Taylor Swift released \u201cThe Tortured Poets Department\u201d on Friday, a 31-track surprise double album, and she\u2019s clearly in an emotionally evolved era<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On its surface, the album offers a pretty mellow listening experience, sounding like a marriage of the haunting depths of 2020\u2019s \u201cFolklore\u201d and the synthy riffs of 2022\u2019s Midnights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Underneath it all, however, you\u2019ll find a boldly vulnerable expression of the pop star poet\u2019s innermost thoughts, and it takes some reading between the lines to understand the scope of her message \u2013 with some entries requiring a deeper dive than others. For that, we\u2019re here to help:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an audio clip played during iHeartRadio\u2019s Album Premiere Special on Friday, Swift said this song \u201creally exhibits a lot of the common themes that run throughout this album,\u201d including \u201cfatalism, longing, pining away, lost dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always imagined that it took place in this, like, American town where the American Dream you thought would happen to you didn\u2019t, right? You ended up not with the person you loved and now you have to just live with that every day, wondering what would\u2019ve been, maybe seeing them out,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a pretty tragic concept, really. So I was just writing from that perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It looks like the album\u2019s title track may be about The 1975 band frontman\u00a0Matty Healy<\/a>, to whom Swift was first linked in 2014 and then later, briefly, after her 2023 split from British actor Joe Alwyn<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clues include the opening in which Swift sings, \u201cYou left your typewriter at my apartment.\u201d (Healy expressed a fondness for typewriters in a 2019 interview<\/a> with GQ magazine.) Honorable mentions in this track also go to Lucy and Jack \u2013 who could be Swift\u2019s friend Lucy Dacus of the band Boygenius and Jack Antonoff, her friend and frequent collaborator \u2013 and Charlie Puth, who Swift directly name-checks<\/a> in the song and declares \u201cshould be a bigger artist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2019My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys\u2019 is a song I wrote alone and it\u2019s a metaphor from the perspective of a child\u2019s toy being somebody\u2019s favorite toy until they break you, and then don\u2019t want to play with you anymore,\u201d Swift told iHeartRadio on Friday<\/p>\n\n\n\n In one of the more synth-heavy tracks that leans into Swift\u2019s recent \u201cMidnights\u201d era, \u201cDown Bad\u201d also feels slightly more contemporary in nature, with the modern-feeling refrain \u201ccryin\u2019 at the gym\u201d in the chorus. The Grammy-winner told iHeartRadio that the song serves as a metaphor for \u201cthe idea of being love bombed where someone, you know, rocks your world and dazzles you then kind of abandons you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the more devastating tracks on \u201cTortured Poets,\u201d it\u2019s a safe bet to presume this one is about Alwyn, Swift\u2019s ex-boyfriend of six years. The song covers a wide array of feelings about saying goodbye to not just a city she loved and spent a significant amount of time in, but letting go of both the good times and heartbreak which the former couple surely experienced there<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many see the song as an answer, however bleak, to her upbeat track \u201cLondon Boy,\u201d featured on her 2019 \u201cLover\u201d album, which is also believed to be about Alwyn during the heyday of their relationship. Swift and Alwyn were first romantically linked in 2016 and\u00a0broke up<\/a>\u00a0in April 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n This slow-building and breezy track calls to mind some of Swift\u2019s earlier eras from before \u201c1989\u201d and some listeners suspect a double meaning is at play. We\u2019ll leave it up to you to decide<\/p>\n\n\n\n The opening guitar riff here resembles something inspired by an Orville Peck song, and turns into an upbeat and breathy pop track that equates getting out of jail to getting out of a relationship<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swift told iHeartRadio on Friday that she wrote this song with Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine, saying, \u201cI was coming up with this idea of what happens when your life doesn\u2019t fit, or your choices you\u2019ve made catch up to you, and you\u2019re surrounded by these harsh consequences and judgment, and circumstances did not lead you to where you thought you\u2019d be and you just want to escape from everything you\u2019ve ever known, is there a place you could go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That place to escape, according to Swift and Welch? Florida!!! Oh, and as an FYI: Oscar-winning actress Emma Stone is also credited as a contributor on this song, according to\u00a0Swift\u2019s YouTube page<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAm I allowed to cry?\u201d she asks. Sounds like the same question we\u2019re all asking ourselves while listening to this album, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written solely by Swift, she declares here, \u201cWho\u2019s afraid of little old me?\u201d and then warns, \u201cYou should be.\u201d Reminder: stay on Swift\u2019s good side<\/p>\n\n\n\n The construction of the song title also calls to mind Edward Albee\u2019s 1962 play \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?\u201d about a troubled marriage, which in turn also references the famously tortured writer and poet Virginia Woolf<\/p>\n\n\n\n !?We\u2019ve all argued this case at some point in our lives, right<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translation: \u201cloml\u201d is internet-speak for \u201clove of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written with Aaron Dessner, Swift sings on this moody track, \u201cI wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all.\u201d After singing the words \u201cyou said I\u2019m the love of your life\u201d several times over the course of the song, she concludes, \u201cYou\u2019re the loss of my life.\u201d Ouch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine going through a breakup and then having to go on stage, put on a shimmering smile and perform for tens of thousands of people. That\u2019s what Swift examines in this track. \u201cI\u2019m so depressed, I act like it\u2019s my birthday every day,\u201d she sings<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a brutal song with notes of anger aimed toward someone (who may or may not be Healy) who ghosted her after \u201crusting\u201d her \u201csparkling\u201d summer, presumably the summer of 2023 when they were thought to have briefly dated (Healy and Swift were\u00a0seen in attendance<\/a>\u00a0at each others\u2019 concerts around that time, among other indications). Other potential Healy references include one at the top of the song, when Swift mentions \u201cyour Jehovah\u2019s Witness suit,\u201d which calls to mind The 1975 frontman\u2019s preferred fashion choices<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swift\u2019s boyfriend, three-time Super Bowl champ Travis Kelce, appears to be the subject of this track, which also happens to be one of the only classic love songs on the album. The tell? It includes a number of football references with buzzwords like \u201ctouchdown,\u201d \u201cwarm the benches\u201d and \u201cgreatest in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swift, of course,\u00a0attended<\/a>\u00a0Kelce\u2019s football games throughout last season, including the Super Bowl where his team the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers. \u201cWhere\u2019s the trophy? He just comes runnin\u2019 over to me,\u201d she sings, perhaps a reference to the long embrace and kiss the couple shared on the field following the trophy presentation<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the title to this track references the famed silent film star from the 1920s and \u201930s (surely a visual inspiration for Swift\u2019s\u00a0just-dropped music video for \u201cFortnight\u201d<\/a>), Swift also sings here about Stevie Nicks \u2013 who\u00a0wrote a poem<\/a>\u00a0about both music stars\u2019 past relationships in the liner notes to physical copies of the album<\/p>\n\n\n\n The chorus for the song may or may not be an easter egg for Swifties and Marvel fans alike, who have long speculated that Swift will appear<\/a> in her friend Ryan Reynolds\u2019 sure-to-be blockbuster \u201cDeadpool 3\u201d this summer, as a musically gifted mutant named Dazzler. Telling lyrics include \u201cPromise to be dazzling\u201d and the final line, \u201cThe future\u2019s bright, dazzling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While entirely speculative, this song may reference a well known pub in London\u2019s Vauxhall area. Swift longingly sings about trying to understand why an ex lover doesn\u2019t miss her and then mentions how the subject she is singing about forgot to turn off their location, so, we\u2019ll let you read between the lines<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swift can\u2019t decide whether she wants to \u201csmash up\u201d an on-again-off-again lover\u2019s bike or be his wife. Either way, as the title suggests in this song, she\u2019s determined to get him back<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s the albatross,\u201d Swift sings. \u201cShe\u2019s here to destroy you.\u201d \u2018Nuff said<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Swifties are speculating that one of the names in this song is the still-unknown moniker of Reynolds and Blake Lively\u2019s fourth child. The couple are close friends with Swift, who has mentioned<\/a> the names of three of their daughters \u2013 Betty, James and Inez \u2013 in a number of tracks on \u201cFolklore,\u201d and featured the voice of one of their daughters on her 2017 song \u201cGorgeous\u201d from \u201cReputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With a rolling piano melody, she conducts a \u201cpost mortem\u201d on the end of a relationship, and devastatingly so. \u201cThe deflation of our dreaming \/ Leaving me bereft and reeling,\u201d she sings. Grab the tissues<\/p>\n\n\n\n If it feels like Swift and Kelce\u2019s relationship has publicly been playing out like a romance between the coolest kids in high school, you\u2019re not alone. Swift sings, \u201cYou knew what you wanted and, boy, you got her,\u201d a line that is perhaps a reference to the fact that\u00a0Kelce\u2019s public declaration<\/a>\u00a0of his desire to date Swift led to the beginning of their romantic relationship. She also references the game of \u201ckiss, marry, kill,\u201d which Kelce was seen playing (and choosing to \u201ckiss\u201d Swift) in a 2016 interview that recently\u00a0resurfaced<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis place made me feel worthless,\u201d Swift sings. We don\u2019t know where she is that she hates so, but certainly hope she\u2019s no longer there<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh boy. This one is wild. While it may sound like Swift is singing about a mean girl in high school named Aimee, the references in this song \u2013 and there are many \u2013 clearly point to Swift taking shots at Kim Kardashian, with whom she\u2019s had a\u2026 tortured<\/a> history<\/a>. The most obvious factor here being the letters that Swift chose to capitalize in the title of the song spell out \u201cKIM.