‘Tortured’ tunes radiate from omnipresent Swiftian songwriting

“Come one come all, it’s happening again…” Taylor Swift is back, not that she ever left, with a new album, The Tortured Poets Department. The album was announced at the 2024 Grammys when Swift won Best Pop Vocal Album for her 2022 hit album Midnights, shocking fans. This was not the only surprise that came along with the new album. When Swift released Midnights, she announced an additional seven songs with Midnights (3 AM Edition). Similarly, at 2 am on the day her newest album was released, Swift dropped The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which is essentially a second album, as it includes 15 extra songs in addition to the original 16. When counted as a whole album, Swift’s newest release has the most songs of previous albums. 

The album opener is titled “Fortnight” and features Post Malone. “Fortnight” is one of only two collaborations on the album, the other being “Florida!!!” featuring Florence & the Machine. The song itself describes a short, two week long affair, expressing how much Swift misses it through the straightforward lyric, “I love you, it’s ruining my life”, while backed by 80’s synth sounds. Post Malone’s part in the song is fairly small, as he mostly adds backup vocals.

As the title suggests, many of the songs on the album are sad and insightful. At the time of writing her album about two years before its release, it was revealed that Swift had broken up with her long-term boyfriend, Joe Awlyn. One of the saddest songs is “So Long, London.” It’s a haunting contrast to the song from the 2019 album Lover, “London Boy,” which was written for Alwyn. It describes a relationship that went on for too long until the narrator realized it was time for it to end.  Perhaps the saddest song is “loml,”  as it stands for both love of life and loss of life. Backed by a slow piano, it’s a haunting, metaphor-filled breakup song, offering the poetry that the album promises.

Other melancholic songs are the complete opposite, as they remain upbeat due to production while retaining sad lyrics. One of the most glaring examples is “Down Bad,” which expresses post break up depression as Swift longs for her ex-lover and breaks down “crying at the gym.” “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” compares broken toys to how Swift was hurt by the narrator. She even makes a reference to Ken from Barbie. 

The aforementioned two year period of writing Tortured Poets is also present through “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.”  Lamenting performing and pretending to be okay even while going through a breakup, it is mostly about how Swift embarked on her massive concert tour, The Eras Tour. By the end, she is unraveling and she sings, “I’m miserable and no one even knows.” This song is best categorized as a denial song as Swift does her best to perform despite hard times. 

Surprisingly, there are still a few more happy songs on the album. “But Daddy I Love Him,” the title of which is in reference to a popular quote from The Little Mermaid, tells the story of a relationship that no one approved of. Despite this, Swift is still in love. It is very much an interesting listen, with lyrics like, “I’m having his baby / No I’m not, but you should see your faces,” striving for a reaction other than just pure disapproval. In the end, Swift blocks them all out and her lover even gains her dad’s approval. 

In “Fresh Out The Slammer,” Swift details coming home to a lover, probably after a fight, and vowing to never lose them again. “The Alchemy” is a rarity on the album- a true love song that feels more reminiscent of albums like Lover. It is filled with references to football, which shows the song is most likely written about Swift’s current boyfriend, Kansas Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift uses alchemy to say that this relationship is fate. Although it feels a bit cliché, it’s still a fun song. The main album’s closer called “Clara Bow,” is a dreamy, beautiful song all about achieving stardom. In the song, Swift references famous actress Clara Bow, singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, and even herself: “You look like Taylor Swift in this light”. 

There is plenty of anger that accompanies this album. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is a scathing, angry song. It expresses disappointment toward an ex that Swift deems the smallest man who ever lived. The most dark and angry song is “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”, thematically similar to “Mad Woman” off of folklore, painting her as a villain because the world has made her cruel. It is a chilling song, especially when Swift screams in the chorus, “Who’s afraid of little old me.” 

The title track, “The Tortured Poets Department” sees Swift loving her mentally unstable lover despite his problems, because they are both just a bit crazy.  “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” expresses the exact sentiment the title suggests. The narrator attempts to fix her lover, even though he is a bad boy. It is dark with a cool country twang, reminiscent of Swift’s days as a country singer.

 The core 16 tracks retain a good length, at a total listening time of one hour and a minute, but if The Anthology is counted, there is plenty of bloat that could be excised. Swift worked with Jack Antoff and Aaron Dessner, who she worked with on folklore, evermore, and Midnights, and the production is certainly most comparable to those three albums. Tortured Poets fulfills the “tortured” aspect of this album’s title, each song packed with a range of emotions reflecting what one feels throughout a break and the transition to another relationship, continuing to stun fans through the poetry created in her music.

by Chloe Lusvardi

Published May 20 2024

Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue VIII