Taylor Swift sings about how she was ‘feeling suicidal’ at the prospect of ending her relationship with an ex-lover on her new album.
The singer, 34, officially dropped The Tortured Poets Department – her 11th studio album – on Friday.
After releasing her new album at midnight ET (2am UK time), Taylor took to Instagram to announce her latest record was actually a surprise ‘double album,’ after sparking a flurry of speculation by posting a countdown clock on social media.
And in one of the songs, Taylor opens up on one of her intense romances, and claims she and the boyfriend felt suicidal at the prospect of them splitting up and parting ways.
In the title track, The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor sings: ‘You told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave/But I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen.’
Taylor Swift sings about how she was ‘feeling suicidal’ at the prospect of ending her relationship with an ex-lover on her new album
The singer, 34, officially dropped The Tortured Poets Department – her 11th studio album – on Friday
Fans are convinced these lyrics are a reference to her pal Lucy Dacus and co-songwriter and close friend Jack Antonoff.
Taylor also touches on dying because of heartbreak in the song Down Bad. Taylor goes on to sing, dramatically and amid expletives: ‘I might just die, it would make no difference.’
Elsewhere, furious fans have slammed Joe Alwyn as she hinted he was a cheat in her new album.
And many believe that Taylor is claiming Joe cheated with her acerbic song The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived – with fans raging at the actor.
Taylor was in a relationship with actor Joe, 32, for six years before their shock split in early 2023.
In the song, she belts out: ‘And you’ll confess why you did it… And I’ll say good riddance. Cos it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden.
‘You didn’t measure up in any measure of a man. I would have died for your sins but instead I just died inside. You deserve prison, but you won’t get time. You will slide into inboxes and slip through the bars.’
She also jibes: ‘In plain sight you hid but you are what you did. And I’ll forget you, but I’ll never forgive the smallest man who ever lived.’
In the fourth track, Swift admits to breaking down ‘crying at the gym’ and how the end of hers and Joe’s six-year relationship left her feeling ‘hollow.’
She sings: ‘Did you take all my old clothes just to leave me here naked and alone/ In a field in my same old town that somehow seems so hollow now’
Swift later accuses the past lover of abandoning her. ‘ How dare you think it’s romantic/ Leaving me safe and stranded.’
Taylor also touches on dying because of heartbreak in the song Down Bad. Taylor goes on to sing, dramatically and amid expletives: ‘I might just die, it would make no difference.’
Swift implies that Healy would be devastated if she left him and even appears to reference his close friend Lucy Dacus of the band boygenius (Matt pictured in May 2023)
Enraged fans queried the lyrics and added to the cheating speculation.
X was flooded with responses, with users writing: ‘the smallest man who ever lived: so did he cheat on her? did he abuse her? both deserved…’;
‘who’s The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived for?! did joe cheat?!… I’ll never understand how the hell that pink faced victorian looking man dared to cheat on THE Taylor Swift. The smallest man who ever lived for real.’;
‘Imagine cheating on THE Taylor Swift omg I’m furious’;
‘My husband is cheating I want to kill him. She’s so real for this I love u Taylor’;
‘Imagine cheating on a beautiful woman like Taylor’
Fans are also convinced the title of her album is a savage nod to the group chat her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn shared with pals Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott.
Swifties remembered a crucial detail relating to her ex and her pal Phoebe Bridgers ‘ ex.
Back in 2022, Joe revealed a mutual friend created a WhatsApp group with him and Paul called The Tortured Man Club.
They later explained to Variety that Andrew ‘started the group,’ with Paul saying: ‘He’s just on it every day. He’s just on it by himself.’
Joe jokingly added: ‘Just messaging himself good mornings.’
Taylor Swift sent her fans into an emotional frenzy as she officially dropped her anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department – with Swifties already labeling the LP ‘a masterpiece.’
The Grammy winner, 34, also announced on Thursday that the first single from the new work is Fortnight , which features fellow music artist Post Malone.
The album became available at 9p.m. (PST) and her dedicated fans have voiced their thoughts over the music, with some being driven to tears and others calling Tortured Poets the singer’s ‘best album.’
Ahead of the release, Taylor kept busy by taking to social media to reveal that Fortnight, featuring Post Malone, would be the first single from the album.
Alongside a photo of the songstress and the Circles hitmaker, she penned, ‘The first single from The Tortured Poets Department is…………. Fortnight featuring @postmalone.’
She then expressed, ‘I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever.’
‘I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight. Honestly can’t wait for you guys to hear this song at Midnight TONIGHT and see the video at 8pm ET TOMORROW.’
And later on Thursday, she also teased the black-and-white music video that accompanies the single – which is slated to drop on Friday.
The short snippet began with the words, ‘I love you,’ being typed repeatedly on a piece of paper. The video then jumped to cuts of both Taylor and Post Malone, and at one point, the pair shared an embrace on an open road.
