A large number of Taylor Swift recent albums initially depicted a fairytale love story with an ex Joe Alwynbut a closer look at some of the singer’s lyrics suggests that the relationship became rocky long before their split.
After falling in love with Alwyn, 32, in 2016, Swift, 34, disappeared from the public eye only to return in 2017 and drop her “comeback” record Reputation. Although disguised as a revenge album, Representative was filled with songs like “Gorgeous,” “Delicate,” “Call It What You Want,” and “New Year’s Day,” all of which gave a glimpse into the beginning of her romance with Alwyn.
Swift’s 2019 follow-up, Lover, seemed to be a continuation of the couple’s story. Swapping the dark aesthetic and snakes for pastel pink and butterflies, Swift decided to write an album of simple romance, with the title track being her most swoon-worthy yet.
“I’ve been thinking for years, ‘My God, it would be so great to have a song that people in love would want to dance to.’ Like, slow dancing,” Swift said The New York Times in 2019. “In my head, I just had the last two people on a dance floor at 3 a.m., swaying. »
Swift admitted, however, that an underlying sense of tension also existed in the lyrics. “I wanted the chorus to be like very simple existential questions that we ask ourselves when we are in love. “Can I go where you’re going?” » This is such a heavy thing to ask of someone. “Can we still be this close?” there is so much fear in him.
Other tracks on the album reflect a similar type of anxiety. “Cornelia Street” — a song that was initially seen as a passionate love song for Swift and Alwyn — stirs up quite a bit of unease. Swift calls her lover a “card shark playing games” in the verses, saying he was “leading her on” before catching her just in time.
Lovers The fifth track, “The Archer,” is primarily about Swift’s struggle within herself, but evokes a sense of hope that she has found someone who will stay by her side. However, she always phrases the lyrics as questions and not statements. “Who could leave me darling / But who could stay? / Could you stay?” she asks in unison.
Much of his next record, 2020 Folklorestems from fictional circumstances, but one of the final tracks, titled “Peace,” once again describes Swift’s personal fears about a partner who can’t handle her high-profile life.
“When I was doing Folklore, I went lyrically in a total direction of escape and romanticism. And I wrote songs imagining that I was a pioneer in a forbidden love affair,” Swift said. Paul McCartney during an interview in November 2020 for rolling stonebefore noting that “Peace” was “in reality more anchored in [her] personal life” than the other pieces.
During their nearly six-year romance, Swift and Alwyn notoriously tried to stay out of the spotlight. The two never walked a single red carpet together – even when attending the same events – and were often spotted running to their cars to avoid being photographed together. When Swift won Best Album at the Grammys for Folklore as of 2021, Alwyn was not in the audience, although he is credited as a co-writer on several tracks.
“I think knowing him and being in the relationship I’m in now, I’ve definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to comment on in the tabloids ” Swift told McCartney. in 2020. “Whether it’s deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when not to take a photo – the idea of privacy seems so strange to try to explain, but it’s really just about trying to find some normalcy. This is what the song “Peace” is about. For example, would it be enough if I never fully achieved the normalcy we both dream of?
After Swift and Alwyn called it quits in April 2023, a source exclusively told Us every week that the singer’s celebrity status contributed to their separation. Shortly after the breakup, Swift began having her photos taken at various public events in New York and Los Angeles for the first time in years. (Since then, it has evolved with Travis Kelceand both men have often come forward to publicly support each other’s efforts.)
Even those of 2022 Midnights ” raises questions about Swift’s anxieties, as many of the songs — said to describe 13 sleepless nights throughout her life — allude to relationships on the brink of failure. “Maroon” evokes a romance that someone can’t quite let go of, while “Bejeweled” describes a partner who prefers to keep a low profile while Swift wants to be seen.
“Familiarity breeds contempt / Don’t put me in the basement / When I want the penthouse of your heart,” Swift sings in the chorus, while the verses say, “I made you my world, as- did you hear? » / I can reclaim the earth / And I miss you / But I miss the sparkling.
There are also songs like “Midnight Rain” and “Question”. These tracks focus on past relationships that might have existed, raising eyebrows from fans who noticed that Swift was still with Alwyn when she wrote them. Vault’s track “You’re Losing Me,” however, might be the most telling.
Written in December 2021 — more than a year before she called it quits with Alwyn — the heartbreaking ballad details a relationship in which Swift begs her partner to see her pain.
“I looked at you with storms in my eyes / How can you say you love someone who you can’t tell is dying?” she asks in the first verse. “I sent you signals and bit my nails to the quick / My face was gray, but you wouldn’t admit we were sick.”
In the bridge, Swift draws on similar themes to “Bejeweled”, frustrated at being with someone who doesn’t value her.
“I wouldn’t marry me either/A pathological people pleaser/Who only wanted you to see her,” Swift sings. “And I fade away thinking / Do something, baby, say something / Lose something, baby, risk something / Choose something, baby, I ain’t got nothing to believe, unless you choose me .”
Although Swift rarely confirms what — or who — her music is about, fans will likely get a closer look at what went wrong between her and Alwyn during her 11th studio album, The Department of Tortured Poetscomes out April 19.
“I needed to get there. It was really a lifesaver for me,” she told audience members at a concert in February. Tour of the eras show in Melbourne, Australia. “It kind of reminded me why songwriting is something that guides me in life and I’ve never had an album where I needed to write songs as much as on Tortured Poets. “
A large number of Taylor Swift recent albums initially depicted a fairytale love story with an ex Joe Alwynbut a closer look at some of the singer’s lyrics suggests that the relationship became rocky long before their split.
