It’s often said that music is simply poetry over an instrumental, and we’d argue that few artists (if any) prove that quite like Taylor Swift. She’s changed countless lives worldwide by putting our most confusing emotions into words that can comfort us like a warm hug or make us dance around our room to keep our minds off things. So it’s only natural that she’s claiming the title of “poet” for her eleventh studio album: The Tortured Poets Department!
All eyes were on Taylor the night of the 2024 GRAMMY Awards, especially after her site went down and she changed her online profile pictures to a black-and-white version of the Midnights cover. Everyone was counting on a reputation(Taylor’s Version) announcement, but she proved us delightfully wrong by announcing TS11 in her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album.
We know The Tortured Poets Department will absolutely deliver in the lyric department, so we’re getting excited by looking back at some of our favorite past Taylor lyrics! One from each album, of course, so TTPD can meet each of her new sisters.
“You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray, and I stood there loving you and wished them all away…”
This ‘Cold As You’ lyric walked so ‘tolerate it’ could run. We love the imagery here and how you really get a feel for Taylor and her partner’s roles in the relationship. As he locks her out, she’s still holding onto hope that things can get better.
“It rains when you’re here and it rains when you’re gone…”
Throughout the Fearless album, Taylor uses rain to describe a sense of romance, but it takes on a sadder meaning here. ‘Forever & Always’ walks us through the downfall of a relationship and this line notes how Taylor feels down when he’s away and when he’s around, which is definitely a red flag in our books. Walk out and find sunshine instead!
“I’ll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep, and I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe…”
This lyric from ‘Last Kiss’ feels like Taylor punched us in the face and tripped us on concrete, then ripped our heart right out of our chest only to tear it into pieces, bit by bit. Graphic description, maybe, but that’s how it feels. ‘Last Kiss’ is the ultimate heartbreak song, reflecting on the soft beginnings, the harsh downfall, and the crushing feeling of having to let go while seeing them live their life without you in it.
“Distance, timing, breakdown, fighting, silence, train runs off its tracks…”
This line from ‘Sad Beautiful Tragic’ is one of the best examples of Taylor’s ability to tell a complete story in just a few words. It breaks down how a relationship fell apart with carefully-chosen words that really characterize the situation while letting you paint your own picture in your mind to apply to your own life.
“Didn’t you calm my fears with a Cheshire Cat smile?”
‘Wonderland’ takes a look back at a relationship through the lens of Alice In Wonderland, and we think this line is simply genius. The Cheshire Cat notably disappears in the story and leaves behind its creepy grin, suggesting Taylor’s partner disappeared and left her haunted by his smile, even after reassuring her about their relationship. “Your smile, my ghost” from ‘This Love,’ anyone?
“Something happened for the first time in the darkest little paradise…”
‘Don’t Blame Me’ is an alluring love song that describes how devoted Taylor is to her partner, and this lyric helps give context as to why the relationship is so special to her. You’d normally expect a paradise to be anything but dark, like how Taylor didn’t expect to find this romance during a low point in her life. The darkness may still have been there, but their love became a glimmer of hope for her to cherish in the meantime as she fought her way back to the light.
“Staring out the window like I’m not your favorite town, I’m New York City…”
Taylor knows her power and throughout Lover, she’s embracing the self-love she deserves! This line from ‘False God’ commands our attention and points out just how inescapable she is to anyone who loves her. She’s not just a little town for someone to call home, she’s one of the brightest, most celebrated cities (people) in the world.
“You showed me colors you know I can’t see with anyone else…”
Throughout Taylor’s career, she’s used colors as symbols for different feelings and levels of passion in a relationship – see ‘Red,’ ‘Out Of The Woods,’ and ‘Daylight’ for great examples. As she gets her heart broken on ‘illicit affairs,’ she’s frustrated that she might never feel that level of emotion with someone else in the future. We also love how this contrasts the black-and-white cover and aesthetic of folklore, as if she’s desperately trying to preserve those colors and feelings as they fade to gray.
“We were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be…”
‘coney island,’ our beloved! We all secretly (or not-so-secretly) miss mall culture and the days where we could hang out in the food court, and the narrators on the song both miss the excitement of a past relationship before things started shutting down. Whether you had enough money for a big shopping spree or not, there was always something to do and some way to have fun, like how the relationship always felt electrifying before its collapse.
“The mark they saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephones, the lips I used to call home…”
The imagery on ‘Maroon’ blows our minds every single time, especially when this lyric from the chorus hits! Not only do these images give an idea of how the relationship fluctuated between passion, miscommunication, and longing, but the reddish colors tie them together while playing with the psychology of color. Red can symbolize anger, intensity, and love, which are each emotions that come up in the song.
Do you agree with our analysis of these lyrics? Do you have a favorite line we missed? What about your Tortured Poets Department theories? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! And for more of the sweetest Taylor content around, click here.
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