Jack Antonoff denies that Bleachers’ song ‘Hey Joe’ is about Joe Alwyn
Jack Antonoff and Joe Alwyn.
Getty Images (2)Jack Antonoff shares his musical muses for the new Bleachers album – en Joe Alwyn is not one of them.
“There is a community of people who will be quite disappointed when they find out,” Antonoff, 39, joked in an Guardian profile, which was published on Friday, November 24 when he was asked about writing the song “Hey Joe.”
Antonoff dropped the self-titled album’s tracklist via X (formerly Twitter) earlier this month. Fans immediately began speculating that “Hey Joe” was about Alwyn, 32. (Alwyn is the most recent ex-boyfriend of Taylor Swiftwho regularly collaborates with Antonoff on her albums.)
Antonoff’s social media post about the LP, which will be released in March 2024, took place on the same day he crossed paths with Alwyn. They both attended the 2023 GQ Men of the Year Awards, where the Grammy-winning producer was honored.
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In his Guardian interview, Antonoff shut down the rumors and revealed who actually inspired the track. “It’s a meditation on my father and his friends who walked the Ho Chi Minh Trail in their 60s,” he added with a smile, referring to the city in Vietnam.
According to Antonoff, the new Bleachers album is also inspired by his relationship with his wife Margaret Qualley. (The “Modern Girl” singer married Qualley, 29, in August in a star-studded ceremony in his native New Jersey.)
“When I was 20, my brain was on fire. I was very messy emotionally. What I know now is this: if something in your gut says no, then it is no. But I didn’t see anyone telling me all yes,” he told the outlet about how Qualley changed his perspective on love. “I have been so hesitant to clean up parts of my life because it would affect work.”
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He added: “The most inspiring thing is when you meet someone and you really want them to be so happy. It’s not easy – it’s huge, it’s controversial and it’s wild – but it’s simple in how easy it is.”
Antonoff is bursting with pride about the new Bleachers record, sentiments he echoed when discussing his collaborations with the 33-year-old Swift. (They began working together on her 2014 album, 1989.)
“Some people didn’t understand it and I remember thinking at the time, ‘If you don’t understand this, then I don’t know how to help you because this is sick,’” Antonoff said. The guardspecifically referring to Swift’s 1989 And Reputation.
Alwyn joined their creative circle after he started dating Swift in 2016. The Conversations with friends alum – under the pseudonym William Bowery – co-wrote several songs on her records Folklore, always And Midnights. Swift and Alwyn split in April and she has since moved on as an NFL star Travis Kelce.