Red Flags In Taylor Swift's Relationship With Joe Alwyn That Signaled The End
Having spent her late teens and early twenties linked to many a celebrity heartthrob — see everyone from Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner, and Jake Gyllenhaal to Harry Styles, Calvin Harris, and Tom Hiddleston — Taylor Swift finally appeared to have settled down when she began dating "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" star Joe Alwyn.
Indeed, six years after they first got together in 2016, things still appeared to be rosy between the pair: Alwyn once again contributed to a Swift number one album, "Midnights," under the guise of William Bowery. And both parties bigged each other's achievements up in public, with Swift declaring herself a major fan of "Conversation with Friends" and Alwyn declaring his pride (when prompted) at his girlfriend's honorary New York University doctorate degree. In fact, rumors continued to swirl that they'd gotten engaged.
That's why the news of the couple's split essentially broke the internet when it was announced in April 2023. Well, for casual fans, anyway. Those Swifties who like to pore over every snippet of the hitmaker's life were perhaps able to sense that a break-up was imminent. Here's a look at five clues which hinted that there was trouble in paradise.
The Great War
As with predecessors "Reputation," "Lover," "Folklore," and "Evermore," Taylor Swift's chart-topping 2022 album "Midnights" contained several musical love letters to her long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn, some of which he had a hand in himself. See the ode to domestic bliss that is "Sweet Nothing" for proof.
But the 3am edition of the singer's 10th LP also suggested that things weren't always so rosy at home. The ominously-titled "The Great War" has numerous potential meanings. As Cosmopolitan notes, it could be about one of the pair's most heated arguments (sample lyric: "Soldier down on that icy ground/ Looked up at me with honor and truth/ Broken and blue, so I called off the troops/ That was the night I nearly lost you/ I really thought I lost you").
Swift then appears to claim in the lyrics that her significant other was the driving force behind their subsequent ceasefire before recalling how she vowed to remain with him forever. Of course, within six months of the song's release, Swift and Alwyn would find themselves both surrendering for good.
Taylor Swift made a telling setlist swap
Taylor Swift is renowned for leaving breadcrumbs about the state of her love life in her music. But in March 2023, she also appeared to drop a major hint about her relationship with Joe Alwyn with a significant change to her Eras Tour setlist.
For its first four dates, Swift had performed "Invisible String," a love song grounded in optimism ("And isn't it just so pretty to think/ All along there was some/ Invisible string/ Tying you to me?") However, for the fifth show, the singer replaced the track with another "Folklore" number — "The 1" — which instead discusses a former love ("But we were something, don't you think so?/ Roaring '20s, tossing pennies in the pool/ And if my wishes came true/ It would've been you.")
As you would expect, several fans retrospectively interpreted this substitution as a clear sign that all had not been well in the Swift/Alwyn camp and took to social media to point this out. Writer Hunter Harris humorously tweeted, "snipping that invisible string," alongside a GIF of the "Cutting The Thread" scene from "Hercules."
Taylor Swift gets emotional performing Champagne Problems
Appearing on Taylor Swift's 2020 album "Evermore," "Champagne Problems" was co-written by William Bowery, the songwriting alter ego of then-boyfriend Joe Alwyn. Depicting a woman with mental health struggles who turns down her boyfriend's proposal around the holidays, the sad love song was said to be a work of pure fiction. But it undoubtedly took on a new meaning in the wake of the couple's real-life split.
Swift's emotive rendition of the track during the early stages of her Eras Tour left some fans wondering in hindsight whether this was a sign that their romance had turned sour. In one video posted to TikTok, the singer is seen getting tearful while performing the number on the piano.
"Now this hits different," one fan commented alongside an emoji of a broken heart and one of a teary face, following the confirmation of Swift and Alwyn's break-up. Perhaps the song's theme (sample lyric: "Your mom's ring in your pocket/ My picture in your wallet/ Your heart was glass, I dropped it") is closer to home than the singer previously cared to admit.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
Did Taylor Swift drop an Easter egg in the Lavender Haze music video?
Following the news that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn went their separate ways, some highly observant fans put forward the theory that the singer had placed a very specific Easter egg in the music video for "Midnights" song "Lavender Haze." And although this could be considered as something of a stretch, there is at least a method to their madness.
The fact that Swift is seen dropping a match in the music video has been construed as a sign that something in her life is about to blow up. But it's the timecode of this particular shot, 48 seconds, which is of the most significance. For it was April 8th, aka 4/8, that the news about Swift's split from Alwyn was officially confirmed.
"she burnt it all on 4/8," wrote the fan who first connected the dots on Twitter, adding, "she gave us an easter egg for the date of her own breakup." Of course, that would be some impressive foreshadowing considering the video was released in January 2023, months before word about the split got out. According to a source who spoke to CNN, Swift and Alwyn actually broke up a few weeks prior to the news being confirmed, so they were presumably still together for "Lavender Haze."
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn hadn't been pictured together for nearly six months
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn were never the kind of couple to showcase their love in public. Good luck trying to find a picture of them together on the red carpet. But even so, the fact that they hadn't been spotted with each other for nearly six months should have set the alarm bells ringing before the news of their split broke in April 2023.
Indeed, you have to go back to October 2022, when the couple was busy shopping for furniture in New York City, for the last time they were publicly snapped alongside each other. And Alwyn was evidently absent from the opening dates of Swift's Eras Tour, too. The latter development got plenty of tongues wagging, but an insider told People that things were still hunky-dory between the pair: "Joe will travel with her when he can. They are great together. Joe is super supportive of her career."
A few days after ET reported the couple's split, Swift went out to dinner in New York City with actor Margaret Qualley and famed Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff. Her close friends are the only ones who might know what happened at this time, but perhaps notes of Swift and Alwyn's parting will play into future tracks from the singer.