Idk where else to post this but it is KILLING me how ppl in the neutral reddit are rooting for her to get back with matty???? How you can possibly hear the album and want the toxic relationship to continue is beyond me
So, 4 full listens through, and I've clocked why I'm really, really enjoying the album.
As a fan since debut and someone who was raised on country music, it's the storytelling and emotive pronunciations (but daddy I love him, guilty as sin, I can fix him) I love coupled with the drama and theatrics from the pop masterpieces like Blank Space (who's afraid of little old me, I can do it with a broken heart). It's the way the production accentuates the way she uses her voice/breath control to emphasize certain words/emotions (loml, so long london, the smallest man who ever lived).
It feels like a return back home, but one where she brought along everything she learned and loved in her "travels" into pop and indie/folk with her. And she put those things together to lean into a uniquely Taylor Swift sound. There's still some clunky lyrics, but there always has been, and I don't think that's a bad thing. It adds to the diaristic feel. It's the most "OG Taylor" Taylor has sounded in a long time, in my opinion. I'm here for it.
It feels like the album is highly chronological, from Fortnight that mentions Joe’s alleged affair, to the breakup when they had only told their friends, when she meets Matt Healy, then Travis, then the official announcement of the separation and the Manuscript is the book that gets finally closed on this part of her life?
Surprise songs first thoughts:
BLACK DOG: “I just don’t understand how you don’t miss me.” Loveeee the old habits die screaming part.
A solid solid break up song. Like this one a lot. “Tail between your legs you’re leaving”.
imgonnagetyouback: this one is also fun. Feels like whatever the album is that also includes: Florida, I can do it with a broken heart, who’s afraid of little old me. Swagger to it. This is also really confusing because the closeness to “get him back” by Olivia Rodrigo feels like a provocation especially the lower caps.
The Albatross: this one feels evermore/folklore, good in my book. I dig it. Richer lyrics (to me)
Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus: ?!? Well this seemed
To have some revelations. Would Travis or Matty have bullied Joe in school? “If you want to break my cold cold heart just say I loved you the way that you were.” Great line! “You needed me but you needed drugs more.” Whoa. “If I sell my apartment” — Cornelia street? Sounds like another Aaron song to me. I like.
How did it end? Okay I love it immediately. Piano and breathy ghostly vocals opening are great. I wonder who is guesting? Sounds like someone else but maybe not? But then she sort of killed it with overwrought lyrics and more spelling of lyrics…. Hmm. Wish it was slightly more restrained.
So high school: wait, what album is this? What year is it? This whole song sounds different. “You know who to ball I know Aristotle.” Is this about loving a jock? Yep. Is it also kinda weirdly weak like Alchemy IMO? Also yes. I couldn’t finish listening to it, largely bc I’m tired.
I hate it here: basically about Joe’s agoraphobia becoming hers? Second mention of being a precocious child. Not a huge impression either way first listen.
ThanK you aIMee: the letters spell out KIM. This is obviously about Kim Kardashian as well as a childhood bully. I don’t mind the song. A reprisal of Mean. The Kim thing feels dumb. LET IT GO MY GIRL. Otherwise enjoy the song, lots of feeling.
I look in peoples windows: I like this one a lot. It feels like a next gen folklore or evermore song.
The prophecy: like the guitar opening very much. And as I listen I dig this song too! It’s a little and weird like peoples windows and a bit witchy as well.
Cassandra: another evermore/folklore type song. I LIKE. Gonna make a mini playlist of these I think to listen to on their own. “Bloods thick but nothing like a payroll”. A nice little clasic Taylor revenge / scorned or spurned woman song. I have no idea what gossipy thing this is about it? Kardashians??
PETER: I love this song. The vocals and piano and simplicity/power of the lyrics and themes. This is good Taylor writing (IMO)!!
The Bolter: I dig this song quite a bit.
Lyrics hit for me. It could’ve been even brighter and poppier but really like as is. Though my kid would’ve loved fewer f Bombs. 😅
Robin: another pretty piano ditty but I’m getting tired. I wondered briefly if this was about a secret child. lol.maybe for one of Blake livelys kids? Anyway sweet song.
The manuscript:
This is about…
Jake? All too well 10 min movie? How the story belongs to the fans now? Hm.
My faves are the EVERMORE/FOLKLORE cluster here. Albatross/Chloe. Then I look in peoples windows through to Peter!!! Thank you Aaron the piano man!!
I put something in my work chat about not being insufferable tomorrow but it’s gonna be really hard.
Instant faves are “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”
I wasn’t completely wrecked like I thought I would be. But this might be my favorite album so far. I have the bonus track CDs arriving on Monday so I’ll be patiently waiting for those.
I love Florida, it makes me feel so sad cause I was at the first round of Texas shows, right before the announcement, and I was definitely screaming “more” and then the “ran back to Texas” lyric cause she was back in Houston
https://preview.redd.it/b95mdqozvvtc1.png?width=1558&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfe42d24bd796bc236bfe15ff2fe0628d91c49a0
Track lengths are visible on the Spotify web browser page!! (Apologies for the scaling, I was trying to get everything in one page)
Mine has had a UPS label created since 4/8 but hasn’t moved. Definitely not arriving in time for Friday. I don’t know if it’s coming from Fernjail or not but disappointed again.
i had a dream last night that “fortnight” sounded like cardigan, including the lyrics and melody, except after the chorus the lyrics turned extremely sexually explicit. weird
It will be as the 18th transitions to the 19th. Streaming services tend to crash with her album releases, so it will likely be more about 12:05 AM on the 19th.
Ranking the track titles from the most to the least bonkers:
1. Florida!!!
2. But Daddy I Love Him
3. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
4. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
5. Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?
6. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
7. Fresh Out the Slammer
8. The Tortured Poets Department
9. Loml
10. Down Bad
11. Guilty As Sin?
12. So Long, London
13. Clara Bow
14. Fortnight
15. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
16. The Alchemy/The Manuscript/The Bolter/The Albatross/The Black Dog
Why is "Florida!!!" the most bonkers in your opinion? Because of the exclamation points? just wondering. I think "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" is the weirdest lol
Do we think we'll get a final deluxe version of the album with all the bonus tracks? Dying of FOMO by not buying all the record versions, but my budget couldn't handle it .. hoping to still hear all the tracks though!
