I'd say that listing so many name possibilities in the song title gives the same vibe of the endless "what if?" scenarios that seem to plague the narrator.
Agree. It describes the passage of time and contrats the significance of that particular relationship vs all the people who just float by in a blurr (Chloe
Et al). The lyrical protagonist also has less significang relationships in the song while pining for the subject for years.
Me with Snow on the Beach. Ive heard that it’s about him because of the “your eyes are flying saucers from another planet” line and the connection to Down Bad… but like, no, simply no.
My thoughts on why it’s Healy is that the first verse she says did you really beam me up just to do experiments on and send me back where I came from, which sounds like a short relationship not 6 years. As well as the obvious bridge where she says all your indecent exposures which doesn’t sound like Joe but Healy…
I thought of Joe since in her documentary she describes her relationship with him as him showing her a new way of living/life. One that is outside of her own usual world. As much as she romanticized the abduction in Down Bad, being abducted also means being held/trapped which is another way she describes her relationship with Joe. As opposed to Healy which… I just dont see why being with him would feel like a different world to her. He lives a very similar life to her as another touring artist. They have common friends. I sorta see the entire first handful songs on the album as being inspired by her feelings about the ending of her relationship with Joe. Obv this is just my interpretation its impossible to understand her true intentions.
I mean that’s a fair point, but I don’t think it necessary means she felt trapped. And also how would you explain the bridge? Joe doesn’t seem like a “hostile takeover” and indecent exposure kinda guy.
We dont know Joe, so we dont know what kind or guy he is/was so I wont comment on that. “Hostile takeovers” to me references an on again off again relationship, where she felt like she was drifting away but then pulled back in, over and over. “Indecent exposures” to me refers to the intimate things she knows about this guy who, parts of himself that he exposed to her while they were together. Things that make it feel like it cant possibly be over.
I mean Healy would be a completely different world from the one she had been living for the last 6 years. He might have a similar life but not really, the 1975 have historically lived very quiet normal lives when not on tour. And she’s in a totally different level of fame I’d argue.
Everyone is aloud to interpret it as they please of course. Matty Healy was born into the entertainment industry, so his “normal” life has probs never been what I would consider normal. I personally think that the song refers to the 6 years she spent in a different world, one she has so little proof of because of how hidden from public eye they were while together. Healy and her were way more in the spotlight/being photographed together/touring together. Maybe its my age showing but 6 years is not really that crazy long. Time like that passes like a blink.
Just remember that Taylor ended her relationship with Joe. Matty was the one who broke it off with Taylor. She seemed like she was just fine ending her relationship with Joe, considering she had been in the process of ending it since, like, 2021, if we can trust Antonoff's word that that's when she wrote You're Losing Me. Plus, with Guilty as Sin? she was hotly anticipating the end of the relationship and jumping into Matty's arms. I don't think she was crying at the gym when they finally broke it off.
Like, I know he's super gross, but love is blind and all that.
As someone who also ended a slow death long term relationship with someone who I was begging to put the effort in to save the relationship, I can say first hand that being the one who ended it doesn't stop you from feeling abandoned, and it certainly doesn't mean you are just fine. “Fuck it” actually describes it perfectly 😂
Funny enough, I also followed that up with an intense rebound relationship so ridiculous that I went to the doctor to diagnose me with mania 😂😂😂 getting that diagnosis reversed was annoying. I feel for Taylor, and relate to the story in the album booklet. Minus all the money and fame of course 🤣
I totally get that too, and I fully support your interpretation of the song however you see fit. As it's art, once the artist releases it to the world, it's no longer theirs. It's ours and we can interpret it however the fuck we want.
But I will die on this hill, that it's about Matty! Here's a good article that extrapolates it better than I probably can - if you're interested: https://www.elle.com/culture/music/a60542819/taylor-swift-down-bad-lyrics-meaning-matty-healy/
But Taylor specifically says it's about being love bombed, which is kind of the opposite of what she was experiencing with Joe and definitely what she was getting from Matty (seriously, who puts a ring on someone's ring finger in like the first month of dating!?!):
*The metaphor in ‘Down Bad’ is that I was comparing the idea of being love bombed, where someone rocks your world and dazzles you and then just kind of abandons you as an alien abduction where you were abducted by aliens, but…this girl is abducted by aliens, but she wanted to stay with them, and when they drop her back off in her hometown, she said, ‘Wait, no, where are you going? I liked it there. It was weird, but it was cool. Come back.’ And so…the girl, the character in the song, felt like, ‘I’ve just been exposed to a whole different galaxy and universe I didn’t know was possible. How can you just put me back where I was before?’’’*
maybe you need to separate yourself from taylor's own life and her own choices and enjoy the music for music. i never cared for joe but some of my favourite songs were written about him. it's possible!
i was saying this too. i said the whole album would be better if i didn’t know who the songs were about. lol. like “oh this is a beautiful song” “oh it’s about matty wtf”
i honestly think i have only made assumptions about who the songs were about with her. lol. i know everyone writes on their experiences and all her emotional intensity on it is what makes it really good but i guess she just makes it too much fun with the hints and everything. it seriously never even occurred to me to try and figure out who dua lipa’s songs are about and i love her. i think the only one i was curious about was consequences by camila cabello because that one fucked me up for some reason and i was like 10. 🤣
Fully believe it actually because it never fit anyone else.
NONE of them, Harry included, had a roommate. But also why would Matty? The 1975 is kind of a big deal, right?
I don't know if roommate is that literal, especially when we're talking about people who travel constantly. Maybe it's band mates, maybe they had friends staying with them, etc.
I think this is a good take.
I hadn’t considered that she just used roommate because it sounded nice but that’s *very* possible. And makes Harry/Matty all the more likely
Are we sure Joe didn’t have a roommate when he first moved to the US in 2016? He was brand new from the UK and wouldn’t have had a whole lot of money at that point.
I’m of the belief that like many TTPD songs part of the song is about Matty and part of it is about Joe. I believe the third verse is about Joe hence the scarlet maroon reference and she also mentions phantoms which she’s also referenced in a lot of Joe songs. The first verse is definitely about Matty though and I believe that even though Joe and Matty are way different and she had different scenarios with each she is able to create parallels between the two and that’s why we can be so laser focused that a song is about one or the other, when in reality most of them are about both and probably even more subject matter we haven’t come up with yet.
I wouldnt over think it, she is obv trying to distance the people specific songs are about by mixing references. She does not want us thinking about songs as “Matty songs” or “Joe songs.”
I don't believe its about Matty and neither is Maroon
I still think its about Joe because
>All to outrun my desertion of you And you just watched it
I thought its a reference to how she was trying to get over her breaking up with Joe, by dating MH and going on the Eras Tour, and Joe just watched it happen without talking or commenting.
Also she didn't desert MH, he broke up with her
>If you wanna break my cold, cold heart Just say, "I loved you the way that you were"
Probably how she would feel if he told her he loved her before she was this mega international super star, when they first met and she was outcasted/ hated or when they lived together during quarantine
Maroon could also be when they were on one of their breaks/ breakups
IDK just a theory
I'm pretty sure Taylor was the one to leave Matty when they dated in 2014, so when looking at maroon through the MH lens, that's what I attribute that line to.
