Taylor Swift opens up about Glasgow band that always makes her cry

Taylor Swift references the band in her new song -Credit:ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Taylor Swift references the band in her new song -Credit:ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images


Taylor Swift has paid tribute to a little known Scottish music act on her eagerly anticipated new album The Tortured Souls Department.

The break-up song Guilty As Sin recalls being given a song by Glasgow trio The Blue Nile by an ex-boyfriend, believed to be either the 1975’s Matty Healy or British actor Joe Alwyn. She claims in the song that every time she listens to the Blue Nile’s haunting 1989 song Downtown Lights which still makes her cry every time she hears it she breaks down in tears.

The lyrics which were leaked online begin and end, “Drowning in the Blue Nile, He sent me Downtown Lights, I hadn’t heard it in a while, My boredom's bone deep, This cage was once just fine, Am I allowed to cry?”

Swift broke up with Alwyn in April of last year before a controversial fling with Healy the following month. Many music fans believe The Blue Nile to have been the best Scottish group of all time though their commercial success was limited.

The song Downtown Lights featured on their 1989 album Hats. The group, Paul Buchanan, Robert Bell and Paul Joseph Moore, were active from 1981 - 2004 and released a single on the RSO label before their debut album A Walk Across The Rooftops was released in 1984 on the Linn label.

It is widely hailed as a classic and featured the mournful single Tinseltown in the Rain, which reached No28 in the charts. The Blue Nile counted established artists including Peter Gabriel and Rickie Lee Jones among their fans and also released the 1996 album Peace At Last and 2004’s High, both of which made the Top 20.

The band members gained a reputation for their avoidance of publicity, idiosyncratic dealings with the recording industry and their perfectionism and slow work rate, which resulted in the release of just four albums since the group's formation in 1981. Edinburgh-born Buchanan who was the singer of The Blue Nile later forged a critically acclaimed solo career.

One of their other well loved songs was 1990’s Headlights on the Parade.

Last night, an insider said: “Taylor loves The Blue Nile and thinks the group are different class and yes she was introduced to the band by a former love. The lyrics speak for themselves.”

At the time of writing, just a handful of people on social media had twigged to the significance of the lyrics to the song, with some predicting it would mean a resurgence of interest in The Blue Nile.

Basically It’s Dan Again tweeted: “What if Matt Healy’s entire relationship with Taylor Swift was just a long ploy to get The Blue Nile a billion Spotify streams.”

Lauren T posted: “There’s a certain A list pop star singing about The Downtown Lights by The Blue Nile on her new record. Paul Buchanan groupies we need to be ready.”

Pop Culturalist tweeted: “It would appear that Matty Healy sent Taylor Swift the song Downtown Lights by The Blue Nile which OF COURSE came out in 1989. According to Genius, this song is a “beautifully sad rumination on the loneliness that pervades shiny urban cityscapes”

The full lyrics to the song Guilty of Sin also include, “I keep recalling things we never did, Messy top lip kiss, how I long for our tryst, Without ever touching his skin, How can I be guilty as sin?”

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Taylor Swift 'Guilty as Sin' Song Lyrics

Drowning in the Blue Nile

He sent me "Downtown Lights,"

I hadn’t heard it in a while

My boredoms bone deep,

This cage was once just fine

Am I allowed to cry?

I dream of cracking locks,

Throwing my life to the wolves

Or the ocean rocks

Crashing into him tonight

He’s a paradox

I’m seeing visions

Am I bad? Or mad? Or wise?

What if he’s written "mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?

One slip I’m falling back into the hedge maze but what a way to die

I keep recalling things we never did

Messy top lip kiss, how I long for our tryst

Without ever touching his skin,

How can I be guilty as sin?

I keep these longings locked

In lowercase inside a vault

Someone told me

"There’s no such thing as bad thoughts,

only your actions talk"

These fatal fantasies

Giving way to labored breath

Taking all of me

We’ve already done it in my head

If it’s make believe,

Why does it feel like a vow

We’ll both uphold somehow?

What if he’s written "mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?

One slip I’m falling back into the hedge maze, oh what a way to die

My bedsheets are ablaze,

I screamed his name

Building up like waves crashing over my grave

Without ever touching his skin

How can I be guilty as sin?

What if I roll the stone away?

They’re gonna crucify me anyway

What if the way you hold me is actually what’s holy?

If long suffering propriety is what they want from me

They don’t know how you’ve haunted me so stunningly

I choose you and me, religiously

What if he’s written "mine" on my upper thigh only in my mind?

I keep recalling things we never did

Messy top lip kiss, how I long for our tryst

Without ever touching his skin,

How can I be guilty as sin?

He sent me "Downtown Lights,"

I hadn’t heard it in a while

Am I allowed to cry?