Who is the Smallest Man Who Ever Lived? Taylor Swift Lyrics Lore and Song Meaning - Joe or Matty?

✨I stumbled upon a Tik Tok video that made me so upset, this video now had to exist. ✨
This is the video for you if you ever wondered the origin or muse inspiration for Taylor Swift’s most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department.
While many songs are likely inspired by multiple people, there a few, that I believe the inspiration is more obvious than others.
This is one of them.
So let’s go through it together and break down how I personally believe The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived came to be.
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#taylorswift #thesmallestmanwhoeverlived #mattyhealy #taylorswiftversion

[@bhk003]

"In public showed me off" and "Normal girls were boring" are huge evidences that this is not about Joe since he would definitely never do any of those. I don't undrestand how anyone thinks it's for Joe It pisses me off that people use the most obvious songs about Matty to hate on Joe.

[@NinasNook]

@@bhk003 Yeah, Joe was definitely not showing her off in public… I don’t get it at all. 😂

[@Y49life]

I agree with you two. I still think Joe is a person who loved her or still loves her and had the best intentions to make it work for them. He didn’t show her off, she’s definitely not talking about him. I don’t know him but he seems like a nice, beautiful and respectful guy. ❤

[@bhk003]

​@@NinasNook I think one of the reasons that people think it's about Joe is when she says " our bed" they say her and Matty weren't long enough to share a bed. They also say the same thing about The black dog that Matty would never share his location but I think it's still possible if they shared a bed or location even if it wasn't long.

[@kerrisouth]

Yeah. They had plenty of time to share a bed. Indeed. ​@@bhk003

[@kerrisouth]

​​@@Y49lifeRespectfully, I see Joe differently. Wouldn't show her love for the last long while. Sounds like not much sex because there wasn't the touch that was her birthright. I think they coexisted and the relationship became a joke. That he was depressed is no excuse. I know because of my 33 years of marriage. The depressed person has to really try. He didn't. Good luck to his future love interests. Once the novelty wears off... 28:01 ht.

[@nesirosern8596]

Matty said that what he and Taylor had was "casual" And yet he spent ten years talking about her, constantly bringing her up in interviews, talking about her any chance he got Talking about how she went to his concerts, how she liked his band, how they were friends, how they exchanged numbers, how they were speaking to each other Complimenting her, praising her, saying that she was "an amazing role model", "an incredible songwriter", "the most gracious, hard-working, creative and beautiful woman who I've had the pleasure to meet", "I can't speak highly enough of Taylor Swift" - these are his words Saying that he fell for her, that it would be amazing for him if theu dated, comparing her to Barack Obama Saying that he wants to produce her next record, tagging her in his tweets about her Then going up to her at the NME Awards in 2020 Then getting close with Jack Antonoff and Phoebe Bridgers (which he doesn't seem to be so close to anymore) Following her accounts on social media and reacting to the things she was posting Encouraging people to listen to her music, posting that he was listening to her music Talking about working on songs with her and how they listened to each other's music Inviting her to perform at his shows Singing songs like "The Best Of Me" by The Starting Line for her on stage, making signals to her on stage, saying how ceratin songs remind him of her, talking about how Pensilvania is one of his favourite places, calling her a "queen" Dedicating his songs to her, telling her and the whole world that he wrote a song about her (which contains the line "We get married in our heads") and telling her and the whole world on stage that he loves her And flying 15 hours from the Philippines where he had a concert to Nashville specifically to watch her perform And after all this to turn around and to say that it was always casual and never serious that proves that he is truly the smallest man who ever lived And I think it's obvious who is telling the truth about their relationship and who is trying to save face and look cool and unbothered

[@NinasNook]

@@nesirosern8596 I agree 100%. He talked about her SO MUCH. I think a lot of people just simply don’t know the history and I hope (🤞) maybe this video helps? Maybe? 😂😂

[@kerrisouth]

Thanks for detailing all this out.