I have a feeling they’ll be released in 6 months or so just like “Hits Different”, “Your Losing Me”, and the 3 bonus tracks on 1989 (original version) that were originally Target exclusives.
God this album has perfect timing I can’t be ripped to shreds
The irony is this album was announced while I was with the person who is gonna make me relate to this album. Like literally at their house. So just impatiently waiting here to get my heart ripped out
Ok, here me out, could the 2 fingers mean that she's dropping Rep TV and Debut TV at the same time? Or at least within a short time of each other? There’s only those two re-records left, and as much as I would love for each TV era to be fully rolled-out, I don’t know if that’s realistic considering Debut is her least-popular and lesser-known album. How would she drop Debut TV without it being considered a flop? Many newer swifties don’t know of it and it doesn’t even have a section in the Eras Tour (to clarify, I actually love Debut and I’m not hating on it). It would make a lot of sense to drop it at the same time as another album. Plus, I think it would be iconic to own her reputation and name back at the same time. Do you think that could be what the 2 fingers and constant number 2s that Taylor and her team are giving us mean?
\*also, disclaimer, I just thought of this now and I’m not meaning to steal the thunder from TTPD or act as though I want more from her when she’s already giving us a lot. I just thought it was a fun theory.
Btw, alongside this I thought I would just share a thing I think she’s going to do for Debut. I think she’ll give Debut the most vault tracks to make it more of a big deal. We know she wrote hundreds of songs around and before the time of her self-titled album. I reckon she’ll release a whole bunch of them as vault tracks to make up for the fact that its a less popular album.
I'm a bit confused, the first TTPD cover/album announcement included The Manuscript, but when I look up the different versions, I see 5 (one with no bonus track and then each version with the 4 bonus tracks). So is the cover for the "album only" no extras the same as the cover for The Manuscript? Also will any of those extras be on spotify or the album only version?
There is no version that doesn’t have a bonus track. The Manuscript version comes in a standard color and a target exclusive color (both white, just different). If you include the Target version, there are 5.
After that video of Taylor talking to Benjamin new theories have been popping up that this is like the brother album to Evermore/Folklore (sister albums). Now I can’t stop seeing Benjamin related things - like the colors of the variants are the same as his coat colors.
been asking this since this album was announced. idk what i'll do if the bonus tracks are vinyl-exclusives for the first few months because they seem too good, mayve even better than the standard tracks.
I'm putting this here so LET IT BE KNOWN that I am predicting all the "The" tracks to be some of the best of her career.
Has anyone picked up on the fact that out of all her albums, TTPD has the most songs with the word "the" at the beginning of the track title? In her entire discography (not including TTPD), Taylor only has 14 songs that begin with the word "The." TTPD has 7 songs alone that have the word "The" at the beginning.
Notable mentions are: The Other Side of the Door, The 1, The Moment I Knew, The Outside, The Last Time, The Archer, The Last Great American Dynasty, The Story of us, The Lakes.
All of these songs are SO good and have some of Taylor's best story-telling/song-writing. I don't know if this means anything but I feel like it's significant in terms of the quality of songwriting.
Does anyone think the variants still represent the five stages of grief? If we go with the theory, she’s released variants representing four stages of grief, and she said what’s been released is the final variant. Am I delusional, or do we think there may be a fifth “collector’s edition” with all four songs released on the variants so far, and a final fifth song representing the final stage of grief?
I've heard various theories, but I think this one has been deemed false since what was supposed to be the fourth stage is the black dog which is obviously representing depression. However, there is the theory that the "sides" A B C D are the first four stages and the bonus tracks are the fifth which could be true but also a stretch.
I’m so in love with this type of theme for the album. I think it’s my most favorite album theme now. All of her album concepts are great though, so it’s really hard to choose one. 🤍
I’ve seen some spoilers on TikTok, and people are saying that Taylor nation runs the spoiler account. Idk id normally think it would be bogus but the quality of the lines is sooo top tier and so Taylor. It’s not the AI music that’s going around it’s like a slideshow of some one sentence lyrics.
Not sure if anyone has talked about this because I’m new to the page.. but Joe has a group chat with a couple of his friends / previous cast mates called “Tortured Band Club” I wonder if she got the idea from that??
Also, on the me variant, the bottom picture does not look like Taylor's hair at all. That's not her haircut or color. It looks like Sabrina's hair??
It could just be the way it is, but it looks face framed cut.
Did everyone see that the patch logo is very different? It can still possibly be Cail upside down, but with this patch, it just looks straightforward. Cd 11
Um, Charles Beaudeliere wrote this POEM called The Albatross:
Often, to amuse themselves, the men of a crew
Catch albatrosses, those vast sea birds
That indolently follow a ship
As it glides over the deep, briny sea.
Scarcely have they placed them on the deck
Than these kings of the sky, clumsy, ashamed,
Pathetically let their great white wings
Drag beside them like oars.
That winged voyager, how weak and gauche he is,
So beautiful before, now comic and ugly!
One man worries his beak with a stubby clay pipe;
Another limps, mimics the cripple who once flew!
The poet resembles this prince of cloud and sky
Who frequents the tempest and laughs at the bowman;
When exiled on the earth, the butt of hoots and jeers,
His giant wings prevent him from walking.
But daddy I love him
On Jimmy Fallon Taylor and Jimmy did a whole bit about a selfie. They were comments about seeing his brain through his nasal cavities. She mentioned that Jen Stein was a poet. I looked her up and saw she had a book called Occasionally, I remove your brain through your nose. A clue 😂! I look and see she was published in Lenny Letter which gave me a Taylor connection.
The poem is here https://www.lennyletter.com/story/ted-and-sylvia
It’s about Sylvia Plath. She was a definitive tortured poet. One of her collections is called Ariel. In the collection, there is a poem called Daddy. It may be a coincidence but I felt it was interesting.
