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So, by now, I'm sure you've heard that Taylor Swift's new album, The Tortured Poets Department, is out.
Now that fans have had the weekend to digest the album and listen to all the songs, many people have been making their own predictions about who these songs are about. While at first, fans assumed TTPD would be about Taylor's breakup with Joe Alwyn, many are now realizing several songs might actually be about Matty Healy, who dated Taylor briefly in 2023.
Fans also noticed that this album contains SO many parallels and Easter eggs from Taylor's past music, especially the song "So Long, London," which is rumored to be about her breakup with Joe.
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And as a master Swiftie sleuth myself, I decided to do a deep dive into this song and find all those parallels:
1. First, one of the biggest parallels is the use of "London" in the song title. On her 2019 album Lover, Taylor wrote "London Boy," in which she sings about how in love she is with a guy from London. She also sings about London not being her home, but she loves it because of her "London Boy." Now, on TTPD, she sings "So Long, London," bidding farewell to this place she loved so much.
2. Last year, she released "You're Losing Me," a vault song for her album Midnights, where she sings, "I can't find a pulse, my heart won't start anymore." In the second verse of "So Long, London," she sings, "I stopped CPR. After all, it's no use. / The spirit was gone. We would never come to."
3. Also, in "You're Losing Me," she sings, "My face was gray, but you wouldn't admit that we were sick." Then she sings, "And I'm just getting color back into my face" in "So Long, London."
4. In "You're Losing Me," she sings, "How long could we be a sad song? / 'Til we were too far gone to bring back to life?" And then in "So Long, London," she sings, "Thinking how much sad did you think I had, did you think I had in me?"
5. In "You're Losing Me," she also sings, "I gave you all my best me's, my endless empathy." And then in "So Long, London," she sings, "And I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free."
6. In her Lover song "False God," she sings, "We'd still worship. We might just get away with it. / The altar is my hips, even if it's a false god." Then, she uses similar imagery in "So Long, London," when she sings, "You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? / I died on the altar waitin' for the proof. / You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days."
7. In her Folklore song, "Mirrorball," Taylor sings, "I'm still trying everything to get you laughing at me. / I'm still a believer but I don't know why." Then, in "So Long, London," she sings, "I stopped tryna make him laugh, stopped tryna drill the safe."
8. In her Midnights song "Glitch," Taylor sings, "Five seconds later, I'm fastening myself to you with a stitch." And in "So Long, London," she sings, "For so long, London. Stitches undone."
9. In the song "Lover," she sings, "We can leave the Christmas lights up 'til January." Then, in "So Long, London," she sings, "I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist."
10. Finally, she opens Folklore with the song "The 1," where she sings, "But it would've been fun if you would've been the one." Then, at the end of "So Long, London," she sings, "But I'm not the one."
Did you notice any more parallels? Let us know in the comments!
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