Obviously, it's super entertaining to obsess over Taylor Swift song lyrics. For some people, it's actually their job.
But once in a while, we get actual confirmation about the meaning in Swift's excellent wordsmithery. And lucky for us, these details are about the super racy (for Taylor) track, "Dress."
There's been a super controversial fan theory, reported by Glamour, that this song is about her best guy friend Ed Sheeran, which is obviously confusing and surprising to anyone following Swift's love life. Particularly to Sheeran.
The theory goes that the lyrics, "I don't want you like a best friend / Only bought this dress so you could take it off, take it off," are about Sheeran, since he is one of Swift's longtime best friends. She also sings the words "shape of you" during "Dress," which just so happens to be a very famous Sheeran song. You may have heard it a few times.
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Other fans were...not having it.
My friend just said "so is this song about Ed Sheeran?" while we were listening to #Dress by @taylorswift13 I said "UM NO!" She said "well I mean it says 'I don't want you like a best friend'". Below is an accurate gif of my reaction. #Reputaylurking pic.twitter.com/9F1TRMN0WB
— Chelsea Giles (@chelseamgiles) November 14, 2017
Of course, one lyric does not a sexy song dedication make, and the good news — for Joe Alwyn, anyway — is that Sheeran has shut this theory down, without any room for speculation.
He recently went on a livestream with Augustman, which you can watch on Tumblr, during which he was very clear that the song couldn’t possibly be about him for one simple reason. The line in the song that goes, "Flash back when you met me / Your buzz cut and my hair bleached."
"I don't think it is. I think if you read into it…it’s not… You know, because she mentions someone with a buzz-cut haircut, and I’ve never had a buzz-cut haircut," he said, per Time.
Of course, Swift last had her hair bleached at the 2016 Met Ball, where she reportedly met Alwyn.
And fortunately, all's well with Sheeran and Alwyn, which might be why he shot down those rumors so quickly. Sheeran gave Swift's new squeeze his seal of approval, saying "He's really nice. Really, really friendly, really good dude."