Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department Key Points

After announcing her next album at the Grammys, Taylor Swift has left clues and easter eggs for her fans to figure out what the next album is going to be like. Here is everything that Swift has told fans in order to prepare for the release!

Track List

On February 5th, Taylor Swift released an image of the tracklist that was going to be on her newest album. There are four sides to the album, each containing around four songs and side D containing the bonus song.

Side A is made up of the songs “Fortnight” (feat. Post Malone), “The Tortured Poets Department”, “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”, and “Down Bad”. Side B contains the tracks “So Long, London”, “But Daddy I Love Him”, “Fresh Out the Slammer”, and “Florida!!!” (feat. Florence and The Machine). Many fans have speculated that the track “But Daddy I Love Him” is in reference to the famous line from the original The Little Mermaid. With this connection, fans wonder if she is referencing her past relationship, Joe Alwyn, and if she felt that she had to give up her voice to be with him, just as Ariel did.

Side C contains the songs “Guilty as Sin?”, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”, and “loml”. Finally, Track D is made up of “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, “Clara Bow”, and the bonus track for each respective iteration of the album. Fans have speculated about the track “Clara Bow” and how it may be related to the actual film star. She was a famous film star back in the 1920’s and even starred in some of the first ever films that contained sound. After marrying her spouse, she retired from film. Some wonder if this is once again related to her past relationships, specifically her relationship with Joe Alwyn.

Iterations and Bonus Tracks

Since the announcement of the first version of the album on February 5th, Taylor has released three different versions, each entitled a different file name and containing a different bonus song. These bonus songs would have the same name as the version that they appear on. The original version of the album was entitled The Manuscript. This could be reference to her entire body of work or the album as a whole as a manuscript refers to something that is either written by hand or not yet published.

Taylor would then release the next version of the album on February 16th and this would be entitled The Bolter. To bolt means to unexpectedly run away, so this album title could be in reference to herself or anyone that she has shared a relationship with suddenly ending things, as Swift has discussed before in songs such as “Getaway Car” The third iteration of the album would be entitled The Albatross and Swift would release this version of the album on February 23. An albatross is a massive sea bird that flies for 5 to 10 years at a time. Fans speculate that this could be Swift relating herself and her career to the flight passage of the bird. Finally, the last version of the album would be released on March 3rd and would be entitled The Black Dog. In many cultures the black dog is symbolic of death, which fans speculate could be relating to the death of a relationship or the death of an era.

Album Cover

With there being so many versions of the album, there are also multiple different album covers to accompany them. The first album cover to be released was on February 4th, the same day as the Grammys. This cover depicts Swift lying on a bed with only the lower half of her face being shown. This cover is certainly Taylor’s most risque!

Manuscript’s cover depicts Taylor leaning against the wall, exasperated with her eyes closed. The Bolter cover once again shows Taylor lying on a bed, but this time only her face can be seen with her eyes looking at the ground. The Albatross cover shows Taylor looking into the camera with a sea of water behind her. This refers back to the sea bird that the verison is named after. Finally, The Black Dog cover depicts Taylor against a black background with her arms hugging her body. This is the darkest of the covers, possibly illustrating the connection between the symbolic nature of the album title.

Lyrics

With the release of each version of the album, not only did fans get a new cover and a new bonus song, but they also contained possible lyrics. With the first announcement of the album, Swift included the lyrics “And so I entered into evidence, My tarnished coat of arms, My muses acquired like bruises, My talismans and charms. The tick, tick, tick of love bombs. My veins of pitch black ink. All’s fair in love and poetry… Sincerely, The Chairman of The Tortured Poets Department.” In these lyrics it seems as though she is talking about a past relationship and the scars it left behind. She is possibly also referencing her work and how she writes about these relationships. As Swift famously said “…If guys don’t want me to write bad songs about them, they shouldn’t do bad things”

The lyrics released along with Manuscript was “I love you, it’s ruining my life” which is very similar to the lyrics in her song “Cruel Summer”, “I love you, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard” Next on The Bolter, Swift released the lyrics “You don’t get to tell me about sad”. These lyrics sound like they are representative of being in an argument with someone or trying to defend a position. Then on The Albatross, Swift released the lyrics “Am I allowed to cry?”. This could possibly be in reference to the lyrics from the record “The Great War”, “I vowed not to cry anymore. If we survive the Great War” With this connection being a possibility, it could be assumed that Taylor is asking if it is okay to cry now that the “Great War” has been lost. Finally, on The Black Dog, Swift showed fans the lyrics “Old habits die screaming.” This lyric plays on the famous saying “Old habits die hard” which could be in reference to the habits one builds within a relationship or just habits in general.

Release Date

The album, and all of its versions, will be available on all streaming platforms April 19th. Mark your calendars!