Taylor Swift, the pop superstar and 12-time Grammy winner, has revealed some surprising details about her emotional state and romantic relationship while creating her critically acclaimed album ‘Folklore’ in 2020.
How ‘Folklore’ was born out of isolation and imagination
Taylor Swift, who is known for her confessional and autobiographical songs, said that she felt “lonely” while writing ‘Folklore’ during the coronavirus pandemic, despite being in a long-term relationship with actor Joe Alwyn at the time.
She made the candid confession during her Eras Tour concert in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday night, where she performed songs from ‘Folklore’ and its sister album ‘Evermore’ for the first time in front of a live audience.
According to a fan-shared video from the show, Swift told the crowd that she wrote ‘Folklore’ by “imagining that, instead of being a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair drinking my weight in white wine, I was a ghostly Victorian lady wandering through the woods with a candle in a candlestick holder, and I wrote only on parchment with a feathered quill.”
Taylor Swift added, “That was in my mind, what I thought I looked like writing ‘Folklore.’ That is not what I looked like … So that’s all that matters — the delusion.”
‘Folklore’, which was released in July 2020, marked a departure from Swift’s previous pop sound and featured more indie-folk and alternative influences. The album was praised by critics and fans alike for its storytelling, lyricism, and production. It also earned Swift six Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for ‘Cardigan’.
How Joe Alwyn helped Taylor Swift with ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’
While Taylor Swift may have felt lonely during the creative process of ‘Folklore’, she was not entirely alone. In fact, her boyfriend Alwyn, whom she started dating in 2016, was a secret collaborator on some of the album’s tracks, as well as on ‘Evermore’, which was released in December 2020.
Swift revealed in her Disney+ documentary ‘Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions’ that Alwyn co-wrote ‘Exile’ and ‘Betty’ under the pseudonym William Bowery. She also credited him as a co-writer on ‘Champagne Problems’, ‘Coney Island’, and ‘Evermore’ on the ‘Evermore’ album.
Taylor Swift explained that Alwyn had a knack for writing melodies and lyrics, and that they worked well together as a musical team. She also said that he was supportive of her artistic vision and encouraged her to experiment with different genres and styles.
How Swift and Alwyn kept their relationship private and normal
Taylor Swift and Alwyn were notoriously private about their relationship, rarely making public appearances or social media posts together. They also avoided the paparazzi and the tabloid scrutiny that had plagued Swift’s previous romances with celebrities like Harry Styles, Tom Hiddleston, and Calvin Harris.
Taylor Swift said that she made conscious decisions to keep her relationship with Alwyn more normal and less like a “storyline” for the media. She told Paul McCartney in a 2020 interview for Rolling Stone, “I think that in knowing him and being in the relationship I am in now, I have definitely made decisions that have made my life feel more like a real life and less like just a storyline to be commented on in tabloids.”
She continued, “Whether that’s deciding where to live, who to hang out with, when to not take a picture — the idea of privacy feels so strange to try to explain, but it’s really just trying to find bits of normalcy.”
How Swift and Alwyn parted ways and moved on
Taylor Swift and Alwyn’s relationship, however, did not last forever. The couple reportedly broke up in early 2023, after six years of dating. A source told Page Six that the split was “not dramatic” and that the relationship “just ran its course.”
Swift, who has always used her personal experiences as inspiration for her music, did not address the breakup publicly or release any songs about it. Instead, she focused on her career and her fans, releasing two more albums in 2023: ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ and ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’, which were re-recorded versions of her older albums with new songs and features.
Swift also found love again with NFL star Travis Kelce, whom she started dating in September 2023. The pair made their relationship official on Instagram in February 2024, after Kelce’s team, the Kansas City Chiefs, won the Super Bowl. Swift posted a video of Kelce dancing at the afterparty, captioned with a heart emoji.
Kelce, who is a huge fan of Swift’s music, has been more open about their romance than Alwyn ever was. He even received a $1 million offer from a jewelry designer to propose to Swift with a custom-made ring. Kelce has not confirmed whether he accepted the offer or not, but he has said that he is “very happy” with Swift and that she is “amazing”.
Swift, who has been named Time’s Person of the Year for 2023, has also expressed her happiness with Kelce and her new outlook on life. She said in her interview with the magazine, “When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care.”
She added, “That’s what it means to be in love.”
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