All 5 Taylor Swift Albums That Feature Love Songs Inspired By Ex Joe Alwyn
Once upon a time, the planets, the fates, and the stars all aligned, and Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn ended up in the same room at the 2016 Met Gala. In the same year, the couple started dating just as Swift was getting canceled due to the Kanye West feud. In her 2020 documentary, "Miss Americana," Swift reminisced about her life at the time: "I also was falling in love with someone who had a wonderfully normal, balanced life. We decided together that we wanted our relationship to be private."
She added, "Even though it was really horrible, I was happy. But I wasn't happy in the way I was trained to be happy. It was happiness without anyone else's input. We were just happy." Unfortunately, the relationship wasn't built to last. In April 2023, a source close to the couple informed People that they had called it quits after six years of dating. The insider also shed some light on the seemingly sudden split, sharing: "Joe has struggled with Taylor's level of fame and the attention from the public."
They continued, "The differences in their personalities have also become harder to ignore after years together. They've grown apart." Throughout their lengthy relationship, the couple stayed true to their word and kept things firmly private. Every time an interviewer brought up the relationship, they stealthily evaded the question. Despite this, there's still plenty we can gather about Alwyn from the five albums Swift released during the time they were together.
Reputation is heavily inspired by Joe Alwyn
Taylor Swift's 2017 album, "Reputation," detailed her experiences throughout the previous year, so naturally, there are plenty of references to Joe Alwyn. In the opener "...Ready For It?" and the following song, "End Game," Swift sings about how she wants to keep Alwyn forever or be his end game. "Delicate," meanwhile, is about the singer-songwriter finding love when her reputation is at its worst and even references Alwyn's blue eyes with the lyric, "Oh damn, never seen that color blue."
"Gorgeous" is another song that references Alwyn's eyes alongside his British roots, particularly with the line: "You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk." The entirety of "King of my Heart" is clearly about Alwyn too, with the most notable lyrics being, "Salute to me, I'm your American queen," and "Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep."
"Dress" directly refers to their Met Gala meeting with the lyric, "Flashback when you met me, your buzz cut and my hair bleached," and even references her getting canceled with, "Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me." One of Swift's sweetest love songs, "Call It What You Want," illustrates how Alwyn kept her warm as the storm of her tarnished reputation raged outside. Likewise, "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" references Alwyn with, "And here's to my baby, he ain't reading what they call me lately." The closer, "New Year's Day," is also a sweet love song for him.
Joe Alwyn was Taylor Swift's muse for Lover
In an interview with Billboard, Taylor Swift described her seventh studio album, "Lover," as: "A love letter to love, in all of its maddening, passionate, exciting, enchanting, horrific, tragic, wonderful glory." So, of course, the album is packed with odes to her relationship with Joe Alwyn. Many believe that the second track, "Cruel Summer," tells the story of Swift falling in love with Alwyn while still in a relationship with Calvin Harris. The title track details Swift's desire to spend the rest of her life with Alwyn and even reveals that they moved in together.
"Paper Rings" is another track that confirms how Swift is ready to take the relationship to the next level and marry Alwyn. In the track, "Cornelia Street," Swift tells the story of the relationship's beginnings in an apartment on Cornelia Street in New York City. It also delves into Swift's insecurities about the relationship ending, which is why many fans left flowers on the street after the breakup announcement.
In "London Boy," Swift alludes to Alwyn's British roots again and sings about how, although she loves all things American, her heart ultimately lies with the English. "False God" is a sensual track that details the hardships of maintaining a relationship across different continents and worshipping their love despite it all. The closer, "Daylight," sees Swift walk out of the darkness to bask in the glory of her true love.
Taylor Swift wrote three love songs for Joe Alwyn for folklore
Although Taylor Swift's Grammy-winning eighth studio album, "folklore," was inspired by fictional events, she still managed to sneak in some love songs for Joe Alwyn too. The track "invisible string" parallels Swift and Alwyn's lives before they met. In "Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions," Swift explained, "I came upon the idea of fate. 'Cause sometimes, I just go into a rabbit hole of thinking of how things happen. I kind of love the romantic idea that every step you're taking, you're taking one step closer to where you're supposed to be, guided by this invisible string."
"Peace" is another track that tackles Swift's struggles surrounding the relationship. She spoke about the track in "Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions," explaining, "This is a song that's extremely personal to me because there are times when I feel like ... with everything that's under my control, I can make myself seem like someone who doesn't have an abnormal life."
She continued, "If you're going to be in my life, there's a certain amount that comes with it that I can't stop from happening. I can't help if there's a guy with a long-lens camera two miles away taking pictures of you. So this song was basically like, 'Is it enough? Is the stuff that I can control enough to block out the things I can't." In the bonus track, "the lakes," Swift expresses her desire to escape to a peaceful place with Alwyn.
Joe Alwyn makes several appearances on evermore too
Taylor Swift's ninth album, "evermore," is another fictional work, but it houses two Joe Alwyn love songs regardless. In the simple and sweet opener, "willow," Swift sings about how her romance with Alwyn completely changed her life. The lyrics, "Wherever you stray I follow," are reminiscent of a diary entry shared by Swift for the promotion of "Lover." In a 2017 entry, she wrote, "This time last year I was living in LA, getting ready for the Grammys and now I'm essentially based in London, holding out trying to protect us from the nasty world that just wants to ruin things," (via Insider).
In "long story short," Swift sings about her life before meeting Alwyn and how he's helped to change her perspective on what's really important in life. The lyrics, "No more keeping score, now I just keep you warm. And my waves meet your shore ever and evermore," show Swift's growing maturity over the years and once again express her desire to spend her life with Alwyn.
Although Swift only wrote two songs about him on "evermore," the actor still makes three additional appearances on the album with writing credits for "champagne problems," "coney island," and the title track. Swift spoke to Zane Lowe about writing "champagne problems," with Alwyn, revealing: "Joe and I really love sad songs. We've always bonded over sad songs. He started that one and came up with a lot of the structure of it."
Midnights features the last few Joe Alwyn love songs
Sadly, "Midnights" will most likely be the last time we hear a Taylor Swift-penned love song about Joe Alwyn. In a now-deleted promotional Instagram reel for the album, Swift shared that the opener, "Lavender Haze," was about how people will do anything to stay in the initial all-encompassing love glow. She noted, "My relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors and tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So, this song is about the active ignoring of that stuff to protect the real stuff."
"Snow On The Beach" is another love song that captures the magical feeling of two people falling in love at the same time. Despite writing several sad songs over the years, Alwyn and Swift finally joined forces to write a sweet track about love entitled "Sweet Nothing." It's a simple song that talks about their uncomplicated love and how they can rely on each other through thick and thin. In "Mastermind," Swift sings about how she wanted Alwyn from the moment she saw him and her plans to nab him.
"Labyrinth" delves into Swift's fears of a good relationship ending as it goes through various ups and downs. A month after news of their breakup broke, Swift released a bonus track notably called "You're Losing Me." It's a gut-wrenching song that portrays the slow end of their relationship due to Alwyn's supposed lack of effort and also suggests that the actor apparently didn't want to marry Swift.