by popular demand here's my emotional chronology of the matty healy interlude playlist: open.spotify.com/playlist/7yRZZDNaps3970tYm7QyzW?si=494c02a7f77345de I'll be walking you through it song by song on the patreon!! www.patreon.com/swiftologist/ (this isn't a STRICT chronology, it's more of a vibe check in a sense...you'll notice there are some 1975 songs in there too)
calvin harris is from scotland , he is producer , dj and songwriter but calvin prefer to have singers on his song aka dua lipa , ellie goulding and many more . .. fact . he is true and matt healy is very poetic
matty was always the muse because she could mold him to any narrative she wanted because she didn’t really know him… and it’s genius. he was the tortured artist, mysterious, and a little problematic at times. and she was obsessed and I get it and once they really got to know eachother it ended cause he couldn’t handle it
Yes, I have said this .She was in love with the fantasy she created about him " The Peter to her Wendy" not the real Matty. And I think he did the same .They couldn't never survive reality , but she was so unhappy that she created the fantasy in her secret garden of her head like in " I hate it here".
He was the stereotypical Bad Boy. Many women seem to need to be with a bad boy at least once. For them it's a safe way of rebelling. Which is why I never fell for one. I was the rebel without a cause. I did not need to live my rebellion through a bad boy. But, Taylor has this public image of a good girl. Wholesome. Matty made her feel she could stick up her middle finger to the world and the media without being bad herself.
yup it's called limerence, an unhealthy attachment form a little similar to maladaptive daydreaming but where you're projecting the object of your desires to fulfill a need within yourself
Nobody is more devastated than me 😭 All my fav songs are from folklore and Evermore. I still love them ofc but lowkey disgusted that Matt is the muse but what ever, I'm just here for the music
@@junainahrahman4156honestly, you have to commend him for being an interesting muse. And that there is something romantic about a pining and longing over a decade, even if it ended up ending so badly. At the end of the day though, the songs should really be what they mean to you regardless of muse.
“did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room, and every single one of your friends is making fun of you” has unfortunately never made more sense than it does when it’s referring to this man
@@lambulance that thing is so weeird because it feels eerily fitting to the lyrics and it probably did happen; but I don't think the whole kaylor or gaylor thing was ever real. People's main argument was that the "official taylor dating timeline" didn't completely add up, but after so many years I've come to the conclusion that the reason why it doesn't add up is because most of her relationships definitely overlapped (she's a cheater, we've known). The whole Matty Healy scandal helped filling a lot of holes in the narrative.
@@lambulance There is no kissgate. That's a ridiculous perception. She was at a 1975 concert wanting Matty. People who were there said it was incredibly loud and Karlie probably got close to be heard. They were best friends. That's it. Stop creating something that doesn't exist. Life is hard enough.
He is but all of this time she knew it she is smart enough to know he was so full of shit and she states that in ttpd saying we’re modern idiots, she knows who he was she knew it would be messy as he is but that’s what she wanted, and she knows in handsight things most likely end cause that’s the thing about love even more when you like someone as unstable as him, but she wanted it to happen and to have the experience either way. ‘Cause he is alluring he is the sad bad boy, the archetype, and who wouldn’t wanna try that and crave that even more after feeling trapped in a boring long ass non fulfulling relationship? like we get it girl, it was a rebound
@@minuishaq631based on the content I’ve seen of him, he strikes me as a genuine narcissist. However, I think they may have been drawn to his strong sense of self, confidence, he seems like he knows how to be funny and charming. Maybe he knew exactly what to say them?
You are literally the first person I've seen to point out that the lyric "I love you, it's ruining my life" is most likely something that Matty said to Taylor during that decade of trying to "woo" her - hence the refrain. This is why you're the Swiftologist 💕
We're just going to skip over the fact that Nashville was one of the first rain shows, he was in attendance, and the Black Dog references her "rain soaked body".
Reading the lyrics again this is definitely a Matty song. I can’t believe the ologist didn’t reference it. ‘You said I needed a brave man Then proceeded to play him Until I believed it too And it kills me I just don't understand’
The Black Dog is 100% about Matty. There is a bar in Cork, Ireland called the Black Dog, where the 1973 performed on June 13 last year, a week after news of TS & MH's breakup.
@@_xoxo_gossipgirl_ on About You, a song he played after the infamous 'you know who you are I love you' he repeats 'do you think I have forgotten?' over and over. I think that's her reply. Both were written around the same period when they reconnected through Jack who produced both of their albums.
Looking at it from the context of the muse being Matty, her sampling OOTW is probably more so a reference to them meeting during 1989 era, as opposed to it being about the same person as OOTW. If true, what a red herring that is lol
As someone whose two favorite artists have been the 1975 and Taylor Swift for almost a decade, I just wanna applaud your work on this video!!! You did such a great job and I wish every Swiftie would watch this cause I’m tired of having to explain the lore 😂😂
so trueeeee swifties NEED to listen to all i need to hear and about you it’s just crazzyyy they could never make me hate matty healy, this man and his band saved me from so many depression episodes i love them😭😭
I think the play on maroon/rust with Ratty is so interesting. “The rust that grew between telephones”/“if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal”. Scarlet might be a reference to her reputation if she were to date him. A play on scarlet letter, forbidden love.
Omg with this video i think something clicked in my mind, i loved cowboy like me the ending of it was vague not that clear but the chemistry, the goal, the devastation was fully there.
@@dalalali1628 yeah it makes sense to me now and it reminds me of ‘like I lost my twin’ in down bad, because of the connection they have as artists, songwriters and creatives
@@Zach27727 I agree! Read his lyrics. They are two peas in a pod creatively. Both are hopeless romantics. But he's just too messed up to actually make it happen. Quite tragic.
Taylor so drunk going up there to get her award. I believe something changed that night when they saw each other again. I mean they've been friends for years after they briefly dated.
And cowboy like me has a similar melody to 'i can fix him' Cowboy like me is one of my top 3 songs, and it being connected to 'i can fix him' makes SO much sense.
ah ive always wondered about that line. A scarlet letter so deep red it could have left her marooned, career-wise, which supposedly was part of the reason it ended - PR team was like this man is a heroin addict if you are trying to be a squeaky clean popstar that's real bad for your image. So she was hiding it from her team as much as everyone else (I do think I Know Places might be about him at least partly, and Clean for sure with the drug stuff)
@@SongwritingDeconstructed Ah! I love the "marooned" double meaning! You're so right. The heroine with heroin would definitely have scarred her "reputation". 😆 I Know Places and Clean for sure sound like they could have been about Matty, but I think they're probably not due to the timeline of when they met. I think their first introduction was during the 1989 era, but it wasn't until after the album was released. So I think there's definitely vaulted reputation songs about him that, if we're lucky, we might still get to hear. Perhaps the line, "I keep these longings locked in lowercase inside a vault," references the vaulted songs about him (Guilty As Sin).
@@LKYme it's actually quite difficult to pin down when they first met if you go on a google hunt for the info but some sources do say it was end 2013/start of 2014. One VERY important details is Matty was born April 8, 1989. 25 years old - makes me think that Dancing With Our Hands Tied might be about him. The youtuber Scandy did a deep dive on it, that one's worth watching - the song Fortnight in particular is mostly likely Taylor writing about them hooking up in 2016
@@hacheck6 it doesn't make sense bc everything in 1989 is about harry bc when she wrote the tracks she hadn't even met him, plus "everyone wants him, that was my crime" isn't about Matty, that's for damn sure
Now THIS is Pulitzer winning journalism, sir. Thank you for the derangement and the light you shone down on all of this mess. As always top quality work from the Swiftologist
I’m so glad I’m not one of those crybabies who feel certain songs are “ruined” because they’re about matty. I loved the mess and chaos of the relationship and feel he is an interesting muse. Doesn’t mean I like HIM- but I like the ART
I was sooo confused by the "I remember" sample until I listened to About You by the 1975. Matty keeps repeating "do you think I have forgotten?" over and over again. There is also a verse where a female voice sings "there was something 'bout you that now I can't remember". I think that "I remember" might have been a message to Matty but it of course also served as a red herring since Taylor is a mastermind. She probably didn't want for us to figure out the Matty connection at that point of time.
I can't help but think about this "In from the snow, your touch brought forth an incandescent glow" going into this "I felt aglow like this, never before and never since"
@@babyxblueSAME BRO. it feels like ivy has been stolen from me. folklore and evermore are MY albums. save from anything because it's fictional. i kinda wish i hadn't watched it atp
This might be unhinged of me but I also see Matty in The Lakes and Willow. Like in Willow she’s begging him to take her hand and wreck her plans (presumably with Joe) and then she can finally say “that’s my man”, which then leads to I can fix him “when I tell ‘em he’s my man”👀
How about in willow "wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark" "begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans" also "head on the pillow I could feel you sneaking in" could tie into guitly as sin
I'm new here but the other day I was intently listening to willow and it struck me that it sounded suspiciously different now that we have different contexts. to be fair now that this plot development has been uncovered to a great extent and this is where we are, I find myself listening to things in a whole different way because of our current "revelation as a collective that was presented to us very late"
@@imawakemymindisalive13 well, not even in the sex sex kind of way but.. 17 year olds don't drink wine and intertwine in sheets like a romcom, marked me like a bloodstain.. living for the hope of it all, cancel all my plans just in case you called. That's like. Deeper than 17 and absolutely Rat coded (this is a reference that goes with my previous comment about how Betty august and cardigan are not as fictional as she tried to imply but are simply, most unfortunately, now more understandable. Willow is in the same category.
