Taylor Swift surprised the world on April 19 with a double-release of her newest studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Fans who stayed up for the 12 a.m. EST release time were soon surprised with an hour-long countdown on her Instagram account later that night. Once the wait was over, they were rewarded with 15 additional songs and an unexpected release of The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.
Swift’s album has already had far-reaching success, breaking multiple records, including a few of her own, on various streaming platforms and charts.
The 31-song album is a mix of synth-pop and modern pop, breaking away from Swift’s latest release, 1989 (Taylor’s Version). However, the album sounds similar to her last studio album, Midnights, as well as the previous albums released in 2020: folklore and evermore.
While the album does incorporate some of the same instrumentals and elements as Swift’s 2020 albums, there are a few pop songs that give the album a sense of variety, including “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.” Despite its upbeat tempo, its lyrics display her internal suffering, having to cope with the aftermath of her six-year-long relationship while putting on her largest and most extensive tour yet: The Eras Tour. The song’s lyrics, “All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd as chanting, ‘More’” explicitly refer to her record-breaking tour. In the background, a countdown can also be heard, representing someone speaking into her earpiece, directing her during a concert. The contrast of the sad lyrics and upbeat tempo gives the song an insider’s perspective into what it’s like to be a superstar.
TTPD seems to be a view inside the artist’s mind, putting on full display the true extent of her hardships. In her song, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” she expresses defiance toward her critics and comments on her experience of being in the public eye. She laments that fame has made her callous in lyrics like “I was tame, I was gentle till the circus life made me mean.” Both “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” and “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” indicate that being in the spotlight is not as glorious as it may seem. Swift also yearns to escape the public eye in her song “I Hate It Here” on The Anthology addition of the album.
In addition to songs lamenting her exposure to fame, fans speculate many of the album’s songs also criticize her ex-boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, and most recent suitor, lead vocalist, and principal songwriter of the 1975, Matty Healy.
The album takes on a sense of grieving and mourning her relationship with Alwyn. The introduction of “So Long, London” mimics the sound of wedding bells, conveying Swift’s faded desire to marry Alwyn, cementing their relationship after six years. The song also includes the agonizing lyrics, “I died on the altar waiting for the proof,” illustrating Swift’s heartbreak at her failed relationship so close to marriage. She further conveys her sadness at losing such an important person in her life by changing the traditional acronym for “love of my life” to “loss of my life” in her song “loml.”
Some speculate “The Alchemy” is about Swift’s current relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, not just because it is one of the few love songs on the album, but because lyrics like “There was no chance, trying to be / The greatest in the league / Where’s the trophy? / He just comes running over to me” could possibly be a reference to the Chiefs’ 2024 Super Bowl win.
However, the album does not only reference Swift’s past and current relationships. “thanK you aIMee” allegedly disses American media personality Kim Kardashian because of their internet feud in 2016 which spurred from an inappropriate lyric in a Kanye West song. In addition to the capitalized letters spelling out “KIM,” the song also includes lyrics “And one day, your kid comes home singin’ / A song that only us two is gonna know is about you,” possibly referring to Kardashian’s daughter, North.
In its first two weeks, The Tortured Poets Department has already yielded great success, climbing to the top of the charts and flooding multiple media platforms. The album’s themes of love and loss have also furthered Swift’s relationship with her fans. Swift’s fanbase, the Swifties, and ordinary listeners alike find that the songs resonate with them, giving them an outlet to express themselves through her music. The album’s early success and engagement with its audience guarantee TTPD and Swift’s overall career a promising future.
