Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: An Exploration of Love and Controversy

Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department, is a complex exploration of her brief and intense romance with Matty Healy. Each track dissects different facets of their relationship, public perceptions, and personal revelations, and beyond. Sure Travis sneaks in there, but Joe is only 2 or 3 of these. I’ll start with the foundational ones.

TTPD mainly being about matty

Delulu swifties: oh my god stop saying every song is about him

Taylor who has used matty has a musical muse for a decade

Swifties: stop trying to rewrite history she was with Joe

Illicit affairs and Guilty as sin literally existing

https://x.com/1989healy/status/1781931401962500137

2014 It begins (tech 2013 it began.)

Peter

Cardigan is about Peter Pan aka Matt Healy, she pointed at him at the show he was at during this. The Cardigan they passed back and forth was like Tinkerbell’s thimble symbolizing a kiss, but he was too big to kiss, to unattainable (he was with Halsey, she Joe( and so on ) but he won her heart fully and held on to it for a decade. Peter chasing Wendy, original lyric was Wendy chasing Peter. One day he’s grow up and give her that picket fence he’d promised and leave Never never land and the Lost Boys but he be came the Loss of her Life instead. The White Picket Fence had Five Holes in it not Four and it was a Fence she was being gaslit into believing would happen once she was fresh out the slammer.

"The Tortured Poets Department"

The title track uses clever instrumentals reminiscent of Healy's band, The 1975, to set the stage for a candid exploration of their relationship. Swift's lyrics paint a picture of two people who, while not idealized poets like Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith, find a unique and chaotic comfort in each other’s company. Swift laments on bonding moments with her “tattooed golden retriever” — Alwyn has no noticeable body art, while Healy is covered in it — referencing a conversation about how “Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.” (Healy once tweeted his praise about Puth’s talent.)
“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,” she says in the bridge, referencing producer Jack Antonoff, their mutual friend.

"Down Bad"

In "Down Bad," Swift addresses the criticisms and public scrutiny of her relationship with Healy. She sings about the isolation and sadness of being misunderstood, juxtaposed with her defiance in cherishing the unrestrained aspects of Healy’s personality.

So, Taylor got some criticism for reportedly dating Matty due to his previous controversies, including comments about Ice Spice's appearance and even comments about Tay herself. Now, fans think she's alluding to that in this new song.
"They’ll say I'm nuts if I talk about the existence of you," she sings. Maybe she's talking about people criticizing her for dating him?

"But Daddy I Love Him"

This track stands out as one of the most direct responses to the external judgments Swift faced. Using strong, confrontational language, she defends her relationship, declaring her indifference to the criticisms cloaked in concern from outsiders. The song features bold declarations of commitment and disregard for public opinion, emphasizing her autonomy in choosing whom to love.

"Fresh Out The Slammer"

Here, Swift metaphorically describes her release from a previous relationship and her readiness to move forward with Healy. The lyrics suggest a readiness to leave behind past restraints and embrace a new, hopeful beginning, despite the potential complications. “Fresh out the slammer, I know how my first call will to,” she sings. “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.”

"Guilty as Sin?"

"Guilty as Sin?" explores forbidden desires and the complexity of emotions that come with loving someone considered off-limits. Swift’s lyrics delve into the turmoil of maintaining a façade of restraint while internally grappling with intense feelings, providing a raw look into her internal conflict. “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?” Swift asks on the track, sharing that she keeps her “longings locked in lowercase inside a vault” because “someone told me there’s no such things as bad thoughts, only actions.”
Still, the fantasies seem to get the best of her, “giving way to labored breath / Taking all of me.” She confesses “We’ve already done it in my head,” noting that the imagined love affair feels like “a vow we’ll both uphold.”

"I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)"

Swift tackles the trope of the "fixer" in relationships. Initially, she expresses confidence in her ability to change Healy, but as the song progresses, there’s a realization of her limits. The song navigates the dynamics of power and hope in relationships, ultimately acknowledging the reality that people cannot change others, only themselves. Swift admits that she’s dating a rebel, singing, “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 mentions onlookers shaking their heads, saying, “God help her,” when she “tells them he’s my man,” but promises: “Trust me, I can fix him, I can.”
Although she declares that his issues are “a perfect case for my skillset” to fix, she changes her mind by the song’s end. “Well, maybe I can’t,” she decides.\

Florida!!!

