Words of a Poet, Songs of an Enchantress
Written by Meg Clemmensen
Graphic by Rebekah Witt
Photos courtesy of Beth Garrabrant and Republic Records
The first time I listened to Taylor Swift’s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, I was confused by what I was hearing. Song after song played following the strike of midnight when I put on what would be the global phenomena’s most mixed-review, but also most record-breaking album yet. The songs were nothing like what I expected. Some lyrics came straight out of the dictionary, but some were bizarrely tongue-in-cheek. Songs ranged from indie to mellow pop, with synths and riffs making up unique melodies in the background. Towards the beginning of my first listen, it became clear to me that this would be completely different from anything else the mega-star had put out yet. This theory was further enforced when 2 am brought on THE ANTHOLOGY, a continuation of the record that doubled its length. At best, I can describe the full 31-track record as a blend between reputation and folklore, but also on crack. But I guess that would be the reason why we all love Taylor Swift so much - her widespread versatility and ability to constantly refresh her craft.
Like many others, I grew up alongside Taylor Swift and her discography. I can attribute a majority of my diverse music taste to her. Raised on country, pop, and a mixture thereof by a single mother, we became transfixed on many of the big stars together, like Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry, and Rascal Flatts. But after the release of her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” in 2006, we both began following the young starlet Swift. From pretty early on in her career, Swift was extremely down-to-earth with her fans, and we both admired that. The Fearless tour was supposed to be my first concert, but our small little family didn’t have enough for the price of tickets, so my mom and I continued following her from afar and buying each CD as it was released until we finally got to see her live together on the reputation Stadium Tour. We continue to text each other about our favorite tracks on each new release and share our love of the art.
Over the years, I’ve developed a sort of album release ritual for myself. It used to be me alone in my room with my wifi and data services off and the music flooding my ears through my headphones, with no connection whatsoever with the external world. I’ve since moved in with my best friends, who are also fans of hers, so now the three of us collect in the living room with snacks, the Spotify app launched on our ancient TV, and lyric pages pulled up on our phones. I’ve been reviewing Swift’s records for so long, given the circumstances of her long-lasting career, and the fact that a lot of her music hits close to home for me. One of my proudest pieces of work, at the time I put it out, was my Lover deep dive and track-by-track analysis. But now, I look back on it and cringe at certain parts. I wish I’d taken longer to internalize the lyrics and understand what they were about, beyond the surface-level public aspects of Swift’s life. It’s become clear to me that so many of her songs run so much deeper than just what the media thinks they know about her. I feel as if my writing style and ability to critically analyze the media I consume have grown extraordinarily alongside her own writing abilities. Going into this album felt completely different from her previous works. Rather than necessarily attaching songs and lyrics to recent events in the singer’s life, I gained a base understanding of each song’s underlying meaning and then proceeded to read others’ theories and connect the dots to make sense of it all. It’s a lot more interesting to interpret art based on the emotions behind it than based on linking men to the lines.
When it took me nearly a week to feel like I’d digested the album enough to write about and rank the songs, that was new. It’s not to say that Swift’s lyricism isn’t usually brilliant to the point of deep analysis, but this one was quite unique in the way that it blurred the line between her publicly perceived celebrity life and her private human experiences. Much of Swift’s music, early albums especially, can be easily attributed to muses at the time or aspects of her life that she shared with the world. She would hide secret messages and encourage fans to decode songs and associate certain people or events with each track. However, her last few releases have taken a bit more of an abstract approach. Rather than drawing from subjects the general public wants to hear her sing about, Swift has begun expanding her style into a more indie-pop genre blend with lyrics intelligently pieced together like poetry. She’s experimented with plenty of tracks consisting of double meanings, some lyrics feeling as if they’re pulled from what we know of her life, and others feeling more fictional but still rooted in realism. For example, she created fake personas to tell a story in folklore, but the more she shared with her fans, the more it became clear those characters were just a front for real people and experiences. In terms of how raw, truthful, and abstract Taylor Swift’s albums are, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT boasts a win in each category.
The album rolled out as a 100% unheard piece of art. With no lead-up singles, the intention is clearly to dissect the work from front to back. And with Swift’s storytelling style, there’s really no better way to listen to one of her records when they drop anyway. With the bulk of the album being written only within her small circle of typical co-workers, only two new collaborations can be found on TTPD, and those are with two phenomenal genre-blending artists, Post Malone and Florence + The Machine. Taylor Swift and Post Malone’s collaboration “Fortnight” marks the album opener and one of the most anticipated tracks on the album. “Fortnight” uses a mellow refrain to descend listeners into the world of the album. With themes of alcoholism, husband killing, and doomed love, it precedes dark topics to be discussed and is notably reminiscent of many evermore songs. Swift and the iridescent Florence Welch come together for what has become one of my top picks in Swift’s entire discography, “Florida!!!” The angsty track breaks life into a grand existential topic, detailing not feeling quite at home anywhere, and being so small in a world so big.
