Harry Styles Breaks Silence Over Taylor Swift’s Songs About Him: ‘I Think It’s Flattering’

Harry Styles and Taylor Swift‘s fling lasted for a little over a year before the two broke up in January 2013. Swift then used her experiences in the relationship and turned them into a few songs, most notably “Out of the Woods” and “Style.” Speaking on the Howard Stern radio show on March 3, Styles finally revealed what he thinks about his former girlfriend’s choice to write music about him.

“I think about what it means to me to write a song about somebody else, and for someone else to do that, I think it’s flattering,” he said on the show. “Even if the song isn’t that flattering, you still spend time on it, and ultimately, using Taylor as an example, she’s a great songwriter.”

He said that musicians frequently take inspiration from past relationships and break-ups are among the most common themes to draw from. He told Stern that as long as it’s not “too personal” or “going to be really annoying” for the other half, then it’s all good.

Stern asked him about his relationships, a subject he often doesn’t delve into, but he told the radio host that he prefers to talk about about them through his songs.

“There’s not a lot of interviews where I talk a lot about personal stuff, but I’m fine doing it in music,” he said. “And I feel like, doing it in music, that’s my version.”

The One Direction member has had tremendous success with his solo career. Styles, who previously was in talks to appear in Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid for the role of Prince Eric, came out with his second studio album in December. It was his second consecutive No. 1 album on Billboard 200. Songs like “Adore You” and “Falling” are among the more popular on Fine Line.

In an interview with NPR, Styles, who appeared on Saturday Night Live in November, explained how his first two albums are completely different from each other.

“When I listen back to the first album now, although I still love it so much, I feel like I was almost bowling with the bumpers up a little bit. I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he shared. “I think with this one, after touring with an album that wasn’t necessarily a radio record and people came to see the show, I realized that the only thing that people really want is for you to do what you want to do.”