After the highly anticipated release of Midnights, many Swifties are wondering: who are Taylor Swift’s “High Infidelity” lyrics about?
“High Infidelity” is Taylor’s seventeenth track off her latest album Midnights, released on October 21, 2022. The song was released for the 3 a.m. edition of the album where Taylor released an additional seven songs along with the original thirteen. The song, running on a time of three minutes and fifty-one seconds, was written by Taylor and Aaron Dessner.
Taylor announced the release of her new album at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards. The album is about “13 sleepless nights” throughout Taylor’s life and touches on themes from years past. Since the announcement, she went on her Instagram to talk about the meanings of her new songs from the album. In a video, she got candid about the song “Lavender Haze” which was about the tabloids’ effects on her relationship with Joe Alwyn. “I guess theoretically when you’re in the lavender haze, you’ll do anything to stay there and not let people bring you down off of that cloud,” she confessed. “I think a lot of people have to deal with this now, not just like ‘public figures,’ because we live in the era of social media and if the world finds out that you’re in love with somebody, they’re going to weigh in on it. My relationship for six years, we’ve had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it. So this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”
So what’s the true meaning of “High Infidelity?” Read down below to see why fans think these lyrics are about Calvin Harris.
What are Taylor Swift’s “High Infidelity” Lyrics about?
Image: Getty Images
What are Taylor Swift’s “High Infidelity” lyrics about? Taylor delves into the topics of cheating and infidelity in the song and the pain that revolves around it. In the chorus, she sings, “High infidelity / Put on your headphones and burn my city / Your picket/ fence is sharp as knives / I was dancing around, dancing around it.”
However, one specific date made Taylor Swift fans believe that this song was about one of her exes, Calvin Harris. Calvin and Taylor dated from 2015 to 2016. The date “April 29” is pivotal and in the song, she sings “Do you really wanna know where I was April 29th? / Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?” Calvin released the song, “This Is What You Came For” with Rihanna, on April 26, 2016. It was later revealed that Taylor was a writer for the song under the pseudonym Nils Sjoberg. While Taylor wasn’t along with Calvin in the promotion of the song, she was in New York City prepping for the 2016 Met Gala which she was hosting.
In an interview with On Air with Ryan Seacrest on April 29, 2016, the Scottish DJ was asked whether he ever planned to collaborate with Taylor. He responded, “You know, we haven’t even spoken about it. I can’t see it happening, though. No. She’s about to take a long break.” Sources close to Taylor revealed to TMZ at the time that this was a “breaking point in the relationship.” The “Look At What You Made Me Do” singer was later seen three days later at the Met Gala dancing and leaving the famous party with Tom Hiddleston, who she later dated.
Calvin later took to Twitter to respond to rumors that Taylor’s team revealed that she wrote the hit song with her ex. “Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though,” he wrote. “I figure if your happy in your new relationship [with Tom Hiddleston] you should focus on that instead of tryin to tear your ex bf down for something to do. I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy [Perry] ETC but I’m not that guy.”
Though the feud settled down years ago, fans still think that the fateful day lent itself to one of the most interesting celebrity breakup songs.
Read the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s”High Infidelity” below via Genius.
Taylor Swift’s “High Infidelity” Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Lock broken, slur spoken
Wound open, game token
I didn’t know you were keeping count
Rain soaking, blind hoping
You said I was freeloading
I didn’t know you were keeping count
[Chorus]
High infidelity
Put on your records and regret me
I bent the truth too far tonight
I was dancing around, dancing around it
High infidelity
Put on your headphones and burn my city
Your picket fence is sharp as knives
I was dancing around, dancing around it
[Refrain]
Do you really wanna know where I was April 29th?
Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?
[Verse 2]
Storm coming, good husband
Bad omen
Dragged my feet right down the aisle
At the house lonely, good money
I’d pay if you’d just know me
Seemed like the right thing at the time
[Refrain]
You know there’s many different ways that you can kill the one you love
The slowest way is never loving them enough
Do you really wanna know where I was April 29th?
Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?
[Chorus]
High infidelity
Put on your records and regret me
I bent the truth too far tonight
I was dancing around, dancing around it
High infidelity
Put on your headphones and burn my city
Your picket fence is sharp as knives
I was dancing around, dancing around it
[Refrain]
Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?
Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?
You know there’s many different ways that you can kill the one you love
The slowest way is never loving them enough
[Chorus]
High infidelity
Put on your records and regret meeting me
I bent the truth too far tonight
I was dancing around, dancing around it
High infidelity
Put on your headphones and burn my city
Your picket fence is sharp as knives
I was dancing around, dancing around it
[Non-Lyrical Break]
[Post-Chorus]
Oh, there’s many different ways that you can kill the one you love
And it’s never enough, it’s never enough
[Outro]
Lock broken, slur spoken
Wound open, game token
I didn’t know you were keeping count
Rain soaking, blind hoping
You said I was freeloading
I didn’t know you were keeping count
But, oh, you were keeping count
Image: Courtesy of Republic.
Midnights by Taylor Swift is out on October 21. Buy it on Amazon
.
Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission from the sale.