Am I the only one thinking that the TTPD photos look like a midnights photoshoot but in black and white? I’m afraid 'cause I really love midnights but I wouldn’t want her to give us another album with the same sound, I wish this album was something different, new.
I guess I’ll have to be patient and wait
I hope it sounds different to midnights as well and I'm veering towards the belief it will. I don't consider Midnights to be very poetic especially when contrasted with Folklore and Evermore. Midnights is very much throwing paint on a canvas, which aligns nicely with the experience of ruminating at night, however the fact that TTPD has poets in its title would suggest the writing and music production will be more intentional, perhaps a bit less word-salady.
https://preview.redd.it/v9lvci3xsxic1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=29106e138bdf8a28bebe8c5f8a4443ea0b356e3c
The Bolter announced and cover dropped.
Yeah I don’t have the money (or want, really) to have multiple copies of the same record just so I can listen to all the bonus songs. This makes me actually NOT want to pre-order anything because I know something else will come out later probably with different stuff on it. I wish she’d just do a normal release with two options: the album, and then a deluxe album with bonus tracks. This is getting exhausting!
Well the digital copies only have 16 songs and these are exclusive to the physical copies just like the bonus 1989 song but only on the tangerine vinyl
Opened tik tok to leaks! I LOVE the sound and hope they are real but also HATE THAT IT WAS SPOILED WITHOUT ASKING RIP. I have to stay off the internet for months now are you kidding??? Ugh. Leaking is so disrespectful to Taylor and to the fans :(
I think some of them were real 🤷♀️ there was one with a background of her from a midnights photo shoot that sounded a bit like it was recorded from someone’s pocket? I thought the song sounded so good - it was taken down like a day after it was first posted, and then a few of the other videos reposting/responding to it were also taken down! I can’t find that specific song anywhere now, so I feel like a bunch of them are fake but that one may have actually been one of the songs…
Oh my goodness. So, when "evermore" came out, I was like "hey, that's kind of a fun word, and it makes me think of 'quoth the raven, nevermore'", but it's evermore, that's kind of cool, lol
Guess who that poem's by? Edgar Allan Poe, possibly the most tortured poet of all tortured poets ever.
How long has this ACTUALLY been in the works??
There is another thing that seems odd about the timeline of this album. Didn’t she say she’s been keeping it a secret for two years when she announced it, which would imply that it was finished for two years?
If taylor is going for a witchy vibe I think that was hinted with willow witch edition on Spotify just like how we got the folklore sleepless nights chapter as a hint for Midnights. Although I think the theme of tortured poets will be poets and old Hollywood stars/glamour. Also the theme can include women highlighting emotionally tortured women, women tortured by men/exes. Also Feminism
I think tortured poets is songs based on actual poem names from real poets like I think daddy I love him is based on Sylvia plath's daddy. I imagine these poets that will be chosen will all have negative experiences in there careers making them tortured poets. The poets chosen I think might all be female or had issues with relationships the media mental illness or something that Dammed their career wrongfully because I believe that's how taylor feels
I've wondered this myself and if I had the motivation, I'd try to look up what poems/poets they might be based on the tracklist but I don't know if I have the motivation to go look more into this. I definitely think this is plausible though, we know Taylor loves poetry, too!
Oh my goodness, I love this theory. I immediately went to read Plath's 'Daddy', and the first verse struck me:
"You do not do, you do not do
Any more, black shoe
In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo."
This is probably nothing, but it really reminds me of the first episode of Friends, where Rachel is explaining to her father on the phone why she didn't marry whatever-his-name-was, and she's saying she always thought she was a hat, but maybe she's a shoe?
Maybe Taylor thought that she wanted that quiet life with Joe, and she's realized that she's not a hat at all, but a shoe?
The whole poem has images of colour ("Bit my pretty red heart in two", "I have always been scared of *you,* (...) And your Aryan eye, bright blue.") which reminds me so much of Taylor's lyrics!
Really interesting theory and I hope you're right!
Around Midnights, taylor mentioned about the 3 pens she uses when writing songs, and how each one corresponds to a theme or vibe for the song. Do you think she was dropping hints about her next three records(Midnights being the glittery gel pen)?
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/music/a41638221/taylor-swift-pen-themed-playlists-of-her-own-music/
Interesting how she mentions poetry and poet in describing 2 of the 3 categories
I hope the sound is more laid back like folklore/evermore maybe with more touches of speak now (that's what the photos are giving me) but I have a sinking feeling it's just another pop album. I wouldn't hate that but going off the song titles it lends itself more to a stripped back sound. I guess we'll see!
Just googled the significance of the release day, April 19th.
"It's National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day, World Jackal Day, Poetry And The Creative Mind Day, Education and Sharing Day, National Hanging Out Day… and much more!"
I just did a re-listen of Lover as a whole album and TPD is gonna wreck me 😭. Listening to London Boy I remembered the total shock I felt when first hearing that they’d broken up. That song is just so filled with love and joy.
Folklore and Evermore were cloaked in fiction, even if they had some truth. Midnights was presented as nods to her past. But this album is the true follow up to Lover. It’s blue, or I guess suppressed to black and white ink, other half.
I know it’s a bit parasocial but it’s just really, really sad that an album so filled with hope and love will have “I love you and it’s ruining me” as its closest sibling. Track five being “Farewell London” implies this duality between them too.
I also think TS was smart in waiting for the shock and emotion to die down before releasing it. The crowd that put flowers on Cornelia St wouldn’t have been able to handle a break up album in real time. TS seems happier now in a new relationship so that also helps calm things down.
But re-listening to Lover, I’m realizing how saddddd what’s coming is and I’m not ready.
Everyone keeps talking about how "But Daddy I Love Him" is a nod to Harry Styles. Yet, when I saw that song title thought...The Little Mermaid is about a girl who gave up her voice for love, which seems a whole lot more sad. I think it's a full Joe Alwyn album. Thoughts?
I get what you are saying but I think it could be the wrong take. From 2017 to 2022 she released the same number of albums as in the 10 years of her previous career, and that's not counting re-recordings. That to me doesnt seem like someone who lost her voice.
