Reminiscent, raw, and refreshingly ravenous—Taylor Swift has picked up her quill once again and is out for blood in the combined destruction of her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.
As if 16 tracks are not enough, Swift released The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, adding 15 more songs to her journey. Together, the double album has become the home of sweet lovestruck ballads, excruciating heartbreak anthems, and cleverly woven lyrics that detail her past and present.
Shortly after the release of her 10th studio album, Midnights, and Midnights (3 am Edition), Swift reportedly began working on The Tortured Poets Department. Although her schedule was further packed with releasing two more re-recordings in between her international Eras Tour, Swift still found the time to rewrite the narrative of her previous hits and spin them anew with her poetry carefully wrapped in the allure of torture featuring a known Swift trademark: unequivocally wounded, authentic, and cathartic confessions, with the occasional sprinkle of unapologetically unserious drama and fun.
Yet underneath all her complex verses, what is the album actually about?
The better question is, as Hollywood is well-versed in, who is the album about? While many netizens expected the focal point of her lyricism to be directed towards the end of her six-year relationship with former lover Joe Alwyn and her whirlwind romance with her new beau, NFL Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, fans were shocked to find a surprising amount of songs dedicated to her short-lived situationship with The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy. These topics were also combined with odes to the ghosts of her past, century-old inspiration from previous media starlets, and Greek mythology references.
Throughout her lyrics, and despite differing themes and subjects in each song, every piece ties together within the album to highlight how one failed love paved the way for another. This stems from her personal romantic history and mirrors her growth. With lyrics like “You hung me on your wall, stabbed me with your push pins. In public, showed me off. Then sank into stoned oblivion.” and “And in the blink of a crinklin' eye, I'm sinkin', our fingers entwined. Cheeks pink in the twinklin' lights,'' Swift is able to both acknowledge her sorrow and emphasize her newfound joy.
Swift sees The Tortured Poets Department as a lifeline that was integral to her journey as a singer-songwriter, as it allowed her to reflect on her own sentiments concerning the controversy, the conversations, and the clutter that surrounds her professional and personal lives.
On Amazon Music, Swift has provided a track-by-track experience playlist that revealed the inspiration behind her music in the album, expressing that her work symbolized that “this period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up.”
“There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. [...] This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it. And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.” She continued.
Despite the careful thought and genius behind the album, it was met with mixed reactions from the public. As a synthesis of synth-pop, country, and rock, it was difficult to appeal to her listeners that were more familiar with her mainstream media hits.
Nevertheless, whether one loves it or despises the album, it is undeniable that it is one of Swift’s most remarkable works in storytelling to date.
Story by Tara Sabrina Mohammad
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