Taylor Swift Seemingly Referenced Her Joe Alwyn Split in Cryptic ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Lyrics

Swifties are broken.

Taylor Swift’s upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department, isn’t even out yet, and fans are already reeling from its lyrics.
On Sunday, the pop star promoted the clear vinyl edition of the record, which is available for pre-order at Target, and in the process, she dropped a cryptic line that appeared to be taken from one of her new songs. “I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all,” Swift wrote alongside a black-and-white image of her peeking through the transparent LP on Instagram. And while she didn’t provide any further explanation for the quote, Swifties came to the collective conclusion that she was referring to her breakup with Joe Alwyn.

“Taylor’s new album has already broken me before it’s been released,” wrote one fan in the comments section of her post, while another similarly pointed out that the line is “so sad” and how the album is “going to destroy everyone.” Others jokingly threatened to invoice Alwyn for their “therapy.”

This isn’t the first time Swifties have suspected that The Tortured Poets Department is a breakup album dedicated to Alwyn. After Swift announced the name of her forthcoming record at the 2024 Grammys, fans honed in on the title itself, particularly the word “Tortured,” believing it was a clever reference to the actor’s “Tortured Man Club” group chat. Their suspicions were further confirmed after Swift dropped the album’s track list, which includes a song called “So Long, London.”

Swift and Alwyn dated for six years, before breaking up in early 2023. The singer has since moved with NFL star Travis Kelce, while Alwyn has been rumored to be romantically involved with his Brutalist co-star Emma Laird.