Taylor Swift’s Lyrics About Marriage on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’: Rings and Other References

“The Tortured Poets Department”

On track 2, which fans think is about Matty, Taylor sings, “At dinner you take my ring off my finger and put it on the one people put wedding rings on and that’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding.” 

Although this was just a small gesture, it seemingly had Taylor thinking about the possibility of walking down the aisle with The 1975 singer.

“My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”

This is one of the TTPD tracks that is seemingly about Joe. Taylor sings about a partner running away from the relationship when she wanted to take the next step. “Saw forever, so he smashed it up,” one of the lyrics says.

“Fresh Out the Slammer”

This song is speculated to be about Taylor attempting to rekindle her relationship with Matty after splitting from Joe. She references their history on the track, singing, “Here at the park where we used to sit on children’s swings, wearing imaginary rings.”

Although Taylor was only in her mid-20s when she was first linked to Matty, she seemed to already have marriage on her mind.

“So Long, London”

Track 5 is one the most obvious Joe-coded songs on TTPD and includes the lyric, “You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof.”

Taylor previously hinted on “You’re Losing Me” that she was waiting for Joe to propose when she sang the lyric, “I wouldn’t marry me either,” and this new reference to “waiting” at the altar mirrors that.

“loml”

Fans are torn about whether this song is about Taylor’s relationship with Matty or Joe but there’s no denying the multiple lyrics about marriage, including, “You and I go from one kiss to getting married.”

In the first verse, Taylor says, “If you know it in one glimpse it’s legendary, you and I go from one kiss to getting married,” hinting that she was ready to quickly take the leap in the relationship.

Later in the song, she references the future again, adding, “You s–t talked me under a table, talking rings and talking cradles.”