It’s been seven years since Taylor Swift and Harry Styles broke off their relationship. The pop stars dated from 2012 to 2013—and fans have eagerly dissected how their relationship ties into their music since then. In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, the Fine Line performer opened up about how he views his ex-girlfriend writing songs about him.
“I think about what it means to me to write a song about somebody else and for somebody else to do that, it’s like flattering. Even if the song isn’t that flattering, you still spent time on it,” he said. “Ultimately, using Taylor as an example, she’s a great songwriter. So at least they’re good songs.”
Then he elaborated on his own headspace when he writes a song about another person. “The only time you really think, ’is this song too personal?’ is if you think about, ‘is this going to be really annoying for the other person?’” he continued. “Because I do [care].”
In particular, Swift’s 1989 era drew plenty of speculation about how Styles ties into the subject matter. Fans connected songs like “Out of the Woods” and “I Know Places” to the then-One Direction member.
“Style” is widely thought to be about Swift’s relationship with the British pop star. The 1989 artist is known for her fondness of Easter eggs—and Genius user @chihuahua0 notes that one line sounds like a reference to One Direction’s “You and I”:
Fans also spotted a lyrical connection to the boy band’s Take Me Home:
Then, of course, the song title sounds like a play on her ex-boyfriend’s last name.
Swift hasn’t spoken openly about the identity of her muse, but she noted how the track deviates from the way she framed breakups in the past. “My previous albums have also been sort of like, ‘I was right, you were wrong, you did this, it made me feel like this’—a sense of… right and wrong in a relationship,” she said in a 2014 interview with Ryan Seacrest, as Genius user @Madkol noted. “What happens when you grow up is you realize the rules in a relationship are very blurred and that it gets very complicated very quickly, and there’s not always a case of who was right or who was wrong.”
Back in 2017, Styles spoke to Cameron Crowe in Rolling Stone about “Out of the Woods” and “Style.” “I mean, I don’t know if they’re about me or not, but the issue is, she’s so good, they’re bloody everywhere,” he said at the time. “I write from my experiences; everyone does that. I’m lucky if everything [we went through] helped create those songs. That’s what hits your heart. That’s the stuff that’s hardest to say, and it’s the stuff I talk least about. That’s the part that’s about the two people. I’m never going to tell anybody everything.”
Styles is no stranger to penning songs about his exes, and the bridge on 1D’s “Perfect” pricked up fans’ ears back in 2015:
And if you like cameras flashing every time we go out, oh yeah
And if you’re looking for someone
To write your breakup songs about
Baby, I’m perfect
Baby, we’re perfect
While he keeps a low profile in his daily life, he spoke to Rolling Stone in 2019 about how music is a unique outlet. “It’s not like I’ve ever sat and done an interview and said, ‘So I was in a relationship, and this is what happened,’” he said. “Because, for me, music is where I let that cross over. It’s the only place, strangely, where it feels right to let that cross over.”
Watch the full Howard Stern Show interview above, and catch up on all the lyrics to Harry Styles and Taylor Swift’s biggest hits on Genius now.
