* READ MORE: ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ review: a rare misstep
Healy and Swift were romantically linked for a short period in 2023 and, while unconfirmed, it is strongly believed that Healy is the subject of several songs on ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, namely its title track, ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’ and others.
Now, Healy’s mother – who has previously said that she is seen as “the Virgin Mary” among The 1975‘s fanbase – has responded after being asked about the album during an episode of Loose Women.
On yesterday’s episode of the show (April 25), Welch’s co-star Nadia Sawalha addressed the elephant in the room by saying: “Taylor Swift has got a new album out. Have you heard it Denise?”
Jokingly, Welch responded: “I wasn’t aware she had an album out at all, I haven’t heard anything to do with it,” before the live audience broke into laughter and guest Dermot O’Leary added, “It’s suddenly all become very awkward.”
She continued, shutting down the conversation by saying: “I wish her all the best”. Check out the moment below.
Matty's mom Denise wished Taylor Swift "all the best" after the album was briefly discussed on Loose Women today pic.twitter.com/Vi3S2FR6Ek
— tina ⎕ i was late but i arrived (@hazyheadbigcity) April 25, 2024
During the time that Swift and Healy were in a relationship, the pop star became close to Welch, with the latter often singing her praises and posing for photos with her.
The comments she made on Loose Women draw similarities to Healy’s own response to the album. When approached by paparazzi in Los Angeles on Wednesday (April 24), The 1975 singer was asked how he felt about his “Taylor diss track”. While it’s unclear which exact song the paparazzo was referring to, Healy replied: “My diss track? Oh! I haven’t really listened to that much of it, but I’m sure it’s good.”
Since the album’s release, fans have taken to social media to dissect Swift’s lyrics, and have theorised that a hefty portion of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ focuses on Matty Healy, rather than Joe Alwyn, who she dated for six years.
One of the apparent references to Healy seems to be in the track ‘The Black Dog’, where Swift recalls how one of her former lovers forgot to disable location tracking on his phone, and sees her paint an image of what she thinks he is doing following their relationship falling apart, hanging out in a pub in London.
“I hope it’s shitty 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 tragic fabric of our dreaming/ ‘Cause tail between your legs, you’re leavin’,” she sings.
Over the weekend, the pub in question, located in Vauxhall in South London, was swamped by Swifties, following its mention in the album. It was also reported that the staff at the pub were frantically searching through their CCTV archives to try to find any evidence of either Swift, Healy or her other ex, actor Joe Alwyn, visiting the premises in the past.
The hints to Healy are also seen in the title track, where Swift makes reference to Patti Smith and the poet Dylan Thomas in the lyric: “I laughed in your face and said, ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel / We’re modern idiots.’” It is thought that the title track refers to her short-lived relationship with Healy, and her comment about Smith and Dylan refers to the 1975 frontman and herself in the sense that the pair should not take themselves so seriously and they are just “modern idiots”.
Similarly, the track refers to a “Lucy”, which fans seem convinced is a reference to Lucy Dacus, one third of the Grammy-winning group boygenius and mutual friend of both her and The 1975 singer.
The LP scored a three-star review from NME upon its release, with Laura Molloy writing: “The pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her Eras Tour, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”
Following the LP’s release, Swift will resume her career-spanning ‘Eras Tour’ in Europe next month before heading to the UK and Ireland in June. Swift is due to play eight shows at Wembley Stadium in London this summer as part of the run, with support coming from Paramore.
The post The 1975 frontman Matty Healy’s mum Denise Welch responds to question about Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poet’s Department’ appeared first on NME.
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