At this year’s 66th Annual Grammy Awards, attendees and fans alike watched in anticipation as Taylor Swift, with her Album of the Year award in hand and a cheeky smile on her face, unveiled an 11th studio album: The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD). It was to be released April 19, 2024. While expectedly sparking an immediate frenzy through the crowd, the announcement promised a new chapter (or era) in her ever-evolving musical journey, hinting at an album rich with poetic depth and brilliance.
Along with the announcement of her new album, Swift dropped a bit of unexpected clues. With a suspicious peace sign, she told the world that she had been keeping this album a secret for the past two years. Even since the release of her 10th studio album Midnights (though, are any clues unexpected for Swifties?). Many fans began to see this as a potential motif. Swift and Taylor Nation (her official team) littered the hand gesture throughout Instagram captions in the weeks following her announcement. They theorized that this emoji could hint at the upcoming album being a double album release, but nothing had been confirmed at that point.
The anticipation of this release was irresistible, and people all around the world waited. An aura of excitement and nervousness filled the air, as their clocks struck midnight on April 19. Then, as hordes of Taylor listeners put in their headphones to stream this album, the feedback came flooding in: “Each song sounds the same,” “This album fell flat,” and “This feels like a rushed album.” Upon first listen, while some said this album sounded monotonous and similar to other albums she has made, it’s important to remember that is usually the case with any first-time listen. It’s hard to differentiate each song until you get to know them. Yet, take a deeper listen and you’ll find true lyrical prowess buried through all the “monotony.”
The first single on the standard track for TTPD is “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone. This song tells the tale of a picture-perfect dream life that could’ve come true but did not work out. While some say that “Fortnight” is a boring, slow, ‘safe’ track, it has a synth beat you can feel in your bones, and is unbelievably catchy (after listening to it a few times). Plus, Post Malone’s part in the song’s bridge is heavenly to listen to. The best lyric in the song is “I love you/it’s ruining my life.” The song describes how hard it can be to let go and the pain of remembering the times you spent with someone while looking at that person now as a stranger. ‘Fortnight’ means two weeks, and according to this song, a lot of dramatic feelings, including guilt, longing, and despair can fester within that time.
Though “Fortnight” is the album’s first track, the fan-favorite is “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” by a landslide. This song details Taylor’s struggles with criticism in the media, and how the world can make her seem like a villain. Its sinister-sounding production, poetic lyrics, and Swift’s iconic voice quality has made it as beloved as it is. This is evident in lyrics like “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me,” which are trending on TikTok. Though this lyric has gotten all the attention, the best by far in this song is “I was tame, I was gentle ‘til the circus life made me mean.” This lyric could be interpreted in many different ways. However, one meaning that fans have come up with includes how Swift went from a starry-eyed kid to a poised and calculated woman who stands up for herself and her words. Some suggest this song refers to how we, the public, treat celebrities in general – they are forced to develop a thick skin while ‘performing’ for the world.
At 2 AM on the night of the release, fans’ suspicions were confirmed when Taylor dropped the second half of TTPD: The Anthology. Unlike Midnights, when she released five vault tracks at 3 AM after the initial album release, The Anthology features an extra 15 tracks, leading fans to dub it a “double album.” This expansion features some of the best tracks on the album, including heartbreaking ballads like “The Black Dog,”“How Did It End?,” and “Peter,” as well as some more upbeat, poppy tracks like “imgonnagetyouback” and “So High School.”
The most surprising aspect of The Anthology is the 24th song, titled “thanK you aIMee.” No, the capital letters aren’t random. Upon looking at the tracklist, fans quickly realized that they spell out a name infamous to all Swifties: “Kim” (as in Kim Kardashian). Before Taylor released her hit album Reputation in 2017, she had a notorious feud with celebrities Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. In short, Swift was blamed for a lot of things that turned out to be false, and her “reputation” was completely tarnished. The song “thanK you aIMee” is a letter to Kim about how all of her negative actions turned Taylor into the person she is today.
Even if you are not a Swiftie, I would still recommend that you listen to this album. While there are critics out there who think this album is a prime example of Swift exercising “quantity over quality,” all of the songs mean something to the artist and can resonate with somebody out there. So, if you’re debating whether this album is worth the listen, I would say absolutely yes. Grab a blanket, a box of tissues, some snacks, and a dictionary because this album is definitely worth a listen.