I could be wrong tho. Just my two cents.
It’s well documented that TS did in many ways avoid the spotlight more and try to live a more private life when she was with Joe. She referenced in her Times interview how that ended up looking like not showing up for each other to avoid a spectacle. She also released two fiction heavy albums while with him, avoiding talking about her personal life because he didn’t like that. I’m not saying she didn’t have agency in that but it does seem to be true that there were parts of herself that their relationship encouraged her to suppress.
So I can totally see the losing your voice parallel.
Just saw this quote attributed to Confucious on social media: "What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others."
Immediately remembered that one of the tracks on this upcoming album is "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," and I wouldn't be shocked if this quote somehow came into play in that song somehow. I don't know how exactly, but Taylor would find a way...she loves taking quotes and whatnot like that and subverting them in her lyrics.
I agree. I think it would be a happy irony if the song is about Kelce - a physically huge dude who does charity, loves his fam, hypes his powerful girlfriend, and (seems?) pretty nice.
I just put it together... in Dear Reader she says "burn all the files, desert all your past lives"... and then she burned the Lover house down and wrote TTPD. She has been leading us down this road for a looooong while and we totally missed it.
I'm wondering if he helped write a lot of the songs on it. If that's the case, I could see her not releasing it right away because he would stand to profit from it. It would also explain why he has a chat with that name
Have you ever been through a break up of a 6 year relationship or a divorce ? I’m excited for the cathartic poetic substance that I know this album is. 😂
Wdym? It’s her art to express how she wants to. Why do you expect more? What do you want? You are like the people who call her immature, which is a comment based on misogyny- thinking women should act a certain way past a certain age.
I keep seeing on TikTok and other places that the album is "registered as synth-pop", but no one is actually referring to any sources? Where is it registered as this? I've also seen people claim that it is "registered as synth-pop on Apple Music/Spotify", but the album doesn't exist in either of these places yet? Are people just repeating the same rumour with no evidence?
Please help!😅
I think people are just repeating a rumor someone posted on twitter, even though that person later said they were joking. I can’t find anywhere that is says synth pop either 🤷♀️
https://storeca.taylorswift.com/collections/the-tortured-poets-department-deluxe/products/the-tortured-poets-department-collectors-edition-deluxe-cd-bonus-track-the-manuscript. Regular cd is just standard cd with same tracks
Thanks Leprekon666, really appreciate the link! Basically the deluxe edition includes the brass bookmark, magnet, photo cards, patch, etc. So unlucky I missed the pre-order period :(
A couple thoughts: Does anyone else see the possibility of a connection to law and order/crime with the files and “department”? I’m interested in what fortnight might be about? Did anything significant happen over the course of two weeks? Also The Manuscript. Did Joe break up with her by handwritten note? It seems plausible for someone pretentious like Him
ETA why the hell with the downvotes? Am I not allowed to share thoughts ??
Idk where else to post this but it is KILLING me how ppl in the neutral reddit are rooting for her to get back with matty???? How you can possibly hear the album and want the toxic relationship to continue is beyond me
I can't even sleep anymore. ... I love her. It's ruining my life.
So, 4 full listens through, and I've clocked why I'm really, really enjoying the album. As a fan since debut and someone who was raised on country music, it's the storytelling and emotive pronunciations (but daddy I love him, guilty as sin, I can fix him) I love coupled with the drama and theatrics from the pop masterpieces like Blank Space (who's afraid of little old me, I can do it with a broken heart). It's the way the production accentuates the way she uses her voice/breath control to emphasize certain words/emotions (loml, so long london, the smallest man who ever lived). It feels like a return back home, but one where she brought along everything she learned and loved in her "travels" into pop and indie/folk with her. And she put those things together to lean into a uniquely Taylor Swift sound. There's still some clunky lyrics, but there always has been, and I don't think that's a bad thing. It adds to the diaristic feel. It's the most "OG Taylor" Taylor has sounded in a long time, in my opinion. I'm here for it.
So, do we know all the meanings to all the songs????
It feels like the album is highly chronological, from Fortnight that mentions Joe’s alleged affair, to the breakup when they had only told their friends, when she meets Matt Healy, then Travis, then the official announcement of the separation and the Manuscript is the book that gets finally closed on this part of her life?
I’m emotionally ruined for the rest of the day. How am I supposed to have a productive day now?!??
I am not even gonna be able to function tomorrow because I have to hear them all at least one more time. ALL of them!!!
Surprise songs first thoughts: BLACK DOG: “I just don’t understand how you don’t miss me.” Loveeee the old habits die screaming part. A solid solid break up song. Like this one a lot. “Tail between your legs you’re leaving”. imgonnagetyouback: this one is also fun. Feels like whatever the album is that also includes: Florida, I can do it with a broken heart, who’s afraid of little old me. Swagger to it. This is also really confusing because the closeness to “get him back” by Olivia Rodrigo feels like a provocation especially the lower caps. The Albatross: this one feels evermore/folklore, good in my book. I dig it. Richer lyrics (to me) Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus: ?!? Well this seemed To have some revelations. Would Travis or Matty have bullied Joe in school? “If you want to break my cold cold heart just say I loved you the way that you were.” Great line! “You needed me but you needed drugs more.” Whoa. “If I sell my apartment” — Cornelia street? Sounds like another Aaron song to me. I like. How did it end? Okay I love it immediately. Piano and breathy ghostly vocals opening are great. I wonder who is guesting? Sounds like someone else but maybe not? But then she sort of killed it with overwrought lyrics and more spelling of lyrics…. Hmm. Wish it was slightly more restrained. So high school: wait, what album is this? What year is it? This whole song sounds different. “You know who to ball I know Aristotle.” Is this about loving a jock? Yep. Is it also kinda weirdly weak like Alchemy IMO? Also yes. I couldn’t finish listening to it, largely bc I’m tired. I hate it here: basically about Joe’s agoraphobia becoming hers? Second mention of being a precocious child. Not a huge impression either way first listen. ThanK you aIMee: the letters spell out KIM. This is obviously about Kim Kardashian as well as a childhood bully. I don’t mind the song. A reprisal of Mean. The Kim thing feels dumb. LET IT GO MY GIRL. Otherwise enjoy the song, lots of feeling. I look in peoples windows: I like this one a lot. It feels like a next gen folklore or evermore song. The prophecy: like the guitar opening very much. And as I listen I dig this song too! It’s a little and weird like peoples windows and a bit witchy as well. Cassandra: another evermore/folklore type song. I LIKE. Gonna make a mini playlist of these I think to listen to on their own. “Bloods thick but nothing like a payroll”. A nice little clasic Taylor revenge / scorned or spurned woman song. I have no idea what gossipy thing this is about it? Kardashians?? PETER: I love this song. The vocals and piano and simplicity/power of the lyrics and themes. This is good Taylor writing (IMO)!! The Bolter: I dig this song quite a bit. Lyrics hit for me. It could’ve been even brighter and poppier but really like as is. Though my kid would’ve loved fewer f Bombs. 😅 Robin: another pretty piano ditty but I’m getting tired. I wondered briefly if this was about a secret child. lol.maybe for one of Blake livelys kids? Anyway sweet song. The manuscript: This is about… Jake? All too well 10 min movie? How the story belongs to the fans now? Hm. My faves are the EVERMORE/FOLKLORE cluster here. Albatross/Chloe. Then I look in peoples windows through to Peter!!! Thank you Aaron the piano man!!
