we need to talk about joe alwyn and taylor swift. AGAIN. 

just a heads up that my twitter which I usually keep on private will be open for 24 hours, so if you want to follow for updates ya better act fast: twitter.com/jesuiszachary ... once the gates are closed they stay closed for MONTHS and I don't accept requests xo

Mastermind makes sense to me in the context that it’s a rebuttal of invisible string, she thought it was fate originally and then realized it was something she willed to happen. It was not fate or magic and that realization made it easier for her to let go of it.

Jack is essentially Lady Whistledown right now and I'm here for it. ☕️

Lover is such an anxious album. So many of the songs she wrote about Joe felt like she thought he could be gone any moment, without warning.

I just remembered that "Lover" was originally going to be called "Daylight" so "Midnights" being the breakup album for that relationship makes even more sense now

"Do you think a mentally well person is eating raisins off of a kitchen island" is sending me

The ping-ponging between love and breakup songs makes absolute sense when you think about the lead up to a breakup...you decide to break up and then you kinda grieve the good moments by putting on rose-coloured glasses and idealizing the crap out of your mid relationship. You have these moments of "I love thrm, I'll stick it out" and "this is over, I'm out"

After Jack's "You are losing me" date post .... The "Taylor You'll be fine" in Anti-hero, feels like that best friend who reminds you of your worth after a break up. Like I got your back, we are rooting for you(the anti-hero) it will fine. :')

labyrinth being about joe after a reconciliation makes so so so much sense, "i thought this plane was going down, how'd you turn it back around?". i always thought it was about her feeling like she may never be able to find love again, but the metaphor with the plane makes so much sense. for him to turn it around he would have to be in it. she is not the plane, her hopes are not the plane, THEIR RELATIONSHIP is the plane. some other lyrics that support this: "It only hurts this much right now Was what I was thinking the whole time Breathe in, breathe through Breathe deep, breathe out" --> she is trying to make it through their rough patch, reminding herself that this can pass "Break up, break free, break through, break down You would break your back to make me break a smile You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back Just like that"

Zac: If you're mentally well, are you eating raisins? Me, eating raisins a minute ago: I feel attacked by the swiftologist.

I feel like Joe was a safe and soft spot for her to land when she was at the lowest point in her life and her career. I genuinely think they had a good relationship for some time… but I don’t think they were compatible. Had it not been for the pandemic, I don’t think they would have lasted as many years as they did.

I’ve thought about the start of Taylor’s relationship with Joe before. She found him in a period of hiding and being private to heal. Once she found her way out of that, although she recognized that he helped her get through that, Rep launched her back into the scene. I would imagine this caused resentment from Joe… like him wishing things would continue to be “like it was” before Rep. And then there’s the pandemic which kind of brought them back into that bubble. It’s like there were flickers of hope when things were private, but then when she was… shimmering, he couldn’t handle it.

lavender haze always troubled me. as someone who is very melancholic, i always expect my partner to ask me what's wrong and yes actually read into it, help me figure it out. "you don't ever say too much" was definetely not a compliment to joe!

I still keep going back to the part of the Bejeweled MV where her little watch has a countdown for when “Exile” ends. I feel like that may have been a dig at Joe, like her main pop girlie persona had to go live in a sort of “exile” from 2020-2022, and with Midnights, she has been freed and allowed to reclaim her land.

Also, Cruel Summer. The beginning of their relationship. The guy there is portrayed as cold, blue, devilish, bad boy, cruel. It always clashed for me with the portrait of him she was painting with her best colors. Her first instincts were so clear.

Also gotta say I love jack. He seems like he really cares about Taylor and not just about the music they create together. He’s definitely like a brother to her and saw what she was going through with Joe. He was/is definitely a good support friend for her

I still maintain that there's more to Champagne Problems than has been said and that was a year earlier. Taylor's learned to be a sly dog with how she answers things publicly but her songs have always been very personal.

There is a thing about Midnights that, as she said, revisits past parts of her life. However, there is something in every single song (minus Vigilante Shit) about Joe that is unflattering that can be extrapolated. It is almost as if, as she finished recording Fearless and Red, and started recording 1989 and Speak Now, she started to relate what was not so good about Joe to some past relationships.