The song "Florida!!!" from Taylor Swift’s album The Tortured Poets Department, featuring Florence Welch, can be interpreted as reflecting aspects of Swift's relationship with Matty Healy, particularly through themes of escapism, emotional turbulence, and confronting personal demons. Florida, in the song, serves as a metaphor for the intense, often chaotic nature of Swift's relationship with Healy. Just as Florida is described as "one hell of a drug," their relationship could be seen as intoxicating, overwhelming, and ultimately destructive. The allure of Healy, much like the allure of Florida, is potent and addictive, despite—or perhaps because of—the turmoil it brings. The song's exploration of escaping personal troubles ("I need to forget, so take me to Florida") mirrors the media scrutiny and public opinion that have often surrounded Swift's relationships. This scrutiny can amplify personal issues, making the relationship itself a form of escape that is as fraught as it is compelling. The lyrics "Can I use you up?" might reflect the emotional drain and the exhaustive nature of being in a high-profile relationship that is constantly under the public eye. The bridge, where Swift and Welch express a desire to bury their regrets in Florida, could symbolically represent Swift's attempts to move past her previous relationship experiences, including with Healy. The lyrics suggest a wish to obliterate the past, indicative of how public relationships might lead one to want to erase personal history due to its painful outcomes.

Healy Revelations
Stop if you will, and just really think about all this Healy stuff. You've known all along you didn't want it to be true, and you told yourself it wasn't, even though in May of 2023 you were watching the Eras Tour and you saw Taylor mouth "I love you" back to Matt who did the same at his concert. You know it was real, and you know she does not say "I love you" easily. There's a huge, 10-year-long, up-and-down, off-and-on relationship reflected in these songs.
Misplaced Interpretations
You tried to make them be about Joe, but it was like a puzzle piece that didn't fit, yet you smashed it in there anyway. Maybe if you had a more persistent sense of reality, you would have gone to Karlie Kloss with the lyrics, but even then, there were some things that just didn't quite fit. Come with me, if you will, and follow my channel and follow 1989healy on X. I can go live here soon, but consider the lyrics for "The Robbers" versus "The One."
Lyric Comparisons
"If you never shoot, you're never going to know; you're never going to grow"—similar, for sure. Okay, fine. I would read these as her response, in a sense, to me and you together. I think the story needs more pages because I've been in love with her for ages. To add more to their love story: "Why am I still writing pages?"
Poetic Connections
Is it almost her response? I've tried, don't even like it; she's building on the rhyme. This is another hidden in plain sight thing she loves to do—there's nothing she loves more. "I’ve tried to find another name a thousand times, and the only one that rhymes is Caroline."
Personal Anecdotes in Lyrics
"She's like, 'yeah, my name is whatever you decide.'" Here's an even better one: she bought me those jeans. Reverse your order, so Taylor: "dancing in your Levi’s." Matty: "Yeah, she bought me those Levis." Oh, this is good. Matty: "You see, I wrote you a letter."
Connecting the Dots
Taylor in "Closure": "Yes, I got your letter." There's no way that "Dress" isn't definitely about Karlie, I say, but still, it's a little something. "Never going to love again, never going to love again." Make your stay, yeah. If you have more of these, just drop them in the comments.
Unraveling Paris
What has been happening with Paris? Like, I've broken down "Midnights" with so many people. I don't know one Paris. Did we just crack Paris? Matty: "Brainwash you into loving me forever," going back to that.
Deeper Insights
The five holes in the fence, the gaslighting, brainwashing into actually having that white picket fence together. Transport you to somewhere clever—I mean, obviously, he's never going to give her that life; that's not who he is, but he's so compelling. And a narcissist will get you to overlook their crippling drug addiction and alcoholism, but she's like, "You know what? I'll become one too."
Struggles and References
And she started drinking. She lost her way a couple of times. She mentioned one of the new songs, and also, "This is Me Trying" was a reference to that. Fans—or not friends, you know—some of her friends had to intervene. Confess my truth and swooping, sloping curves of letters like only the flashing lights by the tower at midnight.
Musical Echoes
Oh, you know who else has a song called "Paris"? Did you know that? Asking Matty about the song—the song is obviously about a girlfriend somewhere. Think by The View, and again and again and again, and how I'd love to go back. This is kind of beautiful, in part.
Initial Upset and Background Info
Just to clarify, she is upset, okay, so we're going to keep going here. Okay, um, the timeline—it's from Spicy Sizes on Tumblr. Um, should I even start with that? We can go into a bit more detail first, right?
Details from Ezra's Tumblr and Verification
So, check this out, um, pinned to Ezra's. I mean, you know, this hasn't been verified, but someone kind of looked into it, and it was enough for me to go forward with it. Uh, worked full-time as V team, but that didn't—um, H posted earlier today, right?
Reactions and Respect
Not just these edits, you know. There's M with the typewriter, you know, it's been two years or something, and every word—this is where Maddie said, "I'm not kissing anybody in front of T Swift. Have some respect." It's like in front of the queen, right?
Royalty Comparisons and Intensity
Calling her the queen. And then, of course, we have the Voodoo LA versus Queen, you know, singing because once your queen had come, that's um, so freaking intense.
Backstage Photo and Statements
Yeah, Caroline and portrait—for those two things, um, parallel. Alright, so then let's go to supposedly there will be a backstage photo here soon. Alright, there's a moment here where M's like, "Never going to love again." "Oh yes, you will," that happened.
