NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
If you live outside the Swiftie internet bubble, you may not have seen the scavenger hunt unfolding in the depths of Taylor Swift’s fandom.
Her new release The Tortured Poets Department is imminent — and has been heavily leaked online — with hype growing exponentially for her 11th studio album.
From the evidence presented, TTPD, released on April 19, looks to be a post-mortem examination of a failed relationship – and fans believe they know which one.
With songs like So Long, London on the track listing, many fans are looking at this new album as a final farewell to her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn.
Her six-year relationship with the Conversations with Friends actor feels like a distant memory now since her loved-up, Coachella partying romance with Travis Kelce.
But dedicated fans will remember all too well the intensely private and guarded relationship with her ex who inspired songs on Lover and co-wrote tracks for Folklore.
The assumption that Taylor writes solely about breakups is usually rooted in misogyny, with artists of all genres taking inspiration from their love life.
That’s not to say the accusation is wholly unwarranted; rather, it is an unfair criticism levied against the 34-year-old singer and many other female artists.
Taylor is always careful never to specify which breakups inspire which songs but fans have long been developing sleuthing skills even MI6 would be impressed with.
Pointing fingers at songs like Dear John and Getaway Car, Swifties carve out hidden details from the songstress’ careful metaphors and glitter pen lyrics.
However, it seems the parallels are much less hidden for The Tortured Poets Department.
As Taylor has invited fans to, we will ‘examine the evidence’ and see whether this will be her most brutal takedown of a lover yet.
Exhibit A, the first shot believed to be aimed at Joe is hard to ignore as the very album title appears to be a reference to his friends’ group chat.
In 2022 it was revealed Joe, Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott were all in a WhatsApp group chat together called The Tortured Man Club.
All three men starred in adaptations of Sally Rooney novels, playing ‘tortured’ male characters, so naturally the trio thought a group chat was in order.
Taylor may be weaving in a reference to Robin Williams movie The Dead Poets Society here — conveniently released in her birth year 1989 — but it’s hard to believe this is coincidental.
So fans couldn’t help thinking this might be an intentional dig from the Cruel Summer hitmaker, as @heyykarenc took to X and said: ‘Joe Alwyn & Paul Mescal having a group chat named “The Tortured Man Club” & blondie naming her new album The Tortured Poets Department. So silly.’
Exhibit B, the fifth track on her album is thought to directly reference her song London Boy from Lover.
It doesn’t take a leap of the imagination to suggest this could be aimed at British actor and London local, Joe.
However it could be a reference to the simple fact she has a history of dating Brits, which has been usurped by her all-American beefcake boyfriend.
That being said, track five on a Taylor Swift album is reserved for the most gut-wrenching, soul-destroying song; famously All Too Well is Red’s fifth track.
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London is where the former couple resided as they split time between the US and UK for work.
Exhibit C, Taylor had an interactive Spotify exhibition at The Grove in Los Angeles.
While the library is packed full of details and clues, one distinct shape stood out to fans: an archway in its centre.
The shape was faintly reminiscent of the doorway to Cornelia Street, where Taylor and Joe lived in New York for which there is a song named after.
‘I’ll never walk Cornelia Street again,’ she sings over the thought of losing the object of her affections, but here we see echoes of the home left behind in her mind.
o apartamento em cornelia street MEU DEUS pic.twitter.com/LNqAfaf13c
This is Diana of Ephesus, she is the goddess of childbirth and fertility and the goddess of the moon.
The original statue of Diana crumbled while waiting to be shipped to London in the 6th century due to years of neglect, succumbing to the passage of time and the elements. pic.twitter.com/NcR98FNY5J
Taylor Swift made a reference to her 6-year relationship using 72 mailboxes at âThe Tortured Poets Departmentâ library.
72 months equate to 6 years. pic.twitter.com/Z9te5go4aj
Within the space are also exactly 72 card catalogue boxes and with some Swiftie maths that equates to 72 months or six years, the length of their relationship.
Not convinced? There are also only six of these boxes that are open, filled with flowers and other clues.
Also, there is the bust of Diana of Ephesus, the real version of which crumbled when being transported carelessly to London in, you guessed it, the sixth century.
Exhibit D, the library also contains a sepia-toned globe that has a nail in the map where Florida is.
This is linked to another track on TTPD named Florida!!! which has featured artist Florence and the Machine also on vocals.
A passing connection but her Eras Tour gig in the state was where the breakup, affectionally known as ‘Joever’, was announced in April 2023.
Yes, cast your mind back to the start of her mammoth tour, she was still publicly dating Joe at the time — how things can change in a year.
Side A
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
The Tortured Poets Department
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Down Bad
Side B
So Long, London
But Daddy I Love Him
Fresh Out the Slammer
Florida!!! (Florence + the Machine)
Side C
Guilty as Sin?
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
loml
Side D
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
The Alchemy
Clara Bow
Bonus Track: The Manuscript
Exhibit E, possibly not Taylor’s finest lyrical moment but we will wait to hear it out but one open book shares the lyrics ‘I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all’.
This was written alongside her promotion of a clear variant of the vinyl and fan believe it is a direct reference to a previous song thought to be about Joe.
Taylor is famed for self-referential lyrics and motifs that are carried throughout her work, such as bird cages and the colour red.
Looking back at Call It What You Want, a song from Reputation, Taylor sings: ‘I recall late November/ Holdin’ my breath, slowly I said/ “You don’t need to save me/ But would you run away with me?”‘
The album was written at the height of their romance and this song sings about a defiant love, blossoming in the face of speculation.
Fans will get to hear the manuscript themselves tomorrow as TTPD is released on streaming at 5am UK time and judge the evidence Taylor plans to present.
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