We pulled the 500 highest-volume US Google queries of the form 'who is ... about' and kept the ones about specific songs: 59 songs. Taylor Swift owns the genre. 30 of the 59 songs are hers, accounting for 66% of all the search volume, and 6 of the top 10. Her newest album is driving it: 'Actually Romantic' (14,800 a month), 'Ruin the Friendship' and 'Father Figure' (8,100 each) and 'CANCELLED!' (2,900) are all from 'The Life of a Showgirl'. The classics still hold on. Michael Jackson's 'Dirty Diana' (5,400), Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain' (3,600), the song written to be wondered about, and Don McLean's 'American Pie' (1,900) all make the top 12.
The muse-question leaderboard
| # | Song | Artist | US searches/mo (top variant) | Most-searched phrasing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Actually Romantic | Taylor Swift | 14,800 | who is actually romantic about |
| 2 | Ruin the Friendship | Taylor Swift | 8,100 | who is ruin the friendship about |
| 3 | Father Figure | Taylor Swift | 8,100 | who is father figure about |
| 4 | Dirty Diana | Michael Jackson | 5,400 | who is dirty diana about |
| 5 | All Too Well | Taylor Swift | 5,400 | who is all too well about |
| 6 | You're So Vain | Carly Simon | 3,600 | who is you're so vain about |
| 7 | CANCELLED! | Taylor Swift | 2,900 | who is cancelled about taylor swift |
| 8 | The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived | Taylor Swift | 1,900 | who is the smallest man who ever lived about |
| 9 | American Pie | Don McLean | 1,900 | who is the american pie song about |
| 10 | You Oughta Know | Alanis Morissette | 1,600 | you oughta know who is it about |
| 11 | We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together | Taylor Swift | 1,600 | who is we are never getting back together about |
| 12 | Love Yourself | Justin Bieber | 1,600 | who is love yourself by justin bieber about |
| 13 | Better Than Revenge | Taylor Swift | 1,300 | who is better than revenge about |
| 14 | Wildest Dreams | Taylor Swift | 1,000 | who is wildest dreams about |
| 15 | Champagne Problems | Taylor Swift | 1,000 | who is champagne problems about |
| 16 | I Knew You Were Trouble | Taylor Swift | 880 | who is trouble when you walked in about |
| 17 | Mature | Hilary Duff | 880 | who is mature about hilary duff |
| 18 | Forever Winter | Taylor Swift | 880 | who is forever winter about |
| 19 | drivers license | Olivia Rodrigo | 880 | who is drivers license about |
| 20 | Bad Blood | Taylor Swift | 880 | who is the song bad blood about |
| 21 | Von Dutch | Charli xcx | 720 | who is von dutch about charli xcx |
| 22 | Sweet Caroline | Neil Diamond | 720 | who is sweet caroline about |
| 23 | Pink Skies | Zach Bryan | 720 | who is pink skies about |
| 24 | obsessed | Olivia Rodrigo | 720 | who is obsessed by olivia rodrigo about |
| 25 | Jolene | Dolly Parton | 720 | who is jolene the dolly parton sings about |
| 26 | Billie Jean | Michael Jackson | 720 | who is billie jean about |
| 27 | Back to December | Taylor Swift | 720 | who is back to december about |
| 28 | When Did You Get Hot? | Sabrina Carpenter | 590 | who is when did you get hot about |
| 29 | vampire | Olivia Rodrigo | 590 | who is vampire by olivia rodrigo about |
| 30 | Mean | Taylor Swift | 590 | who is the taylor swift song mean about |
| 31 | Tennessee Orange | Megan Moroney | 590 | who is tennessee orange about |
| 32 | Silent Treatment | Freya Skye | 590 | who is silent treatment by freya skye about |
| 33 | Midnight Rain | Taylor Swift | 590 | who is midnight rain about |
| 34 | In the Stars | Benson Boone | 590 | who is in the stars by benson boone about |
| 35 | Hey There Delilah | Plain White T's | 590 | who is hey there delilah about |
| 36 | Hey Jude | The Beatles | 590 | who is hey jude about |
| 37 | Happier Than Ever | Billie Eilish | 590 | who is happier than ever about |
| 38 | The One That Got Away | Katy Perry | 480 | who is the one that got away about |
| 39 | The Fate of Ophelia | Taylor Swift | 480 | who is the fate of ophelia about |
| 40 | Love Story | Taylor Swift | 480 | who is love story about |
By artist
| Artist | Songs on list | Combined searches/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Taylor Swift | 30 | 55,830 |
| Michael Jackson | 2 | 6,120 |
| Carly Simon | 1 | 3,600 |
| Olivia Rodrigo | 3 | 2,190 |
| Don McLean | 1 | 1,900 |
| Justin Bieber | 1 | 1,600 |
| Alanis Morissette | 1 | 1,600 |
| Charli xcx | 2 | 1,110 |
| Hilary Duff | 1 | 880 |
| Neil Diamond | 1 | 720 |
| Dolly Parton | 1 | 720 |
| Zach Bryan | 1 | 720 |
What it means
Lyrics are the part of a song fans quote, argue over and get wrong. Anyone who would rather write lines fans quote for the right reasons can start a first draft with a song lyrics generator. And if the words are the hard part, an AI song writer can help shape a verse and chorus before anything is recorded.
Method
- Related US Google searches (English) for the phrase 'who is about': the 500 highest-volume of 7,198 matches. Volume = average monthly US Google searches (latest available).
- Non-song queries (Bible verses, TV shows, films) were removed. Phrasings of the same song were grouped, and each song is shown at its single highest-volume phrasing, not the sum, because Google often pools near-duplicates under one number.
- Artists were labeled by us. 'Father Figure' is credited to Taylor Swift (2025) rather than George Michael (1987) because the volume appeared with her album; 'Song Sung Blue' was dropped because its volume tracks the 2025 film of that name.
Cite and download
Free to use and cite with a link back to this page.
aisong.lol Research. (2026). Is it about an ex? The celebrity muse theories fans Google most. aisong.lol. https://aisong.lol/research/is-it-about-an-ex-the-celebrity-muse-theories-fans-google-most
Use this data. Every table in this study as one spreadsheet-ready file.
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