Music
Who Is Jeff Lang? Taylor Swift’s Late Friend May Have Inspired ‘Ruin the Friendship’
Taylor Swift‘s new album The Life of a Showgirl features the song “Ruin the Friendship,” which may have been inspired by her late friend Jeff Lang. The lyrics of the song look back on regrets from high school, with references to prom and second period.
Swift sings about wishing she’d kissed someone at the time. “It was not an invitation, but as the 50 Cent song plays, shoulda kissed you anyway,” she says. “And it was not convenient, woulda been the best mistake, shoulda kissed you anyway.”
In the bridge, she gets the news that the subject of the song died, changing the lyrics to say, “I whispered at the grave, shoulda kissed you anyway.” As the song fades out, she adds, “My advice is always ruin the friendship or you’ll regret it for all time.”
Lang died in 2010, and this is not the first apparent song that Swift has written about him. Scroll down to learn more.
Who is Jeff Lang?
Lang went to high school with Swift. He died on November 2, 2010, according to an obituary, and still lived in Swift’s former town Hendersonville, Tennessee, at the time of his death.
When Swift won the BMI Country Songwriter of the Year award in 2010, she had just gotten back from attending Lang’s funeral. “It’s been a really emotional week for me,” she said, while accepting the honor. “He was 21, and I used to play my songs for him first. So I would like to thank Jeff Lang.”
Lang died from inflammation of the lungs, with the Medical Examiner noting that methadone was a probable contributing factor in his death, according to the Chattanooga Free Times Press. Lang graduated from Hendersonville High School in 2008. He was attending University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and majoring in biology when he died.
What Taylor Swift songs are about Jeff Lang?
In addition to “Ruin the Friendship,” fans have speculated that Swift’s song “Forever Winter” is also about Lang. She wrote the song before the 2012 release of her album Red, but did not release it until it was included as a vault track on the re-recorded version of the album in 2021.
The heartbreaking lyrics of the song feature Swift worrying about a friend who seem to be dealing with mental health issues. “All this time I didn’t know, you were breaking down, I’d fall to pieces on the floor, if you weren’t around,” she sings in the chorus. “Too young to know it gets better, I’d be summer sun for you forever, forever winter if you go.”
In the second verse, she sings about her fear that the subject in the song gives up. “He seems fine, most of the time, forcing smiles and never minds,” she begins. “His laugh is a symphony, when the lights go out, it’s hard to breathe. I pull at every thread, trying to solve the puzzles in his head, live my life, scared to death, he’ll decide to leave instead.”
By the bridge, she’s begging him not to leave her and references his dark thoughts. “If I was standing there in your apartment, I’d take that bomb in your hand and disarm it, I’d say, ‘I love you even at your darkest, and please, don’t go.'” Lang was found in his apartment when he died.
Another song speculated to be about Lang is “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” off the 2022 album Midnights. It’s a gut-wrenching track about losing someone. “Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky, you were more than just a short time,” she sings. “And I’ve got a lot to pine about, I’ve got a lot to live without, I’m never gonna meet, what could’ve been, would’ve been, what should’ve been you.”
Swift has never publicly disclosed who inspired “Forever Winter,” “Bigger Than the Whole Sky,” or “Ruin the Friendship.”
Did Taylor Swift and Jeff Lang date?
No, the two appear to only have been friends. However, Swift seemingly wanted to cross the line, which she sings about on “Ruin the Friendship.”
The song also notes that Lang had another girlfriend at the time. “It was not convenient, no, but your girlfriend was away, shoulda kissed you anyway,” she sings at one point.
