Swifties thought they had discovered unreleased lyrics, but it was the booklet for the Staind singer’s “Give Me Back My Country.”

Aaron Lewis reacts to record label shredding his new album pages for Taylor Swift merch packing material

Swifties thought they had discovered unreleased lyrics, but it was the booklet for the Staind singer's "Give Me Back My Country."

By Kathleen Perricone

June 26, 2026 9:24 p.m. ET

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Aaron Lewis; Taylor Swift. Credit:

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

- Taylor Swift fans thought they had discovered unreleased lyrics printed on packing materials in new merchandise boxes.

- "Oh look, there's my new album, that hasn't even been released yet," claimed Aaron Lewis, best known from the band Staind.

- "I just don't understand how something like that can happen," he added.

Not everything has to be a Taylor Swift Easter egg.

When fans opened their merch boxes containing the singer's new "I Knew It, I Knew You" CD collection, some were convinced there had to be a secret meaning behind the packing material: shredded pieces of paper printed with mysterious lyrics.

They weren't written by Swift, however. Turns out, the album pages are actually from Aaron Lewis' upcoming* Give Me Back My Country*, set for release on July 17 by Big Machine Label Group, Swift's former label.

"Oh look, there's my new album, that hasn't even been released yet, shredded as packaging paper in Taylor Swift merch," the Staind singer wrote on X. "Ain't that some s---."

Aaron Lewis and Taylor Swift in 2016.

Lewis, whose music has grown conservative since his nu-metal days, revealed he first learned about the viral videos from Swifties from his social media team, as he personally stays off the platforms.

"I don't see anything of that type of stuff," he told *USA Today*. "And when this was brought to me, I was just like, 'What is going on? This is just weird.'"

Swifties thought so too when they posted their findings online. "This may be the weirdest find ever in a swiftie merch box!!!!" a fan named Christa Jo (@heartwasglassidroppedit) captioned her video that caught Lewis' attention. "I don't think I should have this," she told the camera as she examined the shredded album booklet.

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"That's the cover to my brand new record that hasn't even been put out yet," Lewis confirmed to *USA Today*. "It's not like it's old stuff that was just sitting around that they decided to make packing material out of. It's my new record. I just don't understand how something like that can happen."

A representative for Swift did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.

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Lewis insists he doesn't have any hard feelings for Swift, whom he met once in Nashville — and immediately bonded over their shared love of the number 13.

"We live in two very, very different worlds. And she's such a huge star that her world doesn't intertwine with anyone's worlds," he said. "I certainly wouldn't be trying to bring her into this or blame her for anything. It just so happens that it was my record cover in her gift box for her fans."

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Source: “EW Musicians”