“Florida!!!” stands as one of the most cinematic songs on the album, with grand instrumentals and piercing vocals, but one of the other standouts for this same reason is “Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?” Funnily enough, both of these songs follow themes of paranormality as a way for Swift to illustrate her impact and fame. In the latter track, she hauntingly sings that she “leap[s] from the gallows and levitate[s] down your street,” almost disembodying her physical figure from her soul. She parallels her life to that of a circus animal, constantly being examined and scrutinized. Yet, she maintains a sense of self-awareness, acknowledging that she isn’t the same as the Taylor Swift branded in the media and doesn’t feel she deserves to be looked at as highly as she is. Similar to revelations the singer explored in 2012’s “The Lucky One,” her relationship with celebritization isn’t as perfectly intact as her facade may appear. A special shoutout to the repeated opening and closing lyrics of “I Hate It Here,” which seem most likely to be inadvertently talking to herself, ‘Tell me something awful, like you are a poet trapped inside the body of a finance guy.’
Other songs like “Clara Bow” and “thanK you aIMee” reflect on her public life in a slightly more admirable light. In the closer to the first half of the album, “Clara Bow,” Swift compares herself to famous women of history who have endured hardships and scrutiny much like hers. As the song progresses, we learn she’s singing about her rise to fame and the self-realization that came after it. “You look like Taylor Swift in this light, we’re loving it,” she sings from the perspective of the public glimpsing into her world of stardom. For better or worse, she recognizes that she has become an icon of the times and that everything she does will be picked apart, but at least she has herself. “thanK you aIMee,” while grateful, is also angry. While it appears to reflect on Swift’s infamous feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, many fans agree that it likely has a double entendre, based on the lyrics “I changed your name and any real defining traits,” despite Kim’s name being directly spelled out in the title. While she directs a couple of ‘fuck yous’ to the song’s subject, she ultimately reflects on how they made her learn to grow and heal as a person. If such a critical turning point in her life hadn’t played out in exactly the way it did, she would be an entirely different person today.
TTPD also goes in-depth about the devastating end of a relationship in a level of authenticity we’ve never quite gotten from Swift before, despite her songs always having been quite tell-all recollections. “So Long, London” and “The Black Dog” are two of the most excruciating breakup songs I’ve ever heard, and the production specifically on the latter track has turned it into another of my all-time favorite Taylor Swift songs. “So Long, London,” being track five on a Taylor Swift album, can immediately be identified as a heartbreaker. Swift habitually puts her most emotionally vulnerable song from each record in the fifth slot. The track opens with a gorgeous a capella melody, reminiscent of fan favorite 2019 track, “Death By A Thousand Cuts.” After the enchanting intro repeats itself three times, it quickly transforms into a wave of synth in the most beautiful way possible. The tune heard here can be found quietly throughout the background of the whole track, but the beginning of it is one of my favorite artistic moments in her discography, to the point where I can’t stop just looping those thirty introductory seconds whenever I listen. The remainder of the song adopts a lower register singing voice that feels confrontational as she mimics many of the themes explored in “You’re Losing Me.” While this tragic track five illustrates the pain of mental health while a relationship is deteriorating, “The Black Dog” describes the aftermath. Swift describes seeing her ex visit a bar shortly after their split via shared location and the downward spiral that event sends her on. It’s a tale of still yearning for something that’s over and feeling as if it should be more difficult for someone to move on from you, something that many women have experienced. In painstaking detail, Swift longs for the answers as to why she couldn’t be enough in the relationship. The haunting lyric “Old habits die screaming” is echoed throughout the four-minute track, and towards the end, we see a state of acceptance and anger beginning to form. It’s a beautiful tribute to the mourning period most breakups are followed by.
