As the October release of Midnights grows closer, Taylor Swift has been blessing fans with glimpses into select tracks on the album to build anticipation of what’s to come. After unveiling the album’s full tracklist on Oct. 7, Swift dove into the important meaning behind the first track, titled “Lavender Haze.” The title of the song is more than just dreamy imagery; the actual meaning of the song refers to being in love, particularly with her longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn. In speaking about the Midnights opener on Instagram, Swift got real about how her relationship with Alwyn and the “weird rumors” that have surrounded them inspired “Lavender Haze.”
“I happened upon the phrase lavender haze when I was watching Mad Men, and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool,” Swift explained of finding the track’s title. “It turns out that it’s a common phrase used in the ‘50s where they would just describe being in love. Like, if you were in the lavender haze, then that meant you were in that all-encompassing love glow. And I thought that was really beautiful.”
But the song doesn’t only deal with the beautiful side of her and Alwyn’s relationship. Swift went on to share that the song also describes the unwanted public attention that she and Alwyn have tried to ignore over their years together. “We’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff and we just ignore it,” Swift said. “And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
Although most of Swift’s past relationships caused nonstop media frenzy (and perhaps because of this), the singer has been notably low-key and private about her love life with Alwyn. The couple soft-launched in 2016 through a diary entry Swift wrote to accompany her album Lover that read: “I’m essentially based in London, hiding out trying to protect us from the nasty world that just wants to ruin things. We have been together and no one has found out for 3 months now.” Six years later and their relationship is stronger than ever, so much so that Swift has written many love songs about it, including “King of My Heart,” “Gorgeous,” and the clearest shoutout of all, “London Boy.” Now, “Lavender Haze” joins that pantheon of Alwyn-inspired love songs.
If the way Swift gushes about Alwyn isn’t convincing enough, every song written about him only confirms how she’ll love Alwyn forever and always. Swift will release her ninth studio album, Midnights, on Oct. 21.
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