Here’s What Taylor Swift Says About Engagement Rumors On ‘Midnights’

Taylor Swift’s love life has been a matter of international importance since...practically forever. After all, she churns out hits and even short films about her relationships, so it’s only natural to wonder what, exactly, is happening in Tay’s romantic life. And that is made all the more difficult due to the fact she's been keeping her current six-year relationship under heavy wraps.

As all devoted Swifties know, Taylor has been dating Joe Alwyn for ages (real time: since 2016), and there have been a lot of rumblings about whether the two are already engaged—or even married—on the DL. Taylor has been fiercely private about her love life ever since the publicity firestorm that ensued during her relationship with Tom Hiddleston, so it's totally fair she wants to keep this one to herself.

Taylor’s new album, Midnights, just dropped, and people are looking for all the clues in her lyrics to determine whether she might ~actually~ be engaged to Joe. Everyone knows Taylor loves hiding Easter eggs (or if you're not familiar, secret content that creators hide in their work) in her album. Here’s why some people think she could potentially have already said "yes!" to Joe:

Evidence 1: She mentioned marriage and talked about her ‘ship on the new album.

Taylor said the first track, "Lavender Haze," on Midnights is partially inspired by "my relationship [of] six years,” on her Instagram.

"I happened upon the phrase 'Lavender Haze' when I was watching Mad Men and I looked it up because I thought it sounded cool," Taylor explained in the video. "And it turns out that it's a common phrase used in the '50s, where they would just describe being in love. If you were in the lavender haze, then that meant that you were in that all-encompassing love glow, and I thought that was really beautiful."

Taylor hinted at the couple's current status with these lines: “All they keep asking me is if I’m gonna be your bride,” she sings in the second verse of the song. “The only kind of girl they see is a one-night or a wife. I find it dizzying.”

While she’s definitely talking about marriage here, it’s still super unclear if they’re actually engaged.

Engagement aside, in another new song, "Sweet Nothing," the lyrics reassure everyone that things are very good between these two. “Staring at the ceiling with you / Oh, you don’t ever say too much / And you don’t really read into / My melancholia,” she sings. “I found myself a-running home to your sweet nothings / Outside they’re push and shoving / You’re in the kitchen humming / All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing.”

From the sound of it, their relationship is as strong as ever, despite constant questions about their status. But the jury is still out on whether Joe put a ring on it.

Evidence 2: A source said they were engaged this summer.

The Sun, a British tabloid, reported in July that Taylor and Joe are, in fact, already engaged, and that Taylor has been wearing her ring “behind closed doors.”

“Taylor and Joe are incredibly happy and very, very in love,” a source told the outlet. “They’ve actually been engaged for a few months but have only told their inner-inner circle—basically immediate family and trusted, very old friends. Everyone has been sworn to secrecy, too.” Sounds like everyone is following that rule except this one individual.

The source said the ring is “beautiful,” but that Taylor only wears it when she’s at home. “They want their love to stay away from the cameras as much as possible. This is just for them,” the source said. “And if and when they do exchange vows, there most definitely won’t be any Vogue, Rolling Stone, or Hello! magazines there. It will be simple and elegant—like them.”

Evidence 3: She's previously released songs themed around rings, marriage, and love.

While Taylor has written about love for a long time, some fans think that things feel... a little different lately.

In her 2019 album, Lover, there’s literally a song called “Paper Rings," which includes some telling lyrics: “I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings…Darling, you're the one I want,” the lyrics say. Taylor also wears a dress that very much looks like a bridal gown in her “Willow” music video, which had Swifties freaking out.

Evidence 4: She changed the lyrics in her re-release of "Love Story."

Taylor re-recorded her hit "Love Story" after Scooter Braun acquired her music catalogue, and the newer version had a pretty suspicious change to the famous lyrics. The original version went: “It's a love story; baby just say yes." But in the newer version, the lyrics say: “It's a love story; baby just said yes.”

BTW, the song was featured in Ryan Reynold’s hilarious Match ad:

Evidence 5: She announced a "chaotic surprise" after her album drop.

The new album, Midnights, hit streamers at, you guessed it, midnight on Oct. 21. But at 3 a.m., Taylor promised fans a "chaotic surprise." Of course, some people had some interesting theories about what the surprise would entail, and more than a few thought it might be a very big announcement.

These theories were proven wrong. Instead, Taylor dropped even more music. Chaotic, indeed.

What has Joe Alwyn said about an engagement?

Joe has stayed pretty quiet on the topic of his love life, but he has shared a few things. He told WSJ that he spent the height of the pandemic hunkered down with his S.O. (who, ya know, happens to be Taylor).

“It was actually quite nice because you guys have sun,” he said. But he spent the time co-writing two songs and co-producing six songs on Taylor’s quarantine album, Folklore—and he won a Grammy for it.

He also made it clear he won’t be spilling the beans on his love life anytime soon. “If you give it to them, it just opens the door,” he said. Joe also joked, “If I had a pound for every time I think I’ve been told I’ve been engaged, then I’d have a lot of pound coins.” But also dropped this nugget: “The truth is, if the answer was yes [he’s engaged], I wouldn’t say, and if the answer was no, I wouldn’t say.”

As for helping to write a few songs with Taylor, he said he wrote the chorus for “Betty” while going about his day. “I’d probably had a drink and was just stumbling around the house,” he said. “We couldn’t decide on a film to watch that night, and she was like, ‘Do you want to try and finish writing that song you were singing earlier?’ And so we got a guitar and did that.”

What has Taylor said about an engagement?

Again, Taylor has been super hush-hush about her romance, but she sweetly thanked Joe in her Grammy's acceptance speech when she won Album of the Year for Folklore in 2021. “Joe, who is the first person that I play every single song that I write, and I had the best time writing songs with you in quarantine," she said.

So, the jury is still out on whether or not these two love birds are planning to tie the knot, but you can be sure I'll keep you updated!

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