Then, we have the down-bad songs—and I don’t just mean “Down Bad.” I’m also talking about “So High School,” “The Alchemy,” and “But Daddy I Love Him.” If there’s one thing this record has taught me about Taylor Swift, it’s that no one else understands what it’s like to TRULY be down really bad for someone. The ultimate down-bad anthem, however, surprisingly details heartache more than love. Rather, it’s about still being hung up on someone after a breakup that was not your decision. “Down Bad” is one of the catchiest tracks on the record, complete with shimmering synth and vocal effects that perfectly match the feeling of the magic-intertwined lyrics, ‘Did you really beam me up in a cloud of sparkling dust?’ Lyrics in the bridge also show Swift’s growth and maturity, as her 1989 track “New Romantics” states that leaving her stranded would be romantic, but this song argues the opposite. This song is really neat in the way that it intertwines fictional imagery of being abducted by aliens to the likeness of lost love. “So High School” seems to be an ode to Swift’s current partner, as it details how they’re a stereotypically American sweetheart couple, much like news outlets have been calling them for months. Purposefully, the lyrics here are incredibly cheesy and use imagery from coming-of-age high school relationship experiences. It almost feels more human than so many other love songs by Swift, since her extreme fame at such a young age has prevented her from having so many formative experiences, like these classic high school ones she sings about. As someone with severe introvert syndrome who went to an art school where you would be the odd one out if you were straight, I appreciate this song. It’s so vastly different from my high school experience, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’ve wondered what it would’ve been like to grow up this way. “The Alchemy” uses football imagery to describe two people with undeniable chemistry. She describes a love that happens “once every few lifetimes” and fantasizes about the pair’s romance being celebrated by friends and fans with touchdowns, teams, and wins. It’s one of my least favorites from TTPD, but it’s an earworm full of love and lust combined. “But Daddy I Love Him” is another one that doesn’t overly resonate with me, but once again, it’s so incredibly catchy. This song discusses a romance that’s looked down upon and forbidden. While others protest the relationship and warn her partner to stay away from her, she’s hopelessly in love and refuses to stop spreading the news until people come around. By the end of the song, it seems she’s convinced everyone whose opinion matters that this love is valid and worthy. This song also contains one of the most jaw-dropping lyrics on the album: “I’m having his baby, no I’m not, but you should see your faces.” I can guarantee that pretty much everyone listening for the first time did, in fact, have some pretty bewildered faces when they got to that part.
Something that runs pretty prominently through this record is references to external media, a big one being religion. “Guilty As Sin?” is the most obvious example of this, but there are several various lines scattered throughout the record that allude to religious trauma and discontent. This particular track delves into a relationship deemed unholy, but Swift counters that argument and suggests that its unholiness actually makes it holy. She talks intimately about self-pleasure and sexuality, questioning how the relationship can be sinful if she’s only thinking of the person in mind, but not actually getting together with them. In the bridge, she states “I choose you and me, religiously,” proclaiming that the relationship in question is significant enough to her that she doesn’t mind receiving scrutiny. It’s a very interesting song when you look at the sheer number of references to rebelling against Christianity that exist on TTPD. Swift also drew from ancient Greek mythology with “Cassandra,” a deep cut on the album’s B-side. In this song, she compares her scandals and scrutinies to the life of priestess Cassandra, who was born with the gift of prophecy, but not believed when she revealed dark fates. This could relate to a few instances: when the public turned on her due to the Kanye West feud, only to find out she was in the right, or perhaps when Swift’s former record label silenced her and forced her to rework her career in the Lover era. Regardless of its true intent, the lyrics dig wounds at those who have stifled her character, with lines like “Blood’s thick, but nothing like a payroll” illustrating the sheer amount of faux personalities in Hollywood. “Peter” is a song drawn from nostalgic childhood media, specifically the story of “Peter Pan.” This wouldn’t be the first time Taylor Swift intertwined fairytales into her songwriting. Though no one is quite sure what this song is about (and really, it doesn’t matter that much - media analysis and deep dives are just fun!), the most convincing theory I’ve seen is that it’s current Taylor talking to younger Taylor. She’s grown up quite a lot since she was twenty-five, the age mentioned in the song. She’s endured several publicized hardships during that nine-year period, so it makes sense that maybe she feels she wants to return to a more authentic version of herself instead of someone who is constantly on guard and defending her name. I find it very interesting to look at how Swift takes inspiration from pre-existing media and fits it into her narrative. Regardless of whether anyone’s “Peter” theories are true, it’s a lovely song.
