Taylor Swift: With The Tortured Poets Department, she's 'unexpectedly cutting' and goes straight for the heart

After getting up early to enjoy Swift’s new album – I wouldn’t consider myself a dedicated enough Swiftie to stay up for its release – I have a lot of thoughts on The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) and all 15 anthology songs.

The Tortured Poets Department… is funny?

My first thought when I hit play on The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology was “oh, you can really tell that Jack Antonoff produced this”. I say this as both a Taylor Swift and Bleachers fan.

However, opening track Fortnight also reminded me of a certain band - especially with some of Post Malone’s barely there vocals in the background.

Figuring out what each song is about and dissecting the lyrics is practically a game to Swifties. I had been wondering how many tissues I would need for TTPD since it’s undoubtedly a break-up album.

And then we jump into lyrics such as “Who uses typewriters anyway?” in the title track.

It is indeed a break-up album – but not the one I was expecting.

Instead of being a full examination of Swift’s six year relationship with English actor Joe Alwyn, there is a lot which appears to be about her relatively short fling with Matty Healy, lead singer of British band The 1975. (And the son of Denise Welch and Tim Healy which I find inordinately hilarious.)

Swift doesn’t hold back, either, penning rather scathing lyrics which are, presumably, about him: “I laughed in your face and said / ‘You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith / This ain't the Chelsea Hotel, we'rе modern idiots’”.

It makes more sense when you’ve read some of Swift’s notes in the album sleeve, where she writes: “Because it's the worst men that I write best.”

I have a lot to say about The Tortured Poets Department (the song, not the album). More than I thought I would, but there’s just so much I don’t know how to react to.

The Charlie Puth shout out. Calling Matty Healy a tattooed golden retriever. Lucy Dacus and Jack Antonoff being mentioned by name.

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived was also unexpectedly funny. I can only imagine what hardcore Swifties are going to do with lyrics like “In your Jehovah's Witness suit”?

She went there

But Daddy I Love Him, a track which references her relationship with Healy but with some character work added in, is cutting - and not to thinly veiled romantic interests.

What are lyrics such as “Screamin', ‘But Daddy, I love him / I'm havin' his baby’ / No, I'm not, but you should see your faces” and “God save the most judgemental creeps / Who say they want what's best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see Thinkin' it can change the beat / Of my heart when he touches me” if not direct challenges to her fans?

This is presumably due to the public outcry about her relationship with Healy, who can be quite the controversial figure.

There’s similar defiance in Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, which directly references her emotional struggles during the Eras Tour.

Guilty As Sin? Very saucy for Taylor Swift. Seems like she’s had enough of being publicly perfect. Not to mention tracks from The Anthology such as ​​thanK you aIMee and Cassandra, both of which are about her feud with Kim Kardashian.

thanK you aIMee was also the first song I actually listened to because the name tickled me so much. It’s about not thanking or forgiving Kim, who helped violate Swift’s privacy, it’s about Swift putting in the work to heal and grow from a bad experience.

Even though it’s about an experience that’s unique to Swift, this song is such a great example of exactly how good Swift is at pulling from her pain to create songs which resonate with people.

A break up album with hints of new love

It would be hard to listen to a Taylor Swift album and not guess who she’s talking about.

And Travis Kelce, the American footballer who is Swift’s latest beau, gets a surprising number of references.

The Alchemy is 100% about Kelce with lines such as “Where's the trophy? He just comes runnin' over to me” and So High School also seems to reference that blush of first love, while also mentioning Grand Theft Auto.

So Long, London – here’s the heartbreak

I had just started to find my rhythm with the album and its focus on Healy, then So Long, London happened.

I (slightly apologetically) love London Boy, an upbeat pop track about her relationship with Joe Alwyn from Swift’s 2019 album Lover.

And track five of TTPD is So Long, London, the only song on the album that really addresses her relationship with the actor. It opens gently, building and building. And I had a wee cry when she sang “You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues?”

This wasn’t the last time I cried while listening though, aside from loml, most of those tears came in the 15 Anthology tracks.

I Look In People’s Windows came close but didn’t manage it, despite capturing that feeling of looking from the outside in. Instead it was followed by The Prophecy. It’s vulnerable and gut-wrenching and it made me cry. But when it ended I put it back on again. (I related to it a little too much for someone in a happy relationship.)

I recovered. Then I listened to Peter.

Swift has referenced Peter Pan before in cardigan, but this track is about “Peter losing Wendy” for good. It’s one of several songs on the album which takes inspiration from childhood, with themes growing up and outgrowing people, but Peter is without a doubt the standout.

The final song to make me cry however was The Manuscript, which is about growing up too quickly, grappling with your sense of self when a relationship ends and finding closure.

I was doing well holding the tears back. Then: “The only thing that's left is the manuscript / One last souvenir from my trip to your shores / Now and then I reread the manuscript / But the story isn't mine anymore”.

If you know, you know.

The Tortured Poets Department isn’t perfect

My first listen revealed to me that while I enjoyed it as a whole, it’s not perfect. There are a few songs which I personally didn’t really vibe with and that’s okay.

The Tortured Poets Department is a break up album, but at the heart of it is Taylor Swift’s ability to craft songs that speak to millions of people around the world regardless of personal circumstance.

She just has a way of getting to the heart of matters and twisting words and music around you until you feel something.

It’s hard to write about the same thing and stay fresh and with The Tortured Poets Department, Swift – and collaborators Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner – mostly achieve this by focusing on the different stages of grief.

Now, I’m going to go and listen to it again.