Joe could handle her at her worst but not at her best

Jack wakes up and chooses chaos. Constantly. Here for it.

the fact that she recorded this song 8 days, 8 DAYS BABES, before her 32nd birthday makes so mad and sad at the same time

As a person who got out of a 8 y/o relationship with a man who was a certified turkey, think selling our TV so he can go on vacation to Costa Rica with a friend levels of turkey, I think Midnights really captures the ups and downs of trying to get out of a relationship were you entered in feeling inferior to the other person. I personally fluctuated between lucid and articulate moments when I thought ‘that’s it I’m leaving’ to doubling down on my sunken cost and hanging on for dear life, it makes it hard to know what you actually want. Thank God it is over now, it was a very lonely and demoralizing experience not ranking in the top five of someone who you consider number one.✨

Thank you for providing us a safe space to hate on the heirloom turkey bestie

I feel like many of the comments to this video are quite harsh. Yes we can see through the songs that Taylor was not happy in that relationship at the end. But there's no need making Joe the devil. He is not a bad person just as much as he is not entirely good. Same for Taylor. There are two sides of this story and we don't know what actually happened. I think we sometimes feel like we were there for the events because the songs are so well written and personal and we relate to Taylor as the narrator. But it's art, so it's interpretable and will always be angled from the artists point of view.

What comes to mind is that High Infidelity lyric where she says there are many different ways to kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough…and her relationship with Alwyn was a slow burn and she suffered through his indifference about her. The more time goes on i too am realizing how different they are from each other.

the people were in shambles, the people needed a light in the darkness and the swiftologist knew what to do

One thing has always confused me about the songs on the Lover and Reputation albums (Delicate, Cruel Summer, Dress etc). In a lot of the songs she's chasing him and he doesn't seem to care, he's always surrounded by a bunch of girls and she's trying to get his attention. She liked him immediately at first sight (Paper Rings). He was cold towards her. And she tried to get his attention... It is very concerning thing in any relationship… She was emotionally dependent on him and perhaps loved him more...

So, I haven’t listened to much of Lover outside of Cruel Summer, but I think the bridge to Cruel Summer also shows some early cracks in the relationship. “I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you” to me really comes off as Joe wanted to keep their relationship private, and Taylor… to put it simply, did not. She’s got to sparkle and shine. But I will also say, I think the “you’re so much older and wiser” line from tolerate it isn’t necessarily supposed to be super literal, hell the next two lines are “use my best colors for your portrait/lay the table with the fancy shit” - which means roughly “I gave you the best of me’s” - so it’s possible it’s a reference to how mature Taylor could’ve thought Joe was (at least, in the beginning- after all, he gave no f’s about her reputation) and the “waiting by door like I’m just a kid” I think reinforces that she could’ve -felt- immature and like a kid next to someone like Joe.

I think a potential addition the timeline playlist is The Alcott which flies under the radar since it’s a The National song. Lyrics like “I had to do something to break into your golden thinking” and the whole second verse where Taylor cuts in with things like “couldn’t it be easy this once” and “everything that’s mine is a land mine” feel very Joever coded. Berninger claims it’s about him and his wife but I feel like aspects of Taylor’s relationship crept into at least her parts of the song.

“Tolerate it” hits so differently now. Soooo not buying that Folklore/Evermore were mostly made up. I mean they obviously weren’t, but she was basically hemorrhaging lyrics in 2020-2021 trying to hold on to that year frozen, stale, pale , turkey

"do you think a mentally sound person would be eating raisins?" *Me, shovelling chocolate-coated raisins into my mouth watching this* "HuH?"

There’s a major difference between keeping your relationship private and not even claiming your partner of 6 years. Beyoncé and jay z were very private in the beginning but they spoke of each other respectfully. Same with Blake lively and Ryan reynolds (oddly enough) . There was never a sense of pride from Joe . Also I think Jack was ready to fight this man for years now 😂. We all hate watching our best friend be off and on with someone for years. It’s awful .

