Last night, Lavender Haze singer Taylor Swift released a brand-new song, and now it’s time to examine every word.

The song in question, The Alcott, was actually written in collaboration with The National, and it is performed by Swift as a duet with Matt Berninger.

Since the release of the duet follows Swift’s breakup with her longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn, fans are now speculating about the lyrics that, unsurprisingly, left Swifties inconsolable.

Taylor Swift

Breaking Into The Alcott Lyrics

The Alcott, the band’s ninth album, was released on Friday, April 28. The song, which was co-written by the Anti-hero composer and Matt Berninger, presents an image of two ex-lovers ruminating on the breakdown of a relationship in a manner reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s Coney Island.

Matt Berninger starts the song by singing,

“I get myself twisted in threads to meet you at The Alcott / I’d go to the corner in the back where you’d always be / And there you are, sittin’ as usual with your golden notebook / Writing something about someone who used to be me”.

Taylor Swift

Swift joins in on the chorus,

“And the last thing you wanted is the first thing I do / I tell you my problems, you tell me the truth / It’s the last thing you wanted, it’s the first thing I do / I tell you that I think I’m falling back in love with you.”

Swift goes on,

“Tell me, which side are you on, dear? / Give me some tips to forget you. / Have I become one of your problems? / Could it be easy this once?”

Berninger said in a press release that the song is a “contained moment and narrative between two people” meeting at a place where they “used to hang out.” He also made it clear that Tay “wrote all her stuff as a response to me and very much from the perspective of my wife, who I was writing about.”

Swift has been a longtime fan of the rock band, which consists of Berninger and brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, as well as brothers Scott Devendorf and Bryan Devendorf.

5 Taylor Swift Songs That Tell Us About Her Days With Joe Alwyn

Six years of Taylor Swift’s relationship with Joe Alwyn coincided with some of her most fruitful years as a songwriter. Swift’s music does contain some hints about their love story.

She has written a number of songs about the English actor since the 2017 release of her album, Reputation, ranging from flirty pop songs to love ballads (she has also made references to Joe Alwyn in the music video Easter Eggs). Let’s take a look back at five songs Swift wrote about Alwyn.

Taylor Swift

…Ready for It? : Here, Swift seems to describe the start of her romance with Alwyn, noting how they initially took things gently because she wanted their union to last.

Lover: Swift speaks on finding her person in the title track of her 2019 album Lover after experiencing several heartbreaks. She previously said of the bridge during NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert Series,

“There’s a line in the song that I’m really proud of, and the line says, ‘With every guitar string scar in my hand, I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover,’ and that line is really special to me because I’ve spent quite a bit of time writing break-up songs.”

I Think He Knows: In the song I Think He Knows, Swift sings about her boyfriend being aware of her growing feelings for him. She appears to sing about Alwyn, saying, “He got that boyish look that I like in a man,” later referring to his “lyrical smile” and “indigo eyes.”

London Boy: Swift sings about the chuckle, dimples, and accent of her British admirer while jokingly declaring, “You know I love a London boy.” There is a significant amount of Taylor Swift just raving about British things she enjoys in addition to the titular lad, despite the title that looks fully Joe Alwyn-focused.

Lavender Haze: This is Taylor’s official dedication to her and Alwyn’s “love bubble,” which she and Alwyn believe is important because it protects their relationship from outside influences. Swift said, “We’ve had to avoid weird rumors and tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it.” The process of disregarding that crap in order to preserve the genuineness of the relationship is the subject of this song.

Why Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn Broke Up After Six Years

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn reportedly split up in April 2023 after six years together and innumerable fan predictions about a potential engagement. In 2016, the Lover singer and the Catherine Called Birdy actor started dating after meeting at the Met Gala. They made a point of keeping their romance private. A source close to the ex-couple said,

“It was not dramatic. The relationship had just run its course. It’s why [Alwyn] hasn’t been spotted at any shows.”

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn

Sources revealed that Taylor Swift was allegedly the one who initiated the end of the relationship. “Taylor and Joe are in totally different places in their lives right now,” the source told ET.

“It was more of Taylor’s decision to break up, but both of them realized that they weren’t completely right for one another. They had been together for such a long time and were spending so much time together, but their personalities were just too different. Joe is more introverted, shy, and quiet.”

“They are friendly. She doesn’t have anything bad to say about Joe,” adds the insider. “They just grew apart. Taylor is staying very focused on her tour right now.”

Anyway, time to plug into The Alcott.