Taylor Swift Reveals How She Started Writing Music With BF Joe Alwyn & Admits They Both ‘Love Sad Songs’

Joe Alwyn has become an important songwriting collaborator for Taylor Swift, and she says that they’ve always had a special bond because of their similar musical taste.

Taylor Swift has written some of her saddest songs with her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. In a new interview with Apple Music, Taylor opened up about working with Joe and why they were able to collaborate in this unexpected way on her latest albums, Folklore and Evermore. “I say it was a surprise that we started writing together, but in a way, it wasn’t,” Taylor admitted. “Because we always bonded over music and had the same musical tastes.”

She also added, “He’s always the person showing me songs by artists and then they become my favorite songs.” Interview host, Zane Lowe, couldn’t help but point out the irony of the fact that Taylor and Joe wrote sad songs like “Champagne Problems”, “Exile” and “Evermore” together….despite being SO in love themselves. “Joe and I really love sad songs!” Taylor exclaimed. “We’ve always bonded over music. We just really like sad songs, what can I say?”

Joe’s songwriting credit on Taylor’s albums is under the name ‘William Bowery.’ When the pseudonym showed up on Folklore — Joe helped pen “Exile” and “Betty” on that album — it didn’t take long for fans to figure out who the mystery writer was. Taylor then confirmed the speculation during her Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions movie on Disney+ in November. She released Evermore on Dec. 11, and WB had three more songwriting credits, “Evermore,” “Champagne Problems” and “Coney Island.”

“He’s always just playing instruments,” Taylor explained. “He doesn’t do it in a strategic, ‘I’m writing a song right now,’ thing. He’s always done that. But do I think we would’ve taken the step of, ‘Hey, let’s see if there’s a song in here, let’s write a song together’ if we hadn’t been in lockdown? I don’t think that would’ve happened. And I’m so glad that it did.”

Taylor and Joe began secretly dating in the fall of 2016 after her split from Tom Hiddleston. The relationship began after a tough year for Taylor, which also involved a breakup from Calvin Harris and a very public feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. She made a point to escape from the spotlight and focus on developing a private relationship with the British actor.

It wasn’t until May 2017 that news of Taylor and Joe’s relationship went public, but they’ve still remained a very private and low-key couple in the years since. However, as always, Taylor’s music speaks for itself. Her 2017 and 2019 albums, Reputation and Lover, were heavily inspired by Joe. While Folklore and Evermore are more rooted in fantasy and fiction, there are also some Joe-inspired tracks, like “Invisible String,” “Peace” and “Long Story Short,” on those records, as well.