Deep Dive Into Taylor Swift & Joe Alwyn (Lyrical Analysis)

Hey everybody! Welcome to El Cibo. As I'm assuming everyone knows, Taylor Swift and Joe Allen recently announced their breakup. I don't want to speculate on rumors and gossip, but I'm going to analyze all of Taylor's lyrics about Joe over the years, and talk about some hints I think Taylor dropped that a lot of Swifties didn't pick up on. Based on this, I think Taylor actually gave us enough information to figure out why this relationship probably didn't work. So, I'm gonna analyze this video and at the end I'll tell you the reason why their breakup likely happened. Very quickly before I get into it, I need to give a quick disclaimer. I do not condone any hate or harassment directed towards Joe, and that is not at all what this video is. There's been speculation about infidelity or about who might be in the wrong in this relationship. The message we've been given is that they split amicably, and that's what I will assume and believe unless proven otherwise. I'm also trying to hit 100 subscribers right now, so I would appreciate a like, comment, and subscribe. So let's get into it. Taylor and Joe got together in 2016, and as all Swifties know, 2016, particularly summer 2016, was a very messy time for Taylor relationship-wise. In April 2016, she split up with Calvin Harris, her longest boyfriend up until that point. She then had a summer fling with Tom Hiddleston until around September, and then began dating Joe Alwyn. And in songs like Cruel Summer and High Infidelity, Taylor seems to admit that there was an overlap between these relationships. So I've shown graphically the relationship themes and reputation, specifically the ones relating to Taylor and Joe. As you can see, I've highlighted 8 key themes, and the numbers on the bars are the amount of lyrical references showcasing these themes. First of all, considering Joe and Taylor hadn't been together long, there are a crazy amount of references to Taylor's deep love for Joe and certainty that he's the one. For example, You'll see in the lover section, but I actually think Reputation is a more romantic album than Lover, and Taylor expresses more seriousness about her love for Joe and Reputation. Possibly because Taylor always excels when writing about the initial phases of a relationship. By comparison, there are only 4 explicit references to this being a honeymoon phase in lyrics such as Up on the Roof with the schoolgirl crush, with Taylor choosing to write about Joe as if he was someone she had been with for years, immediately contrasting her lyrics about other boyfriends. The second most prevalent theme, and kind of the main theme of the album is Joe being able to see past her reputation shown in lyrics like Even in my worst times, you could see the best in me, and here's to my baby, he ain't reading what they call me lately. Taylor references Joe calling her out on all her usual tricks, and things like that to show that she was caught off guard by how Joe acted and felt sort of out of control around him. And she continually references him being cool and a killer, and repeatedly mentions his ex-girlfriends, although this could be more to do with Taylor's insecurities, as will become relevant later. What may also be fueled by Taylor's insecurities is the repeated mention of how the relationship cannot work, contrasting songs like King of My Heart, shown in songs like Dancing with Our Hands, Tied and Delicate, where Taylor worries that media attention will drive Joe away, leading to the decision for their relationship to be secretive, another key theme on the album. This is shown repeatedly in lyrics like No one has to know, I loved you in secret, our secret moments in a crowded room and would you run away with me? Taylor's desire to run away with Joe becomes a key theme in all other albums about him, as does the fact that her motive for doing so is really her own insecurities about her fame impacting their relationship. Finally, there are repeated references to both of them playing games with each other, namely in Ready For It, and their relationship having a pretty messy and troubled beginning, primarily because of the overlap of relationships in Summer 2016, such as in Gorgeous where Taylor talked about her feelings for Joe while still in a relationship with Calvin Harris. Finally, and I think this may be one of the most key lyrics explaining why this relationship didn't work is a line in the opening track, where Taylor says I see nothing better, I keep him forever. Although this lyric seems deeply romantic on the surface, the fact that Taylor clings to Joe in the beginning because she doesn't see any better options, becomes a theme revisited on Midnight's and which I think could explain the main issue in this relationship. In Lover, Taylor's first album dedicated to a boyfriend, those themes of lovingness, Joe's differences from Taylor's exes, secrecy, and game-playing continue. However, the most prevalent relationship theme on Lover is actually Taylor's insecurities. Of course, this theme was subtly mentioned in Reputation on songs like Delicate, but Taylor's anxiety and fears about Joe are referenced throughout Lover. In lyrics like I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you, who could ever leave me darling? But who could stay? I'm so terrified of if you ever