Social Media Posts and Public Interaction
Uh, got another great one here, bottom of the maroon shell here. Okay, so this was, uh, no one took it seriously when it was posted, posting again now. Message from Taylor, 2014, um, from 1989 75.com.
Insider Information and Public Actions
"I listened to your podcast yesterday and the stuff about Taylor and from 2014, right around when 1989 was released, was totally true. A friend of mine was part of a performance around the era, around her a lot. She was at a big party, and his band was there, and she, out of nowhere, kissed them in front of a crowd of at least a dozen other people, including my friend.
Questions and Actions
Okay, do they know it's giving?" Question?—do I need to say that? She played that for him on Eras as well. Its so gratifying to have this answer. Same with Folklore, but that’s another video.
Okay, anyway, uh, like cancel, rearrange plans to see him, cancel plans, just to see him. And this was like during her girl squad era.
Link Avoidance and Personal Desires
People on her team didn't really want a link to him publicly, uh, and Taylor herself did not want to scare him off with a ton of media attention. It's the quote, "Oh, can't boyfriend now." If you recontextualize that, she wants him to be the boyfriend, and this is why it didn't piss her off when he said that, like "I will not be Taylor swift’s boyfriend," you know, do alpha for that or whatever, because it's really in context more of a deflection, like he's leading her on, but he's also struggling with what it's going to do to his image.
Private Struggles and Public Facades
So, before, and though that was just, oh, that's for the public, you know, but like privately, he's still, like, painting the picture of the future, which is like, you know, that's just what they do with everybody, you know. They know that it only really works if it's a sec. So she's just writing this for, on behalf of everybody who's been led on by a narcissist, and like, lived and breathed and died by the fantasy of the white picket fence, you know.
Reality Check and Future Outlook
And slowly, that hole begins to reveal more and more about the abuse, the distance, you know, and you're just like living your life for that day that you get out of jail and out of this relationship, and everything is built on that, and then you just get there, and it's just like, well, I was just saying that. You believe me, oh there's a lot more to get to, so yeah, there are some dates.
Final Notes and Continued Connections
Okay, again I love you. This is some Taylor liking pictures of MD R, the 1989 church, but um, but okay, so November 2013, a year before like what we kind of really knew about, is Maddie talking about TS really liking the band and being asked to tour with her. That stuff doesn't happen just like that; got a lot of pre-planning, right? Um, then early
Band Image and Relationships
So that's where some of these observations come into play. Obviously, even if it was the perfect relationship, The 1975 is not that kind of band that would just do that to their image, you know. But she doesn't know that; it's a nice gesture, but I could definitely see them still being together, or having some dates and things like that.
Public Appearances and Crushes
They've had moments like the party and all that, and it's still just kind of become a huge crush for her. Because what we're ultimately looking at is a way that "Style" is about both Maddie and Harry Styles, okay, but you're not ready for that yet, so we'll get there. So you know, there are all these pictures, all this November stuff that we all kind of know about—T-shirts, Instagram stuff.
Miscommunications and Public Events
And then there are things he or she gets the name wrong, something happens behind these things where like there was a girl, I don't know. Yeah, something about a fanzine. I love them, they deny the dating rumor in 2015 but they did hang out the very next month at a Brit after-party.
Breakups and Creative Inspiration
And that's where she meets Calvin, and this is where Maddie and Halsey break up. Remember, he had like the same 31 songs, like how we didn't get there, but the poems and stuff that Halsey did write about him. There's something about being with this dude that just makes you write a ton of stuff that's just like, uh, probably some kind of physical thing or something because it's, I don't see it, but that's beside the point.
Perceived Personalities and Accents
And I think he's like everything that we thought Ryan Adams really were back in the day, but like, he actually seemed English, accent for a good reason. Moving on, there's the emasculating thing that he says about 2016; but then he says it's been going on for two years now, talking about like she's probably changed her number by now, but I just keep texting.
Unanswered Messages and Privacy Concerns
Could have been a joke, but oh my God, if it wasn't true. But he says that that is the perfect thing to drive her crazy. What are these texts I didn't get? And there's an actress, I forget who, who was like, I was friends with TS a little bit; she did change her number. On the Camp Interview '17 talking about in interviews, just jump, jump, jump.
Breakups and Album Plans
Alright, so then he breaks up with FK Twigs. The new album in '22, somewhere along here there was the leaked version of 1989, the deal where the new bonus tracks, the slot version was going to have 10 tracks, but then like they got scrapped for, you know, PR reasons or whatever, but it was either recorded.
Recording Sessions and Lost Tracks
We know what the verses are now. We cannot believe it's true, you know. There are just so many things. And then, that would have been around February of 2023 that they recorded, you know. They were seen coming out of the studio at different times in the same day. Then we lose "Invisible String" in March 2023.
Eras and Declarations of Love
We get "The One" wild, and then deactivate soon; everything happens in eras, right? Yeah, and then this is April, says, "Hey, I love you, you know who you are. BR about you." And maybe I found it; that's what I'm looking for, you know. That's what we're all looking for.
