Who is the ‘Lucy’ mentioned in Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department?
Taylor Swift with boygenius singers Lucy Dacus (L) and Phoebe Bridgers (R). (Getty/John Shearer)
It’s time to clock in for work in The Tortured Poets Department, as Taylor Swift has just dropped not one, but two albums – both of which dissect the demise of her recent high profile relationships.
On the whole, The Tortured Poets Department – which is split into two parts, after the 34-year-old singer dropped a surprise second half hours after the first was released – is an intricate autopsy of her six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn.
However, the music legend also makes room among the mammoth 31 songs on the tracklist to gut her former fling, The 1975 singer Matty Healy, whom Swift briefly dated last Spring, much to the fury of her fanbase.
In one such song, the title track, Swift seemingly berates a partner’s “self-sabotaging” behaviour and appears to mention reading about him “coming undone” – a lyric that some fans believe references Healy’s numerous, infamous controversies.
Healy’s most contentious moments include appearing on Adam Friedland and Nick Mullen’s podcast The Adam Friedland Show, and laughing along as the hosts mocked Swift’s friend and rapper Ice Spice and mimicked Chinese and Hawaiian accents.
However, despite the cryptic mentions of Swift’s relationship with the contentious musician, there’s one lyric that has particularly piqued the interest of her fans – a reference to a woman called “Lucy”.
Does Taylor Swift mention queer Boygenius singer Lucy Dacus?
During the bridge on track two, “The Tortured Poets Department”, Swift makes reference to a lover – assumed to be Matty Healy – who told “Lucy” that he would take his own life if Swift left him.
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me, but you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave,” the lyric reads.
In a possible reference to Jack Antonoff, Swift’s longtime collaborator, she continues: “And I had said that to Jack about you so I felt seen, everyone we know understands why it’s meant to be, because we’re crazy.”
Fans have concluded that the “Lucy” in question is Lucy Dacus, queer singer and one third of Phoebe Bridgers’ Grammy-winning supergroup, boygenius.
Dacus has a connection to both Healy and Swift: last year, while Swift was writing The Tortured Poets Department, boygenius member Bridgers was Swift’s opener on her huge Eras Tour. One night last May, just days after Swift’s relationship with Healy became public, Dacus and fellow boygenius member Julien Baker joined Bridgers to open Swift’s Eras show in Nashville.
Both Bridgers and Dacus have had a documented friendship with Healy, with Bridgers previously explaining that she had been a “fan forever” of The 1975 frontman before they collaborated in 2020.
Timing-wise, then, it makes sense for the “Lucy” in question to be Lucy Dacus – even if Swift herself hasn’t confirmed it herself.
Are Taylor Swift and Lucy Dacus still friends?
As of February 2024, it appears that Taylor Swift and Lucy Dacus are still fairly good friends, as the pair were pictured together at the Grammy Awards.
After winning the Album of the Year accolade for 2022 record Midnights, Swift announced the release of The Tortured Poets Department – and then reportedly went off stage to congratulate Boygenius on their Best Rock Performance award.
Are Lucy Dacus and Matty Healy still friends?
While Taylor Swift and Lucy Dacus still appear to be pals, the same can’t be said for Matty Healy and Dacus. Last September, Healy deactivated his X/Twitter account after Dacus called him out for an ableist joke he made about her band, boygenius.
Healy‘s joke read: “I told Lucy Dacus that ‘Boygenius’ had inspired me and [The 1975 member] George to start a new band called ‘Girlr****d’. I don’t really hear from her that often.”
In a short, scathing response, Dacus replied: “You don’t hear from me at all.”
Shortly after the post went viral, Healy’s account was nowhere to be found. Burn.
The Tortured Poets Department is out now.