To add to this, the line "how long could we be a sad song?" in YLM is so interesting to me because before YLM, there were literally no "sad" songs written about Joe (that we know of). Even songs like Afterglow, Peace, Labyrinth and Hits Different were bittersweet at best. In contrast, all her post rep "sad" songs were claimed to be "fictional" by Taylor herself. I'm talking Tolerate it, Champagne Problems, Hoax, The 1 etc. These songs in retrospect make so much sense from the angle of the Jaylor/Toe relationship at the time (if YLM is to be believed). I think Taylor was writing these songs by herself to have an outlet for all her repressed emotions about her failing relationship, and claiming that they were fictional bcz she still believed that there was hope to fix it. The aforementioned lyric in YLM most likely alludes to her feeling like she couldn't just keep channeling all her feelings into "fictional" songs since he wouldn't understand them (you say "I don't understand" I say "I know you don't"). I really think Joe didn't know that all those folklore/evermore songs had sprinkles of reality in them, just like we didn't. Even if he guessed, he intentionally ignored it or acted blind to it (My face was grey but you wouldn't admit that we were sick) and that level of indifference to her feelings would surely drive someone as impassioned as Taylor crazy. She also went along with it, getting used to letting the unspoken between them stay as it is. Atleast she did for a while. I think that's why YLM sounds like such an ultimatum because their relationship had been deteriorating for a WHILE and he didn't even acknowledge it. It's a lot of strings snapping, one at a time, which is why it's so complicated since there was no "big event" that tore them apart. For some reason this must've hurt more for Taylor.

Honestly I'm so relieved to find this channel and see that not everyone feels the need to obsess over her relationships like they are legit your parents. She can date who she wants, it literally doesn't matter we dont know them lmaooo, can it just be about the music and interpretations from what she herself shows? love this content

To me, it's possible "You're Losing Me" was about the same thing as "The Great War", and that's why it was written so early, when she was in the thick of "wondering if it's time" and feeling like it was the end but they made it through that specific time even if secretly the relationship never recovered and they eventually broke up

Tolerate It to me is her saddest track 5. The “older & wiser” line seems like a disguise and echoes the sentiment from Peace about his “moral superiority”. Same as the only other song she mentions “barbed wire” is Invisible String. What is heartbreaking here is that the character in Tolerate It doesn’t leave… just fantasizes about it. Similar to YLM.

This fandom experience is a wild goose chase and I live for it.

Also “I’m the problem it’s me at tea time everybody agrees” is also about the heirloom turkey for me from now on

I feel like Taylor took the blame for most of the dynamincs that were going wrong in her relationship with Joe. She thought of him as a saviour and I think She believed She sort of failed him by not meeting his expectations after He had saved her.

I actually think it really tracks that she would write an album with some songs reflecting on past relationships, and songs reflecting on “good” aspects like possibly Sweet Nothing, as the longest relationship of her life is fizzling. People don’t just decide to end a long term, committed relationship easily. There’s tons of reflecting and you may feel awful one week and better (more able to ignore your concerns) the next. It’s a hard decision. Midnights TOTALLY tracks with someone who is in that headspace!

I just imagine Taylor having a LOT of wine with Jack and rummaging for snacks and the raisins were just...there. Iconic.

guys if Glitch is about Ratty then "But it's been two thousand one hundred and 90 days of our love blackout // The system's breaking down (the system's breaking down)" is about the Joe relationship failing and when she says "A brief interruption, a slight malfunction // I'd go back to wanting dudes who give nothing" that's actually Joe I'm speechless my life just turned on it's head

Maroon is 100% about Joe. It literally says, “looked up the sky and it was maroon”. Cause Taylor thought it was golden like daylight but now she looks back, she sees that it was just a less vibrant shade of red. Also there are different parallels with ‘You’re Losing Me’. Like “You were standin' hollow-eyed in the hallway” and “Now you’re running down the hallway.” Also she literally says “And I chose you” and “And I lost you” in the beginings. Like “Lose something babe, risk something, choose something babe”. Since he does neither of those things, she does both.

