Highlights
- Taylor Swift's track is often autobiographical, with lyrics that replicate her private reports and relationships, leading lovers to often dissect the which means at the back of her songs.
- "Bad Blood" was published to be about Katy Perry, who allegedly tried to sabotage Swift's area excursion by means of hiring her backup dancers. The feud used to be later clarified via Perry.
- Swift has written songs about her ex-boyfriends, similar to Joe Jonas and John Mayer, with whom she had public breakups. These songs, like "Forever & Always" and "Dear John," be offering perception into her feelings and experiences in the ones relationships.
Taylor Swift is—plainly put— the queen of autobiographical songwriting. Her songs often take the shape of narrative-style diary entries, wherein the occasions of her lifestyles are documented lyrically, placed in the arms of melody and in the end delivered as a gift to her enthusiasts—with a purple bow of oversharing to compare. Swift has been in the music trade for over twenty years and has made herself one of the crucial recognized pop stars on the planet— now not only for her song, but in addition for her personal life.
The country-turned-pop starlet is not any stranger to the limelight with her feuds, romances, and heartbreaks often making headlines. Far from mysterious, Swift has frequently been clear in revealing that her songs are in accordance with private enjoy, which reasons fans to dissect her work to find who or what she's writing about.
Here's a have a look at the stories at the back of iconic songs written by means of Taylor Swift, and who they're in reality about.
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Updated May 2024: All the albums that Taylor Swift releases have references to other celebrities, and "The Tortured Poets Department" isn't any exception. With songs about Joe Alywn, Matt Healy, Kim Kardashian, and Travis Kelce, there may be a lot of emotion packed into the album. All the songs reveal what Swift has experienced in her existence since she and Alwyn (and she and Healy) broke up. While Swift does not title names on any of her albums, Swifties have turn out to be sleuths in terms of seeking to determine just who songs are written about.
14 'Bad Blood'
Subject of Song: Katy Perry
In 2014, Taylor Swift printed in an interview with Rolling Stone that her music "Bad Blood" used to be about some other woman in the industry who did something terrible to her: Katy Perry. It had long been suspected that the music was, in truth, a jab at Katy Perry. "She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me." Swift stated.
The scenario used to be later clarified by Perry who, in a segment on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke series, said their feud began over back-up dancers.
“So there’s three backing dancers on her tour and they asked me ahead of they went on her excursion if they could pass, and I said ‘in fact, I’m no longer on a report cycle at this time … however I will be able to be in more than likely a few 12 months. So put a 30-day contingency on your contract so you'll be able to get out if you want to join me after I pass back.” Perry instructed Corden.
The dancers spoke to management and were due to this fact fired.
“I attempted to talk to her about it and she wouldn’t discuss to me … it used to be a complete shutdown and then she writes a music about me, and I’m like, k, cool, cool, cool, that’s how you need to maintain it? Karma!” Perry persevered.
13 'Forever & Always'
Subject of Song: Joe Jonas
Who may disregard when Joe Jonas allegedly broke up with Taylor Swift over a 27-second telephone name in the summertime of 2008? Not her. Swift took the break-up arduous and channeled her heartbreak over it into "Forever & Always,” off of her album Fearless.
The song known as out Jonas as a "scared little boy" who "still hasn't called" and discusses flashbacks to when he said they were to be together forever and always.
Amidst the controversy, Jonas took to his MySpace in 2008 to clarify the subject of the infamous phone call he made.
“For those who have expressed concern over the ’27-second’ phone call … I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well-received. I did not end the conversation,” he wrote. “Someone else did. Phone calls can only last as long as the person on the other end of the line is willing to talk. A phone call can be pretty short when someone else ends the call.”
Though their breakup was dramatic, they are now on just right phrases. Swift could also be friendly with Jonas's estranged wife, Sophie Turner.
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12 'Better Than Revenge'
Subject of Song: Camilla Belle
As her relationship with Jonas was laid to rest, fans thought that Swift had moved past the heartbreak. But the drama surrounding the end to their short-lived romance did not stop there, especially when Jonas suddenly struck up a romance with actress Camilla Belle shortly after their split. Swift subsequently accused Jonas of cheating on her with Belle while they were together. In 2010, there was one song on Swift's album Speak Now that proved she was not forgiving when it came to the actress.
Fans speculated the song "Better Than Revenge" was about Belle, as it snidely referenced an actress, who isn't a "saint" and is singularly known for what she does on a mattress. Swift later spoke The Guardian in 2014 saying, “I was 18 when I wrote that. That’s the age you are when you think someone can actually take your boyfriend. Then you grow up and realize no one takes someone from you if they don’t want to leave.”.
