TayLiz

That Caitlin hug v. that Liz hug, tho… I can’t.

I’ll just be over here in my Tayliz feels.

Photos for Taylor’s Vogue February 2012 cover (the one where she let them cut her bangs) were taken sometime before her 22nd birthday at the Bowery Hotel. Here is the behind the scenes video from the shoot:

Here is the description for the behind-the-scenes video, which notes that Taylor’s “band came out to support her”:

The band (including Liz) was also photographed with Taylor:

There is a little more coincidence than I thought when I originally posted my analysis of this song. I was going to get around to this eventually, but since a few more people saw that post, I thought I should make this one now.

November 1, 2009: Taylor and Liz go to the Paramore concert at the Ryman in Nashville. There is a video of them dancing and singing along during “Misery Business” and a couple videos of them leaving the venue together and getting into Taylor’s car. So, it looks like they went to the concert alone, just the two of them. There is also a video that someone next to them (Tayliz were in the front row of the balcony) took that shows them for a few seconds during “That’s What You Get”.

For context, this was the weekend before Taylor was the host/musical guest (with Liz and the rest of band) on SNL and did her monologue song, but I’m not going to post about that on my Tumblr blog, so here have this iconic sketch from that episode instead:

September 16, 2011: During the first night in Nashville on the Speak Now tour, Taylor brings Hayley out to sing “That’s What You Get”.

 In an interview in May 2020, Hayley had this to say about performing the song with Taylor:

“Yeah she was doing that Speak Now tour. I think her first big arena tour and I was in town, Paramore were off the road. She was like, “Would you be down to come and sing?” I really wasn’t aware that she covered different people’s songs every night, which now has become such a big part of her tours, like she’ll bring out friends that have big songs or whatever. 

But it blew my mind because I didn’t really think — I mean “Misery Business” had been a big song at the time, but I really did not imagine that that many kids would know “That’s What You Get.” And it was so fun to get to do that. She’s really a sweet person and this harsh music industry tried to chew her up and spit her out a thousand times. And I think she always rises to the top because she’s actually a great writer and a great artist. And I do think that she is just a good person, you know?”

So, Taylor specifically requested that they sing that song, even though Hayley expected she would want to sing what is probably Paramore’s most well-known song even to this day. I know that a lot of people around my age know the song, still it surprised Hayley that Taylor wanted to sing it.

November 21, 2019: Liz releases “That’s What You Get”

I feel like “That’s what you get when you recklessly fall in love” is basically the entire sentiment of the Paramore song.

Here is the video of the performance with Hayley:

And the video of Taylor and Liz jamming:

“0527″ is definitely on there:

Again, it could just be a coincidence. 

AND while we're in our Tayliz feels, I just want to know why this lyric seemed to hit so hard for Liz (okay okay it could have been Jimmy’s story about his mom, but it could also be that it means something to Liz):

Oh, no, you’re not bothering me. Don’t worry about that. 

I am not sure when “Good About Her” was recorded unfortunately. 

As for that photo, I think you mean this one:

If so, then yes I have seen it. I am not 100% sure it’s Taylor (because I worry I have gaylor blinders on), but I have done some research into it. I first found it on the Liz Huett Facebook page and it was posted there on July 15, 2015. I’m not sure if that is the original date the picture was taken, but that would have been right in-between Taylor’s Washington, D.C. dates (July 13/14) and Chicago dates (July 18/19) on the 1989 World Tour. And Taylor had a similar haircut around that time, but in the studio picture the hair looks a little shorter (that could because she is leaning her head forward a bit) and darker (maybe because of the lighting/filter). Here are a couple pictures from the Chicago shows:

I have heard a theory that Lover was recorded or partially recorded before reputation. Maybe they were recording something for Lover, hence, why seemingly nothing ever became of that recording session. At first, I thought the picture might have been taken at Electric Lady Studios in NYC (where part of Lover was recorded), but I did some research and now I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. This is all a total crack theory, though, because I can’t even 100% say that that is Taylor in the picture.

Disclaimer: I do not know any of these people personally. This is all speculation/personal opinion and not to be taken too seriously. Honestly, I hope people know that I’m mainly just having fun with Tayliz and, after everything I’ve seen, I don’t think the evidence is necessarily much stronger than Taymily (and both of those ships are less supported than Swiftgron and Kaylor). 

