needed conversations revolving around artists and rights to their intellectual property..
“I wrote Ronan while I was making Red and discovered your story as you so honestly and devastatingly told it. As my co-writer and the rightful owner of this story in its entirety, your opinion and approval of this idea really matters to me, and I’ll honor your wishes here.”
Ronan’s mother allowed Swift to include the song on the new album, as she wrote in her blog post: “[…] there are not enough words in the English language that will ever be able to appropriately convey my feelings about this.”
“Taylor has anchored you to this world so you will never be lost, and now she has ensured you will forever be safe in a new, permanent home,” Maya wrote in the blog post. “She is once again going to give a voice to the often voiceless, the bereaved parents of the world.”
