Jack Antonoff is sharing his musical muses for Bleachers’ new album — and Joe Alwyn is not one of them.
“There’s a community of people that will be pretty disappointed when they find out,” Antonoff, 39, quipped in a Guardian profile, which was published on Friday, November 24, when asked about writing the song “Hey Joe.”
Antonoff dropped the self-titled album’s tracklist earlier this month via X (formerly Twitter). Immediately, fans began speculating that “Hey Joe” was about Alwyn, 32. (Alwyn is the most recent ex-boyfriend of Taylor Swift, who frequently collaborates with Antonoff on her albums.)
Antonoff’s social media post about the LP, which drops in March 2024, occurred 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 being honored.
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 walking the Ho Chi Minh trail in their 60s,” he added with a smile, referring to the city in Vietnam.
The new Bleachers record, according to Antonoff, is also inspired by his relationship with wife Margaret Qualley. (The “Modern Girl” singer married Qualley, 29, in August during a star-studded ceremony in his native New Jersey.)
“When I was 20 years old, my brain was on fire. I was really messy, emotionally. What I know now is this: if something in your gut says no, then it’s no. But I didn’t see anyone that was giving me all yesses,” he told the outlet about how Qualley changed his perspective on love. “I’ve been so hesitant about cleaning up certain parts of my life because it would affect the work.”
He added: “The most inspiring thing is when you meet someone and you truly just want for them to be so happy. It’s not simple — it’s huge, it’s controversial and it’s wild — but it’s simple in how easy it is.”
Antonoff is bursting with pride over the new Bleachers record, sentiments he echoed when discussing his collaborations with Swift, 33. (They started working together on her 2014 album, 1989.)
“Some people didn’t get it and, at the time, I remember thinking: ‘If you don’t get this, then I don’t know how to help you because this is sick,’” Antonoff told The Guardian, specifically 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 pen name William Bowery — cowrote several songs on her records Folklore, Evermore and Midnights. Swift and Alwyn split in April and she has since moved on with NFL star Travis Kelce.