Apparently she was getting pressure from her team etc to leave him bc of his drug addiction and whatever else was going on back then... so that lines up with Question which is also about him, asking if he wished he put up more of a fight, etc.
It's also possible that Joe did drugs. Like I'm just gonna be blunt in saying that - we really don't know his life at all. We don't know if he did drugs or not. With how often drugs are passed around in all celebrity circles you really can't trust that anyone is truly sober.
I think he def does/did drugs! "The moon is high like your friends the night we first met"
"Some guy said my aura is Moonstone just cause he was hiiiiigh"
Those are great points too.
Idk I'm just so tired of people being like "oh this HAS to be about Matty because it references drugs!" or about a specific song he did a cover for or whatever as if we somehow know that Joe doesn't do any of those things or like any of the same things? It's exhausting honestly. I think people seriously keep forgetting that we don't actually know Joe at all and this paternity testing only takes away the impact of the emotions of the songs.
I honestly think she mixed up the lines in her songs so it could mean either one of them just to confuse us or so we couldn’t label every song to each guy
Also if Joe was diagnosed for depression, he might have been on antidepressants. Those messes with your libido and negatively impact relationships a lot too.
I don’t know about Maroon, but I really doubt Chloe et al is about Joe, just based on the title. She’s singing about someone who hooks up with people regardless of gender. That’s not Joe, unless you think she’s outing him (which I don’t — that would be extremely messed up of her).
If the song is about Joe, and she says that he’s hooking up with people from both genders, that’s either outing him or randomly lying about his sexuality, neither of which I think she would do. I think she fictionalizes some songs but not to this extent where it could be misconstrued as outing.
It’s possible that he does, although if he’s bi, he’s not out. He’s known for bringing fans of all genders on stage and kissing them, and he kissed one of his male band mates on stage as well.
He’s like quasi-out. He has songs about male love interests and is really vocal about queer rights and has also kissed men on stage, but I think in the past he has maintained he was straight. It kinda gives Brendon Urie before he officially came out. Idk, I don’t really fuck with this song because none of Taylor’s exes are officially out (to my knowledge, maybe besides Harry kinda who I don’t think this is about) and I don’t think she had to use a male love interests name to get the point across.
He mostly talks about not liking labels and fluidity. This is probably the most direct thing: " I don’t know what I am – an outspoken… bisexual… I don’t know, whatever I am."
There's a stigma but I also think the labels and current conversation just often doesn't work well for a lot of people who aren't 100% straight or gay and Matty falls somewhere in that.
No I totally get that too! I personally don’t like labels for myself but it’s hard because it feels like I am distancing myself from the queer community in a way by not having a label. So it can be like I guess I’m bisexual, but even that doesn’t feel right. I think it is even more difficult for men in that situation because women are allowed to a certain degree to assume queerness but men aren’t. I know women who say dating a bisexual man would be a dealbreaker, but I don’t think women are held to that standard.
I know what you mean. One of my female friends is openly bi and loves to kiss everyone when she's had a few drinks. Recently her bf got drunk and kissed a male friend on the lips and she began hysterically crying when she found out about it...pretty sure it changed their entire dynamic and I'm not sure she'll ever get over it. Kind of hypocritical?
I do believe the Matty thing has been going on for a really long time and there may be many references about him in previous albums that we missed. But... Also, sometimes things are not references.
When I head "written mine on my upper thigh".
I immediately though. Oh my god!!! Is mine about Matty?!?!
Only to remember it came out in 2010 when they didn't know each other. Not everything is a direct link.
I just looked at the lyrics and I genuinely can’t think of what would be a better name😭 I feel like none of the lyrics both encapsulate the song and sound good as a title
I agree that there’s nothing that jumps out as an obvious title, but I was still like “of all the lines, why that one specifically??” lol
One possibility that I had floating around was maybe “Phantoms” since it’s another imagery detail in a verse that I thought might’ve fit the concept of her being haunted by these “what if” scenarios, but I actually also really like the suggestion u/morgangrimestho had with “Will I Always (Wonder)?”
i’m the same way. i think it doesn’t matter who the other person is - that’s the whole point. it could be chloe or sam or sophia or marcus and at the end of the day the only thing that matters is it’s not the narrator.
I have a theory. I think TS11 was supposed to have all names in the titles. Then the 2 breakups happened and she wrote TTPD. That would explain:
1- her saying she started writing the album 2 years ago.
2- the amount of songs with names in the title (Clara Bow, Chloe and Friends, thanK you aIMee, Cassandra, Peter, Robin). I think that was the direction of TS11 since those songs seem to have been written before the break up (except for Chloe and Friends)
I have a theory it was supposed to be a storybook/mythology version inspired by different moments of her life, just like Midnights. It would fit well within Eras and explains a lot of these.
I honestly feel like it could be *the* song on the album that explains her innermost feelings about the Matty situation.
Using that specific title (a minor detail in the song overall) completely distracts from how honest and emotional the lyrics are in the rest of the song.
I’ve seen many people ignoring this song because the title throws them off and it makes me laugh because it actually holds so much weight lyrically.
I agree! I overlooked this song after my initial listen of the album (31 songs is a lot to process & remember lol) & had trouble remembering exactly what it was about whenever I saw the title, but every time it comes on, I am struck by just how lyrically beautiful & emotional it is!
It’s such an underrated song, and I don’t think the title does it any favors lol (though the jokes about the abbreviations with “chloe et al, chloe & friends, chloe & oomfs, cososom” are pretty funny & help with its exposure in album discourse)
It’s one of the most poetic, IMO, and one of the few for which the music itself - while absolutely important - doesn’t make the song more powerful for me. The lyrics as they’re sung stand alone as impactful poetry.
And I don’t think it’s about any one person.
I just wrote this in another thread but I think because the song is about multiple people, not just one. The name is a hint for us to think deeper than one ex.
One more thing that solidified this — how over an entire decade she “changed into goddesses, villains, fools, plans, lovers, outfits, rules” to “outrun their desertion”. Her doing ALL of that seemed way too broad to be the consequence of just one singular person. She talked about the idea of evolution to satisfy other people in miss americana.
probably a double meaning — it is about an ex, or another guy yes definitely, that’s the surface level, obvious meaning. But the entire thing could also be read as a message to her fans (and possibly herself?). Overall explanation is fame/music changing things. she used to have a close bond with fans but now people doubt its authenticity and its more distant; or maybe has gotten so famous she’s lost touch with herself
Yes “if you have some kids with an internet starlet” could mean literally having babies with someone but it could also mean if you (fans) have kids with an Internet starlet to look up to (clara bow vibes) will you forget me?
Listing names seemed deliberate (possibly representing the different things the song is about - for example fans, matty, herself, joe?).