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I was just trying to put it all in one place, mostly for myself.

Over the last month or so, I got a little too into the idea of a potential relationship between Tayliz and I’m still on the fence about it. Although there have been things that made me lean towards the “they definitely dated/were more than friends” side of the fence, I’m trying to stay as objective as I can. This post is my attempt at purely laying out their relationship (whatever the nature of that might be).

Preface:

I’ve been a fan of Taylor’s since 2006 and I’ve always felt most of her songs were queer coded (even though I didn’t know there was a term for that concept back then). I personally believe that Taylor is either bi/pan or a lesbian. I lean towards the latter based on a multitude of things that are too numerous to list and are essentially irrelevant to this post. The important part is that I think she falls somewhere on the rainbow spectrum. And I do believe that the Big 2 Gaylor ships (Dianna and Karlie) were real and I shipped the hell out of them when they were sailing. I also don’t believe that those are the only 2 women she’s dated.

As for Liz, I really have no idea. She has only ever acknowledged dating/been confirmed to have dated men, but the same could be said of Taylor. She also seems like a bit of a wildcard (not necessarily in a bad way, though) and might just be that one friend who flirts with everyone.

I don’t feel the need to extrapolate on the men either side of Tayliz may have been/may currently be with. Even if both of these woman have dated or are currently dating men for real, that has no bearing on either woman’s potential queerness nor does it mean that it’s impossible for them to have dated each other in the past.

Anyway, my main point is that my Tayliz posts are mostly just me finding something that might lend to the idea that these two incredibly talented, attractive women may have once been an item. 

My interest in exploring whether they were more than friends is more about me enjoying their past interactions and trying to fill in the Gaylor gap between Emily and Dianna because there are songs on Red that I don’t think are about either of those women (I don’t think any of them are about Emily).

Here are the potential explanations I have regarding the nature of their relationship:

Tayliz were co-workers who happened to be around the same age and had a lot in common, so they formed an extremely close friendship while traveling the world together and eventually had a falling out or grew apart.

Taylor had a huge crush on Liz, but it wasn’t reciprocated.

Tayliz were more than friends, but not in a serious relationship, and that ended when Taylor met Dianna.

Tayliz were a couple for at least 2 years, but probably longer, and were on and off at certain points until Taylor officially ended things to be with Dianna.

Here are some of the things that stand out to me in the timeline of their relationship:

1)  How they met:

The official story is that they met at a meet and greet, ran into each other a couple more times, and Liz eventually ended up auditioning to be her backup singer, but the details about exactly how that happened are confusing/conflicting (which makes me a little bit skeptical about it). For example, when discussing Liz’s part in the music video for “The Story of Us” with MTV News, this is what Taylor told them about how she met Liz:

“We met in a meet-and-greet line. I started out playing small bars and clubs a few years ago, and she came to one of the shows, and I would sign autographs … and she waited three or four hours,“ Swift recalled. “And she came up and asked if she could sing for me. She sang for me, and I said, ‘You’ve got to audition for some TV talent show.’ And I ran into her a few months later, and one thing led to another and she ended up being my backup singer on tour and making out with a guy in my video.”

That was definitely the CliffsNotes’ version of how they met, but also kind of confusing because it was years, not months, between when they would have met for the first time and when Liz was hired to be her backup singer. It could have been months between their 3rd meeting (was it only their 3rd time meeting, though? It was, at least as far as the public is aware, but they may have “met” more times than that) and when she auditioned.

Here are the three known instances in which they would have met before Liz was hired to be Taylor’s backup singer:

December 10, 2006 at Brandin’ Iron Nightclub in San Bernardino, CA (3 days before Taylor’s 17th birthday… when you came to the show in SD SB):

Liz waited in the meet and greet line after Taylor’s show:

“When I saw her perform, I knew she had something special,” Huett said about Swift during a recent telephone interview. “Despite feeling silly, I decided to wait in line and talk to her.”

According to this article, Liz asked Taylor for advice on becoming a country music singer. Taylor said that she needed to move to Nashville, if she really wanted to pursue that dream.

