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Taylor Swift Breaks the Fourth Wall on the Tortured Poets Department

Pop Culture

July 12, 2024

Taylor Swift's highly anticipated 11th album, The Tortured Poets Department, finally came out on the 19th of April 2024, following which it was also included as a set in her Eras Tour. Not only did she drop 16 songs as a part of the album, but she revealed that it was a double album at 2 am known as The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, followed by 15 bonus tracks. The initial reaction to this album was negative, however, many have since changed their opinion after sitting with the album for a few days.

Taylor has taken some unique approaches in this album, some that we have not seen before. This article will talk about both the regular album and the anthology and dive into what makes this album unique.

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The Tortured Poets Department

The regular album consists of 16 songs, including two features: Post Malone and Florence + the Machine. The very first striking difference on this album is that it doesn't look like there's any song that's ‘for the radio’. As seen on her previous album, Midnights, many thought songs like Bejeweled and Anti-Hero were made keeping in mind that these songs would hit the radio and would have a wide reach off the album.

Many feel like Taylor is truly giving us the truth about her life and feelings on this without regard for what parties such as her fans, critics and media outlets have to say about her. Below I will break down some lyrics/concepts on the album that I found most interesting.

The Tortured Poets Department

Photo by Jovan Vasiljević on Unsplash

The title track of the album has quite a lot to say, but a few aspects of it truly strike listeners. While the song is not one of my favorites from the album, the song begins with the mention of a typewriter followed by the line “Who uses typewriters anyway?” The placement of this lyric is quite appropriate since many listeners expressed that as soon as the typewriter was mentioned, they wondered why someone would carry around a typewriter, and that is right when this lyric comes up.

It's a subtle yet clever trick for a songwriter. The second line was the much-discussed name-drop of Charlie Puth.

We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist

Some people thought Taylor was mocking Charlie, while others believed that she truly wanted to give him a little shoutout. Charlie responded to this by releasing a new single called Hero!

So Long, London

Once the tracklist of the album was released, this was one of the songs people looked forward to the most since it would be the first song that somewhat addressed her breakup with Joe Alwyn. The song is truly heartbreaking and so well written, talking about the end of a relationship. Although melancholic, the song has a sense of hope and moving on, as she uses lines like “you'll find someone”. While the song says “so long, London” as a way of saying goodbye, it later transitions to “for so long, London”, making it a part of a sentence.

I'm [censored] off you let me give you all that youth for free for so long London

and

I'm just mad as [censored] because I loved this place for so long, London

It sounds like she is addressing the city, and is saying goodbye to a place that gave her great memories.

But Daddy, I Love Him

One of the most talked about songs which is also a part of the TTPD setlist on the Eras Tour had people stunned as Taylor sang the following lines.

I'm running with my dress unbuttoned / screaming “but daddy, I love him” / I'm having his baby / no I'm not but you should've seen your faces

I found the overall theme of the song to be similar to Love Story, a song released by Taylor in 2008. This lyric is a prime example of how Taylor has used moments of this album to directly address her audience. Clips of YouTubers and influencers reacting to this line have gone viral on social media, and it looks like it is Taylor's way of mocking all the media speculation about her life.

loml

Photo by Grigorii Shcheglov on Unsplash

I found this to be one of the most devastating songs on the album. At first glance, loml is a known abbreviation for the love of my life.

While this is how it's used during the song, the last line of the song is “you're the loss of my life”, creating a full circle moment on how heartbreaking the lyrics are. The bridge of the song brings in a sense of rage when it talks about conversations of marriage and children before a relationship breaks up and how happiness was almost within reach before it was taken away.

Clara Bow

Taylor Swift talks about how successful women are used and manipulated by the industry. She begins with Clara Bow, a silent film star whose private life was constantly under a magnifying glass, just like Taylor Swift's. Clara Bow underwent a series of unfortunate events owing to public scrutiny, mental health issues sexism in the industry, and more. She had a rough childhood and following her short period of stardom, she spiraled due to the constant betrayal and discrimination she faced in Hollywood and was eventually institutionalized.

Otto Dyar on Wikimedia Commons

The next verse of the song refers to Stevie Nicks, a dear friend of Swift. The short verse talks about Stevie's popularity in the 70s and refers to the many references people have drawn between Nicks and Swift.

The rest of the song talks about how women in the industry are often ‘replaced’ when younger talent begins to emerge. Women continue to face setbacks in music and Hollywood because of outdated sexist ideas and the concept of making successful women compete against each other. The song ends with:

You look like Taylor Swift / In this light, we're lovin' it / You've got edge, she never did / The future's bright, dazzling"

Taylor foresees the future and talks about how one day young women in the industry will be told that they look like Taylor Swift, a global superstar, and they're going to do better than her. This has already started happening as musicians like Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, and more have started to become popular. Although Taylor expresses support for these artists and they also publicly admire her, the media continues to pit them against each other.

This phenomenon is interestingly rare when it comes to male artists. Songs with this message are powerful and are slowly bringing change to how the world looks at female artists.

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TTPD: The Anthology

The TTPD Anthology consists of 15 bonus songs that were released at 2 am following the album release at midnight. Many feel like The Anthology is a more raw and honest version of the regular album, and I couldn't agree more.

thanK you aIMee

We usually wouldn't expect Taylor Swift to release a diss track, but she has done it in her own way. One thing that fans immediately noted is that the capitalized letters in the title spell out Kim. Taylor and Kim Kardashian have had their points of conflict in the past, and this song gracefully calls Kim out for her distasteful behavior.

Taylor sings about how while Kim was ‘throwing punches’, Taylor was busy building her career. Despite the rage she feels towards Kim, she also says that Kim's behavior ‘healed’ her by keeping her motivated to continue to work hard towards success.

A striking sentence in the song is “your kid comes home singing a song that only us two is gonna know is about you”. North, Kim and Kanye's daughter, appears to be a Taylor Swift fan, and this lyric allegedly addresses that.

Peter

One of my favorite songs on the entire album, Peter, is a beautifully constructed storyline drawing from the tale of Peter Pan and Wendy. It also feels like a full circle moment since Taylor refers to “Peter losing Wendy” on cardigan, a track on her 2020 album folklore. The song is from the perspective of Wendy, talking about her waiting for Peter's arrival.

She thought their distance would be temporary and she would see him again, but she realized that he may not return at some point. She thought he would grow up and eventually find her and continued to wait with this hope, but soon understood that Peter would never grow up. The song also refers to the Lost Boys, a group of boys Peter stays with who never grow up. She refers to how their promises were ‘oceans deep’ but were never fulfilled.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed the entire anthology but the bonus songs were exceptionally well done. Songs like Peter, How Did It End? and The Black Dog were especially captivating.

This album is a poetic masterpiece and a testament to Taylor's power and creativity as a songwriter. I also felt like the album directly addresses the media and her audience in many ways. Many feel like the lyrics were too complicated, but it's important to acknowledge that as she grows and experiences more, her music will not continue to cater to very young audiences.

Sapna Kappal
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Writer since Jan, 2023 · 32 published articles

Sapna covers pop culture, music, TV and film, mental health, and student life on TTM.

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