Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn were together for six years, so it's no wonder that their relationship was a source of inspiration when Swift wrote The Tortured Poets Department. Though the couple didn't speak much about each other in the media, it was the singer's longest and most serious relationship. While So Long, London is a clear reference to Alwyn, it's track 12 on The Tortured Poets Department that really has us bawling.
In loml, fans believe that Swift is reflecting on her melancholy over the conclusion of their relationship, singing “I'm the love of your life / You said I'm the love of your life / About a million times” before ending the song, replacing love with “You're the loss of my life”.
Help, our hearts can't take it.
It was worth the 5 am wake-up call.
Through the song, Swift muses on her feeling that the relationship was inauthentic, singing:
"You shit-talked me under the table
Talking rings and talking cradles
I wish I could unrecall
How we almost had it all"
She adds “Cause something counterfeit's dead”, and deems her former partner a “coward" who "claimed he was a lion”.
But what in particular is making people think that the loml lyrics are about Joe Alwyn?
Let's get into it.
Swift is not afraid to give names.
First off, Swift says the couple were young when they first got together, singing:
"We embroidered the memories of the times I was away
Stitching, “We were just kids, babe”
I said, “I don’t mind, it takes time”
I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed"
Given that Taylor and Joe Alwyn were 26 and 25 respectively when they started dating in September 2016, this would make sense as a reference to their relationship in particular.
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The loml lyrics also note “You and I go from one kiss to getting married”.
Though Swift and Alwyn never tied the knot, there was much speculation over whether the couple would get married, with several sources telling People in April 2023 that prior to their breakup the pair had been “talking about marriage as recently as a few months ago”.
It could also be thought that Swift is referring to the media storm surrounding their relationship, with the couple being the focus of countless secret engagement and marriage rumours.
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During her relationship with Alwyn, Swift wrote several love songs from Mastermind to Paper Rings, in the latter saying “Darling, you're the one I want”, so it doesn't feel like too much of a stretch to assume that the pair had marriage in mind for down the line.
Meanwhile, the lyrics “Still alivе, killing time at the cemеtery / Never quite buried” could be considered a reference to the on-off nature of their relationship before their final breakup, with the relationship “never quite buried” prior to this.
By far, the bridge of loml is one of the most heartbreaking parts of the song.
"You shit-talked me under the table
Talking rings and talking cradles
I wish I could un-recall
How we almost had it all"
Clearly, this point of the song “Talking rings and talking cradles” refers to the fact that the pair were never engaged, something Taylor Swift also sang about on Midnight's song You're Losing Me in which she says:
"And I wouldn’t marry me either
A pathological people pleaser
Who only wanted you to see her"
In a similar vein, on So Long, London she says "I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free”.
The silent-film star whose legacy has often been reduced to scandal gets a namesake track on The Tortured Poets Department, which Bow’s family hopes captures her “perseverance.”
While the pair no doubt had conversations about getting engaged, the two never said much on marriage publicly. That said, Alwyn told WSJ in April 2022 “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins. I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.”
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In the final moments of the song, Swift muses over the fact that she “Should’ve let it stay buried” before ending on “You're the loss of my life”.
We're not crying, you are.
You can read the full loml lyrics here:
1st verse
Who's gonna stop us from waltzing back into rekindled flames
If we know the steps anyway
We embroidered the memories of the time I was away
Stitching, "We were just kids, babe"
I said, "I don't mind, it takes time"
I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed
I felt a glow like this, never before and never since
Chorus
If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary
You and I go from one kiss to getting married
Still alivе, killing time at the cemеtery
Never quite buried
Post-chorus
And your suit and tie, in the nick of time
You low-down boy, you stand-up guy
Holy ghost, you told me I'm the love of your life
You said I'm the love of your life
About a million times
2nd verse
Who's gonna tell me the truth when you blew in with the winds of fate
And told me I reformed you
When your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes
Well, you took me to hell too
And all at once, the ink bleeds
A con man sells a fool a "get love quick" scheme
I felt a hole like this, never before and ever since
Chorus
If you know it in one glimpse, it's legendary
What we thought was for all time was momentary
Still alive, killing time at the cemetery
Never quite buried
Post-chorus
You cinephile in black and white
All those plot twists and dynamite
Mr. Steal-Your-Girl, then make her cry
Said I'm the love of your life
Bridge
You shit-talked me under the table
Talking rings and talking cradles
I wish I could unrecall
How we almost had it all
Dancing phantoms on the terrace
Are they second-hand embarrassed
That I can't get out of bed?
'Cause something counterfeit's dead
It was legendary
It was momentary
It was unnecessary
Should've let it stay buried
Chorus
Oh, what a valiant roar
What a bland goodbye
The coward claimed he was a lion
I'm combing through the braids of lies
I'll never leave, never mind
Our field of dreams engulfed in fire
Your arson's match, your somber eyes
And I'll still see until I die
You're the loss of my life
Swifties have some thoughts.