There appear to be no Tayliz pics on the internet from that night, but here are a couple pics of Taylor performing:

July 31st, 2007 Taylor performs at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, CA (?):

Go Country 105, the radio station Liz was working for at some point during this time period, was a sponsor at the fair that weekend. According to her theswiftagency . com profile, Liz was the last fan in line at a “local festival” and she wanted Taylor to hear her sing. From that information, I believe this was the date and location of their second “official” meeting. Supposedly they spoke and Taylor gave her some pointers. I have also read somewhere that Liz sang for Taylor in her dressing room, so I don’t know if the singing happened at the Brandin’ Iron nightclub show or if it was actually at this festival or if that was just a made up part of the story.

Liz posted this picture that appears to be from that night on her myspace page with the caption: “me, Tim, and Taylor Swift the nicest girl in the world!”

They meet for a third time “officially” on February 4, 2008 at a taping of “Dance War: Bruno v. Carrie Ann”:

 Liz was a contestant on the show. Taylor was a musical guest and she performed “Our Song” that night.

According to Taylor’s myspace blog about that night, she apparently didn’t know that Liz was on the show until she arrived for her dress rehearsal:

“This love is different” vibes haha. “So I sneak out to the garden to see you”… “betty” tho. Relax, I am not actually trying to make “Love Story” a Tayliz song. 

I just want to know if they met and/or talked to each other on more than those 2 previous occasions before this taping. I don’t know, but Liz moved to Nashville on June 11, 2008, inspired, in part, by Taylor’s earlier advice.

Sidenote: based on what I believe are videos of the dances performed that night, Julianne H. was also at the taping, so…

2) Taylor wearing THAT cardigan (around the time Liz starts popping up) in the “I hope it’s gonna make you notice” vlog of her promo trip to the UK from February 18-20,2009:

Liz had performed with Taylor and the band at the San Antonio Rodeo on February 13th, 2009 (which I think was Liz’s first ever show as Taylor’s backup singer), but it looks like she wasn’t brought along for the UK trip. Although, to be fair, the vlog was posted on March 5, after they had already performed together again at the Florida Strawberry Festival on March 1.

On February 19, 2009 Taylor’s myspace blog, “On the cover of the Rolling Stone.”, she mentions that George Strait and his wife surprised her in her dressing room (there is no mention of Liz in the blogs until the “Excitement and the Agency.” blog on April 12, in which she introduces Liz and describes her as “precious” and “amazing”):

Here’s a pic of Taylor and Liz with George Strait that appears, based on Liz’s outfit, to be from the SA Rodeo show:

So, maybe Taylor had missed Liz on that UK trip and posted that vlog hoping that Liz would watch it and notice that she was wearing the cardigan.

3) The amount of time they seemingly spent together

There is way too much to extrapolate on here, but, in all fairness, they were two young women “taking on the world together” and they seemed to form a close bond.

Here are a couple cute examples:

May 29, 2009 Taylor’s myspace blog “Hi. I’m nocturnal. Help.”

So, Liz and Taylor went out, just the two of them apparently, for dinner together around Liz’s birthday (May 27) … hmmm…

February 22, 2010 Taylor’s myspace “Just got back from some cool places… (photo blog)”

“And we have FUN!“

4) The amount of Liz footage in the vlogs 

She’s even in the vlog with the cardigan at the end, even though she wasn’t on that trip. Taylor just threw in a clip from Caitlin’s birthday from after they got back to the States, which shows Liz standing next to Mama Swift during the celebration. Taylor seemed to really enjoy spending time with her… but you know, Taylor has a pattern of intense “friendships” with other women.

There are a lot of examples, but can we talk about the “Demonstrating my fine athletic skills. And more.” vlog from April 26, 2010, though:

FIRST, in Taylor’s description for the vlog she lists the song playing in the background as:

Song: She Band: Parachute

Girl, stop it… we all know the full title of that song is “She (For Liz)”

Taylor dedicates part of that vlog to Liz and her habit of sleeping all the time, including a cute moment with Liz and Mama Swift.

5) The sharing of a hotel room (it seems pretty gay, but maybe it was all just a little summer campy)

So, Liz and Taylor were sharing a hotel room in London… interesting. And Liz left early so…

May 8, 2009- Taylor posts her vlog “Whisper Hello, I miss you quite terribly.”

