Taylor Swift clears up confusion over London Boy lyrics

The singer's fans were baffled after she sang about her travels through the capital
US-ENTERTAINMENT-MUSIC-SWIFT
1/72
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Taylor Swift has addressed the response to her new track London Boy, after some listeners poked fun at her lyrics about the British capital.

The musician, 29, sings about falling in love with a London resident in the song, which appears on her new album Lover, and describes travelling to different locations around the city, from Camden Market to Brixton to Hackney.

The lyrics provoked some hilarious responses on social media as listeners noted how incongruous it was to hear Swift singing about "uni" and "best mates."

Swift told BBC Radio 1: "This is supposed to happen over the space of three years. Somebody told me, 'They think you're talking about one day', and I was like, 'Oh no, you'd never make it.’

Confused: Fans had been baffled by the route mentioned in Swift's lyrics
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for dcp

"You wouldn't make it. You'd make it in three years!"

The singer wrote the song about her boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn, who she has been in a relationship with for around three years.

In the interview with Radio 1’s Clara Amfo, Swift shut down fan speculation that one line was inspired by former TOWIE star Gemma Collins.

Proud: Swift said she thought of the song in the middle of the night
Getty Images

She sings the lyric “Babe, don’t threaten me with a good time” in the track, which some listeners saw as a tribute to self-styled reality diva Collins, who often uses the term “babe.”

"No, it's just something my British friends say all the time, and they say it exactly like that, so forgive the impression,” the singer explained.

She said she wrote the track “in the middle of the night" when she "just couldn't sleep,” telling Amfo: “I had an idea, it ended up being one I was really proud of later."

Taylor Swift New Single - Lover

1/24

Addressing her decision to break her silence on politics in November 2018, when she backed two Democratic candidates in the US mid-term elections, she told Amfo that she “wasn’t worried” about experiencing a “backlash” from fans.

"I think at a certain point, it's about right and wrong, and I think this is the most imperative time in our political history, in America,” she said.

"You really can't care at a certain point, if you're going to be honest about what you think and how you feel and what you believe in.

"You have to put it out there and just log off."

Swift performed London Boy along with five other tracks during her Radio 1 Live Lounge set.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT