“The Tortured Poets Department” was Swift’s 11th album since the beginning of her career, and her ninth album since she won the rights to her music from Scooter Braun. The album was released on Apr. 18 with 16 songs and on Apr. 19 at 2 am she released “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” that contained 15 extra songs. With the drop of the extended version of the album some fans were experiencing “Swiftie Fatigue” due to the extensive amount of media coverage Swift has been getting at the Kansas City Chief football games and the Eras Tour. Fans are starting to feel that Swift is being oversaturated within the media, and they are overstimulated with the amount of content that she has produced since 2020.
The album’s name is supposedly based on her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn’s What’s-App group chat with his friends Paul Mescal who starred in the hit show “Conversations with Friends” and Andrew Scott from the show “Fleabag”. Their group chat was titled ‘The Tortured Man Club.’ There are references to Alwyn throughout the album. However, Alwyn isn’t the only relationship mentioned with some songs referring to Matty Healy, singer of the band ‘The 1975,” and her new relationship with Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce. Some fans claim to hear Alwyn’s name in the song “Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me” in the line “Is it a wonder I broke? Let’s hear one more joke.” The way Swift sings the word joke is with a silent “ke” making it sound like she says “Let’s hear one more Joe.” This could be considered a stretch to some people, but all of her songs are up to interpretation.
Similarly, other fans perceive this moment in the track to be a reference to events at the Golden Globes in January. Comedian Jo Koy hosted the 2024 Golden Globes which did not go very well. About two minutes into the opening monologue, he reflected on the plots of popular 2023 films including “Oppenheimer.” He continued, “and Barbie is [about] a plastic doll with big boobies” – which is very problematic. Koy quickly noticed that his “jokes” were not going over well with the audience, so he began to defensively blame his writers, mentioning that he only “got the gig” ten days prior. The joke about Swift, in particular, was a comment about seeing fewer shots of the singer at the event than in NFL games. Many NFL fans have noticed that Swift is shown numerous times in the audience of Chiefs games, which has also sparked conversations in the media. That being said, Koy’s comment was an unfair remark in the sense that Swift cannot control what NFL videographers record.
One of the first things that Swifties and non-Swifties alike noticed since the album’s announcement was the similarity of the album title to that of the well-known and loved film, “Dead Poets Society” (DPS). This was all speculation until the “Fortnight” music video was released. The original track features singer and rapper Post Malone, but the video also features DPS actors Ethan Hawke (Todd Anderson) and Josh Charles (Knox Overstreet) as two of the scientists. So, it’s quite evident that Swift got some of her inspiration for the song and album from the film, or wanted to pay tribute to it
One track from the album that has been 50/50 with fans – some like it, some don’t – is “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” The two of us have each printed the lyrics and analyzed the songs from our individual perspectives, and in turn, provided an “insider” and “outsider” perspective on the song:
“Insider” / Swiftie perspective by Sarah Jacobs
“Outsider” / Non-Swiftie perspective by Mariana Sanchez
The second album Swift released, “The Anthology” features a song titled “I Hate it Here,” which is about feeling dissatisfied with one’s environment and lacking a sense of belonging. This track has gained significant attention in the media as a result of a few controversial lyrics in the second verse:
“My friends used to play a game where/ We would pick a decade/ We wished we could live in instead of this/ I’d say the 1830s but without all the racists/ And getting married off for the highest bid.”
The lyrics seem to be a brief acknowledgment of the social happenings of the time period, but many non-fans and even Swifties have been vocal about their frustrations with it. Many are pointing out that the lyrics are watering down what else was happening in this decade. One person tweeted, “Pretty astonishing to stipulate that she wants to live in the 1830s, ‘except without the racists,’ and not mention slavery, so slavery still exists but everyone’s chill about it.”
To give Swift the benefit of the doubt, she did at least acknowledge the racism of the period, if it was only one line or two. That being said, this note does not even begin to cover the extent to which Black Americans suffered as a result of institutional and systemic racism and chattel slavery. Additionally, it takes a position of extreme privilege to imply that the effects of 1830s racism are not still present today. Along that wavelength another X user posted; “Taylor Swift wanting to go back to the 1830s surprised no Black person anywhere.” Still, with all of the controversy online, Swift has not commented on the discussion the lyrics have sparked.
Sarah’s favorite – Florida!!! ( feat. Florence + the Machine)
Picking just one favorite was super hard. I enjoyed every song on this album, but my favorite at this moment is “Florida!!!”, the eighth track. This song is one of the more upbeat on the album which is refreshing after hearing some of her more mellow songs. I really enjoyed the build that the song had throughout and the melodies that were within Florence and Taylor’s voices when they were layered on top of each other really flowed and mixed together nicely. Recently when Swift has had features on her songs they don’t actually get to sing a verse, as was the case with “Midnights” Swift’s last album. The fourth track, “Snow On The Beach” feat. Lana Del Rey, left fans disappointed because of the lack of singing that Rey actually did But in Florida!!! Florence gets the whole second verse and some of the bridge to herself which was pleasing because of how unique her voice is compared to Swift’s. Florence has a more full and choir-sounding voice compared to Swift’s more mellow and pop sound. This allowed for a lot of depth within the song because of the singers’ different ranges and ways they approach the lyrics.
The lyrics and storyline of the song are quite different from the other songs on the album which is why I love it so much. This song feels like a more upbeat version of the song “No Body, No Crime,” on Swift’s ninth album “Evermore.” With lyrics like “And your cheating husband disappeared, well no one asks any questions here.” and “ All my girls got their lace and their crimes.” These darker lines contrast the build and chorus of the song which is more pop and upbeat, creating some really fun irony. The lyrics are more complex than just being a break up song, but one theory is that the song is about how the media found out about Joe Alywn and Taylor Swift’s break up when she was performing on the Eras tour in Tampa, Florida, and Swift had just been in Huston, Texas for three nights. This correlates to the lyrics, “So you pack your life away just to wait out the ****storm back in Texas, Florida!!!” But an overarching theme is what happens when you are surrounded by your past mistakes and the consequences that come with it and where you could go to escape.
I loved majority of the songs in this album like “The Black Dog,” “ Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me,” and “ The Prophecy.” But “Florida!!!” has just been on repeat ever since it was released. I would give this song a 9.5/10.
Mariana’s favorite – Guilty as Sin
Out of the thirty-one songs Swift released, my favorite is the ninth track, “Guilty as Sin”. The rhythm throughout the song is very catchy, and I especially enjoy the melody and tune of the chorus. Additionally, I would argue that this song contains more creative and poetic lyrics than some of the other tracks. It has certain lyrics that are more sophisticated and use more polished vocabulary that reflects the fact that she’s not 22 anymore. While other songs are not as creative, this one has lyrics like “How I long for our trysts.”
The drums that Swift introduces at the beginning provide a nice balance with the mellowness of the other aspects of the song. The drums also make it catchier and create a nice head-bopping experience. “Guilty as Sin” provides additional relatability for listeners with lyrics like “I keep recalling things we never did.” In the bridge of the song, she writes, “What if I roll the stone away? They’re gonna crucify me anyway.” Her comparison to this “crucifixion” is about receiving hate and backlash for everything she does.
I felt that the maturity that comes with age is better reflected in this track, in comparison to other tracks. There are some other tracks that I felt were more childish in the message as well as in the lyrics themselves – which was acceptable earlier on in her career, but she is 34 years old now. I gave this song an 8/10 rating.
The Tortured Poets Department is Swift’s 12th studio album and became the most streamed album in a single week with 799 million streams on all platforms, and she is the only artist to have all of the top 10 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This album was important to fans because the last two albums she has put out have been re-recordings of “Speak Now” and “ 1989.” The album is relatable to many fans because of the themes within the songs like the five stages of grief, Peter Pan, being silenced, and moving through a breakup. Taylor Swift continues to break records and set the bar higher for other artists and we are excited to see what she does next.
