“The Tortured Poet’s Department,” Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album, is a carefully woven collection of stories of past heartbreak, love, and life in the music industry. It contains some of the best lyricism in her whole discography by far. Although the 31-song double album may not have been my absolute favorite album on the first listen, the eloquence of her lyrics will definitely make “The Tortured Poets Department” grow on you.
In this album, she makes numerous references to her past work, evoking somewhat of a nostalgic feeling for her fans. Over the course of her career, Taylor Swift has released an array of contrasting albums; she started off country with “Taylor Swift” and “Fearless,” then boldly transitioned to pop for “1989” and “reputation,” and in more recent years she released “folklore” and “evermore,” which shifted her music to a more folk- style. “The Tortured Poets Department,” meanwhile, has been classified as “synth/folk-pop,” which is a bit different from what fans are used to. However, there are songs like “Fortnight,” “The Tortured Poets Department,” and “Down Bad” that lean more towards a pop production and are reminiscent of some Swift’s previous albums, like “1989” and “Midnights.” This makes sense, seeing as her longtime friend, Jack Antonoff, was a producer on those songs as well as the two other albums; his signature pop production style clearly shines through on all of the songs that he produced on this album.
Swift dropped this record breaking album at midnight on Friday, April 19. The original release at 12:00 a.m. included 16 songs beginning with “Fortnight”—a collaboration with Post Malone—and ending with “Clara Bow” – a song about the appeal of young women in the music industry. The majority of these songs fit into the pop genre (with some having more of a “synth” feeling than others), with the exception of track five, “So Long London,” and“loml.” Swift has a history of placing her most vulnerable and emotional song on an album at track five. Following the original release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” Swift released another chapter to her 11th album at 2:00 a.m., titled “The Anthology”—a calmer and more folk-sounding counterpart to the original, consisting of 15 new tracks.
My first run through of the album was split between right when it came out at 12:00 a.m., and the afternoon after. When I heard the first few tracks of the album—“Fortnight” to “Florida!!!”—I had mixed feelings about it. The majority of the songs I had listened to definitely leaned more towards pop and felt a bit repetitive in the beginning. However, this may just have been based on the pure fact that I was listening at 12 a.m. When I completed my listening of “The Tortured Poets Department” on Friday afternoon (with “The Anthology” having been released as well), I realized that I actually liked the remainder of the album a little more than I thought I would. But this time around, “The Anthology” tracks were the ones I disliked the most. I found them all very similar, which again, I didn’t like. With the exception of “So High School” and “imgonnagetyouback” they all shared a somber piano sound that reminded me of her eight and ninth studio albums “folklore” and “evermore,” but more dull.
Similarly to other critics, I felt as though the production was messy and that a lot of “The Anthology” tracks were unnecessary. It seemed to me that they could have been condensed to fit into the original album. “As the album goes on, Swift’s lyricism starts to feel unrestrained, imprecise and unnecessarily verbose,” said Lindsay Zolaz in a New York Times article. I agreed with this, thinking that the majority of the music strayed very far from Taylor Swift’s usual style, and those that didn’t seemed almost too similar to her past music.
After a few days of having the album on repeat, and trying to give it another chance, my stance on it changed drastically. I really began to like a lot of the original tracks, and even some of “The Anthology” began to grow on me. The purpose of the album became clearer to me; I realized that “The Tortured Poets Department” is not an album meant to cater to the masses, but instead is supposed to be an introspective journey. Currently, I would rank The Tortured Poets Department as my sixth favorite album of hers, with my top three being “1989,” “reputation,” and “Speak Now.” In “The Tortured Poets Department,” Swift’s lyricism was given the chance to shine through as she weaved stories and drew parallels with her past works.
Some of Swift’s more dedicated fans have easily been able to find connections between tracks such as “Fortnight” and “Hits Different.” Taylor Swift ended “Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition),” her 10th studio album, with “Hits Different,” and began “The Tortured Poets Department” with “Fortnight.” The lyrics to “Hits Different” (“Is it you? / Or have they come to take me away?”) and “Fortnight” (“I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me”) show how Swift thoughtfully crafts each song and lyric that she writes. Those two lyrics also convey the transition between her two most recent works, showing that this album is not necessarily a second part to “Midnights”—it is meant to be its own thing.
Similarly, in “Down Bad” from her new album and “New Romantics” from “1989,” Swift juxtaposes conflicting emotions, portraying the bittersweet nature of love with lines like, “How dare you think it’s romantic leaving me safe and stranded” and “Please leave me stranded, it’s so romantic.”
In “But Daddy I Love Him,” Swift confronts judgment and societal expectations, asserting her independence and rejecting the need for validation. This theme resurfaces in “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” where she acknowledges the pressure to constantly produce and please others, contradicted with an upbeat melody that masks inner struggles. One track from “The Anthology,” “How Did It End?,” describes the invasive nature of fame and being in the spotlight, as Swift candidly addresses the public’s fascination with her personal life and the rumors that inevitably follow. The lyrics “The empathetic hunger descends / We’ll tell no one except all of our friends / We must know / How did it end?” and “We learned the right steps to different dances / And fell victim to interlopers’ glances” from “How Did It End?” thoughtfully depict the breach of privacy and false sympathy that Swift often receives from the public.
Swift further showcases her lyrical talents in tracks like “loml,” where she upsets expectations by revealing that the title stands for ‘loss of my life’ rather than ‘love of my life.’ Lines like, “Our field of dreams, engulfed in fire / Your arson’s match your somber eyes” show her ability to portray love and heartbreak in a creative manner. Swift has a way with lyrics that not many artists possess. Her ability to craft vivid imagery is evident in “So Long, London,” where she paints scenes of longing and regret with the lines lines, “I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist / I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift / Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away.” These lyrics describe a failed relationship (which some speculate is a reference to her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn) that she had held on hope for even though it was practically already over. From “The Anthology,” “The Black Dog” explores darker emotions with lines such as, “Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke? / Now I want to sell my house and set fire to all my clothes.” Coming off a wave of major success from The Eras Tour, Swift could not have chosen a better time to release her new album. By releasing “The Tortured Poets Department” at this time, it allows listeners to clearly see her musical evolution, as The Eras Tour setlist included songs from nine out of her (now) 11 studio albums. There is a clear contrast between her newest album and her old music. “The Tortured Poets Department” is not just an album, but a testament to Swift’s evolution as a storyteller. With its intricate lyricism and layered narratives, it invites listeners on a journey of introspection and self-discovery. Although it may not captivate the audience on first listen, by giving the album a chance, Swift’s meaningful lyricism will “make you wanna think twice.”