But it seemed Belle didn't let 18-year-old Swift off the hook that easily in 2015, chiming in when Katy Perry appeared to call Swift out on Twitter, after the "Anti-Hero" singer insinuated that rapper Nicki Minaj was "looking to pit girls towards each different". Perry tweeted, “Finding it ironic to parade the ‘pit women against other women’ argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the takedown of a woman.”
Belle responded, "Couldn't have stated it better".
11 'Dear John'
Subject of Song: John Mayer
It appeared that age was nothing but a number when a 19-year-old Taylor Swift dated a 32-year-old John Mayer from 2009-2010. But Swift was "too young" to be played by Mayer's "dark twisted video games" as she sang on the melancholic song "Dear John" from her 2010 album Speak Now.
Their connection began in 2009, after Mayer tweeted about wanting to work with Swift writing, "Waking up to this song concept that won't go away my head. Three days immediately now. That approach it is just right enough to finish. It's called 'Half of My Heart' and I need to sing it with Taylor Swift. She would make a killer Stevie Nicks in contrast to my Tom Petty of a music."
But things turned sour after their romance ended and "Dear John" hit Mayer where it hurt. Mayer opened up about the song to Rolling Stone.
“It made me feel terrible,” Mayer said. “Because I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.”
10 'Back To December'
Subject of Song: Taylor Lautner
While it sort of feels like Taylor Swift has more just lately embraced accountability like her Midnights unmarried "Anti-Hero," fans remember a specific song from her past that set the foundation for her owning up to her mistakes. "Back To December" was a song written by Swift inspired by then-boyfriend, Taylor Lautner, who she dated shortly in the fall of 2009.
The song seems to pick up post-breakup in March 2010, when the pair reunited for lunch. In the song, Lautner is lauded as a subject that Swift regretfully reflects on breaking up with. She sings about missing his "tan skin," "giant smile" and how she wishes could go back to December to make everything right.
It was made apparent through the song that Lautner was incredibly good to the singer, even though she broke things off with him. The actor even confirmed the song was written about him when his Scream Queens costar Lea Michele prodded him about it.
In a recent episode of his podcast The Squeeze, which he hosts with his new wife, Lautner confessed that he wished he could go back to the night when rapper Kanye West humiliated Taylor Swift onstage at the 2009 VMAs. The actor expressed that he had not known that the moment wasn't a skit and perhaps would have intervened if he had identified what he got here to know later that night.
Lautner and Swift reunited in 2023 in Swift's music video for "I Can See You." The song was a new addition to the album Speak Now, which featured "Back To December." Fans loved seeing the two on good terms, and Lautner even joined Swift on stage during her Eras Tour for the video's premiere.
9 'Out Of The Woods'
Subject of Song: Harry Styles
Swift's short-lived 2012 relationship with Harry Styles is enshrined in the lyrics of "Out of the Woods" off her album 1989. In the song, Swift compares her and Styles to "two paper planes" whose chances of making it out of the woods seem slim to none.
The singer opened up about her feelings when she was in a relationship with the "As It Was" singer during a live performance of the song in 2015 at the Grammy Museum.
"The primary feeling I felt in the courting used to be anxiety, because it felt very fragile. It felt very tentative," said Swift. "It all the time felt like, k, what is the next road block? What's the following thing that is gonna deter this? How long can we have ahead of this becomes an terrible mess and we break up? Is it a month? Is it three days? And so, you realize, I believe a large number of relationships will also be very forged and that’s kind of what you hope for, for it to be solid and wholesome but that’s now not at all times what you get. And it doesn’t mean that it’s now not particular and bizarre just to have a courting that’s fragile and by hook or by crook meaningful in that fragility.”
8 'All Too Well'
Subject of Song: Jake Gyllenhaal
When Swift at first launched her fourth studio album Red in 2012, one track turned into the emotional centerpiece of the album. It used to be this album that birthed the phenomenon that is "All Too Well," which gained much more reputation when the singer released the original 10-minute model on Red (Taylor's Version) following controversy over her masters. The saccharine ballad reads like a laundry checklist of fond recollections the singer shared with ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. The music is sort of audibly picturesque with its references to autumn drives upstate, swaying in dim fridge lighting and a misplaced shawl that had her fanatics harassing Gyllenhaal for its whereabouts.
The actor got here underneath fire much more after Swift released All Too Well: The Short Film in 2021. He even confessed that he had turned off his Instagram feedback upon being burdened on social media over the topic. In an interview with Esquire, the actor in the end addressed the topic of the track.
“It has not anything to do with me. It’s about her courting with her fans," he said. "It is her expression. Artists tap into personal reports for inspiration, and I don’t begrudge any person that.