She really does pick very pretentious men. I was just thinking about that when this came out on streaming. Many of the guys that dated her didn’t really think Taylor Swift, the biggest pop star, was cool enough to be with. She was hidden away and it’s like they were ashamed to be with her. That pretentiousness of being better than her. When she’s literally so fucking talented. She needs someone that knows how big of a star she is. That appreciates her. That knows that she is that talented. That is proud to be with her. And so far, Travis seems to be celebrating her

To be completely honest, Jack being startled at Taylor's revelations about the writing of Exhile in The Long Pond Sessions was the first time I thought there was something up. Like Jack simply could not believe he wrote so much of that song, and frankly I do not either. lol Who would have thought he would be our bravest soldier - under Taylor's supervision I'm sure. Truly, her entire output between 2020 and 2023 is turned on its head now. How much more fascinating this woman can get 😅

That booth photo told us everything we needed to know. In a world of boys, he’s an heirloom turkey

As someone who stayed waaaay too long in a relationship before because I thought I really loved that guy (I didn't): I feel seen. People tend to stay in relationship longer than needed if they are somewhat emotionally dependent on their partner. Since Joe was her "savior" during a very hard time in her life, it must have been extra hard. Plus when they met she probably wasn't her "real" self. They were never compatible. I don't blame her, I don't blame him. You can tell it took her quite a while to distance herself from him. Been there, done that. What is really important is that she is happy now.

I think the most important thing to remember about Taylor and joe… and it comes up a lot in Sweet Nothing… is that, for Taylor, joe represented the first person in probably a decade that she could be pretty much certain liked her for who she was, and not because of what she was, which must have been a great feeling at a terrible time (in delicate, which goes over the start of their relationship, she sings “my reputation’s never been worse, so you *must* like me for me”… and that slight air of wonder… where she’s still not 100% sure, shows it’s something she often doubts… understandably so)… He met her when everyone was hating on her and making fun of her and all that. Which, of course she was still Taylor Swift to us, but to her she probably felt like her career was over and that was it. Especially in the first months after she went into hiding. So when he was still willing to start a relationship with her at that time, I think she felt with near certainty that he was dating her because he was into her and not for any gain, and didn’t want to let go of that, or him. I think that belief at first deepened when she went back into the mainstream and he still liked to remain private. That only reinforced her belief that he wasn’t trying to gain anything from her. But I think, after a few years… enough time… went by, that she would know him using her obviously wasn’t the case (even if it HAD started differently) I think she started to feel the exact opposite. Like that he thought he was too cool for her or that he was jealous or something and only liked her when, as you said, they were at home in their own private little world, and she wasn’t Taylor Swift the superstar. Which again, as you said is ridiculous, especially once you get to the point where you’re considering marriage and things like that. Not to mention if someone only likes half of you then they don’t truly like you for who you are because obviously all parts of your make up who you are.

i've listening to hoax lately and now im thinking if thats about this relationship too. in the folklore studio sessions she said that this was about many different things, and at first i believed her, but listening to it now it feels like a more cryptic sister to tolerate it, and to me it has become clear over time that hoax has such a clear and distinct feeling about it, i don't think its fictional at all

You captured all this so well. The longer the relationship, I think, the longer it takes to really decide whether or not there’s much to save. Not to mention the savior complex of the whole thing. Like yes props to him for being there when she needed privacy and someone to be with. I’ve seen so many people defend him endlessly, though, just because of that and like he can’t get any criticism because of it. To me, her holding the song back from the album seems more like she held it back because what if they DID work out? But so many people seem incredulous that she has moved on so fast after being with someone for so long. It’s like saying, no, it’s not that fast. The ending started much longer than when it was announced this year.

This also puts into perspective for me the almost absolute silence on social media after Red's re-record release. Like she was posting pretty regularly on Tiktok/Instagram and then all the sudden... Nothing in December. No happy birthday to Evermore like she had Folklore, one post to reign in '22 with a filter (so probably a contractually obligated post) and then nothing again until May. I think in her people pleasing way, she was trying to isolate herself and fit into his private life and found it wasn't working and it wasn't what she wanted. I think there is a reason May 22 was the last time she liked a post from Joe...

The fact that she literally asked him at the beginning of the relationship "are you READY FOR IT?" Like.. No ma'am I guess he wasn't 😭

What really gets me about the whole Joe/Taylor situation is that I can't believe how low her self-esteem plummeted from it all. From what I can tell, she really wanted to make this work. I do agree that she saw Joe as a savior and why she sunk so much time into it, even wanting to marry him. I hate that Joe didn't give anything in return aside from maybe contributing to a handful of songs and doesn't appreciate the work that goes into something that Taylor is passionate about. It really hurts!