Just want to add that while i may be in the minority, i think fortnight is actually quite more autobiographical than everyone seems to think. It's a much more chronological album that everyone seems to give it credit for. She's reminiscing about the fortnight her and Matty spent together, likely described in maroon, probably shortly after they were reintroduced. Talking about being good neighbors, each of them having partners, but being in love with him. While dramatized, i think it's setting up the situation perfectly.... then towards the end of the song, she finally admits her partner is cheating she's miserable and she's ready to "kill" him. Always dreaming of the fortnight they had together, they finally agree on a plan to pursue the relationship once the breakup is announced and she goes to Florida. Just my thoughts❤
Yess and he is her “getaway car” for the relationship, hence “buy the car you want”. Florida in general is a metaphor for the chaos of Matty (“work your life away just to pay for a timeshare down in Destin” timeshare is usually 1-2 weeks so a fortnight, Destin=destiny as mentioned in BDILH. She worked her whole life for a fortnight with her destiny). But then “it won’t start up til I touch you” with the hand with the ring in the video - she didn’t actually get her happy getaway until Travis.
It was always clear to me that the whole song was an allegory: the husband is Joe and the neighbor is Matty. She had to act like they were just acquaintances every time they ran into each other, because she was still committed to Joe. Then she's like "No, Joe is cheating on me, I need to leave him", and she went running to Matty. The "killing" is also metaphorical, it means ending things with someone. When Florence says "your cheating husband disappeared", it's a reference to how Joe went back to being insignificant once he was no longer with her.
Listening to TTPD and then revisiting her older works has been the most fun I've had in ages because Taylor is usually so careful to keep her mess private & this was one time she just let go
This is such a top tier swiftologist video!!! So thorough and vivid in the way you're able to describe Taylor, her environment, and her mindset. You're always adding to my ability to appreciate my favorite artist and I love your content so much for that 🫶❤️
I'd also add Labyrinth to the Matty Healy of it all. I think the 'oh no I'm falling in love again' is very much about them reconnecting while her relationship with Joe was breaking down. Also 'back into the hedge maze' lyric on Guilty as Sin links that song back to Labyrinth.
I think this relationship is just the perfect example that if you build someone up to be something in your head, you are just gonna be disappointed. but I will say Matty did give Taylor a reason to do that. And it is crazy that this is kinda his Mo, like Halsey and FKA twigs both have supposedly written lyrics that say he very much love bombed and then changed his mind.
I know how difficult this was to make Zach but I honestly appreciate it. Because if I'm gonna have to learn about this tragic fabric of their dreaming I'd rather hear it with your snarky and wonderful commentary. I am as you say seated. And grateful.❤
The level of detail you provide, song lyrics, social media posts, interviews and stage banter, etc., all woven into a cinematic storyline, just amazing. Bravo!
Also it’s so interesting how the more overt Matty songs have this old western /Wild West sound to it. In my first listen to TTPD, I immediately connected the songs to cowboy like me. Also congrats for moving pass your denial of the 1 being about ratty lmao!
Matty grew up in northern England which is similar to the American south with western/country influences. His dad influenced a lot his country inspired songs in his own catalog.
Wow ! No wonder you love Taylor so much. You are such a wonderful poet yourself. ... like the Rosetta Stone that keeps on revealing to us. I am as obssessed listening to your art as much as Taylor's art. You have a way with words.
I think she was very infatuated with the fact that someone as "hard to impress" as matty was lovebombing her, it made her feel special and not like the other girls lol
"You said normal girls were boring but you were gone by the morning" lol. The only reason she fell his lovebombing is because of her pick me tendencies the need for escape from boredom with joe
@@MarcDoesNotKnow exactly. She was with someone who never praised and barely spoke about her in public. Someone like matty openly praising her for being a good artist must tugged her heart strings
YUP. Taylor seems to feel perpetually not enough and looks for that reassurance in her relationships. We can see it with John Mayer (a big shot in the music world), Jake Gyllynhall (big shot in acting), Conner Kennedy (a literal kennedy), Joe Alwyn and his posh british theater thing, and then with Matty. And it’s crazy cause like she’s Taylor Swift she does not need some man to confirm that she’s smart and intillectual and good enough.
@@maryem9225 I mean when you look at her history of being bullied in school and even till now people still undermine her talent you can kinda understand why she seeks that validation. Although I have noticed lately that she's developing an idgaf attitude. Which is good
I attended The 1975 show the night they played in Perth (the night of matty's birthday), and I remember hearing his speech and getting this sinking feeling it was about Taylor 😭
But shouldn't she be blamed for wanting to cheat on Joe with Matty for nearly 3 years. For all we know she did cheat and then ditched Joe because she wanted to make it official with Matty
@@lifeiscruisey1912I mean this so seriously, someone's relationships do not equal the relationship you have with them. don't try and paint someone as a villain when... she's just being honest. and the reason fantasizing is so taboo is because everyone else lies. 90% of people will have a fantasy in a relationship lol. guilty as sin doesn't imply she slept with Matty in a relationship.
@@evelynwright329 cheating doesn't mean hooking up. If your boyfriend was texting some other girl and writing love song for her all nice and coded that's cheating too. Face the truth. She cheated and things broke down. She's human.
Cheating is her repeated behavior. We've been seeing that since she was dating Calvin Harris. But also celebrities drama, non of our business. We're here for the songs.
@@lifeiscruisey1912 yup. love is messy like this. we would all like to have ended everthing and had a clean break up with one person before ever developing feelings for someone else, but the truth is: it rarely happens like that. when you reach your thirties, if you've dated around enough, that overlap it's bound to have happened a couple of times at least
The parallel between “Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me” from Karma with “I need to get back, I've gotta see the girl on the screen” from If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) has always stood out to me
From experience (have very much been baited and chased like this. It’s intoxicating), when you have this dreamy, aloof, and fantastical “love” or wonder for another person romantically, you often find the dream is far more beautiful. Once you are able to final get that full moment of connection with a person you long for like this, it almost always burns out faster than than a cigarette. The story and longing period is forever ingrained and magical, but the true moment is just…not it. Not sure if this is the case, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it was for Matty and/or Taylor. I very much see him as the one who loves thinking of love more than actually maintaining it long term.
It was clear that there were two muses since folklore. I always assumed it to be Harry and the songs just started connecting. I was devastated or more like my world was turned upside down when I realised those songs were about Healy!
@@clashfan2875 I just won't accept Cardigan isn't about Harry. But my overall position is that almost no song is inspired by one person and that all the writers, whomever they be (and this includes Harry), write lines are inspired by more than one relationship. This gets done unconsciously at first and then tends to stick even if the writer see what s/he has slipped into the work. Hence, do not expect any analysis to be on target for every line or other clue in the song. As far as the Cardigan MV goes, the paper airplane which appears as Taylor goes into the piano bench in the video cannot be ignored. All you guys have seen that paper airplane, right?
@@anomardolphinI still think Cardigan and question…? Is about Harry no one can change that like Harry also has songs that are parallel to these maybe both of them inspired it but it’s Harry for me tho
@@anomardolphin I've never seen a paper airplane in that video. After several watches, I saw her dress fall into a V shape under the bench as she's getting into the bench - is that what people see as the paper airplane? It's a coincidence that her dress falls like that. It's not a paper airplane. That's a HUGE reach and very wishful thinking.
@@anomardolphin I agree the plane is in the video and we were supposed to see it or it would have been changed/ fixed/removed because the producers would also have seen it too when they watched it before it was released. It is there because we are supposed to associate it with Harry. Taylor must find it so funny when the facts are twisted to fit what/who we like or in this case go blind or hallucinate for them to say the plane isn't there or it is her dress. Don't let others sway you because they are fickle. Songs that were loooong established to be about Harry can't just change overnight because Matty was seen with Taylor for a few weeks. Also some content creators will write/say anything for monitization of videos.
I just finished this break down. Now I’m off to make myself Sunday breakfast & re- listen to folklore, evermore, midnights & TPD super intently because I can’t unsee everything you just laid out here for us Zach.
Started feeling ill as you went through the back catalogue WITHOUT MERCY. But at the same time it always baffled me that everyone was so convinced folkmore was so fictional. As if my love obsessed girlie was not writing from the heart!? Cowboy like me is so beautiful and unfortunately fits Matty too well. It's so rough for her that she had this pining for so long only for it to not work out but that's what makes her such an interesting artist because it's such a relatable experience. I gotta say though, TTPD is a treasure trove for those willing to go to these lengths!!! Thanks for dissecting this Zach!! 👏👏👏
So glad people are finally understanding the lyrics of Chloe & co, and the fact that it literally sheds light on the entire relationship and gives the missing chronology alluded to throughout the album. So many people misunderstood the song, completely missing the word 'decade' or thinking it was about a different person. I listened to the album initially without knowing anything about Matty Healy except that they dated but after that song i was like oooohhhhh..... this person must have been an old flame never pursued that she watched that descend into addiction. No wonder it seemed so promising and gave her the push to get out of her miserable long term thing. What an ass for lovebombing her and lying about how much he changed. I thought all this before i knew who he was, and watched as everyone who actually followed celebrity stuff was totally confused or in denial. i was like.... did we listen to the same album?
the night they stayed up till fouur was on jan when she was a guest a their show and that was after midnights came out so she's def referencing something else
I’m officially obsessed with you and your takes on all of this. Sure, you don’t like Matty but you do refrain from ripping him to very personal shreds like most creators who are Swifties. You just stick with the receipts and facts and um hello? So well spoken!
