<aside> 💡 Harry Styles released a song called “Two Ghosts” which is highly speculated to be about him and Taylor’s relationship. If this is a reference to their PR relationship, this could be Harry acknowledging that him and Taylor weren’t “really there” when they were seen together - they were just ghosts. Given Taylor’s references to ghosts and being transparent/see-through, this could allude to both of their feelings about being celebrities - how it “kills” the real version of you and people just see a ghost of you instead.
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Same lips red, same eyes blue
Same white shirt, couple more tattoos
But it's not you and it's not me
Tastes so sweet, looks so real
Sounds like something that I used to feel
But I can't touch what I see
We're not who we used to be
We're not who we used to be
We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me
Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat
The fridge light washes this room white
Moon dances over your good side
This was all we used to need
Tongue-tied like we've never known
Telling those stories we already told
'Cause we don't say what we really mean
We're not who we used to be
We're not who we used to be
We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me
We're not who we used to be
We're not who we used to be
We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty
Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat
We're not who we used to be
We're not who we used to be
We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me
We're not who we used to be
We don't see what we used to see
We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty
Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat
Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat
I'm just trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat
Taylor’s signature look involves red lipstick and she has blue eyes. In her song Style, heavily speculated to be about Harry, she also references her red lips and a white shirt: “And I got that red lip, classic thing that you like” ”You got that long hair slicked back, white t-shirt”
”But it’s not you and it’s not me” We’re not really there - people might recognise your iconic “red lips” and my “shirt” or “tattoos” but these aren’t the real versions of us. ”Looks so real, sounds like something that I used to feel” We’re making it “look so real” even though this is just a charade of love. I remember what love used to feel like before I became famous and participated in things that “sound like” love but they’re not ”But I can’t touch what I see” This line really brings the ghost image home - it reminds me of the definition of a phantom: something that is imagined, not real. This could also suggest that Harry might be “seeing” Taylor but he’s not really touching her.
“We're just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me Trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat”
This line feels like it is capturing the feeling of both of these celebrities “killing” their real selves so that they can be famous, so that we all just see ghosts of who they really are. This reminds me of Taylor’s Exile lyric “like he’s just your understudy” alluding to the idea that the person she’s standing next to isn’t her real partner.
The fridge light washes this room white Taylor’s lyric in All Too Well that could be alluded to here is: we’re dancing ‘round the kitchen in the refrigerator light” If Harry is referencing this, he could be speaking to how infamous ATW was in terms of linking to her very publicised relationship with Gyllenhaal. ”Tongue-tied like we’ve never known Telling those stories we already told ’Cause we don’t say what we really mean” These lines allude to the idea of hiding and having to stay silent about what they “really mean.” Telling “stories” could allude to the stories or leis they tell the media/wider society about their relationship and how repetitive those stories are.
We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty This line has been seen as an allusion to the Pink Floyd lyric: “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl”. Taylor has referenced swimming behind “glass” in her Lover music video - interesting that this room represents her 1989 era, an era that represented a big rise in her fame (aka being watched like a fish in a bowl) but also an era that is linked with Styles, given that a lot of that album is seen as referencing her relationship with him. The year after Taylor depicted herself as in a fish bowl, Harry put out his own fish-inspired music video for “Adore You” in 2020. Interesting to note that the fish smashes its way out of the tank after screaming, similar to the visuals in Taylor’s ‘…Ready For It?’ MV from 2017 wherein she screams before smashing her way out of a glass tank. For a deeper look at these themes: Ocean, Fish, Trapped Behind Glass, Glass Shattering
