Turns out Joe Alywn didn’t have to be so worried about The Tortured Poets Department. Taylor Swift had her sights WAY more set on Matty Healy the whole time!
While Taylor and Matty only had a short fling in the spring of 2023, as her rebound from the Conversations with Friends actor, they have a super long history together dating back to 2014. And after all the drama that went down with their quick (and controversial AF) public romp, the musician had a s**t ton to get off her chest!
There are a handful of songs on the new double record that appear to be about The 1975 frontman. We break ’em down (below)!
Related: Travis Kelce’s 2 Favorite Songs From Taylor’s New Album!
But Daddy I Love Him
In a surprising twist, Taylor actually called out her fans in this one! Clapping back at folks who judged her romp with Matty, she sang in But Daddy I Love Him:
“I’ll tell you something right now / I’d rather burn my whole life down / Than listen to one more second of all this bitching and moaning”
Oh, damn!
Noting that she is unaffected by “vipers in pale dresses groaning,” she continued:
“God save the most judgmental creeps / Who say they want what’s best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see / Thinking they can change the beat of my heart when he touches me and counteract the chemistry?”
Describing herself as Healy’s “wild child,” she joked that she was pregnant with his baby, adding:
“You should see your faces / Tore thru defenses / No I’m not coming to my senses”
Later, she blasted the “Sarahs and Hannahs” who are “clutching their pearls” over the romance, saying:
“I just learned these people try and save you / Because they hate you.”
Down Bad
In Down Bad, the songwriter seemed to reference Matty’s controversial reputation, saying:
“They’ll say I’m nuts if I talk about the existence of you.”
She even mentioned his “indecent exposures,” which could be a reference to his scandalous past behavior, which resurfaced in droves amid their fling. But still, she wasn’t bashing him for any of it! She promised to build them “a fort on some planet where they can all understand it.” But mentioning their breakup, she argued:
“How dare you think it’s romantic leaving me safe and stranded. ‘Cause f**k it, I was in love. So f**k you if I can’t have us […] For a moment I knew cosmic love, now I’m down bad crying at the gym, everything comes out teenage petulance”
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
In this one, Taylor claimed she was dating a “bad boy” whom she believed she could “fix.” Perhaps referencing some of his racist and rude commentary, Taylor dished:
“The smoke cloud billows out his mouth like a freight train / The jokes he told across the bar were revolting and far too loud.”
She recalled eyewitnesses shaking their heads, saying to themselves, “God help her,” when she “tells them he’s my man.” But she’d fight back, “Trust me, I can fix him, I can.” She calls the problematic beau “a perfect case for my skillset” — but comes to the revelation by the end of the song:
“Well, maybe I can’t”
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
Fans were convinced The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived was going to be about Joe, but it turns out it might’ve been about the other musician! Why? Well, Taylor talks about being ghosted by an ex, wondering if “rusting my sparkling summer was the goal?” Matty and Tay dated in the spring/summer, so that tracks. She added:
“In public showed me off, then sank in stoned oblivion because once your queen had come, you treat her like an ulcer. You didn’t measure up in any measure of a man. You said normal girls were boring but you were gone by morning.”
She also claims, for her man, the romance “wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden” while urging that she would have “died” for his sins, reflecting:
“Instead I just died inside. And you deserve prison but you won’t get any time. You’ll slide into inboxes and slide through the bars.”
Guilty as Sin?
Guilty as Sin? reflects on Taylor’s forbidden feelings for someone. And while we don’t know when she first fell for the Chocolate crooner, they were first linked in 2014, so… yeah! There’s the potential that this was about him, too! She shared:
“I keep recalling things we never did / How I long for our trysts / Without ever touching his skin, how can I be guilty as sin?”
The pop star revealed she kept her “longings locked in lowercase inside a vault” because “someone told me there’s no such things as bad thoughts, only actions.” But her fantasies had a way of taking over, “giving way to labored breath / Taking all of me.” Revealing “we’ve already done it in my head,” she said the imagined love affair felt like “a vow we’ll both uphold.”
The Tortured Poets Department
Even the title track might be about Healy! Can you believe it??
We were all convinced The Favourite actor would be the focal point of this tune considering he was once in a group chat of the same name, but the song is supposedly pretty similar in tune to a 1975 song — which could be a hint that it’s about Healy. Taylor’s done that in the past like in Dear John about John Mayer.
But there’s more. She called her man in the track a “tattooed golden retriever” — Joe doesn’t have any visible tats, but Matty’s covered in them. T-Swift also insisted “Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist,” and Matty has tweeted his praise for the singer before. Further reflecting on the relationship, Taylor said they were “modern idiots,” furthering:
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me / But you told Lucy that you’d kill yourself if I ever leave / And I had said that to Jack so I felt seen / Everyone that we know understands why it’s meant to be. Cause we’re crazy.”
“Jack” is likely a reference to producer Jack Antonoff, their mutual friend.
Fortnight
While it’s unclear exactly who Fortnight is about, it could be Healy! A fortnight is approximately two weeks, and the couple was only linked for less than two months in the spring. It’s also possible Taylor hints at him being a rebound, belting:
“I took the magical move on drug / The effects were temporary.”
Fresh Out the Slammer
And finally, Fresh Out the Slammer! This song mentions Joe, but also Matty! Taylor mused:
“Fresh out the slammer, I know how my first call will be to / All those nights he kept me lonely, I swirled you into all my poems / Now we’re at the starting line, I did my time.”
See?! There are so many tracks about Matty! (We think, at least!!) Their relationship was tiny compared to Taylor and Joe’s, but it clearly left a big impression! Oof! Thoughts? What’s your favorite track so far? Let us know (below)!
[Image via Amelia Dimoldenberg/Kelly Clarkson Show/Late Night/YouTube]
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