Every Time Taylor Swift Sang About Cheating: From ‘High Infidelity’ to ‘Should’ve Said No’
Taylor Swift is notorious for penning lyrics about the highs — and lows — of her own high-profile romances over the years.
While taking in her discography, eagle-eyed Swifties have noticed that some of her lyrics seemingly touch on bad blood — a.k.a cheating — in her relationships with former beaus, which includes the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, Harry Styles and Joe Alwyn.
On her 2012 album, Red, Swift wrote about infidelity on the track “Girl at Home,” which deals with being approached by someone already taken. She sings, “I don't even know her / But I feel a responsibility to do what's upstanding and right / It's kinda like a code, yeah / And you've been getting closer and closer, and crossing so many lines.”
Swift also appears to croon about her own possible unfaithfulness in “High Infidelity,” where she points to April 29th being a major turning point in a romance.
Fans connected the dots and noticed that Swift, who was linked to Calvin Harris at the time, was spotted in New York City on April 29, 2016, days before attending the Met Gala. At the event, Swift danced with Tom Hiddleston, whom she went on to date for a couple of months. Swift also met Alwyn that same night.
Scroll down for more songs by Swift that are about cheating:
'High Infidelity'
“Do you really want to know where I was April 29th?” Swift sings on the tune from 2022’s Midnights. “Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?”
'Illicit Affairs'
"And you wanna scream / Don't call me 'kid' / Don't call me 'baby' / Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me / You showed me colors / You know I can't see with anyone else," the lyrics from 2020’s Folklore reads.
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'No Body No Crime'
“Este's been losing sleep,” Swift croons on the track from 2020’s Evermore, a song featuring the band HAIM. “Her husband's acting different and it smells like infidelity.”
'Ivy'
“Clover blooms in the fields / Spring breaks loose, the time is near / What would he do if he found us out? / Crescent moon, coast is clear / Spring breaks loose, but so does fear / He's gonna burn this house to the ground,” the lyrics from 2020’s Evermore reads.
'Gorgeous'
Fans have speculated that the song off of 2017’s Reputation is about the night Swift met Alwyn — which was at the 2016 Met Gala. At the time, Swift was in a relationship with Harris.
“And you should think about the consequence / Of you touching my hand in the darkened room / If you've got a girlfriend, I'm jealous of her / But if you're single that's honestly worse,” Swift sings.
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'Getaway Car'
Shortly after calling it quits with Harris in 2016, Swift began a short-lived romance with Hiddleston. The track “Getaway Car” from Reputation is rumored to be about their whirlwind fling, which lasted for a few months in 2016.
“While he was runnin' after us, I was screamin', ‘Go, go, go’ / But with three of us, honey, it's a sideshow / And a circus ain't a love story and now we're both sorry,” she sings in the synth-pop anthem.
'Is It Over Now?'
It’s widely speculated that Swift’s brief relationship circa 2012 with Styles is the inspiration behind the Vault Track from her 2023 album 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
“You dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor / You search in every maiden's bed for something greater,” Swift asks, although it’s unclear if the song is a post-breakup ballad or a about possible infidelity.
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'Girl at Home'
“While she waits up / You chase down the newest thing and take for granted what you have,” Swift sings on the track from 2012’s Red.
'Better than Revenge'
Fans have long speculated that “Better than Revenge” details Swift’s romance with Joe Jonas and his subsequent relationship with Camilla Belle. (Swift briefly dated Jonas in 2008 until their infamous 25-second phone call split.)
“And, I had it all I had him right there where I wanted him / She came along, got him alone, and let's hear the applause / She took him faster than you could say sabotage,” the lyrics read from 2010’s Speak Now.
'White Horse'
“And there you are on your knees / Begging for forgiveness, begging for me / Just like I always wanted but I'm so sorry,” Swift croons on her track from 2008’s Fearless.
'Should’ve Said No'
Some Swifties have speculated that the track from Swift’s 2006 debut album chronicles an unfaithful relationship that she experienced in high school. “You should've known that word 'bout what you did with her / Get back to me (get back to me) / And I should've been there / In the back of your mind,” she accuses the subject of the song.
‘Fortnight’
In her tune featuring Post Malone off 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department, she sings, "My husband is cheating, I wanna kill him."
‘Florida!!!’
While Swift didn’t directly sing about infidelity herself on this 2024 track from TTPD, Florence Welch — who’s featured on the song — does. She croons, “And your cheating husband disappeared, well / No one asks any questions here,” in the song’s second verse.
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‘Guilty as Sin?’
Swifties speculated that her song from TTPD could be an admission of emotional cheating.
“These fatal fantasies giving way to labored breath taking all of me we’ve already done it in my head,” she sings in the 2024 track. “If it’s make-believe why does it feel like a vow we’ll both uphold somehow?”
‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived’
Swift detailed an illicit romance (which fans suspect is about her ex Matty Healy) in 2024’s TTPD, singing, “It wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden.”