Ok the Cowboy Like Me connection is brilliant. Forever is the sweetest con --> A conman sells a fool a get love quick scheme. Mind blowing analysis just for that, but there is so much more here to ponder. I will have to re-watch this video to get these details into my brain because I think you are spot on here with these parallels. I have also wondered why she would have been so hung up on Harry Styles years later and the answer, lol, is she wasn’t. ok, going to wonder forever, in what crowded room did Matty kiss Taylor?
This is such an important historical record. To be referenced for years to come! This felt like an offering to our collective brains who have been trying to hold onto pieces of the puzzle and now we get to see them assembled. As for songs- the Peter/ Cardigan links.
THANK YOU for making this video. i’ve been waiting for it lmao. another hint i noticed (which might be sooo far fetched) is that “the 1” could have been titled “the one”, but she didn’t do that, and to me it seems like a reference to “the 1(975)”. it’s out there but mentally i’m telling myself it was on purpose lol.
I really appreciate this video. As a long time Taylor and Matty fan, I've been saying these songs are about him for the longest time & was fully convinced by Midnights. It's really nice to see people recognizing that finally, even if you don't like Matty yourself. There's no denying she's been all about him for years. It's a wild ride down the rabbit hole.
i'm screaminggggg lol the way you narrate it makes everything so much better. it's like living it all over again but dialled up to eleven in entertainment! those with a ratty in their lives were blessed by TTPD and god forbid those "muses" come back uh
I think Labyrinth might also be about him as well. Mostly because she specifically says she’s falling in love AGAIN and being scared of love coming on too fast.
My most unhinged, won't fight anyone about them because I'm warning unhinged, song theories about Matty are: - HOAX: mostly about Joe, but these lines are interesting: "you know I left a part of me back in New York / You knew the hero died, so what's the movie for? [...] You knew you won, so what's the point of keeping score?". Matty being the hero that died and so Joe won. Ties to The 1 - EVERMORE: I believe this album it's THE falling out of love with Joe album and further fantasizing about Matty. And titletrack is exactly about that. She's down through all the song "Gray November, I've been down since July", but then: "And when I was shipwrecked / I thought of you / /In the cracks of light / I DREAMED of you / IT WAS REAL ENOUGH / To get me through / But I swear / You were there ". Matty's memory (or fantasy) is what kept her afloat WILLOW: I just simply think the lyrics fit Matty's personality and story with Taylor better than Joe's "life was a willow and it bent right to your wind" (I don't think turkeys are able to do that). "I'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans" And then this one is not unhinged, people just refuse to accept it's about Joe > Matty- We've never truly known who it was about. We barely even understood Midnights back then because we didn't know Matty was in her mind/life, we thought her relationship with Joe was fantastic and we assumed wrong. Anyway. About this one I'm willing to fight (jk, not really) but I'm certain as I can be: - HIGH INFIDELITY: it's literally the preface to Tortured Poets. It's telling the exact same story. "Your picket fence is sharp as knives [...] good husband, bad omen" = "turned into good neighbors / my husband's cheating / I wanna kill him". "Lock broken" = "I dream of cracking locks". "The night I was dancing around" = "and we're dancing all night". "At the house lonely" = "left me at the house by the Heath". "I'd pay if you just know me" = "He don't understand me". "Seemed like the right thing at the time" = "this cage was once just fine". And then the perfect summary of why her relationship with Joe ended that fits her descriptions in other songs about the topic = "There's many different ways that you can kill the one you love / the slowest way is never loving them enough" If anyone has willingly read all of this: congrats, you're as deranged as me lol 💕
I am going to be rewatching this video and absorbing the lore for months to come. This is beautiful. Its educational and poetic. Thank you for this masterpiece.
Dude, this is omega level ish* right here. You *ARE* The Swiftologist! In all sincerity, this is *so* good, top tier! This is so well put together and edited, you get right to the details and do so with no filler, no awkward pauses or cuts. Clean, smooth, and with a clarity we peons can grasp. And though you mention researching the topic and site the source of some information at the start of this video, you rattle off the lyrics and give context with the greatest of ease. Because it is easy for you. You are ever aptly named and bestowed Swiftologist. And you give us this feast with journalistic skills worthy the most trusted and respectable publications yet you do so in a setting where we feel you are sharing this info with us, your trusted friends, seated facing us casually. This is a masterpiece, Swiftologist. I imagine Mrs. Swift herself watching this and going, "Yes! Someone gets it!" Thank you so much for this wonderful fun bit of lore that grows my appreciation for your work and of course Taylor's. You are amazing!
I think they both enjoy drama. Why stay with Joe for a few more years while writing songs about Matty? It seems mean. It's not about defending Joe specifically; imagine if someone did that to her. When she and Matty finally got together, it didn't even last a month. Apparently, they just built up this idea they are soul mates. Relationships do tend to get boring. She likes the beginning when everything is super exciting.
Because she was probably trying to prove a point to herself? I'm sure she liked Joe at a basic level so why upend her life? I think it's very human of her and not mean at all.
Again it goes to show how well of a blank-slate the turkey-Joe has put on in public because people simply find it hard to see this man as anything else but what he is. He saw a vulnerable popstar at the lowest point in her life and decided to play savior only to exert control. It wasn't Taylor staying with him. It was him trying to keep her with him! Hello, there are many songs about this. Freaking bejeweled is about this. Abuse is complicated. It's not just about being physically hit. It's also fear and tension and gaslighting.
She answered all of your questions in You're losing me. She was giving him chances and was waiting and waiting and waiting until the hope and love died completely.
I have been writing a dissertation length essay on this for the past two weeks. I am SO excited to see someone validating my insanity! I personally think it goes all the way back to Reputation and Lover too.
one piece of lore that was not mentioned that lives in my head RENT FREE: in an interview, matty specifically mentioned that he and taylor connected over their love of the 80’s pop ballad Only You by Yazoo. the 1975 ended up sampling Only You on the song Paris. Paris is about matty’s addiction and the vague story about a woman he knew/dated doesn’t seem that strongly inspired by taylor, but they did play the song live a lot and i wonder if that was partially to get taylor’s attention. and then Taylor has her own song called Paris which also uses Paris as a metaphor for the pink cloud/honeymoon stage of a situation, so now i wonder if it’s possible that the 2 songs are more than a coincidence. the references to “cheap wine” could be a callback to maroon, and the manic energy of the song kind of makes sense for her jetsetting partying 1989 era. the only other way i can make sense of Paris by taylor is if it’s basically the chaotic version of Holy Ground and is about being silly teenagers and sneaking around hotel rooms on tour and being in love for the first time with Joe Jonas and becoming best friends with selena (imo the only way the “2003 unbearable” line makes any sense). or the song could be utter nonsense!
As a relatively new follower of TS and feeling mostly in the dark about the meanings and catalysts of the lyrics, I am finding ur analysis quite enlightening. I applaud her talent for weaving her own experiences into, throughout and across the years and albums. I applaud you for the laser focus through it all. Bravo!
Thank you for not being afraid to speak the unvarnished truth and demonstrating you can dislike Healy while at the same time not denying Taylor’s very real and profound feelings for him. The end of a “situationship” doesn’t break your heart.
hey queen! the swiftologist has done it again. constantly raising the bar for us all, and doing it flawlessly! i’d say i’m surprised, but we know who you are. we’ve seen it up close and personal. you make us so proud, and we love you! ❤
Im so ready to listen through this video and the Matty timeline playlist. This is great storytelling. I don’t listen to Taylor so much for the lore but I do enjoy how different contexts put different emphasis and meanings on songs. And you are absolutely right it’s not about who Taylor swift is dating, it’s about the story she tells through song afterwards/during.
Excellent and thorough with the receipts. I have to admit, I know practically nothing about Matty, but he seems to be a good muse. All this talk about colors reminded me of Halseys song abt him called Colors. When you said songs could be about more than one person,it reminded me of Harrys song, Him, that was leaked but never released. In that song, Harry is sad that Taylor is with someone else when he knew certain lyrics were written by himself. That was the first time I realized she muddies the picture purposely, lyrics about two relationships to describe one feeling that is.
Omg another lyric parallel I’ve always loved- in the 1975’s “Girls” the first line is “Bite your face despite your nose” which I always compared to “The Archer” “And I cut off my nose just to spite my face” Also the “characters” of “Girls” are 17 which might be referenced by James/August/Betty being 17
I was SO looking forward to this, and you delivered, as expected. Impecable reporting, as always. I think I'm gonna watch it again, because I still cannot believe some aspects of this affair. To quote the Queen herself, what a mess.
