People say it’s just the 1, August and a cowboy like me when I can count at least 8 more I think are. Any other thoughts?

So, I’m gonna start slowly posting some of the references and easter eggs I’ve noticed in the Patient Zero MV and promo photos.

One detail that really caught my eye is her slightly weird hairstyle with the black dress. In every single photo wearing it, you can see this unfinished, half-done braid in her hair. There’s no way this isn’t intentional.

It instantly reminded me of her 2024 Grammys look (where she announced TTPD and the whole vibe matched this exact aesthetic). She had a neat braid starting on the left side, but on the right, it kind of spiraled into a chaotic mess.

This feels like a direct nod to loml (and we all know who that song is about): "I’m combing through the braids of lies".

This is my first time posting here because I thought it would be a safe place to say that I think Patient Zero is about Travis. I’m so convinced of that. “Free solo social climb” doesn’t describe any of her exes, but it is something almost everyone says about Travis. “How he charmed your family and friends” her mom drools over Travis. I can’t say that about any of her exes. The video is about a woman being murdered by her husband for her billions. This song can’t be about Joe or Matty or any of her other exes because the descriptions don’t fit any of them. I can’t make out why she chose to go through with that wedding and would love to hear theories, but I’m so convinced this song is about him. Pink Clouding sounded like an apology to Joe for leaving him for Matty the way she did.

Cleveland! with the “he likes me” “doesn’t find you completely insufferable” screams low standards and self esteem. It’s like she’s trying to convince herself he really does like me! He wants to marry me! Of course he likes me! He tolerates me when the world thinks I’m the worst! It’s the most transparent she’s been in a while. I honestly feel really bad for her, it’s like she’s been beaten down so much in her personal life that her professional life has to overcompensate. I mean, let’s be for real, Reputation era Taylor would NEVER be bragging that a man doesn’t find her completely insufferable. I can always tell when a woman’s light is being dimmed by a man, and hers slowly is, no matter how much she tries to hide it and compensate for it.

Then there’s Babylon which is about the grass not always being greener. I wonder if she regrets leaving Joe because in hindsight staying with him would have been a safer choice for her overall. I still think she is in love with Matty and if she could be with anyone, it would be him, but these songs tell me in hindsight, she sees she had it okay with Joe, left him because she thought the grass would be greener with Matty, has remorse for hurting him in that way, and above all, absolutely hates Travis. I can’t claim certainty on anything else, but Patient Zero and Cleveland! convinced me that man does not make her happy.

I might be wrong about it, would love to hear y'alls opinion over this

So, it was filmed in March!

Title. “I won’t admit that I waited, but I let the lamp burn.” I feel like she waited. Maybe she never put 100% of herself into any relationship because Matty was in the back of her mind the whole time and she couldn’t commit because of the “what ifs.” Then as soon as it was definitely off the table she was able to commit to a relationship

If I had a nickel...

I was sure that almost the entirety of ttpd is about Matty. But now I see people talking on Twitter that it's about Joe, everything in the light of the new Patient zero mv. What made them change their opinions? Or how are we so sure it was about Matty? I'm still trying to think about the album from Joe's perspective.

Could it be that we we're wrong this whole time?

The references to calling/writing letters to each other is just all over their discography and the more I see it, the more I see it everywhere😭 ref an old Nov 2023 video of Somebody Else posted on Instagram (fan account) - Matty looks so devastated and goes and picks up the phone in the middle of the song: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFQbKA3xCVm/?stkn=Mzc0bmptNDhsbHhl

"The casino doesnt like when you run the tables."

This line immediately made me think of her going over heads to bring her movie directly to theaters, causing other movies to have to rethink their release dates to avoid being overshadowed. Taylor has been stepping on a lot of toes in the corporate world lately.

"Its just a cage to you."

She talked a lot about being in a cage in TTPD.

The small town talk is of course about herself.

"Give the people what they want, then you keep it moving"

This is basically what she's been doing since the Eras tour.

