Taylor Swift has been dating Joe Alwyn since 2016, and in 2020 the two co-wrote songs together on Swift’s albums folklore and still. Alwyn co-wrote the songs under the pseudonym William Bowery, while he is credited with co-producing songs on folklore under his own name. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Alwyn explained how he came up with the pseudonym William Bowery.
How Joe Alwyn found a pseudonym to write songs with Taylor Swift
Swift has released her eighth studio album folklore in July 2020. Upon the album’s release, a songwriter named William Bowery was credited with co-writing the songs “exile” and “betty”. In the Disney+ documentary Folklore: the Long Pond studio sessionsSwift has confirmed that Alwyn is Bowery.
As part of Hulu’s recent upcoming series promotions Conversations with friendsAlwyn was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal on his career.
The Wall Street Journal revealed how Alwyn came up with the pseudonym, writing:
“Alwyn appears as a writer in the album’s credits as William Bowery, a pseudonym he says he came out ‘quite off the cuff’. William was a tribute to his great-grandfather, William Alwyn, a musical composer he never met. And Bowery was for downtown New York where he spent a lot of time when he first came to the United States”
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How Taylor Swift revealed Joe Alwyn was William Bowery
During the first months following the release of folklore, Bowery’s identity was unknown. Originally Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner were credited as co-writers and co-producers, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon co-wrote “exile”, and Bowery had two co-writing credits for “exile” and ” Betty”.
In November 2020, the documentary Folklore: the Long Pond studio sessions premiered on Disney+. In the documentary, Swift, Dessner and Antonoff explain how they created the album and perform the track listing. Vernon also appears to perform “exile”.
During the documentary, Swift officially revealed that Alwyn co-wrote “betty” and “exile” with her.
“Joe plays the piano beautifully and he’s still playing and inventing things and creating things. And ‘exile’ was crazy because Joe wrote that whole piano part,” Swift told About Alwyn.
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Alwyn was later credited with co-producing the songs “exile”, “betty”, “my tears ricochet”, “august”, “this is me trying” and “illicit business” on folklore.
Why the two celebrities are keeping their relationship private
Even though Swift and Alwyn have been dating for years, little is known about their relationship. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Alwyn explained why he doesn’t open up about his relationship with Swift like other celebrities would.
“We live in a culture where people expect so much to be given. So if you don’t post all the time about what you do, how you spend a day, or how you made breakfast, does that make you a recluse? said Alwyn.
He continued, “I would also like to feel a little less cautious sometimes in interviews or in any kind of interactions, but that’s just a knee-jerk response to the culture we live in. If you give it to them, it just opens the door.”
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