Taylor Swift’s romance with actor Joe Alwyn has been her most serious yet secretive relationship to date. Starting in 2016, the pair’s private romance made headlines and managed to keep the public hooked. In April 2023, however, as Swift’s Eras Tour began, their split was confirmed.
Throughout their six years together, Swift and Alwyn mostly kept the intimate details of their relationship under wraps—a departure from her very well-publicized, infamously critiqued previous romantic history.
Still, the singer managed to sprinkle nods to her beau throughout her discography over that time, referencing the actor in songs dating as far back as 2017’s Reputation, up through 2022’s Midnights and 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department.
The singer’s 11th studio album alludes to the end of her romance with Alwyn on several tracks, like “So Long, London,” “Fresh Out the Slammer,” “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart,” and bonus track “The Black Dog.”
In “So Long, London,” Swift implies their relationship gave out due to a “quiet resentment.” She sings: “And you say I abandoned the ship / But I was going down with it / My white-knuckle dyin’ grip / Holding tight to your quiet resentment / And my friends said it isn’t right to be scared / Every day of a love affair / Every breath feels like rarest air / When you’re not sure if he wants to be there.”
