Breaking down all 31 songs on the pop famous person’s 2024 album, together with each monitor from ‘The Anthology.’
Taylor Swift
BETH GARRABRANT/REPUBLIC RECORDS
Each tune on Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Division is a murals and a masterpiece. Let’s get that out of the way in which first.
However, with 31 dense tracks, there’s sure to be some that stand out for varied causes. In spite of everything, Swift is thought for her storytelling, lyrical prowess and narrative-driven pop songs.
So, for enjoyable and to encourage dialog, The Hollywood Reporter’s resident Swiftie is rating all 31 songs off Swift’s newest file.
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“Cassandra”
Our checklist begins with the day-dream lullaby “Cassandra.” It’s only one of some songs on this album to take care of ideas and emotions of betrayal. It references the determine Cassandra from Greek mythology, recognized actually as “she who entangles males,” who was sabotaged by Apollo.
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“Peter”
In “Peter,” Swift says goodbye to a former associate whom she thought she could be with eternally. “Stated you had been gonna develop up, you then had been gonna come discover me,” the lyrics say. It’s a melancholy reference to Peter Pan, who by no means did develop up.
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“Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”
This tune tells the story of a fraught relationship that ended with infidelity, both bodily or emotional. Swift references Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus as a strategy to say she doesn’t care who the opposite particular person in her relationship was, illustrating an indifference stronger than hatred.
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“How Did It Finish?”
Swift seemingly references her ex Joe Alwyn on this monitor, which options lyrical parallels to a different tune she’s written about that fading relationship, “You’re Dropping Me.” She questions and interrogates the gradual burnout of their partnership. The road “sitting in a tree, d-y-i-n-g” strikes onerous as a parody of the school-age taunt, “k-i-s-s-i-n-g.”
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“Recent Out the Slammer”
On this monitor, Swift laments in regards to the need now we have to run again to somebody we all know isn’t good for us when a relationship ends. She alludes to being set freed from a stifling relationship and working towards one other one: “Recent out the slammer, I do know who my first name might be to.”
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“The Bolter”
“The Bolter” tells the story of a lady whom you possibly can by no means get too near: “Glorious enjoyable ’til you get to know her.” She at all times runs away. It’s one in every of Swift’s most narrative-driven songs on the album.
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“Robin”
“Robin,” a piano ballad anchored by the hook “Technique to go, tiger,” evokes emotions of childhood, in similarity to former Swift tracks like “The Greatest Day” and “seven.”
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“Clara Bow”
The titular Clara Bow was one in every of Hollywood’s first icons. She was a intercourse image and a socialite. The tune additionally references Stevie Nicks, and Swift name-drops herself. It’s an infectious hook with a narrative rooted within the leisure trade. Swift defined the tune is “a commentary on what I’ve seen within the trade that I’ve been in over time.”
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“The Tortured Poets Division”
The title monitor of the album is among the songs that appears to most straight reference Swift’s previous relationship with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, a major character on this file. It doesn’t paint a optimistic depiction, to say the least. It’s, in fact, notable that this tune provides the album its identify. And, sure, Charlie Puth needs to be an even bigger artist.
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“The Prophecy”
One of the heartbreaking songs on the file, “The Prophecy,” sees Swift lamenting the gradual fading of a former relationship. She’s in a determined state: “Please, I’ve been on my knees, change the prophecy.” It options a number of the strongest lyrical work on the album.
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“I Hate It Right here”
“I Hate It Right here” is an anthem for the dissociators. It’s about going to different worlds to flee. It’s for these of us who flip to motion pictures, music, books and fantastical adventures to get away from actuality. It’s blunt and one of many sadder songs on the file (which is saying one thing).
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“Fortnight” (feat. Submit Malone)
The lead single off The Tortured Poets Division options an addictive hook and a significant enhance from Submit Malone. There’s no denying that the poignant and piercing lyric “I like you, it’s ruining my life” has been caught within the heads of many for the reason that album dropped. It’s probably the most consumer-facing monitor and might be considered the “cardigan” of this file. An on the spot smash and one other Swift traditional, accompanied by a shocking video with cinematography by Killers of the Flower Moon DP Rodrigo Prieto.