After falling in love with Alwyn, 32, in 2016, Swift, 34, disappeared from the public eye only to return in 2017 and drop her “comeback” record Reputation. Although disguised as a revenge album, Representative was filled with songs like “Gorgeous,” “Delicate,” “Call It What You Want,” and “New Year’s Day,” all of which gave a glimpse into the beginning of her romance with Alwyn.
Swift’s 2019 follow-up, Lover, seemed to be a continuation of the couple’s story. Swapping the dark aesthetic and snakes for pastel pink and butterflies, Swift decided to write an album of simple romance, with the title track being her most swoon-worthy yet.
“I’ve been thinking for years, ‘My God, it would be so great to have a song that people in love would want to dance to.’ Like, slow dancing,” Swift said The New York Times in 2019. “In my head, I just had the last two people on a dance floor at 3 a.m., swaying. »
Swift admitted, however, that an underlying sense of tension also existed in the lyrics. “I wanted the chorus to be like very simple existential questions that we ask ourselves when we are in love. “Can I go where you’re going?” » This is such a heavy thing to ask of someone. “Can we still be this close?” there is so much fear in him.
Other tracks on the album reflect a similar type of anxiety. “Cornelia Street” — a song that was initially seen as a passionate love song for Swift and Alwyn — stirs up quite a bit of unease. Swift calls her lover a “card shark playing games” in the verses, saying he was “leading her on” before catching her just in time.
Lovers The fifth track, “The Archer,” is primarily about Swift’s struggle within herself, but evokes a sense of hope that she has found someone who will stay by her side. However, she always phrases the lyrics as questions and not statements. “Who could leave me darling / But who could stay? / Could you stay?” she asks in unison.
Much of his next record, 2020 Folklorestems from fictional circumstances, but one of the final tracks, titled “Peace,” once again describes Swift’s personal fears about a partner who can’t handle her high-profile life.
“When I was doing Folklore, I went lyrically in a total direction of escape and romanticism. And I wrote songs imagining that I was a pioneer in a forbidden love affair,” Swift said. Paul McCartney during an interview in November 2020 for rolling stonebefore noting that “Peace” was “in reality more anchored in [her] personal life” than the other pieces.
During their nearly six-year romance, Swift and Alwyn notoriously tried to stay out of the spotlight. The two never walked a single red carpet together – even when attending the same events – and were often spotted running to their cars to avoid being photographed together. When Swift won Best Album at the Grammys for Folklore as of 2021, Alwyn was not in the audience, although he is credited as a co-writer on several tracks.
“I think knowing him and being in the relationship I’m in now, I’ve definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to comment on in the tabloids ” Swift told McCartney. in 2020. “Whether it’s deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when not to take a photo – the idea of privacy seems so strange to try to explain, but it’s really just about trying to find some normalcy. This is what the song “Peace” is about. For example, would it be enough if I never fully achieved the normalcy we both dream of?
After Swift and Alwyn called it quits in April 2023, a source exclusively told Us every week that the singer’s celebrity status contributed to their separation. Shortly after the breakup, Swift began having her photos taken at various public events in New York and Los Angeles for the first time in years. (Since then, it has evolved with Travis Kelceand both men have often come forward to publicly support each other’s efforts.)
Even those of 2022 Midnights ” raises questions about Swift’s anxieties, as many of the songs — said to describe 13 sleepless nights throughout her life — allude to relationships on the brink of failure. “Maroon” evokes a romance that someone can’t quite let go of, while “Bejeweled” describes a partner who prefers to keep a low profile while Swift wants to be seen.
“Familiarity breeds contempt / Don’t put me in the basement / When I want the penthouse of your heart,” Swift sings in the chorus, while the verses say, “I made you my world, as- did you hear? » / I can reclaim the earth / And I miss you / But I miss the sparkling.
There are also songs like “Midnight Rain” and “Question”. These tracks focus on past relationships that might have existed, raising eyebrows from fans who noticed that Swift was still with Alwyn when she wrote them. Vault’s track “You’re Losing Me,” however, might be the most telling.
Written in December 2021 — more than a year before she called it quits with Alwyn — the heartbreaking ballad details a relationship in which Swift begs her partner to see her pain.
“I looked at you with storms in my eyes / How can you say you love someone who you can’t tell is dying?” she asks in the first verse. “I sent you signals and bit my nails to the quick / My face was gray, but you wouldn’t admit we were sick.”
In the bridge, Swift draws on similar themes to “Bejeweled”, frustrated at being with someone who doesn’t value her.
“I wouldn’t marry me either/A pathological people pleaser/Who only wanted you to see her,” Swift sings. “And I fade away thinking / Do something, baby, say something / Lose something, baby, risk something / Choose something, baby, I ain’t got nothing to believe, unless you choose me .”
Although Swift rarely confirms what — or who — her music is about, fans will likely get a closer look at what went wrong between her and Alwyn during her 11th studio album, The Department of Tortured Poetscomes out April 19.
“I needed to get there. It was really a lifesaver for me,” she told audience members at a concert in February. Tour of the eras show in Melbourne, Australia. “It kind of reminded me why songwriting is something that guides me in life and I’ve never had an album where I needed to write songs as much as on Tortured Poets. “