Taylor Swift has stirred up some serious bad blood with the release of her latest album The Tortured Poets Department, taking aim at multiple exes, including Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, while also reigniting her explosive feud with Kim Kardashian.
The singer, 34, officially dropped The Tortured Poets Department – her 11th studio album – on Friday, leaving fans scrambling to unravel the many pointed references to various romantic partners hidden within the lyrics of her songs.
But while Taylor made several digs at the likes of Joe and Matty, her former boyfriends were not the only people to find themselves at the pointy end of the singer’s razor-tongued attacks.
Reality star Kim was also among the targets of the album, with listeners calling out not one, but two ‘diss tracks’ in which Taylor appears to reference her bitter feud with the reality star, as well as her ex-husband Kanye West.
Taylor’s album was officially released at midnight ET (2am UK time), but just two hours later, she revealed on social media that there was a ‘second installment’, titled The Anthology, having sparked a flurry of speculation that a shock reveal was coming when she shared a countdown clock on social media.
Among the tracks included in that second release is a song titled thanK you aIMee, which fans are now convinced is aimed specifically at Kim, 43, noting that the letters K, I, and M are capped up in the title of the 24th track.
Taylor Swift has reignited her explosive feud with Kim Kardashian by releasing a diss track aimed at the reality star
Fans are convinced one of the 31 tracks – thaK you aIMee – is aimed at Kim, as the letter K,I and M are capped up to spell out her name
The song, which was released on the surprise ‘double’ version of The Tortured Poets Department, takes aim at a person named ‘Aimee’, who fans are convinced is actually Kim
A second track, titled Cassandra, is also being called out for its apparent references to Taylor’s feud with both Kim and her ex-husband Kanye West
Taylor’s exes Joe Alwyn (left) and Matty Healy (right) also found themselves at the center of furious speculation over supposed digs the singer made at both of them in her songs
Fans also called out another song called Cassandra, which makes several references to ‘snakes’; the snake emoji has played a major role in the ongoing feud between Taylor and Kim, as well as the reality star’s ex-husband Kanye West, leading many to believe that the track is yet another subtle jab.
Meanwhile thanK you aIMee centers on Taylor’s apparent dislike for a mean school girl she refers to as ‘Aimee’ – with fans convinced that the person she is actually singing about is Kim.
READ MORE: Taylor targets exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy in The Tortured Poets Department – taking aim at ‘life-ruining men’
Taylor sings in one line: ‘There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you and a plaque underneath it/That threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school.’
‘All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’ / And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel / Screamed ‘F**k you, Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’ / But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.’
She goes on to add: ‘And it wasn’t a fair fight, or a clean kill / Each time that Aimee stomped across my gravе / And then she wrote hеadlines/ In the local paper, laughing at each baby step I’d take.’
Taylor concludes by confirming she’s changed the name of the woman she’s singing about – further fueling speculation the track is about Kim.
She also seems to reference Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West dancing to her 2014 single Shake It Off on TikTok, finding it ironic as the ‘song is about you’.
She sings: ‘And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues/And one day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.’
Sharing their thoughts on social media platform X, one fan described the song as ‘The ultimate f**k you,’ while another shocked listener said: ‘OMFG thanK you aIMee is about Kim Kardashian. This album is SO unhinged.’
Another chimed in: ‘Kim your day of reckoning is here,’ while one simply wrote: ‘Welcome to your tape.’
While the references in Cassandra are largely more subtle, that hasn’t stopped fans from calling out the way in which Taylor appears to be going after Kim.
Taylor wowed in the album artwork for the eagerly-anticipated record
She showed off her figure while reclining on a bed
Smouldering pouts and sizzling stares accompanied the moody album
She gave the black and white shots her all after releasing the album
Taylor was subject to stunning close-ups
Have YOU listened to Taylor’s new album yet?
YesNo
Many believe that the title character, Cassandra, is Taylor, while references to ‘the call’ are meant to allude to a phone call between the singer and Kanye, which Kim secretly recorded and posted online.
Additionally, the references to ‘snakes’ in the song are being compared to the use of snake emojis throughout the feud between the trio.
‘thanK you, aIMee may be about Kim, but Dear Reader, please don’t overlook the fact that Cassandra is a brilliant retelling of how Kanye, Kim, and the extended Kardashian family knew the truth and tried to ruin Taylor’s career anyway. Stay for the jabs at Yeezus/Sunday Sessions,’ one said.
‘Cassandra is Taylor and she warned everyone about Kim but no one believed her oh taygod,’ one person shared on X.
Another agreed, writing: ‘Taylor is Cassandra. She tried to warn people about Kim/the Kardashians but people wouldn’t believe her.’