[@RebeccaStowell-o5d]

Wow I didn’t know the half of that 😮

[@KristenZarcone]

Oh my God, thank you for doing this. I saw the same TikTok and was stunned that people still don’t get it. Although, every time I see someone not fully grasping the Matty of it all, I really equate that to them not having enough life experience to understand the “what if”relationship and how completely soul crushing it can be to finally have an opportunity to be with the person you’ve spent the better half of a decade longing and pining over, just to have it all fall apart so quickly. You are not only losing the relationship with that person, but losing the dream that you held onto for so long. You don’t get this kind of visceral hurt over the fizzling out of a long-term relationship that died slowly over a long period of time.

[@kerrisouth]

Absolutely

[@mariabeaulieu3732]

I remember when she gave that speech at the eras tour about being the happiest she’s ever been etc etc. It was given after people were going off about how horrified they were that she was with him. It was her way of saying, “guys I love him and he makes me so happy so, back off” She was in her dilulu stage in that short lived relationship. I felt so badly for her that she felt she needed to tell people to let it go. What a year it was for her. She finally found a wonderful man a few months later! ❤

[@cc1526]

Also if you read the poem Taylor included with the album (which the tiktoker obviously did not) you would know that she said SHE tore down the whole sky with Joe. Implying she’s the one who decided to cut it off with Joe. With Matty, he was the one who ghosted her. The relationships ended in literally the exact opposite way so it’s really not hard to tell which songs are about matty based on that alone. That poem is the most telling part of the whole album. She gave it to us for a reason and it’s annoying swifties wanna ignore it and spread their obviously incorrect theories which are proven incorrect based on TAYLOR’S own words.

[@kerrisouth]

Good points!

[@eliannalizeth9870]

As a woman in a healthy marriage, I agree with your mom. I think every woman has had or will have our own "the smallest man to ever live" in our past. I know I do. Then, one day, you realize that it's better to be alone rather than be in bad company and/or you find that love that makes you feel like you are in high school by the way they look at you ❤

[@NinasNook]

@@eliannalizeth9870 yes I agree! I know this heartbreak too and it’s what makes Taylor so great, too is how we can relate to her. I’m hoping for sunny skies for all of us from now on!

[@mikedebruyn]

Now and then I re-read the manuscript, But the story isn't mine anymore....

[@kerrisouth]

Clearly! ​@@mikedebruyn

[@P4-Swift-Watch]

This was so interesting. Thanks! I completely agree with you, it's 100% about MH. The Jehovah Witness suit, is a black suit worn with a white shirt, and how MH dresses and JW did way back in the 60s and 70s. Good catch with the end of world link to 1975. The "small" explanation applies, but not becauseof his height. I can't believe anyone stillmthinks is was mostly about Joe. Midnights was her break-up album Joe. Especially, the 3am and Dawn songs. A few songs are most likely about MH. Cowboys like us, definitely. From Folklore, Cardigan and The 1. After a 6+ year mostly loving relationship, I doubt Taylor wanted to hurt Joe, especially after her Fortnight with MH. So Long London, was her closure song with Joe. I think, How Did It End, was a message to us, her fans. But Daddy I love Him, was just for those fans who thought they could tell her not to love...MH.

[@cc1526]

The juxtaposition of “you didn’t measure up in any measure of a man” to “no one’s ever had me, not like you” 👀 girrrrrrl 😏 I can’t believe she felt comfortable enough to share so much info in this album with how big she’s gotten recently but her ability to tell her truth regardless of what the public might say is commendable.

[@cc1526]

Also the “in 50 years will all this be declassified” is kind of a crazy thing to say because 50 years from 1975 is 2025 and matty is working on a new album that could be released this year where there could be songs written about their interlude.. it’ll then be declassified.. wild.

[@sonnymc4677]

OMG, I never thought of it that way!

[@NinasNook]

Oh yes I love this thought! I’ve been watching what Matty has been saying about this new album and it’s so strange to me how he does interviews belittling people who use their personal lives as inspiration, but yet is now also commenting on just that? It’s giving “your indie record is so much cooler than mine” vibes and I just eye roll. 🙄 😂

[@tigerwoman1979]

Interesting point. I have wondered if some of the rep tv vault tracks will be heavily matty coded, which is why she indicated ttpd had to come out first.

