Taylor Swift references a bar in her ‘Tortured Poets Department’ song « The Black Dog. » Here’s where fans think the London pub connected to Joe Alwyn is located.
Help, I’m still at the (wrong) restaurant.
The meeting of The Tortured Poets Department may be over now that Taylor Swift has entered her The Life of a Showgirl era, but the singer recently revealed that fans still don’t know the true meaning of one song in particular. During an interview with BBC Radio 2 on Oct. 6, Swift shared that nobody has figured out “The Black Dog.”
At first, Swifties had speculated that the TTPD bonus track was about one of the five stages of grief (depression). After hearing the song in 2024, though, fans quickly assumed Swift was referencing a specific pub in London named The Black Dog.
The Tortured Poets Department had long been rumored to be about Swift’s relationship with ex Joe Alwyn, whom she broke up with in 2023. Songs like “So Long, London” seem to reference the British actor who inspired Lover tracks like “London Boy,” and Swift has mentioned various UK locations in her music since they started dating in 2017. The Black Dog bar seemed to be another one of those spots in England, and many fans have since flocked to the watering hole to check it out.
However, Swift’s 2025 confession has fans thinking they got it all wrong. “And still nobody knows like what I’m even talking about on that song,” Swift admitted to host Scott Mills.