Taylor and Kim’s longtime row actually began thanks to the singer’s dispute with Kanye in 2009, when he famously stormed the stage at the VMAs when she won the prize for Best Female Video.
A furious Kanye took to the stage to declare that Beyonce should have won the prize, telling Taylor: ‘Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you. I’mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.’
Taylor also seems to reference Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West dancing to Shake It Off on TikTok back in January, she writes:# your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you’
Taylor sings in one line: ‘There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you and a plaque underneath it/That threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school.’ (pictured with Kim in 2015)
Taylor also seems to hit out at Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West as she sings: ‘And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues/And one day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.’
The moment was quickly slammed by furious viewers, as Taylor was then unable to finish her acceptance speech, though Beyonce later invited her on-stage while she accepted the Video Of The Year prize.
After tying the knot with Kanye in 2014, Kim was proudly at his side when he received the coveted Vangard Award at the VMAs.
Appearing to show their feud was quashed, it was Taylor who presented him with the prize, and the pair appeared to have brought an end to their row.
However, in a later interview, Taylor noted that this was far from the case, as Kanye declared on stage that she was asked to present the award ‘for ratings,’ and she refused to speak to him backstage.
She told Rolling Stone: ‘I’m standing in the audience with my arm around his wife, and this chill ran through my body.
‘I realized he is so two-faced. That he wants to be nice to me behind the scenes, but then he wants to look cool, get up in front of everyone and talk s**t. And I was so upset. He wanted me to come talk to him after the event in his dressing room. I wouldn’t go.’
Adding an explosive new level to their feud, Kanye shocked the internet when he released his new song Famous.
It featured the vulgar lyrics ‘I feel like me and Taylor Swift might still have sex/Why? I made that b***h famous.’
Sharing their thoughts on social media platform X, fans wrote: ‘The ultimate f**k you’
The track sparked a huge backlash from Taylor’s fans, and Kanye furiously defended himself in a now-deleted tweet that said: ‘I called Taylor and had an hour-long convo with her about the line, and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings.’
Taylor’s representative then hit back, telling People: ‘Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single Famous on her Twitter account.
‘She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, ‘I made that b***h famous.”’
Kim sparked a social media firestorm when she shared a Snapchat video of Kanye during a phonecall with Taylor, where the rapper appeared to ask her for permission to include lyrics about her in his new song.
After rapping the line, West can be heard saying: ‘I think this is a really cool thing to have.’
Swift responds: ‘I know, it’s like a compliment, kind of. Yeah, I mean, what’s dope about the line is it’s very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it, that’s really nice.’
Taylor became the subject of furious backlash when the video was shared online, with many accusing her of being a snake.
After Kim’s post made her the subject of multiple ‘snake’ memes, Taylor stood by her version of events in a furious social media statement.
She wrote: ‘That moment when Kanye West secretly records your phone call, then Kim posts it on the Internet.’
The statement read: ‘Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that b****’ in his song?
‘It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that b****’ in front of the entire world.’
It is the Bad Blood singer’s 11th studio album since she burst onto the music scene in 2006
‘He promised to play the song for me, but he never did. While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot ‘approve’ a song you haven’t heard.
‘Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination. I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative, one that I have never asked to be a part of, since 2009.’
After hitting back, Taylor took a year-long break from the limelight, and only returned when she released her new single Look What You Made Me Do, in 2017.
After taking a lengthy break from the spotlight, Taylor made a sensational return with her track Look What You Made Me Do.
In the song, and it’s accompanying video, the star took aim at the trolls who had furiously branded her a ‘snake’ after Kim’s phonecall leak.
One clip from the video shows Taylor sitting on a throne surrounded by snakes, a pointed dig at Kim and Kanye.
Later the line ‘Et tu Brute’ is seen carved onto her throne — apparently bemoaning former friend Kim’s apparent betrayal.
After several years of relative silence between Taylor and Kanye, the star furiously took to Instagram to hit out at celebrity manager Scooter, who had purchased the rights to her masters in 2019.
In her post she once again took a pointed dig at Kanye and his 2016 track Famous.
She wrote: ‘ Some fun facts about today’s news: I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world.
‘All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years. Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it.
‘Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video that strips my body naked.’
In her track Miss Americana, Taylor noted that she felt ‘alone and bitter’ during her fall-out with Kanye and Kim, adding that she was branded ‘wicked and evil’.
She said: ‘When people decided I was wicked and evil and conniving and not a good person, that was the one I couldn’t really bounce back from, because my whole life was centred around it.’
‘I felt really alone, I felt really bitter, I felt sort of like a wounded animal lashing out. I figured I had to reset everything.’
