Discover The Black Dog, a London pub made famous by Taylor Swift

It's midweek lunchtime on an unassuming residential street in Vauxhall, south London. There aren't many people around – an occasional dog walker, a few joggers, a few delivery drivers. It's pretty much what you'd expect on a rainy day at work.

But around the corner, it's a different story. A red-brick Victorian pub, covered in hanging baskets of flowers and mosaic tiles, is an unexpected hub of activity.

Despite the drizzle, people are sitting outside, drinking beer and cups of coffee. Surrounding them are a handful of journalists – holding microphones, cameras, notepads. Passersby stop, point and pose for photos. Every few minutes, excited customers get out of the black cabs and head inside, where every table is occupied.

Welcome to Black Dog. A local London pub that gained unexpected prominence and entered the tourist map, thanks to Taylor Swift.

Last Friday, Swift released her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” along with a surprise additional 15 songs that make up “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.”

On Instagram, Swift described the song as a narration of a “fleeting, fatalistic moment in time – a moment that was both sensational and sad in equal measure.” The album appears to be inspired by the fallout from Swift's breakup with her long-term partner, British actor Joe Alwyn, which saw her plunge into a short-lived but intense relationship with another Londoner – 1975 singer Matty Healy.

Among the 31 tracks — which range from upbeat synth pop that masks heartbreak to slower, folk-inspired songs that lean toward sadness — is a moody, reflective track called “The Black Dog,” in which Swift sings about a ex who left his cell phone location settings after the breakup:

“And then I see you walk into some bar called the Black Dog and burn new holes in my heart.”

As soon as these lyrics hit the internet, Swifties began investigating. Was Black Dog a real London location or just a fictional name chosen for its symbolic meaning?

Maddie Essig, an American college student studying abroad in London, was among the fans who immediately began Googling.

“Joe and Taylor spent a lot of time in London,” says Essig. “I thought it would be around here somewhere.”

Essig is sitting inside Black Dog at a table by the window, across from her friend – fellow American abroad and Swift fan – Jenna Spackey. When the two began chatting with CNN Travel, they had just finished lunch at the pub (Spackey had a ceasar salad, Essig had the classic British pub fish and chips).

The two friends had never been to Vauxhall before. But once they realized Black Dog was real, they hopped on a subway – partly as a Swiftie pilgrimage and partly to celebrate the end of the university semester. The two only have a few weeks left in the UK before they return to the US – Essig to Baltimore, Maryland and Spackey to Houston, Texas. They call this period the “So Long, London” era, an homage to another song by “The Tortured Poets Department” that references the capital of the United Kingdom.

This new record isn't the first time Swift has mentioned London locations in her music. In her 2019 track “London Boy” – believed to be about Alwyn – Swift describes enjoying “nights in Brixton” and “Shoreditch afternoons”, as well as “walking through Camden Market” and going to Highgate, the West End and even finding joy in the “gray sky, in a rainy taxi ride”.

“People will go to all the places she lists in the song,” Spackey says of “London Boy.” “I feel like Black Dog will definitely be added to the hit list.”

Pub perspective

Although no one – least of all Swift – has actually confirmed that the Vauxhall Black Dog is the inspiration for her music (there is another London-based Black Dog, for example, a brewery further outside the city in the suburb of Brentford (although some fans have pointed to a bar in Cork, Ireland, with the same name), The Black Dog, in south London, achieved its unexpected fame.

There is now a sign in the window quoting the lyrics. On Instagram, the pub added “home to tortured poets” to its bio. Inside The Black Dog, the cocktail list on the board has the addendum “Taylor's Version” – a reference to the way Swift delineates her recent re-recorded tracks from the originals.

Lily Bottomley, social and events manager at SC Soho, the small hospitality group that owns The Black Dog, told CNN Travel who first heard about the song through her own personal social media channels.

“I saw 'Black Dog' and thought, 'Oh…' And then it just took off. And within half a day – even before the album came out, there were people showing up,” says Bottomley.

Over the weekend, the pub hired extra security – “just in case, nothing crazy happened”.

Then followed “a very busy Monday” and a series of bookings for late June and mid-August, when Swift will perform eight sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. The Black Dog plans to open early and close later on those days. When Bottomley talks to CNN Travel, she points to the already packed pub: “We're expecting a busy Tuesday as well.” There has been press coverage around the world and while Bottomley speaks to CNN Travel other media outlets are organizing shows and filming TikToks outside the pub.

