Taylor Swift has released her highly anticipated 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department. The American singer has had a long connection with London, writing about it several times in previous albums – so with a new song titled So Long, London, we’re here to explain the background to the emotional and pain-fuelled ballad.
Before we even get to the song itself, it’s important to lay the foundations for Taylor’s love for London. She’s dated several British men over the last 15 years, including Tom Hiddleston and Harry Styles, but it was with actor Joe Alwyn that it looked like she’d found her forever love.
The couple began dating in 2016, with their first public sighting in November at a Kings of Leon concert. Taylor released her album ‘Lover’ three years later, and several clues about London and Joe were dropped.
READ MORE:How to get Taylor Swift resale tickets for The Eras Tour at Wembley
London Boy takes listeners on a tour of the city, mentioning Highgate, Camden Market, Brixton and Shoreditch. Taylor become so enamoured with the city she even moved to London to live with Joe.
But last year, a spokesperson for Taylor confirmed that the pop superstar had broken up with Joe after six years. She was performing her sold out Eras Tour in America at the time, with shows on April 13 and 14 in Tampa, Florida.
The breakup was reportedly amicable, with no drama, ET reported. However, for millions of listeners today (April 19, 2024), we’re hearing how Taylor really felt about the breakup – and also leaving London.
So Long, London, begins with mentions of “ferry lights through the mist”, being carried “up the hill”, and hints of rain. The hill is Hampstead Heath, as the second verse makes clear: “You left me at the house by the Heath.”
But as she sings: “So long, London / You’ll find someone”, it suggests that London is representing her ‘London Boy’ from five years ago. The song is steeped in misery – it’s been placed at track five for a reason – and sounds like an elegy, Taylor mourning the years she’d spent in London, and the years she would now no longer have.
Taylor says she “left all she knew” to move to London, but later reveals she regrets the decision: “And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free”. By the second chorus, Taylor’s rage is turning more to resignation, then acceptance that she needed to escape from the suffocation of the relationship – and that meant leaving London too.
She ends the song by singing: “I’m just mad as hell ’cause I loved this place for /So long, London.” Taylor has loved London for many years, but perhaps, following her relationship with Joe, her memories of the city are tainted now.
The song closes with the outro: “So long, London / Had a good run / A moment of warm sun / But I’m not the one”. Is this the close of Taylor’s love affair with London?
Taylor Swift will be performing her Era’s Tour at Wembley Stadium in London in June and August. You can read more about how to secure tickets here. You can buy The Tortured Poets Department on Amazon and at HMV.
Got a story for us? Email [email protected].
Stay up to date with London’s most exciting events, newest restaurants and latest deals with our What’s On newsletter, Going Out Out. You can sign up HERE .