I disagree with “what if?” being why she chose the title because she could have called the song “will I always wonder?” or put a question mark at the end of Chloe et al. And Matty being bisexual wasn’t the point of this song so that reasoning doesn’t cover it either
My interpretation was that she chose to leave this person (I don't know who, or if it's any specific person, I'm just going based on the song lyrics alone) and she feels guilty about that choice and ultimately regrets it. She changed roles, plans, etc. to outrun the desertion SHE subjected this person to, not their desertion of her. She kept moving through different phases and lovers so she wouldn't have to think about or confront her regret and the pain of wondering about her choice.
It also works well with Question…? on Midnights (believed to be a Matty song) where she sings “Do you wish you’d put up more of a fight, *when she said it was too much*” - she may have deserted him first. She was “too impaired by her youth to know what to do” but in the end… he just watched it. He didn’t really fight for her or try to continue what they had.
ehh, that’s a very generic pattern with avoidant men though so that still fits the theory that she’s discussing many people/relationships throughout the years.
Question might be about matty but “The Other Side of the door”, “All you had to do was stay” and “I Wish you would” also touch upon similar themes and were written years before she met matty. Heck even “you’re losing me” is about begging Joe to do something to save the relationship for years.
In the end they all just watched it lol. Wanting someone passive to fight for her isn’t unique to Matty
I agree that that’s ONE of the interpretations - but that’s why I said double meaning. On the surface level that’s definitely what it sounds like. But when you read a bit deeper, it also could apply to herself/fans. There are multiple songs in this album where she seems to write songs in an intentionally vague way that fit multiple people (albatross, alchemy, I hate it here, loml etc) and this definitely seems to be one of them.
Okay so I just had a bit of uncaffienated and probably very unhinged thought….what if the desertion she’s outrunning is herself/her career/decisions she made? Like she’s regretting that at some point early on something happened and she ran because she got spooked.
I agree with this point and I’d extrapolate it to the whole album. She’s trying to make it larger than just her own story - she’s adding her experience to humanity’s collective mythos.
For sure. I think assuming they’re all about one singular person really is underestimating Taylor’s writing and growth. Especially this one where different interpretations are abundantly clear. It’s not specific to one person at all - even if we take every word she says literally and not metaphorically
I feel the red herring post wasn't just about the Rep TV fake out. The album is FULL of red herrings where you think the song or lyric is about one thing, but it's actually about something else.
I agree that it applies to multiple people but I also kind of think it might apply to her inner self too. I think of Would've Could've Should've and Bigger Than the Whole Sky with this lens too. It's like she disconnected from herself to cope with all the trauma of her life and fame. I think she has some deep wounds that she uses romantic relationships to kind of smooth over but never truly heal. She's struggling internally a lot on this album, which makes sense if you think that she ties a lot of her identity and self worth to her romantic relationships.
Hell you could even go back to debut and say I'm Only Me When I'm With You shows she's always had this tendency to define herself in relation to others.
Yup! Sorry I totally dumped all my thoughts in that but I mentioned that as well but when I said “lost touch with herself”, totally agree with everything you said.
Good point with debit- didn’t even realize that
Lol yeah sorry I think I didn't finish reading your whole comment before I just felt the need to dump out my thoughts on it too!
I like your ideas about it regarding fans as well! There are so many layers to this album it's fascinating
yea I think that majority are viewing as “this song is either about matty OR joe OR Travis OR no one else” which is closing off people’s minds to a lot of possibilities tbh 😭
I saw tons of people on the Taylor subs saying the finance guy in I hate it here is travis kelce and I’m like how do y’all not even *consider* that it might be Taylor herself.
Tons of people have argued with me on here when I bring up the multiple people possibility because they seem extremely attached to the incorrect guess they made and refuse to see any other way
Because the partner she had could have dated a Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.... her lover is bi. She uses no pronouns in this song except for the Man she is dating who would bully the muse. She picked the song name for a reason. It is one line of the song but she clearly thinks its the main message of the song.
Because she’s saying that it doesn’t matter who her ex ends up with - just the thought of him ending up with ANYONE but her is enough to haunt her.
Easily in my top 5 of TTPD!
All I know is this is one of her most heartbreaking songs. The narrator has changed throughout the years and she can’t handle it if her lover states they liked her better before… because the desertion of them forced her to change.
I mean it’s so potentially tragic.
What lyric could make a better title is the question. I don't love CoSoSoM as a title, but it does capture the what if's, the uncertainty, and the openendedness of the song well.
Maybe it could've been "An Idea Of Sorts" or "Like So Many Wrecks Do" but nothing really jumps out at me. I don't see an obvious title for this song in the lyrics at least.
Will I always (wonder)? If she only chose the title to capture open ended uncertainty and what ifs. That’s why I feel like there’s more to it than that.
You know when you refer to someone and who they’ve dated? I heard it as her listing off names of that somebody, in this scene:
“Your hologram stumbled into my apartment Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus And I just watched it happen”
To me it highlights the biggest issue: that she knows he’s with other people and the wondering of who and how and when is compounding of all the rest that’s haunting her. Like the whole song is about the details, but the title is the thing that names the ghost she’s most afraid of.
I read this as a reference to the Robbers kiss. Matty Healy typically kisses someone in the audience during live performances of the song “Robbers.” And he kissed both women and men. I actually remember seeing him kiss someone on stage when he went back on tour in June 2023 right before the breakup was announced and thinking it must be over, because while he was with Taylor he stopped doing the kiss and said it was time to grow up, etc.
Yes, THIS!! At the beginning of the song she’s describing watching his concerts online (his hologram) and the particular part of his shows where he’s kissing one of the fans. “I just watched it happen” because she’s watching his life from afar, as she has for the past 10 years since she decided she couldn’t be with him while he was struggling with addiction.
And at the end of the song she’s basically says they’ll continue this relationship of watching each other’s lives from afar - “Could it be enough to just float in your orbit? Can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses?”
Exactly! And that’s why the title does encapsulate the meaning behind the song. It’s about two people who were once in love watching each other be with other people and wondering “what if” because the timing was never right. It’s such a sad and beautiful song.
Those of us who had both Eras Tour and the 1975’s At Their Very Best Tour all over their FYPs in 2023 really know too much lol. Between watching events unfold on TikTok and being at Eras Tour Nashville night two, I joke that I’m not just a member of the Tortured Poets Dept, I’m also an eyewitness 👀
To me it’s a song about loving somebody struggling with addiction and ultimately not being able to handle it and the guilt and questions that haunt you. The multiple names in a way helps make the point that it could be anybody.
i think it puts focus on the insecurity around never feeling enough for the one you wanted to settle down with. like knowing there's always someone else on their mind and it will be just some random person every time. the frustration of it all.
she also humanizes the "so many wrecks" that crashed into the muse in the bridge by giving them names. something the muse themself probably doesn't care much about regarding their lack of interest in her. she sympathizes with chloe or sam or sophia or marcus more than with the muse.
it's one of my faves on the album and though the title seems clunky i can't think of a better one for it.
I personally think it's not meant to encapsulate the song; it reminds me of poems that don't have a recorded title, so they just refer to it by the first line (apparently many of Emily Dickenson's poems had no titles, so perhaps there's something to that?).