Taylor and Kim’s longtime row actually began thanks to the singer’s dispute with Kanye in 2009, when he famously stormed the stage at the VMAs
In the leaked footage , Kanye is seen informing Taylor he is writing a song about her and asking her if she could hype it up by tweeting about it.
Kanye tells her: ‘It has a very controversial line at the beginning of the song about you.’
Kanye then told Taylor she ‘sounded sad’, and the singer questioned if the lyrics were ‘mean’, at which point he reassured her that he didn’t think they were.
He then says the lyric: ‘To all my Southside n***as that know me best / I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex.’
Taylor laughs and says: ‘That’s not mean.’
Kanye goes on: ‘If you felt that it’s funny and cool and hip hop, and felt like it’s the College Dropout and Ye that you love, people would be way into it, and that’s why I think it’s super genius to have you be the one that says, ‘Oh I like this song a lot… this is cool.’
Taylor then tells Kanye she needs some time to think about it, adding: ‘When you hear something for the first time you need to think about it, because it is absolutely crazy.’
There is no mention Kanye would call her a ‘b***h’ or suggest he ‘made her famous’ during the phone call.
Taking to social media after the phonecall was leaked, Taylor said the conversation is ‘proving that I was telling the truth the whole time about *that call* (you know, the one that was illegally recorded that somebody edited, and manipulated in order to frame me and put me, my family, and fans through hell for 4 years)…’
In her Instagram Story post, Swift basically asked people to now move on from the headline-grabbing infamous feud between her and Kim and Kanye that stems from the rapper’s lyrics in his track Famous.
She started her post by saying: ‘Instead of answering those who are asking how I feel about the video footage that leaked…’ before adding in parentheses how she does feel.
She then concluded: ‘SWIPE UP to see what really matters.’
The singer directed her followers to the Feeding America website, suggesting they donate to the nonprofit organization that operates a network of food banks helping people impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Days after the phone call was leaked, Kim posted a series of messages claiming Swift is not being fully truthful about the 2016 phone call with her and Kanye about the song Famous – and the ongoing dispute as to whether Swift was aware of West’s lyrics, in which he called her a ‘b****.’
She also slammed Taylor for her timing in rehashing the feud as the country remains locked down amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians wrote, ‘@taylorswift has chosen to reignite an old exchange – that at this point in time feels very self-serving given the suffering millions of real victims are facing right now.’
Things seem friendly between the pair in 2015, when Taylor presented Kanye with the Vangard Award at the VMAs, but she later admitting in an interview she thought he was ‘two-faced’
Kardashian said she had been avoiding giving the issue any oxygen amid the ongoing global outbreak – and was unhappy about doing so Monday – but needed to in an effort to defend her reputation.
‘I didn’t feel the need to comment a few days ago, and I’m actually really embarrassed and mortified to be doing it right now, but because she continues to speak on it, I feel I’m left without a choice but to respond because she is actually lying,’ Kardashian said.
The Calabasas native explained the nuances of the situation from her perspective: ‘To be clear, the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission…’ They clearly spoke so I let you all see that.’
Taylor’s long time publicist quickly responded with a social media post of her own.
Tree Paine tweeted: ‘I’m Taylor’s publicist and this is my UNEDITED original statement. Btw, when you take parts out, that’s editing.
‘P.S. who did you guys p*** off to leak that video?’ followed by several laughing/crying emojis.
Kim continued: ‘Nobody ever denied the word ‘b****’ was used without her permission.
‘At the time when they spoke the song had not been fully written yet, but as everyone can see in the video, she manipulated the truth of their actual conversation in her statement when her team said she ‘declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message.”
Kim clarified her take on the issue, and how she felt actions she and West took were ethical.
‘The lie was never about the word b****, It was always whether there was a call or not and the tone of the conversation. I never edited the footage (another lie) – I only posted a few clips on Snapchat to make my point and the full video that recently leaked doesn’t change the narrative,’ she said.
‘To add, Kanye as an artist has every right to document his musical journey and process, just like she recently did through her documentary.
‘Kanye has documented the making of all of his albums for his personal archive, however has never released any of it for public consumption and the call between the two of them would have remained private or would have gone in the trash had she not lied and forced me to defend him.’
Kardashian made clear she is done commenting on the situation amid the unprecedented times due to the pandemic.
‘This will be the last time I speak on this because honestly, nobody cares,’ she said. ‘Sorry to bore you all with this. I know you are all dealing with more serious and important matters.’
At the MTV VMAs, Taylor announced she is dropping a brand new album on October 21st and it didn’t take fans long to realise that day also happens to be Kim Kardashian’s 42nd birthday.
