Last Friday (19 April 2024), millions of Swifties around the world waited anxiously for the release of Taylor Swift’s 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department, the latest in an 18-year career which saw the country singer transition into one of the world’s biggest cultural icons in living history. The Victoria & Albert Museum even tried to hire a Taylor Swift ‘super fan adviser’. I like to think of her as a living Artemisia Gentileschi.
Every international stadium on The Eras Tour has been sold out within minutes of tickets being released, with fans dressing up in their favourite eras, and live streams being organised among them for the greater good of people in the fandom who weren’t so lucky, myself included. At the time of writing, details are already beginning to suggest that the new album may be added to The Eras Tour setlist, based on rehearsal footage.
When the album finally released on streaming platforms after months of drip-fed Easter eggs, bonus tracks, and merchandise, my new-found online listening party and I paid the greatest attention to Taylor’s lyrical musings as we analysed each of the 16 tracks one by one, speculating which unfortunate victim they might be about, as well as discussing the musical composition itself. It was a sombre moment for all of us; we were simply not prepared for Taylor’s intense outpour of emotions.
And then the unbelievable happened.
Two hours after the initial launch, she released 15 more tracks, calling The Tortured Poets Department a ‘secret DOUBLE album’, alongside a simultaneous merchandise drop. Since her initial announcement at the Grammys in February 2024, we knew she had a lot to say in the album; we just didn’t expect this much.
To me, this is a PTSD album that requires days, possibly weeks, to process and reflect on Taylor’s experiences going through difficult relationships and the harsh realities of fame. Much of the former is frustratingly relatable and simply depressing, as if we are reading through Taylor’s personal diary of insecurities and anxieties. This is very much the songwriter channelling her emotions outwards into music like a therapy session.
‘This album, this new one, Tortured Poets, is an album that I think, more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me, just the things I was going through, and the things I was writing about. It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life. And I’ve never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I’d needed it on Tortured Poets.’
Many of us in the listening party clearly felt the same way, and we all continued to bond over our shared experiences in life and love. One such individual, Tasha, kindly gave me permission to share with you her views on the new album, as well as addressing the many controversial reactions to it, both within the fandom and externally.
I hope you enjoy it.
Sincerely yours in love and poetry…
London Boy
Prologue
Recently, I’ve seen a lot written about Taylor Swift’s new album The Tortured Poets Department and although I fully admit to being a Swiftie, I don’t go searching for Easter eggs and I don’t keep track of her personal life. I also don’t understand all the hate. Most of the comments have been nothing but arguing over who each song is about, or how you either love or hate the album. These arguments have been getting pretty heated and have resulted in an unnecessary amount of name-calling and hate by people. Knowing this, I feel like people missed the point of the album and I wanted to take the time to share my thoughts.
Before I get into it, this is my opinion and doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, so feel free to take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt. However, if you feel the need to comment and tell me what an idiot I am for even thinking these things, then maybe you should take a look at yourself in the mirror because you’re probably one of the people I’m referring to. You can respectfully disagree but you don’t get to belittle or insult me or anyone else because of a difference of opinion. I can understand the fact that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s okay as long as we’re not demeaning or judging those that feel differently.
With all that being said, I understand that people were expecting something different than what we got with this album, and will admit that there are no bangers or bops on this one. But the album is called The Tortured Poets Department for a reason.
The album and its themes
It was never meant to be a happy album. This is a true journey of healing that we should consider ourselves lucky to be taken on. Yes, the songs may or may not have been inspired by certain individuals in Taylor’s life but this is Taylor’s album. It’s not a Joe Alwyn or a Matty Healy or a Travis Kelce album at all; for the uninitiated, these are her ex-boyfriends and current heartthrob, respectively. It was written by Taylor for Taylor and it shows in not only the lyrics but in the music as well. Yes, it’s sad but it’s a true reflection of just how she was feeling when she was going through all those different situations in her life.
I’ve always been able to connect with her lyrics and I’ve grown up with Taylor ever since her debut single Tim McGraw first hit the radio when I was 16. This is the first time I’ve connected to her songs on an emotional level. I feel this is the kind of poetry and music I’d write if I could write music and if I was more in tune with my emotions. In a lot of ways this wasn’t the album I wanted, but it most definitely was the album I needed. If you’re unable to relate to these songs, consider yourself lucky that you’ve never experienced this level of heartbreak.
For me, the songs are less about Taylor’s relationships than they are about my own. The songs are about my relationships with certain individuals: the flings, the serious ones, the friendships, and more.
These songs are about every boy that’s ever broken my heart (The Black Dog) and about the hearts I’ve broken along the way.
They’re about the relationships that everyone told me were toxic but I continued pushing through anyway because I loved them. (I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can))
They are about the ones that chose drugs over me. (The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived)
They are about the ones that, for them, I wasn’t enough. (My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys / Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus)
They are about the ones where I was begging them to stay but they left anyway. (Down Bad)
They are about being on the outside looking into the life I wanted but never got. (I Look in People’s Windows)
They are about the mistakes I’ve made and all the ways I contributed to the relationships falling apart.
