Folklore, which features a collaboration with Bon Iver and sees her reunite with producer Jack Antonoff, also contains a string of songs that have sparked fevered speculation among her passionate fans.
The three that have generated the most interest are tracks about doomed teen romances after Swift told fans in an Q&A: “There’s a collection of 3 songs I refer to as The Teenage Love Triangle.
“These 3 songs explore a love triangle from all 3 people’s perspectives at different times in their lives.”
These appear to be the tracks Cardigan, August and Betty.
y’all the triangle in #folklore is VERY CLEARLY cardigan + august + betty pic.twitter.com/5blY6vejje
Advertisement— wright (@gravitywright) July 24, 2020
Fans have also speculated that track The Last Great American Dynasty is about Rebekah Harkness, the former owner of The Holiday House, Swift’s home on Rhode Island.
🔎 | Various fans and critics have discovered that ‘the last great american dynasty’ is based on the love story between Rebekah Harkness and her husband William who were the previous owners of Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island home.
Rebekah’s nickname was also Betty. pic.twitter.com/IKlQkzakCO— Taylor Swift News 🧣 (@TSwiftNZ) July 24, 2020
Fans have also speculated about the identity of William Bowery, who Swift has said co-wrote two songs on the album but who does not appear to be a registered songwriter or producer.
It has been mooted that Bowery could be a pseudonym for either her brother Austin or her boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
WILLIAM BOWERY theory
on oct 2016, taylor (w her squad) & alwyn were spotted in BOWERY hotel. (smth special mustve happened here, that's why she used d name "BOWERY" i guess?)
WILLIAM alwyn is literally joe alwyns great-grandpa. he was was composer, conductor, and music teacher pic.twitter.com/pDOaBieGgL— a folkWHORE (@taylowkey13) July 23, 2020
🔍 | Fans are speculating who "William Bowery" (co-wrote two songs on "folklore") is, as there are no registered or previously credited songwriters/producers under that name. "William Bowery" is also the only untagged co-write in Taylor's post. pic.twitter.com/CvClhjf3ZL
— Taylor Swift Updates🧣 (@TSwiftinAsia) July 23, 2020
According to fans, Bowery could be a reference to the Bowery Hotel, where the couple reportedly had one of their first dates in 2016, while William could be a nod to Alywn’s great grandfather William Alwyn, who was a musical composer, conductor, and teacher.
Swift famously loves a pseudonym and used the name Nils Sjoberg as an alias on ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris’ hit, This Is What You Came For.
