Taylor Swift’s ‘imgonnagetyouback’ Mirrors Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Get Him Back,’ With a Matty Healy Twist

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As multiple Swifties are putting it, “Olivia [Rodrigo] has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.” In September 2023, pop-punk princess Rodrigo released her Guts track “get him back!,” a banger steeped in wordplay about the twin desires of love and revenge that follow a breakup. (Particularly after Rodrigo’s own separation from ex Adam Faze.) Now, in April 2024, Taylor Swift has dropped the Tortured Poets Department track “imgonnagetyouback,” using identical wordplay and styling to target one of her own exes, most likely The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.

It’s important to note the two songs bear little sonic resemblance: “get him back!” is a high-tempo percussive earworm, while “imgonnagetyouback” is quieter, ethereal synth-pop. And Rodrigo’s “get him back!” itself mirrored Fiona Apple’s 2005 song “Get Him Back,” which uses the identical paradox: I love you, yes, but also “it’s ruining my life.”

Swift’s version of the “get you back” expression, in particular, seems aimed at Healy. The two were first connected in 2014, when tabloids reported the singers had a brief, secret fling. If those rumors were true, then Swift would have indeed “gotten [Healy] back” nearly a decade later, when the two officially dated in May 2023 after Swift’s breakup with actor Joe Alwyn. Lines like “I can tell when somebody still wants me,” “Push the reset button, we’re becoming something new,” “Even if it’s handcuffed, I’m leaving here with you,” and “Told my friends I hate you, but I love you just the same” seem targeted at the conflicted attitudes around Swift and Healy’s relationship, given Healy’s numerous controversies.

Taylor Swift’s ‘But Daddy, I Love Him’ Lyrics Are a Scathing Response to Fans Against Her Dating Matty Healy

Swift addresses the backlash to her and Healy’s relationship for the first time.

Taylor Swift’s ‘Fresh Out the Slammer’ Lyrics Explain Why She Dated Matty Healy After Joe Alwyn

“Now pretty baby, I’m running back home to you. / Fresh out the slammer I know who my first call will be to,” she sings.

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“Gazing at me, starry-eyed / In your Jehovah’s Witness suit,” seems like quite the hint.

Still, others fans are convinced “imgonnagetyouback” is actually winking at unfounded rumors that Swift dated Spanish racing driver Fernando Alonso before she was linked to Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce. In “imgonnagetyouback,” she sings, “I’m an Aston Martin that you steered straight into the ditch.” Alonso currently drives an Aston Martin Aramco F1, per The Drive.

Whether the song is ultimately about Healy or Alwyn or Alsonso, or if it even intended to mirror Rodrigo, no one can say without official word from Swift. But the parallels are nonetheless a pleasure to unpack. Read the full lyrics to “imgonnagetyouback” below:

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