[@alexlefay]

​@@NinasNook it's more about Matty using his personal experience as inspiration and going out of his way to avoid any connections to real life (Oh Caroline is probably about Taylor but we will never know because he doesn't do lore) against peole like Taylor who uses lore a lot and make sure we know who's who in this story.

[@rachelheida5195]

GREAT video!! Agree on everything 100%. One thing I saw someone reference for the pushpins line was like saying how he idolized her for so long and he maybe put her poster on his wall with push pins!

[@ameliadavis1979]

I think you are absolutely right. Your breakdowns are better than ANYONE'S!

[@NinasNook]

Aww thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked it!

[@kerrilea73]

Bars can be about Bars of music too.

[@thewanderingorphan]

I love your take on this and i love your mother's even more so! Yep, happily married now, but I too had a smallest man to ever live. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@NinasNook]

@@thewanderingorphan I agree! So many of us have our own Smallest man and can relate to her in even more ways! I know I understand the heartbreak.

[@thewanderingorphan]

@NinasNook I love the initial breakdown you did of Jehovah's witnesses in reference to the 1975. That was a turn I didn't explore myself. I went Regina George and cackled at his ill-fitted tacky giant suit coats. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@cindywhite3527]

I loved this video. It is my favorite! I think she called him the smallest man who ever lived more because of the way he treated her. She was hurt by him. He is likely small too but men are supposed to be macho and strong. I think by saying he was small is to say he was opposite of what a man should be. I believe it is more about his inner strength as a man than his physical body. I would have died for your sins is the best line because it captures her hurt and she would have totally overlooked his shortcomings but she couldn’t. He didn’t give her the opportunity to. That’s why she was dying inside. He definitely deserved prison for treating her that way. Many women can say that too about their failed relationships. This is why I love the song. It captures my hurt with it’s intense words. It will always be my favorite song because of that. I love the song not because of who she is singing about but because it is like she is singing about the person who caused the biggest hurt of my life. What an artist…. That is the beauty of her, her lyrics and her songs. I feel the pain with her. I think she wants it that way too! Thank for telling us about my favorite song.

[@kerrisouth]

Beautiful!

[@lynnfish3653]

Do you believe as I do that M and TS were in contact during lock down, as far as emails, texting etc. the folklore and Evermore " fictional" song are laced with clues. Recently I was listening to Ivy and had a aha moment which had me spirling .

[@NinasNook]

@@lynnfish3653 I do! To the extend of it I have no idea and I don’t want to accuse anyone of doing anything but I feel there was contact beginning around the NME awards in 2020 after they saw each other there. I think she started wondering if MH was “the one” after seeing him again and when The 1975 started working with Jack at the same time she was working with Jack on Midnights I think they had more contact and she was wondering more actively while trying to also cement things with Joe. I think she did love Joe and I think she was heartbroken when she finally had to accept that Joe and her were too different. I think the time period from 2019-2022 involved a lot of wondering what her right move was.

[@lynnfish3653]

@NinasNook as with any long term relationship the wondering and should I repair or jump ship comes up. She said so in her song " you're losing me"

[@NinasNook]

Exactly! That’s how I take it too. I think there were moments even during the wondering that she had moments of sunshine with him and thought, “maybe we can fix it.” But unfortunately, they couldn’t.

[@JackANDJude]

I inexplicably went down a rabbit hole last week, convinced that "u said normal girls" (were boring) was a twisted anagram. I came up with "sailors warning", with the w and n rotated from n and u and an extra d and L. Of course a sailor's warning is a crossword clue for "red sky in the morning, sailors take warning," which she also mentions in Cassandra "You can mark my words that I said it first In a morning warning, no one heard". No one hears a red sky. If normal girls is an anagram, I find it interesting in Smallest Man 'you' said it, in Cassandra 'I' said it. What do you think, Nina?

