Who Is ‘Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus’ Referring To? Taylor Swift ‘TTPD’ Lyrics Explained
No, Blake Lively did not have four more children — but Taylor Swift did drop some names that are confusing fans.
The biggest question surrounds the track “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” from The Tortured Poets Society: The Anthology, which dropped on Friday, April 19.
Traditionally, Swift name-drops her famous friends in songs, and even — sometimes — reveals the names of their children. She famously used the names of Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ three daughters, James, Inez and Betty, in a three-song story on 2020’s Folklore.
However, with “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus,” it appears that Swift is singing about fictional people — or real people whose identities she’s protecting.
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“Your hologram stumbled into my apartment / Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness,” the song lyrics read. “Named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus / And I just watched it happen.”
Swift appears to be alluding to an unnamed lover who cheated on her — either physically or emotionally — with someone whose name doesn’t matter, hence the “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.” (The idea is similar to the West Side Story character Anybodys, who is an ambiguous member of the Jets whose gender is not specified.)
It appears Swift has no interest in learning who her significant other’s sidepiece is and instead just wants to drag her lover in song.
“You said some things that I can't unabsorb / You turned me into an idea of sorts,” she sings in the second verse. “You needed me, but you needed drugs more / And I couldn't watch it happen.”
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As the track goes on, it appears that the identity of “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” is actually an insignificant part of the story. While fans have attempted to decode which one of Swift’s ex-lovers this song is about, they’re simply musings on the internet — and for this track, she focuses more on what happened that tore them apart.
The chorus also appears to stick with the cheating story line in the song.
“If you want to break my cold, cold heart / Just say, ‘I loved you the way that you were,’” the song’s lyrics read. “If you want to tear my world apart / Just say you've always wondered.”
Those lines might be an allusion to wondering what it would be like if Swift’s significant other was with someone else. Of course, the Us Weekly staff is not in Swift’s head, but what has been deduced is that “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” is a vague reference to a third party causing tension in one of Swift’s past romances.