‘Taylor Swift announcing a new album on the 13th anniversary of the Kanye West VMA sh**show, 5 years after the premier of LWYMMD at the VMAs, which will drop on Kim Kardashian’s birthday is ICON behaviour,’ one fan wrote.
Another said: ‘It’s been 13 years since THAT Kanye-Taylor moment at the VMAs and now Taylor decides to announce her brand new album with 13 tracks at the VMAs today that will be released on October 21st which also happens to be Kim K’s birthday. HER MINDDDDD!!!’
After being named as TIME’s Person Of The Year, Taylor Swift slammed Kim for ‘taking her down psychologically’ and forcing her into hiding during their long-running feud – while subtly branding the reality star and her ex-husband Kanye West as ‘trash’.
After taking a lengthy break from the spotlight, Taylor made a sensational return with her track Look What You Made Me Do, which took a pointed dig at Kim and her ‘snake’ references
The singer, 33, who has been named TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year, dished on the dispute which started when Kim’s then-husband Kanye West wrote a 2016 song to include vulgar lyrics about the rising star.
He claimed Taylor had consented to the reference but, after denying it, Kim also weighed in and released what the popstar described as ‘an illegally recorded phone call’ between the pair which she claimed proved otherwise.
Taylor has now said that the public fallout said it felt like ‘a career death,’ adding: ‘Make no mistake — my career was taken away from me.’
Discussing the aftermath and the brutal toll that it took on her wellbeing, Taylor told the outlet: ‘You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar.’
‘That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls.’
Although she didn’t elaborate on where she moved to, Swift began dating British actor Joe Alwyn in late 2016, and it was widely rumored that she had rented a home in London in order to spend more time with him.
During that period, she all but vanished from the public eye, something that she says came as a result of the Kardashian and West fallout.
‘I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard.’
Most of the pop icon’s next album Reputation, released in 2017, was aimed at her experience during the ordeal.
But the abundance of snake imagery used in veiled reference to mom-of-four Kim, now 43, only reignited the furor.
‘I thought that moment of backlash was going to define me negatively for the rest of my life,’ she explained.
Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: Full tracklist and meanings in her double album
Tracks on The Tortured Poets Department 1. Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
Taylor appears to reference the end of her relationship with Joe Alwyn and her subsequent fling with Matty Healy in the first track on her album.
The first verse appears to hint at the end of her romance with Joe as she sings: I was supposed to be sent away but they forgot to come and get me.
Taylor then wishes an ex well who betrayed her: All of this to say, I hope you’re okay, but you’re the reason / No one here’s to blame but what about your quiet treason.
In the second verse, Taylor talks about a short-lived fling that helped her ‘move on’, potentially a reference to Matt.
She sings: ‘All my mornings are Mondays stuck in an endless February / I took the miracle move on drug and the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life / I touched you for only a fortnight.’
2. The Tortured Poets Department
The titular track is a shimmering melody 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.’
It also appears to heavily reference her fling with Matty as she sings: ‘You smokеd then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist.
‘I scratch your head, you fall asleep / Like a tattooed golden retriever / But you awaken with dread.’
She also makes a candid reference to her mental health, singing: ‘But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave /And I had said that to Jack about you so I felt seen’.
3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Written solely by Taylor, this song’s dense electronic hum adds forceful notes.
Fans have suggested the title is a reference to the ‘shiny toy she sang about in her hit Cruel Summer from the album Lover.
It’s not clear if she is referring to heartbreak after splitting from Joe or the abrupt end to her romance with Matty.
‘Once I fix me, he’s gonna miss me,’ she vows, adding: ‘I know I’m just repeating mysеlf Put me back on my shelf / But first, pull the string And I’ll tell you that he runs Because he loves me (He loves me).’
4. Down Bad
Taylor references mental health again as she details how ‘down’ she feels without an ex and the infatuation she felt with him.
‘Everything comes out teenage petulance,’ sings Taylor as she bitterly surveys the fallout from an old relationship.
She continues: ‘Everything comes out teenage petulance / F**k it if I can’t have him / I might just die, it would make no difference / Down bad, waking up in blood /Staring at the sky, come back and pick me up.
‘F**k it if I can’t have us / I might just not get up / I might stay down bad.’
5. 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.
The song appears to be a reference to British ex Joe and a follow up to her hit London Boy from Lover.
She references their different approaches to the end of their romance, singing in the first verse: ‘I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift / Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away / My spine split from carrying us up the hill.’
Verse three she muses: ‘And you say I abandoned the ship, but I was going down with it / My white knuckle dying grip holding tight to your quiet resentment.’
