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Taylor Swift issues a warning about an ex on \u201cPatient Zero\u201d<\/a> and addresses critics of her relationship with Travis Kelce on \u201cCleveland!\u201d<\/a> But her The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore track \u201cPink Clouding\u201d contains an apology to an ex she wronged. \u201cPink clouding\u201d is, in medical terms, an early stage of addiction recovery that \u201cinvolves feelings of euphoria and elation,\u201d much like the honeymoon phase of a relationship, per Healthline<\/a>.<\/p>\n Swift suggests the subject of the song was a rebound when she was fresh off a breakup (\u201cHe cut me crimson, bled me dry \/ He cross\u0435d my heart, I hoped to die (Hop\u0435d to die) \/ Ripped all my orchids from the vine \/ You met me at a cursed time \/ I told you I was fine\u201d).<\/p>\n In the chorus, she sings about the guilt she feels about how she treated the song\u2019s subject, who had genuine feelings for her. \u201c\u2019Cause I was pink (Pink) cloudin\u2019 from the thrill of it (Ha-ha-ha) \/ Skydiving as you wrapped your arms around my body \/ Gray (Gray) rockin\u2019 where the arrow hit (Ha-ha-ha) \/ Years later, I still wonder how to tell you sorry \/ I didn\u2019t want to let you down (Pink cloud, pink cloud) \/ So I left you up there on a (Pink) pink cloud (Pink cloud).\u201d<\/p>\n In the bridge, she expands on that apology and why the relationship haunts her, singing, \u201cI hope you realized my kind of trouble wasn\u2019t worth it \/ And the way I treated you, you never deserved it \/ And I swear to God, to this day \/ I wake up scared that I left scars on a good person \/ And I gave you zero reason to believe it, so be it \/ But it didn\u2019t mean nothing just \u2019cause I could leave it.\u201d<\/p>\n Fans<\/a> and outlets<\/a> alike were quick to link the song to Swift\u2019s ex Tom Hiddleston, whom she briefly dated right after she and Calvin Harris ended their yearlong relationship<\/a>.<\/p>\n In her Reputation song \u201cGetaway Car,\u201d which fans believe to be about Hiddleston as well<\/a>, Swift sings about rebounding. For context, she and Hiddleston were first seen dancing<\/a> at the Met Gala in May 2016; on June 2, 2016, Harris confirmed he and Swift had privately broken up.<\/p>\n Swift acknowledges the earnest feelings of the song\u2019s subject and the formal place where they met in the first verse of \u201cGetaway Car\u201d: \u201cIt was the best of times, the worst of crimes \/ I struck a match and blew your mind \/ But I didn\u2019t mean it and you didn\u2019t see it \/ The ties were black, the lies were white \/ In shades of gray in candlelight \/ I wanted to leave him, I needed a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n In its chorus, she uses the phrase \u201cflying,\u201d evoking imagery similar to her \u201cPink Clouding\u201d line, \u201cSkydiving as you wrapped your arms around my body.\u201d<\/p>\n She sings, \u201cYou were drivin\u2019 the getaway car \/ We were flyin\u2019, but we\u2019d never get far\u201d and \u201cThere were sirens in the beat of your heart \/ Shoulda known I\u2019d be the first to leave \/ Think about the place where you first met me.\u201d<\/p>\n For historical context, Swift and Hiddleston\u2019s summer romance genuinely was a whirlwind<\/a>: Within their first month of publicly dating, from June 15 to July 15, 2016, the couple was photographed kissing<\/a> in Rhode Island, met each other\u2019s parents in Nashville (Swift\u2019s)<\/a> and England (Hiddleston\u2019s)<\/a>, went to Italy, visited the Vatican<\/a>, celebrated Fourth of July at Swift\u2019s party in Rhode Island (where Hiddleston wore that viral \u201cI Heart TS\u201d<\/a> tank), and traveled to Australia<\/a> together. By early September, breakup reports surfaced<\/a>.<\/p>\n In February 2017, Hiddleston spoke to GQ writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner<\/a> about the experience and how heartbroken he remained. \u201cI only know the woman I met,\u201d he said of Swift. \u201cShe\u2019s incredible. A relationship in the limelight\u2026 A relationship always takes work. A relationship in the limelight takes work. And it\u2019s not just the limelight. It\u2019s everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n He later told Brodesser-Akner in a second interview that he had no regrets about the relationship \u201cbecause you have to fight for love. You can\u2019t live in fear of what people might say. You know, you have to be true to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Brodesser-Akner then writes about realizing that Hiddleston was genuinely heartbroken:<\/p>\n I turn my tape recorder off and I stand up, but he doesn\u2019t. He shakes his head again, his hands clasped together, and he hangs his head. I sit back down and we talk some more because I finally understand that he isn\u2019t here as someone who needs to explain his side in a PR battle; he\u2019s here as someone who is still crushed by the end of a relationship.<\/p>\n So we sit and talk for a while. We talk about how relationships go sideways, how the ripples of a breakup can still pin you to a wall even months later. We talk about heartache. We talk about sadness and healing. We talk about what it\u2019s like to love and what happens when the object of that love withdraws but all your love is still there. We talk about how those things can really change a person. The world will chip away at your optimism, and you just have to fight back. You have to be someone who is still full of joy and full of love.<\/p>\n Swift, of course, has a long romantic history leading up to meeting and falling for her husband, Travis Kelce, so while her experience with Hiddleston could\u2019ve provided some inspiration for the track, she could also have easily drawn from multiple relationships<\/a> or other people\u2019s experiences.<\/p>\n