And they were right — Swift released the 16-song record at midnight ET on Friday, then dropped a surprise two hours later at 2 a.m. It's actually a double album titled “The Tortured Poets Division: The Anthology” with 15 additional songs. (I can only imagine how much Swift laughed at people who thought she was getting the best of her when the first half leaked on Thursday.)
It was a fitting addition to a project that repeatedly reminds listeners that they know nothing about this pop megastar's behind-the-scenes work — and she's gone through quite a journey dealing with the complexities of fame. . Here are the main things you need to know about the album:
Yes, the big theme is heartbreak.
Judging by the title, you can probably guess that there's a lot of angst on this record, as well as some of the tracklist: “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” “I Can Fix Him ( “No Really I Can)'' and “So Long London'' — the latter is song number five, and everyone knows Swifty reserves a spot for her most personal songs. Ahead of her release, Swift created a series of playlists for Apple Music that categorize songs from her own discography into five stages of grief.
Swift delivers lyric after lyric about devastating heartbreak. / I died on the altar waiting for proof,” she sings on “So Long London.” And in “LOML,” she turns the words that usually mean “love of life” on the internet into “loss of life.”
She drops (some) hints about the subject matter of her songs
Swift rose to stardom as a teen country singer by hiding hints about real-life boyfriends and crushes in her liner notes. That habit of hers went away when she became a global superstar, but as always, her fans are already looking to analyze who exactly Swift is singing about in these songs. He is working hard. (“I've written so many painful poems over the past two years that I wanted to share them all with you.” Swift Posted on social media on Friday. )
The obvious assumption before the album's release was that many of the songs would be about British actor Joe Alwyn, whom Swift dated for six years before announcing their split in April 2023. However, fans who heard the lyrics noticed an obvious reference to Matty Healy instead. Swift is the lead singer of British band The 1975, with whom she was romantically involved for several months last year. (For example, People magazine I got it. Is that “Guilty as Sin”? She mentioned Healy's favorite band, Blue Nile. )
Swift has provided few details about the timeline for Tortured Poets, but she will begin recording it after finishing Midnight (likely in late 2021 or early 2022) and will begin recording it during her Elas tour, which began last spring. said he continued. So it's unclear whether her inclusion of her relationship with Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce would have worked out as a timing, though. teeth A sports-themed line from “The Alchemy.”
Swift isn't thrilled with opinions about her relationship
Swift and Healy have been spotted together numerous times, and Healy has also appeared at some of her concerts, but they have never acknowledged that they are an item. Still, Swift is no stranger to controversy, given that she has long been criticized for offensive comments, such as laughing and going along with a podcast host's racist comments about rapper Ice Spice. Many people were upset that it had anything to do with the singer. Some fans launched a campaign called #SpeakUpNow, asking Swift to address and condemn her actions.
Swift hasn't spoken publicly about Healy, but on Friday morning, listeners were already drawing the line between the public outcry and her “But Daddy I Love Him” lyrics. Swift had harsh words for people she doesn't know who criticize her. ”
“I'll tell you something about my good name,” she sings, “and it's mine with all its shame.”
Swift is still processing her complicated feelings about fame
Being one of the most famous and richest celebrities on the planet has many perks, but it can also ruin your life. Swift has explored this theme before, and continues on “Tortured Poets.”
“I wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me,” she sneers in “Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?” He was quiet and kind,” he added.
Another song, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,'' appears to be about how he performed despite being heartbroken during his record-breaking Elas tour. Meanwhile, the last song on her album's first half, “Clara Bow,” references an early 20th century silent film actress whose personal life was heavily scrutinized by the tabloids.
She buries the hatchet, but keeps a map of where she left it.
This is Swift's way of saying she holds a grudge (in her 2017 song “Endgame”), and this still holds true today. She thoroughly skewers an unnamed ex-boyfriend in “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” (I would have died for your sins, instead I just died inside/And you deserves prison, but you won't get any time).
The second half of the album is filled with songs with proper names, such as “Cassandra,” “Robin,” “Peter,” and “Chloe, Sam, Sophia, Marcus.” But one of them is called “Thank You Amy,” which is stylized as “thanK you aIMee”…and fans quickly realized it was Swift's longtime nemesis Kim Kardashian, also known as “Kim.” I realized that I was writing . The song is peppered with abuse towards Amy, and there is no confusion about how Amy feels about any particular person.
However, in a short statement on Instagram, Swift seemed to want to let her listeners know that she has no intention of looking back, calling “Torchard Poets'' a new album that reflects “transient events, opinions, and emotions.'' Anthology.'' And in a fatalistic moment, it was both sensational and sad. ”
“This period in the author's life is already over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once the wounds heal,” Swift continued. “And upon further reflection, it turns out that a significant number of them were self-inflicted. This writer firmly believes that our tears become sacred in the form of ink on a page. Once we tell our saddest stories, we are freed from them.”