A couple things I’m curious about that you didn’t bring up: 1) The alleged collaboration on Slut!, based on images of 1989 TV vinyls that have him credited as a writer/feature. 2) The possibility of reputation/folklore/evermore “vault songs” about Matty, based on the second verse of Guilty as Sin? (“I keep these longings locked, in lowercase inside a vault”)
maybe the vault is a metaphorical one alluding to the fact she's adamant that folkmore is purely fictional? like those two albums are the vaults themselves
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!!! I just knew that you'd have a well researched, carefully considered opinion based on all the timeline evidence and the content we've been given and that is so refreshing when all I've seen on the internet this past month is people blatantly refusing to admit the facts despite all the evidence just because it doesn't serve their own personal narrative, so thank you for sharing!!! I consider myself a 1975 fan first and foremost, with Taylor coming close as my second favourite artist. I was in the audience on that monumental day in January when Anti Hero was debuted live and although my life was fundamentally changed that evening I always thought Taylor performing was so random???? GIRL IF ONLY WE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING!!! Though as a fan I am happy with all the content we've been fed, watching them both crying and evidently heart broken at their shows last year following the break up and having to deal with it so publicly while they were both on their biggest ever tours made me so sad. It was crazy and chaotic while it lasted, but I'm happy they both seem to be in better places with other people now. The one key thing that I think is missing from this timeline is the 1975 show in Dublin on June 7th right around the time of the breakup. Ratty did a solo set to fill in for their opener who was too sick to play and it was FULL of sad, yearning love songs about loving and missing someone you can't have (All I Need to Hear, I Couldn't Be More In Love, I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You, etc.) and looked positively miserable throughout the whole set. I remember watching it online and thinking Taylor had finally given into the backlash and broken it off, so I find it so interesting that her narrative seems to be the exact opposite. It only makes me that much more excited for the next 75 record to hear his side of the story. I don't think he's going to shy away from writing about it (some of the demos he shared on his Instagram a while ago seemed to be dated back in May, so I think it's very likely) and it'll serve as a rare opportunity to hear about Taylor's relationships from the other perspective, especially from someone who's actually a very talented songwriter in their own right. On a separate note, I find it so funny that all my favourite 75 songs now seem to be about Taylor and vice versa. Literally everything in my life always seems to come down to these two and I can never escape them. It absolutely kills me that there are definitely Taylor and 1975 collabs with George Daniel production sitting somewhere in the vault that I'll likely never get to hear.
@@greentearain Taylor's inconceivable, stratospheric level of fame and Matty's poor reputation with the public and her fans seemed to be the main issues with their relationship this time around and those are still very much prevalent even a year later. They also both seem to be happy and healthier in their current relationships, so I really don't see it happening any time soon. That being said, they match each other so well creatively and they evidently felt something very special and twin-flame-esque with each other, so I definitely wouldn't be surprised if we saw them together again in the future if circumstances change.
31:13 This is just my PSA that this is the narcissist's playbook, some people love to call Taylor narcissistic, but Matty's pattern of chasing and idealization, to then just devalue and discard (and then repeat this cycle) is how people with clinical narcissism unfortunately behave. Narcissists are often intoxicating because they give very high highs and very low lows for those close to them. (I DO NOT KNOW Matty personally, I have no idea how he actually is in his personal life, I am just using this as a jumping off point for people who may themselves have experienced this cycle and would like more insight)
by popular demand here's my emotional chronology of the matty healy interlude playlist: open.spotify.com/playlist/7yRZZDNaps3970tYm7QyzW?si=494c02a7f77345de
I'll be walking you through it song by song on the patreon!! www.patreon.com/swiftologist/
(this isn't a STRICT chronology, it's more of a vibe check in a sense...you'll notice there are some 1975 songs in there too)
Oh no, they'll call taylor a victim player now for the songs she wrote about ratty
What about "The Alchemy"? Do you think it might also be about Ratty, despite the many football references?
P.S. You forgot to add "Peter". 😜
calvin harris is from scotland , he is producer , dj and songwriter but calvin prefer to have singers on his song aka dua lipa , ellie goulding and many more . .. fact . he is true and matt healy is very poetic
matty was always the muse because she could mold him to any narrative she wanted because she didn’t really know him… and it’s genius. he was the tortured artist, mysterious, and a little problematic at times. and she was obsessed and I get it and once they really got to know eachother it ended cause he couldn’t handle it
Yes, I have said this .She was in love with the fantasy she created about him " The Peter to her Wendy" not the real Matty. And I think he did the same .They couldn't never survive reality , but she was so unhappy that she created the fantasy in her secret garden of her head like in " I hate it here".
A little problematic at times? Try a lot
@@sassy6498I agree with everything about this
He was the stereotypical Bad Boy. Many women seem to need to be with a bad boy at least once. For them it's a safe way of rebelling. Which is why I never fell for one. I was the rebel without a cause. I did not need to live my rebellion through a bad boy. But, Taylor has this public image of a good girl. Wholesome. Matty made her feel she could stick up her middle finger to the world and the media without being bad herself.
yup it's called limerence, an unhealthy attachment form a little similar to maladaptive daydreaming but where you're projecting the object of your desires to fulfill a need within yourself
“Swirled you into all of my poems”…one of the most devastating things she’s ever said
Nobody is more devastated than me 😭 All my fav songs are from folklore and Evermore. I still love them ofc but lowkey disgusted that Matt is the muse but what ever, I'm just here for the music
But actually, though.
At least in my mind, that line means ret-conning old songs to be about him. No matter who or what they were about originally
@@junainahrahman4156honestly, you have to commend him for being an interesting muse. And that there is something romantic about a pining and longing over a decade, even if it ended up ending so badly.
At the end of the day though, the songs should really be what they mean to you regardless of muse.
Yes... Ratty 🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮
Its so impressive the way you quote taylor swift lyrics so smoothly, bilingual king
I knoww do you imagine explaining all this to a normal person? HAHA
Love the way you break this down and intertwine the details of the story! A masterpiece! I crown thee King Swiftologist ❤👏🏻🫶🏼
Love this
U reign with eloquent intelligence and foresight 🔆
omg truly bilingual
“did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room, and every single one of your friends is making fun of you” has unfortunately never made more sense than it does when it’s referring to this man
honestly, this lyric line is most likely about Karlie and kissgate
@@lambulance that thing is so weeird because it feels eerily fitting to the lyrics and it probably did happen; but I don't think the whole kaylor or gaylor thing was ever real. People's main argument was that the "official taylor dating timeline" didn't completely add up, but after so many years I've come to the conclusion that the reason why it doesn't add up is because most of her relationships definitely overlapped (she's a cheater, we've known). The whole Matty Healy scandal helped filling a lot of holes in the narrative.
More stupid lyrics.
@@lambulance that never happened Taylor literally confirmed it
@@lambulance There is no kissgate. That's a ridiculous perception. She was at a 1975 concert wanting Matty. People who were there said it was incredibly loud and Karlie probably got close to be heard. They were best friends. That's it. Stop creating something that doesn't exist. Life is hard enough.
Matty is truly the manic pixie dream boy with which TS was in love with the idea of. Holy shit. This is 500 Days of Summer irl
And that's why he got engaged to the next girl hahahhahaha
He is but all of this time she knew it she is smart enough to know he was so full of shit and she states that in ttpd saying we’re modern idiots, she knows who he was she knew it would be messy as he is but that’s what she wanted, and she knows in handsight things most likely end cause that’s the thing about love even more when you like someone as unstable as him, but she wanted it to happen and to have the experience either way. ‘Cause he is alluring he is the sad bad boy, the archetype, and who wouldn’t wanna try that and crave that even more after feeling trapped in a boring long ass non fulfulling relationship? like we get it girl, it was a rebound
Question starts with “I remember” because in About You he constantly asks: “Do you think I have forgotten?”. What a great red herring!
Omg
Interesting
I'm a big 1975 girlie and I also always understood that she was responding to “About you”
👏 👏 👏 I only 99% believed question was about matty, but this comment sealed it!
UMMMM YUP! I remember these two songs playing back and forth for me until it finally dawned on me
“She joined tumblr in 2014 and got hooked on the rat. Many such cases” 💀
Like Halsey. Her poems about Matty Healy are truly my Roman Empire.
that was me at age 15 lol. poor taylor.
It happened to the best of us 😂
@@tangozmangooI really don't get it. I like Halsey and Taylor they both seem intelligent & decent people. What did they see in him?
@@minuishaq631based on the content I’ve seen of him, he strikes me as a genuine narcissist. However, I think they may have been drawn to his strong sense of self, confidence, he seems like he knows how to be funny and charming. Maybe he knew exactly what to say them?
You are literally the first person I've seen to point out that the lyric
"I love you, it's ruining my life" is most likely something that Matty said to Taylor during that decade of trying to "woo" her - hence the refrain.
This is why you're the Swiftologist 💕
This is so genius that you figured this out!
In the end, it turned out he ruined her life for some time. There's this double meaning: referencing his words to say that he ruined her.
Yup!
