As soon as Swift dropped all 31 songs off of her surprise double album on Friday, April 19, Swifties immediately got to work rehashing every lyric and picking apart every line, desperate to uncover the secret messages on every tune.
It didn’t take long for fans to theorize that both “So High School” and “The Alchemy” are about Travis — but now, everyone is beginning to come to the realization that the latter track also contains a reference to Jason.
On first listen, it’s no surprise that fans zeroed in on “The Alchemy” being about Swift cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs tight end throughout the football season. But on second, third, and fourth listen, another thought crystallized in fans’ heads — one that specifically tied the “shirts off” lyric to Jason’s infamous shirtless moment during the Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills game.
“Shirts off and your friends lift you up over their heads / Beer stickin’ to the floor, cheers chanted ’cause they said / There was no chance trying to be the greatest in the league,” Swift sings on the bridge. “Where’s the trophy? He just comes runnin’ over to me.”
“IS THE SHIRT OFF LINE IN ALCHEMY ABOUT JASON KELCE?!?!? #TSTTPD,” one fan tweeted.
“The ‘Shirts off’ Line in The Alchemy is definitely about Jason Kelce and I love it #TSTTPD,” a third person penned.
“I want Jason Kelce to cover ‘The Alchemy,'” a fourth social media user commented.
The retired Philadelphia Eagles star recalled the viral moment — in which he cheered on the Chiefs while shirtless in the stands at the January game — telling his brother on their New Heights podcast that the shirtless partying was just how his “mind works after 40 Miller Lites.”
While Jason’s wife, Kylie Kelce, tried to encourage him not to do it — “she was already telling me to be on my best behavior because we were meeting Taylor” — he won Swift over with “the Jason Kelce charm.”
“Well, Tay said she absolutely loves you,” Travis told his older brother.
