Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album has been one of the most anticipated since her huge successes from her re-releases and Era’s Tour. After just listening to this album once, I can tell you it is one for the books.
A lot of the songs remind me of other songs from her discography, making them feel nostalgic for other albums like Lover, Reputation, Folklore, and Evermore.
All of them have lyrics about her relationship with her ex, Joe Alwyn. The title of the album itself is a reference to a group chat Alwyn and his friends are in called “Tortured Man Club.”
However, there’s also a new feeling to the album that drew me in as the melodies and echoey sound in most of her songs is something we haven’t heard much before.
The lyrics are like listening to a poetry book; that gives fans insight into her emotions. Some of my favorite songs were “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and “loml” because each begins with her feeling lost and helpless, and shifting to an angry and resentful tone by the end.
When fans saw the song titled “So Long, London” the assumption was Swift is saying her farewell to the city and the life she built there, but I saw it as her reminiscing about how much time she spent in London, and how she will never get that time or youth back. Through the lyric “I’m just mad as hell ‘cause I loved this place for so long, London,” this song quickly became my favorite with just one listen.
If sixteen songs weren’t enough, Swift released fifteen more titled The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. The second album seems to be poems that were turned into songs, and when you listen to the lyrics, you can hear the lyrical poeticism within them.
A main theme throughout the album was the references to rings and marriage and how she never got that from her past relationship with Joe Alwyn. This for me, made the album that much more gut-wrenching and special. A lot of the songs also mention feeling like she’s been criticized constantly which resonated with me. A song titled “ThanK you aIMee” has the name Kim capitalized in the title, which many believe is about Kim Kardashian and a stab at her involvement in the attempt to ruin Swift’s reputation.
Despite the mixed opinions on her new album and the feel of it, many original Swifties found themselves enjoying the songs and melodies, which could be because Swift did not hold back. Her lyricism and emotions that she incorporated into her art made it all the more enjoyable in a painful way.