This literally made my mother drop! I'm like giiirrrrlll can hold a fucking grudge 😮😂
hahaha
“Some guy said my aura’s moonstone just cause he was high” 👀
Oh
👀👀
ohhh coachella, sunny !
I was wondering who this guy. Now, I know...
“And when I meet the band
They ask, "Do you have a man?"
I can still say, "I don't remember"” 👀
We're just going to skip over the fact that Nashville was one of the first rain shows, he was in attendance, and the Black Dog references her "rain soaked body".
Reading the lyrics again this is definitely a Matty song. I can’t believe the ologist didn’t reference it.
‘You said I needed a brave man
Then proceeded to play him
Until I believed it too
And it kills me
I just don't understand’
The Black Dog is 100% about Matty. There is a bar in Cork, Ireland called the Black Dog, where the 1973 performed on June 13 last year, a week after news of TS & MH's breakup.
@@sofiarays Just WOW. How in the world did you find that? Did you just look up everywhere he played?
@@Emma_kj3nj Fan of the band. And yes, it’s easy to look up.
@@Cvinkavich1 Also the reference to The Starting Line points to Matty
1989 - 1975 = 14. So it was never gonna work.
…..a fortnight exactly
😮😮😮@@sageslittlechannel
13+the 1
@@lifeiscruisey1912oh I'm eating this up
😂😂😂
“Question…?” not being about Harry but about Matty makes me so mad but only because it works way to well
But its start with "i remember" and it references to out of the woods so how can it be about matty healy?
@@_xoxo_gossipgirl_every bait and switch was a work of art ✨
@@_xoxo_gossipgirl_ he explains that in the video
@@_xoxo_gossipgirl_ on About You, a song he played after the infamous 'you know who you are I love you' he repeats 'do you think I have forgotten?' over and over. I think that's her reply. Both were written around the same period when they reconnected through Jack who produced both of their albums.
Looking at it from the context of the muse being Matty, her sampling OOTW is probably more so a reference to them meeting during 1989 era, as opposed to it being about the same person as OOTW. If true, what a red herring that is lol
I’m so glad I’m chronically online so that I can catch this within a minute of uploading
lmao
same 🥲
That's so real
REALLLL
😂
I can’t believe I’ve had no idea who this dude is for like over 10 years and he’s the love of Taylor Swift’s life.
You mean loss 😮😢
As someone whose two favorite artists have been the 1975 and Taylor Swift for almost a decade, I just wanna applaud your work on this video!!! You did such a great job and I wish every Swiftie would watch this cause I’m tired of having to explain the lore 😂😂
Tysm!!!
so trueeeee
swifties NEED to listen to all i need to hear and about you it’s just crazzyyy
they could never make me hate matty healy, this man and his band saved me from so many depression episodes i love them😭😭
I think the play on maroon/rust with Ratty is so interesting. “The rust that grew between telephones”/“if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal”. Scarlet might be a reference to her reputation if she were to date him. A play on scarlet letter, forbidden love.
A couple more “I had the shiniest wheels now they’re rusting” on This Is Me Trying and “salt air and the rust on your door” in August
Maroon about Matty? Let me laugh. And thank god she is away from that loser. And hopefully away from the chief idiot soon.
OMG YEA
But is it? Idk it's kinda basic metaphor and she repeats her ideas. Idk but with this specific lyric Im just not cojnvinced 😅
My favorite TS song, outside of "Treacherous," is about MH. OK now.
Matty also referred to himself as a cowboy at the 2020 NME awards in his speech
Omg with this video i think something clicked in my mind, i loved cowboy like me the ending of it was vague not that clear but the chemistry, the goal, the devastation was fully there.
@@dalalali1628 yeah it makes sense to me now and it reminds me of ‘like I lost my twin’ in down bad, because of the connection they have as artists, songwriters and creatives
@@Zach27727 I agree! Read his lyrics. They are two peas in a pod creatively. Both are hopeless romantics. But he's just too messed up to actually make it happen. Quite tragic.
Taylor so drunk going up there to get her award. I believe something changed that night when they saw each other again. I mean they've been friends for years after they briefly dated.
And cowboy like me has a similar melody to 'i can fix him'
Cowboy like me is one of my top 3 songs, and it being connected to 'i can fix him' makes SO much sense.
The worst thing about all these theories is that almost all of them make complete sense
‘Is the effing acoustic record about us’ TOOK ME OUTTT
“So scarlet it was maroon” - the love was so forbidden it was abandoned. It was deeper than red.
Great insight
ah ive always wondered about that line. A scarlet letter so deep red it could have left her marooned, career-wise, which supposedly was part of the reason it ended - PR team was like this man is a heroin addict if you are trying to be a squeaky clean popstar that's real bad for your image. So she was hiding it from her team as much as everyone else (I do think I Know Places might be about him at least partly, and Clean for sure with the drug stuff)
@@SongwritingDeconstructed Ah! I love the "marooned" double meaning! You're so right. The heroine with heroin would definitely have scarred her "reputation". 😆 I Know Places and Clean for sure sound like they could have been about Matty, but I think they're probably not due to the timeline of when they met. I think their first introduction was during the 1989 era, but it wasn't until after the album was released. So I think there's definitely vaulted reputation songs about him that, if we're lucky, we might still get to hear. Perhaps the line, "I keep these longings locked in lowercase inside a vault," references the vaulted songs about him (Guilty As Sin).
@@LKYme it's actually quite difficult to pin down when they first met if you go on a google hunt for the info but some sources do say it was end 2013/start of 2014. One VERY important details is Matty was born April 8, 1989. 25 years old - makes me think that Dancing With Our Hands Tied might be about him. The youtuber Scandy did a deep dive on it, that one's worth watching - the song Fortnight in particular is mostly likely Taylor writing about them hooking up in 2016
@@SongwritingDeconstructed Ooooh. Didn't know that. I for sure think "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" is about Matty now. Makes so much sense.
Interesting coincidence (?) that maroon can also mean to strand / leave isolated. "How dare you think it's romantic, leaving me safe and stranded".
never a coincidence with this big brained girl's writing
THIS!!!!
Wow, good job!
I would pay good money for a swiftologist taylor-matty chronological timeline playlist
Search on spot for playlist called "Taylor and Matty affair - Swiftology references".
oh it exists but im still tweaking it....
So no 1989, but what about the vault tracks? I mean SLUT for sure since he was on an unreleased version?
this video helped me put mine together but it's not in chronological order that's too hard for me😭
@@hacheck6 it doesn't make sense bc everything in 1989 is about harry bc when she wrote the tracks she hadn't even met him, plus "everyone wants him, that was my crime" isn't about Matty, that's for damn sure
Now THIS is Pulitzer winning journalism, sir. Thank you for the derangement and the light you shone down on all of this mess. As always top quality work from the Swiftologist
Haha, derangement as pulitzer caliber journalism.
I’m so glad I’m not one of those crybabies who feel certain songs are “ruined” because they’re about matty. I loved the mess and chaos of the relationship and feel he is an interesting muse. Doesn’t mean I like HIM- but I like the ART
I like connecting the songs to the real people because I can feel the emotion and feel the heart break and pain
⁹
I was sooo confused by the "I remember" sample until I listened to About You by the 1975. Matty keeps repeating "do you think I have forgotten?" over and over again. There is also a verse where a female voice sings "there was something 'bout you that now I can't remember". I think that "I remember" might have been a message to Matty but it of course also served as a red herring since Taylor is a mastermind. She probably didn't want for us to figure out the Matty connection at that point of time.
i love when you say a taylor lyric mid sentence to complete your thought because thats EXACTLY how my brain works
I can't help but think about this
"In from the snow, your touch brought forth an incandescent glow"
going into this
"I felt aglow like this, never before and never since"
Ohh and “snow on the beach!”
I know it shouldn't matter that much, but i feel absolutely pissed to know that some of my favorite songs have matty healy references on them 😭
@@babyxblueSAME BRO. it feels like ivy has been stolen from me. folklore and evermore are MY albums. save from anything because it's fictional. i kinda wish i hadn't watched it atp
“I support women’s right and women’s wrongs” 😂
Love how you were denying and cringing at Madeline for saying the 1 and illicit affairs were about ratty healy, but now you’re in 100% agreement.
This might be unhinged of me but I also see Matty in The Lakes and Willow. Like in Willow she’s begging him to take her hand and wreck her plans (presumably with Joe) and then she can finally say “that’s my man”, which then leads to I can fix him “when I tell ‘em he’s my man”👀
Yesss, take me to the lakes where all the poets go to die
And she is not going without her muse.
"I'm setting off, but not without my muse" ...I think I'm gonna throw up..🥲
How about in willow "wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark" "begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans" also "head on the pillow I could feel you sneaking in" could tie into guitly as sin
I'm new here but the other day I was intently listening to willow and it struck me that it sounded suspiciously different now that we have different contexts. to be fair now that this plot development has been uncovered to a great extent and this is where we are, I find myself listening to things in a whole different way because of our current "revelation as a collective that was presented to us very late"
@@musicandmania Same :)
He really was one price she'd cheat to win
omg i never heard “head on the pillow i could feel you sneaking in” as being very sexual before but now 💀💀💀
@@imawakemymindisalive13 well, not even in the sex sex kind of way but.. 17 year olds don't drink wine and intertwine in sheets like a romcom, marked me like a bloodstain.. living for the hope of it all, cancel all my plans just in case you called. That's like. Deeper than 17 and absolutely Rat coded (this is a reference that goes with my previous comment about how Betty august and cardigan are not as fictional as she tried to imply but are simply, most unfortunately, now more understandable. Willow is in the same category.