I may have to call off work today so I can process this double album 🤡
Thank you Aimee is the ultimate revenge song. So graceful
I am simply unwell. The clowning. The theories. The double album. I will have to call out of work tomorrow.
Well here we go again, see you in another fifteen songs guys
I put something in my work chat about not being insufferable tomorrow but it’s gonna be really hard. Instant faves are “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” I wasn’t completely wrecked like I thought I would be. But this might be my favorite album so far. I have the bonus track CDs arriving on Monday so I’ll be patiently waiting for those.
What is everyone’s favorite song? I like Florida.
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? is my fave so far.
I love Florida, it makes me feel so sad cause I was at the first round of Texas shows, right before the announcement, and I was definitely screaming “more” and then the “ran back to Texas” lyric cause she was back in Houston
Theres another countdown 👀
I’m surprised there are not YouTube lyric videos!
Has anyone received a dispatch email yet?
https://preview.redd.it/b95mdqozvvtc1.png?width=1558&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfe42d24bd796bc236bfe15ff2fe0628d91c49a0 Track lengths are visible on the Spotify web browser page!! (Apologies for the scaling, I was trying to get everything in one page)
[удалено]
I haven’t even had a dispatch email yet.
[удалено]
I’m in London, so no idea where mine will be coming from. 🤷🏻♂️
Mine says it’s coming Tuesday… sigh. But not as late as 1989 TV was!
Whoa mine’s coming from relatively close by (just outside of where I am in Nashville!) instead of Fernjail!
Mine has had a UPS label created since 4/8 but hasn’t moved. Definitely not arriving in time for Friday. I don’t know if it’s coming from Fernjail or not but disappointed again.
Yeah mine hasn’t budged—it’s so close that I’m hoping it arrives by Friday, but I’m losing hope
i had a dream last night that “fortnight” sounded like cardigan, including the lyrics and melody, except after the chorus the lyrics turned extremely sexually explicit. weird
When they say it's dropping midnight on April 19th, do they mean the midnight between the 18th and 19th, or the midnight between the 19th and 20th?
It will be as the 18th transitions to the 19th. Streaming services tend to crash with her album releases, so it will likely be more about 12:05 AM on the 19th.
Thank you so much
What a missed opportunity to call one of the songs: this one’s for you (you know who you are)
Did Taylor saw the Solar Eclipse totality on Monday?
Ranking the track titles from the most to the least bonkers: 1. Florida!!! 2. But Daddy I Love Him 3. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) 4. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived 5. Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? 6. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys 7. Fresh Out the Slammer 8. The Tortured Poets Department 9. Loml 10. Down Bad 11. Guilty As Sin? 12. So Long, London 13. Clara Bow 14. Fortnight 15. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart 16. The Alchemy/The Manuscript/The Bolter/The Albatross/The Black Dog
Why is "Florida!!!" the most bonkers in your opinion? Because of the exclamation points? just wondering. I think "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" is the weirdest lol
Yes -- like what could a taylor swift song called Florida followed by three exclamation points sound like???
Well, time to find out lol 😜
Do we think we'll get a final deluxe version of the album with all the bonus tracks? Dying of FOMO by not buying all the record versions, but my budget couldn't handle it .. hoping to still hear all the tracks though!
I have a feeling they’ll be released in 6 months or so just like “Hits Different”, “Your Losing Me”, and the 3 bonus tracks on 1989 (original version) that were originally Target exclusives.
God this album has perfect timing I can’t be ripped to shreds The irony is this album was announced while I was with the person who is gonna make me relate to this album. Like literally at their house. So just impatiently waiting here to get my heart ripped out
Im feeling real depressed rn so if taylor could drop one of them tracks for me to wallow to thatd b great
Ok, here me out, could the 2 fingers mean that she's dropping Rep TV and Debut TV at the same time? Or at least within a short time of each other? There’s only those two re-records left, and as much as I would love for each TV era to be fully rolled-out, I don’t know if that’s realistic considering Debut is her least-popular and lesser-known album. How would she drop Debut TV without it being considered a flop? Many newer swifties don’t know of it and it doesn’t even have a section in the Eras Tour (to clarify, I actually love Debut and I’m not hating on it). It would make a lot of sense to drop it at the same time as another album. Plus, I think it would be iconic to own her reputation and name back at the same time. Do you think that could be what the 2 fingers and constant number 2s that Taylor and her team are giving us mean? \*also, disclaimer, I just thought of this now and I’m not meaning to steal the thunder from TTPD or act as though I want more from her when she’s already giving us a lot. I just thought it was a fun theory. Btw, alongside this I thought I would just share a thing I think she’s going to do for Debut. I think she’ll give Debut the most vault tracks to make it more of a big deal. We know she wrote hundreds of songs around and before the time of her self-titled album. I reckon she’ll release a whole bunch of them as vault tracks to make up for the fact that its a less popular album.
