Is Harry Styles' 'Ever Since New York' About Taylor Swift?

Harry Styles debuted “Ever Since New York” on “SNL” over the weekend, and it is the first track off of Harry’s forthcoming self-titled album that could (possibly, maybe) have references to Taylor Swift.

To give a little bit of context, it’s no secret that the relationship known as #Haylor spent a great deal of time in New York, lest we forget the frequent paparazzi shots of the two in Central Park in the late fall of 2012. Taylor also opened 1989 — an album with obvious references to Harry — with the track “Welcome to New York.” And this wouldn’t be the first time that Harry has referenced Taylor in a song. We certainly can’t forget One Direction’s “Perfect,” in which Harry sings: “And if you like cameras flashing every time we go out / And if you’re looking for someone to write your breakup songs about / Baby, I’m perfect, baby, we’re perfect” — a pointed TSwift reference if we’ve ever heard one.

Now, do the lyrics of “Ever Since New York” single out Taylor? The title alone could reference either their breakup (ever since we were in New York together) or the release of “Welcome to New York” (ever since “New York”). The track is clearly a mournful tune, and it’s not hard to see how there could be shades of lyrics relating to their relationship/breakup in there.

Like if we take this line literally — “Brooklyn saw me, empty avenues / There’s no water, inside this swimming pool” — it describes New York in the fall or winter, a time where all swimming pools would certainly be drained (and what a coincidence, it was also the time of year when they dated). The lack of water and parched pool is also reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s “Clean,” which is presumably about the Haylor breakup (“The drought was the very worst / When the flowers that we’d grown together died of thirst”). 

And as for the lyric, “Choose your words ‘cause there’s no antidote / For this curse or what it’s waiting for,” “choose your words” does seem like for a purposeful message for someone who is a songwriter (Taylor) — and a warning for her to pick them carefully. And about there being “no antidote / For this curse or what it’s waiting for” — that could relate to the Haylor relationship in itself, which Taylor has repeatedly described as a “fragile,” and one in which “you’re honestly like, ‘This is probably not gonna last, but how long is it gonna last?” as she described her “Out of the Woods” relationship (you know, the Harry one) to Grammy Pro.

Of course, picking apart these lines within the context of their relationship is no guarantee that “Ever Since New York” is ~the new Haylor song~. Only Harry knows that. There are numerous religious references that can’t be ignored (“I’ve been praying ever since New York”) that may very well have nothing to do with Taylor at all. It looks like we’ll just have to wait until May 12 — when we can hear and discuss and dissect the album in full — to see where “Ever Since New York” fits in the context of the record. As for now, though, we’ll keep this one on repeat. 

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