Just want to add that while i may be in the minority, i think fortnight is actually quite more autobiographical than everyone seems to think. It's a much more chronological album that everyone seems to give it credit for. She's reminiscing about the fortnight her and Matty spent together, likely described in maroon, probably shortly after they were reintroduced. Talking about being good neighbors, each of them having partners, but being in love with him. While dramatized, i think it's setting up the situation perfectly.... then towards the end of the song, she finally admits her partner is cheating she's miserable and she's ready to "kill" him. Always dreaming of the fortnight they had together, they finally agree on a plan to pursue the relationship once the breakup is announced and she goes to Florida. Just my thoughts❤
I also thought that she wanted to set the scene here. It’s like preface to a good novel.
Yess and he is her “getaway car” for the relationship, hence “buy the car you want”. Florida in general is a metaphor for the chaos of Matty (“work your life away just to pay for a timeshare down in Destin” timeshare is usually 1-2 weeks so a fortnight, Destin=destiny as mentioned in BDILH. She worked her whole life for a fortnight with her destiny). But then “it won’t start up til I touch you” with the hand with the ring in the video - she didn’t actually get her happy getaway until Travis.
It was always clear to me that the whole song was an allegory: the husband is Joe and the neighbor is Matty. She had to act like they were just acquaintances every time they ran into each other, because she was still committed to Joe. Then she's like "No, Joe is cheating on me, I need to leave him", and she went running to Matty. The "killing" is also metaphorical, it means ending things with someone. When Florence says "your cheating husband disappeared", it's a reference to how Joe went back to being insignificant once he was no longer with her.
@@claudiabcarvalhoI also think the “backyard” and being neighbors is Electric Lady…
It is chronological! 100%.
Listening to TTPD and then revisiting her older works has been the most fun I've had in ages because Taylor is usually so careful to keep her mess private & this was one time she just let go
This is such a top tier swiftologist video!!! So thorough and vivid in the way you're able to describe Taylor, her environment, and her mindset. You're always adding to my ability to appreciate my favorite artist and I love your content so much for that 🫶❤️
The NoDaysOffOlogist is back and we are SEATED
I'd also add Labyrinth to the Matty Healy of it all. I think the 'oh no I'm falling in love again' is very much about them reconnecting while her relationship with Joe was breaking down. Also 'back into the hedge maze' lyric on Guilty as Sin links that song back to Labyrinth.
I had this same thought!! 😊
I‘ve been told I was delulu for saying that Labyrinth was far more significant than we thought 😄
@@denizece3672 I don't know if I would have come to this realisation without ttpd so I can understand people not seeing the vision initially 😅
I thought the same as well
@@KarolinaK00 No, totally, because I didn‘t think of any more than her and Joe being on and off, initially
I think this relationship is just the perfect example that if you build someone up to be something in your head, you are just gonna be disappointed. but I will say Matty did give Taylor a reason to do that. And it is crazy that this is kinda his Mo, like Halsey and FKA twigs both have supposedly written lyrics that say he very much love bombed and then changed his mind.
@@greentearainTaylor or Matty?😂
Imo both 😅 @@teresaspedaliere6114
@@teresaspedaliere6114 matty lol. Taylor is an anxious attached girlie
@@greentearain do you mean avoidant attachment? because avoidant personality disorder is something different
@@wearesurvivorsx oh probably
I know how difficult this was to make Zach but I honestly appreciate it. Because if I'm gonna have to learn about this tragic fabric of their dreaming I'd rather hear it with your snarky and wonderful commentary. I am as you say seated. And grateful.❤
The level of detail you provide, song lyrics, social media posts, interviews and stage banter, etc., all woven into a cinematic storyline, just amazing. Bravo!
Also it’s so interesting how the more overt Matty songs have this old western /Wild West sound to it. In my first listen to TTPD, I immediately connected the songs to cowboy like me.
Also congrats for moving pass your denial of the 1 being about ratty lmao!
Yeah, “I can fix him” gives serious Old West vibes. There’s definitely a connection.
Matty grew up in northern England which is similar to the American south with western/country influences. His dad influenced a lot his country inspired songs in his own catalog.
I mean if she was The 1975 girly in 2014 the whole theme it’s so clearly „Robbers” coded.
The reason for the Wild West themes is bc Matty’s greatest song is called Robbers. It’s based on the idea of Bonnie & Clyde.
Wow !
No wonder you love Taylor so much. You are such a wonderful poet yourself. ... like the Rosetta Stone that keeps on revealing to us.
I am as obssessed listening to your art as much as Taylor's art. You have a way with words.
Wow, thank you!
He says things in his videos all the time and I'm like that could be a song lyric but I think it's because he's a writer.
@@PandoraStolen ... yes ... a very good writer !
So true!
Agreed ❤
I think she was very infatuated with the fact that someone as "hard to impress" as matty was lovebombing her, it made her feel special and not like the other girls lol
"You said normal girls were boring but you were gone by the morning" lol. The only reason she fell his lovebombing is because of her pick me tendencies the need for escape from boredom with joe
it's also probably bc 6 long and slow years of boredom and wanting to escape meant that she'd eat up anything anyone offered after actually leaving
@@MarcDoesNotKnow exactly. She was with someone who never praised and barely spoke about her in public. Someone like matty openly praising her for being a good artist must tugged her heart strings
YUP. Taylor seems to feel perpetually not enough and looks for that reassurance in her relationships. We can see it with John Mayer (a big shot in the music world), Jake Gyllynhall (big shot in acting), Conner Kennedy (a literal kennedy), Joe Alwyn and his posh british theater thing, and then with Matty. And it’s crazy cause like she’s Taylor Swift she does not need some man to confirm that she’s smart and intillectual and good enough.
@@maryem9225 I mean when you look at her history of being bullied in school and even till now people still undermine her talent you can kinda understand why she seeks that validation. Although I have noticed lately that she's developing an idgaf attitude. Which is good
love the way you just casually started talking in lyrics also thanks for such a thorough breakdown :)
Glad you liked it!
HOLD TF UP SHE ANNOUNCED THE JOE BREAKUP ON HIS MF BIRTHDAY?’?!?!?! That is literally evil omfg TAYLOR!!!!
I attended The 1975 show the night they played in Perth (the night of matty's birthday), and I remember hearing his speech and getting this sinking feeling it was about Taylor 😭
sorry but they could never make me hate him 😭😭😭
I absolutely love how you’re able to hate on the men without blaming Taylor for liking them. ♥️♥️♥️
But shouldn't she be blamed for wanting to cheat on Joe with Matty for nearly 3 years. For all we know she did cheat and then ditched Joe because she wanted to make it official with Matty
@@lifeiscruisey1912I mean this so seriously, someone's relationships do not equal the relationship you have with them. don't try and paint someone as a villain when... she's just being honest. and the reason fantasizing is so taboo is because everyone else lies. 90% of people will have a fantasy in a relationship lol. guilty as sin doesn't imply she slept with Matty in a relationship.
@@evelynwright329 cheating doesn't mean hooking up. If your boyfriend was texting some other girl and writing love song for her all nice and coded that's cheating too. Face the truth. She cheated and things broke down. She's human.
Cheating is her repeated behavior. We've been seeing that since she was dating Calvin Harris. But also celebrities drama, non of our business. We're here for the songs.
@@lifeiscruisey1912 yup. love is messy like this. we would all like to have ended everthing and had a clean break up with one person before ever developing feelings for someone else, but the truth is: it rarely happens like that. when you reach your thirties, if you've dated around enough, that overlap it's bound to have happened a couple of times at least
The greatest thing to come out of this was the "He lets her bejeweled" meme.
The parallel between “Karma is the guy on the screen coming straight home to me” from Karma with “I need to get back, I've gotta see the girl on the screen” from If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) has always stood out to me
Nice catch!
From experience (have very much been baited and chased like this. It’s intoxicating), when you have this dreamy, aloof, and fantastical “love” or wonder for another person romantically, you often find the dream is far more beautiful. Once you are able to final get that full moment of connection with a person you long for like this, it almost always burns out faster than than a cigarette. The story and longing period is forever ingrained and magical, but the true moment is just…not it. Not sure if this is the case, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it was for Matty and/or Taylor. I very much see him as the one who loves thinking of love more than actually maintaining it long term.
It’s true, some things are better left alone
Sometimes the question is better than the answer!
It was clear that there were two muses since folklore. I always assumed it to be Harry and the songs just started connecting. I was devastated or more like my world was turned upside down when I realised those songs were about Healy!
The videos for Cardigan and Falling Again so weirdly paralleled each other for example. I can see how you could assume Harry.