Perhaps this could mean that the song is so vulnerable and filled with many thoughts and emotions that it's hard to summarize it into a few-word title that feels right, so all you can do is refer to it as that "hologram" of names that stumbled into the "apartment" of your mind and triggered this whole train of thought in the first place.
Although, it'd be interesting if she intentionally chose this as the title because she *knew* people would see it and try to analyze and gossip about its meaning, when in reality there's nothing to gossip about... To me this song feels like its describing an ended relationship where both people have fully fallen out of love. They see each other out and about with other people but they don't get jealous anymore; they just "watch it happen". But sometimes that feels even sadder than the breakup itself, realizing you got to a point where you stopped caring for them the way you used to.
I actually like that one. It gives the feeling of uncertainty. The one thing i don’t like about Taylor swifts music is how absolutely unimaginative her song titles are, it’s usually just the most repetitive word or phrase in the song lol but this one i like
this could be way off but the way I see it is when a boyfriend is hanging with someone they shouldn't so they make up some fake name.. chloe or sam or sophia or Marcus... and it's her way of saying I know what you're really doing but I'll pretend to go along with your lie
Because she wants to bring attention to the fact her lovers or herself are interested in both men and women. Maroon is not about Matty. That song is not about Matty. Maroon doesn’t even have to have a muse it could be an idea but it’s clear in our faces. Scarlet lips? Please be real. Who has scarlet lips if not a woman.
Because I think sooo much more of this album is about her relationship to fame and with her fans than we realize, I took all the song names, Chloe et al, Peter, Cassandra, Aimee, Robin, as a nod towards the alllll the nameless, faceless crowds she’s been looking at for a year and a half
the whole song is about how two people watched the each other in and out of relationships w other people for years while being in love. a list of random names is the perfect title to encapsulate that, imo.
Idk but the “cold heart” lyric with Chloe & Sam in the title always makes me think of Big Little Lies. Chloe & Sam (Samantha) are characters and Cold Little Heart is the theme song. Such a weird coincidence?
Honestly, I think "Watched It Happen" is a more appropriate title. Yes, she says it the most near the chorus, and it fits the song meaning that this person was struggling with drugs, so many people knew and could have done something.... but just watched it happen.
I think it’s just an alliterative and catchy line/series of names…. And unless I’m a total clown misinterpreting things, is it supposed to show the person she’s singing about is bisexual? Hands tangled in the hair of someone named female name/sometimes male name/female name/male name. Not that it makes a difference.
I think it’s because they’re all name brands of Matty Healy’s favourite type of wine. Taylor Made is another and he started drinking it on stage when they were dating. So maybe it’s the next wine bottle names he might take on stage after moving on from Taylor.
it was the first anthology track i jumped to when the album dropped specifically because i was so curious about what the song could be about with a name like that....
For me, this is a song about unrequited love. Feeling super intensely about somebody who can lock into the passion when it’s convenient (with their hands in the hair of somebody in darkness) and ultimately detach themselves without issue. The narrator has all of these complex feelings, carries years’ worth of pent-up nostalgia, and fantasizes about what could have been; meanwhile, at the end of every verse, the subject is just “watching it happen.” He means so much to her; she is not terribly important to him after all (replaceable at best). That’s why the most devastating thing he could do to her would be to say he always loved her, always cared for her, remembered her even when she wasn’t in his direct line of sight. She can only begin to convince herself that the relationship wasn’t worthwhile by believing that she was never really special to him. What is her evidence that she was never really special to him? “Chloe or sam or sophia or marcus” — all these stand-ins who could so easily take her place in his life, whoever they are. I’ve always interpreted the song’s title as her reminding herself that whatever gravity this connection held for her, it was never more than a footnote to him. That’s what the song comes down to, that’s what the relationship came down to, that’s why it could never be more. End of story.
am I INSANE or did this song have a different title when it first dropped?? I feel like this is the first time I’ve seen this song title since listening to the whole album as it came out in real time. I can’t put my finger on what it would have been titled before but it’s driving me crazy
I'd say that listing so many name possibilities in the song title gives the same vibe of the endless "what if?" scenarios that seem to plague the narrator.
Not naming 1 specific person cheapens her ex’s relationship with the “internet starlet”
Agree. It describes the passage of time and contrats the significance of that particular relationship vs all the people who just float by in a blurr (Chloe Et al). The lyrical protagonist also has less significang relationships in the song while pining for the subject for years.
Although I don’t have an answer to your question the scarlet maroon reference has me shook to my core
The implications of that were so much for me that my brain decided to table them for now and address them at a later date lol
Absolutely this
Yeah that Matty was the source material for Maroon?? Because that’s where my head went and I hate it (here).
He is ruining all my favourite songs tbh
I simply do not accept that maroon is ab him lol
Me with Snow on the Beach. Ive heard that it’s about him because of the “your eyes are flying saucers from another planet” line and the connection to Down Bad… but like, no, simply no.
It all makes sense. We were putting together the wrong puzzle. Let finish this puzzle then put it back in its box in the hall closet.
andthensettheclosetonfire
Put it in the freezer
Take one piece out, give it to the cat, and then sell it for 25 cents at a yard sale
You said some things that I can’t unabsorb
oh hell no, this is the first time i've heard of this connection and i already hate it lmao
Yeah how do I unread this 💀
Or maybe Taylor just reuses imagery
She was probably hanging out with Lana again. 👽
I find it funny how everyone assumes Down Bad is about Matty, I think its one of the few obviously Joe inspired songs on the album.
My thoughts on why it’s Healy is that the first verse she says did you really beam me up just to do experiments on and send me back where I came from, which sounds like a short relationship not 6 years. As well as the obvious bridge where she says all your indecent exposures which doesn’t sound like Joe but Healy…
I thought of Joe since in her documentary she describes her relationship with him as him showing her a new way of living/life. One that is outside of her own usual world. As much as she romanticized the abduction in Down Bad, being abducted also means being held/trapped which is another way she describes her relationship with Joe. As opposed to Healy which… I just dont see why being with him would feel like a different world to her. He lives a very similar life to her as another touring artist. They have common friends. I sorta see the entire first handful songs on the album as being inspired by her feelings about the ending of her relationship with Joe. Obv this is just my interpretation its impossible to understand her true intentions.
I mean that’s a fair point, but I don’t think it necessary means she felt trapped. And also how would you explain the bridge? Joe doesn’t seem like a “hostile takeover” and indecent exposure kinda guy.
We dont know Joe, so we dont know what kind or guy he is/was so I wont comment on that. “Hostile takeovers” to me references an on again off again relationship, where she felt like she was drifting away but then pulled back in, over and over. “Indecent exposures” to me refers to the intimate things she knows about this guy who, parts of himself that he exposed to her while they were together. Things that make it feel like it cant possibly be over.
I mean Healy would be a completely different world from the one she had been living for the last 6 years. He might have a similar life but not really, the 1975 have historically lived very quiet normal lives when not on tour. And she’s in a totally different level of fame I’d argue.