Rekindled Romance and Public Perception
And of course, that's huge, like later on, something, and then we hear a little later that they are dating again. So then yeah, in this context, you know, it's again, he's a love bomber, so I mean, but this has been like months and kind of like an ongoing thing. Like everybody wants to talk about like Joe break up whatever, she was ready.
Artistic Expression and Personal Struggles
She got Fresh Out the The Slammer Call to him. Maybe, that's when this happened, but more of "Midnights" now has to be re-examined. And Matty’s touring friend 1989Healy talked about who was there. In 2014, um, and again, we know that Taylor likes to write a song that's just like only one person knows what it's about, you know. From Amie, from Kim, so, “Question” could have been that moment I talked about because it's before question? in Foxboourogh on May for him as well.
Happiness and Confrontations
That’s where she said “I’ve never been this happy before in my life”, and we remember seeing how happy she was. And you guys did this to her. I went after his racism because it turns out he’s done a ton more for the progressive left and race and he has but even if he was wrong and he’s apologized, but doesn’t matter. She's saying that she'll die for his sins. She's like what, like you say that about Ice Spice. You know what, I'll give Ice Spice the Taylor bump and had to catapult her into a new stratosphere and I’ll fix it. That is ride or die Taylor love there. Loyal as fuck like when Seth Meyers crew dissed Jack.
Rising Fame and Personal Struggles
Ice was already famous, and then, you know, she became a legend, an icon, and she had the personality to be that way. But she would say things like, "Then I don't need you. I can fix it. I can fix him, daddy, I love him." But because it's messed up—he's got a drug problem, he's racist—it all compounds.
Relationship Dynamics and Narcissism
And then, at some point, he really let it be known that, once the allure of forbidden love and the chase wore off, I just think that she fell too hard and kind of scared him off a bit. But also, he's a narcissist, so it's kind of easy to do. And then her whole thing is about breaking hearts, and he's probably just trying to get ahead of it.
Public Relations and Personal Feelings
But I don't know, she's pissed at him, she's making it about him, and I feel like that's there as a PR thing because you have to be mad at him a little bit. We know that a tree is the person that she's really mad at because we canceled Maddie, rightfully so.
Cultural Roots and Relationship Complications
But we're also like, "Daddy, I love him," but no, he's racist, you can't stay with him. You're already known for your country origins; I know you're from Philadelphia, but you're kind of from the South then. I don't know, it's just like, they still care for one another, but in the middle of a world tour, they've both been busy.
Reconciliation Attempts and Crossing Boundaries
They've been friends for years and are still friends. But then, in July, they want to make it work at all costs. There was some truth to that, but then people crossed lines, they still are. Sorry? Well, you were removed from the pre-show playlist on August 7th.
Unexpected Appearances and Speculations
M was seen with Meredith. What happens right after that? Interestingly enough, that didn't happen at her Kansas City show, and that's where Travis attends and sees her there. Then, he's already playing up the angle about shooting his shot, which was already kind of in the works from there.
Emotional Impact and Public Perception
So, I don't know if he just got in front of that or whatever, but we know this: this is missing the false narrative. When we canceled Maddie, and she was heartbroken because the Maddie interview came out really, and it's just like, and so she had to pretend like everything was fine.
Medication and Performance Pressures
Her PR people probably told her they gave her mood regulators, beta blockers, and whatever, to go on stage and to take the "forget him" pills, and to suppress all of this and just focus on living these songs. But we knew these surprise songs that she picked.
Community Reactions and Denials
We were like, "Wow, she's really broken up about Joe." That was the gaslighting that was done to me and to all of us ourselves. And M truther—if you spoke up, somebody shushed you. You were ridiculed, you were not allowed to say that.
Internal Conflicts and Propaganda
We pretend it didn't happen. He's the new con, yeah, we don't say it, you know what I mean? And like, I was just quietly like, "That's crap." But I was like, "I get it, and I'm like, but she's not mad about Joe. Screw Joe."
Narrative Control and Personal Beliefs
And then, what was the propaganda y'all pushed was like, "Oh, the Midnights is the pre-breakup album, and this is the real one." I mean, whatever helps you sleep tonight, but I mean, I don't know. I had to suppress this so hard that I just began to try to believe the Joe thing, but it was way easier to believe that she was still upset about these songs about Carly than it was about Joe.
Easter Eggs and Online Discussions
I just pushed that narrative and that kind of thing, but now I think the fences were about Maddie, and the Fortnite is just a Fortnite. But they're so like, go ahead, and yeah, I'll post another thread, or you can just look for it on X4. How the Fortnite video has all these 1975 Easter eggs, and other than that, but when we're talking about the "daddy, I love him," I'd rather burn my whole life down than leave this love house, right?
Fan Theories and Industry Manipulations
And listen, this is where people say, "No, Taylor hates her fans," right? Her fans, her fans, and Scooter—they got all works together. Scooter finds out about all the stuff from Carly, right? And like, it's like he—you know, the Masters and all that stuff—like she had a rainbow designer dress ready to go out, and there was a whole meme thing. This is another suppressive thing that we were all forced to do. I pretend like me wasn't about—it was about.

