Taylor Swift released “The Tortured Poets Department” on Friday, introducing a new era of artistry for the global superstar. You might need a thesaurus on standby while listening.
Her long-anticipated eleventh album, excluding her “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings, is her most recent release since Midnights, which came out in Oct. 2022.
Swift is infamous for dropping “Easter eggs,” or clues that tell a larger story about her or an album’s concept. This record is no exception.
The album features Swift’s classic poppy and lyrical style, but introduces a host of new vocabulary words, urging listeners to sprint to Google to decode the songs’ meanings.
Music:Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets’ is hauntingly brilliant, even the 15 surprise songs
The intro track on “The Tortured Poets Department” is titled “Fortnight” and features rapper Post Malone.
Swift sings, “And for a fortnight, there we were, forever running.” A fortnight refers to a period of two weeks. The term’s usage peaked in the 1860s.
Swift announced “Fortnight” will get a music video in an Instagram post on Friday. The video will be available at 5 p.m. Arizona time on Friday.