Taylor Swift has officially confirmed that the names used in her new song âBettyâ were taken from people she knows â specifically, her friendsâ kids.
On Wednesday, a fan named Laura posted a video on Instagram of herself listening to country radio. You can hear Swift talking on the radio about how she was inspired to write the 14th song on âFolklore,â her latest album.
Swift explains that the song is about a teenager who just lost the love of his life and is experiencing what itâs like to give a heartfelt apology for the first time.
âEverybody makes mistakes, everybody really messes up sometimes. This is a song that I wrote from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy. I always loved that in music you can kind of slip into different identities and you can sing from other peopleâs perspectives. So thatâs what I did on this one,â she shares, before confirming something that fans have been wondering about for days.
âI named all the characters in this story after my friendsâ kids, and I hope you like it.â
Since the release of âFolkloreâ last month, fans have been musing about âBetty.â For one, the track has resonated widely within the queer community because, as New York Magazine put it, the song references âLonging. Unrequited love. Skateboards. Gender bending. Rumors. A harmonica! Everything about this song screams queer.â
Additionally, the song includes multiple names that are pretty clearly connected.
âBetty, I know where it all went wrong,â sings Swift at one point, followed later by: âYou heard the rumors from Inez / You canât believe a word she saysâ and âShe said, âJames, get in, letâs drive.ââ
Many fans quickly noted that James and Inez are the names of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynoldsâ two eldest daughters. However, the name of their third daughter, who was born in October, has not yet been released to the public.
Notably, Swift is very good friends with Lively so it stands to reason that if the new song is dropping clues like fans hope, Lively and Reynoldsâ 10-month-old is named Betty.
HuffPost has reached out to representatives for Lively and Reynolds for more information.