Taylor Swift didn’t just find inspiration from Joe Alwyn during their relationship, they also collaborated on some of her songs.
Alwyn was credited as a songwriter on several of Swift’s tracks throughout their relationship. He wrote under the pen name William Bowery, which Swift confirmed herself in her November 2020 documentary, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about William Bowery and his identity because it’s not a real person,” Swift said at the time. “So, William Bowery is Joe, as we know.”
Alwyn earned a Grammy in 2021 after Swift took home the award for Album of the Year for Folklore. In her acceptance speech, Swift gave her then-boyfriend a shoutout.
“Joe is the first person that I play every single song that I write, and I had the best time writing songs with you in quarantine,” she said during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Two years later, Alwyn shared that he didn’t see writing more songs with Swift in his future.
“It’s not a plan of mine, no,” the actor told Elle magazine in April 2022, when asked if he has any interest in continuing to song write alongside his then-girlfriend. (Alwyn did however, continue to write with Swift, as he is credited on “Sweet Nothing” from her 2022 album Midnights.)
One year later, Swift and Alwyn called it quits after six years of dating. While Swift and Alwyn have moved on from their romance and partnership, Alwyn still gets paid for his contributions. Multiple outlets reported that the actor will make “a five-figure sum every year” due to his involvement in the songs.
Keep scrolling to see which songs Alwyn penned under the name Willam Bowery:
‘Exile’
During a May 2022 interview with Vulture, Alwyn shared that he was “messing around” on the piano with a melody that would become Swift’s duet with Bon Iver.
“It was completely off the cuff, an accident,” he said at the time. “[Taylor] said, ‘Can we try and sit down and get to the end together?’ And so we did. It was as basic as some people made sourdough.”
‘Betty’
In addition to writing “Betty,” Alwyn is also credited as a coproducer of the track. He admitted that the song came about thanks to the encouragement of Swift.
“I’d probably had a drink and was just stumbling around the house,” Alwyn recalled. “We couldn’t decide on a film to watch that night, and she was like, ‘Do you want to try and finish writing that song you were singing earlier?’ And so we got a guitar and did that.”
‘Champagne Problems’
Alwyn is listed as a cowriter on the ballad that Swift tells the story of “longtime college sweethearts” who “had very different plans for the same night, one to end it and one who brought a ring,” per her Evermore note page.
‘Coney Island’
In addition to Alwyn and Swift, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, who make up The National are also credited as songwriters on the duet.
‘Evermore’
Alwyn contributed to the second duet Swift sings with Bon Iver.
‘Sweet Nothing’
The Midnights track is the last song Alwyn helped write before his breakup with Swift.
