British fans are wondering if Taylor Swift will say ‘So long, London’ after the Eras Tour

LONDON (AP) — Taylor Swift fans enjoy parsing the singer-songwriter’s lyrics for references to her romantic life and insights into her state of mind.

But the pop superstar’s fans in Britain didn’t have to listen closely to her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” to get the sense that Swift was souring on the nation’s capital after long making it a regular hangout and then her second home. The fifth track from the record is titled “So Long, London.”

As Swift brings her blockbuster Eras Tour to London’s Wembley Stadium, some Swifties are wondering if they’re witnessing the start of an extended farewell. She will perform for three nights from Friday and will return to Wembley for six nights in August to conclude the European leg of the tour.

London is the only city on the tour where Swift stops twice. Some fear the arrangement represents a swan song of sorts, while others think it merely reflects a new era in Swift’s relationship with the Big Smoke. Whether “So Long, London” proves to be a final chapter or a bookend to her valentine to the city, the song “London Boy,” Eras arrives as an emotional milestone.

‘Her relationship now more or less assumes that London won’t be where she will be. It’s not like an American football player lives here,” says Maggie Fekete, 22, a Canadian graduate student who credits the London references in Swift’s music as a landmark when she moved to the city three years ago. “I think there will be a lot less London in her music, which is sad.”

For those who haven’t been paying attention, Swift had a string of romances with famous British nationals, starting with Harry Styles in 2012 and ending last year when she started dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. The speculation surrounding “So Long, London” and a sad accompanying song mentioning a London pub, “The Black Dog,” stems from the 2023 breakup of Swift and English actor Joe Alwyn, who were together for more than six years .

Alwyn is believed to be the inspiration for “London Boy,” a song from her 2019 album “Lover.” A special edition “Lover” CD included what appeared to be a diary entry from January 2017 in which Swift shared that he was “basically was based in London’, but tried to keep a low profile. British tabloids later reported that Swift spent much of the COVID-19 pandemic sheltering in place with Alwyn in North London.

The Sun newspaper reported in December that the multiple Grammy winner had bought a large property in the area and was converting it into her base in Europe. However, after Swift released “The Tortured Poets Department” last month, a writer for the British edition of ELLE magazine noted that Londoners had an opening “for an all-American A-lister to take her place in our collective consciousness.”

“We had Swift before we lost her to her record-breaking, box office-busting Eras Tour and now it looks like her vacant position has been filled by Zendaya,” writer Naomi May playfully posited before listing the American actor’s various locations. was spotted with her longtime boyfriend, British actor Tom Holland.

Either way, the capital puts on a show all its own to make sure Swift and her fans feel appreciated. Guides offer walking, bus and taxi tours following in her footsteps, including a kebab shop whose owner says his establishment will deliver sandwiches to the singer and her crew on Friday.

Before the end of August, Swifties can partake in a full diet of Swift-themed brunches and dance parties, or take a ride on the London Eye Ferris wheel, accompanied by a string quartet playing her music. Souvenir stalls at Camden Market, one of the places mentioned in ‘London Boy’, had stocked up on Swift-specific caps, T-shirts, bags and stickers in preparation.

“We are very proud that London is hosting more shows than any other city on Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, a real testament to her love for London,” said Laura Citron, CEO of tourism agency London & Partners.

Fans began queuing outside Wembley on Thursday in the hope of being among the first ticket holders to secure a spot in the standing sections close to the stage. That morning, a pop-up merchandise shop opened in a parking lot near the stadium.

Zachary Hourihane, co-host of a Swift podcast called “Evolution of a Snake” and who posts YouTube and TikTok videos under the name Swiftologist, said it’s too early to know whether the singer will keep her honorary citizenship or will say goodbye to London. fans know it all too well, only time will tell with Taylor.

Hourihane notes that Swift began spending more time in London after a difficult year that saw her go from winning album of the year at the 2016 Grammy Awards for “1989” to seeing her popularity plummet amid a public feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. From his study of her life in England, he thinks the happy memories she created there are mixed with “a sense of isolation.”

“There’s a lot of nostalgia that may have turned into regret,” Hourihane said. “She felt like she was stuck there for a while.”

Fast forward a few boyfriends, ten albums (including the Taylor’s Version re-recordings) and the Eras Tour juggernaut, and it’s not surprising that her life is in need of reappraisal. Hourihane suspects that Swift is “not quite ready to give up on London” for both practical and artistic reasons.

“Taylor is someone who retraces her steps a lot. It’s never really over with her. She likes to revisit things that have ended,” he said. “Let’s be realistic about it. Her relationship, even if it is ‘so long, goodbye’, she has a good reason to be in London and make good money there.

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