[@Jakilyn]

MATTY obviously 😊

[@korkinalina]

She literally asks someone else to leave a message to him, because he ghosted her. Probably blocked

[@NinasNook]

@@korkinalina YES! This! I think a lot about what *actually happened* and I do theorize that it’s possible he didn’t say goodbye or tell her he was leaving. I theorize he was in it until around May 20 when he was no longer doing shows, he left and we see that a bit with Peter “And I didn't wanna come down I thought it was just goodbye for now” Though it could have been written previously too so we can’t be too sure. But “I thought it was just goodbye for now…” makes me wonder.

[@korkinalina]

@NinasNook it's funny how after years of songs about Joe, people can't get over it and admit that TTPD is mostly about Matty

[@bhk003]

​@@korkinalinaI think people really wanted to hear a very sad heartbreaking album about Joe and they even thought he cheated on her. They also can't accept that her relationship with Matty was way more complicated than what they thought since they hate him so much.

[@korkinalina]

@@bhk003 i get it, i didn't expect what we got either, but if you're getting too involved that you deny facts, maybe it's time to touch grass or talk to a therapist

[@klmjtr]

I want to know what she meant by the red herring then. What songs were red herrings?

[@francesstewart2]

What if "Slip through the bars" also refers to him thinking he won't be held accountable in her songs if he's gone quick enough? Because a lot of people already deny that songs are about him so in a way he doesnt take the full accountability of them if we assume they are about him. Bars can mean so many different things all at once so its an interesting line to look at, it could be a prison bar, a bar of a song, a bar where you drink, the way we measure standards (the bar is low)... all sorts of things all linked to accountability and/or avoiding it

[@NinasNook]

Yes! I think this may definitely be part of it. “You said normal girls were boring, but you were gone by the morning” makes me feel like he’s already denying anything happened. Just recently I read an interview with him where he seems to belittle using personal experience in writing music, but yet also he’s fine commenting on speculation his new album contains info about his relationship with Taylor. All I can do is try to call him out on his contrarian shit. 😂 It amazes me how he can just say it was nothing and imply he doesn’t know why Taylor was so upset. 😂

[@francesstewart2]

@NinasNook it's so wild that he thinks he can just tell everyone it was nothing and expect us to buy it! He always seemed manipulative to me but damn!! Also doesn't all music lean on personal experience to varying degrees? It isn't all diaristic but it has to come from somewhere

[@NinasNook]

@@francesstewart2 yes!! And as a creative person myself who writes, I don’t understand what he can possibly mean. If you don’t write about how you feel… I don’t know how a person would even be inspired to write something of worth. Emotion is such a huge part of it, at least for me.

[@francesstewart2]

@NinasNook same for me! My songs might not always be literally ABOUT things that have happened but the emotional truth is what fuels everything. Besides emotionally raw and diaristic songs are amazing when done right! It's amazing what humans can make from our pain!

[@calla218]

I think I saw that same video on TikTok and I agree with everything you're saying! She is definitely missing context from other songs to fully understand how this is definitely about Matty

[@NinasNook]

@@calla218 and it had like 50k likes! I was literally in the depths of despair watching it. 😂😂 So many people were just commenting and buying into it that it was made apparent there is still much work to do in the Swiftie-verse. 😂

[@calla218]

@NinasNook Fr😂 people can interpret it how they want, but they are missing the true depth of TTPD by misunderstanding certain songs. As someone who's had a relationship similar to Taylor, within a similar timeline. I have felt so many similar things to how she was feeling in this album. It has been incredibly relateable and inspiring. I am actually working on an album concept of my own and hope to start releasing music later this year after I teach myself how to produce. Anyways, I love your videos! I have been here since you started posting and I look forward to them every week! ❤️❤️

[@NinasNook]