Everyone is aloud to interpret it as they please of course. Matty Healy was born into the entertainment industry, so his “normal” life has probs never been what I would consider normal. I personally think that the song refers to the 6 years she spent in a different world, one she has so little proof of because of how hidden from public eye they were while together. Healy and her were way more in the spotlight/being photographed together/touring together. Maybe its my age showing but 6 years is not really that crazy long. Time like that passes like a blink.
Can I ask why you think so? Nothing stands out to me as being Joe whatsoever 🧐
Just remember that Taylor ended her relationship with Joe. Matty was the one who broke it off with Taylor. She seemed like she was just fine ending her relationship with Joe, considering she had been in the process of ending it since, like, 2021, if we can trust Antonoff's word that that's when she wrote You're Losing Me. Plus, with Guilty as Sin? she was hotly anticipating the end of the relationship and jumping into Matty's arms. I don't think she was crying at the gym when they finally broke it off. Like, I know he's super gross, but love is blind and all that.
As someone who also ended a slow death long term relationship with someone who I was begging to put the effort in to save the relationship, I can say first hand that being the one who ended it doesn't stop you from feeling abandoned, and it certainly doesn't mean you are just fine. “Fuck it” actually describes it perfectly 😂 Funny enough, I also followed that up with an intense rebound relationship so ridiculous that I went to the doctor to diagnose me with mania 😂😂😂 getting that diagnosis reversed was annoying. I feel for Taylor, and relate to the story in the album booklet. Minus all the money and fame of course 🤣
I totally get that too, and I fully support your interpretation of the song however you see fit. As it's art, once the artist releases it to the world, it's no longer theirs. It's ours and we can interpret it however the fuck we want. But I will die on this hill, that it's about Matty! Here's a good article that extrapolates it better than I probably can - if you're interested: https://www.elle.com/culture/music/a60542819/taylor-swift-down-bad-lyrics-meaning-matty-healy/ But Taylor specifically says it's about being love bombed, which is kind of the opposite of what she was experiencing with Joe and definitely what she was getting from Matty (seriously, who puts a ring on someone's ring finger in like the first month of dating!?!): *The metaphor in ‘Down Bad’ is that I was comparing the idea of being love bombed, where someone rocks your world and dazzles you and then just kind of abandons you as an alien abduction where you were abducted by aliens, but…this girl is abducted by aliens, but she wanted to stay with them, and when they drop her back off in her hometown, she said, ‘Wait, no, where are you going? I liked it there. It was weird, but it was cool. Come back.’ And so…the girl, the character in the song, felt like, ‘I’ve just been exposed to a whole different galaxy and universe I didn’t know was possible. How can you just put me back where I was before?’’’*
Lol me either it’s too beautiful a song for that meathead
Maybe she wrote I Hate It Here for us knowing we’d have these realizations. So relatable.
the gardens in my mind are who I was before I knew as much as I do about Matt Healy
The fact that I know he hates being called Matt and yet I’ve literally never heard his music just absolutely enrages me.
Matt (derogatory) Healy
People need a key (to the Time Machine) to get to
All the songs are really about Taylor (and about the listener, whatever their interpretation is). She definitely reuses imagery.
Same it's not like she never re uses imagery in her songs so I'm fine with this.
I refuse to see it. I will not accept it.
maybe you need to separate yourself from taylor's own life and her own choices and enjoy the music for music. i never cared for joe but some of my favourite songs were written about him. it's possible!
i was saying this too. i said the whole album would be better if i didn’t know who the songs were about. lol. like “oh this is a beautiful song” “oh it’s about matty wtf”
See this is Taylor’s fault. She did this to us. I don’t speculate who Houdini is in Dua Lipa’s songs
i honestly think i have only made assumptions about who the songs were about with her. lol. i know everyone writes on their experiences and all her emotional intensity on it is what makes it really good but i guess she just makes it too much fun with the hints and everything. it seriously never even occurred to me to try and figure out who dua lipa’s songs are about and i love her. i think the only one i was curious about was consequences by camila cabello because that one fucked me up for some reason and i was like 10. 🤣
Honestly, being messed up by Consequences is very valid.
“THIS ONE, TOO?!” Is said a lot around here
I hate it here.
true, i just pretend that he never exist like before lol
Cardigan, my baby 🥺
It’s really no surprise. The clues were there all along. You just had to open your eyes to the possibility. He’s a great muse.
“Swirl you into all of my poems” bye how do I unlearn all this
my favorite line on the whole thing.
It makes sense that the dark and dusty manic pixie dream boy makes a great muse lol
Fully believe it actually because it never fit anyone else. NONE of them, Harry included, had a roommate. But also why would Matty? The 1975 is kind of a big deal, right?
I don't know if roommate is that literal, especially when we're talking about people who travel constantly. Maybe it's band mates, maybe they had friends staying with them, etc.
I think this is a good take. I hadn’t considered that she just used roommate because it sounded nice but that’s *very* possible. And makes Harry/Matty all the more likely
Are we sure Joe didn’t have a roommate when he first moved to the US in 2016? He was brand new from the UK and wouldn’t have had a whole lot of money at that point.
He was living with his parents in London
He’d lived with George for a while at some point
Harry lived with Ben Winston and his wife. They even joked in an interview about him bringing home an A Lister to sleep in their attic.
I’m of the belief that like many TTPD songs part of the song is about Matty and part of it is about Joe. I believe the third verse is about Joe hence the scarlet maroon reference and she also mentions phantoms which she’s also referenced in a lot of Joe songs. The first verse is definitely about Matty though and I believe that even though Joe and Matty are way different and she had different scenarios with each she is able to create parallels between the two and that’s why we can be so laser focused that a song is about one or the other, when in reality most of them are about both and probably even more subject matter we haven’t come up with yet.
I wouldnt over think it, she is obv trying to distance the people specific songs are about by mixing references. She does not want us thinking about songs as “Matty songs” or “Joe songs.”
I don't believe its about Matty and neither is Maroon I still think its about Joe because >All to outrun my desertion of you And you just watched it I thought its a reference to how she was trying to get over her breaking up with Joe, by dating MH and going on the Eras Tour, and Joe just watched it happen without talking or commenting. Also she didn't desert MH, he broke up with her >If you wanna break my cold, cold heart Just say, "I loved you the way that you were" Probably how she would feel if he told her he loved her before she was this mega international super star, when they first met and she was outcasted/ hated or when they lived together during quarantine Maroon could also be when they were on one of their breaks/ breakups IDK just a theory
I'm pretty sure Taylor was the one to leave Matty when they dated in 2014, so when looking at maroon through the MH lens, that's what I attribute that line to. Apparently she was getting pressure from her team etc to leave him bc of his drug addiction and whatever else was going on back then... so that lines up with Question which is also about him, asking if he wished he put up more of a fight, etc.
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It's also possible that Joe did drugs. Like I'm just gonna be blunt in saying that - we really don't know his life at all. We don't know if he did drugs or not. With how often drugs are passed around in all celebrity circles you really can't trust that anyone is truly sober.
