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Long live Taylor Lautner. Recently, the former Twilight star was asked how he feels about Taylor Swift re-releasing her 2010 album, Speak Now, which famously features songs about both Lautner and John Mayer, two of Swift’s famous exes. Swift has been in the process of re-releasing her albums that she doesn’t own, and on May 5 announced she’d be dropping Speak Now next. On July 7, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) will be released, including six never-before-heard songs.
In terms of how Lautner is feeling about the whole thing, the actor told TODAY.com, “I think it’s a great album. Yeah, I feel safe. Praying for John.”
For some context: Lautner is one of Swift’s most uncomplicated exes and has remained respectful of her over the years. The Speak Now song rumored to be about Lautner, “Back to December,” is a beautiful track in which Swift even apologizes to her ex. She sings, “So this is me swallowin’ my pride / Standin’ in front of you sayin’ I’m sorry for that night / And I go back to December all the time / It turns out freedom ain’t nothin’ but missin’ you / Wishin’ I’d realized what I had when you were mine.” During an interview in 2016, Lautner said the song was about him and that he thought it was “beautiful.”
Once when Swift played Lautner’s hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan, she even changed the lyrics of “Back to December.” Instead of singing: “I’d go back in time and change it, but I can’t / So if the chain is on your door, I understand,” she sang: “I’d go back in time and change it, but I can’t / So this is for the boy from Michigan.”
On the other hand, the Speak Now song rumored to be about Mayer, “Dear John,” is quite brutal. In it, Swift sings about their drastic age difference when the two were dating (she was 19; he was 32): “Dear John, I see it all, now it was wrong / Don’t you think nineteen is too young / To be played by your dark twisted games, when I loved you so?” On her latest album, Midnights, Swift also released a song speculated to be about Mayer called “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” with parallel lyrics: “And I damn sure never would’ve danced with the devil / At nineteen.”
Fans are expecting that the extra songs on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) might give more insight into the Swift-Mayer relationship, similar to what happened when Swift released “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” which included new, revealing lyrics rumored to be about Jake Gyllenhaal. But as for Lautner? Seems like he’s right to remain unbothered.
Madison is a senior writer/editor at ELLE.com, covering news, politics, and culture. When she’s not on the internet, you can most likely find her taking a nap or eating banana bread.