Selena Gomez has confirmed a long-standing fan theory that Taylor Swift‘s ‘Dorothea’ is about her.
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The track, which appeared on Swift’s 2020 album ‘Evermore‘, has long been suspected by fans to be about Gomez, with lyrics like, “the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams” and “you’rе a queen sellin’ dreams, sellin’ makeup and magazines.”
Now, Gomez has put an end to speculation, confirming she is the song’s suspect during a recent episode of her husband Benny Blanco and artist Lil Dicky’s web series, Friends Keep Secrets.
Touching on why she connects to Swift’s music on a more personal level, Gomez said Swift had written at least two songs that reflect on their paths from teenage stars, to working as adult women in Hollywood, to now finding their respective partners. (Gomez married music producer Blanco last September, and Swift got engaged to NFL star Travis Kelce that August).
“Well, ‘Dorothea’ is about me – one of her songs,” Gomez explained. “I feel like a lot of huge moments that were self-defining, from relationships to family to love to hate, [and] all of it in between. We were figuring it out because I was 15 and she was 18, and we didn’t really know what was going on. So, we’ve never seen each other any differently. So, when I listen to it, I’m so impressed [by] how it’s eloquently put.”
Gomez also revealed that a second unreleased song, titled ‘Family’, that was written “easily a decade ago,” was also about their friendship.
She explained that the lyrics speak of Gomez’s dreams of being in movies, while Swift’s was aiming to perform in sold-out stadiums. “Now, when I listen to that song, both of those things have happened for us,” she said.
“We survived it, as best as we could,” Gomez added. “It’s absolutely unbelievable to come from 17 years of friendship, from multiple heartbreaks, and love stories, and fond stories and life – we both ended up, fortunately, being engaged around the same time, and that was the coolest.”
Last year, Gomez reflected on how their friendship began, revealing that they bonded over their break-ups with separate members of the Jonas Brothers.
Swift is now engaged to Travis Kelce, and Gomez is now married to Blanco. Back when they announced their engagement, Swift commented on their social media post saying: “Yes I will be the flower girl.”
Following their engagement, the couple also released the collaborative album, ‘I Said I Love You First’, which chronicled the couple’s “love story”. Prior to that, they had worked together on several of her hit songs dating back to 2015’s ‘Same Old Love’.
That album scored a three-star review from NME, with Georgia Evans writing: “While each track is enjoyable in isolation, the album struggles to establish a singular voice. And that’s a shame, given Blanco’s past pop supremacy. Instead of offering a truly revealing glimpse into their relationship – as the album cover suggests – ‘I Said I Love You First’ maintains a noticeable distance between artist and listener, and leaves you feeling a little empty by the end.”
As for Swift, she released her latest album, ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’, back in October, and made ‘Opalite’ the record’s second single last month with a star-studded music video including TV host Graham Norton, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, Lewis Capaldi, and Cillian Murphy.
NME gave ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ three stars, writing: “To seek escapism is not a sin, but the best pop music makes the personal feel like life or death. ‘Speak Now’, ‘Reputation’, ‘Folklore’: her greatest works could be genuinely transformative. For the first time, ‘The Life Of A Showgirl’ sees Swift not catalysed into artistic growth by love, but merely comfortably secured by it.”
