How Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott And Joe Alwyn May Have Inspired Taylor Swift's 'TTPD'

taylor swift and her former boyfriend joe alwyn in london
Is This The Inspiration Behind Taylor's 'TTPD'?GOR - Getty Images

Taylor Swift's latest album The Tortured Poet's Department just dropped today (April 19) and we're already decoding what and who each song may be about (read more here). But, as unlikely as it may seem, we have good reason to think that some of our favourite British actors may be the masterminds behind the title name of the singer's album.

In an interview with Variety back in December 2022, Mescal and Alwyn - Swift's ex - revealed that Scott started a WhatsApp group chat between the three of them and named it the 'Tortured Man Club,' as they has all starred in adaptations of Sally Rooney's books. Mescal in Normal People (2020) Alwyn in Conversations With Friends (2022) and Scott in Normal People Confessions (2020.)

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Although we can't clarify whether or not they actually discuss anything Swift related in the group chat (we doubt it), Mescal disclosed that Scott would talk in it everyday. 'He's just on it by himself,' the actor joked, to which Alwyn commented, 'just messaging himself good mornings'.

It's also believed that some of Swift's songs in her 11th studio album may be dedicated to the singer's six-year relationship with Alwyn, which ended in April 2023. And, as you may know, the singer has always been known to drop one to two 'easter eggs' in her music, and it's no different this time around.

Starting off with track number five, which is called 'So Long London,' which shares many similarities to Midnight's 'You're Losing Me' which seemingly explores the end of a relationship with a former lover from London (ahem, Alwyn?).

taylor swift performing on stage
DAVID GRAY - Getty Images

In verse three, Swift sings 'And my friends said it isn't right to be scared / Every day-old love affair, every breath feels like rarest air when you're not sure if he wants to be there.' The lyrics appear to highlight the anxiety she felt when she was with Alwyn, and her short-lived relationship with Matt Healy in May 2023.

Elsewhere, Swift continues to seemingly state her uncertainty for Alwyn's love for her with 'You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? / I died on the altar waiting for the proof,' and notes that the individual's sadness (the colour blue is often used to represent this in her music) got in the way.

In one the album's saddest songs 'LOML', Swift seems to share how a former partner called her the love of his life, which appears to be a mutual feeling, as she ends the song by calling him the 'loss of her life.'


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