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So Long, London

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024)

“So Long, London” is track five on Taylor’s eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024). It was released on April 19, 2024, through Republic Records. Co-written and produced by Taylor and Aaron Dessner, the song is her farewell to her relationship with English actor Joe Alwyn and London, a city that she loved.

The metaphor of London represents both her former home and her former partner. In this track, she says a sad goodbye to both.

Background and Release

Taylor started working on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, Midnights, for release in 2022. She continued working on it in secrecy throughout the first US leg of “The Eras Tour” in 2023. The album’s conception took place around the time the media reported that her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn had ended. She described it as her “lifeline” album which she “really needed” to make:

«TORTURED POETS is an album that I think, more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me, just the things I was going through, and the things I was writing about. It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life. And I’ve never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I’d needed it on TORTURED POETS.»

Taylor Swift

“So Long, London,” being the coveted Track Five on the album, received particular fan interest prior to the album’s release, because famously each of Taylor’s albums’ track five is its most vulnerable and emotionally intense.

Lyrical Theme

While dating Joe Alwyn, Taylor left the United States to live with him in his hometown, London. She wrote the upbeat song “London Boy” about her first couple of months living in the city. While the Lover (2019) track served as a welcome to Joe and the London community, “So Long, London” serves as an antithesis and the goodbye to both.

The song portrays a relationship dissolving amidst the rainy streets and mournful church bells of London. The lyrics explore Taylor’s emotional burden, with poignant lines illustrating her exhaustion. There is an implied sense of betrayal at having wasted her youth and vitality on someone who didn’t fully reciprocate. Ultimately, she makes the decision to let go:

Had a good run
A moment of warm sun
But I’m not the one

It’s a simple yet devastating statement that bids goodbye to a partner and a place she once considered home.

Connection to "You're Losing Me"

The cracks in Taylor’s and Joe’s relationship are highlighted in the second verse of “So Long, London: “I stopped CPR, after all it’s no use.” The imagery is eerily reminiscent of her Midnights track “You’re Losing Me“, which was released in early 2023. Both songs use medical metaphors to depict the slow, agonizing demise of the relationship. While “You’re Losing Me” compared it to a failing heart, here she uses CPR to highlight the futile attempts to revive a dying spark.

Production

Taylor co-produced “So Long, London” with her frequent collaborator and close friend Aaron Dessner. It is a downtempo chamber pop song that opens with Taylor’s multitracked vocals singing the title. They are reminiscent of a church choir and echoe the sound of church bells. London is known for its ringing bells, which mark important occasions in the city.

Live Performance

“So Long, London” received its first live performance acoustically on piano on August 20, 2024, during Taylor’s final of eight shows at London’s Wembley Stadium on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024).

Critical Reception

Some critics contended that the track was emotionally heartbreaking and picked it as one of the best tracks on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Will Hodgkinson of The Times gave the song a five-star rating and wrote: “Heartfelt, tender and poetic, this is a real tearjerker.” Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph described the track as a “sumptuously sad and gorgeous, lyrically forensic dissection of a fading romance”. The BBC‘s Mark Savage acclaimed the track as one of the best songs Taylor had released. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard ranked “So Long, London” fourth out of the 31 tracks on the double album edition, describing the lyrics as “raw honesty”.

Commercial Performance

When the album was released, nine of its tracks occupied the Top 10 of the Billboard Global 200; “So Long, London” debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the chart, where it extended Taylor’s Top-10 entries to 33. In the United States, the track opened at its peak of No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song alongside 13 tracks from the album made Taylor the first artist to monopolize the Top 14 of the Hot 100.

In Australia, “So Long, London” reached No. 4 on the ARIA Singles Chart and made her the artist with the most entries in a single week with 29. Elsewhere, “So Long, London” reached the Top 10 in several countries: No. 5 in New Zealand and Canada, No. 7 in Ireland, No. 8 in Luxembourg, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates, and No. 10 in Malaysia. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the track peaked at No. 10. The song also charted within the Top 20 in Denmark (11), Switzerland (11), Norway (12), Latvia (14), South Africa (15), Iceland (16), and Croatia (17).

Lyrics

[Intro]
So long, London
So long, London
So long, London

[Verse 1]
I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist
I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift
Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away
My spine split from carrying us up the hill
Wet through my clothes, weary bones caught the chill
I stopped trying to make him laugh
Stopped trying to drill the safe
Thinkin, how much sad did you think I had
Did you think I had in me?
Oh, the tragedy…

[Chorus 1]
So long, London
You’ll find someone…

[Verse 2]
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
I stoppеd CPR, after all it’s no use
The spirit was gonе, we would never come to
And I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free

[Chorus 2]
For so long, London
Stitches undone
Two graves, one gun
I’ll find someone…

[Bridge]
And you say I abandoned the ship
But I was going down with it
My white knuckle dying grip
Holding tight to your quiet resentment
And my friends said it isn’t right to be scared
Every day of a love affair
Every breath feels like rarest air
When you’re not sure if he wants to be there
So how much sad did you think I had
Did you think I had in me?
How much tragedy?
Just how low did you think I’d go?
Before I’d self-implode
Before I’d have to go be free

[Verse 3]
You swore that you loved me but where were the clues?
I died on the altar waiting for the proof
You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days
And I’m just getting color back into my face
I’m just mad as hell cause I loved this place

[Final Chorus]
For so long, London
Had a good run
A moment of warm sun
But I’m not the one
So long, London
Stitches undone
Two graves, one gun
You’ll find someone…