Long were the nights that John Mayer has had to answer for “Dear John.”
And on the eve of Taylor Swift‘s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)‘s release, which features a re-recorded version of the track, it looks like the song’s accepted subject had a message for Swifties.
John took a moment to reflect on three nights of Dead & Company shows—his band with several surviving Grateful Dead members—at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. At the end of his July 6 carousel of images was a shot of drones spelling out the words “Please be kind” above the stage.
And though the “Gravity” singer made no indication that the image was intended as a message, Taylor’s fans seemed to think it was related. One user commented, “The last slide is very speak now coded,” while another added, “ITS TIME JOHN #speaknowtaylorsversion.”
As for why fans seem convinced John was sending a subtle message? Well, the “Heartbreak Warfare” singer and Taylor dated from 2009 to 2010, when they were 32 and 19 respectively. And “Dear John,” which was originally released in 2010, has long been rumored to be about the now-45-year-old.
The song includes the lyrics “Dear John, I see it all now, it was wrong / Don’t you think nineteen’s too young / To be played by your dark, twisted games when I loved you so?”
Since then, many of Taylor’s fans have taken to directing angry and sometimes threatening messages his way.
