“All of the Girls You Loved Before” by Taylor Swift”

“All of the Girls You Love Before” is a song that Swifties have been aware of since early 2020, i.e. when it began leaking under the title “All of the Girls”. As reported, the song was intended to be included on “Lover” – the studio album Swift dropped in 2019, which was her first under Republic Records – but did not make the cut.

Roughly three years later, in February of 2023, further snippets of the song were made available, and it was finally leaked in full early the following month. And as to be expected given Taylor’s overall popularity, even though it was a leak, “All of the Girls” swiftly proceeded to go viral.

Release Date of “All of the Girls You Loved Before”

So now, a couple of weeks later on 17 March 2023, “All of the Girls You Loved Before” has been officially released, through the aforementioned Republic. And it was done so as part of a streaming-exclusive EP Taylor dropped titled “The More Lover Chapter”, which, besides this track, features four other songs that did actually appear on “Lover”. 

Those other songs are “Cruel Summer”, “Lover”, “The Man” and “The Archer” (i.e. tracks 2-4 from the original album). 

The issuance of this extended play comes just as Swift is about to embark on her The Eras Tour, which itself is slated to officially commence on 17 March.

The Team Behind “All of the Girls You Loved Before”

Taylor Swift had a number of hitmakers involved in the creation of “Lover”. Amongst them were:

• Louis Bell, who has received nearly 20 Grammy nominations to date
• Frank Dukes (now known as Ging), who currently has four Grammys under his belt, all of which were attained by working with different A list artists

And it is those two musicians who produced “All of the Girls You Love Before”, in addition to being credited with writing the song alongside Taylor Swift.

An Understanding Approach to a Less-than-Ideal Romantic Past

It’s pretty common that we come across love songs which are premised on both parties involved having endured their fair share of heartbreak beforehand. Almost invariably, that backdrop is presented as having some type of detrimental effect on the relationship at hand. 

But in this case, Taylor is rather celebrating the addressee’s less-than-ideal, playa-like romantic history, as well as appearing cool with the fact that, as implied in the first refrain, he’s dating someone else at this very moment. 

And that’s because the way she sees it, “all of the girls” which make up his romantic past have fashioned him into an ideal partner, i.e. the man she loves today.

In other words, the vocalist’s own dating history has been highlighted by the likes of “crying… for some dude whose name” she can no longer remember. So it’s as if fate has brought her and the addressee together through an unconventional way, i.e. romantic success ultimately being achieved through a series of failures.

Or as precisely inferred, Swift feels as if having such mutual histories has made the two of them compatible. For example the second refrain, if it is indeed about the addressee (as it seemingly is), implies that now they both know that getting into tiffs isn’t a valid reason to dissolve a relationship. 

So whereas romantic failures may have defined their respective pasts, now Taylor is looking forward to herself and the addressee enjoying a romance akin to a long-term relationship.

“All of the girls you loved before (Ooh)
Made you the one I’ve fallen for
Every dead-end street led you straight to me
Now you’re all I need, I’m so thankful for
All of the girls you loved before
But I love you more”

The Joe Alwyn Theories

Taylor Swift began dating English actor Joe Alwyn, who she’s still with to this day (i.e. as of this writing), in 2016. Swift, as an artist, is known to regularly incorporate her love life especially into song. So it is generally believed (though yet to solidly verified) that his presence was felt on various tracks from “Lover”.

Some outlets out there are also speculating that such is the case with “All of the Girls You Loved Before”.

However, that idea, as enticing as it may sound, doesn’t particularly hold weight. That’s primarily due to the fact that the addressee of this song is presented as being somewhat of a playa or, in the very least, a guy with ample romantic experience prior to hooking up with Taylor. But in real life, Joe Alwyn doesn’t have much of a romantic history (outside of dating Swift) to speak of.

Alwyn, the Private Guy

All things considered, that would in part be due to the fact that, as far as gossip circles are concerned, Alwyn has been able to successfully keep his private life concealed. But still, you’d have to believe that if he truly were on it like that, i.e. being a serial dater, some aspect of that past would have surfaced within all these years he’s been dating one of the most heavily-surveilled musicians on Earth.

For example, it is pretty well known that Taylor was already dating someone (Calvin Harris) around the time she hooked up with Joe. And the addressee of “All of the Girls You Loved Before” is depicted as having another girlfriend besides the vocalist. But it doesn’t particularly read as if Alwyn was also involved in what can be deemed a meaningful romance when he got with Swift.

Secondly the refrain of this song, where Taylor refers to her and the addressee being “16 and wild”, infers that this is a teenage love she’s speaking to. It may be that such lyricism is symbolic. In other words, it isn’t very likely that a 16-year-old male is going to have notable experience dating multiple women. 

But that reference is something to note nonetheless, that Taylor theoretically seems to be referring to an earlier stage in her life than the mid-20s, i.e. the age at which she and Alwyn got together.