Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
The day Swifties have been anxiously waiting for finally arrived, the release day of The Tortured Poets Department. The album’s sound is a fusion between Midnights, folklore, and evermore, with songs carrying more of a beat while others were slower and somber. Shortly after the midnight drop, Swift surprised everyone two hours later and dropped The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, a staggering 31-song deluxe album. One could say that this version of the album was a two-for-one album special.
One of her songs “thanK you aIMee” is thought to be about Kim Kardashian. With its hinting lyrics about Kim and her sneaky ways, it’s easy to identify who this could be about. Her song “But Daddy I Love Him” plays on a common trope of dads telling their daughters they can’t be with a guy for vast reasons such as age and the girls saying “But Daddy I love him!” It was interesting to see her play on this trope with the song. The song made listeners think back to “Love Story” off her album Fearless which has the same feeling of not being able to be with your love because of a parent. Her album also included features from fellow artists Post Malone and Florence + The Machine which fans were excited about.
Throughout the album, she has songs that reference prior eras of hers. One of those songs “Who’s Afraid of Little Of Little Old Me” references her reputation era. Some think it could be her way of touching on the subject of exes and people who did her wrong and being nervous about her writing a potentially scathing song about them. Her album wasn’t nailed down to one specific topic and it felt like listening to someone’s journal as each song had a different subject than the last. It had the most variety in terms of genre, compared to her other albums. When writing these songs, she told stories and painted pictures in the listener’s mind. It can be melodramatic at times given the name of the album but it works with the blend of music she’s put together. The Tortured Poets Department includes songs about Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy, and Travis Kelce; except the references to Kelce are all positive, so he survived this album release. Fans hoped that Swift would include songs about Joe Alwyn and Matt Healy after those breakups and Swift certainly did not disappoint the fans. Overall, The Tortured Poets Department is worth listening to even if it’s longer than her typical album lengths. The Tortured Poets Department is available everywhere now.
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