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“The Albatross”
Swift assumes her man-eater persona on this monitor: “She’s the Albatross, she is right here to destroy you…She’s the dying you selected, you’re in horrible hazard.” It’s harking back to the identification she’s beforehand taken on for songs like “Clean Area.” It reads as a warning to Travis Kelce, or any future companions.
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“The Alchemy”
Talking of Kelce, “The Alchemy” is extensively assumed to be one of many few tracks on Tortured Poets that references Swift’s present relationship with the Tremendous Bowl-winning athlete. It’s about plain chemistry and when your relationship simply feels proper. “Who’re we to battle the alchemy?”
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“I Look in Individuals’s Home windows”
At simply over two minutes, this is among the shortest songs on the album. However darn if it isn’t catchy. It casts Swift as a peeping tom of kinds, watching like a ghost by means of folks’s home windows, in search of group and a former lover. It’s received that folklore/evermore cozy cabin vibe and is greatest loved by candlelight.
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“So Lengthy, London”
Arguably the saddest tune on the file, on “So Lengthy London,” it’s closely speculated that Swift is saying goodbye to Alwyn. It cuts deep as an epilogue to songs off her Lover album, like “London Boy” and “Cornelia Road.” In saying goodbye to her six-year relationship, she additionally components methods with one in every of her favourite cities. It’s the closing of a chapter of her life.
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“loml”
What was that in regards to the saddest tune on the file? “loml” as soon as once more is closely purported to be about Swift’s parting with ex-boyfriend Alwyn. The anagram has a double which means, standing for “love of my life,” which Swift says she was informed “one million instances,” in addition to “lack of my life,” referencing the connection as one in every of her best loves.
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“I Can Repair Him (No Actually I Can)”
On this tune, Taylor Swift places a melody to a standard millennial mantra: “I can repair him; no actually, I can.” It’s a country-twinged monitor all about diving head-first into that relationship that you recognize will find yourself unhealthy. It’s a siren tune about reckless abandon and unhealthy selections.
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“My Boy Solely Breaks His Favourite Toys”
One of many few songs that Swift penned solely by herself on Tortued Poets, “My Boy Solely Breaks His Favourite Toys” is the kind of poppy earworm we all know we will depend on Swift for. It’s in regards to the hindsight of realizing a relationship wasn’t constructed to final. It paints the “boy” in query as an immature baby, one who would moderately knock over his constructing blocks than attempt to spell with them.
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“The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”
Ouch. A standout tune on the file, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” pulls no punches when studying down its topic. Closely rumored to be about Healy, Swift paints the image of a hopeless, pill-obsessed loser who wrought her feelings and took her on a darkish journey. It’s maybe the cruelest and most direct Swift has ever been on one in every of her breakup/revenge songs. The topic of this tune might by no means recuperate.
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“The Manuscript”
Swift likes to finish her albums with an epilogue of kinds. As the ultimate monitor on ‘The Anthology’ model of Tortured Poets, “The Manuscript” serves as simply that. It symbolizes the closing of a ebook and the turning of a brand new web page. It sees Swift trying again on a really previous relationship (Jake Gyllenhaal? John Mayer?). She shares a brand new perspective on the affair as she’s grown older. It additional cements Swift as one in every of our technology’s best storytellers, appearing as each the closing of a story and the opening of one other. It, virtually actually, closes the ebook on the Tortured Poets period.
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“So Excessive Faculty”
Tortured Poets is a heavy album, however that doesn’t imply there aren’t vivid spots. “So Excessive Faculty” is among the most upbeat, feel-good songs on the album. It’s an ideal callback to these ‘80s-‘90s dream pop tracks, the type you’d take heed to strolling down the hallway between durations. It’s received the sweeping feeling of songs like “Don’t You (Overlook About Me)” by Easy Minds or “Head Over Heels” by Tears for Fears. “You know the way to ball, I do know Aristotle.” It’s a lovey-dovey tribute to these good previous days and appears to reference Swift’s relationship with Kelce. It’s one of many happiest moments of the file.
