Get Ready To Cry: These Midnights Lyrics Might Be About Joe Alwyn

Following the massive success of her Fearless and Red re-recordings, Taylor Swift returned with her first brand-new album in two years: Midnights — oh, and a Ticketmaster-breaking tour. Considering Swift’s recent albums (everything from Reputation on) have seemingly referenced her relationship with Joe Alwyn, fans have fully dissected each Midnights song, looking for mentions of the actor. So, what were the results? It turns out that only six months before Swift and Alwyn’s reported breakup, her songs seemed extra lovey-dovey — hardly fitting a couple that was headed toward a “not dramatic” split.

If you’re feeling emotionally stable enough to reminisce on Swift and Alwyn’s love story, here are all the Easter eggs that Swifties think they found about Alwyn on Midnights.

“Lavender Haze”

Swift starts Midnights with a sweet love song called “Lavender Haze.” In an Oct. 7 Instagram video, the singer explained that “lavender haze” was a common phrase used in the ‘50s to “describe being in love” with someone. “If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow,” she said. “Theoretically, when you’re in the lavender haze, you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud.”

She then revealed the phrase was special to her because it reminded her of her own relationship with Alwyn. “We've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff and we just ignore it,” she said. “And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”

In “Lavender Haze,” Swift appears to reference Alwyn during the first verse when she sings: “I been under scrutiny / You handle it beautifully / All this sh*t is new to me.” The lyrics seem to be about the time Swift disappeared from the public eye following her drama with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in 2016. In a 2017 poem titled, “Why She Disappeared,” Swift said she had “a love” by her side throughout the whole debacle, which makes her “Lavender Haze” lyrics that much more meaningful — and now, devastating.

“Maroon”

Swift’s second Midnights track, “Maroon,” also has Alwyn written all over it, but especially in the chorus when she sings, “And I chose you / The one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes,” because the lyrics appear to be a nod toward her and Alwyn’s relationship blossoming in New York.

For example, Swift and Alwyn reportedly began dating in October 2016 just months after they met at the Met Gala that May (Swift hinted at the timing of their first meeting in her 2017 song “Dress”). Around the same time, Swift began renting a Cornelia Street apartment in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan.

Swift actually named one of her Lover tracks “Cornelia Street,” which fans theorized was also about Alwyn. So, considering the couple’s history with the city, it’s possible that “Maroon” was partially inspired by Alwyn. The other half of the song is about a breakup... so do with that information what you will.

As one fan pointed out, “Maroon” and “Cornelia Street” also have similar lyrics, which only added to the theory the songs are about the same person.

“Snow On The Beach”

“Snow On The Beach” is another romantic song, so of course, Swifties couldn’t help but think it was inspired by Alwyn. Swift explained the meaning behind the track in an Oct. 11 Instagram video. “The song is about falling in love with someone at the same time as they’re falling in love with you, sort of in this sort of cataclysmic, fated moment where you realize someone feels exactly the same way that you feel,” she said.

Swift described the moment as so surreal that you questioned whether it was actually happening or not. In her song, she compares this feeling to snow on the beach. “Weird but f*cking beautiful/ Flying in a dream,” she sings. “You wanting me / Tonight feels impossible.”

“Question”

Remember how “Dress” seemed to be written about Alwyn? Well, there’s a lyric in “Question” that mirrors a lyric in “Dress,” making fans think the two songs are somehow connected. During the chorus of “Question,” Swift sings, “Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?” Meanwhile, she starts “Dress” with the lyrics, “Our secret moments in your crowded room / They've got no idea about me and you.” Since her Reputation track includes several nods toward Alwyn, fans think “Question” could be about him, too.

“Labyrinth”

In “Labyrinth,” Swift recalls the moment she unexpectedly fell in love with someone. “Uh-oh, I'm fallin' in love / Oh no, I'm fallin' in love again,” she sings during the chorus. “I thought the plane was goin' down / How'd you turn it right around?” Could it be about Alwyn? Fans think so.

“Sweet Nothing”

Swift wrote “Sweet Nothing” in collaboration with Alwyn, so no surprise, the song included a few Easter eggs about their relationship. The most obvious one is found during the first verse. “I spy with my little tired eye / Tiny as a firefly, a pebble that we picked up last July,” Swift sings on her track. “Down deep inside your pocket / We almost forgot it / Does it ever miss Wicklow sometimes?”

Swift name-dropped Wicklow, which is a town in Ireland where Alwyn filmed his Hulu series Conversations With Friends in July 2021. Her “Sweet Nothing” lyrics seem to confirm she visited Ireland with Alwyn.

In the chorus, Swift seems to allude to rumors surrounding the status of their relationship by singing, “They said the end is coming / Everyone's up to something / I found myself a-running home to your sweet nothings.”

“Mastermind”

The lyrics to“Mastermind” seem to reminisce over Swift meeting Alwyn for the first time. “Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned / You and I ended up in the same room at the same time,” she begins the song.

In her Reputation song “Dress,” Swift said she first met her lover when he had a buzzcut and she had her hair bleached. Since this matches her and Alwyn’s appearances at the 2016 Met Gala, it’s likely the two first introduced each other sometime during the event. If that’s true, then according to her lyrics in “Mastermind,” Swift considered their meeting as magical as “the stars aligning.”

Later on in the song, she calls herself a “mastermind” for seemingly initiating their first interaction and laying the “groundwork” for them dating. “And now you're mine/ It was all by dеsign 'cause I'm a mastermind,” she sang.

“The Great War”

“The Great War” appears to be about Swift and her partner enduring several hurdles in their relationship to come out on the other side even stronger. “'Cause we survived the Great War/ I vowed I would always be yours,” Swift sings at the end of the song. While discussing the making behind her song “Lavender Haze” in an Oct. 7 Instagram video, Swift said she and Alwyn have had to learn to overcome gossip about their relationship. This made some fans think “The Great War” could be about her and Alwyn.

“Paris”

In “Paris,” Swift admits that she’s “so in love” that she “might stop breathing.” She also alludes to her relationship being in the public eye during her song’s pre-chorus. “No, I didn't see the news 'cause we were somewhere else,” Swift sings on the track.

Then, in the second verse, she appears to emphasize the importance of keeping her relationship as private as possible with the lyrics, “Privacy sign on the door and on my page and on the whole world.” Swift further stresses this message when she sings, “Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours / Levitate above all the messes made.”

Considering Swift has previously discussed how it isn’t easy to have a relationship in the spotlight, “Paris” seems to explain why she chose to remain mostly private about herself and Alwyn.

“Glitch”

“Glitch,” which is featured on Midnights (3am Edition), also references Swift and Alwyn’s long-term relationship in the second verse. “It's been two-thousand one-hundred ninety days of our love blackout,” Swift sings. FYI: 2,199 days is six years, which is exactly how long the two have been together.

These Midnights lyrics certainly hint at a lavender haze-filled romance between Swift and Alwyn — and there’s more than one reference to the pain of dealing with public rumors. There’s always a chance that the most recent bout of speculation is another “Great War” they have to overcome, but until they speak out, fans will be mourning those sweet nothings.