Swift released "Only the Young" on January 31, 2020, as a promotional single. She wrote the song after the 2018 United States elections.^[2] Prior to the elections, Swift broke her political silence by endorsing two Democrats: Congressman Jim Cooper for re-election to the House of Representatives, and former Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen for the Senate.^[3] Swift also criticized the voting record of Bredesen''s opponent Republican Marsha Blackburn.

It was hard to see so many people feel like they had canvassed and done everything and tried so hard. I saw a lot of young people''s hopes dashed. And I found that to be particularly tragic, because young people are the people who feel the worst effects of gun violence, and student loans and trying to figure out how to start their lives and how to pay their bills, and climate change, and are we going to war – all these horrific situations that we find ourselves facing right now.

— Swift speaking to Variety^[1]

^Only the Young" incorporates political lyrics, in contrast to Swift''s earlier works that were politically neutral. Swift urges young citizens to get involved in politics if they want things to change. She does this by alluding to 2017–2021 US President Donald Trump, the 2016 presidential election