Was Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, a secret co-writer on some of the songs on her upcoming album, Folklore? A slew of Swifties and internet sleuths certainly think so.
When Swift announced on Thursday morning that she would be dropping her surprise eighth album at midnight, she thanked songwriters Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, Bon Iver, and someone named William Bowery.
Fans were quick to notice that Bowery was the only one whom Swift didn’t tag, and some dedicated detectives discovered that there are no registered songwriters or producers named William Bowery.
So, going off the theory that William Bowery was a pseudonym for someone else, fans began to investigate deeper.
As it turns out — according to fans and some paparazzi photos — Swift and Alwyn were spotted outside the Bowery Hotel in New York City back in 2016, toward the start of their romance.
Fans searched Alwyn’s Wikipedia page, which reveals that he is the great-grandson of English composer and musician William Alwyn. Hence, according to their theories, William Bowery is actually Joe Alwyn.
WILLIAM BOWERY theory
on oct 2016, taylor (w her squad) & alwyn were spotted in BOWERY hotel. (smth special mustve happened here, that’s why she used d name “BOWERY” i guess?)
WILLIAM alwyn is literally joe alwyns great-grandpa. he was was composer, conductor, and music teacher pic.twitter.com/pDOaBieGgL
— a folkWHORE (@taylowkey13) July 23, 2020
hey guys so um…. i was doing a little research and found that that ‘william bowery’ isn’t a real person and there’s no information of him out there… i think we can all agree that ‘william bowery’ is another ‘nils sjoberg’ situation right? #folklorepic.twitter.com/xMPXF4aVn8
— alu FOLKLORE (@psychoave) July 23, 2020
Um guys I think it’s 100% confirmed that “William Bowery” is pseudonym of Joe who is cowriter of song “Betty” and another song .
Since Joe’s great-grandfather name is William Alwyn and Bowery hotel is where Taylor and Joe met first time ?? pic.twitter.com/vol1O8kJzb
— Centi | BLM (@Lorde_IsComing) July 23, 2020
William Bowery, songwriter credited in #Folklore, is actually a pseudonym for Joe Alwyn; a thread pic.twitter.com/2M5f3v5faE
— soph || ???????? (@saintprongs) July 23, 2020
OMG I JUST FOUND OUT JOE HAS AN ENGLISH LITERATURE DEGREE AND HE USED TO SING AND PLAY A GUITAR IN HIGH SCHOOL?? AT THIS POINT I WOULDN’T BE SUPRISED IF HE’S THAT WILLIAM BOWERY (WHO IS CREDITED ON 2 SONGS) MY MIND AND HEART CAN’T HANDLE IT BYEE I DIED DEAD
— «??????? » ???????? (@swift_afterglow) July 23, 2020
While it might strike some as odd that Swift would hide her boyfriend’s identity, the singer has proven that she enjoys getting fans to play along with hidden clues.
In fact, she even told fans that, for Folklore, she “put Easter eggs in the lyrics” and not just the music videos.
Taylor Swift in the #cardiganMusicVideo live chat: “I put the Easter eggs in the lyrics, more than just the videos.” pic.twitter.com/4EszkHy1JB
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNewsLA) July 24, 2020
So while it’s not necessarily “confirmed,” as so many fans have excitedly declared on Twitter, the theory does have its share of circumstantial evidence.
