Taylor Swift’s Track ‘Florida!!!’ *Might* Be About This Former Celebrity Couple
Attn: The day has *finally* come for Taylor Swift's latest studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, to drop...meaning it's time for Swifties everywhere (guilty) to be in their feels and obsess over every single lyric for the next month and a half at least.
Now, in the event you didn't get the memo from our official Tortured Poets Department Chairman™️, the project is the musician's 11th studio album. And though it was initially thought to have 16 tracks and four bonus numbers, Tay wound up blessing us with an additional 15 (!!!!!) songs at 2 am last night—a welcome surprise fans thought might happen given...
Anyway! Today we're here to talk about one of our absolute fave songs, "Florida!!!" While the tribute to the state *might* seem kinda??? (or!!!, for that matter) given the singer was raised in Pennsylvania, her exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy are from the United Kingdom, and her current boyfriend Travis Kelce hails from Ohio, it kinda sorta makes sense if you think about it. Let us explain...
One theory is that the track alludes to Taylor's relationship with Joe, given the singer's first Eras Tour stop following the news of their split was Tampa, Florida from April 13 to 15, 2023. She played three nights in the city before moving on to *drumroll, pls* Houston from April 21 to 23. Now, the reason this tidbit is so 🤯 is that one of the lyrics in "Florida!!!" reads, "So you pack your life away just to wait out the shit storm back in Texas."
But because Swifties are true masterminds (heh), this is far from the only postulation about the song. Case in point? Some have theorized that it's about Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas's split since the fellow musician filed for divorce from the actor in Florida back in September 2023.
Amid her legal battle with Joe, Sophie and her daughters reportedly began living in Tay's Tribeca home, per Page Six. The two also went out to dinner a buncha times and even attended a Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Jets game in October. Oh, *and* it was reported that one of Tay's close friends, Brittany Mahomes, told Us Weekly that she'd "love to set [Sophie] up" with one of Travis's friends. "Brittany knows Sophie is newly single and has hung [out] with her before when Sophie attended one of the [Kansas City Chiefs] games. She would love to help play matchmaker," the source dished back in November 2023.
^ A moment for this iconic squad pic, pls!
Btw, to make matters more 🥺 re: Tay and Sophie's friendship, at the start of this year, the actor posted a touching tribute to her besties on Instagram alongside the caption, "2023 was the year of the girlies. 2024s forecast is looking fairly consistent." And, yes, Tay (and Miss Sabrina Carpenter!) makes the cut. Ahem:
Now, if you're not someone who loves to dwell on the potential lore of Taylor's song lyrics (can't relate) and prefer something a bit more concrete/less scandalous, here's what "Florida!!!" is about according to the celeb herself c/o an iHeart Radio intro she took part in:
"'Florida!!!' is a song that I wrote with Florence and the Machine, and I think I was coming up with this idea of like, What happens when your life doesn't fit or your choices you've made catch up to you and you're surrounded by these harsh consequences and judgment, and circumstances did not lead you to where you want to be and you just want to escape from everything you've ever known. Is there a place you could go?
I'm always watching like Dateline—people, you know, have these crimes that they commit. Where do they immediately skip town and go to? They go to Florida, you know? They like try to reinvent themselves, have a new identity, blend in. And I think when you go through a heartbreak, there's a part of you that thinks, I want a new name, I want a new life, I don't want anyone to know where I've been or know me at all. And so that was the jumping-off point behind, Where would you go to reinvent yourself and blend in? Florida."
📹 | Taylor on writing “Florida!!!” with Florence Welch via @iHeartRadio #TSTTPD
pic.twitter.com/236BVFEngW— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSwiftLA) April 19, 2024
Without further ado, let's dive into "Florida!!!" and see what its lyrics are really about.
[Verse 1: Taylor Swift]
You can beat the heat if you beat the charges too
They said I was a cheat, I guess it must be true
And my friends all smell like weed or little babies
And this city reeks of driving myself crazy
[Pre-Chorus: Taylor Swift]
Little did you know your home's really only
A town you're just a guest in
So you work your life away just to pay
For a time-share down in Destin
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Taylor Swift]
Florida
Is one hell of a drug
Florida
Can I use you up?
[Verse 2: Florence Welch]
The hurricane with my name when it came
I got drunk and I dared it to wash me away
Barricaded in the bathroom with a bottle of wine
Well, me and my ghosts, wе had a hell of a time
Yes, I'm hauntеd, but I'm feeling just fine
All my girls got their lace and their crimes
And your cheating husband disappeared
Well, no one asks any questions here
[Verse 3: Florence Welch, Taylor Swift & Florence Welch]
So I did my best to lay to rest
All of the bodies that have ever been on my body
And in my mind, they sink into the swamp
Is that a bad thing to say in a song?
[Pre-Chorus: Florence Welch]
Little did you know your home's really only
The town you'll get arrested
So you pack your life away just to wait out
The shitstorm back in Texas
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Taylor Swift]
Florida
Is one hell of a drug
Florida
Can I use you up?
[Bridge:Taylor Swift, Florence Welch, Taylor Swift & Florence Welch]
I need to forget, so take me to Florida
I've got some regrets, I'll bury them in Florida
Tell me I'm despicable, say it's unforgivable
At least the dolls are beautiful, fuck me up, Florida
I need to forget, so take me to Florida
I've got some regrets, I'll bury them in Florida
Tell me I'm despicable, say it's unforgivable
What a crash, what a rush, fuck me up, Florida
It's one hell of a drug
It's one hell of a drug
Love loves me like this and I want to resist
So take me to Florida
[Pre-Chorus: Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Florence Welch]
Little did you know your home's really only
A town you're just a guest in (Florida)
So you work your life away just to pay
For a time-share down in Destin (Take me to Florida)
Little did you know your home's really only
The town you'll get arrested (Florida)
So you pack your life away just to wait out
The shitstorm back in Texas
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Florence Welch, Taylor Swift]
Florida
Is one hell of a drug
(Take me to) Florida
Can I use you up?
Florida
Is one hell of a drug
Florida
Go on, fuck me up
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