@ girl do it!! We must create beautiful things! ❤️❤️ I’m so happy you’re here! I also feel like Taylor has a way of always putting out the album I need and TTPD was that. The heartbreak she feels throughout feels so personal and relatable to my own heartbreak that it almost feels like permission to feel it, in a weird way? People will talk about how it’s boring, or how they don’t get it, but the people who don’t get it may have never felt the heart ache to get it, so they can’t. 🤷‍♀️ I will be here hand hearting and cheering for her so they don’t have to get it. We’ll be here! 😝

[@mikedebruyn]

In my opinion we are looking to quick to who is this about, or rather we are focusing to much on that. One of the first questions we should ask is Is this a story about her life or is this a life experience molded into a song. I think that Taylor is using vague language on purpose in her songs to make them more relatable to the listener and their life or situation. Like Nina I believe that this song was inspired by Matty, but the strength of the song is how Taylor paints the picture of disbelief, sadness, rage all in one song. By doing it in the way she did it there are enough clues about who this is inspired by for her but it leaves enough space for Nina's mother to slot in someone else. That for me is the power of Taylor's writing, the layering, the depth if her storytelling in such a way that we are not stuck with this song only and ever being about Matty. The only song on the album that she does not do that is track 5.

[@simplymatt13]

FINALLY.

[@SandraGrauschopf]

I wonder if the "you deserve prison but you won't do time" has a double meaning, referring directly to the "fresh out the slammer" metaphor of a relationship as a prison. That is, "You should be in a real relationship, but you refuse to put in the effort."

[@NinasNook]

I think it’s definitely possible! I feel like the “but you won’t get time” is an extra dig for sure!

[@aleksandrac9335]

" I would've died for your sins " how could anyone think that is about Saint Joe😂😂😂😂

[@LisaBright15]

The most hurtful is the 'normal girls were boring but you were gone by the morning'. She now has to wonder if he found her to be too normal and boring. Was he literally gone after one night with her or was he with her for at least a fortnight? That is what I wish I knew! If anyone can tell me that I'd love to know! 😊

[@NinasNook]

@@LisaBright15 I suspect both times were around a fortnight. In 2014 they interacted a lot on tumblr beginning of November 2014 and wore each others merch etc.. She goes to their concern in LA November 19, 2014, and she supposedly goes to three of their shoes over the next two weeks in 2014 (one of them we don’t have definitive proof for) and by December 6, 2014 Matty is having a breakdown on stage and tells people there was “girl stuff” when asked about it. In 2023, he showed up at her show in Nashville May 6, and was at all eras tour shows until around May 20, because I can’t find any proof that he was there the night she said she was “the happiest she had ever been.” I think both times were very short durations of actual “we’re gonna be able to do this” happiness, if that makes sense! All of this is just me theorizing of course, we only suspect they had a fling in 2014, Matty practically has admitted it in interviews saying they had a flirtation and “fancied each other” but it couldn’t go forward because being around her was like being around Obama. But then in 2023, he tried again. And publicly that time. At least, that’s the theory! ❤️

[@LisaBright15]

@NinasNook , Oh, wow! Thank you so very much for that timeline! I'm glad to know it was more than just one night so to speak. He just truly couldn't handle that fame of hers and she wouldn't have been able to handle his addictions. The cigarette smoke alone would have been too much I feel! I truly hope she realizes he wasn't the loml. ❤️

[@NinasNook]

@@LisaBright15 Yes! Something else that happened in 2014 also towards that thought is when she attended his concert in NYC, a bunch of news outlets started talking about how Taylor Swift was at the 1975 show on December 4, 2014 and they referred to him as “Matt Healy” and he went on Twitter and said something to the effect of “who the F is Matt Healy” on Twitter the next day. So I think he was definitely bothered by feeling small through the media just from being publicly with her one night.

