Taylor Swift is the ultimate troll, subtly dragging her exes with her song lyrics. We’ve taken 20 songs from Taylor’s burn book. These songs range from the early days of high school boyfriends to her untold fling with Cory Monteith to her now long-term relationship with Joe Alwyn. Have you been following along with Taylor’s love life through her six albums? How good are you at decoding Taylor’s secret messages in her lyric booklets? Do you think you can get a perfect 20 out of 20 on the quiz?
For Taylor Swift, it’s always been a “perfect night to dress up like hipsters and make fun of our exes.” Taylor’s 2006 self-titled debut album included songs like “Our Song” and “Picture to Burn”, which established her as an artist capable of writing a good love song and an even better breakup song. Over the next four albums (Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989), Taylor told the stories of her various high-profile relationships. She brutally burned one of Joe Jonas’ new girlfriends. She wrote a few songs about notorious heartbreaker John Mayer, even one that sounded like a song he might write. She spun tales of a fall romance with Jake Gyllenhaal and a whirlwind relationship with One Direction’s Harry Styles, never holding back the most telling and juicy details.
Along the way, Taylor has been generous with clues about the songs, leaving capital letters in her lyrics to let us know who her songs are about and telling fans just enough to figure it out for themselves. Check out any of Taylor’s music videos and you’re bound to find some Easter eggs that will tell you who the song is about.
This is especially true of Taylor’s latest album Reputation, where artistic feuds with Kanye West and Katy Perry were faced head-on. On this album, she also told the story of her relationship with actor Joe Alwyn, who she has been dating since 2016. Taylor’s forthcoming album Lover will be released on August 23rd and is likely to include more lyrics to comb through and decipher. In the meantime, put your Taylor Swift playlist on and see if you can match these 20 songs to exes they are about!
Once you’ve taken the above quiz, make sure to mention your favorite (or most scathing) Taylor Swift lyrics in the comments below!