Matty Healy + Taylor Swift Timeline

11/7/13: Matty talking about Taylor liking the band and being asked to tour wither her.

1/21/14: Matty talking about Taylor liking the band. xx

3/31/14: Matty talks about being asked to tour with Taylor and turning it down. "That was cool. It’s like, ‘We can’t, but that is really nice, thank you very much.”

11/4/14: Matty is pictured wearing a deluxe 1989 album cover tee at his concert in Milwaukee.

11/8/14: Taylor reblogs the picture on tumblr and says they are her favorite band.

11/9/14: Taylor likes these two pictures of Matty wearing the 1989 t-shirt.

11/9/14: Taylor liked this gif-set of Matty talking about whether he’s a dog or cat person.

11/19/14: Selena Gomez, Taylor and other friends went to The 1975 show in LA. Video of them singing along to ‘The City.’

11/19/14: Taylor & Matty making a video for a fan. (Jamie’s daughter Kitty)

11/22/14: Matty follows Taylor on Twitter.

11/23/14: Taylor was pictured wearing a The 1975 band shirt.

11/23/14: Taylor likes these two posts of them wearing each others merch.

11/24/14: Matty dedicates ‘Robbers’ to Taylor. Supposedly he’s done this multiple times. xx

11/25/14: Taylor likes these Tumblr posts. And this picture of Matty.

11/26/14: Taylor likes this Tumblr post.

11/26/14: Matty likes Taylor’s post on Instagram.

11/26/14: Matty wearing the 1989 t-shirt again.

11/26/14: Matty talking about meeting Taylor “I met Taylor Swift, that was really nice.” and when asked about possibly dating “I mean bloody hell, what am I going to do? Go out with Taylor Swift? She’s a sensation, I wouldn’t say no.”

11/28/14: Taylor is rumored to have attended The 1975 show in Chattanooga, TN.  

11/29/14: Taylor likes this Tumblr post.

11/29/14: Matty signed this Polaroid for a fan, and the fan talking about the interaction.

11/29/14: Matty says he can’t kiss a fan because he’s taken.

12/2/14: Matty’s mom retweets this.

12/2/14: Matty likes Taylor’s Instagram post.

12/3/14: Matty about Taylor “Well, she’s amazing. She’s an amazing role model. And not only is she an incredible songwriter, she’s an incredible pop songwriter, which I think is even harder. I can’t speak highly enough about Taylor Swift.”

12/4/14: Taylor, Martha, Karlie and others went to The 1975 show in NYC. Where Matty dedicated ‘fallingforyou’ to her. Rumored that Matty missed the after-party and spent the night with Taylor. xx 

12/5/14: Taylor likes this Tumblr post about Matty singing ‘fallingforyou’ to her.

12/5/14: Matty’s tweet in response to articles about him and Taylor getting his name wrong.

12/6/14: Matty has a breakdown on stage in Boston, MA. In 2015 talking about the incident he says “There was girl stuff. There was family stuff. There was financial stuff. There was drug stuff.” 

12/6/14: Matty talking about a fan saying “I love you” to him. “What did I say to the poor fucking girl? ‘You don’t have the right to love me. You don’t know me. I love you but you don’t get to love me.’ Jesus. Can you imagine your favorite band shouting that at you? What a dickhead. What a horrible thing to say to a kid who fucking does love me.”

12/9/14: Matty at a show in NY “I was sad the other day as someone told me they loved me. And I said ‘No, you don’t. Not really.’ And today I told someone I loved them. And they said ‘No, you don’t.’ And it fucking sucks to hear that. Especially when you mean it. Don’t do that to someone. Don’t do what I did.”

12/14/14: Matty posts this on Instagram.

12/30/14: Matty deletes this Instagram post.

1/16/15: Matty denies dating rumors. Admits they exchanged numbers but “That didn’t really happen as much as it’d be amazing for me if it did, unfortunately it didn’t.”

2/25/15: They hangout at the BRIT Awards afterparty. (This weekend is when she met Calvin and they started dating)

2015: Matty & Halsey date and breakup.

11/15/15: Matty talks about Taylor in an interview “The things that surround her are like Barack Obama. I fell for her a little bit, but everyone falls for Taylor Swift” “The day after she’d been to a show of ours, someone sent me a screenshot of E! News with the headline ‘Who is Matt Healy?’ That freaked me out. I’m not ready to indulge in that world and I’m not ready to be judged by that world.”

