Harry Styles is not “out of the woods” with Taylor Swift fans just yet. When the singer released 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in October 2023, their past romance was back at the forefront of listeners’ minds.
Swift and Styles sparked romance rumors in late 2012 when they were spotted cozying up during an outing in Central Park. News of their split broke in January 2013. While their relationship was brief, it appeared to have a profound impact on Swift — who seemingly penned multiple tracks about the whirlwind romance.
As fans know, Swift never reveals who her songs are about, but her fans were quick to notice clues that pointed to Styles when 1989 was originally released in October 2014. The biggest clue being her song “Style.”
“‘Style’ is actually about those relationships that are never really done,” Swift shared on The Morning Show following the album’s release. “You always kind of have that one person who you feel like might interrupt your wedding and be like, ‘Don’t do it, we’re not over yet.’ I think everybody has that one person who kind of floats in and out of their life and the narrative is never truly over.”
Styles, for his part, always seemed unbothered by Swift’s music.
“Even if the song isn’t that flattering, you still spent time on it and ultimately, using Taylor as an example, she’s a great songwriter,” he shared on The Howard Stern Show in March 2020, responding to a question about the songs Swift has reportedly written about him. “So, they’re good songs.”
Keep scrolling to uncover which of Swift’s songs are apparently about Styles:
‘Out of the Woods’
To understand the Styles connection, the “Out of the Woods” bridge must be broken down.
“Remember when you hit the brakes too soon? / Twenty stitches in the hospital room,” Swift sings, in reference to Styles’ infamous December 2012 snowmobile accident. After the incident, Styles was photographed with a bandage on his chin.
The song also references “two paper airplanes flying,” which appears to reference the paper airplane necklaces Styles and Swift wore throughout their time together.
‘Style’
Swift noted that the song “kind of speaks for itself” while appearing on On Air with Ryan Seacrest in October 2014.
Lyrics like “long hair, slicked back, white t-shirt,” appear to point to Styles.
‘I Wish You Would’
Fans have speculated that this track is also about Styles because Swift told Ryan Seacrest that the songs are about two people who were not “synced up.”
‘Now That We Don’t Talk’
The 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault) tune appears to reference the changes with Styles after his and Swift’s split — including the line “you grew your hair long.” One Direction fans know that the 2014 version of Styles featured his long curly locks from the Where We Are tour.
‘Is It Over Now?’
This vault track, perhaps, has the most references to Styles.
Other than the call back to “Out of the Woods” with lyrics that read “whеn you lost control / red blood, white snow,” Swift also references her “blue dress on a boat.”
After her split from Styles, she was photographed wearing a blue dress while sitting on a boat. The 1D member was quick to move on with model Paige Reifler, who is blonde.
“Your new girl is my clone,” Swift sings on the track. Elsewhere she references her ex lover searching “in every model’s bed for somethin’ greater.”
…Question?
Much like “Is It Over Now?,” “…Question?” — a song off Swift’s 2022 album Midnights, a record she wrote over the course of 13 sleepless nights in her life — hints at Styles through its connection to “Out of the Woods” by sampling the lyric “I remember” at the top of the track.
There are other lyrics that point to the pair’s whirlwind romance as well. In the chorus, Swift sings, “Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room? / And every single one of your friends was making fun of you? / But fifteen seconds latеr they were clapping, too?” Many fans believe Swift is referencing her — very public — kiss with Styles at Dick Clark’s Rockin Eve in 2013.
In “… Question,” there is also a “good girl” reference — “I’ve got that good girl thing that you like,” she sings in “Style” — and a reflection of an ex painting all her “nights a color I have searched for since,” which could parallel “OOTW.”
“The rest of the world was black and white / But we were in screaming color,” she croons in the first verse.
From the “Are we out of the woods yet?” to “Is it over now?” and “Can I ask you a question?” — Swift seemingly has unfinished business with someone, whoever they are.
