Which Songs on Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Are About Matty Healy? Fan Theories

While Taylor Swift’s relationship with Matty Healy appeared to have fizzled quickly, the “Mastermind” artist seemed to make multiple references to her romance with The 1975 singer throughout The Tortured Poets Department. 

While Taylor refrains from confirming speculation surrounding who her songs are about, fans immediately began picking apart the lyrics of her 11th studio album and found many clues pointing to Matty.

‘Fortnight’

The name of the track, along with some of the lyrics, seem to point to a short-lived relationship as Taylor sings about touching a lover “for only a fortnight.”

Seemingly alluding to her relationship with Matty, which lasted from May to June 2023, after her split from Joe Alwyn, Taylor sings, “And for a fortnight there we were, forever running to you.”

‘Tortured Poets Department’

While it was originally believed that the title of her album was a reference to ex-boyfriend Joe group chat with friends Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, fans were left baffled when lyrics for the titular track pointed to Matty instead. 

Taylor sings about “a tattooed golden retriever,” which led fans to her most recent tattooed ex. 

The real kicker, however, came as Taylor referenced Lucy Dacus from the band boygenius.  

“But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave / And I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen,” she sings. While Lucy and Matty had a famous spat and no longer speak, they were once friendly. 

‘Down Bad’

The R-rated track points to Taylor’s relationship with Matty, which ended after backlash from fans due to his controversial past. 

“F–k it if i cant have him, I might just die, it would make no difference / Down bad waking up in blood, staring at the sky come back and pick me up / F–k it if I can’t have us, I might just not get up, I might stay down bad / F–k it if i cant have him, down bad, f–k it if I can’t have him,” Taylor sings. 

‘But Daddy I Love Him’

Another song Taylor sings about a seemingly forbidden love is “But Daddy I Love You.”

“They slammed the door on my whole world, the one thing I wanted,” she belts. “Running with my dress unbuttoned, screaming, ‘But daddy I love him, I’m having his baby’ / No I’m not but you should see your faces.”

In another line the “Mastermind” artist sings, “I’m not coming to my senses / I know it’s crazy but he’s the one I want.”

She later talks of naysayers telling her love to “Stay away from her,” much like fans were telling Matty via social media at the time. 

‘Guilty as Sin?’

Taylor’s song “Guilty as Sin?” seemingly references the end of her relationship with Joe and the beginning of Matty as she sings of the “boredom” in her relationship. 

She admits to having “fatal fantasies” such as “throwing my life to the wolves or the ocean rocks” for another man, but has refused to act on them. 

“We’ve already done it in my head / If it’s make believe, why does it feel like a vow we’ll both uphold somehow? … How I long for our tryst without ever touching his skin, how can I be guilty as sin?”

Fans were quick to speculate that “Guilty as Sin?” is about the “Somebody Else” artist due to the start of his relationship with Taylor being shortly after her split from Joe. 

‘I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)’

Swifties were quick to assume that her song “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” was about Matty because of the implications of dating a man who outsiders felt was “bad news.”

“They shake their heads saying, ‘God help her’ when I tell them he’s my man,” she sings. “But your good lord doesn’t need to lift a finger / I can fix him, no really I can, and only I can.”

It seems she learned quickly that the relationship wasn’t meant to last as the final line of the song reads, “I can fix him, no really I can. Whoa maybe I can’t.” 

‘Fresh Out the Slammer’

This track appears to be about both Joe and Matty, as Taylor sings about knowing exactly who she wants to run to after ending a relationship. She started dating Matty shortly after news broke that she and Joe had split.

“Now, pretty baby, I’m runnin’ back home to you, fresh out the slammer, I know who my first call will be to,” Taylor sings. Since she seemingly hinted on “Guilty as Sin?” that she was fantasizing about Matty during the Joe relationship, it tracks that she would want to call him up as soon as she split from her ex.

She also seems to reference her history with Matty – the two previously dated in 2014 – on this song, singing, “As I said in my letters, now that I know better, I will never lose my baby again.”

‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’

Taylor seems to hint that Matty walked out on their relationship without a word, leaving her blindsided, on this song. “You tried to buy some pills from a friend of friends of mine, they just ghosted you, now you know what it feels like,” she says.

The telling lyric that points to the musician as the subject is when she sings, “I just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal.” The pair’s relationship took place in spring 2023 while Taylor was on her massive Eras tour, which was supposed to be a high point in her life, but was seemingly briefly tainted by the breakup.

She also appears to reference Matty’s intensity while on stage with his band, singing, “You kicked out the stage lights but you’re still performing.”

‘Imgonnagetyouback’

The double version of TTPD features a song called “Imgonnagetyouback,” which fans also think may be about Matty. Once again, she appears to reference the pair’s past in the lyrics. “I’ll tell you one thing, honey, I can tell when somebody still wants me, come clean,” she says.

The chorus is a play on the phrase “get you back,” as she uses it to refer to winning back a lover or seeking revenge on someone. “Whether I’m gonna be your wife or gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet, but I’m gonna get you back,” she sings.

She also once again appears to reference the start of the emotional relationship happening when she was Joe, singing, “Push the reset button, we’re becoming something new, say you got somebody else, say, ‘I got someone too.’” 

‘Peter’

“Said you were gonna grow up then you were gonna come and find me, words from the mouths of babes, promises oceans deep but never to keep,” Taylor sings on “Peter.” This appears to reference things not working out the first time Taylor and Matty dated and him promising her that he’d come back around when he matured. Sadly, she seemed to find out that nothing had changed.

There’s another reference to dating other people while still longing for the song’s subject, as Taylor sings, “I won’t confess that I waited but I let the lamp burn, as the men masqueraded, I hoped you’d return.” She returns to this theme several times on the album while seemingly singing about Matty.

In the bridge, she also says, “You said you’d come and get me but you were 25 and the shelf life of those fantasies has expired, lost to the “Lost Boys” chapter of your life.” Matty was 25 during the pair’s 2014 romance and she compares him to Peter Pan by saying he never grew up.