Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Swift dissected her brief fling with The 1975 frontman on her new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile
The 1975 frontman Matty Healy has responded to reports that he is the subject of several songs on Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Many of Swift’s fans had expected that the record would be heavily inspired by her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn.
However, it soon emerged that her new songs instead seem to address her brief dalliance with Healy.
News of Swift and Alwyn’s breakup was first reported in April 2023. A month later, the first rumours of Swift dating Healy emerged, after they were first linked back in 2014.
However, the relationship reportedly ended after just a few weeks. She is currently in a relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce.
Songs such as “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, “But Daddy I Love Him”, “Fresh Out the Slammer” and “My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys” have all been interpreted to be about Healy.
Asked by Entertainment Tonight what he thought of his “diss track” outside an apartment building in Los Angeles on Wednesday (24 April), Healy responded: “My diss track? I haven’t really listened to that much of it, but I’m sure it’s good.”
Swift and Healy’s relationship sparked consternation from Swifties (Swift fans) who objected to Healy’s long string of controversies, including a podcast in which he engaged with a number of derogatory remarks about rapper Ice Spice, as well as women and Japanese people.
Healy apologised to Ice Spice in April 2023, saying he didn’t want to be “perceived as, like, kind of mean-hearted”. Soon after this, Swift announced a collaboration with Ice Spice for a remix of her song “Karma”, which some critics and fans claimed was “damage control” for Healy’s comments.
There are several clues scattered throughout songs onThe Tortured Poets Department that indicate they are about Healy.
Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial
Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial
On “Guilty as Sin?” Swift sings about “fatal fantasies” for someone in her past who sends her the 1989 song “The Downtown Lights” by Scottish band The Blue Nile.
Healy has mentioned before that The Blue Nile is his “favourite band of all time” and that The 1975’s song “Love It If We Made It” was inspired by “The Downtown Lights.”
Fans also wrote an open letter in April urging Swift to “reflect on the impact of your own and your associates’ behavior”.
On “But Daddy I Love Him,” Swift seems to address this criticism of her romance with Healy.
She sings: “I’d rather burn my whole life down/ Than listen to one more second of all this bitchin’ and moanin’/ I’ll tell you something ‘bout my good name/ It’s mine along with all the disgrace/ I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing.”
Swift continues in the same vein, on “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” singing: “The jokes that he told across the bar were revolting and far too loud/They shake their heads, saying, ‘God help her’ when I tell ‘em he’s my man/But your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger I can fix him, no really I can.”
She appears to accuse Healy of ghosting her on “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, singing: “Was any of it true?/ Gazing at me starry-eyed/ In your Jehovah’s Witness suit/ Who the f*** was that guy?/ You tried to buy some pills/ From a friend of friends of mine/ They just ghosted you/ Now you know what it feels like.”
Read more about how Taylor Swift takes aim at Matty Healy on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ here.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Taylor Swift and the 1975’s Matty Healy
Getty
Taylor Swift and The 1975’s Matty Healy
Getty
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Log in
New to The Independent?
Or if you would prefer:
Want an ad-free experience?
Hi {{indy.fullName}}
