Taylor Swift's album Lover was finally released on August 23rd, 2019, and it's turned out
to be her most personal album to date.
She tackles her mother's battle with cancer, and, on a happier note, her incredibly private
relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.
Taylor Swift's album may be called Lover, but its opening song has nothing to do with
love at all.
In "I Forgot That You Existed," Swift sings the lyrics:
"It isn't love, it isn't hate, it's just indifference."
Swift is famous for choosing her words carefully when penning her lyrics.
It's safe to say she intended to send a strong message by saying she only feels "indifference"
about this mysterious former relationship.
Some fans have theorized that Swift's public romance and messy breakup with DJ, producer,
and singer Calvin Harris inspired the lyrics.
Some of you may have your own theories.
In an exclusive Spotify Storyline for "I Forgot That You Existed," Swift revealed:
"With the first song on this new album I wanted to bring us out [of] the [Reputation] era.
[...] This song closes the book on [Reputation] in resolving that whole conflict with a shrug."
As she told CBS Sunday Morning,
"You don't have to forgive and you don't have to forget to move on.
You can move on without any of those things happening.
You just become indifferent."
Taylor Swift has never shied away from sharing intimate details about her personal relationships
— and she's never been scared to call out an ex-lover.
For example, "Dear John" is widely considered to be a song about her short-lived relationship
with John Mayer.
But the singer has been incredibly private about her romantic relationship with actor
Joe Alwyn.
As of the making of this video, she's been dating him for almost three years.
The two seldom make public appearances together, and they rarely talk about each other in interviews.
When the subject does happen to be broached, it can be awkward.
"Would there ever be a chance that … Taylor's done some acting too."
"Say again?"
"Taylor's done some acting too.
Any chance you guys would ever do anything together?"
"It's not planned at the moment but who knows?"
However, Swift seems to give fans an inside look at their relationship on Lover.
She might even reveal where she fell in love with him.
On the song "Cornelia Street," Swift sings about the New York City street on which she
lived during the start of a romantic relationship — presumably her relationship with Alwyn.
Her lyrics mention
"I hope I never lose you / I'd never walk Cornelia Street again / Oh, never again / And
baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name"
Our expert analysis?
Someone is beyond smitten.
Taylor Swift has always been vocal about the close bond she shares with her mother, Andrea
— even writing a song about how much she cherishes their relationship.
That song is "The Best Day," the 12th track on Swift's second studio album, Fearless.
Well, the 12th track on Lover is also written about Andrea.
Entitled "Soon You'll Get Better," this collaboration with the Dixie Chicks is a heartbreaking ballad
about Andrea's battle with cancer.
In the emotional tune, Swift admits she turned to faith in order to help her cope with her
mother's illness, singing:
"Holy orange bottles, each night, I pray to you / Desperate people find faith, so now
I pray to Jesus, too."
In a January 2017 diary entry released with the deluxe version of Lover, Swift revealed
even more about her relationship with Joe Alwyn, writing that:
"I'm essentially based in London, hiding out, trying to protect us from the nasty world
that just wants to ruin things."
Swift also confesses that,
"We have been together and no one has found out for 3 months now.
I want it to stay that way because I don’t want anything about this to change or become
too complicated or intruded upon."
In fact, Swift is apparently so in love with London and Alwyn, she dedicated an entire
track to her beau's hometown.
The song, aptly titled "London Boy," includes the lyrics:
"Took me back to Highgate, met all of his best mates / So, I guess all the rumors are
true / You know I love a London Boy."
Later on in the song, Swift makes it clear that she wants to be wherever her lover is:
"They say home is where the heart is / But, God, I love the English."
Being Taylor Swift would put anyone on edge.
"Since all my addresses are on the Internet, people tend to show up uninvited.
Like, you know, dudes that think we have an imaginary marriage."
In diary pages released with the deluxe version of Lover, Taylor Swift writes about her feelings
of anxiety — specifically in relation to her music career.
One 2003 entry written before a visit to Nashville reads:
"I don't know if I can do this.
I want it so bad but I get so scared of what might not happen!
[...] It'll be okay.
I've got to hang on.
[...] I'm allowed to make mistakes, right?
Oh, this is a lot to handle."
In Lover's fifth track, "The Archer," Swift's lyrics suggest that anxiety still colors her
self-image — and it subsequently affects her relationships, too.
Over a haunting melody, she sings:
"I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost / The room is on fire, invisible smoke / And
all of my heroes die all alone / Help me hold onto you."
Later on, she sings:
"Who could ever leave me, darling?
/ But who could stay?"
Despite her anxieties, Swift's currently romantic relationship sounds like a remarkably healthy
one — as evidenced by the album's title track.
In the song "Lover," Swift's lyrics strongly suggest that she hopes to eventually marry
her British boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
In what's sure to become the go-to wedding song for couples around the globe, Swift sings,
"I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all."
Some of Swift's lyrics even sound like wedding vows to us — like when she croons,
"Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand?
/ With every guitar string scar on my hand / I take this magnetic force of a man to be
my lover."
Anyone else hearing wedding bells?
Of course you are.
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