Ahhh, the joys of Taylor Swift season!
Normally, a Taylor album release includes countdowns, clues, teases, and puzzle pieces for fans to put together. But with the surprise announcement that a new album, Folklore, would be released in full on Friday, the pop superstar changed her whole game. However, she couldn’t let a music drop pass by without engaging in one of her favorite pastimes: easter eggs!
Related: Demi Lovato & BF Max Ehrich Are ENGAGED! See The HUGE Rock!
It started in the official album announcement, where Tay thanked her collaborators:
“I wrote and recorded this music in isolation but got to collaborate with some musical heroes of mine; Aaron Dessner (who has co-written or produced 11 of the 16 songs), Bon Iver (who co-wrote and was kind enough to sing on one with me), William Bowery (who co-wrote two with me) and Jack Antonoff (who is basically musical family at this point).”
Most of those names are familiar for songwriting fans, except for Bowery. And after some detective work by quick-fingered Swifties, they came to this conclusion: William Bowery doesn’t exist.
The game is afoot!
Fans were quick to theorize who the mysterious Bowery might be, and there was a lot of evidence pointing towards longtime beau Joe Alwyn. For one thing, one of the couple’s first (public) dates was at the Bowery Hotel in NYC. Some fans also discovered that Alwyn’s great-grandfather’s name was William, and he happened to be a composer himself. On top of that, the actor’s mother’s name is Betty, which is the title of one of the tracks on Folklore.
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
Though “Joe=Bowery” is the prevailing theory, several other names have been thrown into the hat. On the other side of the fandom, Taylor/Karlie Kloss shippers have pointed out that one of the gal pals’ last public appearances was at a venue called Bowery Ballroom. (Karlie’s middle name is Elizabeth, so she also gets a “Betty” point.) Kaylors also connected the model’s recent woodsy Instagram posts to the Folklore album aesthetic.
The Lover singer’s brother Austin Swift is also in the mix. Fans thought Austin had something to do with TayTay’s last pseudonym adventure, the Look What You Made Me Do cover by the similarly non-existent band Jack Leopards & The Dolphin Club. (The cover was produced by Nils Sjöberg, Taylor’s own pseudonym from the This Is What You Came For days.)
Related: Britney Spears’ Brother Gives Rare Interview Addressing Her Conservatorship
Other suggestions include Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Joni Mitchell, and more — but beware, evidence is thin in all these cases. All we can hope is that Taylor someday reveals William’s true identity — and hopefully sooner rather than later!
Ch-ch-check out some more of the fan theories, below:
if i see one more toe saying william bowery is joe’s pseudonym….. https://t.co/0uZL45oM9q
— giulia (@hercardigan) July 23, 2020
my thoughts immediately went to l*na del rey……….. because of the bowery bums line in hope is a dangerous thing…..
— i want auroras and sad prose (@thestorycfus) July 23, 2020
BowERY…. hARRY…. William…. Edward…. SJSKDKDN
— gay betty (@ourflowersdied) July 23, 2020
cause she is william bowery pic.twitter.com/2kR2Joo5hN
— Dianna Agron's Travel Agent (@EarperAnalytics) July 24, 2020
IF THIS IS TRUE, this "William Bowery" character is 100% a pseudonym for someone else. My guess is either @finneas or @billieeilish because William is a nickname for people named Will, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. @taylorswift13 @taylornation13 #folklore #TaylorSwift https://t.co/Ev2hg0kUha
— je(R.E.M.)y (@Music_Maniac_19) July 23, 2020
someone said WILLIAM BOWERY might actually be JONI MITCHEL'S pseudonym??? there were speculations that taylor's song the lucky one is about her. she's a famous
FOLK singer & songwriter. she has a painting called BOWERY bum. her father's name is WILLIAM anderson — pic.twitter.com/JmdtJTl92m— a folkWHORE (@taylowkey13) July 23, 2020
[Image via WENN, Avalon, Instar & Adriana M. Barraza]
Related Posts