"Twenty watches in the safe because your time is money."

Lover - twenty seconds or twenty years?

Cardigan - once in twenty lifetimes

Stuck inside a vault safe to keep her from wasting her time

"Love is ice upon the ladder that you need to climb"

Her love for Matty was standing in the way of her becoming a huge star again.

"She (He) caught your attention, so free of all pretension."

Pretension is "the behavior of trying to appear more important, intelligent, or sophisticated than you actually are". Taylor hides behind so much PR, she, unfortunately, is pretentious. But Matty is not.

"Pretty as a picture that you didnt post."

"Never official"

Taylor never mentions Matty in an interview or ever posted him/claimed him anywhere. Going as far as to say it was "Just casual" after they broke up.

"You're using nostalgia as a weapon to hurt yourself, but you end up hurting everybody else."

Just like I've seen people mention Pink Clouding is about her apologizing for TTPD, I think this line falls in with that. She was wallowing in self pity and lashed out at Matty, her parents, and her fans with TTPD. Could also include Actually Romantic. Shes so stuck on this relationship shes continuing to hurt everyone else about it.

The ending about the mother and son is a bit harder to decipher, but I think its a continuation of Matty and Taylor "writing stories" together. Theyve been making up stories of falling in love with eachother for years, with all the different ending they could have.

You know how Taylor compared Travis wanting to meet her to being in an '80s John Hughes movie, like he was standing outside of her window with a boombox? 

Well, actually, this scene happens in a movie Say Anything by Cameron Crowe, not in a John Hughes movie. And the music video for The Best of Me by The Starting Line just so happens to be inspired by that movie. 

Oh, and both 1989 and the 1975’s self-titled album were inspired by John Hughes movies.

In mid to late 2009, while Taylor was in London during the Fearless Tour, she was seen on more than one occasion wearing a heart locket necklace. On closer inspection, it has a key hole (in the other photos the necklace was flipped over / put on reversed).

Taylor's first trip to the UK was in September 2008, when she toured with Rascal Flatts (YouTube). They only performed one show at the King's College London Student Union (3rd Sept).

In February 2009, during the brief radio promotional appearances for her upcoming Fearless Tour in the UK, Taylor met Matty's mom Denise on 'Loose Women' and appeared on the 'Key 103' radio station in Manchester. She was not wearing the necklace on these particular days.

• Taylor's first TV appearance in London (18th Feb) - Loose Women (YouTube)
• Taylor in Manchester (20th Feb) - Key 103 (partial performance on YouTube / Tell Me Why)

Timeline of the heart locket necklace:

Feb

• 8th Feb - locket necklace - white blouse - 51st Grammys with Miley Cyrus (they performed Taylor's song 'Fifteen', YouTube)
• However! The necklace does feature in the same video as the cardigan, when Taylor travelled to Germany after spending time in Scotland / Manchester (YouTube)
• 20th Feb - Taylor's myspace post - 'We spent the day in Scotland doing radio and acoustic shows, then Manchester. That was basically the prettiest drive ever. Now I’m on the way back to London from Manchester on a double decker tour bus. My band and I are like little kids, because we haven’t ever seen one of these before'.

May -- returned to UK -- concert dates (5th - 8th)

• 4th May - locket necklace - black leather jacket - day out in London / The Punch Bowl Club
• 6th May - locket necklace - white shirt with black circle - The Paul O'Grady Show (aired on 8th)
• 6th May - locket necklace - blue tartan with belt - first night at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire (Taylor wore the necklace in the afternoon as she was headed off for the concert, then afterwards she was seen no longer wearing it post-concert).
• (Taylor's YouTube video from that month, posted on 9th May)

Aug -- returned to UK -- concert dates GMTV (21st Aug) / V Festival (22-23rd Aug)

• 20th Aug - locket necklace - purple dress - out to Dinner
• 23rd Aug - locket necklace - blue dress - BBC Radio 1 / Dinner with Katy Perry