@@clashfan2875 I just won't accept Cardigan isn't about Harry. But my overall position is that almost no song is inspired by one person and that all the writers, whomever they be (and this includes Harry), write lines are inspired by more than one relationship. This gets done unconsciously at first and then tends to stick even if the writer see what s/he has slipped into the work. Hence, do not expect any analysis to be on target for every line or other clue in the song. As far as the Cardigan MV goes, the paper airplane which appears as Taylor goes into the piano bench in the video cannot be ignored. All you guys have seen that paper airplane, right?
@@anomardolphinI still think Cardigan and question…? Is about Harry no one can change that like Harry also has songs that are parallel to these maybe both of them inspired it but it’s Harry for me tho
@@anomardolphin I've never seen a paper airplane in that video. After several watches, I saw her dress fall into a V shape under the bench as she's getting into the bench - is that what people see as the paper airplane? It's a coincidence that her dress falls like that. It's not a paper airplane. That's a HUGE reach and very wishful thinking.
@@anomardolphin I agree the plane is in the video and we were supposed to see it or it would have been changed/ fixed/removed because the producers would also have seen it too when they watched it before it was released. It is there because we are supposed to associate it with Harry. Taylor must find it so funny when the facts are twisted to fit what/who we like or in this case go blind or hallucinate for them to say the plane isn't there or it is her dress. Don't let others sway you because they are fickle. Songs that were loooong established to be about Harry can't just change overnight because Matty was seen with Taylor for a few weeks. Also some content creators will write/say anything for monitization of videos.
Listen, when I say you saved my Sunday afternoon… that‘s an understatement.
Thank the lord for the No-Days-off-ologist
@swiftologist ilysm
I just finished this break down. Now I’m off to make myself Sunday breakfast & re- listen to folklore, evermore, midnights & TPD super intently because I can’t unsee everything you just laid out here for us Zach.
Same here 😂😂😂😂😂😂
I don't wanna miss any song.
zach this video is BELLISSIMOOOOO GORGINAAAAAA 5 STAR JOURNALISM. no one does it like you, might be your best one yet.
It really is so good. Thorough. Informational. Poetic. Hilarious. I think he really enjoyed making this one.
Started feeling ill as you went through the back catalogue WITHOUT MERCY. But at the same time it always baffled me that everyone was so convinced folkmore was so fictional. As if my love obsessed girlie was not writing from the heart!? Cowboy like me is so beautiful and unfortunately fits Matty too well. It's so rough for her that she had this pining for so long only for it to not work out but that's what makes her such an interesting artist because it's such a relatable experience. I gotta say though, TTPD is a treasure trove for those willing to go to these lengths!!! Thanks for dissecting this Zach!! 👏👏👏
So glad people are finally understanding the lyrics of Chloe & co, and the fact that it literally sheds light on the entire relationship and gives the missing chronology alluded to throughout the album. So many people misunderstood the song, completely missing the word 'decade' or thinking it was about a different person. I listened to the album initially without knowing anything about Matty Healy except that they dated but after that song i was like oooohhhhh..... this person must have been an old flame never pursued that she watched that descend into addiction. No wonder it seemed so promising and gave her the push to get out of her miserable long term thing. What an ass for lovebombing her and lying about how much he changed. I thought all this before i knew who he was, and watched as everyone who actually followed celebrity stuff was totally confused or in denial. i was like.... did we listen to the same album?
Maroon is absolutely about Matty as well. That night they stayed up till 4... her waking up with his memory over her.. etc.
On my show she didn't perform a TTPD song on the surprise songs set, instead she did Hey Stephen and... Maroon!!!! (And that was the moment I knew)
I think maroon is imagining the whole relationship playing out even before it begins, in the same way that Wildest Dreams is.
@@shilohgoes5544 Wildest Dreams is about Alexander Skarsgard.
@@claudiabcarvalho wildest dreams is about harry
the night they stayed up till fouur was on jan when she was a guest a their show and that was after midnights came out so she's def referencing something else
The script of this video is insane 🔥🔥
thanks for noticing!!
❤❤
I’m officially obsessed with you and your takes on all of this. Sure, you don’t like Matty but you do refrain from ripping him to very personal shreds like most creators who are Swifties. You just stick with the receipts and facts and um hello? So well spoken!
The "Why She Disappeared" poem from the reputation magazine also mentions con men and get love quick schemes which I find quite compelling...
oh the rep vault bout to be crazzzyyyyy
Ok the Cowboy Like Me connection is brilliant. Forever is the sweetest con --> A conman sells a fool a get love quick scheme. Mind blowing analysis just for that, but there is so much more here to ponder. I will have to re-watch this video to get these details into my brain because I think you are spot on here with these parallels. I have also wondered why she would have been so hung up on Harry Styles years later and the answer, lol, is she wasn’t. ok, going to wonder forever, in what crowded room did Matty kiss Taylor?
the way I can't unhear the mattyness of snow on the beach now like omg ☹️☹️ great insightful video as always
Weird, but fu&%$ing beautiful!?
This is such an important historical record. To be referenced for years to come! This felt like an offering to our collective brains who have been trying to hold onto pieces of the puzzle and now we get to see them assembled.
As for songs- the Peter/ Cardigan links.
THANK YOU for making this video. i’ve been waiting for it lmao. another hint i noticed (which might be sooo far fetched) is that “the 1” could have been titled “the one”, but she didn’t do that, and to me it seems like a reference to “the 1(975)”. it’s out there but mentally i’m telling myself it was on purpose lol.
I really appreciate this video. As a long time Taylor and Matty fan, I've been saying these songs are about him for the longest time & was fully convinced by Midnights. It's really nice to see people recognizing that finally, even if you don't like Matty yourself. There's no denying she's been all about him for years. It's a wild ride down the rabbit hole.
Whenever I see a Swiftologist video that's almost an hour long, I cry with joy.
You really laid your life down for us with this one
Also Snow on the beach - your eyes are flying saucers from another planet - Down Bad?! omg
OHHH
He mentioned this directly at approx 42:30
@@makaylat7616 Oh, I missed that, thanx :) I was so proud of myself that I came up with that on my own xD
i'm screaminggggg lol the way you narrate it makes everything so much better. it's like living it all over again but dialled up to eleven in entertainment!
those with a ratty in their lives were blessed by TTPD and god forbid those "muses" come back uh
I think Labyrinth might also be about him as well. Mostly because she specifically says she’s falling in love AGAIN and being scared of love coming on too fast.
I think so too
I was just finding something i want to watch while painting, instantly left movie streaming platforms to watch thee swiftologist!
Fastest I've clicked in my life. Thanks for starting off the week right, Zach!!
Wow, this makes the anthology so much more interesting!
My most unhinged, won't fight anyone about them because I'm warning unhinged, song theories about Matty are:
- HOAX: mostly about Joe, but these lines are interesting: "you know I left a part of me back in New York / You knew the hero died, so what's the movie for? [...] You knew you won, so what's the point of keeping score?". Matty being the hero that died and so Joe won. Ties to The 1
- EVERMORE: I believe this album it's THE falling out of love with Joe album and further fantasizing about Matty. And titletrack is exactly about that. She's down through all the song "Gray November, I've been down since July", but then: "And when I was shipwrecked / I thought of you / /In the cracks of light / I DREAMED of you / IT WAS REAL ENOUGH / To get me through / But I swear / You were there ". Matty's memory (or fantasy) is what kept her afloat
WILLOW: I just simply think the lyrics fit Matty's personality and story with Taylor better than Joe's "life was a willow and it bent right to your wind" (I don't think turkeys are able to do that). "I'm begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans"
And then this one is not unhinged, people just refuse to accept it's about Joe > Matty- We've never truly known who it was about. We barely even understood Midnights back then because we didn't know Matty was in her mind/life, we thought her relationship with Joe was fantastic and we assumed wrong. Anyway. About this one I'm willing to fight (jk, not really) but I'm certain as I can be:
- HIGH INFIDELITY: it's literally the preface to Tortured Poets. It's telling the exact same story. "Your picket fence is sharp as knives [...] good husband, bad omen" = "turned into good neighbors / my husband's cheating / I wanna kill him". "Lock broken" = "I dream of cracking locks". "The night I was dancing around" = "and we're dancing all night". "At the house lonely" = "left me at the house by the Heath". "I'd pay if you just know me" = "He don't understand me". "Seemed like the right thing at the time" = "this cage was once just fine". And then the perfect summary of why her relationship with Joe ended that fits her descriptions in other songs about the topic = "There's many different ways that you can kill the one you love / the slowest way is never loving them enough"
If anyone has willingly read all of this: congrats, you're as deranged as me lol 💕
So what is April 29th? (Was it the met gala?) And what was he keeping count of?
This song being about Calvin Harris never sat right
I am going to be rewatching this video and absorbing the lore for months to come. This is beautiful. Its educational and poetic. Thank you for this masterpiece.
ur getting crazy close to 100k! sad i can't gatekeep anymore but happy for u
I have been wanting this timeline explained for so long, THANK YOU
Dude, this is omega level ish* right here. You *ARE* The Swiftologist! In all sincerity, this is *so* good, top tier!
This is so well put together and edited, you get right to the details and do so with no filler, no awkward pauses or cuts. Clean, smooth, and with a clarity we peons can grasp.
And though you mention researching the topic and site the source of some information at the start of this video, you rattle off the lyrics and give context with the greatest of ease. Because it is easy for you. You are ever aptly named and bestowed Swiftologist.