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other clues: \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ve changed much \/ I changed your name and any real defining clues \/ And one day, your kid comes home singin\u2019 a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not as creepy as it sounds, we promise. It\u2019s more of a metaphor about being on the outside, looking in<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe keep that tissue box close by during this tragic song, too<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Swifties think this song may also be about Kardashian, since it references snakes (Kardashian\u00a0famously played<\/a>\u00a0in to the #taylorswiftisasnake meme in the past). Others have connected the Cassandra that Swift sings about to the\u00a0figure<\/a>\u00a0in Greek mythology, a priestess whose accurate prophecies were not believed<\/p>\n\n\n\n The references here on the surface are about the Disney animated classic \u201cPeter Pan,\u201d which she previously referred to in 2020\u2019s \u201cCardigan.\u201d \u201cPeter\u201d could very well be a continuation of the lore from that track, but the jury\u2019s still out on who Peter may truly be based on \u2013 if anyone<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs she was leaving it felt like breathing,\u201d Swift sings. The instrumentation and guitar strumming is reminiscent of the sounds on \u201cFolklore,\u201d her 2020 album on which Swift worked with Dessner, who is also credited to have co-written \u201cThe Bolter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u061f!Maybe\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>is Lively\u2019s and Reynolds\u2019 baby\u2019s name<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a devastatingly sad song that will leave you breathless as you come to the end of this poetically \u201ctortured\u201d journey. With just a piano and Swift\u2019s voice, she seems to be reflecting on the experiences described in the previous 30 songs, singing, \u201clooking backwards might be the only way to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The powerful lyrics suggest Swift is coming to terms with the realization that \u201cat last she knew what the agony had been for,\u201d and even though she looks back on these memories, \u201cthe story isn\u2019t mine anymore\u201d now that she\u2019s shared it with the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Taylor Swift released \u201cThe Tortured Poets Department\u201d on Friday, a 31-track surprise double album, and she\u2019s clearly in an emotionally evolved era On its surface, the album offers a pretty mellow listening experience, sounding like a marriage of the haunting depths of 2020\u2019s \u201cFolklore\u201d and the synthy riffs of 2022\u2019s Midnights. Underneath it all, however, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":26728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"enable_post_split":"0","post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n‘My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys3 *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
‘Down bad *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018So Long, London *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018But Daddy I Love Him *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Fresh Out The Slammer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
8. \u2018Florida!!!\u2019 (feat. Florence + the Machine) *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
?Guilty as Sin *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
?Who\u2019s Afraid of Little Old Me *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018loml *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I Can Do It With a Broken Heart *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The Alchemy *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Clara Bow *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The Black Dog *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018imgonnagetyouback *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The Albatross *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
?How Did it End *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018So High School *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I Hate it Here *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018thanK you aIMee *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
‘I Look in People\u2019s Windows *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
‘The Prophecy *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Cassandra *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Peter *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The Bolte *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Robin *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The Manuscript *<\/h2>\n\n\n\n