walk away, I thought you were leading me on. Daring you to leave me just so I can try and scare you, and fear is the nightmare I had you were with someone else. You forgot about me. This is probably the most honest Taylor has ever been about her fears in a relationship, and I think it really sows the seeds of doubt for their breakup. Similarly to Reputation, Taylor repeatedly refers to the idea that fame and attention will drive them apart, and that the relationship is doomed to end, referring to it as a false god. She also goes into deeper detail about the issues they faced at the beginning of their relationship, primarily in Cruel Summer, Miss Americana the Heartbreak Prince, and Afterglow, where she repeats their initial problems of the overlapping relationships, Taylor's desire to run away with Joe. And in Afterglow, a new theme of Taylor's guilt is introduced. Not only does this tie into the running theme of her insecurities, but it becomes a common theme on Folklore and Midnight, with Taylor almost entirely blaming herself for all of their arguments and problems. Finally, Taylor introduces new themes of dependence and domesticity. Of course they were bound to crop up as themes considering that Taylor and Joe had been together for years at this point, but I think there are some toxic elements that become relevant throughout her later albums. If you keep watching until the end, I'll explain exactly what I mean and how I think this explains their breakup. As I said, the song False God really says a lot about their relationship as Taylor references her hope in the relationship lasting as blind faith, and says that they will continue to try to make a hopeless relationship work, using the metaphor of continuing to worship a god that you know is false. Folklore was obviously a significant change for Taylor, given that the album is semi-fictional, and most songs are not about Joe. However, the songs Mirrorball, Invisible String, Peace and the Lakes, give us some interesting new parts of information. Taylor goes into more detail than ever about secrecy and seclusion, largely inspired by the fact that this is a lockdown album. However, this only emphasized the secrets that Taylor and Joe had already been living under since 2016. For example, In the Lakes, Taylor discusses her desire to run away with Joe, to England's secluded Lake District, to get away from media attention, a frequent desire she has mentioned since Reputation. She introduces a new theme of fate in the song Invisible String, implying that fate brought them together, a concept which she completely contradicted in Midnight's Mastermind, but we'll ignore that. And finally, this theme of Taylor's guilt and blaming herself continues. It makes sense given previous lyrics about her belief that media attention and fame would be the thing to drive Joe away, but Taylor continues to see herself as the issue and concerningly continues to talk about Joe like she isn't worthy of him. In Peace, Taylor lists all of the things she can give to Joe, including a child, love, loyalty, effort, and more, but ponders would it be enough if I could never give you peace? In the folklore-long Pond film, Taylor explains that she worries about the media impacting her relationships because their attention is something which she cannot control. She also says that she feels like she is wasting Joe's honor, which is quite a worryingly lyric to hear Taylor look down on herself like that. Similarly, in Evermore, most of the songs are not about Joe, but she also elaborates on the existing themes. Because this album is even more fictional than folklore, there aren't too many notable lyrics about their relationship, and the album doesn't really tell us anything we didn't already know. So I'm going to move on to Midnight's, which is where the real It's been 2,190 days of our love, black eye. Midnight's was actually quite shocking in terms of the lyrics about Joe and about relationships in general. I want to begin this by stating that due to Midnight's pretty vague lyrics, there are several songs where people are not in agreement about who they are about, such as Midnight, Rain, and Maroon. I want to be clear that I do not think these songs are about Joe. However, I don't think a 6-year long relationship breaks down overnight and based on the lyrics in this album and in previous albums, I think Taylor and Joe were probably having relationship problems during the writing of Midnight's, which influenced many songs. So, sorry if you disagree with that assumption, but to be honest, I don't really understand how. The first immediate sign of looming relationship problems for Taylor and Joe in Midnight's was her repeated reference to him in the past tense. This is common throughout hits different, but also in lyrics like I'll be getting over you my whole life, and all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing. The second worrying sign was the constant and repeated theme of sadness. Even in the opening lines of the album, Taylor mentions experiencing melancholia, which is a severe depression, which she references again in Antihero. She again mentions her anxieties and fears saying I wake up screaming from dreaming, one day I'll watch as you're leaving, which echoes her previous lyrics about feeling like Joe is too good for her and will one day leave. Taylor also