When I first heard you’re losing me. I felt like it was about something that a person was holding onto for their dear life because if this ended what will be? but being so trapped that you can’t wait to open the door and run.

I don’t usually click on the famous person relationship breakdown. Im here for the music. But Im so glad I did. Zach’s perspectives on relationships have been really valuable to me. I feel like I’ve learned more about boundaries and connection from you than so many others. All of that contrasted and woven into the music is really inspired me. Appreciate you!!

I think it’s interesting to hear the polar differences in Joe and Taylor and their views on the relationship as well as just personal differences. Taylor, being the superstar she is and has been for 17 years, has always appeared to be very extroverted and bubbly. She’s always been seen in a positive light up until the reputation era. In the rep era, she was hated on and kind of hid in her shell, which is obviously when Joe found her. What he found was barely a fragment of the real Taylor. He found the version of her that didn’t want to be seen because she was so hated, and thinking back to that point in time, I’m seeing it in a new light. Maybe it isn’t all that happy, lovely, gushy stuff that we’ve always seen it as. Joe, like you said, has always shut down conversations about Taylor and everything to do with her before they can even start, whereas Taylor released two whole love-song albums about him. Just thinking about tracks like Gorgeous, CIWYW, Dress, and the song Lover itself gives you a perspective of how Taylor viewed their relationship, whereas Joe’s radio silence signified his dislike of her popularity. She seemed so perfectly in love with all versions of him, but he seemed to like her better in her private eras (reputation, folklore, and evermore).

Interesting and funny how Taylor is slowly rewriting Joe out of her narrative. She removed Invisible String from the setlist; she rededicated Endgame (and lowkey Labyrinth) to Travis; she tied Cardigan to Matty; she changed the lyrics in Karma; she liked the tweet about Sweet Nothing being a Paul/Linda fanfic (I don't think it is but she clearly wants this idea out there lol); now Tree slams DM for the Joe engagement rumours. What's next, taking away his Grammy 💀💀

My favorite thing about your videos, Zach, is the combination of sass and actual thoughtful analysis. At 16:44 - “because A DIAMOND’S GOTTA SHINE YOU RATS! something I find really interesting to look at in hindsight…” made me laugh out loud

My take on the Joe hate is, how is it fair to get one perspective of a situation and draw outlandish conclusions about a relationship we weren’t involved in? Breakups happen and that shouldn’t specifically make someone the bad guy. The world isn’t black and white. They probably just wanted different things which, in time, is normal.

Thank you!! You always take the words right out of my mouth. People love to attack me when I said previously that afterglow is concerning! A few songs on lover definitely hint towards an unhealthy balance in the relationship and tbh even rep does a little bit. You saying the victim savior complex is so right. Since folklore and evermore came out I never fully believed her “this is all made up” story.

I think they had an on again off again relationship for a while where they tried to salvage it a few times and it didn't work out.

I don't understand how a so-called "introverted" "private" person willingly chose acting as a profession. That's the part that makes Joe's weirdness around praising Taylor publicly so particularly strange to me. It isn't as if he's an office worker! EDIT: My point here is not that acting and being introverted and private never align. Rather, I believe that being an actor appearing in large, wide-release movies should have given him a little insight into how to handle the fame side of things. There's a good discussion in the replies (for the most part).

What a feast this video was, thank you Zack!! Jack’s post literally altered the course of my afternoon so I knew it was only a matter of time before we got the official swiftologist report on it!

Long term relationships don’t suddenly end. They slowly die and couples a lot of time try hard to “capture the magic” of first being together, to try to find a reason to stay together. A real relationship is when the person doesn’t make you feel like you’re fucked up in the head. They just love you. And because of it, you feel free. And I’ve been married 15 years to the one man that was against my typical type who ended up being my biggest cheerleader - respect and admiration.

re Mastermind coming out of the same session as this, Bejeweled, YOYOK, Midnight Rain, Maroon, Dear Reader (!) etc.: it's a pretty dark song, but it feels very high level processing, after the pain and feelings have been worked through a bit, and one can see patterns emerge. "Wind in our sails/ liquor in our cocktails" -- I make us happen, and you don't match the effort I put in. "you knew that I'm a mastermind" -- you knew how much work i was doing to make this work and you just let me bust my butt for you. there's also something kind of bleak in assessing how a situation has been self-directed. it's not just "i did all this (behold my brilliance)," it's also "I DID all this (I am the architect of my own unhappiness).