12/8/15: Matty talks about reaching out to Taylor to have her in his music video.

Sometime in 2015: Matty & Gabriella Brooks start dating.

2/1/16: Matty talking about Taylor “She was a fan of the band and we just became friends, and we related to each other over how mental our lives were. But when you’re with people like Taylor, there are a million people flying around you the whole time, and this security guard is talking to that guy, and this guy is the new manager. I didn’t like the pace of it, because it makes me confused and I feel like I’m going to miss something. And being perceptive is one of the abilities that I like to think that I have.“

3/17/16: Matt Healy has suggested that dating Taylor Swift would have been “emasculating” for him because of her huge global fame.

3/18/16: Journalist who interviewed him writes an op-ed saying his words were misconstrued and “I saw an intelligent and liberal man wrestling with our culture’s gender roles.”

3/19/16: He apologizes for said comments and calls Taylor “One of the most gracious, hard working, creatively gifted, and beautiful women that I have had the pleasure to meet.”

6/1/16: Taylor & Calvin Harris breakup.

6/15/16: Taylor starts dating Tom Hiddleston.

8/17/16: Matty says he has Taylor’s number but “she’s probably changed her number by now.” And jokes “I keep texting her.”

8/30/16: Matty talks about Taylor on the BBCR1’s Breakfast Show. They joke about Taylor doing jury duty.

9/6/16: Taylor & Tom Hiddleston breakup.

October 2016: Taylor & Joe Alwyn start dating.

10/27/16: Matty about Taylor in Rolling Stone “She came to our show, and you would have thought that Barack Obama had come out. I don’t know another person on the planet that would elicit that kind of reaction.”

11/11/16: Matty again denies he dated Taylor and says “She came to a show and we hung out. We fancied each other, but then we couldn’t have it go any further, because it would be like going out with Barack Obama.”

11/20/17: Podcast talking about Taylor & Matty.

12/3/18: Matty talking about his journal “It’s mainly stories that I write about my dreams of being in love with other popstars.”

12/4/18: Matty retweets a picture of Taylor.

8/28/19: Matty & Gabriella Brooks breakup.

9/23/19: Mentions wanting to produce an album for Taylor in an interview (at 13:48 & 32:00) “Taylor, if you ever want someone to help you set up the mics for your little acoustic record, just so you know, I’m there.”

9/23/19: Matty retweets and tags Taylor in a post quoting him saying he wants to produce an album for Taylor.

9/24/19: Matty tweets “Taylor Swift. With an acoustic guitar. Doing her ‘Nebraska’. Doing her ‘Blue’. Kill me.”

January 2020: Matty & FKA Twigs start dating.

2/12/20: Both attend the NME awards and hug. Beabadoobee (who Taylor is talking to in the video) about meeting Taylor that day “Taylor’s so ethereal, So badass, I was like ‘Holy shit!’ She was walking towards me and I’m like, ‘She’s going to Matty [The 1975] not me.’ And then she comes up to me and I’m like… I vomited in my mouth. I couldn’t believe it.”

2/20/20: Matty mentions seeing Taylor and wanting to work with her in an interview with Zane Lowe. “She was just stood behind me. I mean, I haven’t seen Taylor in years so it was actually a really nice room. But it, unfortunately, wasn’t the time for me to pitch my post-rock Joni Mitchell project.”

10/22/20: Deuxmoi posts these.

2021: Matty starts working with Jack Antonoff on The 1975′s upcoming album.  

November 2021: Taylor and Jack Antonoff start working on “Midnights.”

6/7/22: Matty & FKA Twigs breakup. 

8/9/22: Matty Healy shares Taylor Swift’s reaction to The 1975’s new album, with her saying “it’s so funny.” 

9/3/22: Matty says there will be no collab on Midnights. “I would love that! But unfortunately FAKE NEWS :(”

10/7/22: Matty tweets “You guys actually thought Taylor Swift was gonna have me on her album”

10/11/22: Matty on working with Taylor “Oh we’re not. We’d love to. Love to work with Taylor Swift. Love Taylor Swift, think she’s one of the best songwriters, but yeah, no we haven’t done that. We’d love to though.”

10/11/22: The 1975 discuss covering ‘Lover’ for the BBC live lounge.

10/12/22: Matty briefly mentions Taylor in a Zane Lowe interview (45:53).

10/18/22: Matty briefly mentions Taylor in a podcast (1:22:40) when talking about who they would like to see on the podcast. Interestingly enough her name seems to be cut from the video version of the podcast.

10/23/22: Matty posted on his Instagram to stream Midnights.

10/26/22: Matty posted he was listening to ‘Hey Stephen TV’ on his Instagram story

11/27/22: Matty said he worked on Midnights with Taylor but their versions didn’t make the cut (4:52). “We actually worked a bit on that, but then the version of it never came out.” “It was for reasons not to be criticized.”

