Taylor Swift’s ‘So Long, London’ Lyrics Reveals She Was ‘Mad As Hell’ During Her Relationship With Joe Alwyn

Taylor Swift “So Long London” lyrics

It’s highly speculated that Taylor Swift’s “So Long London” is about her relationship with Joe Alwyn. Until recently, it was her most serious relationship as they dated for 6 years and broke up in 2023. The song can be seen as an anti-thesis to Lover’s “London Boy” as she’s bidding farewell to the country that brought her a lot of love.

She sings in the Lover track, “You know I love a London boy / I enjoy walking Camden Market in the afternoon / He likes my American smile / Like a child when our eyes meet, darling, I fancy you.” Meanwhile, she sings in a chorus, “For so long, London / Stitches undone / Two graves, one gun/ I’ll find someone.”

“I was falling in love with someone who had a wonderfully normal, balanced life,” Swift said in her 2020 documentary, Miss Americana. “We decided together we wanted our relationship to be private. I was happy. But I wasn’t happy in the way I was trained to be happy. It was happiness without anyone else’s input. We were just happy.”

Verse 1

I saw in my mind ferry lights through the mist
I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift
Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away
My spine split from carrying us up the hill
Wet through my clothes, weary bones caught the chill
I stopped trying to make him laugh, stopped trying to drill the safe

• The first verse is teeming with the imagery of a lover distancing themselves from the relationship. However, as much as the other person tries to reel them back to their love they’re slowly deteriorating themselves. “Carrying us up the hill” could also refer to fellow British singer Kate Bush’s song “Running Up That Hill.”

Chorus

Thinking how much sad did you think I had, did you think I had in me?
Oh the tragedy.
So long London.
You’ll find someone.

• With the tortured poets motif, she relates the ending of her relationship to a tragedy and finally lets go of her relationship.

Verse 2

I didn’t opt in to be your odd man out
I founded the club she’s heard great things about
I left all I knew you left me at the house by the Heath
I stopped CPR, after all it’s no use
The spirit was gone, we would never come to
And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free

• This could refer to the loneliness that Taylor felt in her relationship with Joe Alwyn as she constantly visited and moved to the UK for the sake of being together.

Chorus 2

For so long, London
Stitches undone
Two graves, one gun
I’ll find someone

• A quote that’s attributed to Confucius is as follows “He who seeks revenge digs two graves.” It could be a cheeky reference to Reputation, but she’s finally putting the idea of settling down in London to rest.

Verse 3

And you say I abandoned the ship, but I was going down with it
My white knuckle dying grip holding tight to your quiet resentment
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

• Taylor outlines her struggles when she was in the relationship and how she hid a lot of her feelings to keep it intact.

Bridge

So how much sad did you think I had, did you think I had in me?
How much tragedy?
Just how low did you think I’d go ‘fore I’d self implode?
‘Fore I’d have to go be free?

• Taylor confronts these feelings and asks her former lover about how much she had to go through in order to keep their relationship safe.

Verse 4

You swore that you loved, me but where were the clues?
I died on the altar waiting for the proof
You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days
And I’m just getting color back into my face
I’m just mad as hell cause I loved this place for

• Taylor laments about why she had to suffer in a relationship where she didn’t feel loved.

Chorus 3

So long, London
Had a good run
A moment of warm sun
But I’m not the one
So long, London
Stitches undone
Two graves, one gun
You’ll find someone