I said it before I will say it again, Taylor loved Joe more than Joe ever loved her.

It's common for songs to be about more than one thing/person, blurring the lines of being literal. Do you think that is ever the case for Taylor's writing?

The aggressive air quotes on "successful actor" made me laugh so hard😂.

my head has been so messed up by a single story I CANT WAIT TO SEE UR OPINION

It's kinda funny that i never liked Joe and i feel oddly vindicated each time someone hates on him. It always rubbed me the wrong way that Taylor wrote him as some kind of mythic hero good guy and she was some bad woman that was "wasting his honor". It was very concerning. A few songs like that I understand but almost all of them were like that

Ugh the way SO many men act like Joe. A LOT of men have a deep-seated need to take their woman down just a peg. It's SO heartbreaking. The way they get intimidated and jealous of women shining. Again...ugh.

I agree with what you said about a kernel of truth being in every folkevermore song. I would LOVE to see a video from you going through the track lists of those albums and hypothesizing on what every song’s kernel is

as someone whos been in a very messy, up and down, beating a dead horse type relationship for the past 6 years, i’ve felt for a long time that some of folklore, evermore and midnights has been about their relationship. many of those songs ring true to what i’ve been through, especially bejeweled, tolerate it, you’re losing me, evermore, renegade

You need to watch Joe’s first movie and interviews. He was joyful. He was exuberant. He was not guarded. He was a complete newbie. Then Taylor picked him up. He didn’t want his career to be guided by her fame. He suddenly had no opportunity to talk to any journalists about his work. EVERYthing was only about Taylor. He wasn’t jealous. He was just steamrolled.

Not Jack spilling the hottest tea. 😅☕🫖

I love love love these long chats so much!! You are such an amazing reporter 💖

Thank you for your feedback, I feel that Jack Antonoff gave me clarity. I never understood why the visual for Midnights is so sad, now I see it was an album of indecision. She was holding the lighter (representing Joe) not sure where things were going. She was looking for clarity in the midst of pain. As someone that has also been in a relationship like this, it clicks with me and I understand why it's so hard to end it because you seem to be the problem, no one really understands why you are sad. I'm glad I'm out, and I'm glad Taylor also choose herself and her happiness, even if it paints her in a bad light. Sorry for the TMI

one thing i have always felt from their relationship is that joe has given me the vides that he is a british snob who made her feel like a stupid american. Like jake, she was made to feel that she is not sophisticated and your reference to the cringe comment alludes to that feeling. i could be wrong but those are my thoughts.

I just heard the Antihero remix featuring Bleachers (aka Jack A) and the stanza sung by Jack goes as- Sometimes, I feel like everybody is an art bro lately And I just judge them on the hill Too hurt to hang out, talking shit about your famous baby Pierced through the heart of '90s guilt Maybe I'm the problem, it's me.. And it came out one year ago .. this is the remix that says “Taylor you will be fine” .. it was all on the wall .. we just didn’t pay attention. I am so glad that Taylor unlike John Lennon was able to free herself of her Yoko aka Joe. I credit her freedom to the fact that 1) they were not married 2) Taylor was absolutely financially independent and Joe could not manipulate her on that account unlike Yoko. 3) although Joe was able to isolate her from rest of the world he unlike yoko could not isolate Taylor from her art and thus her collaborative friends like Jack. Here i should mention that it is extremely extremely energetically difficult to leave a covert narcissist

Hope you had a great break & can't wait for the new video analysis 🙌

I stayed in a rebound relationship for a year. It was toxic and smothering, but safe. I knew it was over for months before I finally said/did something about it. And we were long distance! I had a huge amount of individual freedom in between visits. I can’t imagine being in that relationship during the pandemic when there was no where to go or nothing to shake you about how not ok your situation is.

