Matty Healy responds to Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department alleged ‘diss track’
Fans believe Swift’s newest album references Healy. (Getty)
Fans have been thrust into a new Taylor Swift era with her latest release, The Tortured Poets Department. But one listener might not be so thrilled about the new album, as Matty Healy has responded to his alleged “diss track”.
In a video which went viral online, The 1975 frontman was captured walking past paparazzi in Los Angeles, US on 24 April when he was asked about the “Taylor diss track”. The singer-songwriter chuckled before responding, “My diss track? Oh! I haven’t really listened to that much of it, but I’m sure it’s good.”
While the person behind the camera doesn’t explicitly name which TTPD song is Healy’s “diss track”, fans have speculated that multiple songs in the album, and even in her entire discography in general, could be about the “It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)” hitmaker. Listeners believe that “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” on the album could be inspired by Healy.
The surprise double album, which dropped on 19 April, is rumoured to be based on her relationship with the British singer, which came to light in May 2023. However, their relationship seemed to come to an end in July of the same year, according to reports.
Other references on Swift’s new album include lyrics from “Guilty as Sin?”, where she sings about someone sending her the synth-pop song “The Downtown Lights” by The Blue Nile, whom Healy said was his “favourite band of all time”. He also previously noted that his song “Love It If We Made It” was inspired by The Blue Nile track.
However, fans have started to deduce that the Swift songs they’ve been singing along to for years could have been about Healy all along. The pair first met in 2014 and sparked romance rumours when they each wore each other’s album merch T-shirts. It never went anywhere, though, as Swift started dating Calvin Harris.
Swift’s Lover track “Death By A Thousand Cuts” appears to mirror The 1975’s “Me & You Together Song”. Swift sings: “You said it was a great love / One for the ages / But if the story’s over / Why am I still writing pages?” Meanwhile, Healy sings in one verse: “I think the story needs more pages / Cuz I’ve been in love with her for ages”.
In April 2023, Healy confirmed at one of his concerts that the song was based on true events, right before the rumours of the pair dating began. Coincidence?
Elsewhere in her discography, Swift mouthed, “This one is about you. You know who you are. I love you,” before singing her Folklore track “Cardigan” at one of her Eras Tour shows. At one of Healy’s shows, he also mouthed the same thing.
The song references Peter Pan, with another recent track on TTPD named “Peter”. Healy has compared himself to “Peter Pan” in interviews over the years.