He went on to extra widely address the subject saying, “At some level, I think it’s essential when supporters get unruly that we feel a responsibility to have them be civil and now not permit for cyberbullying in one’s identify."
7 'So Long, London'
Subject of Song: Joe Alwyn
Given that Swift has referenced Alwyn in the tune, "London Boy" it is clear that "So Long, London" is ready him.
Not handiest did Swift reference her track, "You're Losing Me" with the lyrics, "I stopped CPR, in the end it’s little need / The spirit was once gone, we'd by no means come to" but she also spoke about how she tried to keep the relationship going as long as she could, knowing that there were signs it was crumbling at every turn.
"You say I abandoned the send, however I was taking place with it / My white knuckle demise grip conserving tight to your quiet resentment," speak directly to the length of how long Swift and Alwyn were together. It may also be a hint at the fact that Alwyn was unhappy with the spotlight Swift had on her and that he has yet to achieve the same with his career.
6 'The Alchemy'
Subject of Song: Travis Kelce
Despite the admission Swift made at her Paris show that she had been working on TheTortured Poets Department portion of the Eras Tour for nine months, a song about Travis Kelce managed to make its way onto the album. That song is "The Alchemy."
With all the sports references in the song, there is no mistaking who "The Alchemy" was written for.
"Shirts off and your pals elevate you up over their heads / Beer sticking to the ground / Cheers chanted cause they stated there was no probability / Trying to be the best within the league / Where’s the trophy? / He just comes running over to me."
But Swift does not only mention Kelce in the song. She also takes subtle digs at her exes, Alwyn and Matt Healy, with the lines, "Those blokes heat the benches" and "He jokes that it’s heroin however this time with an 'E'," respectively.
5 'But Daddy I Love Him'
Subject of Song: Matt Healy
Swift knew that her lovers disapproved of Healy. However, all the talk about what a bad boy he was once and that Healy was once now not the man for Swift most effective made Swift want him extra.
"I don’t cater to all these vipers wearing empath’s clothing / God save essentially the most judgmental creeps who say they would like what’s best possible for me / Sanctimoniously acting soliloquies I’ll by no means see / Thinking it may possibly alternate the beat of my center," was a direct message to all who were talking poorly about the relationship. But as Swift would soon find out, Healy was not the one for her.
4 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived'
Subject of Song: Matt Healy
There has been some debate as to who this song is about but most Swifties believe "The Smallest Man WHo Ever Lived" is about Healy.
Not only does Swift make reference to drugs in the song, "You tried to shop for some capsules from a pal of buddies of mine / They just ghosted you / Now you already know what it seems like" which Healy has been known to use, but the song also appears to make reference to Healy's sudden break up with Swift that left her spiraling when she should have been celebrating, right as the Eras Tour was beginning.
"I don’t even need you back, I simply need to know / If rusting my sparkling summer was the objective."
3 'I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)'
Subject of Song: Matt Healy
Healy has been known to say comments that get a rise out of people. Case in point was his comments about Ice Spice, one of Swift's fans and contributors to her music, while the two were dating. This caused Swifties to take pause and warn Swift that this was not the guy for her.
However, Swift was enamored with Healy and it did not matter what he said. She felt like she could fix Healy and make him, potentially marriage material.
"They shake their heads saying, ‘God lend a hand her’ when I inform ‘em he’s my guy" points to Swift knowing what was being said about her relationship with Healy. However, she did not care what anyone else had to say.
But, as the weeks wore on, it became clear to Swift that Healy might never change. "Whoa, maybe I can’t" at the end of "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) is a right away connection with that.
2 thanK you aIMee
Subject of Song: Kim Kardashian
Swift was not exactly subtle with the use of font for the title of "thanK you aIMee." But simply in case the spelling of the identify "K-I-M" used to be overlooked, Swift references Kim Kardashian and her "bronze spray tan" in the music as well.
Further nonetheless, Swift provides the line, "One day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you" which now not only references the truth that Kardashian and her children have made videos to Swift's songs but that Swift's songs are on the entire streaming platforms and satellite tv for pc stations, meaning that Kardashian's youngsters might be singing a tune about her and no longer knowing it.
1 'So High School'
Subject of Song: Travis Kelce
A video of Kelce resurfaced when he began relationship Swift by which he used to be asked if he would Marry, Kiss, or Kill Ariana Grande, Swift, or Katy Perry. At that time, Kelce stated that he would kiss Swift and marry Perry. Little did he know when giving that interview that it will be referenced in a music one day.
"Are you gonna marry, kiss, or kill me (Kill me) / It’s just a game, but really (Really) / I’m bettin’ on all three for us two (All three)" is what Swift sings. Astute lovers have even picked up on the fact that Swift appears to imagine that Kelce just might be endgame material with this song as smartly.
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