Thank you for the constant supply of quality journalism, bestie!!!! ❤❤

you truly are the no days off-ologist thank you for your service!

okay but youre GLOWING. why are you so handsome😫

my guesses for the timeline: 2016: they met and he was a private person, that worked for that time in her life. he "didn't need to save her but ran away with her". she probably put him on a pedestal for that. 2017 - 2019: they were private in the sense of going to their work things alone & avoiding paparazzi. i'm not sure if Afterglow was after a fight or a break period. also Paper Rings & I Think He Knows.....she probably wanted to marry him THEN. 2020: pandemic, back in the bubble. i think at this point, she wanted to go back out there and shimmer once life resumed. he didn't want that. with songs like Champagne Problems, Tolerate It, Peace, Hoax, Evermore, Coney Island....i'm convinced they were "on the rocks". they probably couldn't compromise on a public life and marriage. 2021: because of Jack, we now know that You're Losing Me was written Dec 5th. this leads me to believe they were about to breakup and she was processing the fact that it could be over soon. 2022: Sept (VMA's) there was a video of Taylor running to car with Joe. i wonder if they actually got back together early 2022 and broke up again and she led us to believe it was 2023 so they both had time to process a decent amount of months without each other to make sure. 2023: when we all found out it was over, she used Matty as a distraction so it would'nt hurt as much for both parties. i wonder if she wanted Jack to release that date of You're Losing Me so we know she didn't jump too fast into a relationship with Travis. i noticed a lot of fans made that comment. in Lavender Haze when she says "1950's shit they want from me", I think was her actually gaslighting herself into believing she doesn't need to marry Joe. (i think they broke up or took breaks MULTIPLE times throughout their relationship and Folklore/Evermore was more personal than we thought.)

I genuinely aspire to be at your level of emotional awareness. This was such a fascinating 'review' of their relationship and I feel like I've lived the past 6 years all over again lol

I'm so happy you're back! Can't wait for more content aaa

i ran here as soon as i saw jacks post!!

This part at 27:18 is so spot on, ESPECIALLY for Taylor (or any super famous person, really - not Joe). It's not particularly easy for her to find somebody who she can date, who gets her, who can be in her world. Joe was uncomfortable with it, but at least they had already done the work and were in it. Like you said, it's a lot easier said than done to figure out if that's something that can be worked through or needs to just end and probably harder for somebody who can't leave the house without being swarmed.

Renegade is a top tier song for me. Thanks for spinning the meaning on its head. I kept visualizing him singing those words to her. Not the reverse. Love this take.

Thanks for giving us the tea. We love hearing the rage towards the Heirloom turkey🥰

YES! I was waiting for this video!!

Thinking about Midnights being a reckoning on staying with Joe or not while the album cover is literally her about to blow out the vintage lighter (Joe collects vintage lighters !!!)

When I heard Peace for the first time, I felt a certain way. When Midnights came out, some of the songs scratched that certain part of my brain once again. The rest is history. BTW, the lavender haze MV was also so strange to me. She just went poof! in the clouds without her love interest towards the end. 😂

The best analysis I've heard so far on the situation. Applause applause!

im so glad you posted a video about this when i saw jack's post i was GAGGED

HE'S BACK!! You don't know how starved I felt. I was looking for scraps in your older videos during your time off hahaha. That raisins photo was so sad and hilarious at the same time, and we love jack for prompting another urgent heirloom turkey video. Very thoughtful and minorly unhinged as always! ❤

I totally agree their relationship was built on this victim /savior complex. I think they were mismatched from the start. But I just think Joe is shy and British. He actually always seemed down to earth to me. The cracks were always there : Dancing with our Hands Tied, New Years Day, Afterglow, False God. It's actually pretty normal she may have been feeling different emotions when she wrote these songs. Maybe she wanted out one day, but then the next wanted to make it work. I think Sweet Nothing is a beautiful love song she wrote with Joe but maybe it's not about their relationship.

Great analysis and conversation! This opened my eyes to a whole different perspective on Midnights and also the NYU speech, etc. Thanks tor all your hard work!

You’re so absolutely right. You’re the swift expert indeed. Keep it up. Looking forward to your insights