Swift then could be seen wearing a gothic, Victorian dress while she was in a room and appeared to be crying as she sat a desk writing.
Towards the end, the star sported a strapless gown as she tossed a chair in a window. Fans then saw a close-up of the singer’s face as she sent a dramatic gaze directly at the camera, ending the teaser.
‘At this hearing, I stand before my fellow members of The Tortured Poets Department with a summary of my findings,’ the Blank Space songstress wrote in the caption while counting down to the album’s release.
The songstress initially announced the album while attending the 2024 Grammys earlier this year in February.
The Tortured Poets Department has a total of four versions, as well as a 16 songs and a bonus track titled The Manuscript.
Since the announcement of the album, she’s revealed three additional versions of The Tortured Poets Department: The Bolter, The Albatross and The Black Dog. Each version – which could be pre-ordered by listeners – also contain an exclusive track.
One day after her album announcement, Swift dropped the official track list to the LP. She also has collaborations with other artists such as Post Malone on Fortnight and Florence & The Machine on the song called Florida!!!
As if 16 songs weren’t enough, fans learned that Swift included a ‘summary poem’ with the album.
Taylor wowed in the album artwork for the eagerly-anticipated record
She showed off her figure while reclining on a bed
She gave the black and white shots her all after releasing the album
In regards to the album title, fans were quickly convinced that the name was in reference to her ex, Joe Alwyn – whom she dated for six years until their split was confirmed in April 2023.
Back in 2022, the British-born actor explained that he was part of a WhatsApp group chat with close pals Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott called The Tortured Man Club.
Fans have also speculated that her latest work might possible reference to her short romance with The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy, and also her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.
Before the Super Bowl earlier this year, the NFL star expressed to Extra , ‘I have heard some of it, yes. And it is unbelievable.’
‘I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops,’ he continued, while later adding, ‘I can’t give you anything. I’ll leave that up to her.’
The football player added, ‘She’s unbelievable. She’s re-writing the history books herself. I told her, ‘I’ll have to hold up my end of the bargain and bring home some hardware, too.”
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: TRACK-BY-TRACK
Fortnight
A tuneful duet with Post Malone and a song seemingly about a two-week fling. The slow, electronic rhythms set the early tone.
The Tortured Poets Department
Another shimmering melody, and lyrics which suggest that Taylor, modestly, doesn’t see herself at the top table of tortured poets: ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas, and I’m not Patti Smith.’
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Written solely by Swift, this song’s dense electronic hum adds forceful notes. ‘Once I fix me, he’s gonna miss me,’ she vows.
Down Bad
‘Everything comes out teenage petulance,’ sings Taylor as she bitterly surveys the fallout from an old relationship.
So Long, London
The first track to be written with The National’s Aaron Dessner brings a change of pace, with a lovely, choral intro. ‘So long, London, you’ll find someone,’ sings Taylor.
This is her first new album since the end of her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn and, while she doesn’t mention Alwyn by name, speculation will be rife that tracks such as So Long, London are about him. Pictured together in 2019
But Daddy I Love Him
‘I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want,’ sings Swift, showing wry humour as she admits to falling for the bad boys. Produced, with real brightness, by Dessner.
Fresh Out The Slammer
Finger-picked acoustic guitar adds folky notes reminiscent of lockdown albums Folklore and Evermore.
Florida!!!
An album highlight, this theatrical duet with London singer Florence Welch is an uplifting song of escape – from small-town life and a bad romance.
Guilty As Sin?
A tale of unrequited love, and a superb slice of 1980s-style soft rock. It even mentions The Downtown Lights, a 1989 single by Scottish band The Blue Nile.
Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?
Big drums, a dramatic arrangement, and more dry humour in another song penned solely by Swift. ‘You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me,’ she snarls.
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
A moody, stripped-down number worthy of Lana Del Rey, who has also worked extensively with the song’s producer, Jack Antonoff.
The Alchemy: Sporting metaphors aplenty suggest a track inspired by the singer’s current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. Pictured at Coachella this week
Loml
‘You said I’m the love of your life,’ sings Taylor on this warm, resonant piano ballad. In a smart twist, the ‘loml’ ultimately becomes ‘the loss of my life’.
I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
More 1980s influences on an electronic pop track that sees Taylor vowing to remain a trouper, despite any romantic strife.
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
‘You didn’t measure up in any measure of a man,’ sings a disdainful Swift on a melodramatic ballad.
The Alchemy
Sporting metaphors aplenty suggest a track inspired by the singer’s current boyfriend, American football star Travis Kelce. ‘When I touch down, call the amateurs and cut them from the team,’ she sings.
Clara Bow
It’s tempting to think Taylor sees something of herself in a closing track inspired by an American actress of the 1920s who lived her life in the Hollywood goldfish bowl.
