The saddest and most cut throat record yet, Taylor Swift released her newest album “The Tortured Poets Department” on April 19, 2024.
“The Tortured Poets Department ” or TTPD includes sixteen songs with features from Post Malorine and Florence and the Machine. With recent success from winning album of the year for “Midnights”, being named Time’s Person of the Year, and traveling around the globe on the economic shifting “Eras Tour”, Swift has been busy. Despite these accomplishments, Swift still managed to keep fans on their toes when she released a second album at 2 a.m with another fifteen songs.
Her standard album reflects on difficult moments of the past that were filled with heartbreak and self-inflicted wounds. While these lyrics might cause fans to conclude that Swift is stuck in the past, she posted on Instagram proclaiming that these feelings are a closed chapter and she only leaves behind the lyrics for her audience to enjoy.
After re-recording “Speak Now” and “1989”, which included vault tracks in each album in 2023 and releasing “Midnights” in 2022, Swift’s fans had set high expectations. Her fans desire greatness from each work she produces and in TTPD Swift shifted her style of writing. The whole album was based entirely on poetry and not the typical lyrical writing.
After I listened to her album for the first time, I was not impressed. I had set expectations for most of her tracks to be upbeat and fast paced after recent albums such as “Midnights” and “Reputation”. I concluded that TTPD all sounded similar and she achieved nothing groundbreaking.
However, my opinion dramatically shifted after I dove deeper into the lyrics and listened to the album a second time. TTPD discusses themes of difficult emotions that deal with heartbreak, being in the center of the media, and even positive emotions of current relationships. Fans cannot listen to Swift’s music only one time to fully understand depth and intricate metaphors and references in the album.
The album begins with “Fortnight” with a feature from Post Malone. The song discusses two lovers who run away together to Florida to escape their crimes, which references another track on her album, “Florida!!!”. The feature from Post Malone at the end provides a conclusion to the story beyond the lovers.
The heartbreak of the album was primarily written about former partner Joe Alwyn and short term relationship Matty Healy. Swift discusses how we build our whole lives around love, but in the end love can be unreliable. Tracks on the album relating to Healy include “The Torchered Poets Department”, “But Daddy I Love Him”, and “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”. Songs regarding six year relationship Joe Alwyn include “So Long, London” and “Fresh Out of the Slammer”.
The album also discusses themes of new beginnings, such as her new relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce. Swift mentions this in “The Alchemy”, with lyrics such as “These blocks warm the benches, we been on a winning streak”.
By far my favorite track on the album includes “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”. This song pertains to her success and triumph of the Eras tour, while dealing with a broken heart. She strutted on stage with a smile and filled thousands of fans’ dreams, but inside she was devastated. I enjoyed the upbeat music that followed along with Swift’s honest emotions.
A second favorite track includes “Clara Bow”. In this song, Swift zooms out of her current success and sees that her career will not last forever. This song provides the conclusion to the album and what feels like almost a conclusion to her career.
Overall, I would rate this album 4.5 out of five stars. The only half star dedication was given to extreme use of hyperboles and dramatism, which some could argue might be slightly overdone. I still thoroughly enjoyed Swift’s brutal honesty and how she dove into difficult messages of heartbreak and wrote using brutal honesty and raw emotions.
