Taylor Swift has never been one to kiss and tell.
In a Nov. 16 Q&A with The New York Times, the 22-year-old was grilled about her high-profile romances with Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor Kennedy — and the breakup anthems she's written about her many exes.
In Red's first single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," Swift sings about how her former flame finds peace of mind "with some indie record that's much cooler than mine." According to the Pennsylvania-born musician, "That all came out of this one relationship I was in. This guy was just, so, so cool. It kind of gave me a bit of a complex for this album, because he was always going on and on about this new band that was so cool because they were so underground."
"I have so many indie bands on my iPod," Swift continued. "What I don't really understand is the attitude that if a band is unknown, they're good, and if they get fans, then you move on to the next band."
When asked if the ex in question was a musician, Swift replied, "No, he wasn't. He just had very eclectic, sophisticated taste." (Though the singer won't name names, the source previously told Us Weekly that the No. 1 hit "is definitely about Jake." She also wrote "All Too Well" about the End of Watch actor.)
The New York Times asked Swift point black if the track is about Gyllenhaal, which she neither confirmed nor denied. "I don't talk about who it is specifically because these are real people," she explained. "You try to give insight as to where you were coming from as a writer without completely throwing somebody under the bus."
Swift also refused to divulge the indie band's name. "If I say something, it becomes a thing — like that's the band she was talking about in the song," the country music superstar said. "That's what people are going to say. You see how it works, being in my mind?"
For Swift, writing about her failed attempts at love is nothing new. "If we break up, I'm going to write about it," she said. "But I'm probably also going to write about when I fell in love with you. So there's an upside."
