3 Songs Taylor Swift Wrote About People Who Weren’t Her Exes

It’s no secret that Taylor Swift has been known to write a killer breakup song. However, the 14-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter has also written her fair share of love songs that aren’t necessarily about a lover. Here are three Taylor Swift songs inspired by real people, but not an ex. 

Videos by American Songwriter

“The Last Great American Dynasty”

Written for Swift’s 2020 album Folklore, this song is actually inspired by philanthropist Rebekah Harkness. Until her death in 1982, the socialite owned Swift’s Rhode Island home, Holiday House. In the song, Swift describes Harkness as “the maddest woman this town has ever seen.” Then she turns the story on its head in the last verse, and Swift herself becomes the woman.

Swift explained the song in Netflix’s folklore: the long pond studio sessions. “I had been wanting to write a song about Rebekah Harkness since 2013, probably,” she shared. The songwriter even compared the narrative storytelling in “The Last Great American Dynasty” to that of a country song.

“That song is such a Folklore moment to me because it’s not about you, but it is all about you,” producer Jack Antonoff added.

“The Best Day”

A Fearless favorite, “The Best Day”, as Swift would later reveal, is inspired by her mother, Andrea Swift. In an interview, Taylor shared that while recording it, she tried to hide the process as much as possible. “I recorded it secretly on days when she wasn’t visiting the studio. She didn’t even know the song existed, and after the first time I played it, she goes, ‘Honey, that song is, who’s singing that song?’

Swift continued, “And then [Andrea] started crying when she realized this was like a whole thing.”

“Long Live”

“Long Live”, from Swift’s third studio album Speak Now, is often interpreted to be for her fans and bandmates. While on tour, a young Swift explained what gave her the idea for the song. 

“We went on our very first headlining tour a few years ago, and I used to stand there before I’d go onstage and I’d listen to the crowd making the most amazing, magical loud screaming sounds.”

Swift continued, introducing the song on stage. “And I’d hear it, and first of all, I would sit there and think, ‘I can’t believe I get to hear that sound one time in my life.’ And then I would get a melody stuck in my head, and I could never get this melody out of my head until I finally wrote it into a song, and I called that song ‘Long Live’.”

Photo by: John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management