mentions I'll be getting over you my whole life, catastrophic blues and our love is blacking out indicating deep sadness and ending specifically relating to her and Joe. In the last few years, Taylor has skyrocketed again in terms of popularity to 1989 levels, which may be the reason why she suddenly worried so much about Joe's reaction to media attention. Another important key theme is Taylor longing for the past, whether that be reminiscing or actively trying to behave in ways she used to. In the opening track, she says I just wanna stay in that lavender haze. She explicitly denies that she wants to be a wife, despite repeated references to marriage on 2019's Lover, instead desiring to stay in the early honeymoon phase, which her and Joe has long since departed. Similarly, she says that familiarity breeds contempt, perhaps adding to the theme of Taylor missing excitement. This is also echoed in Taylor seemingly not wanting to be so private anymore, primarily disgust and bejeweled, with Taylor saying I miss you but I miss sparkling. And in Dear Reader stating I prefer hiding in plain sight, perhaps meaning that Taylor misses being in the public eye more rather than hiding out of sight. One of the most striking songs on this album is Question, which is blatantly a song about Harry Styles. And I'm sorry, but if you disagree, I think you're lowkey delusional. And in the song, she sings directly to Harry, stating does it feel like everything's just like second best after that meteor strike? Now, I'm not saying that Taylor wants to get back together with Harry. But I do think that Taylor likes the excitement of the early stages of a relationship when it's like a meteor strike and loses interest as the domesticity sinks in. Also, I think she just likes being in the public eye and being seen. And that's okay. However, I think the most important song on this album in terms of Taylor and Joe is Sweet Nothing. I think it's so clever because on the surface, it seems like a beautiful romantic song. However, there are so many interesting details in this song. Firstly, the lyric all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing, is not only talking about Joe in the past tense, but the nothing comes off as more nihilistic than romantic. This is emphasized by the lyrics on the way home. I wrote a poem. You say what a mind, this happens all the time. This again seems romantic on the surface but indicates a domesticity and boredom that this constantly happens. And perhaps an insincerity that Joe always responds in the same way every time she writes a poem. And finally, I believe that the opening lines about the pebble from Wake Low is a metaphor for Taylor. Taylor discusses a small pebble in Joe's pocket, which they almost forgot about and wonders if it misses where it used to be before Joe picked it up. I think given the lyrics about Taylor wanting to be seen more and not be so secluded and her pondering about past relationships, it makes sense that the metaphor is about Taylor feeling stuck in Joe's pocket and wanting to be out in public and seen by the world again. So what do we learn about their relationship? I stated earlier that Taylor kind of contradicted herself with invisible string and mastermind by stating that fate brought them together and then denying it. But I don't think there is a contradiction. In Mastermind, Taylor discusses making her mind up and deciding that nothing was going to stop her from being with Joe from the first night that she saw him. This not only supports earlier lyrics about their relationship progressing quickly, like first sight, yeah we love without reason from reputation, but supports the line I found myself running home to your sweet nothings. And this is because no matter how much time has passed, you can never remove Taylor and Joe's relationship from the context in which it began. Taylor was desperately seeking some kind of solace and safety from the negative publicity she was receiving, hence why she clung to the nearest lips. As stated in Long Story Short, but she was also in a long-term relationship that she desperately wanted to claw her way out of, by her own admission. So I think that Taylor actually became quite dependent on Joe, hence the repeated references to running away with him because he was the way for her to get away from her problems. They lived in such secrecy and seclusion, which only continued with COVID lockdowns. However, in 2021 particularly, and with the success of re-recordings, Taylor started to approach 1989 mid-levels of success again, which continued with Midnight's and Taylor's plans to tour in 2023. I personally believe that they were experiencing some of these issues during the writing process of Midnight's, which was earlier in 2022, given the nature of the lyrics. Suddenly, as Taylor reached new levels of success and fame, I think it may have caused issues for Joe, either because he didn't like the attention, or because he wanted to settle down and Frankly, I think that 2016 Taylor needed someone safe and comforting to run away with, but current Taylor needs the space to be out and about, and make the whole room shimmer again, and they are simply different people to who they were in the beginning. I hope you enjoyed, I'm trying to hit 100 subs, so I'd really appreciate if you hit the subscribe button and I'll see you next time.