Mom Of Taylor Swift’s Late Friend Shares Thoughts On ‘TLOAS’ Reference

The mother of Taylor Swift's late childhood friend is speaking out after the singer reportedly referenced him on her new album The Life of a Showgirl.

In her new track "Ruin the Friendship," Swift sings about the regrets she has for not sharing her feelings for a friend when they were in school together and then being forever too late when he unexpectedly passed away.

"When I left school, I lost track of you. Abigail called me with the bad news. Goodbye, and we'll never know why [...] But I whispered at the grave, 'Should've kissed you away,'" she sings, later sharing, "My advice is always ruin the friendship, better that than regret it for all time."

According to People, the song is reportedly about Jeff Lang, who attended Hendersonville High School with Swift and died in 2010 at 21 years old. In a new interview with The Tennessean, Jeff's mother Susan Lang shared how touched she is that Swift appeared to honor her late friend once again on her new album. Swift also penned "Forever Winter (Taylor's Version)," a vault track from 2021's Red (Taylor's Version) that is reported to be about Lang.

"After all this time, she hasn't forgotten about him," Susan said, adding, "I'm thankful she's keeping his name alive."

She also gave insight into her son's sweet friendship with the "Fate of Ophelia" singer as teens.

"They were really good friends," she said. "That's rare these days. They hung out at her house a lot. They were always joking around with each other."

Swift previously honored Jeff while accepting a songwriter award at the 2010 BMI Country Awards in Nashville shortly after his death, per E! News.

"It's a really emotional week for me," she said in her acceptance speech. "Yesterday, I sang at the funeral of one of my best friends, and he was 21. I used to play my songs to him first. So I would like to thank Jeff Lang."