Taylor Swift officially dropped The Tortured Poets Department on Friday – her hotly-anticipated 11th studio album
6. But Daddy I Love Him
‘I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want,’ sings Taylor, showing wry humour as she admits to falling for the bad boys. Produced, with real brightness, by Dessner.
She goes on to revel in the fact she dismisses warning from critics, singing: ‘They slammed the door on my whole world / The one thing I wanted
‘Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned, / Screaming, But daddy I love him / I’m having his baby / No I’m not, but you should see your faces.’
7. Fresh Out The Slammer
Finger-picked acoustic guitar adds folky notes reminiscent of lockdown albums Folklore and Evermore to Fresh Out The Slammer, which details rushing into a new relationship.
Seemingly a reference to her fling with Matty – who she previously dated in 2015 – she sings: ‘Now pretty baby, I’m running back home to you. / Fresh out the slammer I know who my first call will be to.’
On the decay of her past relationship, she sings: ‘Splintered back in winter, silent dinners, bitter he was with her in dreams / Gray and blue and fights and tunnels, handcuffed to the spell I was under.
‘For just one hour of sunshine / Years of labor, locks and ceilings / In the shade of how he was feeling.’
8. Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)
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.
Tellingly the first tour stop following her split from Joe was in Tampa, Florida and she begins her song by singing: ‘You can beat the heat if you beat the charges too.
‘They said I was a cheat, I guess it must be true / And my friends all smell like weed or little babies / And this city reeks of driving myself crazy.’
9. 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.
She begins the track with her feelings on being ‘trapped’ in a relationship, singing: ‘My boredom’s bone-deep, this cage was once just fine / Am I allowed to cry?
‘I dream of cracking locks, throwing my life to the wolves or the ocean rocks.’
She hints at an emotional affair providing her release, singing: ‘These fatal fantasies giving way to labored breath taking all of me we’ve already done it in my head.
‘If it’s make-believe why does it feel like a vow we’ll both uphold somehow?”’
10. Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?
Big drums, a dramatic arrangement, and more dry humour in another song penned solely by Taylor. ‘You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me,’ she snarls.
It’s reminiscent of her hit single Look What You Made Me Do and the villain arc is prominent in her lyrics.
She sings: ‘I was tame, I was gentle till the circus life made me mean /Don’t you worry folks, we took out all her teeth
‘Who’s afraid of little old me? Well you should be.’
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
Taylor Swift and Matty Healy seen leaving The Electric Lady studio in Manhattan on May 16, 2023
11. 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.
She appears to be referring to chain smoking, booze loving Matty, as she sings: ‘The smoke cloud billows out his mouth like a freight train through a small town / The jokes that he told across the bar were revolting and far too loud.’
Fans had expressed their concerns when Taylor started dating The 1975 bad boy rocker and it seems her friends had the same reservations.
Taylor sings: ‘They shake their heads, saying, “God help her” when I tell ‘em he’s my man / But your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger / I can fix him, no really I can / And only I can.’
12. 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’.
She describes being love-bombed by an old flame, seemingly referring to Matty given their past experience.
Others have suggested the intensity of the lyrics suggest it relates to her longterm relationship with Joe.
She sings: ‘I felt a glow like this, never before and never since /If you know it in one glimpse it’s legendary.
‘You and I go from one kiss to getting married / Still alive, killing time at the cemetery / Never quite buried.’
13. 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.
She sings about putting on a brave face while her relationships publicly fall apart, noting: ‘They said, “Babe, you gotta fake it till you make it,” and I did.
‘Lights, camera, b***h, smile / Even when you wanna die / He said he’d love me all his life / But that life was too short / Breaking down, I hit the floor / All the pieces of me shattered as the crowd was chanting more.’
Taylor has previously admitted she struggled with her love live playing out so publicly and the narrative that she’d had more boyfriends than other women.
14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
‘You didn’t measure up in any measure of a man,’ sings a disdainful Taylor on a melodramatic ballad.
The title is noteworthy, given that Matty’s stature is an object of some debate. The singer previously disclosed: ‘Everyone in [the 1975] is 6’4” and I’m 5’10”, so everyone thinks that I’m 5’5”.’
More recently, he addressed these short man allegations by telling a fan that he was ‘sick to f***ing death of this’, insisting that he is ‘a big boy.’
She sings: ‘And I don’t miss what we had / But could someone give a message / To the smallest man who ever lived?’
15. The Alchemy
Not all the songs are about heartbreak, as 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.
Speaking about the upcoming release back in February, when he was building up to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, Kelce said he had heard some of the songs on Taylor’s latest release.
‘I have heard some of it and yes, it’s unbelievable,’ he said to reporters. ‘I can’t wait for her to shake up the world when it finally drops.’
