We’re used to hearing her sing frankly and openly about her love-life, but it’s Taylor Swift‘s relationship with alcohol that has been causing a stir since the release of her new album The Tortured Poets Department last week.

In her latest single, Fortnight, recorded with Post Malone and widely believed to be about her fling with 1975 singer Matty Healy, Swift confesses, ‘I was supposed to be sent away, but they forgot to get me/ I was a functioning alcoholic/ ‘Til nobody noticed my new aesthetic.’

So never mind the hunk on her arm, what about the drink in her hand?

Travis took her glass with her as she waded in the Atlantic during a trip to the Bahamas with boyfriend Travis Kelce

The couple lounged on the beach with each moving occasionally to fix cocktails from a makeshift bar that boasted bottles of liquor and was set up for them in the sand alongside a cooler full of sodas, mixers and beers

At Coachella, Taylor opted for a beer, as she and Travis took in the music

At the Grammys after party, Taylor squeezed every last drop of whatever she was drinking

In recent months, Taylor Swift has been frequently spotted with a beverage in hand, whether she’s cheering on her NFL boyfriend Travis Kelce, spending time with her friend Brittany Mahomes, or enjoying outings with her friends in New York or Kansas City. While some of these drinks may be non-alcoholic, Swift, 34, has made numerous references to alcohol use in her music.

In songs like “Delicate,” she sings about making a drink, and in “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” she mentions getting drunk. Even in tracks like “Cruel Summer,” she touches on themes of drinking and its consequences. Over her last seven albums, Swift has recorded more than 40 songs that reference drinking or being drunk.

Interestingly, “The Tortured Poets Department” is the first time Swift seems to address her drinking in a potentially problematic light, marking a shift in her approach to the subject.

She said that she quit booze in preparation for her mammoth Eras Tour which saw her train ‘like a frat boy’ in a workout regime that her trainer recently claimed would see most people ‘throw up’. The grueling tour is due to restart in Paris on May 9 after a two-month hiatus, spending most of it with the seeming love of her life Kelce.

What better tiime to enjoy a toast than New Year’s Eve, which Taylor celebrated with Travis and their close friends Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittan

Brittany Mahomes posted this picture of Taylor and friends enjoying a drink

Back in January, it was revealed by Rye restaurant in Leawood, Kansas, that Taylor’s new favorite tipple is a French Blonde – a delicious mix of grapefruit, gin, Lillet and St Germaine served up in a coupe – after she spent a night drinking the concoction with Kelce and co.

Last week, a lip-reading fan going by the username tismejackie took to TikTok to share what she claimed were conversations between Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift during their recent outing at Coachella.

In the video titled ‘check on your swifties, we’re not okay,’ she narrated the couple’s affectionate and joyful moments as they danced and kissed. At one point, Swift appeared thrilled to be placed near the stage, and she allegedly giggled to Kelce, saying, ‘That was the best thing that happened tonight. Sorry I’m drunk.’

This seemed to be a departure from Swift’s past statements about drinking. In a 60 Minutes interview when she was 21, she mentioned, ‘I have drunk, but I’m not a drinker,’ expressing her dislike for the taste of beer and her limited enjoyment of wine. She emphasized that she doesn’t drink to get drunk because she doesn’t find it appealing.

However, last September, during the MTV Video Music Awards, the term ‘Drunk Taylor’ trended on social media following Swift’s energetic appearance in Newark, New Jersey. Fans speculated whether alcohol played a role in her behavior that night as she won multiple awards, danced enthusiastically, and expressed excitement over seeing NSYNC.

Footage showed her slurping drink after drink and while it’s impossible to know what was in each cup she was clearly having the time of her life and seemed in increasingly high spirits as the night wore on.

Taylor appeared on the British talk show Graham Norton with a wine glass in hand in 2022

Travis’s devil-may-care lifestyle seems to have rubbed off on Taylor as she no longer tries to maintain her clean-cut image

Boyfriend Travis Kelce makes no secret that he likes beer. He drank it from a funnel in 2022 during a golf tournament in Tahoe

In January, it was revealed that her new favorite tipple is a French Blonde – a mix of grapefruit, gin, Lillet and St Germaine

Taylor cheered on boyfriend Travis Kelce at this year’s Super Bowl

She and Blake Lively cheered on Travis during an October NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets

‘Drunk Taylor’ represents a departure from the carefully curated image Swift has maintained for years, alongside her close connection with her fanbase.

Recently, she appears more open about her drinking habits, even making light of them. Last June, during a performance, she joked about ‘taking up a slight case of alcoholism’ while writing her Folklore album during the pandemic shutdown.

In February, she was caught on camera at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas theatrically chugging what appeared to be a beer before emphatically slamming the plastic cup down on the box ledge.

She was happy to dance the night away –  glass in hand – with Travis at XS Nightclub in Vegas after the Chiefs won the Super Bowl

And Taylor kept hold of her glass while exhibiting serious PDA at the party

Cheers: Taylor Swift shared a laid-back shot wearing minimal make-up, olive trousers and a sold-out knit sweater, featuring an allover daisy pattern

Swift and Kelce recently enjoyed a romantic getaway in the Bahamas, where they were spotted cooling off in the sea with plastic cups in hand. They lounged on the beach, occasionally making trips to a makeshift bar set up with bottles of liquor, sodas, mixers, and beers in the sand.

