A pub located in south London, name-checked in the title of a song on Taylor Swift’s latest album, has described the influx of Swifties over the weekend as “incredible”.
The Black Dog in Vauxhall experienced a significant surge in patrons after fans realized it was the subject of a song on her 11th album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, which set Spotify’s record for the most-streamed album in a single day last Friday.
Within an hour of the album’s release, the small venue was inundated with enthusiastic fans wanting to pay homage to the pop star, snowballing into “thousands” of dedicated Swfities over the weekend.
Lily Bottomley, the events and social manager for SC Soho, the small hospitality group that owns the Black Dog, spoke to the Guardian, commenting “I was like, wow, what a coincidence, that’s incredible. Then the traffic increased, and it exploded when her album went live.”
Thinking on their feet, the Black Dog team quickly created a TikTok, started posting and interacting with fans, to great effect. “We’re completely booked out this week and we’re nearly full for her tour dates. It’s been fantastic for the business; the fans have been overwhelmingly positive,” she said, adding that they also hired last-minute security to handle the surge.
“We’re just loving it, it’s been so fun,” says Bottomley. “All of the attention has been pretty overwhelming but we can’t be happier.
“We’ve been looking at past security footage [for Swift]. We haven’t found anything, but you never know,” she says. “I’ve heard that whenever she visits places she puts a cap on, so we could have missed it. We’d love to have her back.”
Of course, many fans have not only been curious to find out whether Swift had been seen by any of the staff, but if her previous ‘London Boy’ exes, Joe Alwyn or Matty Healy, had been seen.
In the song, The Black Dog alludes to the idea that Swift followed an ex into the pub, with the lyrics “And so I watch as you walk into some bar called The Black Dog and pierce new holes in my heart. You forgot to turn it off, and it hits me. I just don’t understand how you don’t miss me in The Black Dog.”
Bottomley said that the pub has had “a certain blond regular in a few times”.
The Black Dog by Taylor Swift, lyrics:
I am someone who, until recent events
You shared your secrets with
And your location
You forgot to turn it off
And so I watch as you walk
Into some bar called The Black Dog
And pierce new holes in my heart
You forgot to turn it off
And it hits me
I just don’t understand
How you don’t miss me
In The Black Dog
When someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up
But she’s too young to know this song
That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming
Old habits die screaming
I move through the world with the heartbroken
My longings stay unspoken
And I may never open up the way I did for you
And all of those best laid plans
You said I needed a brave man
Then proceeded to play him
Until I believed it too
And it kills me
I just don’t understand
How you don’t miss me
In the shower
And remember
How my rain-soaked body was shaking
Do you hate me?
Was it hazing?
For a cruel fraternity I pledged
And I still mean it
Old habits die screaming
Six weeks of breathing clean air
I still miss the smoke
Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?
Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes
And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons
Even if I die screaming
And I hope you hear it
And I hope it’s shitty
In The Black Dog
When someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up
But she’s too young to know this song
That was intertwined in the tragic fabric of our dreaming
‘Cause tail between your legs you’re leaving
And I still can’t believe it
‘Cause old habits die screaming