Why did Taylor Swift call Joe Jonas 'cruel' in 'Mr Perfectly Fine'? Truth behind song from 2008 album 'Fearless'
Taylor Swift has launched her latest album, which documents tales of some of her heartbreaks and lost loves. The album features seven new tracks she describes as “from the vault”. These were written before she found happiness with British actor Joe Alwyn. Speculations are rife that pop hunk Joe Jonas, who she dated in 2008, is among those in the firing line of her biting lyrics. The track 'Mr Perfectly Fine' labels him “cruel” and “insincere”.
In the track, she can be heard singing: “Hello, Mr Perfectly Fine, How’s your heart after breaking mine? Mr always at the right place at the right time. Hello, Mr Casually Cruel, Mr everything revolves around you, I’ve been Miss Misery since your goodbye and you’re Mr Perfectly Fine. He goes about his day, forgets he ever even heard my name. Well, I thought you might be different than the rest, I guess you’re all the same."
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She continues: "“Because I hear he’s got his arm around a brand new girl — I’ve been picking up my heart, he’s been picking up her. And I never got past what you put me through. But it’s wonderful to see that it never phased you.” It was reported that shortly after the couple had a bitter breakup over a 27-second phone call, Joe started dating actress Camilla Belle. Fans pointed out that Taylor uses the word “Mr” 27 times during the track, in an undeniable nod to the length of the brief conversation.
Jonas and Swift dated from July to October of 2008, when he infamously broke up with her over the phone, providing plenty of inspiration for songs such as 'Forever & Always', which was a last-minute addition to her 2008 album 'Fearless'. During a November 2008 Ellen show, she said: "When I find that person that is right for me he'll be wonderful and when I look at that person, I'm not even gonna be able to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18."
In 2009, Swift presented 'Saturday Night Live' with a sharp "monologue song" where she references her old flame. “You might think I’d bring up Joe, that guy who broke up with me on the phone. But I’m not going to mention him in my monologue song,” she sings. “Hey Joe! I’m doing real well and I’m hosting SNL -- but I’m not going to write about that in my monologue song.”
The new tracks are the re-recorded account of her 2008 album 'Fearless', which blasted her to pop superstardom with singles such as 'Love Story' and 'You Belong To Me'. After a sour fight with music mogul Scooter Braun, the manager behind stars such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, Taylor has sworn to remake each of her first six studio albums in a bid to stop him from raking in royalties from her work. Braun acquired the rights to her master recordings in 2019 when he bought record label Big Machine, the firm where Taylor had launched her career.