There is quite a bit of Liz content, specifically there is a part where Taylor shows Liz sleeping on a “tiny little couch” right after this line in the song: “I like where you sleep, when you sleep next to me”.

In the same vlog Taylor wears THIS shirt and a heart necklace with a keyhole:

In the “I Knew You Were Trouble” music video Taylor wears this shirt and a key necklace:

6) The fact that Taylor planned a girls’ trip just because Liz was going through a rough time

Select photos from Taylor’s myspace “The Charleston Photo Blog” posted on August 22, 2011:

7) The speculation that Liz was fired and didn’t just leave to pursue her own career… Emily 2.0? 

According to a fan on reddit, who claimed to have met Liz one time, they asked her what happened with Taylor and the other people in the room basically said not to ask that. Supposedly, Liz said she was fired for “getting out of control”. Take that with a grain of salt, though, in part because it was some random on reddit, but also because this person seemed to not like her very much.

8) The following candids:

(these were all found on Zimbio, except the ones from the jj article btw)

November 18, 2009 Taylor and Liz return to their London hotel at midnight

November 21, 2009 lunch and shopping with Mama Swift and Caitlin, Notting Hill and Portobello Market

Fun fact: Taylor sang “Umbrella” at that O.C. Fair show on July 31, 2007

Liz was Mama Swift approved:

December 29, 2010 out and about in Nashville… Just gals being pals, according to justjared…

March 21, 2011 Tayliz and the rest of the band had dinner at Benihana in London

AND NOW SOME BONUS CONTENT

Liz making sure we know she has freckles:

I’m just putting this here because it was sweet:

 And for some tinfoil hatter-y/W. Bowery speculation fun, even though these smiley faces look absolutely nothing alike and know that I am just joking about this (btw, in Liz’s case, the smiley face is a World Adoption Day thing that she has done a few times… Liz was adopted)…:

In conclusion, I think at the very least Taylor had a major crush on Liz and at most they had a passionate as sin, sad, beautiful, tragic love affair that inspired a couple of songs on Speak Now and 2/3 of Red. 

And there you have it… I’m just going to sit on this fence, leaning slightly towards the “they did” side, unless I come across something more concrete/blatant AND have a little fun while I’m here. 

From now on, I’ll probably try to be more of a general Gaylor blog, with only the occasional Tayliz post (I say that, but I’ll probably publish 3 Tayliz posts in a row tomorrow or something). But also, probably a Liz appreciation blog because that woman is extremely talented and sexy as hell.

So, I came across this interview from June 22, 2018 where Liz seems to actively avoid using pronouns when discussing “Dammit” (the song she wrote for Jana Kramer), “H8U”, and “STFU and Hold Me”. 

I’ll try to summarize, because it’s almost 9 and a half minutes long.

First of all, she says “rosé” is one of her favorite drinks. Just putting that out there.

On her music and why she chose to sign with Interscope: 

Basically, she says she didn’t want to be boxed into one genre.

On the process of writing for others:

Liz talks about how she used to try to write for other people by trying to put herself into their headspace, but had more luck when she stopped thinking about what that person would want to say and started telling her own stories.

On “Dammit”:

“‘Dammit’, actually, was a story that I lived out. Like, I was with somebody I was, you know, getting very serious. We were talking about starting a life together and we even had this house, like, picked out in the city where we lived and we would drive by… ‘One day when we buy that house…’. And, so, when we broke up, the pain of, like, saying goodbye was really, you know, really intense, but it was also mourning the loss of a hypothetical future. So, it was like saying goodbye to the past memories… what we almost had…”

On having creative control over the visuals in her music videos:

It’s important to her and she describes the making of “H8U”:

“We were able to really, like, lean into the sort of drama of it all… and just kind of capitalize on, like, the true shit show that is, you know, running into an ex and being so bitter and trying to play it cool… I just wanted to, like, own that because I spent so long trying to act like I was fine…”  (mercuryonparklane here: I think that’s what she says at the end of the quote… it makes since. Either way it suggests this ex is someone she broke up with a while ago.)

Essentially, whether any of those songs are about Taylor (which is possible, especially considering the music video for “H8U”) or not, it’s quite interesting that Liz seems to be deliberately using gender neutral terms/trying to avoid using pronouns at all, when talking about these songs. Even though her songs, like Taylor’s, sometimes use male pronouns.