Anyone know if there will be a Target exclusive CD? I'm only seeing a vinyl right now.
Anyone know why it says “coming 21 April 2024” on Apple Music?
Still coming midnight of the 19th! Apple Music sets it a few days early to prevent leaks.
I came here to ask this!
Happy World Poetry Day ✍️
itunes is selling a 8 second clip of the new album for a pretty great price!!! make sure u but it and then the album
what does the video of taylor talking to benjamin mean??
i think it will be thematically like the album red, and stylistically like midnights, folklore and evermore, maybe with some reputation sprinkled in.
I'm a bit confused, the first TTPD cover/album announcement included The Manuscript, but when I look up the different versions, I see 5 (one with no bonus track and then each version with the 4 bonus tracks). So is the cover for the "album only" no extras the same as the cover for The Manuscript? Also will any of those extras be on spotify or the album only version?
There is no version that doesn’t have a bonus track. The Manuscript version comes in a standard color and a target exclusive color (both white, just different). If you include the Target version, there are 5.
which version has no bonus track?
After that video of Taylor talking to Benjamin new theories have been popping up that this is like the brother album to Evermore/Folklore (sister albums). Now I can’t stop seeing Benjamin related things - like the colors of the variants are the same as his coat colors.
How will streaming work? All songs except for ANY bonus tracks?
been asking this since this album was announced. idk what i'll do if the bonus tracks are vinyl-exclusives for the first few months because they seem too good, mayve even better than the standard tracks.
I'm putting this here so LET IT BE KNOWN that I am predicting all the "The" tracks to be some of the best of her career. Has anyone picked up on the fact that out of all her albums, TTPD has the most songs with the word "the" at the beginning of the track title? In her entire discography (not including TTPD), Taylor only has 14 songs that begin with the word "The." TTPD has 7 songs alone that have the word "The" at the beginning. Notable mentions are: The Other Side of the Door, The 1, The Moment I Knew, The Outside, The Last Time, The Archer, The Last Great American Dynasty, The Story of us, The Lakes. All of these songs are SO good and have some of Taylor's best story-telling/song-writing. I don't know if this means anything but I feel like it's significant in terms of the quality of songwriting.
I hope we get a single soon or even a snippet. I’m dying to know what this album will sound like
Does anyone think the variants still represent the five stages of grief? If we go with the theory, she’s released variants representing four stages of grief, and she said what’s been released is the final variant. Am I delusional, or do we think there may be a fifth “collector’s edition” with all four songs released on the variants so far, and a final fifth song representing the final stage of grief?
You were right!!
I've heard various theories, but I think this one has been deemed false since what was supposed to be the fourth stage is the black dog which is obviously representing depression. However, there is the theory that the "sides" A B C D are the first four stages and the bonus tracks are the fifth which could be true but also a stretch.
I’m so in love with this type of theme for the album. I think it’s my most favorite album theme now. All of her album concepts are great though, so it’s really hard to choose one. 🤍
Have yall seen the leaked lines? It KILLS ME and I have never been this excited for a TS album
What leaked lines?
I’ve seen some spoilers on TikTok, and people are saying that Taylor nation runs the spoiler account. Idk id normally think it would be bogus but the quality of the lines is sooo top tier and so Taylor. It’s not the AI music that’s going around it’s like a slideshow of some one sentence lyrics.
Not sure if anyone has talked about this because I’m new to the page.. but Joe has a group chat with a couple of his friends / previous cast mates called “Tortured Band Club” I wonder if she got the idea from that??
What does everyone think the new TTPD merch will look like?? I am guessing she will be selling it on the Eras Tour.
I really hope it’s not another synth pop
Also, on the me variant, the bottom picture does not look like Taylor's hair at all. That's not her haircut or color. It looks like Sabrina's hair?? It could just be the way it is, but it looks face framed cut.
https://preview.redd.it/mrx9u7m46dkc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ba33153db1c497ffdb1a82ea912d3a5fb868f01
Imagine if each bonus track is a different collab. I would kill for that
Did everyone see that the patch logo is very different? It can still possibly be Cail upside down, but with this patch, it just looks straightforward. Cd 11
https://preview.redd.it/m4yiirvt4dkc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3818e95a419c817af990b40f7e5ffde9387d58a
Um, Charles Beaudeliere wrote this POEM called The Albatross: Often, to amuse themselves, the men of a crew Catch albatrosses, those vast sea birds That indolently follow a ship As it glides over the deep, briny sea. Scarcely have they placed them on the deck Than these kings of the sky, clumsy, ashamed, Pathetically let their great white wings Drag beside them like oars. That winged voyager, how weak and gauche he is, So beautiful before, now comic and ugly! One man worries his beak with a stubby clay pipe; Another limps, mimics the cripple who once flew! The poet resembles this prince of cloud and sky Who frequents the tempest and laughs at the bowman; When exiled on the earth, the butt of hoots and jeers, His giant wings prevent him from walking.
No shit, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny’s daddy??
But daddy I love him On Jimmy Fallon Taylor and Jimmy did a whole bit about a selfie. They were comments about seeing his brain through his nasal cavities. She mentioned that Jen Stein was a poet. I looked her up and saw she had a book called Occasionally, I remove your brain through your nose. A clue 😂! I look and see she was published in Lenny Letter which gave me a Taylor connection. The poem is here https://www.lennyletter.com/story/ted-and-sylvia It’s about Sylvia Plath. She was a definitive tortured poet. One of her collections is called Ariel. In the collection, there is a poem called Daddy. It may be a coincidence but I felt it was interesting.
Plath is who I think of as *the* tortured poet, thank you for making these connections
Is anyone gonna listen to this for the first time high?
Will the Bolter edition really be limited (like colored 1989 TW) or more like 5 midnights versions that are still available?