Black Dog was already active on Instagram before Swift's fame, but Bottomley and his team created a TikTok account over the weekend. “Our TikTok, within 72 hours, got over 200,000 likes and a million views after it was created,” says Bottomley. “It’s huge.”

Meanwhile, the pub’s Instagram following has “tripled, almost quadrupled now”, says Bottomley. People are following and commenting from all over the world. The Black Dog is “a local pub”, says Bottomley – it’s generally known for its “quiet, cozy atmosphere most of the time”. Its interior is inviting, chic – and more gastropub than noisy bar.

But Swift's influx of enthusiastic fans has been a joy, Bottomley says. “We’ve already sung,” she says, adding that the team is “working” on the idea of ​​a Swift-themed karaoke night. So far, all the fans who have stopped by have brought a positive and contagious vibe.

“Last night we had a lot of Swifties come in who didn't know each other, and they were putting chairs together, putting their tables together, such a great atmosphere,” says Bottmley. “It’s predominantly women and it’s really positive to have this community together in a pub.”

While many fans — like Essig and Spackey — believe “The Black Dog” is about Joe Alwyn, others think Matty Healy could be the subject (the references to smoking and the ex’s penchant for an “esoteric joke” seem more coded by Healy). Bottomley doesn't confirm or deny anything, but hints that the pub has “a certain blonde regular”, apparently a reference to Alwyn's light hair color.

As for Swift herself, Bottomley says he's “never seen her” at The Black Dog (which, again, matches the song's lyrics, which suggests Swift's narrator is unfamiliar with the bar). “But you never know,” says Bottomley. “We would love to have her.”

Songwriting that sets the scene

When CNN Travel visits, there's no time to sample The Black Dog's inviting food menu, but this writer opts for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc Swift-approved (on another new track, “The Alchemy,” Swift compares the rush of a new love affair to a glass of wine: “It happens once every few lifetimes/These chemicals hit me like white wine,” She sings).

Meanwhile, my companion tries The Black Dog's signature stout and gives it the seal of approval. The two drinks cost £14.65 (about $18), which is what you'd expect in London in 2024.

The stout is served in a pint glass printed with the pub's name and accompanying black dog logo. Bottomley says no one has stolen any of these glasses yet – much to his relief – but the pub is in the process of making merchandise, so visitors will be able to take a glass home in no time.

“If The Black Dog sold products, I would buy something from their store,” says Swift fan Avangeline Strasburg. “Having something from a place I visited that is also mentioned in a song by my favorite artist would be a really cool souvenir.”

Florida-based Avangeline Strasburg and her friend and colleague Katie Hageman are currently in London on vacation in celebration of Strasburg's 29th birthday. “I was like, 'Oh my God, Taylor is releasing an album, right for my birthday, right for our trip!'” says Strasburg.

When the two friends realized that the The Black Dog it was a real pub, they knew they needed to include a visit in their London itinerary. “We wanted to see it for ourselves,” says Hageman. The two friends describe the pub as “quaint” – adding that it’s not exactly what they expected based on the song’s lyrics. “Hearing those lyrics, I think we assumed it was going to be more of a bar with loud music,” says Hageman.

While perusing The Black Dog's food menu, deciding what to have for lunch, Hageman and Strasburg talk to CNN Travel about whether Swift's song “Black Dog” is really about this pub — and whether the song is about Matty Healy or Joe Alwyn, or both.

It's fun to speculate, they agree, but “maybe it's not even about a specific person.” In the end, it doesn't really matter, they decide. What excites Strasburg and Hageman most are “Black Dog’s” evocative and striking lyrics, which are a staple in Swift’s songwriting.

This type of writing is key to Swift's success. The specificity of the images – like the scarf in “All Too Well” that her ex still keeps in her “drawer” – allows listeners to put themselves in Swift’s shoes.

Sure, she's a Grammy-winning billionaire who lives a very different life than most of us consider typical, but Swift has a knack for extracting emotion from everyday, relatable details. And when Swift describes locations — whether the rented apartment on “Cornelia Street” or the “saltbox house on the coast” in “The Last Great American Dynasty” she does so with a particularity and fervor that allows listeners to draw a picture in their minds.

“She always includes little details, sometimes vague, sometimes specific — but they are always part of her life,” says Strasburg. Hageman compares the song “Black Dog” to a “fable” – it’s probably not entirely based in reality. It may not be a real place. It may not be about a real person. “It made the song even more relatable to us,” she says. “And I think of everyone who has created stories based on the brilliant, filtered details we perceive of each other’s lives on the outside.”