Is Taylor Swift’s “Is It Over Now?” about the ex-boy band member Harry Styles? We break down their timeline and clues in the song to uncover exactly why fans think that.
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#Haylor
Swift’s ‘1989’ album was originally released two years after her rumored romance with One Direction’s Harry Styles. The former couple, whose ship name was “Haylor,” dated from late 2012 until early 2013. And we believed the pair have remained friendly over the years.
Many songs on ‘1989’ hint to Taylor Swift’s relationship with Styles. Since its original release, fans have speculated that “Out of the Woods” references a necklace Swift began wearing in 2012 that’s identical to Styles’ paper airplane necklace with the lyrics, “Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying.”
november 8, 2012: taylor is again seen wearing harrys paper airplane necklace in paris, france. city of love indeed. pic.twitter.com/QvLw83WGm5
— haylor timeline! (@haylortml) April 5, 2021
In 2013, the two were photographed in the Caribbean together. Taylor Swift appeared to leave the Virgin Islands alone, which suggested the two broke up. A photo of her on the back of a boat, wearing a blue dress by herself, went viral.
However, the two have remained friendly since then. Taylor Swift and her ex-beau have been spotted chatting at the 2021 and 2023 Grammys, and Styles even sang one of Swift’s songs while performing live in London.
Taylor Swift re-releases ‘1989’
Now, it’s October 27th 2023. Swift has just dropped ‘1989’ (Taylor’s Version), and one of the vault tracks (every re-release has included songs ‘from the vault’ which were written and recorded in the past but never released) hint to an ex fans originally thought was “nice”.
@lyss__nicole Taylor really said “im done holding back about this one” #isitovernow? #taylorswift #harrystyles #1989 #1989taylorsversion #1989tv #ts #hs #swifties #swifttok #taylorsversion ♬ IS IT OVER NOW TV – Avery
Final track on the album is “Is It Over Now?”, which was written by Swift and Jack Antonoff, and reminisces Swift’s notorious on-again, off-again relationship with former boy-bander who had a thing for blue eyes.
Let’s break down the song lyrics and see why everyone thinks it’s about Harry:
Lyric: “When you lost control / Red blood, White snow”
Meaning: Swift stated in a 2014 Rolling Stone interview, without naming which “ex” she was with at the time, that she got into a snowmobile accident, the same one referenced in “Out of the Woods” (“Remember when you hit the brakes too soon? Twenty stitches in the hospital room”). Fans have speculated it was Styles, since he was later seen attempting to hide his stitches with a scarf.
Lyric: “And did you think I didn’t see you? There were flashing lights / At least I had the decency to keep my nights out of sight” and “You search in every model’s bed for something greater”
Meaning: A possible reference to the paparazzi photos of Styles kissing model Emily Ostilly, in April, when Taylor and Harry were still kind of on-and-off. Its been rumored Styles has also dated several other models, including Kendall Jenner, who he was seen kissing at New Years in 2013.
Lyric: “Your new girl is my clone” and “If she’s got blue eyes I will surmise that you’ll probably date her”
Meaning: Back in 2012, Styles had a type, and Swift clocked it immediately (Ostilly was also a tall blonde with blue eyes). Styles was later rumored to be hanging out with Rod Stewart’s blue-eyed daughter, Kimberly Stewart, in April 2013.
Lyric: “Blue dress on a boat”
Translation: Back to that trip in the Caribbean, the one Taylor Swift left alone. Pictures of her in a blue dress, sitting on a yacht alone on her way to the airport went viral.
Fans react
Fans have since taken to social media to share their thoughts on the song and Taylor Swift’s past relationship. The hashtag #isitovernow? on TikTok has gotten over 10.3 million views since the song’s release yesterday.
@stollisttoll happy 1989 day #fyp #foryou #taylorswift #taylorsversion #isitovernow #1989taylorsversion #swifttok ♬ Is it over now tvftv – Victoria
@alii.gatorr I love harry still #1989taylorsversion #isitovernow? #fyp #ithinkheknows #taylorswift #taylorsversion #fyp ♬ Is it over now tvftv – Victoria
Other fans have captioned their videos “somebody check on Harry Styles”, and “I thought he was safe”.
@_sandradenise I THOUGHT HE WAS SAFE (the song is so good u don’t understand) #taylorswift #ts #taylorswifttok #taylorsversion #1989taylorsversion #1989tv #1989era #taylorswift1989 #taylornation #taylorswift1989taylorsversion #harrystyles #harryedwardstyles #harrystylestiktok #harrystylesfan #hs #taylorswiftsongs ♬ Is it over now tvftv – Victoria
Swifties continue to reign on social media this year, and we don’t know about you, but we’re certain that’s not coming to an end anytime soon.
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