Taylor Swift's "New Year's Day" Is So Romantic & Fans Are Already Obsessed
For a few lucky fans, Taylor Swift gave an intimate performance of "New Year's Day," one of the tracks on her new album, Reputation. The intimate video, which might have been filmed at her Rhode Island house, shows Swift sitting at a piano surrounded by fans, soft candlelight, premiered tonight, Nov. 9, at 9:30 p.m. ET. The intimate look at what some fans already consider the most romantic track on the new album is making everyone wonder, is "New Year's Day" about Joe Alwyn?
In the ongoing quest to understand every single lyric on Taylor Swift's new album, Reputation, some curious Swifties have locked eyes on "New Year's Day." The song is undoubtedly romantic, but who is it about? Well, if you believe some of the fans, "New Year's Day" is definitely about Swift's boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
Because, seriously, whoever this song is about, Swift is in loooooove with.
She sings in the chorus,
Don't read the last page / But I stay when it’s hard, or it’s wrong / Or we're making mistakes / I want your midnights / But I’ll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day
For anyone who has been in love — real, soul-defining, reassuring, deeply abiding love — it's not the grand moments, the fireworks, that stand out. It's the in-between, the way your S.O. looks when they're brushing their teeth. Deep love happens when you're broken-hearted, crying on the floor, and they're there to help you. The New Year's Eve midnights are wild and wonderful — but the next-day clean-up is what makes a relationship.
And if this isn't about Alwyn, then he better start trying to figure out who it is about, because he clearly has competition. These lyrics are romantic as f*ck.
Because just read this:
Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you/ And I will hold on to you/ [...] Please don't ever become a stranger/ Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere/ There’s glitter on the floor after the party/ Girls carrying their shoes down in the lobby/ Candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor/ You and me forevermore
There is, admittedly, a tinge of sadness to the lyrics, a lament, almost. "Hold on to the memories" almost reads like a desperate plea, like, remember who we were at our best. So maybe it's not about Alwyn, since they've only been known to be together since May and, by all creepy paparazzi accounts, they're doing well.
But then, she also sings the line about "candle wax and Polaroids on the hardwood floor/ you and me forevermore." That seems less oh, what we once had, and more, I can't wait to make more pretty memories with you.
To boot, the song itself is relatively uptempo. It doesn't sound like a song of regret and sadness.
In fact, according to fan theories, Reputation's track list — which was leaked three days early on Nov. 7 — supposedly reveals that Swift and Alwyn are engaged. And another fan theory posits that "New Year's Day" itself reveals the secret engagement. During Swift's Secret Sessions, she apparently told audience members that one of the songs is a "total wedding song." And the song — during which Swift smiled while singing — reportedly made audience members cry.
"What if Taylor and Joe are getting married on New Year's Day???" one fan excitedly tweeted. Another fan pondered whether Alwyn proposed on New Year's Day.
That said, Swift ends the song with another plea:
Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you / And I will hold on to you / Please don't ever become a stranger / Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere
A weird thing to say to the person you love deeply. Though, given her romantic history, it makes sense to check that her new boyfriend isn't going to go haywire. So maybe she's totally in love with Alwyn, but just playing it safe.
The plot thickens...
