Discover the small London pub that inspired one of Taylor Swift’s most played songs

Discover the small London pub that inspired one of Taylor Swift’s most played songs


In her most recent album, “The Tortured Poets Department”, the singer wrote the song “The Black Dog” – and a bar of the same name in Vauxhall has become a tourist spot among fans

You Beatles has resulted in a pedestrian crossing becoming one of the most popular tourist attractions in the UK. Because of Caetano VelosoSomething always happens in our hearts when we cross Ipiranga and Avenida São João, in São Paulo. AND Taylor Swift he created a little pub called The black dogin Vauxhall, south London, has become a tourist hotspot – and a meeting point for his fans.

The route to the pub is quiet. Since this is a residential neighborhood, the blocks preceding the building are quiet, with a park in the center where young people go for runs, couples walk their dogs and children run on the playground.

But, around the corner, the scenario begins to come to life. London is known for its variable climate and also for its pubs. But, located in a small Victorian-style building with red bricks, it attracts attention.

It doesn’t matter the day. Not even time. In front of Black Dog there will always be curious people, or swifties (as the singer’s fans are called), eager to understand and learn about the place. The song named after the pub was released on the composer’s latest album, the The Department of Tortured Poets.

In it, Swift recounts – with a kind of angry sadness – a possible conspiracy of an unfaithful ex-boyfriend who, carelessly, ended up revealing her cell phone location and, consequently, much more. “And then I watch you walk into a bar called The Black Dog and burn new holes in my heart,” he wrote.

The song became one of the most played on the album, with over 124 million plays on the channel. Spotify.

Taylor Swift everywhere

While the blonde sings at the top of her lungs in the song that she hopes every time her ex goes to the pub it’s “crap”, her fans have found the place to be an almost cathartic experience – and the club’s owners, a profit-making idea.

There are other venues in the UK with the same name, a brewery in Bretford, a bar in Cork, Ireland, but The Black Dog, located in South London, has won over fans.

In the outdoor area, the security guard – wearing friendship bracelets, which have become popular again thanks to another of his songs – You’re on your own, boy, organize a queue for those who want to enter and another for those who want to take photos.

What is The Black Dog like?

At the entrance we have already found a sign that says it is the “house of tortured poets”, alluding to the song in which The Black Dog is mentioned.

The menu has been adapted to have a portion Taylor’s versionwhile the North American renames each album she re-records. And finally, on the entrance wall there is a large painting with part of the composition.

Fans from all over the world mingle with locals to enjoy the bar. At the counter, while a fan orders a beer or homemade cider, one of them asks the bartender. “But then who came here? Joe Alwyn OR Matt Healy?”. The two are ex-boyfriends of Taylor Swift.

Then he half-smiles at the young woman and says, “I have no idea.” But they both know it’s a lie.

The influencer Renato Costa, a fan of the singer since her first album, Fearlesspublished in 2008, he knew he would put the pub on his itinerary when he went to London.

For Costa, the song was so successful thanks to the way the American singer expresses the pain of a broken heart.

“It makes us feel exactly what she felt in that moment, you know? We learn a little bit about Taylor Swift’s story behind the song, but it’s a very intimate song about how you feel after a breakup and seeing this person have fun and move on without about you. That pain is something a lot of people can relate to,” he says in an interview Estadao.

It’s not the first time this has happened Taylor Swift uses London locations as a backdrop in her compositions. When it was launched Loverin 2019, one track was London boy – inspired by her boyfriend at the time, the British actor Joe Alwyn. In it, Swift sings about enjoying “nights in Brixton” and spending “afternoons in Shoreditch”, as well as mentioning walks through Camden Market, visits to Highgate and the West End and even finding beauty in the “grey sky” during a run by taxi. in the rain. “All this becomes a script for poisons”, continues Renato.

Sipping a beer, even if he didn’t like the drink very much, the influencer enjoyed the slightly sunny afternoon at the pub. “I couldn’t miss the opportunity to drink the original The Black Dog,” he comments. In a good mood, the influencer also jokes. “I think The Black Dog is to Taylor Swift what Bar da Cachaça is to Luisa Sonza“, referring to the betrayal reported by the Brazilian singer on national television, which also aroused curiosity towards the Rio bar which was the scene of the episode.

Source: Terra

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