[@LisaBright15]

​@@NinasNook, I know sooo much more now thanks to you! ❤

[@bonnebouche-kn3cn]

Would love to hear your thoughts on what songs may have been inspired by him back to 1989. She asked the 1975 to open on the Red tour so she clearly knew who he was while writing that album, and there are similar lyrical themes to songs we know were inspired by him written later, plus his involvement in the earlier version of slut. Also when promoting 1989 she said some things that sounded SO reminiscent of her ttpd writing - like saying in an interview she thinks everyone has that one person that keeps coming in and out of your life and are never sure if it is really over and you wonder if they might interrupt your wedding. And I can’t find it nor remember the era, but I also recall another interview I found fascinating where she was talking about the song writing process and said something to the effect of how song writing is funny because you could be in love with a person but for whatever reason they don’t happen to inspire many songs, but then can get inspired to write tons of songs about someone you may have never even dated

[@NinasNook]

I know exactly which interview you’re referring to and it was in 2014 when she was talking about Style. I have a hard time saying anything from 1989 is not Harry because I feel like he was so quintessential to that era that I can’t imagine her not be referring to him at that time but of course I have no idea. I eye a couple songs on Rep and am very anxiously awaiting the rep vault but when I do my Matty and Taylor deep dive video (hopefully soon but it’s going to be LONG) I’m going to try to do it while also peppering in songs I think are related from both.

[@kerrisouth]

Looking forward to your looong deep dive!

[@bonnebouche-kn3cn]

Though it feels silly to care, I think what gets under my skin is that the misconstruing of reality/her work feels like it comes from a place of sanctimonious judgement (and misogyny) - being so invested in who they want her to be and think she should be in a reductive dehumanizing way, as if not allowed to be a multidimensional human, that it keeps them from listening to what she is actually saying, and engaging with and appreciating the art she is actually making. And the judgement feels like a sort of microcosm of a larger thing - the reductive boxes society puts around women, impossible standards, and this hypercritical trend where people cannot be complex or say or do anything problematic (or even annoying) without getting written off as irredeemable in the public’s fickle eyes. She had such insightful and interesting societal commentary about this woven throughout ttpd that sadly seemed to go right over their heads. Anyway - all this to say that I appreciate the way you respectfully engage with her writing as written rather than filtering the work through some judgy personal preferences baggage on how you want her to live her life lol it is the content I crave but annoyingly hard to come by!

[@MissCole29]

I thought “forbidden” was her pining for him during multiple boyfriends and especially at the end with Joe. “Guilty as Sin” speaks to this in my mind. Thoughts?

[@cosmoslady]

I haven't seen the TikTok but I definitely agree with you on this! Of course this song is about Matty. The videos that drive me crazy are the ones saying "The Alchemy" is about Matty. That one is definitely not about him but some people are convinced of it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@kerrisouth]

That is because the vinyls and CDs were ready well before the playoffs and Superbowl. The timeline absolutely does not work. Plus there are so many lyric lines that are British (or Matty) coded. Heroin for one. Blokes. Lift up over their heads (not football) no taking off of shirts etc. in NFL. Taylor saw what her fanbase did with the song and leaned into. Notice Travis doesn't list as a favorite song anymore. He knows what it was originally about. The fans took the song over. I guess that's cool.

[@cosmoslady]

@kerrisouth The timeline works. And I dont listen to what Travis says because I really don't care about the men she dates. They come, they go. They are a muse for her. Why would she write a song about football with Matty in mind?! Lol! The only argument is the blokes verse but I could easily explain that. The heroine/heroin line is easily explainable too.

[@kerrisouth]

I'm not sure how the timeline works when the album dropped just 2 months and 2 weeks after the Superbowl. Even the AFC game was barely 3 months before the drop. The turnaround time is impossible. Of course So High School was only available electronically when it dropped, so no vinyl and CDs were needed for that song. I'm interested in what you have to say about the timeline, though you certainly don't have to and no doubt you're busy. I understand! The words "football" and even "touchdown" don't occur in the song. I think she does want us to think "touchdown", when she says ,"touch down", though.​ It's a play on words. Her plane touches down. She's coming to Matty. Several phrases are unkind if we think Travis. Cut the amateurs from the team and ditch the clowns. Taylor is not mean enough to use that language about Travis's teammates, even metaphorically. At least that would really surprise me. Shirts off and lifting up over their heads applies easily to Matty and his bandmates, whereas that doesn't happen in football celebrations that I've seen. I think you might mean her past boyfriend history being a string of British men, so blokes would work with Travis. But doesn't work for his teammates. Not to put words into your mouth. I am curious about the heroin/heroine line. Just seems disrespectful in a Travis song. To me that is. I'm curious what you think about heroin/heroine. Even the word, Alchemy, was unknown by most of Taylor's fan base and Travis. I bet it's a word Matty knew right away. He is very much a wordsmith. Why would she name a Travis song that? The song doesn't make sense in so many ways if it's about Travis. Even Chats and Reacts was having a heck of a time trying to twist the Alchemy into a Travis song, and they usually have no problems with songs. Ultimately, you're right that it doesn't matter who it's about. It's become a football song. I',m @@cosmoslady

