CELEBRITY
Taylor Swift ‘Speak Now’ re-release resurfaces old John Mayer love story
Taylor Swift’s newly released “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” has brought back her fan favorite hit “Dear John” and resurfaced her alleged romance with musician John Mayer.
Swift re-recorded her 2010 album at the age of 32, and revisited some of the emotions she felt back then. The much anticipated re-record was released on July 7, and has fans buzzing about her romantic link to the “Gravity” crooner, who is rumored to be her inspiration for the album’s fifth track.
Mayer and Swift never publicly confirmed their romance, but the two did perform together a handful of times in 2009 after collaborating on Mayer’s song “Half of my Heart.” The collaboration came about after Mayer tweeted that he wanted to work with Swift.
Mayer had an idea for the song “called ‘Half of My Heart,'” saying, “I want to sing it with Taylor Swift.”
He added: “She would make a killer [Stevie] ‘Nicks’ in contrast to my [Tom] ‘Petty’ of a song.” At the time, Swift was 19 and Mayer was 32.
Following the end of the rumored relationship, each musician released a break-up song many believed was about the romance. Swift released “Dear John” on “Speak Now” in 2010 while Mayer released “Paper Doll.” Fans picked out lyrics from the song “Dear John” that seemingly referenced the romance, including, “Don’t you think nineteen is too young / To be played by your dark twisted games / When I loved you so?”
Swift has never confirmed the song is about Mayer, but she did tell People magazine at one point, “A lot of times when people’s relationships end, they write an email to that person and say everything that they wish they would have said. A lot of times they don’t push send.”
“Putting it on the album was pushing send.”