I vividly remember the night Taylor Swift announced her 11th studio album “The Tortured Poets Department.” I was watching the Grammys when she won the award for “Best Pop Vocal Album.”
Suddenly she made the announcement, and I was up out of my seat jumping with excitement.
I had very high expectations for this album, so it makes me sad that it ended up being on the lower end of my ranking.
The album was originally 16 songs, but after the initial release, Swift surprised fans by releasing 15 additional songs.
“Fortnite (featuring Post Malone)” is a great opener for this album. I feel like her voice blends well with Post’s, though I wish he had more solo vocals on this track.
This song reminded me of the songs on “Midnights,” with the synth-pop vibe.
“So Long London” was a perfect track five for this album. I think this is one of the sadder songs on the album. In this song, Swift talks about her past relationship and how the end of it affected her.
“I stopped CPR, after all, it’s no use” ties directly to the line “I can’t find a pulse, my heart won’t start anymore,” from the song “You’re Losing Me.”
“But Daddy I Love Him” gave me literal whiplash being directly after “So Long London.” I turned my head to the lyrics so quickly during the chorus. “I’m having his baby. No, I’m not but you should see your faces.” It’s almost like she broke through the fourth wall.
One of my favorites from the album is “Florida!!” I love how the feature, Florence Welch, had a solo verse. The song talks about how Florida is so addicting, it’s almost like a drug. That’s how I feel about this song.
The build up during the bridge gives me chills. It’s so catchy and makes me want to jump around and sing it.
“The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” has one of the best bridges ever. Whoever this song is about is clearly not on Swift’s good side. She throws out a bunch of accusations during this track.
“You deserve prison but won’t get time.”
Another one of my favorites is “Clara Bow”. This song talks about how women are trained to replace each other in the entertainment industry. This song is very lowkey and soft, not synth pop like the other ones.
My absolute favorite song on the album is “So High School.” I feel like this song is the embodiment of the smart girl and athletic boy book trope.
“Truth, dare spin bottles, you know how to ball, I know Aristotle.” This line is so simple but makes me want to scream into my pillow. Even the instrumentals sound like a teenage rom-com movie. I feel like she perfectly describes how in love she is with this song.
Along with “Clara Bow,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is the other saddest song on the album, despite it having a fun beat to it.
“I cry a lot, but I am so productive” is a relatable lyric.
I love how you can hear her In-Ears in the background, showing that even though people may think she is having the time of live on the Eras Tour she was secretly going through a lot behind the scenes.
“I’m miserable, and nobody even knows!”
Swift has another song on the bonus album titled “thanK you aImee.” I might be looking into things, but those capital letters spell out Kim, as in Kim Kardashian?
“Your kid comes home singing, a song only us two is going to know is about you.” Many fans believe she is referencing how she wrote “Shake it Off” after all the drama surrounding that family. I personally feel like this song is a big girl boss moment. After all, she is thanking “Aimee.”
After countless days of only listening to this album, I still cannot give it a fair ranking. While there are songs that I love and have had on repeat, there are also some that make me turn my nose up.
Every song on this album sounds like one Swift has previously released, which I know is probably intentional. Some of the songs have lyrics that may not be appropriate for younger audiences.
For now, I am going to give this album 9/13 tortured poets.
Listen to TTPD here:
