Taylor Swift's most savage lyrics about famous exes as new album spills truth on Travis

"I like writing songs about douche-bags who cheat on me," Taylor Swift sang in her SNL opening monologue in 2009. That's definitely true. A lot of the singer's discography is about someone who broke her heart and over the years, fans have been able to piece together what went wrong in her relationships from her lyrics alone.

Taylor will release her next album The Life of a Showgirl tomorrow (3 October). The album is an exploration of her life behind the scenes, including her romance with NFL star and fiance Travis Kelce.

Ahead of the loved-up album, here are Taylor's most revealing lyrics about her famous exes...

"I'll get older but your lovers stay my age"

Song: All Too Well (10 minute version) (Red)

Ex: Jake Gyllenhaal

All Too Well is perhaps one of Taylor's most famous 'My ex was awful' songs. The 2012 track, and its 10-minute 2021 version, recaps the singer's 3 month relationship with actor Jake, particularly how he missed her birthday - "He watched me watch the front door all night long, willing you to come/And he said, "It's supposed to be fun turning 21" - and their age gap.

Jake was 29 when he started dating Taylor, 20. Since they broke up, he dated Alyssa Miller, who was the same age as Taylor, and model Jeanne Cadieu, who is only 29 now, while Jake is 44.

Taylor took a swipe at Jake when she released the longer version of her song by singing "I'll never get older, but your lovers stay my age" and also suggested their age-gap was the reason he dumped her by text: "You said if we had been closer in age, maybe it would have been fine."

"It wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden"

Song: The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived (The Tortured Poets Department)

Ex: Matty Healy

When The Tortured Poets Department came out, everyone thought it would be about Joe Alwyn, partly because he was in a group chat with Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott called The Tortured Man Club, but also because their years-long relationship had recently come to an end. But, most songs seemed to be about the 1975's Matty Healy, who had a two-week fling with Taylor.

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived was one such song, which made references to Matty. The title highlighted his issues with being smaller than the rest of the 1975 (he told The Fader: "Everyone in [the 1975] is 6’4” and I’m 5’10", so everyone thinks I'm 5'5"”), while some lyrics focused on his addictions - "You tried to buy some pills".

The lyric that revealed the most about their relationship came in the bridge, where Taylor sand "It wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden" which seemed to suggest the reason Matty broke up with her was because he lost interest once their relationship became public.

"Holding tight to your quiet resentment "

Song: So Long, London (The Tortured Poets Department)

Ex: Joe Alwyn

There were a few TTPD songs that looked at Taylor's break-up with British actor Joe. One in particular is So Long, London, which is like a heartbreaking sister song to Taylor's earlier song London Boy.

In London Boy, which appeared on Lover, the singer belts about how she "loves a London boy". But by 2024, when her relationship with London Boy Joe came to an end, she penned a goodbye to him and the city.

So Long, London is mostly a song about giving up on a relationship the other person is no longer fighting for either - "Every breath feels like rarest air/When you're not sure if he wants to be there". By the end of the song, Taylor had painted a picture of Joe as someone "Holding tight to your quiet resentment" and pulling away from Taylor long before she ended things.

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"I wouldn't marry me either"

Song: You're Losing Me (Midnights)

Ex: Joe Alwyn

Midnights was the album to contain break-up songs about Joe Alwyn, though the end of the relationship wasn't confirmed when it was first released.

You're Losing Me was the song that convinced everyone a break-up was imminent. The title was literally a plea to Joe, telling him Taylor was close to leaving. The lyrics gave more of an insight as Taylor seemed to lament the fact that they'd been together for years and Joe had still not asked her to marry him.

According to her lyrics, "And I wouldn't marry me either/ A pathological people pleaser/ Who only wanted you to see her", Taylor implied that Joe's reluctance to get hitched was destroying her self-confidence.

"Give me back my girlhood/It was mine first"

Song: Would've Could've Should've (Midnights)

Ex: John Mayer

This song was so damning about John Mayer, Taylor had to tell fans not to hate him. In the song, a now grown-up Taylor looks back on the relationship she had at 19 and seems to struggle to understand how someone who was 32 at the time could date someone so young and asked: "If I was a child, did it matter/If you got to wash your hands?"

She describes how she would've done anything he asked of her, but now that she's "grown" her "memories feel like weapons". In the bridge, she pleads with John to "give [her] back her girlhood" and implies her coming of age was ruined by the relationship.

"Don't you think 19 is too young?"

Song: Dear John (Speak Now)

Ex: John Mayer

Another song about John, but this one was written a lot closer to when they broke up. Appearing on Taylor's third album, she wrote a song called Dear John, referencing both the country singer she dated and the informal use of the term, which means refers to a letter that ends a relationship.

In it, she says she can "see it all now, it was wrong" and rhetorically asks him if he thinks 19 is "too young" to date. She also says she "lived in your chess game", painting a picture of John as manipulative.

"You search in every maiden's bed for something greater"

Song: Is It Over Now? (1989)

Ex: Harry Styles

After Taylor Swift and Harry Styles broke up, a source close to the singer told Vanity Fair it ended because Harry would "disappear", get close to other women and that the two were like a "pendulum" swinging to and from each other. At the time, Taylor's rep denied the claims but years later, she released Is It Over Now? which seemed to confirm cheating allegations... on both sides.

In the song widely believed to be about Harry, Taylor asked over and over again if a relationship was over, and said the person she was singing about was constantly looking for something "greater" than her. She also asked if the relationship was over when "he unbuttoned by blouse" implying Harry wasn't the only one to stray from the relationship.

"He's so smug, Mr 'Always wins'"

Song: Mr Perfectly-Fine (Fearless)

Ex: Joe Jonas

Mr Perfectly-Fine had a lot of names to call Joe Jonas - Mr Casually Cruel, Mr Everything Revolves Around You, Mr Look Me In The Eye And Told Me You Would Never Go Away.

Fans have long thought the break-up between Taylor and Disney star Joe was difficult for her, especially since it was rumoured that Joe dumped her in a 25-second phone call. Rumours about cheating started circulating after Joe was seen with model Camilla Belle and Taylor wrote a song called Better Than Revenge which seemed to be a dig at the model.

"I miss your tan skin, your sweet smile/So good to me, so right"

Song: Back To December (Speak Now)

Ex: Taylor Lautner

Taylor Lautner holds a special place in Swifties' hearts as basically the only one of Taylor's exes to get an apology break-up song. The singer wrote Back To December as a sorry for treating the Twilight actor badly.

Both Taylors remain good friends, with the actor appearing in the music video for the singer's later song I Can See You. Taylor S. is even said to be friends with his wife - also called Taylor.

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