Fans believe one of Taylor Swift’s most recent breakup tracks could be a response to a Lover song once written about her relationship with ex Joe Alwyn.
After releasing her 2017 “revenge” album, Reputation — where Swift, 34, gave a first glimpse into her love story with Alwyn, 32 — she followed up with 2019’s Lover, a record meant to be a straightforward romance album and the second chapter to the couple’s story.
Fans began to take a deeper look at Lover’s tracklist, however, when many of Swift’s songs — including “Lover,” “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince” and “False God” — landed on her “Denial” playlist ahead of the release of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.
“This is a list of songs about getting so caught up in the idea of something that you have a hard time seeing red flags, possibly resulting in moments of denial and maybe a little bit of delusion,” Swift quipped in a voice note shared via Apple Music earlier this month.
While “I Think He Knows” was not included on Swift’s “Denial” playlist, eagle-eyed Swifties quickly realized that many of the track’s lyrics coincide with a song off her “Depression” playlist: “You’re Losing Me,” a vault track off 2022’s Midnights.
“I Think He Knows” largely reflects a relationship that is so in sync, words don’t need to be said between two partners. “You’re Losing Me,” however, revolves around a romance facing an entire communication breakdown, making the two tracks perfect foils for one another.
“The parallels between I Think He Knows and You’re Losing Me are sending me into orbit,” one fan said via X, while another replied, “I was in the shower and both songs played back to back and I was UNWELL.”
A third person wrote: “I can’t believe she wrote both of these songs about the same man.”
Swift starts the upbeat pop chorus in “I Think He Knows” by proclaiming that her lover has her “heartbeat skipping down 16th Avenue.” She notes that she doesn’t have to tell him how she feels because “he knows.”
In contrast, she claims she can no longer “find a pulse” in “You’re Losing Me” as her “heart won’t start anymore.” She also plays back a tense conversation with her partner where the duo can’t seem to get on the same page. “You say, ‘I don’t understand, and I say, ‘I know you don’t,’” she sings.
Swift also brags about being the apple of her lover’s eye in “I Think He Knows,” exclaiming to the listener, “I think he knows he better lock it down / Or I won’t stick around.” She lets her anxieties get the best of her, however, in “You’re Losing Me,” where she confesses, “I wouldn’t marry me either,” before labeling herself a “pathological people pleaser” who only wanted “you to see her.”
The two bridges — an aspect of songwriting Swift is most famous for — also highlight the dichotomy between the tunes.
“He’s so obsessed with me and boy, I understand,” she croons in “I Think He Knows,” while she pleads just to be seen in “You’re Losing Me.”
“Front lines, don’t you ignore me,” she begs, reminding him, “I’m the best thing at this party.”
While some fans see the tracks as opposites, others feel that even “I Think He Knows” demonstrates doubt in Swift’s romance with Alwyn, as she never phrases any of her seemingly confident phrases as fact, only possibility with the addition of the words “I think.”
“Wow, this actually hurts,” one Swiftie wrote alongside a snapshot of the duel lyrics.
Swift and Alwyn dated for nearly six years before their April 2023 split. Throughout their relationship, the pair opted to keep out of the spotlight, often walking red carpets solo even when attending the same events. Shortly after the breakup, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that Swift’s celebrity status contributed to the twosome calling it quits.
Fans have since recognized that Swift and Alwyn’s romance may have turned rocky long before they officially parted ways, with Swift’s anxieties around her publicized life being too much to handle appearing in songs like “The Archer,” “Peace” and more.
While Swift has never confirmed who her songs are about, fans are sure to get more insight into her and Alwyn’s relationship when The Tortured Poets Department hits shelves on Friday, April 19.
“I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me,” she told concertgoers at a February Eras Tour show in Melbourne, Australia. “It sort of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through life and I’ve never had an album where I’ve needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets.”
