Taylor Swift's Tortured Poets Confirmed What We Suspected About Joe Alwyn Romance

Taylor Swift's eleventh album, "The Tortured Poets Department," seemingly confirmed several things about her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn. Through her 2023 track "You're Losing Me's" lyrics, the Grammy winner apparently revealed that Alwyn had no intentions of marrying her. However, "So Long, London" off the 2024 release further cemented the idea through the bridge's lyrics: "You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof." 

We saw another nod to Swift's lost hope of becoming Alwyn's wife someday in the title track. While the song primarily seems to be about her controversial fling with Matty Healy, she manages to sneak a reference to Alwyn. In the bridge, Swift recalls how she got butterflies in her stomach when Healy moved one of her rings onto her ring finger because that was the closest she ever came to a real proposal. Although the British actor might not have officially popped the question, "loml" hints that they discussed the possibility with the heartbreaking lyrics, "Talking rings and talking cradles. I wish I could unrecall how we almost had it all." 

While all of this was undoubtedly a heartbreaking situation for Swift, her happier lyrics from the past make her sadness feel even more evident. Her 2019 album, "Lover," featured an upbeat track called "Paper Rings," which detailed how Swift would agree to marry Alwyn even if he popped the question using paper rings. Similarly, in "I Think He Knows," the singer subtly urges her beau to propose quickly. 

In "So Long, London," Taylor Swift seemingly hinted that Joe Alwyn was emotionally absent in their relationship. The lyrics in the first verse refer to how "The Favorite" actor constantly felt like he was slipping out of her reach, but that only made her hold on tighter. In a later verse, the singer-songwriter admitted that she felt afraid her beau resented her for something that he never quite made clear. 

Meanwhile, in "loml" Swift reveals that her partner might've made his dislike evident to other people with the lyric, "You s***-talked me under the table." The lines also seem to be a callback to the Bleachers' remix of "Anti-hero," which featured the line: "Too hurt to hang out, talking s*** about your famous baby." Through the vocals of "So Long, London," Swift recalled how she confided in her friends about the shaky situation, and they told her that a healthy relationship shouldn't make her feel uneasy. 

It seemed like she wasn't entirely sure when Alwyn would walk away from their relationship, as she sang, "Every day old love affair, every breath feels like rarest air. When you're not sure if he wants to be there." The pop star also seemingly felt that the "Conversation With Friends" actor wasn't too concerned about how upset he made her because he believed she could take all of it. Ultimately, Swift appeared to have grown weary from keeping their relationship together, so she let him go.

In Taylor Swift's "Miss Americana" documentary, she revealed that she and Joe Alwyn made a joint decision to keep their romance out of the public eye. As a result, we only saw them together on a handful of occasions in their long-running relationship. However, when Swift started dating Travis Kelce, she seemed more than happy to be seen in public with him. The subtle but significant decision led many to believe that Alwyn was the one who wanted to keep things extremely private, and "The Tortured Poets Department" may have confirmed that belief. 

When Swift looks back on their relationship in "So Long, London," she feels a semblance of anger. "And I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free" might refer to how Swift spent the majority of her mid-20s staying under the radar to protect their relationship. The significant line also hints at how the "Fortnight" songstress didn't feel like Alwyn gave the relationship enough for her to justify all the time she spent away from a life of excitement. 

Swift seems to take a similar stance in "Fresh Out The Slammer." The first verse, "Another summer, taking cover, rolling thunder," could refer to how Swift had to stay indoors through the sunny summer days to protect Alwyn from the paparazzi. Later in the song, Swift alludes to how she kept herself locked away from the world just to see a fleeting smile on her partner's face.