[@cosmoslady]

@kerrisouth okay so you're way too concerned about this then I am. Lol! I don't have a parasocial relationship with Taylor. I don't know the woman. I know her music. I obviously don't agree with you at all. But whatever, it ain't that deep to me. Lol

[@sanniloflund4819]

@@kerrisouth giiiiiirrll WHAT😂

[@brittanyquale1905]

Do you follow Evolution of a Snake? You should do a collab.

[@NinasNook]

I love evolution of the snake! I doubt I’m to the level that they’d want to do one but of course I’d be down! Haha I would love to discuss with them though, I feel like we have the same vibe in viewing it haha

[@sonnymc4677]

This song is 100% about him. She even put easter eggs in the eras tour performance. kzbin.infonTlOFopeuqY?si=aK7bnt6amBCBVlHR

[@NinasNook]

@@sonnymc4677 yes! SO MANY! I’m lost on how people are so confused. 😂

[@kellylamoree977]

I guess I’m in the minority, because I never thought Smallest Man was about Joe. For one thing, any songs which seem to be about him are mournful, wistful and so on. This is pure hurt, anger and bewilderment. It seems to me that we see the phrase or close variation if “who wanted me dead” throughout the discography - have you noticed it, Nina? I admit that the bridge puzzles me because of that line. I also don’t feel that this is her most bitter / angry song. For me, it would be a bookend of Dear John and Would’ve. DJ is when you’re young and you’re gaslit and manipulated and you realize your heart is broken - not imagining it anymore for feeling it , like the way you can be broken only when you’ve trusted someone who is a narcissistic twit. Would’ve follows the narrator into adulthood - she has had time and distance. The wound isn’t oozing anymore but there’s a scar. She’s looking at it from the long view- the difference between “how am I going to get through this week?” To “your selfishness affected the way I lived my life and I regret it happened”

[@NinasNook]

I also never thought it was about Joe! I was so shocked to see this large community on tik tok (with like 50k likes) convinced! I think the dead reference is an emotional death, kind of like we talked about with I look in People’s Windows with the tinniest death. I think she’d worked up this potential relationship so much in her head that she truly believed the signs were everywhere that it was meant to be. He came in on his flying saucer and picked her out of a relationship she wasn’t happy in anymore and she felt like everything finally made sense in all aspects of her life which she told us May 20, 2023 at the Mass show. I think when he ghosted her and she had to accept that the fatalism she thought she saw, the signs that it were meant to be, and that everything he told her was a lie, it was like a death. Even if it was just the death of all of her dreams.

[@kerrisouth]

Taylor loved Matty. I love Taylor. Therefore Matty means something to me. He is a part of who she now is. She loved him for a long time and he is the muse for many wonderful songs. How presumptuous fans are in thinking they can just rewrite history because they don't like Matty. Clearly Taylor saw something in her "twin" that many don't. He was her intellectual equal and that is saying alot. People can make songs work for them, but they can't change actual history. The lore is to be respected.

[@NinasNook]

@@kerrisouth it’s so strange because I’ve been doing so much research on the guy that I feel like he’s almost charmed me?? Like I see a story and in a weird way I see him stumbling over an apology and see a little puppy. I totally get it. He is very talented and his words are beautiful. I’d want to believe he could change, too.