In her song “The Alchemy” from TTPD dedicated to Kelce, Swift acknowledges being heavily influenced, writing, “This happens once every few lifetimes/These chemicals hit me like white wine.” It seems that, at least for now, Swift is intoxicated by love.

Taylor Swift alcohol references in her songs

Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), and Red (2012)

There were no references to alcohol in her first four albums, although she does reference partying on the vault track of Red, The Very First Night

1989 (2014)

‘Clean‘: ‘You’re still all over me like a wine-stained dress I can’t wear anymore.’

‘Blank Space’: ‘I get drunk on jealousy’

Reputation (2017)

‘…Ready For It?‘: ‘Island breeze and lights down low. No one has to know.’ Island breeze is a fruity vodka cocktail.

‘Gorgeous’: ‘Whiskey on ice; Sunset and Vine. You’ve ruined my life by not being mine.’

‘Get drunk and make fun of the way you talk’

‘Delicate’: ‘You can make me a drink’ ‘dive bar on the east side, where you at? ‘

‘Getaway Car’: ‘I knew it from the first Old Fashioned we were cursed.’

‘I met you at the motel bar’

‘King Of My Heart‘: ‘Up on the roof with a schoolgirl crush, drinking beer out of plastic cups.’

‘Dress‘: ‘I’m spilling wine in the bathtub. You kiss my face, and we’re both drunk.’

‘This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’: ‘Jump into the pool from the balcony. Everyone swimming in a Champagne sea.’

‘here’s a toast to my real friends’

‘End Game’: ‘your eyes are liquor, it’s like your body is gold’

‘drinking on a beach with you all over me’

‘New Year’s Day’: ‘cleaning up bottles with you’

‘So It Goes...’: ‘Met you in a bar’

Lover (2019)

‘Cruel Summer’: ‘I’m drunk in the back of the car’ 

‘Cornelia Street’: ‘drunk on something stronger than the drinks in the bar 

‘Paper Rings‘: ‘The wine is cold like the shoulder that I gave you in the street.’

‘Death By A Thousand Cuts’: ‘My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust. Trying to find a part of me you didn’t take up.’

‘London Boy’: ‘And you know I love Springsteen, faded blue jeans, Tennessee whiskey.’

‘You can find me in the pub, we are watching rugby with his school friends,’

‘Drinking in the afternoon’

‘False God’: ‘Got the wine for you.’

‘You Need To Calm Down‘: ‘You are somebody that I don’t know. But you’re takin’ shots at me like it’s Patrón, and I’m just like, damn. It’s 7 a.m.’

Folklore (2020)

‘The 1’: ‘Rosé flowing with your chosen family. And it would’ve been sweet if it could’ve been me.’

‘The Last Great American Dynasty‘: ‘Filled the pool with Champagne and swam with the big names and blew through the money on the boys and the ballet.’

‘August‘: ‘August sipped away like a bottle of wine, ’cause you were never mine.’

‘This Is Me Trying‘: ‘Pouring out my heart to a stranger, but I didn’t pour the whiskey.’

‘I got wasted like all my potential’

‘Cardigan’: ‘dancing in your Levi’s, drunk under a streetlight ‘

‘My Tears Ricochet: ‘drunk on this pain’

‘Mirrorball’: ‘drunk as they watch my shattered edges glisten’

Evermore (2020)

‘Willow‘: ‘Lost in your current like a priceless wine.’

‘Champagne Problems‘: ‘Champagne problems.’

‘Dom Pérignon you brought it’

‘Gold Rush’: ‘ don’t like a gold rush’ (a cocktail)

‘No Body, No Crime’: ‘Este’s a friend of mine. We meet up every Tuesday night for dinner and a glass of wine.’

‘That ain’t my Merlot on his mouth.’

‘Ivy‘: ‘So tell me to run or dare to sit and watch what we’ll become. And drink my husband’s wine.’

‘Closure‘: ‘I’m fine with my spite and my tears and my beers and my candles.’

Midnights (2022)

‘Maroon‘: ‘How’d we end up on the floor, anyway?’ You say. Your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top Rosé, that’s how.’

‘The burgundy on my T-shirt when you splashed your wine into me.’

‘Mastermind‘: ‘I’m the wind in our free-flowing sails and the liquor in our cocktails.’

‘Paris‘: ‘Cheap wine, make believe it’s Champagne.’

 ‘Cause we were somewhere else in an alleyway, drinking Champagne.’

‘Question…?’: ‘It was one drink after another’

‘Dear Reader’: ‘My fourth drink in my hand’

 The Tortured Poets Department (2024)

‘Fortnight’: ‘I was a functioning alcoholic. ‘Til nobody noticed my new aesthetic’

‘Florida!!!:’ ‘The hurricane with my name when it came I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine’

‘The Black Dog’: ‘And so I watch as you walk Into some bar called The Black Dog’