Taylor Swift opens up about feeling lonely in her relationship with ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

During a performance in Melbourne, Australia as part of the Eras Tour over the past weekend, Taylor Swift revealed to her fans about the time she wrote “folklore.” The album was written during the isolation period due to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, which was also a time when Taylor and her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn were still deeply involved.

“I imagined that instead of being a lonely woman, covered in cat fur, drinking heavy wine, I was a Victorian lady wandering through the woods with a candle, writing on parchment with a quill,” Taylor said about the inspiration for folklore.

“That was my thought. I think that’s what I looked like when I wrote folklore,” the singer continued, “I didn’t look like that. But that’s the important thing – imagination.”

The fact is, when she was creating this album, Taylor Swift was still in a long-term relationship with Joe Alwyn. In fact, the British actor even co-wrote some of the standout tracks on the 2020 album, including “Exile” and “Betty.” Therefore, Taylor’s recent revelations about feeling lonely at this time have surprised many fans.

Currently, Taylor Swift is dating American football player Travis Kelce. The American stars publicly confirmed their relationship for the first time in September 2023 when the singer attended a Kansas City Chiefs football game to cheer on her boyfriend. In an interview with TIME, Taylor admitted that at this public moment, the couple had been getting to know each other and dating for a while.