Taylor Swift’s ‘The Alchemy’: Are There References to Travis Kelce?
On the penultimate track of her latest album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, 34-year-old pop icon Taylor Swift explores themes of love and athletics. The name is ‘The Alchemy.’ Football references can be found throughout the ballad, leaving listeners to question where the lyrics got their inspiration.
Swift, who is presently dating tight end Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, sings of touchdown moments and shunning the competition to win. The subject of her song is still unclear, though, because she also makes reference to a restrained ex-lover.
“So when I touch down/ Call the amateurs and cut ’em from the team/ Ditch the clowns, get the crown/ Baby I’m the one to beat,” she sings. Swift continues to sing about an old boyfriend, so it’s unclear who she is talking about. “‘Cause the sign on your heart said it’s still reserved for me/ Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy.”
Swift makes another sports allusion later in the song, referring to the “blokes” warming the benches—a phrase that’s popular in the United Kingdom. Some others speculate that a statement regarding heroin use may be a reference to her ex-boyfriend Matty Healy, who has been transparent about his battles with the substance.
Swift has alluded to themes of heartbreak ever since revealing her album at the Grammy Awards, especially in the wake of her breakup with actor Joe Alwyn and her brief relationship with Healy. After hearing on his show that Kelce had tried to get in touch with Swift last year after seeing one of her concerts, she started seeing the guy.
– Farheen Ali