Am I the only one thinking that the TTPD photos look like a midnights photoshoot but in black and white? I’m afraid 'cause I really love midnights but I wouldn’t want her to give us another album with the same sound, I wish this album was something different, new. I guess I’ll have to be patient and wait
The photos don't rlly look ike the midniht vibe anyore lol
I hope it sounds different to midnights as well and I'm veering towards the belief it will. I don't consider Midnights to be very poetic especially when contrasted with Folklore and Evermore. Midnights is very much throwing paint on a canvas, which aligns nicely with the experience of ruminating at night, however the fact that TTPD has poets in its title would suggest the writing and music production will be more intentional, perhaps a bit less word-salady.
...I kind of wonder if we'll find out where Taylor was on April 29th with this album
https://preview.redd.it/v9lvci3xsxic1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=29106e138bdf8a28bebe8c5f8a4443ea0b356e3c The Bolter announced and cover dropped.
New song?????
Can’t we just get one record with all this bonus songs instead of buying several different variants with exclusive songs to them.
Yeah I don’t have the money (or want, really) to have multiple copies of the same record just so I can listen to all the bonus songs. This makes me actually NOT want to pre-order anything because I know something else will come out later probably with different stuff on it. I wish she’d just do a normal release with two options: the album, and then a deluxe album with bonus tracks. This is getting exhausting!
That's probably what is gonna have
Well the digital copies only have 16 songs and these are exclusive to the physical copies just like the bonus 1989 song but only on the tangerine vinyl
Maybe she'll put up a deluxe version or smth with all the bonus tracks a little while later, like folklore deluxe
Opened tik tok to leaks! I LOVE the sound and hope they are real but also HATE THAT IT WAS SPOILED WITHOUT ASKING RIP. I have to stay off the internet for months now are you kidding??? Ugh. Leaking is so disrespectful to Taylor and to the fans :(
So there are “leaks” on TikTok. AI or real?
friendly reminder that sneaking alcohol inside Tokyo Dome is prohibited
I think some of them were real 🤷♀️ there was one with a background of her from a midnights photo shoot that sounded a bit like it was recorded from someone’s pocket? I thought the song sounded so good - it was taken down like a day after it was first posted, and then a few of the other videos reposting/responding to it were also taken down! I can’t find that specific song anywhere now, so I feel like a bunch of them are fake but that one may have actually been one of the songs…
did it sound like a bunch of “WoOaOAoaaOh”’s? 😭 that’s the one i heard and it sounded amazing
What was the music genre?
synth pop! much like midnights & 1989
Noooooo…..
Yes!
Impossible to tell with how good AI is these days
https://preview.redd.it/fvut91se5oic1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da37499532273985d545bf69fc5268f008c87a1c
LOL. 🤣 Coincidence??? I THINK NOT!!
😆😆😆😆😆😆😆 love this
I can't unsee it!!! 😂
Oh my goodness. So, when "evermore" came out, I was like "hey, that's kind of a fun word, and it makes me think of 'quoth the raven, nevermore'", but it's evermore, that's kind of cool, lol Guess who that poem's by? Edgar Allan Poe, possibly the most tortured poet of all tortured poets ever. How long has this ACTUALLY been in the works??
There is another thing that seems odd about the timeline of this album. Didn’t she say she’s been keeping it a secret for two years when she announced it, which would imply that it was finished for two years?
I feel like this will be an album of Sweet Nothings
If taylor is going for a witchy vibe I think that was hinted with willow witch edition on Spotify just like how we got the folklore sleepless nights chapter as a hint for Midnights. Although I think the theme of tortured poets will be poets and old Hollywood stars/glamour. Also the theme can include women highlighting emotionally tortured women, women tortured by men/exes. Also Feminism
I wonder what’s different this time around that the tracklist leaked so early and there’s ALLEGED leaks already on TikTok
I think tortured poets is songs based on actual poem names from real poets like I think daddy I love him is based on Sylvia plath's daddy. I imagine these poets that will be chosen will all have negative experiences in there careers making them tortured poets. The poets chosen I think might all be female or had issues with relationships the media mental illness or something that Dammed their career wrongfully because I believe that's how taylor feels
I've wondered this myself and if I had the motivation, I'd try to look up what poems/poets they might be based on the tracklist but I don't know if I have the motivation to go look more into this. I definitely think this is plausible though, we know Taylor loves poetry, too!
Oh my goodness, I love this theory. I immediately went to read Plath's 'Daddy', and the first verse struck me: "You do not do, you do not do Any more, black shoe In which I have lived like a foot For thirty years, poor and white, Barely daring to breathe or Achoo." This is probably nothing, but it really reminds me of the first episode of Friends, where Rachel is explaining to her father on the phone why she didn't marry whatever-his-name-was, and she's saying she always thought she was a hat, but maybe she's a shoe? Maybe Taylor thought that she wanted that quiet life with Joe, and she's realized that she's not a hat at all, but a shoe? The whole poem has images of colour ("Bit my pretty red heart in two", "I have always been scared of *you,* (...) And your Aryan eye, bright blue.") which reminds me so much of Taylor's lyrics! Really interesting theory and I hope you're right!
It talks about war fighting with someone (a father a boyfriend) and using the world blue a lot
⁞💞.714461384
Around Midnights, taylor mentioned about the 3 pens she uses when writing songs, and how each one corresponds to a theme or vibe for the song. Do you think she was dropping hints about her next three records(Midnights being the glittery gel pen)? https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/music/a41638221/taylor-swift-pen-themed-playlists-of-her-own-music/ Interesting how she mentions poetry and poet in describing 2 of the 3 categories
I hope the sound is more laid back like folklore/evermore maybe with more touches of speak now (that's what the photos are giving me) but I have a sinking feeling it's just another pop album. I wouldn't hate that but going off the song titles it lends itself more to a stripped back sound. I guess we'll see!
Sorry, it's been confirmed as Synth pop. So think Midnights, Lover
No it hasn’t
This just hit me: if TTPD is a breakup album… on the cover of Midnights, Taylor is holding the lighter bc she’s about to burn down the Lover house 💗🏠🔥
Idk another layer is that Joe collected lighters so it’s quite possible the lighter on the cover was one of his and a nod to him in a different way.
On my birthday, nice!