And you give us this feast with journalistic skills worthy the most trusted and respectable publications yet you do so in a setting where we feel you are sharing this info with us, your trusted friends, seated facing us casually.
This is a masterpiece, Swiftologist. I imagine Mrs. Swift herself watching this and going, "Yes! Someone gets it!"
Thank you so much for this wonderful fun bit of lore that grows my appreciation for your work and of course Taylor's.
You are amazing!
I think they both enjoy drama. Why stay with Joe for a few more years while writing songs about Matty? It seems mean. It's not about defending Joe specifically; imagine if someone did that to her. When she and Matty finally got together, it didn't even last a month. Apparently, they just built up this idea they are soul mates. Relationships do tend to get boring. She likes the beginning when everything is super exciting.
Because she was probably trying to prove a point to herself? I'm sure she liked Joe at a basic level so why upend her life? I think it's very human of her and not mean at all.
Again it goes to show how well of a blank-slate the turkey-Joe has put on in public because people simply find it hard to see this man as anything else but what he is. He saw a vulnerable popstar at the lowest point in her life and decided to play savior only to exert control. It wasn't Taylor staying with him. It was him trying to keep her with him! Hello, there are many songs about this. Freaking bejeweled is about this. Abuse is complicated. It's not just about being physically hit. It's also fear and tension and gaslighting.
She answered all of your questions in You're losing me. She was giving him chances and was waiting and waiting and waiting until the hope and love died completely.
I have been writing a dissertation length essay on this for the past two weeks. I am SO excited to see someone validating my insanity! I personally think it goes all the way back to Reputation and Lover too.
i‘d love to see a playlist with all the songs you think are about him maybe even just the timeline in general 🙏🏼
Yesss
If a missed any song. Please let me know and I'll add
Sooo many songs
drop the link pls, anyone
The fact that you referenced "flying saucers from another planet" but didn't make the connection to the alien abduction imagery in Down Bad...
one piece of lore that was not mentioned that lives in my head RENT FREE: in an interview, matty specifically mentioned that he and taylor connected over their love of the 80’s pop ballad Only You by Yazoo. the 1975 ended up sampling Only You on the song Paris. Paris is about matty’s addiction and the vague story about a woman he knew/dated doesn’t seem that strongly inspired by taylor, but they did play the song live a lot and i wonder if that was partially to get taylor’s attention.
and then Taylor has her own song called Paris which also uses Paris as a metaphor for the pink cloud/honeymoon stage of a situation, so now i wonder if it’s possible that the 2 songs are more than a coincidence. the references to “cheap wine” could be a callback to maroon, and the manic energy of the song kind of makes sense for her jetsetting partying 1989 era.
the only other way i can make sense of Paris by taylor is if it’s basically the chaotic version of Holy Ground and is about being silly teenagers and sneaking around hotel rooms on tour and being in love for the first time with Joe Jonas and becoming best friends with selena (imo the only way the “2003 unbearable” line makes any sense). or the song could be utter nonsense!
As a relatively new follower of TS and feeling mostly in the dark about the meanings and catalysts of the lyrics, I am finding ur analysis quite enlightening. I applaud her talent for weaving her own experiences into, throughout and across the years and albums. I applaud you for the laser focus through it all. Bravo!
Thank you for not being afraid to speak the unvarnished truth and demonstrating you can dislike Healy while at the same time not denying Taylor’s very real and profound feelings for him. The end of a “situationship” doesn’t break your heart.
hey queen! the swiftologist has done it again. constantly raising the bar for us all, and doing it flawlessly! i’d say i’m surprised, but we know who you are. we’ve seen it up close and personal. you make us so proud, and we love you! ❤
Dancing With Our Hands Tied is probably about Matty. Never made sense about Joe, no matter what Taylor said.
Im so ready to listen through this video and the Matty timeline playlist. This is great storytelling.
I don’t listen to Taylor so much for the lore but I do enjoy how different contexts put different emphasis and meanings on songs.
And you are absolutely right it’s not about who Taylor swift is dating, it’s about the story she tells through song afterwards/during.
Wow. This is one of the best RUclips videos I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Thank you for your work 😭😭😭
Excellent and thorough with the receipts. I have to admit, I know practically nothing about Matty, but he seems to be a good muse. All this talk about colors reminded me of Halseys song abt him called Colors.
When you said songs could be about more than one person,it reminded me of Harrys song, Him, that was leaked but never released. In that song, Harry is sad that Taylor is with someone else when he knew certain lyrics were written by himself. That was the first time I realized she muddies the picture purposely, lyrics about two relationships to describe one feeling that is.
This ep is INCREDIBLE. super well done, I loved watching this
Omg another lyric parallel I’ve always loved- in the 1975’s “Girls” the first line is “Bite your face despite your nose” which I always compared to “The Archer” “And I cut off my nose just to spite my face”
Also the “characters” of “Girls” are 17 which might be referenced by James/August/Betty being 17
I have now watched this 4 times. It's SO GOOD and the narration is impeccable. A true masterpiece of a video!
I was SO looking forward to this, and you delivered, as expected. Impecable reporting, as always.
I think I'm gonna watch it again, because I still cannot believe some aspects of this affair. To quote the Queen herself, what a mess.
A couple things I’m curious about that you didn’t bring up:
1) The alleged collaboration on Slut!, based on images of 1989 TV vinyls that have him credited as a writer/feature.
2) The possibility of reputation/folklore/evermore “vault songs” about Matty, based on the second verse of Guilty as Sin? (“I keep these longings locked, in lowercase inside a vault”)
maybe the vault is a metaphorical one alluding to the fact she's adamant that folkmore is purely fictional? like those two albums are the vaults themselves
@@MarcDoesNotKnow ooooh that makes a lot of sense
that collab has been proven false many times over lol
My guess is the Reputation vault ! Because I can not help but think that End Game is about MH
He also left out all the easter eggs that pointed to the 1975 in her taylor lautner amv (forgot the name in this moment lol)
Sir… I’m seated 😂
“…a Rat on the premises…” 😂 lmao
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!!! I just knew that you'd have a well researched, carefully considered opinion based on all the timeline evidence and the content we've been given and that is so refreshing when all I've seen on the internet this past month is people blatantly refusing to admit the facts despite all the evidence just because it doesn't serve their own personal narrative, so thank you for sharing!!!
I consider myself a 1975 fan first and foremost, with Taylor coming close as my second favourite artist. I was in the audience on that monumental day in January when Anti Hero was debuted live and although my life was fundamentally changed that evening I always thought Taylor performing was so random???? GIRL IF ONLY WE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING!!!
Though as a fan I am happy with all the content we've been fed, watching them both crying and evidently heart broken at their shows last year following the break up and having to deal with it so publicly while they were both on their biggest ever tours made me so sad. It was crazy and chaotic while it lasted, but I'm happy they both seem to be in better places with other people now.
The one key thing that I think is missing from this timeline is the 1975 show in Dublin on June 7th right around the time of the breakup. Ratty did a solo set to fill in for their opener who was too sick to play and it was FULL of sad, yearning love songs about loving and missing someone you can't have (All I Need to Hear, I Couldn't Be More In Love, I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You, etc.) and looked positively miserable throughout the whole set. I remember watching it online and thinking Taylor had finally given into the backlash and broken it off, so I find it so interesting that her narrative seems to be the exact opposite. It only makes me that much more excited for the next 75 record to hear his side of the story. I don't think he's going to shy away from writing about it (some of the demos he shared on his Instagram a while ago seemed to be dated back in May, so I think it's very likely) and it'll serve as a rare opportunity to hear about Taylor's relationships from the other perspective, especially from someone who's actually a very talented songwriter in their own right.
On a separate note, I find it so funny that all my favourite 75 songs now seem to be about Taylor and vice versa. Literally everything in my life always seems to come down to these two and I can never escape them. It absolutely kills me that there are definitely Taylor and 1975 collabs with George Daniel production sitting somewhere in the vault that I'll likely never get to hear.
do you think as many other people there's a chance they can get back together?
@@greentearain Taylor's inconceivable, stratospheric level of fame and Matty's poor reputation with the public and her fans seemed to be the main issues with their relationship this time around and those are still very much prevalent even a year later. They also both seem to be happy and healthier in their current relationships, so I really don't see it happening any time soon. That being said, they match each other so well creatively and they evidently felt something very special and twin-flame-esque with each other, so I definitely wouldn't be surprised if we saw them together again in the future if circumstances change.
@@tinaaslowe mte
I think this was my favorite video of yours so far 🥹🫶
31:13 This is just my PSA that this is the narcissist's playbook, some people love to call Taylor narcissistic, but Matty's pattern of chasing and idealization, to then just devalue and discard (and then repeat this cycle) is how people with clinical narcissism unfortunately behave. Narcissists are often intoxicating because they give very high highs and very low lows for those close to them. (I DO NOT KNOW Matty personally, I have no idea how he actually is in his personal life, I am just using this as a jumping off point for people who may themselves have experienced this cycle and would like more insight)
He could easily have traits & behaviors of narcissism vs the full personality disorder
addiction and narcissim might be reliant on each other in order for either to exist....