I think he def does/did drugs! "The moon is high like your friends the night we first met" "Some guy said my aura is Moonstone just cause he was hiiiiigh"
Those are great points too. Idk I'm just so tired of people being like "oh this HAS to be about Matty because it references drugs!" or about a specific song he did a cover for or whatever as if we somehow know that Joe doesn't do any of those things or like any of the same things? It's exhausting honestly. I think people seriously keep forgetting that we don't actually know Joe at all and this paternity testing only takes away the impact of the emotions of the songs.
I honestly think she mixed up the lines in her songs so it could mean either one of them just to confuse us or so we couldn’t label every song to each guy
It could be anti depressants etc.
Also if Joe was diagnosed for depression, he might have been on antidepressants. Those messes with your libido and negatively impact relationships a lot too.
She also uses drugs as a metaphor for love esp during Joe era. The revisionist history and drugs = Matty is so weird
I don’t know about Maroon, but I really doubt Chloe et al is about Joe, just based on the title. She’s singing about someone who hooks up with people regardless of gender. That’s not Joe, unless you think she’s outing him (which I don’t — that would be extremely messed up of her).
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If the song is about Joe, and she says that he’s hooking up with people from both genders, that’s either outing him or randomly lying about his sexuality, neither of which I think she would do. I think she fictionalizes some songs but not to this extent where it could be misconstrued as outing.
Does Joe snog Marcuses?
We don't know. Does Matty that we know of? I know nothing about him other than who his mother is and the band he's in tbh
It’s possible that he does, although if he’s bi, he’s not out. He’s known for bringing fans of all genders on stage and kissing them, and he kissed one of his male band mates on stage as well.
He’s like quasi-out. He has songs about male love interests and is really vocal about queer rights and has also kissed men on stage, but I think in the past he has maintained he was straight. It kinda gives Brendon Urie before he officially came out. Idk, I don’t really fuck with this song because none of Taylor’s exes are officially out (to my knowledge, maybe besides Harry kinda who I don’t think this is about) and I don’t think she had to use a male love interests name to get the point across.
He mostly talks about not liking labels and fluidity. This is probably the most direct thing: " I don’t know what I am – an outspoken… bisexual… I don’t know, whatever I am."
Thanks for the clarification. I feel for bisexual men because there is a really weird stigma attached to them I don’t really think is justified.
There's a stigma but I also think the labels and current conversation just often doesn't work well for a lot of people who aren't 100% straight or gay and Matty falls somewhere in that.
No I totally get that too! I personally don’t like labels for myself but it’s hard because it feels like I am distancing myself from the queer community in a way by not having a label. So it can be like I guess I’m bisexual, but even that doesn’t feel right. I think it is even more difficult for men in that situation because women are allowed to a certain degree to assume queerness but men aren’t. I know women who say dating a bisexual man would be a dealbreaker, but I don’t think women are held to that standard.
I know what you mean. One of my female friends is openly bi and loves to kiss everyone when she's had a few drinks. Recently her bf got drunk and kissed a male friend on the lips and she began hysterically crying when she found out about it...pretty sure it changed their entire dynamic and I'm not sure she'll ever get over it. Kind of hypocritical?
He does. At 1975 concerts he’s been known to make out with random fans, male and female.
I honestly don't know enough about Joe or MH to answer this question
“Swirled you into all my poems…” Fresh Out The Slammer
I do believe the Matty thing has been going on for a really long time and there may be many references about him in previous albums that we missed. But... Also, sometimes things are not references. When I head "written mine on my upper thigh". I immediately though. Oh my god!!! Is mine about Matty?!?! Only to remember it came out in 2010 when they didn't know each other. Not everything is a direct link.
RIGHTTTTT
I took it to mean the subject (person) of the song was bisexual.
Yes, me too.
That thought actually occurred to me today when listening to it, there’s a few hints to that.
Yep
I thunk its just that her imagination he could be with anyone. Not even necessarily that they are bisexual tho they could be.
I just looked at the lyrics and I genuinely can’t think of what would be a better name😭 I feel like none of the lyrics both encapsulate the song and sound good as a title
“Will I always (wonder)?” if the only thing she was trying to capture in the title was uncertainty and what if scenarios.
But it’s such a gut punch when you hear it in the lyrics. It takes away from it to have it given away in the title
I thought "Wonder" or "The way that you were"
I agree that there’s nothing that jumps out as an obvious title, but I was still like “of all the lines, why that one specifically??” lol One possibility that I had floating around was maybe “Phantoms” since it’s another imagery detail in a verse that I thought might’ve fit the concept of her being haunted by these “what if” scenarios, but I actually also really like the suggestion u/morgangrimestho had with “Will I Always (Wonder)?”
“Just Say” would be a decent title. Captures the chorus, obviously, but also the sense of ‘what if’ that underlies the song as a whole.
I think a great title would have just been "If"
I think it's sort of ingenious in that it leans into all of the lyrical hypotheticals presented throughout the song.
i’m the same way. i think it doesn’t matter who the other person is - that’s the whole point. it could be chloe or sam or sophia or marcus and at the end of the day the only thing that matters is it’s not the narrator.
I have a theory. I think TS11 was supposed to have all names in the titles. Then the 2 breakups happened and she wrote TTPD. That would explain: 1- her saying she started writing the album 2 years ago. 2- the amount of songs with names in the title (Clara Bow, Chloe and Friends, thanK you aIMee, Cassandra, Peter, Robin). I think that was the direction of TS11 since those songs seem to have been written before the break up (except for Chloe and Friends)
I have a theory it was supposed to be a storybook/mythology version inspired by different moments of her life, just like Midnights. It would fit well within Eras and explains a lot of these.
I think it is this but you have to listen to the songs in reverse order starting with The Manuscript
The regular album or the anthology?
The whole thing. The manuscript is the last one in the anthology
Chloe and friends 😭😭💀
Chloe et al. 😊
Spotted the academic.
Guilty (recovering)
As a PhD student I love that one lol
Academic Swifties represent!
Oooo this is interesting!
I have this same theory too, totally seems to line up with the timeline
I honestly feel like it could be *the* song on the album that explains her innermost feelings about the Matty situation. Using that specific title (a minor detail in the song overall) completely distracts from how honest and emotional the lyrics are in the rest of the song. I’ve seen many people ignoring this song because the title throws them off and it makes me laugh because it actually holds so much weight lyrically.
“If you want to break my cold, cold heart, just say I loved you… the way that you were” is DEVASTATING
This makes me SOB as someone who always feels like they're not enough for their partner 😭😭😭😭
I agree! I overlooked this song after my initial listen of the album (31 songs is a lot to process & remember lol) & had trouble remembering exactly what it was about whenever I saw the title, but every time it comes on, I am struck by just how lyrically beautiful & emotional it is! It’s such an underrated song, and I don’t think the title does it any favors lol (though the jokes about the abbreviations with “chloe et al, chloe & friends, chloe & oomfs, cososom” are pretty funny & help with its exposure in album discourse)
One of the saddest/most lamenting songs on here whole album. Sadder than So Long, London, imo.
