what happened to...taylor swift & joe alwyn

03/25/2023

If you’ve read the Stand in recent months, you’ll know that I am a Swiftie, defined on Urban Dictionary as “someone who fangirls over anything and everything Taylor Swift,” but I would say I differ from that definition and am not as diehard in that I don’t care to follow Swift’s personal life or relationships.

I prefer to stick to the songs, masterpieces in their own right, while some fans believe following Swift’s life is the real crown jewel of being a Swiftie. Until recently — when news outlets reported that Swift had broken up with Boyfriend Joe Alwyn after six years of dating, which left Swifties in a state of disbelief and surprised at what many thought would be a lifelong partnership.

I didn’t come across the news intentionally, it was rather by accident when I came across an article that detailed how many of Swift’s friends, including Ryan Reynolds, unfollowed Alwyn on Twitter. An unknown name to a relatively new fan, I shrugged off the news as a case of some bad blood between some random person who may have slighted Taylor in some slanderous online post or reaction to a song. However, in coming across Cornelia Street, one of Swift’s biggest hits off of her 2016 album, Lover, I learned of the devastating news that would shock and leave many Swifties in surprise.

You may already know that I was recently big into Swift's newest album Midnights, and honestly, I had never really dived into some of her older albums except for the occasion to listen to You Belong with Me, Getaway Car or Style. Lover had never really piqued my interest or been an album I was too familiar with except when hearing The Man or You Need to Calm Down be overplayed on mainstream radio at the album’s release in 2016. However, I came across Cornelia Street and All of the Girls You Loved Before, a new release in 2023 as part of More to Love, a really good marketing push by Swift to get more streams on Album and more recognition of these new songs which had been left on the original album. Cornelia Street, on the other hand, had been one of the top tracks of the Lover album according to Redditors, and it quickly became one of my favourites, especially the Live In Paris edition, which many fans say is one of her best sounding live performances to date.

After scrolling through the comments section and scanning most of the “We love you,” and “This is better than the studio version,” comments, I noticed some newer comments from as recent as two weeks which went something like...

“We can all agree that this hits differently now 😞💔”

“I don't wanna lose you. I don't wanna lose you Hits different now 🥺”

And finally,

“When I heard the news about their break up, this song came to my mind. And it was never the same again.”

Chris I’s comments left me wondering, what break up? Why did this song come to your mind? And why would it never sound the same again? It wouldn’t take long before I came across the news that Swift and Alwyn’s relationship had come to an end and a very special meaning of the song named after Swift’s former New York home rented while her condo was undergoing extensive renovations. Many Swifities believe that Cornelia Street chronicled the Early Days of their relationship in 2016 and 2017 which many fans believed would not have ended the way it did, so suddenly, and unpredictably.

Swift and Alwyn had first got together in May of 2017 following her September 2016 split from Tom Hiddleston, well known for playing Loki on the big screen and on Disney Plus, and the two even double dated with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. That’s enough pop culture tabloid gossip for me, if you’d like a timeline of their relationship, click here for an informative piece from People Magazine.

With the breakup recently announced, many fans have flocked to the property on Cornelia Street to pay their dues, place bouquets of flowers on the doorstep and take a photo in front of the famous mahogany door. Crowds of Swifties and local journalists flocked to the property in small bunches with some even threatening to tear down the street sign.

According to Twitter Account Chart Data, Cornelia Street doubled in streams on the Monday after the breakup was announced and reached a total of 459,000 songs, its most since the album’s release in 2019.

Now when I scroll through the comments and see some distraught Swiftie’s voicing their pain, I will know why this song holds a special meaning in their hearts. I’m too new of a fan to gain new insights into the song, but I do understand how many see the song in a new light after this breakup, especially with the poignant lyrics at the end and the cry to “never want to lose,” Alwyn and his love.

Here’s Cornelia Street Live From Paris, a tantalizing hit which most fans say is one of her best ever. Enjoy.

WRITTEN BY: JON ROSENHEK