Taylor Swift’s ‘TTPD’ Relationship Breakdown: Songs About Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy and Travis Kelce
Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” arrives two months after she surprised fans at the 2024 Grammy Awards by announcing the album.
The international star previously described the project as her “lifeline” during a party she held last February in Melbourne, Australia.
“It kind of reminded me why songwriting is the thing that actually gets me through life, and I’ve never had an album where I needed to write songs more than I needed to on Tortured Poets,” she explained.
Now, fans are busy deciphering the lyrics of the project’s 16 songs, and theorizing about the identity of these songs. Read on to discover which of the previous files Swift may have referred to in “TTPD.”
Joe Alwyn
“””””””””””””””””””””””””
The song in “TTPD” most likely to be about the actress is “So Long, London,” a heartbreaking tune about Swift saying goodbye to the British city she called home for six years.
“You left everything I knew, you left me in the house by the meadow,” the singer sings in the heartbreaking lyrics, perhaps talking about how she moved from the United States to Alwyn’s native country to live a quiet, private life with him.
“Lommel”
Swift and Alwyn, who began dating in early 2017, have faced engagement rumors several times during their long-term romance. However, the Grammy winner seemed to confirm on “Loml” that they’ve never gotten past the point of thinking about their future.
The lyrics go: “She talked to me under the table / Talking rings and talking stands / I wish I could remember how we got almost everything.”
“I can do this with a broken heart.”
The “Anti-Hero” singer kicked off her Eras tour in March 2023, just weeks before Page Six confirmed her split from Alwyn.
While Swift seemed to be having a good time on stage, the lyrics of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” — a song about being secretly “miserable” — told a different, more depressing story.
“Lights, camera b***h smile / Even when you want to die,” Swift sings in the tune before adding a direct reference to her concerts: “All the parts of me shattered when the crowd was chanting, ‘More!’”
“The smallest man who ever lived”
Swift sends a message to the “youngest man who lived” — likely Alwyn — in the 14th track of her new album, once again noting how much their split affected her in the months that followed.
“I don’t even want you back, I just want to know / If the shimmering rust of my summer is the goal,” one lyric goes. (The first leg of the Eras tour ran across the US from March to August 2023.)
Matty Healy
“The Tortured Poets Section”
Swifties believe the “Midnights” singer referenced Matty Healy — who she has never publicly dated but was caught kissing at New York City’s Casa Cipriani in May 2023 — in the title track of her album.
She sings: “I smoked and then I ate seven pieces of chocolate / We declared that Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist / You scratch your head and fall asleep / Like a tattooed golden retriever.”
The 1975 singer is known to enjoy smoking a cigarette, even during his performances, and has several tattoos. 1975 also contains a hit song called “Chocolate”.
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“Guilty as sin?”
While “guilty of sin?” It could be about anyone, as fans on X have theorized that the emotional cheating discussed in the song has something to do with Hailey.
Swift describes the sensual daydreams she has about another person as “deadly delusions” and admits that she and the unnamed person “really did it” in her head.
“What if he wrote ‘mine’ on the top of my thigh just in my mind?” She sings at another point.
Fans seemed to be enjoying the song, with one quipping: “If emotional cheating with Matty has made us guilty as a sin, then I say I forgive them.”
“Bad bottom”
“Down Bad” appears to be an emotional breakup song about Swift losing someone with whom she shared “cosmic love.”
While the lyrics could be about a number of people from her past, fans believe they are referring to Hailey as she describes her ex as “hostile” and having “inappropriate exposures.”
Although he has never been caught exposing himself to anyone, he has been involved in several controversial moments, such as when he got into a fight with a security guard during a show in June 2023 and went on a racist podcast about Swift’s boyfriend, rapper Ice Spice.
“I can fix it (I really can’t)”
Swift sings about dating a controversial man — perhaps the “Oh Caroline” singer — as people protest in “I Can Fix It (I Really Can’t).”
“They shake their heads and say, ‘God help her’ when I tell them he’s my man,” she purrs before protesting, “But your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger / I can fix it, no really I can.”
Travis Kelsey
“Alchemy”
Swift didn’t start dating Travis Kelce until the summer of 2023, but it appears their relationship was still mentioned in her latest album.
In the song “The Alchemy,” the pop star makes several sports references about touchdowns, teams, seat warmers, winning streaks and awards that fans believe prove he’s related to the NFL tight end.
“References to American football…welcome to your first song Travis,” one Swiftie tweeted at X, while another pointed out a lyric about “beer sticking to the ground,” which could be a reference to the duo’s love of alcoholic beverages. .