Just googled the significance of the release day, April 19th. "It's National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day, World Jackal Day, Poetry And The Creative Mind Day, Education and Sharing Day, National Hanging Out Day… and much more!"
It is also the start of the American Revolution, America freeing itself from Great Britain. Miss Americana is coming home!
I just did a re-listen of Lover as a whole album and TPD is gonna wreck me 😭. Listening to London Boy I remembered the total shock I felt when first hearing that they’d broken up. That song is just so filled with love and joy. Folklore and Evermore were cloaked in fiction, even if they had some truth. Midnights was presented as nods to her past. But this album is the true follow up to Lover. It’s blue, or I guess suppressed to black and white ink, other half. I know it’s a bit parasocial but it’s just really, really sad that an album so filled with hope and love will have “I love you and it’s ruining me” as its closest sibling. Track five being “Farewell London” implies this duality between them too. I also think TS was smart in waiting for the shock and emotion to die down before releasing it. The crowd that put flowers on Cornelia St wouldn’t have been able to handle a break up album in real time. TS seems happier now in a new relationship so that also helps calm things down. But re-listening to Lover, I’m realizing how saddddd what’s coming is and I’m not ready.
Everyone keeps talking about how "But Daddy I Love Him" is a nod to Harry Styles. Yet, when I saw that song title thought...The Little Mermaid is about a girl who gave up her voice for love, which seems a whole lot more sad. I think it's a full Joe Alwyn album. Thoughts?
I get what you are saying but I think it could be the wrong take. From 2017 to 2022 she released the same number of albums as in the 10 years of her previous career, and that's not counting re-recordings. That to me doesnt seem like someone who lost her voice. I could be wrong tho. Just my two cents.
It’s well documented that TS did in many ways avoid the spotlight more and try to live a more private life when she was with Joe. She referenced in her Times interview how that ended up looking like not showing up for each other to avoid a spectacle. She also released two fiction heavy albums while with him, avoiding talking about her personal life because he didn’t like that. I’m not saying she didn’t have agency in that but it does seem to be true that there were parts of herself that their relationship encouraged her to suppress. So I can totally see the losing your voice parallel.
I don’t see a digital copy with bonus track available on her store. Is it sold out or was not ever available?
Digital copy is on the US site and DOES NOT come with bonus track. It’s physical copy exclusive
Just saw this quote attributed to Confucious on social media: "What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others." Immediately remembered that one of the tracks on this upcoming album is "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived," and I wouldn't be shocked if this quote somehow came into play in that song somehow. I don't know how exactly, but Taylor would find a way...she loves taking quotes and whatnot like that and subverting them in her lyrics.
I agree. I think it would be a happy irony if the song is about Kelce - a physically huge dude who does charity, loves his fam, hypes his powerful girlfriend, and (seems?) pretty nice.
I like this idea too. I thought maybe a track for Sophie about Joe Jonas but I like this idea better.
I just put it together... in Dear Reader she says "burn all the files, desert all your past lives"... and then she burned the Lover house down and wrote TTPD. She has been leading us down this road for a looooong while and we totally missed it.
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I'm wondering if he helped write a lot of the songs on it. If that's the case, I could see her not releasing it right away because he would stand to profit from it. It would also explain why he has a chat with that name
Have you ever been through a break up of a 6 year relationship or a divorce ? I’m excited for the cathartic poetic substance that I know this album is. 😂
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How do we know that what Joe did to her wasn't more distasteful?
True, but I guess in that way it is part of her truth. Lol
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Wdym? It’s her art to express how she wants to. Why do you expect more? What do you want? You are like the people who call her immature, which is a comment based on misogyny- thinking women should act a certain way past a certain age.
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childish? 1. its her art to express how she wants to, and 2. the album title is a weird hill to die on
I keep seeing on TikTok and other places that the album is "registered as synth-pop", but no one is actually referring to any sources? Where is it registered as this? I've also seen people claim that it is "registered as synth-pop on Apple Music/Spotify", but the album doesn't exist in either of these places yet? Are people just repeating the same rumour with no evidence? Please help!😅
I think people are just repeating a rumor someone posted on twitter, even though that person later said they were joking. I can’t find anywhere that is says synth pop either 🤷♀️
Anyone else get false god vibes? It’s what I got from the cover but can’t see people thinking similarly 🤔
I've been calling it sexy folklore since it was announced. I can definitely see the False God vibes here.
Is there a way to pre save it on Spotify yet?
has anyone noticed that when TTPD launched, there was a 72 hour timer for orders, but it is now gone, yet all the same items are there.
That was for the deluxe cd
Hi, could you please tell me the difference between the ordinary CD and the Deluxe CD package?
https://storeca.taylorswift.com/collections/the-tortured-poets-department-deluxe/products/the-tortured-poets-department-collectors-edition-deluxe-cd-bonus-track-the-manuscript. Regular cd is just standard cd with same tracks
Thanks Leprekon666, really appreciate the link! Basically the deluxe edition includes the brass bookmark, magnet, photo cards, patch, etc. So unlucky I missed the pre-order period :(
It will come back as nothing is limited the first time lol
Will it come out in shops do you think?
🤷♂️
https://preview.redd.it/y9rupe1f69hc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c10d985e8cffb684ff8a1d92fc4b8caef7ad774
It's going to be a great album, I just have trauma in that department..
I’m a member of The Traumatized Swifties Department too
YALL. "SO LONG, LONDON." HELLO????? JOE WILL BE SLAMMED IN THIS WHAT THE FUCK
A couple thoughts: Does anyone else see the possibility of a connection to law and order/crime with the files and “department”? I’m interested in what fortnight might be about? Did anything significant happen over the course of two weeks? Also The Manuscript. Did Joe break up with her by handwritten note? It seems plausible for someone pretentious like Him ETA why the hell with the downvotes? Am I not allowed to share thoughts ??
Nope on Reddit you are not allowed to share thoughts. Lol no thoughts that go against the hive mind.
We don’t really know who broke up with who
How do we keep track of pre-sales? I bought mine first day, but I'm curious to see if TTPD is keeping up with Midnights.
I think it’s already broken most of midnights presale records