Taylor Swift reflects on being ‘lonely’ during quarantine with ex Joe Alwyn and ‘drinking my weight in white wine’ amid her Eras Tour stop in Melbourne

 

Taylor Swift got candid about feeling ‘lonely’ when writing songs for her Folklore album during quarantine with her ex, Joe Alwyn, amid her Eras Tour stop in Melbourne on Saturday.

The Grammy winner, 34 – who recently sang the breakup song You’re Losing Me for the first time ever – was preparing to perform Betty from the 2020 album when she opened up about the process of penning tracks for the LP.

In a now-viral clip shared to X, formerly known as Twitter, the star could be seen standing on stage in front of a microphone while holding a guitar.

‘[I was] imagining that, instead of being a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair drinking my weight in white wine, I was a ghostly Victorian lady wandering through the woods with a candle in a candlestick holder,’ she addressed the crowd.

She added, ‘And I wrote only on parchment with a feathered quill. And that was in my mind, what I thought I looked like…while writing Folklore.’

Taylor Swift, 34, got candid about feeling ‘lonely’ when writing songs for her Folklore album during quarantine with her ex, Joe Alwyn , amid her Eras Tour stop in Melbourne on Saturday; seen on Friday in Melbourne

 

‘So that’s all that matters, the delusion,’ Swift concluded while beginning to strum a few notes on the guitar strings.

Folklore dropped in July 2020 – and later won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2021.

Her ex, Joe Alwyn, was also one of the producers on the LP, and notably helped co-write the tracks Betty and Exile. However, the actor was notably credited under the pseudonym of William Bowery.

She previously opened up about putting the album together during quarantine while talking to Entertainment Weekly back in 2020.

‘I wasn’t expecting to make an album. Early on in quarantine, I started watching lots of films. We would watch a different movie every night.’

‘I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t seen Pan’s Labyrinth before. One night I’d watch that, then I’d watch L.A. Confidential, then we’d watch Rear Window, then we’d watch Jane Eyre.’

‘I feel like consuming other people’s art and storytelling sort of opened this portal in my imagination and made me feel like, “Well, why have I never done this before?”‘

‘”Why have I never created characters and intersecting storylines? And why haven’t I ever sort of freed myself up to do that from a narrative standpoint?”‘ Taylor added to the outlet.

‘[I was] imagining that, instead of being a lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair drinking my weight in white wine, I was a ghostly Victorian lady wandering through the woods with a candle in a candlestick holder,’ she addressed the crowd; seen on Friday in Melbourne

She added, ‘And I wrote only on parchment with a feathered quill. And that was in my mind, what I thought I looked like…while writing Folklore’; former couple seen in 2019 in NYC

Taylor Swift sings ‘You’re Losing Me’ for the first time ever

And while appearing on The Zane Lowe Show for Apple Music, Swift further talked about how collaborating with Alwyn came about when they quarantined together in London.

‘He’s always just playing instruments and he doesn’t do it in a strategic “I’m writing a song right now” thing,’ the Bad Blood hitmaker explained.

‘He’s always done that. But do I think we would have taken the step of, “Hey, let’s see if there’s a song in here. Let’s write a song together.” If we hadn’t been in lockdown, I don’t think that would have happened, but I’m so glad that it did.’

Taylor later added, ‘Joe and I really love sad songs. We’ve always bonded over music…We write the saddest. We just really love sad songs. What can I say?’

Last year in April, it was confirmed that Swift and Alwyn had officially gone their separate ways after dating for six years. The songstress has since moved on with Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce.

While attending the Grammy Awards earlier this month, she notably won the awards for both Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for Midnights.

While accepting her first award of the night for Pop Vocal Album, the star notably announced that she would be dropping her next album titled: The Tortured Poets Department.

After the surprise revelation, fans were quickly convinced that the title of the album was in reference to her ex, Joe Alwyn.

Her ex, Joe Alwyn, was also one of the producers on the LP, and notably helped co-write the tracks Betty and Exile. However, the actor was notably credited under the pseudonym of William Bowery; seen earlier this month in London

While accepting her first award of the night for Pop Vocal Album, the star notably announced that she would be dropping her next album titled: The Tortured Poets Department; seen earlier this month at the Grammy Awards in L.A.

Back in 2022, the actor explained that he was part of a WhatsApp group chat with close pals Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott called The Tortured Man Club.

Following the album announcement, a source told DailyMail.com that Alwyn feels it would be ‘shady’ if Taylor dissed him in The Tortured Poets Department.

Also during her latest Melbourne stop, Swift debuted a song from her Midnights album on Friday night.

The star – who recently announced a bonus track for her upcoming album – delivered a performance of You’re Losing Me – an emotional ballad from the Late Night Edition of Midnights for the first time.

Taylor sat at the piano dressed in a flowing yellow dress as she announced to the audience, ‘I’ve never played this song live before. It’s one of my favorites.’

The star – who recently announced a bonus track for her upcoming album – delivered a performance of You’re Losing Me – an emotional ballad from the Late Night Edition of Midnights for the first time; seen on Friday in Melbourne

Following her split from Alwyn last year in April, Swift has since moved on with Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce; couple seen earlier this month at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas

Travis Kelce turns to Taylor Swift during after party celebrations

The song came out in May 2023 and features a narrator singing about realizing a relationship is unhealthy and their attempts to save it, which many fans have theorized was inspired by the end of Swift’s relationship with the Joe Alwyn.

The pop star also broke out the title track of Red, which she hadn’t performed since last year.

Though fans have speculated that Joe Alwyn may have inspired You’re Losing Me, Taylor penned the tune one year before their relationship came to an end.

Swift is slated to perform in Melbourne through February 18 with her next stop taking place in Sydney beginning on February 23.