Shortly into her career, Taylor Swift was already an acclaimed songwriter, and the biggest criticism towards her was that she abused simple but precise metaphors, such as “the way you move is like a full on rainstorm, and I’m a house of cards” to describe being blown away by a male figure in Sparks Fly, from her third album, however, in her most recent work, we find lyrics such as “Those eyes add insult to injury” from Exile, released in Folklore, her album from 2020. It has been getting steadily harder to understand her songs and the meaning behind them, hence why there are so many fans wondering what, or who on earth is her new single about. Is “Fortnight” about Joe Alwyn, her ex from a 6 year long relationship, Matty Healy, who she had brief love affairs with in 2014 and 2023, or her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce? Though it was a slightly hard task, we have been able to confirm who it’s about.
First, let’s clarify that a fortnight is a 14 day period, two weeks. The song starts by stating that the narrator is not well in the head. “I was supposed to be sent away, but they forgot to come and get me. I was a functioning alcoholic till nobody noticed my new aesthetic” and then starts pondering the theme of a love interest in the chorus, which seems to be the reason for the narrator’s troubled mind.
“And for a fortnight there, we were forever running to you
Sometimes, ask about the weather
Now you’re in my backyard, turn into good neighbors
Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her”
The chorus gives some perspective. Apparently, the narrator had a short lived love affair with someone in the past, and they have since then become strangers again, or “good neighbors”. Also, that someone now has a wife, who the narrator envies.
In the second verse, the narrator explains what their life has become after the love affair. “All my mornings are Mondays, stuck in an endless February”, and in the next line, the narrator explains that they have tried to forget about it and let go of the affair, but it turned out to be impossible. “I took the miracle, move on drug, the effects were temporary”. In the next few lines, the motto of the song appears. “And I love you, it’s ruining my life. I touched you for only a fortnight”. This punchline adds sentiment to the love affair. It was so fiery and passionate, that the narrator is having a hard time moving on from it, and the feeling is still very vivid in their head, which is troubling their mind, noted in “it’s ruining my life”. After that, a double chorus adds more context, as the narrator confesses her husband is cheating on her and is unhappy in her relationship.
The song ends with the narrator and their mistress singing a line about moving to Florida, which seems to be just wishful thinking since they would need to get back together first. That is explained in the outro of the song. “I’m calling you, but you won’t pick up, another fortnight lost in America. Move to Florida, buy the car you want, but it won’t start up till you touch, touch, touch me.”
With all that information and context, we can infer that the song is about the lead vocalist from The 1975, Matty Healy. Taylor Swift and Matty dated for a very brief time in 2014, which was confirmed when they were seen holding hands in public multiple times. Their relationship was short lived as they broke up and Taylor went on to date Dj Calvin Harris in 2015. Shortly after, Calvin and Taylor broke up, and when everything seemed like Taylor and Matty would be getting back together, she met Joe Alwyn at the 2016 met gala, where they allegedly fell in love instantly and started dating. When Taylor and Joe broke up after a 6 year relationship in 2023, Taylor and Matty went back together for a brief period of time, although it’s uncertain if they got together while Taylor and Joe were still together.
Taylor and Matty’s relationship this second time around was so strong that Taylor wrote a handful of songs about him in her new album, “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT”, “Fortnight” being one of them.
With that in mind, “Fortnight” seems to take place before the Joe Alwyn and Taylor Swift broke up, when both Taylor and Matty were in relationships, and Joe was cheating on Taylor, as she confirmed on other tracks from the newly released album.
Here you can watch the music video for the song, which is more centered about the concept of the album than the song itself. And here you can read the full lyrics to “Fortnight” on our website.
