"When your number-one priority is getting a boyfriend, you're more inclined to see a beautiful girl and think, 'Oh, she's gonna get that hot guy I wish I was dating,'" she says. "But when you're not boyfriend-shopping, you're able to step back and see other girls who are killing it and think, 'God, I want to be around her.'" As an example, she cites her pal Lorde, whom she calls Ella. "It's like this blazing bonfire," Swift says.
Of all the songs on the album that seem to be about Styles, the most intriguing one is "Out of the Woods." Co-written by Antonoff, it's a frantic tale of a relationship where, Swift says, "every day was a struggle. Forget making plans for life – we were just trying to make it to next week." The most interesting part comes when Swift sings, "Remember when you hit the brakes too soon/Twenty stitches in a hospital room." She says it was inspired by a snowmobile ride with an ex who lost control and wrecked it so badly that she saw her life flash before her eyes. Both of them had to go to the ER, although Swift wasn't hurt. She corrects herself: "Not as hurt."
But Swift is unfazed. "You want to know a trick to immediately go from feeling victimized to feeling awesome?" she says. She pulls out her phone and hands me the earbuds: "This is my go-to." She presses play, and Kendrick Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle" fills the speakers. As Swift bobs her head, Lamar raps:
All my life I want money and power
Respect my mind or die from lead shower
I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower
So I can **** the world for 72 hours
Goddamn, I feel amazing
Damn, I'm in the Matrix . . .
i will still like her. but maybe less