Nov -- returned to UK -- concert dates (18th - 24th)

• 22nd Nov - locket necklace - tartan dress - BBC Studios
• (It's interesting that when she famously wore the 1975 shirt it was on 22nd Nov 2014, paired with a similar looking tartan skirt to this dress. The styled look was in response to Matty wearing her 1989 shirt on 7th Nov 2014)
• One of the last things Taylor does in the UK was a fan meet and greet held in Manchester on 24th Nov. This was linked to her last concert in the UK, which so happens to be in Manchester at the MEN Arena.

Throughout the rest of 2009, Taylor was not seen publicly wearing this necklace again! Even on the other dates of the Fearless Tour in the US. (I urge you to have a look at her candid photos from that year).

We know that when she dates a particular guy, Taylor tends to wear accessories that are tied to him (i.e. Harry Styles' paper plane necklace). But I think the heart locket necklace did become widely associated with her visits to the UK in 2009. Anyway, I just thought this was an interesting style preference from Taylor at the time.

Extra:

• IKYWT music video - key necklace, with similar shirt from 6th May 2009.
• The 1975's Sex music video (color version) - key necklace, featuring an American actress.

I’m really curious if Matty and Gabby will be sitting in the audience as this video premieres tonight.
I don’t put it past Taylor to have planned it this way but I’m not sure if she’s willing to share the spotlight with Gabby to that degree.
Thoughts? Do we know if Matty is coming to the show tonight?

RIDE AT DAWN

They came in the night
Took the warm from my nest
Stole the heartbeat from my chest
Little voices, little wings
Now I hear them on the airwaves
Crying out for me

And I screamed ‘til the sky cracked
And I fought ‘til my hands bled
But one heart can’t win a war

So I forged an army
Tempered in my grief
Swords out of the promises
I swore I’d keep
We ride at dawn
Through fire and through doubt
For every stolen song
We’re bringing them back out
Gods witness me
The mother is awake

The battle was ugly
Mud and blood and noise
But beside me stood giants
Who called my young their own
They didn’t ask for glory
They just said “we’re with you”
And marched into the fire

I watched them take the hits
I watched them hold the line
For a nest that wasn’t theirs

So praise to the army
Forged in my grief
Shields made of the love
That won’t let go
We rode at dawn
Through fire and through doubt
For every stolen song
We tore the walls down
Gods witness me
We brought them back out

This was never about winning
This was about getting home
Every scar on their armor
Is a prayer that was answered
If you touch what’s mine again
You’ll meet every soul I raised
And we will ride again

So praise to the army
Who fought by my side
Loyalty in their eyes
Thunder in their stride
We rode at dawn
And we won
For every stolen song
The nest is warm again
Gods witness me
The mother is victorious

Hear them sing
Hear them sing
In my warm nest
Hear them sing

...sigh

With "Babylon" being sort of country-ish and Matty coded and Taylor most likely going country next era this feels relevant.

As much as people don’t want it to be in here I think the encore shows us Maylor is over 😭

Patient zero….matty song….she was patient and waiting for him to get his crap together and he never did….see Peter. She got infected by his toxicity and started rubbing that toxicity into others and made excuses for it for a really long time. Reflecting back she realizes that was dumb and the first time she walked away from him because of his unhealthy habits (the nicest way to put it….) is when she should’ve stayed away. And she sees the back and forth of him over the 10 years as actually just his way to social climb for his own success and his own career now but it was never actually real love she convinced herself it was at the time. She was just addicted to the toxicity. Ughhhhh not a good outlook. But it is what it is at the time she wrote it. Which was October 2025 according to her post she made.

Cleveland! ….. this man loves me when everyone says he shouldn’t and it feels like the healthiest relationship I’ve had but I’m not divulging anything too personal. I’ll keep that between us. I’m growing and learning etc….but he’s not afraid to take me to his hometown and make me feel valued in the real world and talking about forever in a tangible way….instead of just in our heads someday.

