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Harry Styles Gets Real About Ex Taylor Swift In His New Interview

“Certain things don’t work out. There’s a lot of things that can be right, and it’s still wrong.”

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In an interview with Rolling Stone, a newly solo Harry Styles opened up about his relationship with Taylor Swift in 2012, a topic he’s infamously been tight-lipped about.

What he shares is down-to-earth and thoughtful, especially when he’s asked about Swift’s songs “Style” and “Out of the Woods,” both hits supposedly written about him. Styles is very much aware he’s associated with the songs and confesses, “I’m lucky if everything [we went through] helped create those songs.” While he hasn’t shared his thoughts on this with Swift herself, he certainly doesn’t hold a grudge and even compliments her work, “She doesn’t need me to tell her they’re great. They’re great songs.”

When asked what he would say to Swift today, Styles had quite a few words for his ex: “Certain things don’t work out. There’s a lot of things that can be right, and it’s still wrong.” He insists that rather than focus on what went wrong, he wants to celebrate the time they shared together instead:

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 shit ever. So thank you.

That’s a pretty thoughtful way to look back on a relationship, if you ask us.