12/21/22: Matty said ‘Chocolate‘ reminds him of Taylor “Tumblr, Doc Martens, Taylor Swift, the 1975”

‘Question…?’ Played in The 1975 pre-show playlist. (Don’t have dates because it happened multiple times)

1/12/23: Matty & Taylor before The 1975 show.

1/12/23: Taylor does a surprise performance at The 1975 show in London. Deuxmoi later claims they stayed up until 4 am talking (later confirmed in his profile with The New Yorker.)

1/12/23: Matty “I’m not kissing anybody in front of Taylor Swift, have some respect. in front of the queen? not happening“

2/2/23: Matty briefly mentions Taylor and the Ticketmaster situation (38:06)

February: Allegedly spent several days at a Los Angeles recording studio together.

3/15/23: Matty seen with Ana Salazar.

3/17/23: First show of The Eras Tour

3/22/23: Puff-piece comes out stating Joe and Taylor are ‘great together’ and ‘super supportive of her career’ and will be travelling to her ‘when he can’.

‘About You’ plays at the same time as the Lover MV has been playing on The Eras Tour pre-show playlist. (Don’t have dates because it happened multiple times)

3/29/23: Matty’s ex says “Things were going well until around March 29th then, out of the blue, he stopped replying to my messages and calls.”

3/31/23: Taylor changes The Eras Tour setlist from ‘Invisible String’ to ‘The 1’

4/7/23: Matty follows Taylor on Instagram.

4/7/23: Matty likes Taylor’s Instagram post.

4/8/23: Matty’s birthday.

4/8/23: It’s announced Taylor and Joe have broken up.

4/8/23: Matty talking about love and how happy he is.

4/10/23: Matty deactivates his social media accounts.

4/10/23: Matty on why he deactivated “Everything happens in eras. The 1975 is a very eras band. And I think that the era of me being a fucking asshole is gonna come to an end.” and “I perform all the time and it’s my job and I love doing this, but I can’t perform off the stage any more as I just want to be a bloke.”

4/10/23: Matty says “Hey, I love you.” during ‘About You’.

4/10/23: Matty mouths “You know who you are.” and points during ‘About You’.

4/11/23: Matty “A call for something sincere and direct. That’s what we’re all looking for. That’s what I’m looking for. Maybe I’ve found it.. I’m feeling quite happy.” 

4/13/23: Deuxmoi says she got a tip that Matty & Taylor are dating. (19:16)

4/14/23: Matty cheering during ‘Me & You Together.’

4/14/23: Matty “Romance is nice when it works, this next song worked.” ‘fallingforyou’ starts playing “Oh it’s a different song, this song did not work.”

4/14/23: Before ‘About You’ “Ok, this is the one that worked.”

4/14/23: Matty mouthing “I love you” during ‘About You’ and saying “Fuck yeah, I win!” after it ends.

4/16/23: Matty’s “Yeah you will!” during ‘Happiness’ after the line, “I’m never gonna love again.”

4/19/23: Matty says “It takes bit to get here but its worth it” and “true story” before playing ‘Me & You Together.’

4/21/23: Matty plays a cover of ‘The Best of Me’ by The Starting Line. Take note of the lyrics.

4/24/23: Matty spoke about how he sees people listening to ‘She’s American’ in three places: Manchester, Tokyo and Pennsylvania “that’s a whole other thing don’t worry about that.”

5/3/23: The Sun reports Matty and Taylor are dating and will go public with their romance at her shows in Nashville.

5/3/23: Matty introducing ‘Me and You Together song’, saying “I’ve got something real to tell you guys!”

5/3/23: Matty mouths “This is about you, you know who you are. I love you.” while playing ‘About You.’

5/3/23: Matty does a cover of ‘The Best of Me’ by The Starting Line again.

5/4/23: Matty introducing ‘Me and You Together song’, saying “So I’ve been trying to tell you guys” and “That’s right.”

5/4/23: Before playing ‘About You’ Matty mouths "This is why I’m happy. Who is it about? Who am I talking to?”

5/4/23: Matty is seen mouthing the words “I love you” before writing the letter T on the camera lens.

5/4/23: Matty saying “she sure is” before playing ‘She’s American.’

5/4/23: Matty flies from Manila to Nashville. (Which is around a 20hr flight)

5/5/23: Matty at Taylor’s concert. Nashville night 1.

5/5/23: Taylor mouths “This is about you, you know who you are. I love you.” during ‘cardigan.’

5/6/23: Matty grabbing coffee accompanied by Taylors bodyguard after leaving Taylors condo.

5/6/23: Matty at Nashville night 2. xx

5/6/23: Matty & Taylor pictured arriving at Taylor’s condo together.

5/7/23: Matty at Nashville night 3.

5/11/23: Matty and Taylor spotted on a date with Jack Antonoff in NYC. More pictures here.

5/12/23: Matty at Philly night 1.

