The release of Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, has generated a global echo. The artist’s reproductions on digital platforms multiply with every minute, as do the theories of her followers about the stories behind each song. The Swifties are aware that no detail is left to chance in the creations of their favorite artist, which is why they have paid special attention to the bar that the singer mentions in track number 17, The Black Dog. The establishment in question is real and as of this weekend, it has been designated the new “home of tortured poets.”
Taylor Swift fans have been flocking to the bar in Vauxhall, south-west London. The experience has been “surreal,” said one of the establishment’s employees, Amy Cowley, this Saturday during an interview with The Telegraph. “Last night we had to turn people away because we were at full capacity.”
The bar offers a variety of craft beers and a menu inspired by Spanish cuisine that includes padrón peppers, chorizo ??in cider and garlic prawns. The bar’s Google reviews have been flooded with an avalanche of five-star ratings and among the comments left by users, excerpts of Taylor Swift’s song lyrics can be read.
“And now the story is no longer mine… it’s all yours,” the singer wrote on her X account. The big surprise about this release was that it was a double album. Another 15 songs came to light to complement the stories of the first 16 that were published. Thus, her followers were able to unravel more details of the personal stories that Taylor Swift exposes in her new album. Especially about the painful breakup of her six-year relationship with British actor and songwriter Joe Alwyn and her brief romance with Matty Healy, leader of the English band The 1975. “You swore you loved me, but where were the clues? / I died at the altar waiting for the tests,” the artist intones in track number five, ‘So long, London’ (Goodbye, London).
In the song that references the bar, The Black Dog, the story takes a darker turn and says: “And your location/ You forgot to turn it off/ And so I see you walk in/ Into some bar called The Black Dog/ And punch new holes in my heart”. It seems that the establishment could have been the place where one of Taylor’s partners was unfaithful. “I just don’t understand / How you don’t miss me / On The Black Dog / When someone plays ‘The Starting Line’.” But which of her exes is Taylor referring to? Joe Alwyn or Matty Healy?
The Black Dog team published a TikTok in reference to the topic that has already accumulated more than thirty thousand views. The video shows a person sprinting towards a computer under the text: “You work at The Black Dog (yes, the real pub Taylor mentioned) and you’re desperately trying to figure out if it was Matty or Joe.”
The Swifties have already suggested (or begged) the bar employees to check the security cameras in order to solve the mystery once and for all. “The mystery is part of the fun,” The Black Dog staff responded. For now, the identity of the alleged cheater who dared to cheat on the queen of pop will remain hidden. Meanwhile, the curious can try to discover it for themselves, accompanied by a beer at the place where the events occurred.
