Here's why Taylor Swift fans are losing it over You're Losing Me being written in 2021

30 November 2023, 14:37

Taylor Swift thanks fans for making her top of their Spotify Wrapped playlists

By Katie Louise Smith

Why are the Swifties having a meltdown over 'You're Losing Me' being written in 2021? Here's your answer...

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Wondering why all the Swifties are losing it over the revelation that Taylor Swift's latest single 'You're Losing Me' was actually written in December 2021? Here's your explainer.

Taylor Swift released her 10th studio album Midnights in December 2022. She described the album as "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life", and the songs feature some of Taylor's most personal and vulnerable lyrics, ranging from being in love, to break ups, to feelings of insecurity and self-hatred. ('Lavender Haze', for example, is specifically about her and her former boyfriend Joe Alwyn and all the rumours they had to dodge from the media during their six-year relationship.)

Months after releasing the album, Taylor released The Late Night Edition version which included the new song 'You're Losing Me'. The track dropped a few weeks after rumours that Taylor and Joe had broken up and fans immediately assumed the song was written recently, about the end of their relationship.

However, Jack Antonoff has now thrown the timeline into absolute disarray after revealing that Taylor actually wrote the song in December 2021, over one year before their break up in April 2023.

Swifties are losing it over the fact that 'You're Losing Me' was written in 2021. Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Jackson Lee/GC Images)

'You're Losing Me' is a song about a relationship that appears to have run its course, with Taylor wondering whether or not it's worth trying to revive it or end it for good.

Taylor has never confirmed what or who 'You're Losing Me' is about, but based on the lyrics and the specific mentions of marriage (which is also mentioned in 'Lavender Haze'), they've deduced that it's likely about Joe.

Taylor and Joe kept their relationship incredibly private during their six years together. She's given fans glimpses into their romance with songs like 'Lover', 'Gorgeous', 'invisible string' and 'Delicate' over the years, but the specific details of it all have never been divulged by either of them.

When did Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn break up?

Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn make rare public appearance at Golden Globes in January 2020. Picture: Getty

With only snippets and lyrics to go on, fans have formed theories about the timeline of their relationship. And now that Jack has revealed when the song was written, Swifties are speculating over what prompted Taylor to write the deeply personal song, and speculating as to whether she and Joe broke up and got back together prior to the end of their relationship in April 2023.

Of course, we won't know for certain what the song is actually about until Taylor explains it herself. She may never explain the song in detail, but that hasn't stopped fans from reeling over the whole thing.

jack antonoff after posting that you’re losing me was written in 2021 pic.twitter.com/i4TxmEf7KO
— m 🌊 (@taylorswiftliar) November 30, 2023

learning that you’re losing me was written in 2021 has altered my brain chemistry
— ally 🦋✨🎧⸆⸉ (@ally_sheehan) November 29, 2023

“taylor swift wrote you’re losing me in 2021” pic.twitter.com/zX0NzbvF7c
— emma (@emalee731) November 30, 2023

People say that girls emotionally breakup with their boyfriends long before they actually separate and this timeline makes sense to me tbh. You’re losing me is the realization that it’s awful but still with a tiny bit of hope that they would change https://t.co/nz8gDGrPxY
— sonya ⭐️ iso any ticket really (@TisTheDamnPhD) November 29, 2023

So she felt this way for years pic.twitter.com/fd14jwTb2H
— L Y D O N 🦁 (@Shayor19) November 29, 2023

Over on Reddit, one Swiftie asked fans if the revelation has changed their perception of the album as whole.

One fan wrote: "As someone who thought she actually wrote it this spring around the time of the breakup, finding this out is mind-blowing. It doesn't really change the meaning of the song for me but it does make me a little sad to know that Taylor had been feeling this for a while and really wanted it to work and it just didn't."

Another added: "I do think they were together when the album came out, and that’s probably part of why YLM wasn’t on the album."

Others said it confirmed their theories that Midnights is a 'break up album'.

So there you have it. Has Jack's surprise reveal changed your perception of the song or the album?