16. Clara Bow
It’s tempting to think Taylor sees something of herself in a closing track inspired by Clara an American actress of the 1920s who lived her life in the Hollywood goldfish bowl.
She goes on to reference Stevie Nicks as she details struggling with the trappings of fame.
Taylor sings: ‘I’m not trying to exaggеrate / But I think I might die if I made it, die if I made it / No one in my small town thought I’d meet these suits in LA / They all want to say.’
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
Bonus tracks on The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology17. The Black Dog
The Black Dog is also a reference to depression and lack of energy based on a demonic hellhound acting as an omen of death in English folklore and literature.
As well as the eerie lyrical meaning to the title, The Black Dog is a bar in Vauxhall, London – her ex Matt’s city of birth and just a stone’s throw away from Joe’s hometown of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
In the song, she belts out: ‘I am someone who until recent events you shared your secrets with and your location / you forgot to turn it off / And so I watch as you walk into some bar called The Black Dog…
‘I just don’t understand how you don’t miss me in The Black Dog when someone plays The Starting Line and you jump up, but she’s too young to know this song that was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming.’
18. Imgonnagetyouback
Taylor is torn between calling things off for good or rekindling with an ex in imgonnagetyouback.
Emotions are clearly running high as she sings: ‘Whether Im gonna be your wife / Or smash up your bike / I haven’t decided yet’.
She appears to reference her new romance with Travis as the song goes on, sharing: ‘I can feel it coming / In the way you move / Push the reset button /We’re becoming something new.
‘See you got somebody else / Say I got someone else too / Even if it’s him, I’m leaving here with you.’
19. The Albatross
It seems London watering holes are a theme of the album, with The Black Dog and The Bolter joining The Albatross as apparent references to venues.
The Albatross Club is a pub in Farringdon, London but also has particularly eerie significance in its meaning as a word alone.
Albatross is defined in the Britannica Dictionary as: ‘A continuing problem that makes it difficult or impossible to do or achieve something. Fame has become an albatross that prevents her from leading a normal and happy life.’
Additionally, an albatross is a large white ocean bird that has very long and often black wings – which many likened to her outfit from the Grammys.
Taylor is taking no prisoners in this track, referring to herself as one of the largest seabirds on Earth – famed for their giant wingspan and ability to glide seamlessly.
She sings about taking revenge with the lyrics: ‘She is here to destroy you/ Devils that you know / Raise worse hell than a stranger’.
20. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
Taylor tells the story of a rocky relationship in which their partner betrays them and focuses on drugs more than her.
She hints at infidelity on their part by singing: ‘Your hologram stumbled into my apartment / Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness.
‘Named Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus / And I just watched it happen / As the decade would play us for fools.’
Taylor goes on to reference, singing: ‘You said some things that I can’t unabsorb / You turned me into an idea of sorts / You needed me, but you needed drugs more / And I couldn’t watch it happen.’
Taylor reignited her explosive feud with Kim Kardashian by releasing a diss track aimed at the reality star (pictured with Kim in 2015)
Taylor also seems to reference Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West dancing to Shake It Off on TikTok back in January, she writes:# your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you’
21. How Did It End?
Taylor appears to reference the speculation over her relationship with Joe as she details in the chorus:
‘Come one come all It’s happ’nin’ again / The empathetic hunger descends We’ll tell no-one / ‘Cept all of our friends / We must know How did it end?’
Accusing people of conducting their own ‘post-mortem’s’ in the opening sentence, Taylor also accuses people of being smug: ‘Soon they’ll go home to their husbands / ’cause they know they can trust him / Then feverishly calling their cousins.’
She later admits that while everyone is questioning, ‘How did it end?’ she doesn’t know herself: ‘But I still don’t know, how did it end?’
22. So High School
While many tracks are bold aims at her exes Matt and Joe, happiness does reign in her track So High School where she discusses current boyfriend Travis.
She sings: ‘You know how to ball, I know Aristotle, brand new, full throttle // Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto // It’s true, swear, scouts honor // You knew what you wanted, and, boy, you got her.’
Taylor the directly references a resurfaced video in which Travis was asked who marry, kiss or kill between Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and Taylor.
She sings: ‘Are you gonna marry, kiss or kill me? Kill me. It’s just a game, but really, really, I’m betting on all three for us two.
23. I Hate It Here
Taylor relies in escapism to distract herself from the issues plaguing her real life, describing herself as going to ‘secret gardens in my mind’.
She appears to be dealing with the fallout of being lied to, singing: Tell me something awful like you are a poet / Trapped inside the body of a finance guy
‘Tell me all your secrets / All you’ll ever be is / My eternal consolation prize.’