There are a few more songs that tackle her relationship with fame/media, but in a very candid way compared to other examples. In a few of these tracks, it feels as if she’s speaking to fans, but also writing down her own inner monologue. She proves she’s not afraid to call people out when it’s needed for the sake of her mental health. This is explored in “Fresh Out The Slammer,” “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,” and “How Did It End?” The first of these three, “Fresh Out The Slammer,” is assumed to be about the news breaking in early 2023 about her long-term relationship ending. Many dedicated fans were worried for her when this occurred, as she’d made it seem like she was the happiest she’d ever been. Briefly following the news, Swift did a pap walk where she looked thrilled to be walking solo and alluded to singlehood and independence in her social media posts, which eased fans’ concerns at the time. She sings about rebounding and healing and mentions passing important landmarks from the broken relationship, but ultimately feeling fine. “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” is quite the opposite in its stance, and it seems to more directly call out the tabloids who exploit Swift’s personal life for their gain. This bubblegum-pop-sounding track has morbidly depressing lyrics about the artist’s experience being on tour and fulfilling media obligations while going through a tragic breakup. It gives off 1989 and Midnights vibes in the best way possible. The Eras Tour has been a massive success, so it’s clear that the pressure to put on her best performance each night has become a chore when her personal life is ablaze. Nevertheless, Swift manages it like a mastermind. “How Did It End?” is a softer ballad that discusses how mainstream popular culture has made it so that everyone always wants to know the details about everything that happens to stars. It’s hard to tell whether this is more directed towards news outlets and gossip blogs, or fans. The parasocial relationship that many of Swift’s fans have with her roots back to those early days when she shared a lot. Naturally, fans are dying to find out what exactly happened whenever something huge occurs in her life, and it’s quite likely that it feels dehumanizing at times. Though many people have the best of intentions in mind, fame is a fine line to walk in terms of boundaries. Swift’s dating history has been the butt of many jokes over the years from magazines, radio, and more. Presumably, she forgot what this felt like until experiencing it again for the first time in six years, hence the lyrics “Come one, come all, it’s happening again.” In many of TTPD’s tracks, Swift struggles with feeling like nothing more than a consumable product, a result of the ever-growing spotlight circling in on her.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a modern Taylor Swift album if we didn’t have at least one song that shows how incredibly proud she is to be a millennial. For this record, it’s the titular “The Tortured Poets Department.” This one is taking the longest to grow on me. It’s got a nice beat to it, but the lyrics about Charlie Puth and threatening to kill oneself if your partner leaves just have me cringing a bit too hard. The neat thing to come out of this song is the concept of typewriters and ‘decoding’ another person, which remain as prominent themes. Cheesy millennial-hood aside, this album gives us some very profound songs that many 20-30-somethings can relate to. Taylor Swift once spoke on child stardom, acknowledging that she and many others in her field get frozen at the age they become famous. It takes them longer to grow up because such a pivotal point in their life is spent under the public spotlight 24/7. Since Swift acknowledged this about herself, her albums have grown more and more mature, which further drives the point home. Analyzing some of these tracks under this lens is very interesting because despite her being 34 years old, I can relate to many of these a bit harder than I care to admit as a 21-year-old. Between the pandemic and so many more circumstances causing her to face the music and mature, her current writing style reminds me much of my own tendencies: a 20-something trapped in the body of an old soul. Some of the experiences she sings about are ones that other people experience much earlier in life than she has, but that’s part of what makes her so relatable to so many age groups. To me, “The Prophecy” and “The Bolter” fall easily and wonderfully under this category. “The Prophecy,” one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs in general, captures the feeling of loneliness and inability to find real love. This song runs deeper for Swift’s situation than mine, as many people in this world are shallow and likely to take advantage of her for her fame and fortune. She painstakingly sings about how she thought she found something that was going to last, but all it did was fall apart again, a feeling many people know all too well. “The Bolter” also speaks to shallowness in relationships and the difficulties of being a woman in the modern dating scene. While she alludes to her friends making fun of her for only seeing the surface, her constantly leaving relationships not too far into them, they don’t see what happens behind closed doors. She admits the importance of putting oneself first, despite what others think. While those watching may call her a serial dater, she knows she is leaving the relationship because it is not a good situation for her to be in, and that’s what matters at the end of the day. It’s rough to try and find true love in this day and age, and every woman must eventually come to this healthy realization that her own mental health is what matters most in the world.
Another theory I’ve seen surrounding this album is that The Tortured Poets Department could be the end of the eras model that Swift has been using. “I Hate It Here,” which I briefly mentioned earlier, seems to acknowledge Swift’s relationship with celebrity culture and a desire to be separated from it. “I Look In People’s Windows” is another double-entendre song that falls under this lens. While the lyrics are mostly reminiscent of missing an ex-lover and hoping to spot them again, she also reflects on seeing the people inside houses hosting Christmas parties or get-togethers with their friends and feeling left out. I’ve also heard many fans compare this to “The Outside,” one of the songs from her very first album back in 2006. While I don’t believe Taylor Swift plans on stopping making music anytime soon, I do feel that after the release of this record, the final two re-recordings, and the finale of The Eras Tour, she may adopt a new model that makes her feel more human and less like a phenomenon. An excerpt from “imgonnagetyouback” is the basis of a lot of these theories, ‘eras fading into gray.’ Eras is basically a concept that Swift has coined at this point, and she chooses her words very carefully with gray as the color scheme of this album. Is it possible that she’s discussing eras fading into this album, marking it as the end? We’ve seen clips that seem to show Swift adding TTPD songs to The Eras Tour setlist, which we’ll find out about soon enough. It wouldn’t be the first time this tour, spanning about two years, has undergone setlist changes to support new releases. The pattern she’s employed for her last several releases is two re-recordings, then a new album, then repeat. This has led me to believe she is planning to wrap up the tour after all of her eras belong to her again, and that after The Eras Tour, we’ll see a new concept. This tour has been a mass success but it’s exhausting and creating a divide between her and her diehard fans that never used to exist to this extent. Of course, nothing is confirmed, but Swift always encourages fans to read into lyrics and form theories, and I think we could be onto something with this one. Time will tell, but it’s interesting either way!
It’s impossible to go completely in-depth on 31 songs and result in an article that’s still reasonably-lengthed enough for people to read, but I want to touch briefly on a few of the album’s other standouts that haven’t fit into one of my categories thus far. To start with, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is one of the most devastating songs I’ve ever heard. The lyrics cut deep at the subject, describing how they left Swift emotionally scarred. It’s clear she felt a strong sense of love for this person and doesn’t feel like it was reciprocated in the same way, and it has become an anthem for hopeless romantics like me, who get hurt because we want to see the best in everyone. “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” is another personal favorite. Swift got her career started in the early 2000s country scene, which leans quite conservatively. It wasn’t until more recent years in her career that she began to be more vocal on social issues that are important to her. This song’s subtle nod to queerness without making it any sort of a big deal is huge for the community, considering a large portion of her fanbase and the general public that criticizes her every move still possess outdated beliefs. This track details a heartbreak, making direct callbacks to previous love songs in her discography, like “Maroon,” “Cornelia Street,” and “the 1.” She envisions what the relationship could’ve been, but acknowledges her partner’s substance abuse and that true love wasn’t attainable in that situation. “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” is an upbeat track towards the beginning of the record, which employs her lower register singing voice in a track filled with a tad bit of yearning and a whole lot of self-love. The song is fun to scream while driving down country roads with the windows open, but it’s also fun to sob to. The perfect combination. “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” is a standout. It employs an almost eerie instrumental, and lyricism, reminiscent of evermore track “cowboy like me.” It once again describes hopeless romanticism and a feeling of being so in love with someone who’s maybe not the greatest person, but a belief that they will change once they meet her. At the end, we get a plot twist - she can’t change him. “The Manuscript” is the final track on the complete record, and it seems to be the most important bonus track to Swift, as it is the only one included on all the standard versions of the album available for physical purchase. Whether this song refers to one specific relationship or a compilation is uncertain. Swift reflects back with beauty and grace on former lovers and the way their relationships impacted her. She displays extreme vulnerability as she describes reverting to childish comforts after breaking up with a man much older than her. “Looking backwards might be the only way to move forward,” she sings as she describes herself healing. In the end, she recalls putting down the manuscript, maybe revisiting it every once in a while and thinking about the love lost, but recognizing that it’s not her story anymore. She portrays a mature outlook on romance in what becomes the mellow ballad marking the end of this fabulous piece of work.
The Tortured Poets Department is Taylor Swift’s most honest and truthful album yet, and it’s also the least commercial move she’s made in a long time. Upon listening, the lack of pre-released singles or extensive marketing made sense - these songs are not meant to be radio earworms and catchy jingles. They are deep, they are raw, and they unveil her truest emotions. Many songs certainly have radio potential, but the point of this record is not to pick it apart from a group of singles but to listen as a cohesive piece of art capturing moments in time. Swift isn’t bothered by any negative reviews; she made something she’s proud of and she’s learned that’s enough. Gone are the days of her constant reinvention to appease the public. She’s proven she’s doing it for herself now. I greatly look forward to what comes next from the pop star. She’s been on top of the world for years and doesn’t show signs of her crown toppling anytime soon.