The Black Dog, a song by Taylor Swift, about her romance and breakup with Matty Healy

Taylor Swift remained quiet about her previous romances. But a deeper examination of the lyrics on her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department, begs for explanations of her relationships with her former lovers Matty Healy and Joe Alwyn. The album has more songs about Swift’s relationship with Healy than with Alwyn, which is contrary to what fans were expecting. Additionally, her extra tune, The Black Dog, seems to be another addition to the list. Swifties have every reason to think that Healy is the topic of the song.

“In The Black Dog, when someone plays The Starting Line / And you jump up, but she’s too young to know this song / That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming / Old habits die screaming,” Swift sings in the song’s second stanza.

Fans were quick to point out that Healy had performed The Starting Line’s “The Best of Me” during the 1975 event in May of last year, just after the lyrics were released. The same day, rumors started to spread that Healy and Swift were dating since the former said, “This one is about you,” on stage. You are aware of who you are. I cherish you. It’s interesting to note that Swift repeated the same remarks during her Nashville Eras Tour show two days later. Healy had traveled for more than seventeen hours via plane to see Swift play live.

As if this weren’t enough, Swift also discusses her ex-boyfriend dating a younger person in the song The Black Dog. That Healy dated women younger than Swift not once, but twice, is most definitely not a coincidence. Healy started seeing her 24-year-old ex-girlfriend Meredith Mickelson after their split in June 2023. That didn’t last long, however, as in September 2023 Healy started dating 26-year-old model Gabbriette Bechtel.

Remarkably, when their summer romance ended the previous year, Swift and Healy remained friends. “They have been friends for years and decided to just go back to being friends,” a source was cited by People. Nothing intricate occurred. Life goes on. Swift sings, “You said I needed a brave man / Then proceeded to play him / Until I believed it too,” in one of the lines, expressing her views over Healy’s public exhibition of his infatuation with the singer.

There were rumors circulating in December 2023 that Swift had purchased a home in North London. Before they decided to break up, she and Alwyn were anxious to purchase a seven-bedroom home in the city’s Belsize Park. As a result, the pop phenomenon bought a different property. This information was first published by Daily Times. The song’s phrase, “now I wanna sell my house,” may allude to the singer’s desire to sever all connections to England. Given that London has already been given nicknames, the term “the smoke” may potentially be a reference to that city.