5/13/23: Matty at Philly night 2.

5/13/23: Taylor performs ‘This Love’ with no introduction.

5/14/23: Taylor plays a request of “Hey Stephen”, but doesn’t say who requested it.

5/14/23: Matty pictured at the VIP tent at The Eras Tour Philly night 3

5/15/23: Matty and Taylor pictured leaving a party at Electric Studios in NYC.

5/18/23: Article comes out saying Joe is ‘distraught and slighted’ over Taylor & Matty dating, saying he ‘trusted’ Taylor when she said they were just friends.

5/18/23 Matty entering Taylor’s NYC Apartment.

5/20/23: Matty’s ex talks about Matty and Taylor.

5/20/23: Taylor’s speech before playing ‘Question…?’  in Foxborough, MA. “I want you all to know that I’ve never been this happy before in my life. It’s not just with the tour, I just sort of feel like my life finally feels like it makes sense. And so I thought I’d play this song, which brings me a lot of happy memories.”

5/20/23: Taylor plays ‘Question…?’ on night 2 in Foxborough, MA.

5/22/23: Matty dropping Taylor off at Electric Lady Studios.

5/24/23: Taylor and Matty leaving the Electric Lady Studios separately.

5/27/23: The Sun reports Matty and Taylor are moving in together.

5/29/23: Matty’s profile with The New Yorker comes out which includes multiple mentions of Taylor.

5/29/23: From The New Yorker “Healy found it annoying that, at a certain level of fame, celebrities can cultivate liberal auras while avoiding the risk of taking real political stands. (Swift, I thought, but didn’t say, seemed to be excepted from his critique.)”

5/29/23: From The New Yorker about Taylor & Matty dating “ Neither of their representatives would comment on the record, but I kept getting texts from people who knew them, and who insisted: this time, it’s real.”

February 9, 2023: Healy appears on The Adam Friedland Show, where he’s part of a racist discussion about the rapper Ice Spice. After Healy mentions an attempt to DM Ice Spice, the hosts attempt to guess her heritage and mock the accents of different ethnic groups. Healy laughs at the hosts’ accents on the podcast and encourages them. At another point in the podcast, Friedland mentions a friend walking in on Healy watching “Ghetto Gaggers” porn (which has been criticized as racist and misogynist) after a party. Healy confirms and expands upon the story, saying it was a video of “somebody just getting, like, brutalized.”

April 6, 2023: Swifties' online attacks were not blocked and prevail, Healy episode of The Adam Friedland Show gets removed from Apple and Spotify without comment.

April 8, 2023: Swift and Alwyn have broken up, Entertainment Tonight confirms. A source tells the outlet the couple split weeks before, after six years of dating. “It’s why [Alwyn] hasn’t been spotted at any shows,” the source says.

April 21, 2023: During a concert in Auckland, New Zealand, Healy apologizes to Ice Spice over the podcast. “It’s not because I’m annoyed that me joking got misconstrued,” he says. “It’s because I don’t want Ice Spice to think I’m a dick.” He goes on, “I am genuinely sorry if I upset her, because I fucking love her.”

6/5/23: Matty & Taylor reportedly break up.

6/6/23: People releases an article saying “There is no drama, and who knows what could happen again.” and "Taylor and Matty still care for one another but they are in the middle of world tours so both are incredibly busy. They’ve been friends for years and are still friends.”

6/6/23: While discussing Taylor on his podcast (21:06) Zach Sang says “I’m like kind of friends with Selena Gomez. We’ve known each other for a very long time and we share a lot of close friends. And from what I heard like in the aura around Selena, Taylor was talking about Matty Healy like he was the one." 

6/11/23: Matty reactivates his Instagram.

6/11/23: Matty “You know what’s nice, playing songs in context“ before ‘Me and You Together song’

7/1/23: Matty mentions Taylor "I don’t wanna use this thing [the catwalk], it feels very democratic, it feels very… I mean Beyonce of course, Taylor, Machine Gun Kelly, whoever it may be… I don’t like it, it makes me feel exposed.”

7/5/23: The Sun claims Matty & Taylor are back together and “want to make it work at all costs.”

7/5/23: People declines claims that they are together.

7/18/23: Matty briefly mentions Taylor “I speak about this a lot, the Tumblr times, the simpler days, the golden days. When it was just us and Taylor and Lana and Arctic Monkeys.”

7/22/23: Taylor removes ‘About You’ from The Eras Tour pre-show playlist.

8/7/23: Matty is seen with Meredith Mickelson at an airport in Hawaii.

August 2023: Taylor starts dating Travis Kelce.

September 2023: Matty starts dating Gabbriette.

December 2023: Multiple people receive miss prints of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” which appears to show the song “Slut” originally featured The 1975.

4/19/24: Taylor releases her new album “The Tortured Poets Department” where many songs are believed to be about Taylor and Matty’s previous relationship.