I know I’m way behind the times on this one, but it just never felt like the right time to point it out. But then I heard Ellie and Ed back-to-back on the radio again and realized there is no “right time.” So away we go: it’s celebrity gossip time.

You may or may not know this, but Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding used to date. Now, I’m not usually the celeb gossip type, so I’m not 100% sure of all the details, but to the best of my knowledge they were together for at least several months. Then, something went down, and they broke up. Shortly thereafter, or maybe a little at the same time, Ed started touring with Taylor Swift. And then Ed’s song “Don’t” dropped.

Within literally seconds, rumors started flying. Everybody and their cousin Bob thought the song was about Taylor. There was plenty in the lyrics to back up that theory: the timeline fit, “me and her, we make money the same way.” Who else could it be? The only problem was that Ed has come out and said that he has nothing but love for Taylor and flat out denied the song’s subject being her.

Some wise soul finally put two and two together and actually came up with four. Ed had dated Ellie Goulding. Ellie’s a singer, too. Shortly after things ended – a little too shortly, now that we’re counting – she was seen with one of the various members of One Direction. Daggummit, “Don’t” might just be about Ellie. Add to that the fact that Ed’s answers about whether it’s about Ellie were always very noncommittal, even evasive.

Sometime in the spring or summer of 2015, Ellie released a single called “On My Mind.” I always thought the song was pretty fun, but one day a lyric stuck out to me. “You don’t mess with love, you mess with the truth.” Hang on. Doesn’t the refrain of “Don’t” go, “don’t [mess] with my love?”

Viewed in that light, side by side, it becomes obvious that the two British pop singers wrote these songs about each other. I mean, just look at the lyrics. From “Don’t,” by Ed Sheeran:

I met this girl late last year
She said, “Don’t you worry if I disappear.”
I told her I’m not really looking for another mistake
I called an old friend thinking that the trouble would wait
But then I jump right in
A week later returned
I reckon she was only looking for a lover to burn
But I gave her my time for two or three nights
Then I put it on pause until the moment was right
I went away for months until our paths crossed again
She told me, “I was never looking for a friend.
Maybe you could swing by my room around 10:00.
Baby, bring a lemon and a bottle of gin.
We’ll be in between the sheets ’til the late AM.
Baby, if you wanted me then you should’ve just said.”
She’s singing

[Knock knock knock] on my hotel door
I don’t even know if she knows what for
She was crying on my shoulder
I already told ya
Trust and respect is what we do this for
I never intended to be next
But you didn’t need to take him to bed that’s all
And I never saw him as a threat
Until you disappeared with him to have sex of course
It’s not like we were both on tour
We were staying on the same [censored] hotel floor
And I wasn’t looking for a promise or commitment
But it was never just fun and I thought you were different
This is not the way you realize what you wanted
It’s a bit too much, too late if I’m honest
And all this time God knows I’m singing

And from “On My Mind,” by Ellie Goulding:

It’s a little blurry how the whole thing started
I don’t even really know what you intended
Thought that you were cute and you could make me jealous
Poured it down, so I poured it down
Next thing that I know I’m in a hotel with you
You were talking deep like it was mad love to you
You wanted my heart but I just liked your tattoos
Poured it down, so I poured it down

You got yourself in a dangerous zone
Cause we both have the fear, fear of being alone
And I still don’t understand it
You don’t mess with love, you mess with the truth
And my heart don’t understand it, understand it, understand it

Suddenly both songs make a lot more sense, don’t they?

Here’s the thing that cracks me up, though. Regardless of the order in which they were written, we have to interpret the songs in the order in which they were released. Otherwise there’s no way to prove which truly came first. Ed’s version of events beats out Ellie’s by a good year. In that order, no matter whose version may be more accurate, it’s hard not to take Ed’s word as the truth. Given their respective levels of success, it just sounds like Ellie’s kicking herself over letting the catch of the century go and trying now to spin things in her favor. Unfortunately, it’s just too little, too late.