Harry Styles is breaking his silence on his romance with Taylor Swift in a new interview with Rolling Stone.
The former One Directioner finally opened up about the relationship, which lasted from October 2012 to January 2013, and reflected on photos of them at Central Park on their second date.
“When I see photos from that day, I think: Relationships are hard, at any age,” he shared. “And adding in that you don’t really understand exactly how it works when you’re 18, trying to navigate all that stuff didn’t make it easier.
Breaking his silence: Harry Styles is opening up about his relationship with Taylor Swift | Rolling Stone
“I mean, you’re a little bit awkward to begin with. You’re on a date with someone you really like. It should be that simple, right? It was a learning experience for sure. But at the heart of it – I just wanted it to be a normal date.”
Harry – who joked journalist Cameron Crowe should write that “he went for a pee and never came back” when first asked about Taylor – is widely considered to be the subject of the pop star’s hit songs Out of the Woods and Style.
“I mean, I don’t know if they’re about me or not,” he insisted, “but the issue is, she’s so good, they’re bloody everywhere. I write from my experiences; everyone does that.
“I’m lucky if everything [we went through] helped create those songs. That’s what hits your heart. That’s the stuff that’s hardest to say, and it’s the stuff I talk least about. That’s the part that’s about the two people. I’m never going to tell anybody everything.”
Ex factor: Harry revealed what he’d say to the pop star today, four years after their split | Instagram
The 23-year-old is also rumoured to have penned the track Perfect about Taylor, and although the relationship didn’t work out, he only had kind words when asked what he would say to his ex today.
“Certain things don’t work out. There’s a lot of things that can be right, and it’s still wrong,” Harry said. “In writing songs about stuff like that, I like tipping a hat to the time together. You’re celebrating the fact it was powerful and made you feel something, rather than ‘this didn’t work out, and that’s bad.’
“And if you run into that person, maybe it’s awkward, maybe you have to get drunk … but you shared something. Meeting someone new, sharing those experiences, it’s the best s*** ever. So thank you.”
Harry graces the cover of the May 4th issue of Rolling Stone to promote his self-titled debut solo album, which will be released on May 12th.
