All’s Fair in Love and Poetry… Taylor Swift’s newest album

“The Tortured Poets Department” Taylor Swift’s 11th album came out on April 19th, 2024, she announced her newest album on February 4th at the Grammys after winning Album of the Year for the fourth time.  For the past 3 years, Taylor has been re-recording her old albums, so when she releases a completely new album it’s a big deal for fans. This album has 17 tracks and the additional 15 from the 2 am edition, including 2 songs with features, one with Post Malone called “Fortnight” and one with Florence-The Machine called “Florida!!!”. A lot of people speculated this album would be based around her ex-boyfriend actor Joe Alwyn, and that it would be similar to her albums like, “Folklore” and “Evermore” as opposed to her more upbeat pop albums. Upon its release fans are calling this Taylor’s most personal album as she name-drops people from her real life including producer and co-writer Jack Antonoff and friend Lucy Dacus. She makes many poem references including one from Stevie Nicks that states “She looked back from her future/And shed a few tears/He looked into his path/And actually felt fear.” 

2 hours after release Taylor and Taylor Nation posted an announcement for the second installment of TTPP: The Anthology. This was not a shock to tried and true Taylor Swift fans, as she is known for her easter eggs and had been seen in multiple photos holding up twos and many were seen in her newest music videos. 

Some of the most popular songs off this album are

-So Long, London which is speculated to be about Taylor’s long-term ex Joe Alwyn as a callback to “London Boy” in her 2019 album “Lover” This song was the 5th track of the album, if you’re a Taylor fan you know this means it’s one of the more vulnerable songs on the album. 

-Who’s afraid of Little Old Me? This song is all about her stardom and she states “The circus life made me mean”. 

-But Daddy I Love Him, is one of the more pop songs on the album which references her “fling” with “1975” lead singer Matty Healy, this relationship got a lot of backlash from the public due to his controversial statements, and this song addressed that. 

-The Smallest Man that ever lived, this song is also rumored to be about Matty Healy, this song is a little more incriminating, stating the lyrics “I would’ve died for your sins now I’m just dying inside, and you deserve prison but you won’t get time.” 

-So High School is one of the other pop songs on the album and is a reference to her current relationship with Chief tight end Travis Kelce, this song is all about being in a happy relationship after a lot of unhealthy ones. One of the fan-favorite lyrics in this song is “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle”. Referencing Taylor’s singing career and Travis’s football career. 

A lot of people at Waukee are Taylor Swift fans, including sophomore Delaney Dorsey who stated, “My favorite song is “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”.I like it because the lyrics speak to me and I understand the song. Sophomore Ella Wells stated, “I like the album and like it more and more as I listen to it. My favorite song is either “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” or “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”.” Another sophomore Miley Robinson stated “I love “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” because I can relate to it and I think it’s really beautiful lyrically”. 

No matter what you’re going through, there’s probably a song on this album that you can relate to!