She appears to be between relationships, musing: ‘I’m lonely, but I’m good /I’m bitter, but I swear I’m fine.’
24. thanK you aIMee
Fans are convinced the 24th track – thanK you aIMee – is aimed at Kim Kardashian, as the letters K,I and M are capped up to spell out her name.
Taylor sings in one line: ‘There’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you and a plaque underneath it/That threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school.’
‘All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ somethin’ / And I can’t forgive the way you made me feel / Screamed ‘F**k you, Aimee’ to the night sky, as the blood was gushin’ / But I can’t forget the way you made me heal.’
She goes on to add: ‘And it wasn’t a fair fight, or a clean kill / Each time that Aimee stomped across my gravе / And then she wrote hеadlines/ In the local paper, laughing at each baby step I’d take.’
Taylor concludes by confirming she’s changed the name of the woman she’s singing about – further fuelling speculation the track is about Kim.
She also seems to reference Kim’s 10-year-old daughter North West dancing to her 2014 single Shake It Off on TikTok, finding it ironic as the ‘song is about you’.
She sings: ‘And so I changed your name, and any real defining clues/And one day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you.’
25. I Look in People’s Windows
While she may have the ultimate girl squad around her, Taylor admits she can’t help but feel lonely when chasing a man.
She sings: ‘I look in people’s windows / Transfixed by rose golden glows / They have their friends over to drink nice wine.
‘I look in people’s windows / In case you’re at their table / What if your eyes looked up and met mine / One more time.’
26. The Prophecy
Taylor seems to be pained by the thought of trying to find an intimate love when her life is so public.
The singer – who found fame as a teenager – reveals that being in the spotlight and adored by millions of fans can’t measure up to being loved by a partner.
She shares: ‘Please / Change the prophecy / Let it once be me / Who do I have to speak to / About if they can redo the prophecy?’
Taylor has previously revealed how fame changed her life for the worst, explaining: ‘It’s a social situation every time I go out.
‘I just have to wake up in the morning and say, “How am I feeling today? If someone asks for a picture, am I gonna feel imposed upon today because I’m dealing with my own stuff? Am I gonna take my own stuff out on some innocent 14-year-old today and be in a bad mood?”
‘OK, maybe not … Maybe I won’t leave the house.’
27. Cassandra
thanK you aIMee might not be the only song issuing shots at Kim Kardashians, with Cassandra also seeming to be filled with veiled digs.
Greek god Cassandra, ‘entangled men’ and was punished with a curse where no one would believe what she had to say.
In her chorus, Taylor sings: ‘When the first stone’s thrown, they’re screaming /In the streets, there’s a raging riot / When it’s “Burn the b***h”, they’re shrieking / When the truth comes out, it’s quiet.’
This could be in reference to Kim sparking a social media firestorm when she shared a Snapchat video of then-husband Kanye West during a phone call with Taylor, where she seemingly gave the rapper to include lyrics about her in his new song.
While Taylor insisted that she hadn’t consented to Kanye labelled her a ‘b***h’ in his track, many accused her of being a snake.
Kardashian fans and Swifties went to war with one another by posting snake emojis.
Taylor references snakes in her song, sharing: ‘So, they killed Cassandra first ‘cause she feared the worst / And tried to tell the town / So, they filled my cell with snakes, I regret to say / Do you believe me now?’
28. Peter
Taylor reflects on her childhood and pleads for forgiveness as she reflects on losing a past love.
It could be in reference to Matty, who she was first linked to in 2014, and their subsequent breakup as she sings: ‘Said you were gonna grow up /Then you were gonna come find me.
‘Words from the mouths of babes / Promises oceans deep / But never to keep / Never to keep.’
It could also be a follow up to her song Cardigan, where she sang: ‘Tried to change the ending / Peter losing Wendy’.
Taylor reflects on her childhood and pleads for forgiveness as she reflects on losing a past love (pictured in 2008)
29. The Bolter
Fans have made many interpretations of The Bolter – with links to a London pub in the form of Mansion House’s bar of the same name while also alluding to a suitor running into the night – something fans insisted was about Joe.
Some Twitter users claimed the location is where the former couple enjoyed their first date – yet the claims were quickly disputed by devoted followers.
The initial claim came from a fan writing: ‘The Bolter is a bar in London where Taylor and Joe went on their first outing?!?!???? I’m done, BYE’.
Others followed up writing: ‘***Apparently that’s not the bar they were publicly first seen together!!!!*** But there is indeed this bar in London which is crazy anyway… guys it’s not real, it was different place’.
