So Long, London, and so long, my belief that love exists. The queen of heartbreak songs has once again punched us in the gut with her eerily universal but specific lyrics, and I don’t think I’ll recover this time. “So Long, London” is an Aaron Dessner-produced track, so we honestly never stood a chance. How the fuck am I supposed to romanticize London after this? Even with my tissues, on-theme tea, and several deep breaths, I couldn’t have prepared myself for that four minutes and 22 seconds of intense sobbing.
Don’t get me wrong — the song is a masterpiece and will be No. 1 on my Spotify Wrapped. But I’m a sensitive girl. I was a fan throughout the whole six-year Jomance. All the death imagery is a lot to process. “I stopped CPR / after all it’s no use.” I CANNOT. Taylor’s primary coping mechanism is writing Grammy-winning songs, and my coping mechanism is reading into them way too much. So, I need to do that with “So Long, London” immediately. Here’s a full breakdown of this insane song.
“So Long, London” Is Track 5 On The Album
If you don’t understand the significance of that fact, you haven’t been stanning hard enough, or you’re brand new here. Taylor’s track 5s are notoriously the candid and devastating tearjerkers on her albums. Think about little old tunes like “All Too Well,” “Dear John,” and “You’re On Your Own, Kid.”
The icon once explained the pattern during an Insta live: “I didn’t realize I was doing this, but as I was making albums, I guess I was just kind of putting a very vulnerable, personal, honest, emotional song as track five,” she said. “So because you noticed this, I kind of started to put the songs that were really honest, emotional, vulnerable, and personal as track five.”
“London Boy” Has A Depressed Sister Now
Sigh. We’re officially wrapping up the London chapter ’cause we’ve realized British men are toxic and have moved on to American football players. Taylor loves to cross-reference in her music, so it’s no surprise that she’s high-key responding to her older work in this album. In “London Boy,” London was an exciting new city full of high tea, stories from uni, pubs, and rugby. Now, it’s “Stitches undone / Two graves one gun / I’ll find someone.” AAHHH.
The Lyrics Basically Scream Joe
I mean, if the lyric “So long, London” didn’t make it clear enough, these ones do: “I didn’t opt in to be your odd man out / I founded the club she’s heard great things about / I left all I knew / You left me at the house by the heath.” Taylor moved to London for this man and gave him all she had, and he left her alone at the house… sorry, I’m so unwell, I need to excuse myself.
