Has Taylor Swift been dropping 'clues' about her breakup all tour long? Let's investigate.

In case you missed the news, Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn have reportedly split after six years together.

Entertainment Tonight were the first to report the news with People confirming it soon after them. But it turns out Taylor may have been dropping hints to fans for a while now – via the casual medium of giant stadium tours. 

Taylor has been in the thick of touring across America for her Eras tour, and fans have been picking apart every stage setup, costume and song edit, trying to figure out what subtle messages she's sending out. 

And of course, now that news is circulating about Taylor and Joe's breakup, the focus has moved to 'Easter Eggs' about the end of their relationship. 

Watch: Taylor Swift on releasing evermore. Post continues below.

The first 'clue' spotted by keen-eyed Swifties was a song change to the Eras tour set. 

Taylor's song 'Invisible String' was originally in the line-up – a song that most fans tied to the start of Taylor and Joe's relationship. The song is about all the little decisions that lead up to finding and being with 'the one'. 

Isn't it just so pretty to think

All along there was some

Invisible string

Tying you to me?

This song has now been swapped out for the song 'The 1'. While this may still sound like a love song, the mood is certainly less romantic than 'Invisible String' – mainly because 'The 1' is all about a past love, and how it didn't quite work out how Taylor had hoped. 

And if my wishes came true

It would've been you

it would've been fun

If you would've been the one

There's weight to thinking that if 'Invisible String' is about falling in love with Joe Alwyn, singing it every night of a world tour would be painful as heck. And perhaps swapping it out for a song that sort of accepts the fate that things didn't work out is a bit less of a stab in the heart.

While these are all very much hypotheticals, Taylor's fans are sure the song swap is deliberate – taking to Twitter to share their stance.

Wait …. Maybe that’s why she changed invisible string …… to THE 1 ……… pic.twitter.com/FqxbWgcplF

— milo (@miloguerrav) April 8, 2023

The second, and slightly less established 'clue' is all attached to Taylor Swift having a cry during one of her concerts this week.

Clips started circulating of Taylor getting teary during a rendition of 'Champagne Problems', from her evermore album – an album that, coincidentally, Joe Alwyn has writing credits on.

In the clip, you can see her welling up during the section of the song that goes: "She would have made such a lovely bride, what a shame she's f**ked in the head."

IS THIS WHY SHE WAS CRYING DURING CHAMPAGNE PROBLEMS??? BECAUSE THEY BROKE UP? STOP NO I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS pic.twitter.com/09PQu1dDis

— dee🧣 (@taylorsdxylight) April 8, 2023

The theory is that she's emotional from the breakup, and so singing a song that she wrote while they were together about a failed relationship is stinging her on stage.

However, this feels like a rather long bow to draw, as it's an emotional song that she's performing to thousands of people during one of the rare moments during her tour set where she's not up and dancing, and is instead sitting down playing the piano.

Perhaps in that moment all she was thinking was 'holy heck, I'm performing to thousands and they are all singing my lyrics to me' and that made her a little emotional? Because FAIR. I'd be a puddle of a person if anything on that scale was happening to me. 

The truth is, we'll probably never hear directly from Taylor or Joe about the breakup or the many potential 'Easter Eggs' that may have been scattered around the split. And that's because the two are famously private. 

In fact, to this day the couple has never walked a red carpet together, never done an interview together, never even posted a selfie together on social media. 

The closest we ever got to seeing them actually being a couple was for about 0.35 seconds during Taylor's 2020 Netflix documentary Miss Americana.

Image: Netflix.

They hugged backstage after Taylor's show, and that was that. End of scene. But keeping a distance between their private relationship and the public eye has been a purposeful decision. 

"I'm aware people want to know about that side of things," Joe said in a 2018 interview with British Vogue, alluding to his love life. "I think we have been successfully very private, and that has now sunk in for people… but I really prefer to talk about work."

Swift has said similar, confirming she didn't want her personal life to be up for discussion in the same way it had been in the past.

"I've learned that if I do [talk about it], people think it's up for discussion, and our relationship isn't up for discussion," she told The Guardian. "If you and I were having a glass of wine right now, we'd be talking about it — but it's just that it goes out into the world.

"That's where the boundary is, and that's where my life has become manageable. I really want to keep it feeling manageable."

So while it's silly to hold out for any statements from either Taylor or Joe, we can surely bet that any new music released from here on out will be analysed within an inch of its life for clues about this incredibly private relationship and its supposed end. 

Feature Image: Getty.