She may be known for her not-so-subtle breakup hits, but this time it seems that the tables have been turned on Taylor Swift. Back in May 2017, Harry Styles released his highly anticipated, self-titled debut album, which features a song titled ‘Carolina’. Swifties and Directioners alike were quick to question whether the song is about ‘Haylors’ relationship. Is this Harry’s response to Style?
No, Taylor Swift is not from Carolina. She was born on December 13th, 1989 in Reading, Pennsylvania. After growing up on her family’s Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Taylor and her family moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee in a bid to kick-start Taylors music career. Nowadays Taylor owns 8 properties but spends the most time in New York.
So if Harry’s song ‘Carolina’ is not about Taylor, who is it about? What other songs have the pair written about each other? Keep reading to find out!
Haylor
Taylor and Harry allegedly started dating in November 2012, after meeting at the Kids Choice Awards in March. They’re spotted together for the first time on 2nd December on a date in Central Park, New York.
Their relationship went from strength-to-strength over the coming months. The pair were spotted partying at Madison Square Gardens, skiing in Utah, and kissing in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
However, their relationship ended somewhat prematurely in January 2013 whilst on vacation together in the British Virgin Islands. The pair reportedly had an argument that culminated in Swift getting the first flight home!
Carolina
Most girls would jump at the opportunity to have Harry Styles write a song about them, so why is the subject of ‘Carolina’ so widely contested?
At first, fans claimed the song is a reference to Taylor, owing to her unproblematic nature. In the chorus, Harry repeats “she’s a good girl”, which alludes to Swift being one of the most uncontroversial stars in Hollywood.
In an interview with BBC Radio 1, however, Styles admitted that “it’s potentially about someone from Carolina” and the subject’s name features in the song. Straight away this rules Swift out since she grew up in Pennsylvania and neither the word ‘Taylor’ or ‘Swift’ feature in the lyrics.
From this, fans turned to the line:
“She never saw herself as a west coaster. Moved all the way cause her Grandma told her ‘Townes, better swim before you drown”
So who is Townes? Apparently, back in 2016 Styles went on a blind date with Townes, a 20-year-old French and Philosophy major at UCLA. The date didn’t amount to anything serious, but according to one of her friends, Townes “loves the song and thinks it was very lovely of him to do”.
Styles
Fans have been calling for Harry to write a song about Taylor since she released ‘Style’ back in 2014.
The song features Taylor singing: “I got that red lip classic thing that you like” and “you got that long hair, slick back, white t-shirt”. The latter has been interpreted as an obvious ode to Styles, who is known for his curly long hair.
Taylor later confirmed this theory in an interview with Rolling Stone. She joked about calling the song ‘I’m not even sorry’ – implying that the title of the song was extremely unsubtle of her.
The music video for Style also features a ton of clues about Haylors relationship. First and foremost, the paper airplane necklace. Harry wore the necklace throughout the pairs’ fling, and eventually gifted Taylor a matching pendant.
Harry later said that he found it flattering to have songs written about him, especially since Taylor is such a great songwriter.
Years later in 2017, Styles is said to have got his payback on Taylor with his song ‘Two Ghosts’. The laid back song features Harry singing: “same lips red same eyes blue same white shirt couple more tattoos” which seems to be an obvious play on Taylors lyrics in Style. Whatever the situation, Harry denied that the song is about Taylor when questioned by Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1.
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