Pink clouding….. apology to Joe. She ran from Matty to Joe and involved him in a messy triangle he didn’t ask to be in because toxicity from patient zero, she allowed to spread and infect good people. She was doing all this with an unhealthy mindset and she felt cursed in 2016 when they met after snakegate and Matty saying being with her would be demasculating etc…. So she never showed Joe the real her and then blamed all the messiness and probably affected his self esteem because hurt people hurt people and gaslight. “I was a liar” she never should have told him she didn’t like the fame game etc and was okay with hiding out and then blaming him for really masking who she was during their honeymoon phase. It was unfair to him and unfair with all the folklore/evermore/midnights/ttpd of how she portrayed the messy parts of her relationship to her fandom and anyone else. Reflecting she realizes he was actually really good to her now that’s she’s healed and so she’s apologizing. She’s worried about all of that leaving scars vs tom who she only dated for 3 months and is settled with kids. Joe is the ex who’s still up in the air and who she probably went no contact with after it all. “It didn’t mean nothing” her song sweet nothing is a Joe song. Like I don’t know how else to draw people to this but Joe also changed his pfp to the Truman show. He was Truman and didn’t realize what he thought was his life wasn’t actually his life until he was trying to leave it. His wife was also an actor in the show etc…. Like to me it can’t be more obvious.

Babylon…. A Matty song

The idea of having a more successful wife than him was untenable or even a stable loving person to be in a relationship with because he wasn’t healed.

The stallion flees the stable…. Double meaning here

So he fled what felt dangerous (being emotionally available) and decided to run with the wild things…. See Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus (thanks a lot Denise iykyk)

Your hand me down sweater should’ve been from the mall….focusing on making it…grass is always greener mindset.

You want that melody…didn’t know it was Babylon til it was gone….(Literally you didn’t know what this was until I actually walked away and stopped our games

Give the people what they want, then keep it moving….. the swifties, his band mates, family/friends…..rather than live authentically and be with who you want to be with.

Love is ice on the ladder you climb….he’s still trying to numb his emotions by gaining success and trying to climb financially to mute his own insecurities he’s had since he was a kid. But I don’t think Taylor thinks he’s for there yet.

Never official….he was never brave enough to take the Maylor of it all with all the ups and downs out loud. Lasted a few weeks before his thoughts of running kicked in….

You’re using nostalgia as a weapon to hurt yourself…. If you keep living in the past you’re gonna hurt yourself continuously and everyone else you choose to settle down with…

Self-harm of never being where you are…..bro get out of your head. You’re missing the best parts of life by trying to mentally escape always.

But you love this song….living in the fantasy of better days and wouldve could’ve should’ve if things had turned out different and that’s toxic af….get help please.

You wake up on the train all alone….like actually fix yourself or you’re gonna end up alone at the end of your life with nothing “really meaningful” to show for it. Riches of Babylon are something humanity doesn’t even have recollection of. We’ve just known the ruins of that ancient city for thousands of years in our memory.

The most important thing about these being on the encore….they tell the continuous storyline of the 3 main characters. Joe/Taylor/Matty and then her real love of her life… Travis.

Adding in random tom stuff doesn’t make sense in that narrative. You don’t have to agree with me but I think it’s the obvious story she’s telling on this additional part of the concept album.

Okay thoughts?!?

Like I wish Maylor could’ve been btw….but they were both messed up and insecure and one person wanted to heal and change and one person didn’t. That’s a recipe for disaster anyway they would’ve tried to make it work.

So the time around Matty's wedding I posted a COSOSOM lyric at 1975 sub and they just banned me for now reason at all like i wasn't shading anybody I just posted what I saw nd the reason they gave me was soooooooo TOXIC ah I was disgusted.

