The 2024 Grammys was life-changing for many Swifties around the world when Taylor Swift not only made history, but announced her new album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Taylor Swift introduced the album theme with the quote, “All is fair and love and poetry”. Many Swifties believed that this new album would be a comeback after the extremely discussed breakup with British actor Joe Alwyn in early 2023. TTPD will be Taylor Swift’s second breakup album since Red (2012).
To promote her new album, Swift collaborated with Apple Music by making new playlists based on her song “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” (2024), and the four variants of her new album. Not only did she base the playlists on these variants, but she also confirmed the theory that each variant is based on one of the 5 stages of grief. These playlists caused massive discussion on her past relationship because she put some of her best love songs such as “Lover” (2019) and “Cruel Summer” (2019) in a playlist based on denial. Not only did Apple Music create playlists to promote the album, but they also put clues in her songs to spell out a sentence. The final sentence produced was, “We hereby conduct this post mortem”. Meaning we will look back at this previous event. Not only is this line from, How Did It End? But it also hinted to The Anthology.
A week prior to the release of the album, Taylor’s team set up QR codes around the world. When people scanned the QR code a letter would pop up. The final word produced was Fortnight which became the lead single off the album. Promotion continued, during April 16-18 with a pop-up museum at The Grove in LA that opened showcasing exhibits based on her new album.
At 2:00 am on April 19, two hours after the release of The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift shook the world by releasing a second album called The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, adding 15 more songs to the original album. Fans around the world lost their minds. The 20 track album turned out to be a 31 track album. The Tortured Poets Department is already breaking records and might be Taylor Swift’s most successful album of all time, but only time will tell.
This album is going to hold a special place in so many people’s hearts, so remember: all is fair in love and poetry.
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Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
Fortnight is a British English term to describe a two week long period, and Taylor is reflecting upon this fortnight in her life. She describes falling in love and then falling apart. Written as if it was a letter, she tells the recipient that he is the reason she feels so depressed. She is envious of his wife, “Your wife waters flowers, I want to kill her.” Then she refers to her husband’s action, “My husband is cheating, I wanna kill him”. She reflects back at this relationship that wraps around her mind, “I love you, it’s ruining my life. I touched you for only a fortnight.” Trying to move on she says, “Another fortnight lost in America. Move to Florida, buy the car you want”. The description in the lyrics makes it very hard to comprehend the song’s background: Is it about her long relationship with Joe Alwyn suggesting that they got married in secret, or is it about her short relationship with Matty Healy, frontman of The 1975, which lasted 1-2 months?
Favorite Lyric: “I love you, it’s ruining my life. I touched you for only a fortnight”.
Rating: 9/10
The Tortured Poets Department
In the title track The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor compares her love to the love of this man’s future girlfriend. “Who is gonna hold you like me? Who is gonna know you like me?” Taylor looks back at moments in the relationship and tells her ex that he is never going to feel the way he did when he was with her. In the lyric “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith. This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’re modern idiots.” Taylor addresses her and her ex’s denial of their relationship. The song seems like a private message to her ex that she can’t see or talk to, so the only way to communicate is through her music.
Favorite Lyric: “Who else decodes you?”
Rating: 7/10
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
In this song, Taylor is holding on to a relationship that is falling apart. She uses a metaphor describing her ex as a little boy and herself as his favorite toy. When a kid gets a new toy, that’s all they play with, until that toy breaks or he gets a newer toy. That feeling of abandonment is demonstrated in lyrics such as, “‘Cause he took me out of my box. Stole my tortured heart. Left all these broken parts. Told me I’m better off”. and “Once I fix me, he is gonna miss me”. My favorite lyric in this song is, “Cause I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch. He saw forever, so he smashed it up, oh, oh” because it shows how Taylor really got to know this man yet when the man understood that this relationship was becoming serious he ruined it.
Favorite Lyric: “Cause I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch. He saw forever, so he smashed it up, oh, oh”
Rating: 8/10
Down Bad
In Down Bad, Taylor is depressed after her relationship fails. She doesn’t want to live her life after this massive loss. She romanticized the red flags in the relationship and used excuses like “I was in love” to justify her actions. The song is very catchy and frequently flows in my head.
Favorite Lyric: “How dare you think it’s romantic. Leaving me safe and stranded.”
Rating: 7/10
So Long, London
Every fifth track of Swift’s albums is always the most depressing song on the album. This track five, however, is very different from the previous ones we’ve seen Taylor write. Like the song The Tortured Poets Department, it seems like Taylor is writing a story rather than a song. The song can almost be guaranteed about her ex, Joe Alwyn, whom she lived with in London. She also refers to Alwyn as “blue” in her older songs such as Cruel Summer (2019) and Lover (2019). She continues with this pattern as well when she says, “ You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days”. A constant theme in this album is marriage. In So Long, London, Swift says, “You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waitin’ for the proof” which led many Swifties to believe that Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn got engaged or even married in secret.
Favorite Lyric: “Two graves, one gun”.
Rating 8/10
But Daddy I Love Him
Obviously, after massacring Swifties with a heartbreaking track 5, Taylor shares a pop love song. But Daddy I Love Him is a grown up version of Love Story (2008). Taylor once again fell in love with a man that her family and town don’t approve of. Another constant theme in this album are religious aspects. Lyrics in this song such as, “Lord knows the words we never heard” and “You ain’t gotta pray for me”. Many Swifties feel a strong nostalgia for this song because it reminds them of Taylor’s older songs on albums such as Fearless (2008) and Speak Now (2010).
Favorite Lyric: “God save the most judgmental creeps, who say they want what’s best for me. Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see.”
Rating: 6/10
Fresh Out The Slammer
The term “Slammer” is a common slang used to refer to jail or prison. Taylor compares her past relationship to the “slammer” when she sings, “Now, pretty baby, I’m runnin’ back home to you. Fresh out the slammer, I know who my first call will be to” This makes the audience think that Taylor had someone she was waiting for once she escaped her relationship. The man who she is waiting for remains unclear.
Favorite Lyric: “Now pretty baby, I’m running back home to you Fresh out the slammer, I know who my first call will be to.”
Rating: 7/10
Florida!!! (Feat. Florence + The Machine)
Surprisingly, Florida!!! became one of my favorite songs on the album from the first listen. It’s a very powerful song. The combination of Taylor’s vocals and Florence Welch’s vocals sounds heavenly. Taylor always nails doing rock songs. The song is about escaping reality to avoid facing issues.
Favorite Lyric: “I’ve got some regrets, I’ll bury them in Florida”
Rating: 10/10
Guilty As Sin?
Guilty As Sin is about the backlash Taylor received for dating Matty Healy from the band The 1975. Even though their relationship lasted only 2 months, it was very controversial. Many Swifties are not fond of the past actions that Matty Healy committed. Taylor really wants to stay with this man but she knows her family and fans do not approve of him as shown in the lyric, “Without ever touchin’ his skin. How can I be guilty as sin?”
Favorite Lyrics: “I choose you and me, religiously” and “My bedsheets are ablaze I’ve screamed his name. Building up like waves. Crashing over my grave’”
Rating: 7/10
Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?
Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me? is the Look What You Made Me Do (2017) and Blank Space (2014) of the album. It is about how the media depicts Taylor Swift as a cruel villain. She tells the audience that they would never last in a life like hers, “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me”.
Favorite Lyric: “Crash the party like a record scratch as I scream “Who’s afraid of little old me?”
Rating 7/10
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
This track is an alternative country song about Taylor trying to fix a man who has a problematic past. Throughout the song, Taylor believes she was made to fix him until she realizes she can’t: “Woah, maybe I can’t”. This song is speculated to be about her ex Matty Healy whom she also sang about in Guilty As Sin?
Favorite Lyric: “When I told ’em he’s my man”
Rating: 5/10
loml
The song caused much speculation prior to the release of the album questioning the significance of loml. Will it stand for “love of my life”, “love or my life”, or “loss of my life”? Swift ended up using both “love of my life” and “loss of my life”. The song is about how she and her ex had such a strong relationship in the early stage, but her ex gaslit and manipulated her hopes for their future. This song gives a similar feeling as So Long, London as they both refer to leaving a long relationship. The lyrics in this song are one of the best on the album. Lyrics such as, “Still alive, killing time at the cemetery. Never quite buried”, Mr. Steal Your Girl, then make her cry. You said I’m the love of your life”, and “Dancing phantoms on the terrace. Are they second-hand embarrassed that I can’t get out of bed”.
Favorite Lyrics: “In your suit and tie, in the nick of time. You low-down boy, you stand-up guy. You Holy Ghost, you told me I’m the love of your life.” and “You cinephile in black and white. All those plot twists and dynamite”
Rating: 9/10
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
This is definitely the fan-favorite song. It has already blown up apps such as TikTok and Instagram. It is the Bejeweled (2022) of the album. Depressing lyrics with a fun beat is something Taylor Swift has a talent for. The song is about her experience as a successful singer while going through the worst breakup of her life, and how the media fixates on her mistakes. The lyric video shows clips from The Eras Tour which tells her fans that the song is about her experience handling the breakup while performing; “Lights, camera, and smile”. This song is definitely the bop on the album.
Favorite lyric: “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day. I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me, like the plague.”
Rating: 10/10
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
The meaning behind this song is still under speculation but according to the lyrics, this song is about a man who betrayed Swift. Lyrics that led the audience to believe this is, “Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?” and “In fifty years, will all this be declassified? And you’ll confess why you did it and I’ll say, “Good riddance”.” I believe that the bridge for this song is the best bridge on her album. It is powerful and melancholy. Over the last week, as I’ve been listening to this album, I would play this song just so I can re-hear the bridge.
Favorite Lyrics: “Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead? Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?” and “Cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden. I would’ve died for your sins, instead, I just died inside.”
Rating: 8/10
The Alchemy
This song is almost guaranteed to be about Travis Kelce due to the sports references such as “Touchdown” and “Where’s the trophy? He just comes runnin’ over to me”. This song is about Taylor trying to resist the connection between her and this man. Alchemy is a term used to describe the chemistry between two individuals.
Favorite Lyric: “‘Cause the sign on your heart said it’s still reserved for me. Honestly, who are we to fight the alchemy?”
Rating: 7/10
Clara Bow
Clara Bow is about Taylor’s whims to become famous when she was younger. As Taylor sings, “But I think I might die if I made it, die if I made it”. She compares her fame to Clara Bow and Stevie Nicks. Stevie Nicks even wrote a poem for her album that is located on the vinyls and CDs. Many people compare Taylor Swift’s legacy to Clara Bow’s. They both are considered the “it” girls of their generation.
Favorite lyric: “You look like Taylor Swift. In this light, we’re lovin’ it”
Rating 7/10
The Anthology
The Black Dog
The Black Dog is a bar in London which was believed to be where Taylor and her ex Joe Alwyn spent lots of time. In The Black Dog, Taylor is writing about her life after her ex. She said that her ex forgot to “turn off his location” so she saw him with a new girl going into this bar. She writes about how his actions made her feel after the relationship ended. She says his actions made her, “ …wanna sell my house. And set fire to all my clothes. And hire a priest to come and exorcise my demons. Even if I die screaming”
Favorite lyric: “Old habits die screaming”
Rating: 8/10
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There is little background information about this song but it is safe to say that Taylor has recently broken up with this man and she hasn’t decided whether she wants him back or wants revenge. When listening to this song, the vocals remind me of the vocals from Dress (2017) on her album Reputation (2017). Lyrics such as, “Whether I’m gonna be your wife or gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet.” and “We broke all the pieces, but still wanna play the game. Told my friends I hate you, but I love you just the same.” showcases Taylor’s uncertainty of how she wants to overcome this relationship.
Favorite lyric: “I, I hear thе whispers in your eyes. I’ll make you wanna think twice. You’ll find that you were never not mine.”
Rating: 8/10
The Albatross
Swifties refer to this song as the sister to Willow (2020) on Taylor’s album Evermore (2020). An albatross is a violent bird that spends the first 6 years of their life in the air. Taylor is referring to herself as the albatross when she says, “She’s the albatross. She is here to destroy you.” This song is believed to be about her ex Joe Awlyn whom she spent 6 years with. As the albatross, Taylor is writing about landing after spending her entire life (6 years) in the air.
Favorite Lyric: “I’m the life you chose, and all this terrible danger”
Rating: 7/10
Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
This song is about a rocky end to a relationship. This man Taylor is referring to is cheating on her with someone named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus. Not only that, but this man has a serious drug addiction, “You needed me, but you needed drugs more. And I couldn’t watch it happen” The themes in this song remind me of Swift’s Don’t You (2021) from the album Fearless TV (2021). In Don’t You Taylor is warning this man not to tempt her after the relationship failed. Same as in this song where Taylor tells the man, “If you wanna break my cold, cold heart Just say, “I loved you the way that you were”
Favorite Lyric: “And if you wanna tear my world apart. Say you’ll always wonder”
Rating: 6/10
How Did It End?
The first line in this song, “We hereby conduct this post mortem” were the words that were scrambled on the Apple Music playlists. Surprisingly lyrics from Apple Music’s playlist and Spotify’s exhibit were not from the original album but rather from The Anthology. How Did It End? is a song about how the media takes over a breakup. No one cares about the victims in the breakup but rather the breakup itself. The verses in this song are written like gossip being spread, “Soon they’ll go home to their husbands. Smug because they know they can’t trust him. Then feverishly calling their cousin, “Guess who we ran into at the shops?””
Favorite Lyrics: “Come one, Come all, it’s happening again.” and “Say it once again with feeling. How the death rattle breathing. Silenced as the soul was leaving. The deflation of our dreaming. Leaving me bereft and reeling. My beloved ghost and me. Sitting in a tree, D-Y-I-N-G”
Rating: 8/10
So High School
This song was declared to be about Travis Kelce’s and Taylor Swift’s relationship by Taylor in her lyric video. Taylor uses many high school and sports references to describe her feelings, such as, “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle”, “Touch me while your boys play Grand Theft Auto”, and “Are you gonna marry, kiss, or kill me? It’s just a game, but really I’m betting on all three.” This song makes the audience feel like they have a massive crush in high school with the nostalgic references and lyrics.
Favorite Lyric: “You knew what you wanted, and boy you got her.”
Rating: 7/10
I Hate It Here
I Hate It Here is a song about creating a fantasy where the narrator can escape. A place of peace and quiet. Taylor is using this “secret garden” as a way to escape from her depression. She says she is in these “Lunar Valleys” for most of the year because she hates the reality of her life. This song already blew up online due to many fans relating to this feeling of escapism.
Favorite Lyric: “Nostalgia is a mind trick”
Rating: 6/10
ThanK you alMee
ThanK you aIMee is rumored to be a diss track towards Kim Kardashian. The capitalized letters in the title spell out the name “KIM”. If you are unaware of the Swift vs. West/Kardashian feud, let me catch you up. In 2009 Kanye West stole the stage at the VMA’s and called Taylor’s song out. Since then Taylor and Kanye have had this massive feud. In 2017, Kim Kardashian posted on her Instagram to get her fans to hate Taylor. The video that Kim Kardashian posted was an edited clip of Taylor approving of Kanye West calling her inappropriate and misogynistic names in his song Famous. Kim’s actions not only hurt Taylor but her family and fans. In this song, Taylor at first is really upset at the actions that Kim caused but she eventually learns that without these consequences, Taylor would have never made the legacy she created in the last few years.
Favorite Lyric: “But when I count the scars, there’s a moment of truth. That there wouldn’t be this if there hadn’t been you.”
Rating: 5/10
I Look In People’s Windows
This song is about the bargaining stage of grief. Taylor, after breaking up with her boyfriend, tried finding him in “people’s windows”; “I look in people’s windows In case you’re at their table. What if your eyes looked up and met mine? One more time.” This song, while being underrated, is the shortest song on the album. Its run time is about 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Many people also believe that this song is based on Death By A Thousand Cuts (2019) because many lyrics align. In Death By A Thousand Cuts, Taylor sings, “I look through the windows of this love even though we boarded them up.” In I Look In People’s Windows, Taylor sings, “So I look in people’s windows. Like I’m some deranged weirdo.” She sings about looking in people’s windows in both songs. In both songs, she is hoping to repair this damaged relationship.
Favorite Lyrics: “I’m addicted to the “if only”” and “I attend Christmas parties from outside”
Rating: 7/10
The Prophecy
One of the most underrated songs on The Anthology, The Prophecy is a song about being desperate for love. Taylor is so desperate that she is praying that God will help her find someone. The entire song is covered in biblical references such as, “I got cursed like Eve got bitten.” The lyrics in this song flow like a poem and it is a very melancholy song.
Favorite Lyric: “A greater woman wouldn’t beg. But I looked to the sky and said, “Please I’ve been on my knees, change the prophecy”
Rating: 8/10
Cassandra
In Cassandra, Taylor is describing the feeling of betrayal. She also states how the betrayal shaped who she has become, “So they filled my cell with snakes, I regret to say. Do you believe me now?” Many people believe this song to also be about the feud Taylor has with Kanye West/Kim Kardashian.
Favorite Lyric: “They say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you aware” What happens if it becomes who you are?”
Rating: 5/10
Peter
Peter is a poetic ballad to a man Taylor met when she was younger who asked her to wait for him. Ultimately, 25 years passed and she still hasn’t seen this man; “Promises oceans deep. But never to keep”. She believes that he has forgotten about her so she stops waiting for him. Many Swifties believe that Peter is the continuation of Cardigan (2020) off of the album Folklore (2020). Swifties seem to think this because in Cardigan (2020), there was a lyric that states, “Peter losing Wendy”. All speculation aside, I think this is one of the more poetic songs from The Anthology.
Favorite Lyric: “Forgive me, Peter, please know that I tried to hold on (Hold on) to the days (To the days) when you were mine. But the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light”
Rating: 8/10
The Bolter
The Bolter is a song about a woman who constantly escapes relationships. It follows the misogynistic belief that the media has of Taylor and her past boyfriends. Taylor writes about the dramatic ending of her relationships, “Started with a kiss “Oh, we must stop meeting like this”. But it always ends up with a town car speeding. Out the drive one evening” The Bolter is the final pop song on the album.
Favorite Lyrics: “But as she was leaving, It felt like breathing” and “started with a kiss, “oh, we must stop meeting like this.”
Rating: 8/10
Robin
I hate to admit this, but Robin was my least-streamed song on this album since it came out. It is a very slow paced ballad about a little kid. The kid Taylor is referring to is unknown but many Swifties believe it is the same kid from Seven (2020) on her album Folklore (2020) or Aaron Dessner’s kid Robin. Aaron Dessner is the producer on this album and also on this track. Taylor sings about the innocence of being young, painting a world of imagination.
Favorite Lyric: “Long may you reign.”
Rating: 6/10
The Manuscript
The closing track on this long, poetic, and depressing album is The Manuscript. This song is the bonus track on the standard album and was the first track to be announced. The song is written about a woman rereading a manuscript about her past relationship. Consisting of themes from All Too Well (2012), Dear John (2010), and Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve (2022), The Manuscript looks back at a relationship where the man is significantly older than the narrator. As described, “And made coffee every morning in a Frеnch press. Afterward, she only atе kids’ cereal” Taylor feels immature in this relationship. This song is a beautiful way of ending the album with the last line being, “Now and then I reread the manuscript. But the story isn’t mine anymore”
Favorite Lyric: “Lookin’ backward might be the only way to move forward.”
Rating: 7/10