WARNING: you might only want to read if you’re wearing a big, red clown nose

I’m in my Tayliz/Tiz feels… 

@swiftgron-get-married and @tayliz and gaylor/tayliz/tiz nation am I clowning too hard? 

Should’ve come with a warning sign Could’ve told you a thousand times But I didn’t, and I stayed there selfishly ‘Cause I liked you close to me

“‘Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)” anyone? Okay, okay, it’s a reach, but is Liz William Bowery?

Also, “Stay Stay Stay”:

I’m pretty sure we almost broke up last night I threw my phone across the room at you I was expecting some dramatic turn-away, But you stayed

And

All those times that you didn’t leave

Plus, coming in wearing a helmet after Taylor threw a phone at her seems like a total Liz thing to do.

  Didn’t ask you to give me the keys But you handed them straight to me So, I took it to the point of no return To the point where you got burned

This sounds an awful lot like “Red” (although, to be fair, that song suggests Taylor is the one driving, metaphorically and quite recklessly, but I digress)

Loving him is like driving a new Maserati down a dead-end street Faster than the wind, passionate as sin, ending so suddenly

But loving him was red Oh, red Burning red

Also “All Too Well”:

‘Cause there we are again on that little town street You almost ran the red 'cause you were looking over at me Wind in my hair, I was there, I remember it all too well

Taylor let Liz have the keys in this one.

And you can say that I’m just a fake bitch But when I said I loved you, I meant it Guess that’s my problem Shouldn’t make promises

you call me up again just to break me like a promise So casually cruel in the name of being honest

That’s what you get when you recklessly fall in love

 Basically all of “Red”

That’s what you get when you only know how to run

Running scared, I was there, I remember it all too well

Keeping your finger on the trigger Someone gets hurt, you should’ve figured That’s what you get for always keeping your armor up You’ve always been a little too good at being tough I made my bed and now I hate it Cause now he’s gone and I can’t say shit That’s what I get

Honestly, just 2/3 of the “Red” album.

“I Knew You Were Trouble” vibes, though:

I guess you didn’t care, and I guess I liked that And when I fell hard you took a step back Without me, without me, without me

Liz keeping that armor up.

Now I heard you moved on from whispers on the street A new notch in your belt is all I’ll ever be

Liz keeping her bed made.

  Wanna think there’s a part of me That could be what you really need But the truth is, that it might just not exist But you make me wish it did

“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”?

Then you come around again and say “Baby, I miss you and I swear I’m gonna change, trust me.” Remember how that lasted for a day? I say, “I hate you,” we break up, you call me, “I love you.”

  I didn’t ask you to meet my family Cause no one ever gets my family, really But you made them fall in love That’s a night I still think of

ATW again

Photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin sized bed And your mother’s telling stories about you on a tee ball team You taught me 'bout your past, thinking your future was me

  And all your friends are lining up to hate me And I can’t argue with a word they’re saying Cause I did what I did So that’s what I get

WANEGBT

You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me But we are never ever ever ever getting back together

Also Betty (maybe… probably not… but maybe):

The worst thing that I ever did Was what I did to you

Will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends?

Standing in your cardigan Kissing in my car again Stopped at a streetlight, you know I miss you

This is all very “Red”.

Also, when was Taylor wearing that cardigan?

I think I just convinced myself that most of the “Red” album is about Liz. OOPS.

Yes, I know, “That’s What You Get” was released last year, but maybe she “was reminiscing just the other day”.

I’m claiming “State of Grace”, “Red”, “I Knew You Were Trouble”, “All Too Well”, “I Almost Do”, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, “Stay Stay Stay”, “The Last Time”, and “Holy Ground” for Tayliz nation (who’s with me?). “Treacherous” and “Sad Beautiful Tragic” as maybes.

Not totally convinced, but maybe Liz is WB. It’s not at all improbable.

SIDE NOTE: I think it’s kind of funny that Liz appears, from that tweet anyway, to like “the 1” so much because… her song “Never Know”.

and, then, Taylor being all:

I guess you never know, never know And if you wanted me, you really should’ve showed

Tayliz sing it as a duet in 2021 challenge