[@kerrisouth]

​​@@NinasNookWell said. Such an intellectual in the one interview I saw. I saw something in him, though I'm not his equal in this respect. He's fairly young and idealistic. Some weird ideas of course. A heartbreaking situation, though so glad for Tayvis!

[@MissteriousMisstress]

Slip through the bars of a song too.

[@juliag283]

Slip through the bars (line or lines in a rap are bars

[@nesirosern8596]

I am truly baffled by some Swifties I have been listening to Taylor since the Fearless era and I have never before seen people being so obsessed with one of her boyfriends to the point where they actively refuse to acknowledge what the facts are or what the lyrics in Taylor's songs say I have seen so many Swifties who until this day simply refuse to accept that Taylor and Matty were an item and that they dated or that they had this decade long situationship/emotional affair and insist that Matty was a simple rebound or another getaway car or even a PR stunt when this was clearly not the case and Taylor tells us repeatedly on this album that this was not the case I have seen so many Swifties who insist that the only song that Taylor has ever written about Matty is 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived' and that all of the other songs on TTPD are about Joe and I'm like: "Girls, listen to the lyrics" And if you point out why this or that song cannot be about Joe, they simply dismiss you and say: "Well, we can never really know" or "Well, maybe it's a composite scetch and it's about more than one person" or "Well, the truth is that it doesn't matter, we shouldn't perform paternity tests on her songs and at the end of the day the song is more about a general feeling or an idea and not about a specific person" And while all of these are to a degree true, of course we can never really know, they only say that once you start pointing out to them why the song they're talking about can't be about Joe They're more than happy to perform paternity tests when it comes to Joe or to Travis for that matter And I just don't understand where does this come from - this insistence that Joe is the love of her life, that he has never done a single bad thing and that she has still not moved on from him There are people who say that she was a terrible person for leaving him and that they hate her for doing so and how he "won" the break up and that she "lost" him and not the other way around And I just don't get it Why is it so hard of a concept that two people might fall out of love with each other over a long period of time especially when they have very different personalities and want different things from life? Why should there be a winner or a loser? And how do you even know what was going on in their relationship? We don't know these people personally, we weren't there I mean, yeah, you can kind of make out how Taylor was feeling and what her perspective was from her songs but people clearly ignore and dismiss her lyrics anyway And then on the other hand you have the Tayvis shippers who insist that there is more than one song about Travis on TTPD and I'm sorry but that's just absurd They insist that "The Alchemy" is about him, that "But Daddy I Love Him" is about him I have even seen people claiming that "Fortnight" is about Travis and I'm just really confused by these people I can't understand where this comes from Are people projecting their own desires onto her and her relationships like their own attractions towards different types of men as in "I like tall, strong, muscular men therefore her and Travis are perfect for each other"? If so this is really weird People should really start paying more attention to her lyrics and put her songs in the context of her life and relationships Anyway, sorry for this rant Love your videos! Keep up the good work!❤

[@bhk003]

Even if The smallest man is the only song about Matty on this album, it still shows that their relationship was way more than what we thought. You don't write such an angry emotional song about a relationship that was never serious...

[@Nicole-kc1vx]

The alchemy is about him. Travis has literally confirmed that. Both so high school and the alchemy are his songs. If you don't think that you are the problem 😂 Taylor's current boyfriend is very public. He drops hints, confirms, and denies whatever he wants to. You won't be getting the ultra secrecy of Joe or any other partners anymore. The man literally has a podcast. You just sound like you dislike Tayvis for whatever reason. How are people projecting on Taylor? She literally picked the man!

[@bhk003]

@@Nicole-kc1vx It seems like it was initially written for Matty but then changed some lyrics or added football references for Travis

[@Nicole-kc1vx]

​@@bhk003 are you guys actually being serious? We literally have confirmation that its his song from him. Yet you guys choose to ignore this and just run with your narrative that it was written for Matty when there is no evidence, just because? Swifties are truly crazy.

[@bhk003]

@@Nicole-kc1vx I never said it's not about him and I never ignored it...