Taylor Swift has a knack for writing about the ups and downs of falling in love — using her several high-profile relationships as inspiration.
Swift previously admitted that she received a range of responses from her ex-boyfriends about her music, including Jake Gyllenhaal. “He was like, ‘I just listened to the album, and that was a really bittersweet experience for me. It was like going through a photo album.’ That was nice,” she told New York magazine of his reaction to the song “All Too Well” off her 2012 album Red.
Not all her hits are breakup anthems, however. After sparking her romance with Joe Alwyn in 2017, the songwriter found herself connecting with the actor on a musical level.
Joe and I really love sad songs. We’ve always bonded over music. … We write the saddest. We just really love sad songs. What can I say?” Swift told Zane Lowe in December 2020 of creating her Folklore album with Alwyn. “And I say it was a surprise that we started writing together, but in a way, it wasn’t because we have always bonded over music and had the same musical tastes. And he’s always the person who’s showing me songs by artists and then they become my favorite songs.”
Scroll down to find out which celebrities have inspired Swift’s music over the years:
Forever & Always (2008)
Who: Joe Jonas
Lyric: “Did I say something way too honest? / Made you run and hide like a scared little boy?”
Better Than Revenge (2010)
Who: Camilla Belle
Lyric: “She’s not a saint / And she’s not what you think / She’s an actress. / She’s better known / For the things that she does / On the mattress.”
Back to December (2010)
Who: Taylor Lautner
Lyric: “I miss your tanned skin, your sweet smile / So good to me, so right / And how you held me in your arms that September night / The first time you ever saw me cry.”
Dear John (2010)
Who: John Mayer
Lyric: “Dear John, I see it all now it was wrong / Don’t you think 19’s too young to be played by your dark, twisted games? / When I loved you so, I should’ve known.”
Innocent (2010)
Who: Kanye West
Lyric: “It’s okay, life is a tough crowd / 32, and still growin’ up now / Who you are is not what you did. / You’re still an innocent.”
The songstress confirmed to Vulture that the song was, in fact, written about the Yeezus rapper. “It was at an awards show, and there had been this falling-out between me and this guy,” Swift recalled. “But, for me, it was important to write a song to him.”
Mean (2010)
Who: A music critic
Lyric: “Someday, I’ll be living in a big old city / And all you’re ever gonna be is mean.”
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (2012)
Who: Jake Gyllenhaal
Lyric: “I’m really gonna miss you picking fights / And me falling for it screaming that I’m right / And you would hide away and find your peace of mind / With some indie record that’s much cooler than mine.”
Red (2012)
Who: Jake Gyllenhaal
Lyric: “Like the colors in autumn, so bright just before they lose it all”
All Too Well (2012)
Who: Jake Gyllenhaal
Lyric: “Left my scarf there at your sister’s house”
Begin Again (2012)
Who: Conor Kennedy
Lyric: “And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid / I think it’s strange that you think I’m funny ’cause he never did.”
Swift explained to Ryan Seacrest that her single was about coming out of a relationship and starting over, describing it as: “When you’ve gotten through a really bad relationship and you finally dust yourself off.”
Bad Blood (2014)
Who: Katy Perry
Lyric: “Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes / You say sorry just for show / You live like that, you live with ghosts”
Out of the Woods (2014)
Who: Harry Styles
Lyric: “Your necklace hanging from my neck / Two paper airplanes flying, flying.”
“I wrote that about a time in my life where I was in a relationship that just kind of… I was always kind of wondering, ‘Where do we stand? Where do we stand?'” Swift told Access Hollywood. “It’s the anxiety… that frantic anxiety of wondering if you’re on solid ground yet.”
Style (2014)
Who: Harry Styles
Lyric: “You got that long hair, slicked back, white T-shirt.”
Look What You Made Me Do (2017)
Who: Kanye West
Lyric: “I don’t like your little games / Don’t like your tilted stage / The role you made me play / Of the fool / No, I don’t like you.”
…Ready for It? (2017)
Who: Joe Alwyn
Lyric: “Younger than my exes / But he act like such a man … Burton to his Taylor / Every love I’ve known in comparison is a failure.”
So Long, London (2024)
Who: Joe Alwyn
Lyrics: “I stopped CPR after all it’s no use / The spirit was gone we would never come to / And I’m pissed off you would let me give you all that youth for free for so long, London.”
