Taylor Swift’s first song collaboration with her ex-boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, was a ballad. This song was part of her 2020 album, “Folklore”. She performed it as a duet with Bon Iver.
At the album’s release, Joe was credited under a pseudonym, William Bowery. However, during her Disney+ concert film, “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions”, Taylor confirmed that William and Joe were the same person.
Joe didn’t just lend his voice to the song. He also wrote the entire piano part. One of the lines he sang was, “I can see you standin’ honey/With his arms around your body/Laughin’ but the joke’s not funny at all.”
Taylor shared that Joe was always creating things. He was “always just playing and making things up and kind of creating things.” However, she admitted that their collaboration might not have happened if it wasn’t for the COVID-19 shutdown.
She recalled thinking, “Hey, this could be really weird, and we could hate this.” But since they were in quarantine with nothing else going on, she suggested they try writing a song together.
And what was the outcome of their professional collaboration? They won Album of the Year at the 2021 Grammys.
“We’re so proud of ‘Exile,’” Taylor beamed. She then joked, “All I have to do is dream up some lyrics and come up with some gut-wrenching, heart-shattering story to write with him.”
