Ahead of her opening performance in the newly named Swift City, Taylor Swift, the one and only, decided to gift fans with four previously unreleased songs. Of all these songs, the only one fans were yet to hear prior to the release was “All of the Girls You Loved Before” from her Lover era.
Within hours of its release, the song topped US iTunes, despite only being teased a day before it was officially released with three other songs. But of course, it’s the Taylor Swift effect in action – and it’s not like we haven’t seen it before: Folklore and Evermore anyone?
However, prior to being released, the song had already leaked online months before and made the rounds on TikTok, since it was already recorded and ready but sadly didn’t make the Lover album cut. Like most of the songs on Lover, “All of the Girls You Loved Before” is an upbeat track about the happy and carefree side of being in love. It’s about being grateful to the girls that have come and gone in your lover’s life before you met or fell in love with them.
“A heart is drawn around your name / In someone’s handwriting, not mine,” Swift sings in the refrain, as she addresses the changes these relationships have caused in her lover that made him the right one for her. “Your past and mine are parallel lines / Stars all aligned and they intertwined / And taught you / The way you call me “baby” / Treat me like a lady/All that I can say is…”
The catchy chorus then comes in to tell us that “All of the girls you loved before (Ooh) / Every dead-end street led you straight to me.” She rounds up the chorus by telling us that while she’s thankful to all the girls he’s loved before, “I love you more.”
Like most of the songs on Lover, fans are speculating that “All of the Girls You Loved Before” is about Joe Alwyn, Swift’s boyfriend of six years, who she’s even written award-winning songs with.
Happily, the four new songs weren’t the only thing that Swift released to get fans excited about her very, very, very, sold-out Eras tour, as she shared four new pictures captioned, “In my Eras tour.”
Sadly, “All of the Girls You Loved Before” did not make it into her opening night’s 44-song setlist, which features fan-favorite hits like “Black Space,” “Anti-hero,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and the all-time favorite “All Too Well” – all ten minutes of it!