Use this thread to discuss your thoughts, reactions, and theories on the song. We will be removing all future self-post discussion threads about it in order to consolidate discussion to this thread.
If you want to talk about The Tortured Poets Department album in general, you can use the general The Tortured Poets Department discussion thread here.
I think we see the slow death of her relationship with Joe over the last couple of albums so that’s why there isn’t as much about him here. Just the tail end of something that died out. I think if people think there are more Matty songs it’s because she had built up in her head that if they ever got their shot it would be amazing, and he love bombed her on top of that so she was in this delusional infatuated state that was exciting after years of boring but guess what? It was also toxic. Exciting and toxic generate more songs than boring. Didn’t she say it in the prologue that she writes the bad boys better? So the proportion of songs really doesn’t mean anything about Matty per se, just that that time period was a better creative spark.
I think with Joe it was a long drawn out break up that happened possibly over a number of years. They both knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when and how, and who would be the one to call time on it. With Matty, even though it was a short time, it was intense. Sometimes those hurt just as much because the excitement and possibilities are all suddenly snatched away, often without warning. I myself had a very short 3 month relationship and when it ended it hurt me a million times more than when my previous 10 year relationship ended. It's not expected when there is love bombing and talk of marriage and babies. And if I recall correctly, didn't Matty essentially ghost her?
That’s the rumour, like literally peaced out when the going got tough. That is what a “smallest man” does, doesn’t stand by what they believe in or fight for it. Contrast that with Travis, the way he constantly is physically out there with her, literally saying they are blocking out the noise and getting that it “comes with it” and saying that the pressure and the hate he gets in football (and let’s face it outside of football too) just pumps him up more. He’s the “biggest man” and not just because he is a 6 ft 5 football player.