The Starting Line Thank Taylor Swift For Name Drop On Her New Album

Pop-punk icons The Starting Line have thanked Taylor Swift in an Instagram post for name dropping them in her song The Black Dog on her new album, The Tortured Poets Department. 

The song, which dropped on April 19 as part of Swift’s surprise double album, chronicles a time when Swift’s ex forgot to turn off his location and went to a bar called “The Black Dog”.

“I just don't understand / How you don't miss me / In The Black Dog, when someone plays The Starting Line / And you jump up, but she's too young to know this song / That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming.”

The Starting Line took to Instagram to thank Swift for the line, saying, “We heard the song, thanks for name checking our band.” 

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A post shared by The Starting Line (@thestartinglinerock)

Referencing the so-called “Swift Lift”, where artists, places, etc. mentioned by Swift get a boost of popularity from her fans, they continued, “We feel flattered and humbled by the reverberations of love that have come back to us as a result.” 

Since The Black Dog was released, The Starting Line have had a huge jump in Google searches, going from zero the day before to about 100 searches per hour once the song was out.

The band finished up, saying, “It’s an honor to have TSL memorialised on such a lovely song. You didn’t have to do that, but you did, and we appreciate it wholeheartedly. Respect!”

Though Swift doesn’t mention which TSL song she’s referencing, fans have speculated that she’s talking about their 2002 hit The Best Of Me. 

And, while she doesn’t say who the song is about, many believe it’s The 1975 frontman Matty Healy that Swift is singing about. Healy, who had a brief relationship with Swift in May 2023, covered The Best Of Me on his tour at the time, singing a snippet in New Zealand in late April, and again in the Philippines in early May. 

The Starting Line added a sneaky P.S. on their post: “#4OTW”. Does this mean we’re getting a new album from them soon? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.