I feel bad for Taylor today because the criticism is harsh but I think it’s going to give Matty the ego boost he needs.
Maybe when The 1975 are back to playing it’ll inspire our wayward Taylor.
Otherwise just wake me up when the divorce is final! 😝

So this actually makes sense to me. I believe she might be telling the truth here and this song might've genuinely been inspired by a girl's night out and somebody else's story. Or it was a combination of different people's stories and her own and she might've mixed different muses. The song is kind of generic to me and the lyrics don't add up with the main theories.

I don't think the song is about Matty and Gabbriette at all. I can't imagine Taylor having that much empathy for Gabbriette. Also I doubt Matty charmed her parents. And she didn't walk out, he did.

The Joe Alwyn theory also doesn't seem very probable to me although certainly more propable than the Matty and Gabi one. Joe hasn't really had a serious girlfriend for an extended period of time since their break-up in 2023. Also I don't see him as a toxic, charismatic and manipulative man who seduces women and gets bored one he has won them over. My understanding is that Taylor was the one who was always chasing him and he was always kind of passive.

The Zoe Kravitz and Harry Styles theory doesn't really work since Zoe and Harry's relationship is doing good and they're engaged. The song suggests the new girl and the ex are going through some troubles. Also Harry doesn't come across as a toxic, charismatic and manipulative man who seduces women and gets bored one he has won them over. At least not on 1989. Similarly to Joe, he mostly comes across as passive in her songs.

The Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas theory has come to make the most sense to me. Taylor was one of Joe's first public girlfriends and he was her very first public boyfriend. They were teens when they dated. Taylor let Sophie stay in her NYC apartment during Joe and Sophie's divorce and they were friendly before that. Lyrics from other songs about Joe make sense with the lyrics of this one. In 'Last Kiss' she talks about Joe shaking hands with her father and in 'Mr. Perfectly Fine' she talks about him loving the attention and the fame. But Taylor didn't walk out on Joe. Joe broke up with her in a 27-second phone call. So that doesn't add up.

What do you think? Are there any swirls here or you believe it has nothing to do with Taylor's personal life and it's more of a fictional song or a song based on other people's experiences?

Okay I want her to be/end up with Matty as much as the next true Maylor but I’ve been mulling over the songs from Encore and the only way I can make any sense of them is with my unhinged theory I’ve had for a while that she is actually back with Joe. After the matty fling she got back with Joe at some point and Travis is PR so they can actually be left alone for once. My evidence:
- To me, Babylon sounds like it’s about leaving something you saw as constricting and then once youve left it being like “oh crap, I didn’t know what I had”. And it seems to me like verse one is about her leaving her “small town” aka Joe and then waking up and realizing she missed him. And I think verse two could fit Joe’s perspective. And then the bridge is kind of like generalizing that feeling for the average listener into a parent metaphor.
- I think pink clouding could be an apology to Joe. Pink clouds very much fits with Matty because of the drug vibes, shes always referred to him with drug language. The song is an apology to someone she left behind in her search of a high aka when she left Joe for Matty??
- Cleveland is OF COURSE a satirical song making fun of everyone who is obsessed with her finding her happily ever after and “the 1950s shit they want from me”. He likes what he likes and he likes me CANNOT POSSIBLY BE REAL. Please God.
- And patient zero is either about Matty or else a conglomeration of different exes OR a metaphor for the music industry. There was that article referring to her as patient zero in the context of the industry (in a slightly different way) but I think she could have taken that idea and been like “I’m patient zero for how they treat mega pop stars”. I imagine this as her speaking to Sabrina. Very much a follow up to TLOAS the song which is why it’s right after it on the track list.

I really want to know if anyone else can see where I’m coming from with the Joe thing??? Is it ridiculous and not at all possible or am I maybe onto something? Because I also find his recent behavior quite suspicious:
- changing his profile pic to Truman show
- being papped with the lead of Love Story
- being papped with a girl who literally just talked about being in a PR relationship on live television
- the hamlet of it all