When Taylor Swift wants to make herself clear, that’s exactly what she does. (Case in point: Her Tortured Poets Department track “thanK you aIMee” is about as obvious a swat at Kim Kardashian as it gets.) But the pop sensation similarly relishes her mysticism; an unavoidable component of Swiftiehood is decoding the artist’s numerous Easter eggs. Swift takes wicked delight in cryptic lyrics, and her TPD surprise song “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” teases several lines that appear directed at one of her exes, only to flip the script and seemingly reference another.
Take the line “You saw my bones out with somebody new / who seemed like he would’ve bullied you in school.” Swift ended her relationship with ex Joe Alwyn in 2023, and soon after briefly dated The 1975 frontman Matty Healy. Both Alwyn and Healy are British, and it’s certainly not a stretch to imagine someone like the unfiltered Healy bullying the far quieter Alwyn, had the two shared classes in their youth. But some fans think the line might instead reference Swift’s current boyfriend Travis Kelce, a football player and former high school jock who—if the stereotype bears weight—could theoretically have teased the “uncool” kids.
But that’s only one such puzzler in “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.” Another is “You needed me, but you needed drugs more,” which most Swifties have interpreted as a reference to Healy’s publicly confirmed heroin addiction. But “drugs” could mean anything from marijuana to prescription pills, and Healy’s not the only partner in Swift’s life to have experimented with self-medicating. Some fans think the lyric is about ex Harry Styles, who has also discussed his drug use openly.
What about “I changed into goddesses, villains, and fools / changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules / all to outrun my desertion of you”? All the referenced “changes” seem a reference to Swift’s ongoing Eras tour, and the personal and professional shapeshifting necessary within. But “my desertion of you” feels aimed specifically at Alwyn; reports claim that Swift “didn’t see them working out in the long run,” thus catalyzing their breakup.
Yet the line “So if I sell my apartment / and you have some kids with an internet starlet” doesn’t seem about Alwyn at all. Since the actor’s breakup with Swift last year, he hasn’t been publicly connected with any romantic partners, let alone an “internet starlet.” Healy, on the other hand, is in a relationship with model and influencer Gabbriette Bechtel.
So is “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” ultimately about Alwyn or Healy or Styles or Kelce? Or none of the above? Swift isn’t sure she wants you to know. But if you’re keen to try and figure it out anyway, read the full lyrics to “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” below:
Your hologram stumbled into my apartment
Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness
Named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
And I just watched it happen
As the decade would play us for fools
And you saw my bones out with somebody new
Who seemed like he would’ve bullied you in school
And you just watched it happenIf you want to break my cold, cold heart
Just say, “I loved you the way that you were”
If you want to tear my world apart
Just say you’ve always wonderedYou said some things that I can’t unabsorb
You turned me into an idea of sorts
You needed me, but you needed drugs more
And I couldn’t watch it happen
I changed into goddesses, villains, and fools
Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules
All to outrun my desertion of you
And you just watched itIf you want to break my cold, cold heart
Just say, “I loved you the way that you were”
If you want to tear my world apart
Just say you’ve always wonderedYou said some things that I can’t unabsorb
You turned me into an idea of sorts
You needed me, but you needed drugs more
And I couldn’t watch it happen
I changed into goddesses, villains, and fools
Changed plans and lovers and outfits and rules
All to outrun my desertion of you
And you just watched itIf you want to break my cold, cold heart
Just say, “I loved you the way that you were”
If you want to tear my world apart
Just say you’ve always wonderedIf the glint in my eye traced the depths of your sigh
Down that passage in time
Back to the moment I crashed into you
Like so many wrecks do
Too impaired by my youth
To know what to do
So if I sell my apartment
And you have some kids with an internet starlet
Will that make your memory fade from this scarlet maroon?
Like it never happened
Could it be enough to just float in your orbit?
Can we watch our phantoms like watching wild horses?
Cooler in theory, but not if you force it
To be, it just didn’t happenSo if you want to break my cold, cold heart
Say you loved me
And if you want to tear my world apart
Say you’ll always wonder’Cause I wonder
Will I always
Will I always wonder?
Go Even Deeper on Taylor Swift
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s Full Relationship Timeline
Taylor Swift’s 30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30
