Is The Black Dog A Real Place? Taylor Swift Says Nobody Knows The Truth

The meeting of The Tortured Poets Department may be over now that Taylor Swift has entered her The Life of a Showgirl era, but the singer recently revealed that fans still don’t know the true meaning of one song in particular. During an interview with BBC Radio 2 on Oct. 6, Swift shared that nobody has figured out “The Black Dog.”

At first, Swifties had speculated that the TTPD bonus track was about one of the five stages of grief (depression). After hearing the song in 2024, though, fans quickly assumed Swift was referencing a specific pub in London named The Black Dog.

The Tortured Poets Department had long been rumored to be about Swift’s relationship with ex Joe Alwyn, whom she broke up with in 2023. Songs like “So Long, London” seem to reference the British actor who inspired Lover tracks like “London Boy,” and Swift has mentioned various UK locations in her music since they started dating in 2017. The Black Dog bar seemed to be another one of those spots in England, and many fans have since flocked to the watering hole to check it out.

And still nobody knows like what I'm even talking about on that song.

However, Swift’s 2025 confession has fans thinking they got it all wrong. “And still nobody knows like what I'm even talking about on that song,” Swift admitted to host Scott Mills. “They think they know, they have no idea.” It could be just a metaphor, a fictional place, or a bar named The Black Dog in Hungary, where Alwyn was filming The Brutalist during their breakup.

Either way, here’s a breakdown of how Swifties came to the conclusion that The Black Dog Pub in London was the actual location from the Tortured Poets bonus track.

The Black Dog In London Has Become A Swiftie Hot Spot

The Black Dog Freehouse is a pub in Vauxhall, an area in London known for its nightlife, and many Swifties believed this was the bar from the song. There were Easter eggs pointing to it being the actual location.

Aside from the namedrop in the lyrics, Swift’s variant announcements for TTPD pointed to the bar’s address. The Black Dog is located at 112 Vauxhall Walk, and Swift announced the first two variants on Night 1 of their cities, Melbourne and Sydney, but The Black Dog was on Night 2 in Singapore — aka 112.

The Matty Connection To “The Black Dog”

In “The Black Dog,” Swift sings, “I just don’t understand how you don’t miss me in The Black Dog when someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up, but she’s too young to know this song that was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming.”

Some Swifties thought this line was a potential sign of infidelity on behalf of her former partner, while others believed “The Black Dog” was referencing a band that both Swift and her ex, Matty Healy from The 1975, enjoyed together.

In May 2023 — when Swift and Healy were reportedly dating — The 1975 frontman covered The Starting Line’s 2003 song “The Best of Me” on tour. Similar to how Swift and Healy were first linked in 2014, the song references former lovers who get back together with lyrics like, “We got older / But we’re still young / We never grew out of this feeling that we won’t give up.” Since Healy is also from London, this is why fans thought The Black Dog pub in the UK could also be connected to him.

What Is “The Black Dog” Really About?

Swift says no one has figured out what her song is truly about, but “The Black Dog” features the line, “Old habits die screaming,” which was also the name of her depression playlist created for Apple Music leading up to the album’s release.

She shared that songs under this playlist were written when she was feeling “lonely or hopeless.” To help her get through phases like that, she writes songs to process her emotions, so the song could have a more broader meaning of depression.

No matter where your theories lie, you can always add The Black Dog bar in London to your list of Swiftie locations to visit on your next overseas vacay. Even if it’s not *that* Black Dog, it’s still a fun spot to grab a pint, some food, and hang with other fans.