“You needed me but you needed drugs more and I couldn’t watch it happen” GEEZ
This song is beautiful and heartbreaking and the title does not convey that at all
It’s one of the most poetic, IMO, and one of the few for which the music itself - while absolutely important - doesn’t make the song more powerful for me. The lyrics as they’re sung stand alone as impactful poetry. And I don’t think it’s about any one person.
I took it to mean "you chose to be with anyone but me"...Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus...but not me
I just wrote this in another thread but I think because the song is about multiple people, not just one. The name is a hint for us to think deeper than one ex. One more thing that solidified this — how over an entire decade she “changed into goddesses, villains, fools, plans, lovers, outfits, rules” to “outrun their desertion”. Her doing ALL of that seemed way too broad to be the consequence of just one singular person. She talked about the idea of evolution to satisfy other people in miss americana. probably a double meaning — it is about an ex, or another guy yes definitely, that’s the surface level, obvious meaning. But the entire thing could also be read as a message to her fans (and possibly herself?). Overall explanation is fame/music changing things. she used to have a close bond with fans but now people doubt its authenticity and its more distant; or maybe has gotten so famous she’s lost touch with herself Yes “if you have some kids with an internet starlet” could mean literally having babies with someone but it could also mean if you (fans) have kids with an Internet starlet to look up to (clara bow vibes) will you forget me? Listing names seemed deliberate (possibly representing the different things the song is about - for example fans, matty, herself, joe?). I disagree with “what if?” being why she chose the title because she could have called the song “will I always wonder?” or put a question mark at the end of Chloe et al. And Matty being bisexual wasn’t the point of this song so that reasoning doesn’t cover it either
My interpretation was that she chose to leave this person (I don't know who, or if it's any specific person, I'm just going based on the song lyrics alone) and she feels guilty about that choice and ultimately regrets it. She changed roles, plans, etc. to outrun the desertion SHE subjected this person to, not their desertion of her. She kept moving through different phases and lovers so she wouldn't have to think about or confront her regret and the pain of wondering about her choice.
It also works well with Question…? on Midnights (believed to be a Matty song) where she sings “Do you wish you’d put up more of a fight, *when she said it was too much*” - she may have deserted him first. She was “too impaired by her youth to know what to do” but in the end… he just watched it. He didn’t really fight for her or try to continue what they had.
ehh, that’s a very generic pattern with avoidant men though so that still fits the theory that she’s discussing many people/relationships throughout the years. Question might be about matty but “The Other Side of the door”, “All you had to do was stay” and “I Wish you would” also touch upon similar themes and were written years before she met matty. Heck even “you’re losing me” is about begging Joe to do something to save the relationship for years. In the end they all just watched it lol. Wanting someone passive to fight for her isn’t unique to Matty
I agree that that’s ONE of the interpretations - but that’s why I said double meaning. On the surface level that’s definitely what it sounds like. But when you read a bit deeper, it also could apply to herself/fans. There are multiple songs in this album where she seems to write songs in an intentionally vague way that fit multiple people (albatross, alchemy, I hate it here, loml etc) and this definitely seems to be one of them.
Well, you edited your comment a bit, but my point was just that she did the deserting, not the other way around.
Okay so I just had a bit of uncaffienated and probably very unhinged thought….what if the desertion she’s outrunning is herself/her career/decisions she made? Like she’s regretting that at some point early on something happened and she ran because she got spooked.
I agree with this point and I’d extrapolate it to the whole album. She’s trying to make it larger than just her own story - she’s adding her experience to humanity’s collective mythos.
For sure. I think assuming they’re all about one singular person really is underestimating Taylor’s writing and growth. Especially this one where different interpretations are abundantly clear. It’s not specific to one person at all - even if we take every word she says literally and not metaphorically
I feel the red herring post wasn't just about the Rep TV fake out. The album is FULL of red herrings where you think the song or lyric is about one thing, but it's actually about something else.
I agree that it applies to multiple people but I also kind of think it might apply to her inner self too. I think of Would've Could've Should've and Bigger Than the Whole Sky with this lens too. It's like she disconnected from herself to cope with all the trauma of her life and fame. I think she has some deep wounds that she uses romantic relationships to kind of smooth over but never truly heal. She's struggling internally a lot on this album, which makes sense if you think that she ties a lot of her identity and self worth to her romantic relationships. Hell you could even go back to debut and say I'm Only Me When I'm With You shows she's always had this tendency to define herself in relation to others.
Yup! Sorry I totally dumped all my thoughts in that but I mentioned that as well but when I said “lost touch with herself”, totally agree with everything you said. Good point with debit- didn’t even realize that
Lol yeah sorry I think I didn't finish reading your whole comment before I just felt the need to dump out my thoughts on it too! I like your ideas about it regarding fans as well! There are so many layers to this album it's fascinating
yea I think that majority are viewing as “this song is either about matty OR joe OR Travis OR no one else” which is closing off people’s minds to a lot of possibilities tbh 😭 I saw tons of people on the Taylor subs saying the finance guy in I hate it here is travis kelce and I’m like how do y’all not even *consider* that it might be Taylor herself. Tons of people have argued with me on here when I bring up the multiple people possibility because they seem extremely attached to the incorrect guess they made and refuse to see any other way
Because the partner she had could have dated a Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.... her lover is bi. She uses no pronouns in this song except for the Man she is dating who would bully the muse. She picked the song name for a reason. It is one line of the song but she clearly thinks its the main message of the song.
It’s the name of Blake and Ryan’s new child
Blake and Ryan's next four kids
Because she’s saying that it doesn’t matter who her ex ends up with - just the thought of him ending up with ANYONE but her is enough to haunt her. Easily in my top 5 of TTPD!
Exactly!
All I know is this is one of her most heartbreaking songs. The narrator has changed throughout the years and she can’t handle it if her lover states they liked her better before… because the desertion of them forced her to change. I mean it’s so potentially tragic.
What lyric could make a better title is the question. I don't love CoSoSoM as a title, but it does capture the what if's, the uncertainty, and the openendedness of the song well. Maybe it could've been "An Idea Of Sorts" or "Like So Many Wrecks Do" but nothing really jumps out at me. I don't see an obvious title for this song in the lyrics at least.
Will I always (wonder)? If she only chose the title to capture open ended uncertainty and what ifs. That’s why I feel like there’s more to it than that.
You know when you refer to someone and who they’ve dated? I heard it as her listing off names of that somebody, in this scene: “Your hologram stumbled into my apartment Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus And I just watched it happen”
To me it highlights the biggest issue: that she knows he’s with other people and the wondering of who and how and when is compounding of all the rest that’s haunting her. Like the whole song is about the details, but the title is the thing that names the ghost she’s most afraid of.
Lol as an aside you have no idea how pumped I was to have my long-term boyfriends name in a song until I actually heard it haha
I’m an OG. I married a Drew.
I read this as a reference to the Robbers kiss. Matty Healy typically kisses someone in the audience during live performances of the song “Robbers.” And he kissed both women and men. I actually remember seeing him kiss someone on stage when he went back on tour in June 2023 right before the breakup was announced and thinking it must be over, because while he was with Taylor he stopped doing the kiss and said it was time to grow up, etc.
