Behind THE Music

Taylor Swift waxes poetic about love, loss and standing her ground on The Tortured Poets Department

- JAIME HARKIN

Fans had been waiting with bated breath for Taylor Swift to drop her highly anticipated 11th album at midnight on April 19. But two hours later, the unrivaled Princess of Pop hit Swifties with a big surprise, revealing The Tortured Poets Department to be a secret double album complete with 31 soul-baring songs. "I'd written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you," Swift, 34, wrote in part on Instagram. "And now the story isn't mine anymore... it's all yours."

Within hours, TTPD made headlines around the globe and cemented Swift’s world domination status. Records were broken, and lyrics were analyzed with forensic precision. While her current squeeze, NFL star Travis Kelce, is featured on one of the record’s rare lighter tracks, the album mainly centers around the demise of her six-year romance with British actor Joe Alwyn (they split in April 2023) and her ill-fated fling with bad-boy rocker Matty Healy (they dated briefly between May and June 2023). But it’s not all matters of the heart: Swift also addresses her yearslong feud with Kim Kardashian on the diss track “thanK you aIMee” and offers some scathing commentary on fickle music industry execs on “Clara Bow.”