She sings: ‘Started with a kiss / “Oh, we must stop meeting like this” / But it always ends with a town car speeding / Out the drive one evenin’ / Ended with the slam of a door / But she’s got the best stories // You can be sure…
‘All her f**kin’ lives / Flashed before her eyes / And she realized / It feels like the time / She fell through the ice / Then came out alive’.
30. Robin
Her penultimate track is also reflective of her youth as she reflects on how innocence is ripped away with age.
She sings: ‘You get the dragonflies above your bed /You have a favorite spot on the swing set / You have no room in your dreams for regret
‘You have no idea / The time will arrive for the cruel and the mean / You’ll learn to bounce back just like your trampoline.’
Despite this there’s an element of hope involved as she sings: ‘But now we’ll curtail your curiosity / In sweetness / Way to go, tiger / Way to go, tiger /Higher and higher / Higher and higher / Wilder and lighter.’
31. The Manuscript
The only bonus track on the first physical versions of Taylor’s album seems to be a follow up to All Too Well – her song about Jake Gyllenhaal.
She reflects on a past romance as she sings: ‘Now and then she rereads the manuscript / Of the entire torrid affair /He said that if the sex was half as good as the conversation was / Soon they’d be pushin’ strollers / But soon it was over.’
In a nod to All Too Well (10 Minute Version) and its music video directly, Taylor continues: ‘The Professor said to write what you know / Lookin’ backwards might be the only way to move forward / Then the actors / Were hitting their marks.’
The Bad Blood songstress, 34 – who recently teased a ‘timetable’ to her fans ahead of the LP’s release – initially announced the album while attending the 2024 Grammys in February
Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department review: The pop superstar pulls out all the stops on this mammoth undertaking, writes ADRIAN THRILLS
Taylor Swift: The Tortured Poets Department (Universal)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Dawn of a new Era
From 2012’s brash Red through to 2022’s more subtle Midnights, Taylor Swift has a penchant for single-word album titles. Over those ten years, the American superstar has also given us 1989, Reputation, Lover, Folklore and Evermore. The fact that her latest comes with a more protracted handle suggests that something is afoot in the Swiftieverse.
There’s certainly a sense that she’s pulling out all the stops on The Tortured Poets Department. Even for someone with a track record of lengthy, value-for-money albums, it’s a mammoth undertaking. Its 16 songs stretch out across 66 tireless minutes, with bonus tracks take the running time to over 74 minutes. It’s essentially a double album. It’s also an immersive, cinematic affair that often feels more like an old Hollywood film script than a straightforward pop record.
The good news for Swifties is that the 34-year-old’s astonishing work ethic hasn’t led to a dip in songwriting quality. Including four re-recordings, this is her ninth LP in five years, and it’s well up to the standard of the older albums she’s currently revisiting on The Eras Tour, a career-spanning show which hits UK stadiums this June.
Written on the US leg of that tour, it isn’t a major departure musically. Two of her regular collaborators, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, are the main co-writers, and many of her lyrically-rich songs are built around shimmering electronics and inarguably great tunes. There are two duets – one with soft-voiced US star Post Malone, one with UK singer Florence Welch – and passing hints of folk music.
Before we even get to the songs, the mood is set by an LP sleeve that features a written introduction by Taylor, who signs herself off as The Chairman Of The Tortured Poets Department. There’s also a poem, ‘for T and me’, by Fleetwood Mac ‘s Stevie Nicks .
It’s a far cry from Swift’s early days in Nashville: a flair for storytelling and the odd spot of vocal phrasing aside, there are few traces of her country roots here. While the rest of the pop world, from Beyoncé to Lana Del Rey , is hitching a ride on the country hay-wagon, Taylor is once again heading in a different direction.
The LP is well up to the standard of the older albums she’s currently revisiting on The Eras Tour, a career-spanning show which hits UK stadiums this June
The lyrical mood is one of tarnished romance, with clever internal rhymes and skilfully-scripted melodrama by the bucketload. The album opens with Fortnight, an electronic ballad in which Taylor, accompanied by Post Malone, suggests she’s on the verge of a breakdown. ‘I was supposed to be sent away, but they forgot to come and get me,’ she warns. ‘I was a functioning alcoholic until nobody noticed my new aesthetic.’
Fans who pore over her lyrics will have plenty to entertain them. 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 – which contains a reference to ‘the house by The Heath’ – are about him.
The odd misstep is inevitable. Down Bad feels like one sad, electronic ballad too many. But, just as you fear the album might be losing momentum, up pops another classic in the making such as Florida!!! – sung with Welch – or Guilty As Sin?
‘I’m so depressed, I act as if it’s my birthday every day,’ she sings on I Can Do It With A Broken Heart.
Whatever comes her way, the show must go on. So, even as her record-breaking tour rolls on towards its final show in December, a new Era is already under way.
