Taylor Swift has finally released the vault track, You’re Losing Me, on streaming services—six months after it was originally dropped as a bonus track of the CD-exclusive Late Night Edition of her 2022 album Midnights on May 26, 2023. As a lot of fans celebrate this release, Swifties can’t help but realize that the song seems to allude to the reason behind her breakup with her former boyfriend, Joe Alwyn. So, is this track about her ex-lover?
The Release of Taylor Swift’s You’re Losing Me
After becoming Spotify’s Global Top Artist of 2023, Taylor Swift treated fans with the surprise release of You’re Losing Me on streaming platforms to show her gratitude for this other big achievement. She announced the news in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, November 29, after earning over 26.1 billion global streams on Spotify during the release of the annual Spotify Wrapped.
She captioned her post:
“Um ok this is unreal?? I just wanted to say to anyone who listened to my music this year, anywhere in the world, thank you. Getting named Spotify’s Global Top Artist in 2023 is truly the best birthday/holiday gift you could’ve given me. We’ve seriously had THE MOST fun this year out there on tour and now this. Are you serious. So I was trying to think of a way to thank you, and a lot of you have been asking me to put “You’re Losing Me (From The Vault)” on streaming… so here you go! You can finally listen EVERYWHERE now.”
Um ok this is unreal?? I just wanted to say to anyone who listened to my music this year, anywhere in the world, thank you. Getting named Spotify’s Global Top Artist in 2023 is truly the best birthday/holiday gift you could’ve given me. We’ve seriously had THE MOST fun this year… pic.twitter.com/HZVkjvxp2D
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 29, 2023
Written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, You’re Losing Me is a mid-tempo ballad that features beats similar to a heart pulse. Its lyrics describe the nearing end of a long-term romantic relationship after a couple starts to misunderstand each other. Does its emotional theme have something to do with her breakup with Joe Alwyn?
Dissecting the Meaning of Taylor Swift’s You’re Losing Me
Like Taylor Swift’s other breakup songs, You’re Losing Me likens her to a phoenix that always rises from the ashes as she mends all her wounds. So, does it ring a bell?
As the song was originally released after her split from her boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, fans couldn’t help but think it was about him and their breakup. The two parted ways in Marc before The Eras Tour began.
You’re Losing Me refers to the difficulties of parting ways with someone, with the lyrics:” You say, ‘I don’t understand’ and I say, ‘I know you don’t’/ We thought a cure would come through in time, now, I fear it won’t / Remember lookin’ at this room, we loved it ’cause of the light / Now, I just sit in the dark and wonder if it’s time.”
Jack Antonoff reveals in new Instagram story that Taylor Swift wrote and recorded ‘You’re Losing Me’ in December 2021. pic.twitter.com/oPp6QkUigy
— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 29, 2023
After the news about their breakup emerged, a source told People that the split had something to do with the differences in their personalities, adding they had grown apart. They allegedly had difficulty understanding each other, which might have resulted in the breakup.
With the number of years they were together, the song also discusses the hardships of letting go of everything she has built.
“Do I throw out everything we built or keep it? / I’m getting tired even for a phoenix / Always risin’ from the ashes / Mendin’ all her gashes / You might just have dealt the final blow.”
The source continued that Swift and Alwyn always had rough patches that they always repaired. So, the lyrics seemed to show the confusion about ending the romance.
“Stop, you’re losing me / Stop, you’re losing me / Stop, you’re losing me / I can’t find a pulse / My heart won’t start anymore for you / ‘Cause you’re losing me.”
“Every mornin’, I glared at you with storms in my eyes / How can you say that you love someone you can’t tell is dyin’? / I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick / My face was gray, but you wouldn’t admit that we were sick.”
Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn's love story may have gone out of style long before they officially split. 👀 All the pieces fall right into place: https://t.co/OT4h4cBWAs
(📷: Getty) pic.twitter.com/yWiqtE58jW— E! News (@enews) November 30, 2023
Another source told Entertainment Tonight that they were too different from each other to make their relationship work out, but their romance was hard to end due to the time they spent together. Though it was said to be Swift who decided to call it quits, both of them realized they weren’t meant for each other.
“And the air is thick with loss and indecision / I know my pain is such an imposition / Now, you’re running down the hallway / And you know what they all say / You don’t know what you got until it’s gone.”
The lyrics also contain “best thing at this party,” hinting at one of their last appearances together at a Grammys afterparty.
“How long could we be a sad song / ‘Til we were too far gone to bring back to life? / I gave you all my best me’s, my endless empathy / And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier / Fighting in only your army, frontlines, don’t you ignore me / I’m the best thing at this party (You’re losing me).”
But if there’s one giveaway that it’s about Alwyn, it’s in the line: “And I wouldn’t marry me either,” which seems to be about his interview about their rumored engagement.
“I mean, the truth is, if the answer was yes, I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say,” he told WSJ. Magazine.
Taylor Swift Fans Think That Travis Kelce Just Threw “Shade” At Her Ex Joe Alwyn For Being “Strange” About Her Career
“This just feels like we all know who it’s directed at, I’m sorry guys,” pic.twitter.com/mKku2y2Mg9— SWIFTIES (@RMetaz21099) November 22, 2023
From there, things changed between the two.
“A pathological people pleaser / Who only wanted you to see her / And I’m fading, thinkin’ / ‘Do something, babe, say something’ (Say something) / ‘Lose something, babe, risk something’ (You’re losing me) / ‘Choose something, babe, I got nothing’ (I got nothing) / ‘To believe, unless you’re choosing me.”
This part may refer to the rumors that Alwyn is insecure about his ex-girlfriend’s fame.
“Ultimately, they both realized they were not on the same page anymore,” a source told the Daily Mail. “It’s been hard for Joe trying to make it in Hollywood and not quite becoming leading man material while dating one of the most famous women in the world over the last six years.
The song ends with:
“You’re losing me Stop (Stop, stop), you’re losing me / Stop (Stop, stop), you’re losing me / I can’t find a pulse, my heart won’t start anymore.”
Taylor Swift has been known for writing songs about her former lovers and breakups, so You’re Losing Me is probably one of those tracks. If this is true, this news isn’t surprising at all.
