Last April, it was announced that Taylor Swift had split from her long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn after more than six years together.
And with the added context of her split and ongoing tour, it didn’t take long for Swifties to claim that the Midnights track “Bejeweled” was one of the songs inspired by Joe.
Then, a month after the breakup was announced, Taylor released a brand-new song called “You’re Losing Me,” which appeared to give fans some more insight into what had happened between her and Joe.
But just as the Swiftie scrutiny was wearing off, Taylor’s best friend and collaborator, Jack Antonoff, reignited the drama when he randomly revealed that “You’re Losing Me” had actually been written and recorded long before Taylor and Joe’s split.
The Joe discourse continued a day later when Taylor’s publicist, Tree Paine, issued a tweet that not only denied speculation that Taylor and Joe had been secretly married before their split but also said that the rumors were causing “pain and trauma” for Taylor.
So, unsurprisingly, when Taylor announced her brand-new album just two months later, Joe was at the forefront of everybody’s mind, which was only amplified when fans picked up on an uncanny connection to Joe in the album’s title, The Tortured Poets Department.
For example, “Fresh Out the Slammer” could refer to somebody being newly released from prison, and Swifties have theorized that this song might be about Taylor finally being free after feeling imprisoned by her relationship.
However, the song titles, combined with the information that we do have access to, have only fueled the growing sense that Taylor’s retreat from the public eye during her relationship with Joe wasn’t entirely her own decision.
But while Taylor is admittedly living a much more public life now, with countless paparazzi walks and more public appearances than she ever made during her time with Joe, the idea that she was completely MIA while they were dating is actually far from the truth.
And it is also worth pointing out that Taylor had actually already made the active decision to step away from the limelight when she started dating Joe — which was shortly after she had retreated from the public eye amid her infamous 2016 feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (now known as Ye).
Amid this initial attraction, Taylor and Joe’s romance ended up blossoming in total privacy, with Taylor’s music suggesting that during the very early days, she would take back entrances into dive bars that Joe had already scoped out in a desperate bid to avoid being spotted.
This mindset is also reflected in Taylor’s music, with Joe seemingly serving as a much-needed wake-up call for her after almost a decade in the spotlight. In contrast to the glamor of her career and past relationships with super-famous celebrities, Joe seemingly helped Taylor embrace the little things in life and enjoy a relationship built on normalcy.
Another common theme in Taylor’s love songs about Joe is her acknowledgment that the showbiz nature of her life might end up proving to be too much for him to handle.
And while it is entirely possible, not to mention valid, that as the years went on, Taylor realized that this type of relationship no longer served her, that doesn’t mean that Joe has done anything wrong by not feeling the same way.
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