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“Imgonnagetyouback”
Swift and Olivia Rodrigo have a dialogue going between their songs. Rodrigo famously admired Swift and even sampled “Merciless Summer season” for her tune “deja vu.” Now, Swift has launched a tune with an identical theme to Rodrigo’s “get him again,” enjoying with the double which means of revenge and rekindling. Swift’s take is catchy, and also you’ll discover it working by means of your head as you do the dishes.
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“I Can Do It With a Damaged Coronary heart”
A standout and celebratory monitor, “I Can Do It With a Damaged Coronary heart” shines as an upbeat anthem for staying robust throughout your hardest moments. It evokes songs like “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson. It’s a flex for Swift, the place she highlights her flawless performances in the course of the Eras Tour, all whereas going by means of a breakup. “I used to be grinning like I’m successful, I used to be hitting my marks,” Swift brags. On Spotify and YouTube, the tune is accompanied by footage from the Eras Tour. This one might escape as a single, with the possibility to hit it large like “Shake It Off.”
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“thanK you aIMee”
“I constructed a legacy you could’t undo.” Swift does what she does greatest on this tune — folks music and revenge. The capitalized letters within the identify of this monitor all however totally affirm that this tune is directed at Kim Kardashian, and it appears to handle Swift’s previous beef with the fact star and her former husband. It unpacks the sentiments Swift had at the moment and drags again up the battle that first took middle stage throughout Swift’s repute period. It’s received the vibe of Swift’s “betty.” Be careful for this one on any tour dates. Who might resist a stadium of individuals shouting “f–ok you, aimee!” (learn: “f–ok you, Kim Kardashian”).
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“The Black Canine”
As for stadium bangers, “The Black Canine” could be the black sheep in that class. The tune begins out gradual and builds to an epic, screeching refrain: “Outdated habits die screaming!” It’s sure to be a second the place Swifties go wild once they hear it dwell. The tune is closely rumored to peel again the layers of Healy and the way he upset Swift virtually immediately.
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“Down Unhealthy”
Utilizing a fantastical alien abduction as a metaphor, “Down Unhealthy” is a catchy lament about not getting what you need. It’s about eager for somebody and the way that may result in a melancholy. It’s received a number of the greatest Swift bridges on the album, which robotically catapults it towards the highest.
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“Who’s Afraid of Little Outdated Me?”
Swift takes on the witchy persona we’ve seen on albums like evermore on this standout monitor, “Who’s Afraid of Little Outdated Me?” It’s received a hook that, as soon as once more, must be shouted by a crowd in a stadium. Ideally howled on the moon in unison. It paints her as a sorceress and a monster. It’s sinister and threatening. Catch us enjoying this one on repeat at our Halloween events.
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“Responsible as Sin?”
One other tune that’s closely rumored to be about Healy, referencing one in every of his favourite songs ,“The Downtown Lights.” “Responsible as Sin” finds Swift feeling untrue, questioning if ideas in her head qualify as infidelity. It’s catchy as hell, a seamless mix of pop and country-folk. “I preserve recalling issues we by no means did … with out ever touching his pores and skin, how can I be responsible as sin?” It’s a tapestry of difficult feelings, woven to melodic perfection.
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“Florida!!!”
It was inevitable {that a} Taylor Swift and Florence Welch collaboration would attain the highest of this checklist. In a partnership that feels so pure it’s virtually a shock it hasn’t occurred earlier than, “Florida!!!” goes large, anthemic and loud. It’s a learn of the American dream, the American journey and the American expertise. It’s existential and haunting. We are able to solely hope for extra collaborations from this duo. Taylor x Florence x Bon Iver, when?
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“However Daddy I Love Him”
The highest monitor on our checklist encompasses every thing Tortured Poets is about and, extra largely, encapsulates that traditional Taylor Swift tune feeling. Once more, closely rumored to be about Healy, the tune addresses Scott Swift’s disapproval of his daughter’s relationship with The 1975 singer. It’s sweeping and glowing and provides that feeling of reckless abandon one may get from working throughout an open discipline at sundown. It’s a shimmer of sunshine on one in every of Swift’s darkest-feeling entries so far and deserves to be blasted with the home windows down on a sunny day.
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