#topic: rumors

[tayfabe75]

"Chris Martin and Bono have sent us the most beautiful messages, packages, kind of good wishes, in honestly such a genuine way and it made us feel so beautiful."

June 7, 2023: Vulture reports that Chris Martin and Bono supported Matty following his split from Taylor. (source)

[tayfabe75]

"There's this song from The 1975 called 'Change of Heart'. As some of you may remember, the band's lead singer Matt Healy and Taylor were rumored to be dating in 2014, and although the two have said they were simply friends, that didn't stop the indie rock band to reportedly pen a song about Taylor. A source close to the lead singer did tell Page Six that, quote, 'She [Taylor] may have inspired some of it, but the song is about more than one girl.' Neither Matt nor Taylor have confirmed or denied that, so we can just assume that the song is sorta inspired by Tay Tay."

May 8, 2016: Clevver News lists 'A Change of Heart' among songs possibly written about Taylor. (source)

[tayfabe75]

"Should we all expect a collab with Taylor Swift?" "No. That would probably be… that would be good, but unfortunately not. I mean, we're just focusing on making our own record, you know? I think that people… If there's… like, working with people, it has to come naturally. You can't think, 'Oh, I want to work with this person because they're that person,' you know? Then you're gonna create art that isn't really, really meaningful. Whereas, for example, you know, you just need to pick the right people for the right things. So maybe there will be a couple of features on this next record, but it'll very much be our record. We're not going to do 'feat. Will.I.Am… you know? We're not going to start doing that." "Everybody knows that there were swirling rumors about you and Taylor Swift, so how would you feel if ever you became the subject of a Taylor Swift song? 'Cause you know how she always writes about her exes, right? What if you were on a Taylor Swift song?" "Oh that'd be amazing, wouldn't it? That would be very, very erm… it would be a nice way of kind of… haha, I don't know!" "Do you think it will be a bitter song or a happy song?" "It won't be… it won't be an anything song, because there was nothing there to report about, unfortunately. Erm, but she's just… erm, I don't know, that would be nice. It would always be nice to be the subject of somebody's affection, but I think that's my job, isn't it, really? Now that's what I do." "You know what, personal opinion, I think you and her would be really cute together."

January 23, 2015: Matty is asked about a possible collaboration with and rumors about Taylor Swift. (source)

[tayfabe75]

"Taylor Swift, who's famous for writing songs about her exes, is getting a taste of her own medicine. Fans of indie-rock band the 1975 are buzzing that lead singer Matt Healy, to whom Swift was linked in 2014, wrote 'A Change of Heart' about her."

February 26, 2016: Pagesix speculates about whether The 1975's "A Change of Heart" is about Taylor. (source)

[tayfabe75]

"He likes to provoke a response out of people. She's a grown woman more than capable of forming her own opinions about people. No one forces her into anything, especially not these days. She's on top of the world."

June 6, 2023: People posts an exclusive about Taylor and Matty's breakup. (source)

[tayfabe75]

"Some of the superstar's army of Swifties — the name given to her loyal supporters — were so 'disappointed' by her romance with The 1975 frontman that they published an open letter listing his multiple controversies."

June 6, 2023: The Sun reports on the bizarre behavior of Taylor's fans. (source)

[tayfabe75]

If cardigan is about Matty, what do we have with august and betty, considering that these three songs are one love story?

Kinda interesting that Matty and Betty rhyme... I know the story with all these names, but it's still funny to me

The pesky teenage love triangle strikes again! Anon, I admit - I have the same concern. Is Matty Betty because they're the same number of letters and end with a "t-t-y"? And, would that then mean that Taylor is James? After all, she was named for James Taylor… Or, is Matty James because they're both male? Your guess is as good as mine! I do, of course, have some speculation about the love triangle… (you knew it was comin'!)

Recently, Taylor chose to mash-up 'August' with 'Getaway Car' and 'The Other Side of the Door', which is interesting. On Twitter somewhere, I saw some comments about how we're getting all sides of the story, here. August: the perspective of the other woman, Getaway Car: the perspective of the cheater, and TOSOTD: the perspective of the woman spurned.

When it comes to making sense of this storyline, there are a few things I like to consider. It seems like there was some sort of undefined "situationship" between Taylor and Matty in the early days - I'm basing this off of 'Is It Over Now?' and 'TooTime', songs that share a melody.

While Taylor's song is lyrically much more fraught, Matty does imply that he's cried over this "situationship" ("you wet my eyes"). Pair that with Taylor's 1989 tour speeches, like this one before 'All You Had To Do Was Stay':

"I don't really like grey areas. I don't really like when people say 'I don't know', when it's a basic yes or no question. Do you want to be with me? Yes or no is the answer. And I tend to think that, you know, relationships are much less complicated than we make them if we simplify it to two basic options. Would you like to hear the two basic options, Boston? Okay. I think that your two real decisions and your two real options in a relationship are: you either leave or stay."

Recently (I think at MSG?), Matty introduced 'A Change of Heart' by describing himself as an "indecisive young man"… now, I get that most people don't think that song is about Taylor… however, that wasn't historically the case! (and that's certainly an interesting rabbit hole to fall down…)

Anyway, there are two theories that I really like, both suggested by my fellow "Tayfabe" collaborators:

The first theory being that 'August' might refer to opioids. Often, Matty describes his relationship to drugs almost like a romantic relationship:

"It's just… you know, if you break up with your missus for a good reason, even if you love her, you can understand it, you know, you can get on with it. But if you still fucking love her, it's really hard, you know? I think that would be the best way to describe it."

(Interestingly, Taylor speaks about addiction as an intro to the song 'This Is Me Trying' in the Long Ponds film… pair that with the "This Is Us Trying" engraving on NOACF… and you start wonderin' some things, no?)

The second theory being that Taylor could be both Augustine and Betty! That somewhere in her tumultuous timeline with Matty, she's found herself at one point being his "girl", and at other points, being "the other woman". Either way, she seems to deeply empathize with poor Augustine:

"August was obviously about the girl that James had this summer with, right? So she seems like she's this bad girl. But really, she's not a bad girl, she's like really a sensitive person who like, really fell for him and she was trying to seem cool and seem like she didn't care because that's what girls have to do, and she was trying to let him think that she didn't care, but she really did and she thought they had something very real. And then he goes back to Betty."

Something about the way she says this makes me think that no, Taylor is not actually Augustine, but there might be another reason she humanizes the "other woman" so much. Maybe because it's a friend of hers?

Warning: High (and morally dubious) speculation ahead

Anon, I'm personally a bit uncomfortable with celebrity gossip, but since so much of fandom song speculation seems to hinge on the gossip aspect of things, I thought it might be worth mentioning! Now, Matty used to date Halsey. It is alleged that a few of her songs are about Matty (more on that soon). Of course, Taylor and Halsey are friends as well as collaborators! I believe Taylor actually gifted her a Folklore cardigan, and Halsey posted an IG story of herself wearing it and lip-synching along to 'Illicit Affairs':

Don't call me "kid" Don't call me "baby" Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me You showed me colors You know I can't see with anyone else

If you're at all familiar with the Matty x Halsey lore, you'll know that her song 'Colors' is alleged to be about him, as well as the song 'Is There Somewhere', which shares a theme with 'August' in that it's about being the other woman:

Your girl's got red in her cheeks 'Cause we're something she can't see And I try to refrain but you're stuck in my brain All I do is cry and complain, because second's not the same

Now we'll go back to Taylor's quote about Augustine:

"So the idea that there's some like, some bad villain girl in any type of situation who like, takes your man, is actually a total myth because that's not usually the case at all. Like, everybody has feelings and wants to be seen and loved, and just like… Augustine, that's all she wanted was love."

(Oh, and to address the elephant in the room: Yes, I'm pretty sure Matty and Halsey dated in 2013. I know not everyone is on the same page when it comes to the "Tatty Timeline", but there are a few hints that Taylor and Matty met at least as far back as the Red era…)

Lastly, I'll leave you with this, Taylor's forecast for what ultimately becomes of James and Betty:

"Cardigan is from Betty's perspective from like twenty to thirty years later, looking back on this love, that was this tumultuous thing. In my head, Betty and James ended up together, right? So in my head, she ends up with him, but he really put her through it."

I definitely veered a bit off-course here, anon, forgive me! lol

And, of course, thanks for the ask! ♥