Taylor Swift's high school boyfriend who left for her close pal

Posted by Fernande Dalal on Monday, August 19, 2024

Taylor Swift wrote her angriest song after her first boyfriend left her for another girl.

The 25-year-old pop superstar has since become known for writing scathing tracks about exes who had spurned her and one of her earliest was the 2008 single Picture To Burn about hunky high school classmate Jordan Alford.

Jordan, 25, was in the same year as Taylor at Hendersonville High School in Tennessee and they went out before he romanced fellow classmate Chelsea who would later become his wife.

Scroll down for video 

Former rivals: Taylor Swift is shown with former high school rival Chelsea Alford who married a classmate Taylor once dated and wrote a scathing song about

Former rivals: Taylor Swift is shown with former high school rival Chelsea Alford who married a classmate Taylor once dated and wrote a scathing song about

Chelsea recently recalled: 'We were kind of good friends at school, later not so much. She dated him, that's why.

'They dated in freshman year. Picture To Burn is about him. Because he's always had big old trucks and stuff,' Chelsea said.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

'At first it was kind of like, ''Oh, that's weird?'' You know. I was shocked, kind of like, ''Whoa, OK… well that's cool, what other ones are about us?'',' she added.

'But then it was kind of funny, it was so long ago now, who even cares,' Chelsea said.

The couple were told by Taylor's best friend Abigail Anderson that the song was about Jordan.

'We just thought it was funny. [Jordan] was like, ''I'm not a redneck! She makes me look like some redneck!'' but other than that we just thought it was kind of funny,' Chelsea said.

Friends again: Chelsea said that Taylor met her for coffee and was kind to her little sister

Friends again: Chelsea said that Taylor met her for coffee and was kind to her little sister

Taylor's lyrics to Picture To Burn include: 'State the obvious, I didn't get my perfect fantasy / I realize you love yourself more than you could ever love me / So go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy / That's fine I'll tell mine that you're gay.'

Kindergarten teacher Chelsea, 24, said she and Taylor even got into an argument over Jordan – who was still known by his birth name, Paul, at the time – by their lockers.

She added: 'We exchanged a few words over a locker fight. We were 14, we were just being girly, snarky.' 

Chelsea also told how everyone at their school was mesmerized by Taylor's self-titled first album, and tried to figure out who each of the songs was about.

She said: 'We know other people she wrote songs about. That first record was a game, like, 'OK, which one is this about? OK, did they even date? No? that's weird.'

'There were other songs on there about people that we talked about more probably, like Tears On My Guitar, about the guy she never dated, we were like ''that's a little odd.''

'She really does write her own songs, so I guess if you date her you have to know you're going to get a song written about you. In our case, back in school nobody thought she was actually going to go anywhere,' Chelsea said. 

Pop superstar: Taylor is shown on Monday leaving her apartment in the Tribeca area of New York City

Pop superstar: Taylor is shown on Monday leaving her apartment in the Tribeca area of New York City

Chelsea had science classes with Taylor, who she described as 'sweet' and 'kind of goofy' and said she could tell when the budding singer was writing a song instead of paying attention.

She explained: 'She would be in class and she'd be writing, rather than paying attention at all. She was different, she wasn't super popular, she kind of did her own thing. A normal, high school girl kind of thing.'

When it comes to guys, Chelsea doesn't think her former friend is ready to settle down yet, but when she is, it likely will be with a British gentleman.

She added: 'She liked to talk in a British accent. She would do that, [and] her ideal man would be a younger Hugh Grant, he's in her favourite movie, Love Actually.

'I don't think she'll settle down and have a family for a while, she's too boy crazy not too, but I think she will live it up for a while first. It sounds like she goes between crazy cat lady and dating people, it goes back and forth, why not have fun.

'I thought her and Jake Gyllenhaal were really cute together but that didn't last long,' Chelsea said.

Taylor grew up close to US country music capital Nashville, and when she made her debut she was billed as a country artist. 

Former classmates: Chelsea said Taylor would sometimes write songs in class instead of paying attention

Former classmates: Chelsea said Taylor would sometimes write songs in class instead of paying attention

She has since swapped for pop and Chelsea thought that has always suited her style of songwriting better. 

She added: 'She was never very country, her direction now is more of how you think she would go, because she's not from here, she's from Pennsylvania, which is not country. They found a way to get her in [the country scene] no one else was wearing sundresses flowers and boots and that became her little niche. She slipped right in at a good time.'

Despite falling out over Jordan, Chelsea and Taylor later buried the hatchet and she said they often say hello if they see each other around town.

Taylor even met up with Chelsea and her younger sister one day for a coffee.

'She was really sweet, when I was in college, I texted her and said, ''Hey girl is there any way you can meet my little sister? You're famous now and she doesn't remember you from before.''

'She was really cool, she met us at a Starbucks and let my sister sing to her and gave her autographs, she was really, really sweet. She did that and we hadn't talked in years,' Chelsea said.

'I haven't bought her latest record, but we haven't got around to it yet. I like Shake it Off, I think it's a good song,' she added.

 

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKymqLWww8GisWiZoqm2pLjEZmlxcGRqg3V7s6GcZqCZnLVuv8KhpqikXZe8urLRopynnF2hsqfAjI2YsqSfp3qUw8ifq2abnKTApnnPmqNmoZ6ovaq%2BxJ1kqKaVYsC1rdFmqmaamanBpr6MrKann6NjtbW5yw%3D%3D