Taylor Swift Previews New Song "Out of the Woods"—Which Ex-Boyfriend Is She Singing About?

Track serves as the second single from 1989

By Zach Johnson Oct 13, 2014 1:30 PMTags

Taylor Swift has said 1989 isn't a "heartbreak record" in the vein of Red, but her new single, "Out of the Woods," is about a relationship gone wrong. She previewed the track on Good Morning America Monday.

"'Out of the Woods' is one of my favorite songs on this album," Swift, 24, said. "I wanted to make sure that these songs sounded exactly the way that the emotions felt when I felt them. This song is about the fragility and kind of breakable nature of some relationships. This was a relationship where I was kind of living day to day, wondering where it was going, if it was going to go anywhere, if it was going to end the next day. It was a relationship where you kind of never feel like you're standing on solid ground."

According to Swift, "That kind of a feeling brings on excitement but also extreme anxiety and kind of frantic feeling of wondering—endless questions. And this song sounds exactly like that frantic feeling of anxiety and questioning, but it stresses that even if a relationship is breakable and fragile and full of anxiety, it doesn't mean that it isn't worthwhile, exciting, beautiful and all the things that we look for."

Per usual, Swift didn't reveal which ex-boyfriend the song is about, though blogs have suggested that One Direction's Harry Styles inspired it. Swift co-wrote "Out of the Woods" with fun.'s Jack Antonoff.

"Out of the Woods" is available on iTunes at midnight Monday. 1989 is out Oct. 27.