The Tortured Poets Department is out. And, yes, there’s an Aston Martin reference.
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In case you don’t have teenage daughters or, y’know, ears and a pulse, a new Taylor Swift album dropped last night. Formula 1 fans are claiming one lyric to be a nod to the singer’s previous dating rumors with one Fernando Alonso. About a year ago, news broke that Swift had split with English actor Joe Alwyn after six years together, but before she was linked to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, F1 veteran Alonso was rumored to be Swift’s new lover.
The rumors turned out to be unfounded—or, if they were true, the relationship certainly didn’t last. In any case, the alleged Alonso nod comes in the second verse of “imgonnagetyouback,” the 18th track of The Tortured Poets Department:
I’m an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch
Then ran and hid
In case it wasn’t already clear, TTPD is a breakup album and here, Swift characterizes herself as an Aston Martin—a very beautiful, high-value piece of machinery—that ex Alwyn metaphorically mistreats, crashes, and is ultimately unworthy of. But perhaps the more interesting real-life connection is that two-time F1 World Champion and one-time rumored Taylor Swift boyfriend Fernando Alonso currently drives for, you guessed it, Aston Martin Aramco F1.
Now, Swift’s whole schtick may indeed be writing songs about her real life, but as The Drive‘s resident Swiftie, I’m not convinced this is the deliberate wink-to-the-camera reference some online think it is.
Believe it or not, Swift has a long history of oddly specific automotive callouts in her lyrics. And, yeah, they have changed as her style, circumstances, aura, and, dare I say it, eras change. In the early, twangy country days, it was “just a boy in a Chevy truck that had a tendency of gettin’ stuck,” as heard in “Tim McGraw.” But moving into more poppy fare, we got gems like “loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street” on “Red” while “King of My Heart” on the very villain-coded reputation album included the line: “all the boys and their expensive cars, with their Range Rovers and their Jaguars.”
If I had to guess, the Aston Martin line came about simply because the words fit, and, sure, maybe it floated into there partly because those words did indeed come up in a meeting between Swift and her PR team. But calculated, premeditated reference? Doubtful.
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