They are about the ones that no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t make it work. (So Long, London / The Prophecy)
They are about all the people that told me to suck it up and go back out there even if my world was shattered and my heart was broken.
They are about every single person who bullied me and told me I’d never be enough. (thanK you aIMee / imgonnagetyouback)
But…they are also about learning more about myself.
They are about accepting my role in the way things went down and taking responsibility for my actions. (The Manuscript)
They are about me adding fuel to the fire because I didn’t know how to let go. (Guilty as Sin?)
They are about me learning that it’s okay to not be okay.
They’re about me learning that it’s okay to be sad, just not forever.
They are about me picking myself up off the ground, and taking all the insults and hurt feelings, and turning them into weapons and armour. If I own my flaws then people can’t use them against me. (Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? / I Can Do It With a Broken Heart / Clara Bow / Cassandra)
It’s about learning what I will and will not accept in a relationship, and gaining the courage to leave when things aren’t going the way they should and there’s no way to fix them. (I Hate It Here)
They’re about learning how to let go. (loml)
They’re about love, loss, and everything in between. (Fortnight)
Explicit lyrics and ‘Taylor Tots’
For all the critics that are saying that this album isn’t for children, you’re right, it’s not. Taylor is a 34-year-old adult writing about adult situations. But when presented in the right context, it can be a useful aid for them to process emotions. It could help them learn how to see red flags so they don’t fall prey to toxic people.
I, for one, will allow my daughter to listen to the clean versions of the songs because she feels everything so strongly; she needs to be able to learn how to process her emotions in a constructive way. Music is supposed to take you on a journey and this album is a journey we’ve all taken. If we haven’t, we will someday. And those who never have to are the lucky ones.
Also, I can guarantee your kids are being exposed to worse language and content in other songs and forms of media from simply walking the halls of their school. Seriously, have you listened to the chats when your kids are playing Fortnite? You have a problem with them listening to songs that use the word ‘Fuck’, yet you’ll allow them to play a video game where the goal is to kill everyone and be the last team/person standing. You allow them to listen to artists like Drake and Kendrick Lamar talk about drugs and sex, but because it’s a woman doing it, it’s suddenly not okay?
I am by no means trying to shame parents or tell anyone how to parent their kids, but I don’t understand how you can be okay with the innuendos and topics in one form of media but not another. The way I see it, if you truly had a problem with the subject matter, you wouldn’t let your kids consume it in any form.
I would rather my child be exposed to it at home where I can use it as a teachable moment than her getting the ‘school yard’ or ‘playground definitions’ of the terminology. I’m not saying don’t protect your kids or censor their media exposure, but understand that they are going to be exposed to it later in life. Showing and teaching them at home that there’s a time and place for it is far better than allowing them to cuss or make wrongful comments at an inappropriate time.
The haters
Too many people are hating on Taylor for this album, but it seems they’ve failed to separate Taylor Swift the artist from Taylor Swift the person.
We all seem to forget that not only is Taylor an incredible musician who has chosen to share that talent with the world, she’s also a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a human being. She has spent her entire adult life in the public eye, been placed on a pedestal by so many people, that she receives an unnecessary amount of hate every time she fails to meet our expectations. In doing so, we fail to acknowledge her achievements.
She deserves a personal life and deserves to be allowed to make mistakes. After all, wouldn’t we want the same courtesy? As far as I’m concerned, her personal life is none of my business, and it matters even less who the songs are about.
I’m more thrilled to see that she’s a record-breaking female artist in a male-dominated industry. I’m more thrilled to see that she is a role model for young girls, and having the chance to witness how much her music has grown with her.
She’s not afraid to stand up to her label and write what she wants to write, finding her true sound in the process. There are countless artists who struggle their entire career unable to make the kind of music they want because they have to listen to the label’s demands. It’s refreshing to see an artist release music that is distinct from everything else you find on the radio today.
She has broken the mould and bravely informed us that she isn’t going to fit in the boxes we keep trying to shove her in anymore.
I’m not even going to touch on the subject of her music being allegedly demonic, Satanic, or sacrilegious (‘mocking Christianity’). I don’t even know where to begin with that line of thinking other than to say that people have the uncanny ability to twist religious texts and use them against others to support their own beliefs. I could do it here but, again, if anything offends you, I urge you to take a look in the mirror and take the time to do some self-reflection, because you just might find that you are the problem. Ask yourself: “Am I really offended by this, or am I just jumping on the bandwagon?” If you are offended, that’s okay. Just ask yourself why, and then try to figure out why you’re offended and maybe change your way of thinking. Seeing different viewpoints and trying to understand them is how we grow as people.
Epilogue
I know not everyone is going to share my opinion, and I know that I can’t change the minds of the people that have chosen to hate Taylor Swift simply for existing. But I will always commend Taylor for using her platform to say all the things we wish we could, but for whatever reason we chose to stay quiet. Is she making drastic changes to the world? Probably not, but the food bank donations certainly did. Yet, by sharing her stories, she’s tossing the pebbles that might give others the courage to make changes. All it takes is one small ripple to change the pond, just like it only takes one person changing to change the world. All it takes is choosing kindness over spite, choosing peace over revenge, and choosing love over hate.
Nigel Ip 
Leave a comment