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Taylor Swift doesn’t want to be put in a box.
On Friday, the singer released her new album Midnights, and right off the top she uses the music to address questions about her relationship with Joe Alwyn.
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Swift has fielded rumours about a possible engagement to her boyfriend for years, and in the opening track, “Lavender Haze”, she addresses the issue directly.
“I’m damned if I do give a damn what people say/ the 1950s s**t they want from me/ I just wanna stay in that lavender haze,” she sings. “All they keep asking me is if I’m gonna be your bride/ the only kinda girl they see is a one night or a wife.”
And in case there was any doubt that Swift is referring to her actual life in the song, earlier this month she revealed on Instagram that the song was inspired by her relationship.
“We’ve had to dodge weird rumours, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it,” she said in the video teasing the track. “And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
She also revealed that she came up with the title “Lavender Haze” after hearing it used on the TV show “Mad Men”.
“I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool,” Swift said. “And it turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ’50s, where they would just describe being in love.”
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Along with references to her relationship, Taylor Swift also teamed up with Alwyn to co-write the song “Sweet Nothing”, credited to his pen name William Bowery.
“They said the end is coming/ Everyone’s up to something/ I find myself running home to your sweet nothings,” she sings.
Alwyn also co-wrote songs featured on Swift’s previous two albums, Folklore and Evermore.
Swift is believed to have met and started dating Alwyn around October 2016. They have since kept their relationship largely out of the public eye. The singer finally confirmed they were dating in October 2017.