In Swifties’ defense, they have none for never leaving well enough alone — but it would’ve been fun, if he would’ve been the one. Fans are convinced that Taylor Swift hinted at her breakup from Joe Alwyn nearly two weeks before reports hit Saturday (April 8) when she substituted one Folklore song for another in her Eras Tour setlist, replacing “Invisible String” with “The 1.”
The switch happened at her March 31 concert in Arlington, Texas, at the midway point in her three-hour set. In switching gears from her Red era to Folklore, the pop star typically sings “Invisible String,” a folksy love song that is believed to give details of her six-year romance with Alwyn.
This time, though, instead of the track about being destined by fate for an eternity of togetherness, she sang “The 1,” which has pretty much the exact opposite message. “If you wanted me, you really should’ve showed,” Swift sings on Folklore‘s lead track. “It would’ve been fun, if you would’ve been the one.”
“You think you can just scroll and know the setlist,” she teased the crowd at the time in fan captured video. “Let it be said about the Eras Tour, we’re tricksy. We have got healthy setlist hijinks.”
At the time, that’s all it seemed to be: setlist hijinks. But flash forward to Saturday, when various publications reported the internet-shattering news that the “Anti-Hero” singer had split from Alwyn — who assisted in writing songs on Folklore and Evermore –and the song switch started to take on a lot more meaning for some fans. (Billboard reached out to both Swift’s and Alwyn’s reps for comment when news of their split broke, but have not heard back.)
“Hold on cause taylor switched from invisible string (a song about hopeful love) to the 1 (a song about past love) on the set list…,” tweeted one Swiftie after finding out about the breakup.
“i knew it as soon as she replaced invisible string with the 1,” wrote another, unsurprised by the breakup news.
Swift and the Favourite actor first started dating in 2016, and mostly kept a low profile. During their six years together, they rarely made public outings. They did, however, speak lovingly about each other in occasional interviews, and the 12-time Grammy winner opened up about falling in love with Alwyn in her Netflix documentary, Miss Americana.
See fans’ tweets about the “Invisible String” to “The 1” theory below:
