Taylor Swift continues to prove she is a true mastermind. While receiving a Grammy at the 2024 Grammys, Swift announced her 11th studio album “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Here is an analysis of Swift’s latest album from a tortured poet herself.
The Inspiration, Work and Records
Many fans assume the inspiration for “The Tortured Poets Department” name came from an interview of Swift’s ex-boyfriend Joe Awlyn, Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott where the actors discuss having a group chat called “The Tortured Man Club.”
Wherever the inspiration comes from, the album elevates Swift’s previous work to a whole new level. Swift still relies on her pop formulas that make her music addicting, but she curates new forms of writing within “The Tortured Poets Department.” Although there is more technical work when writing poetry, Swift still uses the skills of many poets such as metaphors, romanticism, repetition, rhymes and intense emotions in her songs. Swift will always be a songwriter at heart, but that doesn’t demean her talent in poetry or writing. She can only get better at it.
In just one day, the release of “The Tortured Poets Department” broke Spotify’s record of being the most streamed album in a day with over 300 million streams. The album originally consisted of 16 songs with “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone as the lead single. Swift announced a few hours later that “The Tortured Poets Department” is a double album and released “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” which adds 15 more songs, bringing the grand total up to 31 songs.
The album was primarily produced by her well known collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. It also includes features from Malone and Florence + the Machine on “Florida!!!”
The Analysis
With 31 songs on the album, it is quite impossible to go into detail on every song in just one article. We’ll take a deep dive of fan favorites and my personal favorites of “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Track five on Swift’s albums are notoriously known to be the most heart wrenching. This trend includes songs like “my tears ricochet” from “folklore” and “All Too Well” from “Red (Taylor’s Version).” And oh boy, did she once again deliver.
“So Long, London” is a goodbye letter to her ex-boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn. The opening imitates a church choir of Swift’s vocals that harmonize quite beautifully. The song gives her fans and listeners clues of what supposedly ended her relationship. Lyrics like “my spine split from carrying us up the hill” and “you say I abandoned the ship, but I was going down with it” are particularly poignant. In the end, the pair’s relationship seemed to grow apart.
“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is another fan favorite. In any Swift song produced by Antonoff, there seems to be a combination of tragic lyrics and upbeat production. Swift sings about going through a breakup while being in her prime and continuing to work. “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday everyday” and “I cry a lot, but I am so productive” lyrics have become a trend on TikTok where many shared their experiences of heartbreak.
“thanK you aIMee” is a diss towards Kim Kardashian. Swift references back for the infamous phone call from 2016 with Kanye West, yet thanks the Kardashian sister for making Swift the person she is today. “So High School” is a rendition of an early 2000s song about her new relationship with Travis Kelce and the feeling of young love.
Personal favorites of mine are “I Look in People’s Windows.” It highlights melancholic but beautiful strings in the background. Swift’s vocals are soft but ghostly describing the curiosity and “what ifs” of living other’s lives.
“The Prophecy” is one of the most heart-wrenching songs on the album. Swift seemingly sings and begs to change the outcome of her relationships and simply wants to be loved. With brilliant lyrics such as “I got cursed like Eve got bitten, was it punishment?” “The Prophecy” embodies the feeling of loneliness and the simple desire to be loved.
Swift Isn’t Going Anywhere
The New York Times recently came out with an article stating that the world is seeing too much of Swift. The article received backlash on Instagram with many stating that a woman can only be too much or not enough, but never in-between. Swift is girlhood, womanhood and a voice that brings a community of women together on their experiences in love, youth and the world around them.
Swift isn’t going anywhere, and she’s only getting bigger. Stream “The Tortured Poets Department” now on Spotify and Apple Music.
e.delgado@dailyutahchronicle.com
The post ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Analysis From a Tortured Poet first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.