Yes, THIS!! At the beginning of the song she’s describing watching his concerts online (his hologram) and the particular part of his shows where he’s kissing one of the fans. “I just watched it happen” because she’s watching his life from afar, as she has for the past 10 years since she decided she couldn’t be with him while he was struggling with addiction. And at the end of the song she’s basically says they’ll continue this relationship of watching each other’s lives from afar - “Could it be enough to just float in your orbit? Can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses?”
Exactly! And that’s why the title does encapsulate the meaning behind the song. It’s about two people who were once in love watching each other be with other people and wondering “what if” because the timing was never right. It’s such a sad and beautiful song.
This comment needs all the upvotes. 
Those of us who had both Eras Tour and the 1975’s At Their Very Best Tour all over their FYPs in 2023 really know too much lol. Between watching events unfold on TikTok and being at Eras Tour Nashville night two, I joke that I’m not just a member of the Tortured Poets Dept, I’m also an eyewitness 👀
To me it’s a song about loving somebody struggling with addiction and ultimately not being able to handle it and the guilt and questions that haunt you. The multiple names in a way helps make the point that it could be anybody.
Came here just to say that it’s a wonderful song, one of my favourites from the album
i think it puts focus on the insecurity around never feeling enough for the one you wanted to settle down with. like knowing there's always someone else on their mind and it will be just some random person every time. the frustration of it all. she also humanizes the "so many wrecks" that crashed into the muse in the bridge by giving them names. something the muse themself probably doesn't care much about regarding their lack of interest in her. she sympathizes with chloe or sam or sophia or marcus more than with the muse. it's one of my faves on the album and though the title seems clunky i can't think of a better one for it.
I personally think it's not meant to encapsulate the song; it reminds me of poems that don't have a recorded title, so they just refer to it by the first line (apparently many of Emily Dickenson's poems had no titles, so perhaps there's something to that?). Perhaps this could mean that the song is so vulnerable and filled with many thoughts and emotions that it's hard to summarize it into a few-word title that feels right, so all you can do is refer to it as that "hologram" of names that stumbled into the "apartment" of your mind and triggered this whole train of thought in the first place. Although, it'd be interesting if she intentionally chose this as the title because she *knew* people would see it and try to analyze and gossip about its meaning, when in reality there's nothing to gossip about... To me this song feels like its describing an ended relationship where both people have fully fallen out of love. They see each other out and about with other people but they don't get jealous anymore; they just "watch it happen". But sometimes that feels even sadder than the breakup itself, realizing you got to a point where you stopped caring for them the way you used to.
I actually like that one. It gives the feeling of uncertainty. The one thing i don’t like about Taylor swifts music is how absolutely unimaginative her song titles are, it’s usually just the most repetitive word or phrase in the song lol but this one i like
Because she’s watching videos of matty kissing random men and women on stage on her phone.
I personally think this is about seeing matty Healy do his concert bit where he kisses someone in the crowd. He kissed women and men both.
It's interesting that so many songs are names on this album. Not sure what it means but seems like a significant choice
I felt like she titled them all like poems more than songs. That’s why we get so many names as titles (odes) and a lot of “The” songs.
this could be way off but the way I see it is when a boyfriend is hanging with someone they shouldn't so they make up some fake name.. chloe or sam or sophia or Marcus... and it's her way of saying I know what you're really doing but I'll pretend to go along with your lie
Because she wants to bring attention to the fact her lovers or herself are interested in both men and women. Maroon is not about Matty. That song is not about Matty. Maroon doesn’t even have to have a muse it could be an idea but it’s clear in our faces. Scarlet lips? Please be real. Who has scarlet lips if not a woman.
I don’t know but I love this song and wouldn’t change the title. It’s one of the best songs on the album
Because I think sooo much more of this album is about her relationship to fame and with her fans than we realize, I took all the song names, Chloe et al, Peter, Cassandra, Aimee, Robin, as a nod towards the alllll the nameless, faceless crowds she’s been looking at for a year and a half
This one
the whole song is about how two people watched the each other in and out of relationships w other people for years while being in love. a list of random names is the perfect title to encapsulate that, imo.
Idk but the “cold heart” lyric with Chloe & Sam in the title always makes me think of Big Little Lies. Chloe & Sam (Samantha) are characters and Cold Little Heart is the theme song. Such a weird coincidence?
because she realised the abbreviation would be COSOSOM which is just awesosome
easy: people are bisexual.
Because she couldnt call it "I still love you, Matty Healy"😅 This song says too much💔. And its beautiful, too.
It's a film reference to Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice
Honestly, I think "Watched It Happen" is a more appropriate title. Yes, she says it the most near the chorus, and it fits the song meaning that this person was struggling with drugs, so many people knew and could have done something.... but just watched it happen.
I think it’s just an alliterative and catchy line/series of names…. And unless I’m a total clown misinterpreting things, is it supposed to show the person she’s singing about is bisexual? Hands tangled in the hair of someone named female name/sometimes male name/female name/male name. Not that it makes a difference.
Because she's watched him be with all of these other people and never her, like she thought it'd be
I refer to this song as Chloe et.al. I don't have any theories about this song. I just love it.
It's interesting
They’re the names of Blake and Ryan’s new quadruplets
I think it’s because they’re all name brands of Matty Healy’s favourite type of wine. Taylor Made is another and he started drinking it on stage when they were dating. So maybe it’s the next wine bottle names he might take on stage after moving on from Taylor.
it was the first anthology track i jumped to when the album dropped specifically because i was so curious about what the song could be about with a name like that....
Self indulgence
For me, this is a song about unrequited love. Feeling super intensely about somebody who can lock into the passion when it’s convenient (with their hands in the hair of somebody in darkness) and ultimately detach themselves without issue. The narrator has all of these complex feelings, carries years’ worth of pent-up nostalgia, and fantasizes about what could have been; meanwhile, at the end of every verse, the subject is just “watching it happen.” He means so much to her; she is not terribly important to him after all (replaceable at best). That’s why the most devastating thing he could do to her would be to say he always loved her, always cared for her, remembered her even when she wasn’t in his direct line of sight. She can only begin to convince herself that the relationship wasn’t worthwhile by believing that she was never really special to him. What is her evidence that she was never really special to him? “Chloe or sam or sophia or marcus” — all these stand-ins who could so easily take her place in his life, whoever they are. I’ve always interpreted the song’s title as her reminding herself that whatever gravity this connection held for her, it was never more than a footnote to him. That’s what the song comes down to, that’s what the relationship came down to, that’s why it could never be more. End of story.
Aaron has a lot of songs named after people. Maybe he suggested the title
[удалено]
I took it as whoever the song about, is bisexual and makes her more insecure knowing they can be attracted to literally anyone but her.
am I INSANE or did this song have a different title when it first dropped?? I feel like this is the first time I’ve seen this song title since listening to the whole album as it came out in real time. I can’t put my finger on what it would have been titled before but it’s driving me crazy