Taylor Swift has sparked fresh speculation over who her songs are about as she dropped her seventh album, Lover.
She released 18 tracks, including singles ME!, You Need To Calm Down, The Archer, and Lover, as well as the previously unheard London Boy, Paper Rings and Cruel Summer.
Fans speculated that London Boy, which features a snippet of a quote from Idris Elba talking to James Corden on the Late Late Show, is about her relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.
She sings: “I saw the dimples first and then I heard the accent,
“They say home is where the heart is but that’s not where mine lives.
“You know I love a London boy, I enjoy walking Camden Market in the afternoon.
“He likes my American smile, like a child when our eyes meet. Darling, I fancy you.
“Took me back to Highgate, met all of his best mates, so I guess all the rumours are true.
“You know I love a London boy. Boy, I fancy you.”
The song also refers to sitting in the pub watching rugby with his schoolfriends, nights out in Brixton, and afternoons in Shoreditch.
One fan wrote on Twitter: “imagine HOW GREAT OF A MAN YOU HAVE TO BE to have TAYLOR FREAKIN’ SWIFT write london boy about you. joe alwyn, you have my full respect.”
imagine HOW GREAT OF A MAN YOU HAVE TO BE to have TAYLOR FREAKIN' SWIFT write london boy about you. joe alwyn, you have my full respect. pic.twitter.com/YjTULgR2L0
— sarah (@discoqueen168) August 23, 2019
Another wrote: “me listening to London boy knowing damn well it’s about Joe.”
me listening to London boy knowing damn well it's about Joe pic.twitter.com/4XIdZ0jzXy
— 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻 tammi 💗🏹 (@mmitdaylight) August 23, 2019
Another said: “Thanks Joe for giving us “London Boy” on #Lover.”
Thanks Joe for giving us “London Boy” on #Lover pic.twitter.com/wGkQ6Ge9Hw
— Arely❀ (@arelysoriano_) August 23, 2019
Her track Cornelia Street also appears to be about the early days of her relationship with Alwyn.
The title is a reference to a place in New York City where she once rented an apartment and she sings: “I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends. I’d never walk Cornelia Street again.
“That’s the kinda heartbreak time could never mend, I’d never walk Cornelia Street again.
“And baby, I get mystified by how this city screams your name/And baby, I’m so terrified of if you ever walk away.”
One fan tweeted: “CORNELIA STREET IS ABOUT HOW THE MEMORIES OF TAYLOR AND JOE’S FIRSTS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WOULD BE RUINED IF THEY BROKE UP, it’s so emotional it just suddenly gets so SAD.”
CORNELIA STREET IS ABOUT HOW THE MEMORIES OF TAYLOR AND JOE’S FIRSTS IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WOULD BE RUINED IF THEY BROKE UP, it’s so emotional it just suddenly gets so SAD #LoverOutNow
— 𝓛𝑜𝓋𝑒, jade 🌹#1 daylight fan (@thetaylight) August 23, 2019
Soon You’ll Get Better, which features the Dixie Chicks, seems to be about her parents’ battles with cancer.
She sings: “The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair, in doctor’s office lighting, I didn’t tell you I was scared.
“That was the first time we were there. Holy orange bottles, each night, I pray to you.
“Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too.”
Meanwhile, the album’s first track, I Forgot That You Existed, appears to reference a feud, with many fans speculating it is about Kanye West.
She sings: “How many days did I spend thinking ’bout how you did me wrong, wrong, wrong?
“Lived in the shade you were throwing, ’til all of my sunshine was gone, gone, gone.
“And I couldn’t get away from ya, in my feelings more than Drake, so yeah
“Your name on my lips, tongue-tied.
“Free rent, living in my mind.
“But then something happened one magical night
“I forgot that you existed.”
One fan commented: “Kanye when Taylor Swift drops her album wondering how he’s gonna rinse her this time, then sees the ‘I forgot you even existed’”
Kanye when Taylor Swift drops her album wondering how he’s gonna rinse her this time, then sees the ‘I forgot you even existed’ #TaylorSwift #Kanye pic.twitter.com/Gp2tsUOGOc
— David Banterborough (@DaveBants) August 23, 2019
Another said: “So are we on the same page that Kanye (and the fam/gang) is the one that Taylor is referring to in the song ‘I forgot you existed’.”
So are we on the same page that Kanye (and the fam/gang) is the one that Taylor is referring to in the song "I forgot you existed" #LoverOutNow #Lover
— SwiftieBlink🏹💫 (@ftwlalalisa) August 23, 2019
Yet another said: “I forgot you existed is definitely about Kanye west.”
I forgot you existed is definitely about Kanye west.
— Courtney Danielle 🦔 (@WeAreTheFoxes_) August 22, 2019
Lover is out now.