Are Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Songs About Travis Kelce? Details Amid Their Romance
Swifties can agree that Taylor Swift seems happier than ever amid her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. With the release of The Tortured Poets Department looming, fans can’t help but wonder if we’ll get a glimpse into their romance in the new album.
Is Taylor Swift’s ‘The Alchemy’ About Travis Kelce?
While it’s unclear when Taylor and collaborator Jack Antonoff penned this hit, Swifties were quick to notice lines in Taylor’s new song “The Alchemy” that pointed to her relationship with Trav.
“I circled you on a map / I haven’t come around in so long,” some fans believe this line points to a past interview that resurfaced after she and Travis began dating where Taylor chose Kansas as the one place she’d love to return to. “I love Kansas,” Taylor added at the time.
The song also seems to have various references to football, including, “When I touch down call the amateurs and cut ‘em from the team.” The song also makes mention of a “winning streak,” “warm the benches,” “shirts off,” “beer sticking to the floor,” and “trying to be the greatest in the league.”
Who Is Your Favorite Collaborator on Taylor Swift’s TTPD?
“Ditch the clowns, get the crown,” seems to be a reference to her 2020 song “Peace” off Folklore, which she talks about paparazzi singing, “But there's robbers to the east, clowns to the west.” Fans were quick to point out that Taylor might be singing about the fact that her relationship with Travis is much more public than her past relationships.
Is Taylor Swift’s ‘So High School’ About Travis Kelce?
The album’s double version, TTPD: The Anthology, which Taylor released at 2 a.m. on April 19, 2024, includes another track believed to be about Travis. The song “So High School” features the Grammy winner seemingly recalling the early days of the relationship and how giddy she felt about what was happening.
The lyrics of the song appear to reference how Travis gave Taylor a shout-out on his “New Heights” podcast after attending the Eras tour. At the time, he admitted that he had wanted to meet Taylor at the show but didn’t get a chance to. “Knew what you wanted and, boy, you got her,” Taylor sings in one of the “So High School” verses.
At another point in the song, she seems to admit to being flattered by Travis’ podcast confession, singing, “Tell me ‘bout the first time you saw me, I’ll drink what you think. And I’m high from smoking your jokes all damn night.”
She also seems to pay tribute to a moment early in the relationship that sent fans into a frenzy in October 2023. The pair was out in New York City and paparazzi videos showed Travis opening the car door for the pop star. “Get my car door, isn’t that sweet?” Taylor sings. “Then pull me into the back seat. No one’s ever had me, not like you.”
In the chorus, Taylor reveals that being with Travis made her feel the giddiness of a teenager. “I feel so high school every time I look at you,” she says. “But look at you.”
Does Taylor Swift Reference Travis Kelce in ‘Tortured Poets Department’?
While there do appear to be some Travis references on “The Alchemy” and "So High School," we will likely have to wait until album No. 12 to get more of the juicy details on Taylor’s current relationship, as The Tortured Poets Department had been in the works long before the “Karma” singer began dating Travis.
“OK. This is my 13th Grammy. Which is my lucky number, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that,” Taylor began as she accepted the award for Best Pop Vocal Album on February 4. “I wanna say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I’ve been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand new album comes out April 19. It’s called The Tortured Poets Department.“
When Did Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Start Dating?
The “Mastermind” artist and her NFL champion beau made their relationship public in September 2023 when Taylor attended the Chiefs home game against the Chicago Bears. However, Taylor later revealed that they had been dating for a couple months at that point.
“This all started when Travis very adorably put me on blast on his podcast, which I thought was metal as hell,” she said during her Time Person of the Year interview in December 2023. “We started hanging out right after that. So we actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other. By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”
Travis, of course, attended Taylor’s Eras tour show in Kansas City that July and shortly after took to his podcast, “New Heights,” to dish to brother Jason Kelce how “disappointed” he was after the show.
“She doesn’t talk before or after her shows, because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings,” he explained. “So I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her.”
Travis continued, “If you're up on Taylor Swift concerts, there are friendship bracelets handed out. I received a bunch of them, but I wanted to give Taylor Swift one with my [phone] number on it."
The pair have not hidden their relationship from the world since, including traveling the world to support each other’s careers and packing on the PDA after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl and while dancing in the crowd at Coachella.
