News broke on Monday that Taylor Swift had shattered a new record when 14 songs from her recent behemoth of a release, The Tortured Poets Department, took the top 14 spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. With so much to listen to—the album’s 16 main tracks were accompanied by 15 surprise bonus tracks—the Swifties clearly got to work streaming nonstop, and all 31 tracks made the Hot 100. Now, with Tuesday’s release of the full chart data, we can do our own obsessive deep dive to assess which Tortured Poets songs fans have on repeat and which tracks are skips—and whether this reveals anything deeper, like, which parts of Swift’s love life and mythology are proving the most irresistible.
Because the order that the songs placed on the Hot 100 loosely matches the order in which they appear on the album, we can tell that most fans are listening to the album in order. However, the discrepancies reveal which tracks people are skipping past—and which ones they’re putting on repeat. Below, we compare the order that Swift’s songs appear on the Hot 100 to the order they appear on the album to figure out what listeners really think of The Tortured Poets Department.
1. “Fortnight” (Feat. Post Malone)
Where it places on the album: Track 1
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 1
Up or down: Steady!
“Fortnight” is both the album opener and its first single, so it’s no surprise that it’s topping the charts. Swift helps former hip-hop artist Post Malone usher in his genre-swapping career shift on what she likely believes is the strongest song of the bunch. Seems like the fans agreed!
2. “Down Bad”
Where it places on the album: Track 4
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 2
Up or down: Up two spots!
This song, which uses a metaphor of being abducted by aliens to lament an experience of being love bombed, seems to have struck a chord with many listeners. It doesn’t hurt that the song’s popularity was boosted by a conspiracy theory, involving a misheard lyric, that went viral on TikTok.
3. “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”
Where it places on the album: Track 13
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 3
Up or down: Up 10 spots!
Critics are calling this tune “the most Taylor Swift song ever,” and it seems fans agree. While many theorize that the album as a whole mostly concerns Swift’s recent ex Matty Healy, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” is rumored to be about her break up with her previous longtime beau Joe Alwyn. The pair’s relationship was famously private—for Swift, that is—so clearly her fans were clamoring for even the smallest drop of tea. Others may simply agree with critics that this deceptively upbeat track is among the best on the album.
4. “The Tortured Poets Department”
Where it places on the album: Track 2
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 4
Up or down: Down two spots!
The album’s title track is almost confirmed to be about Healy, the presumed main focus of the project. What is a “tortured poets department”? Somewhat unclear, but when you think about Healy’s image, it kind of makes sense.
5. “So Long, London”
Where it places on the album: Track 5
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 5
Up or down: Steady!
We all know this track is about London boy Alwyn, and it contains the singer’s most direct lyrics about the end of her six-year relationship. This is not only one of the saddest songs on the album, it also apparently has huge staying power.
6. “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”
Where it places on the album: Track 3
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 6
Up or down: Down three spots!
Using the metaphor of being a child’s favorite toy until they shatter and abandon you is pretty clever. However, it doesn’t seem to be enough to entirely woo the megastar’s listeners.
7. “But Daddy I Love Him”
Where it places on the album: Track 6
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 7
Up or down: Down one spot!
Swift isn’t the first musician to use the iconic line from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, but she might be the most popular. True fans will remember that the singer also once wore an Ariel costume, mermaid tail and all, for Halloween. Critics may be delighting at how the song takes aim at some of Swift’s most overprotective fans, but perhaps those fans are less amused.
8. “Florida!!!” (Feat. Florence and the Machine)
Where it places on the album: Track 8
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 8
Up or down: Steady!
Who is this song supposed to be about? Speculation has run amok, with likely candidates ranging from Joe Alwyn to Joe Jonas. Maybe it’s the perfect amount of confusion to keep the song among the Top 10 on the chart, or maybe fans simply like the guest turn from English belter Florence Welch.
9. “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”
Where it places on the album: Track 10
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 9
Up or down: Up one spot!
Swift’s coquettish riff on the line “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?” finds her lambasting the media circus that overemphasizes—or, as she seems to suggest, outright concocts—any alleged drama about the singer and her personal life. In other words: This is a pro-Swift anthem through and through, and fans are embracing it.
10. “Guilty as Sin?”
Where it places on the album: Track 9
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 10
Up or down: Down one spot!
With Swift singing about a guilty attraction, all signs point to Healy as her muse for this track. A public outcry over the 1975 frontman’s many social faux pas put intense pressure on Swift’s short-lived relationship with him. In this case, it seems fans still aren’t into it.
11. “Fresh Out the Slammer”
Where it places on the album: Track 7
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 11
Up or down: Down four spots!
It seems Swift’s listeners don’t have much fealty to her metaphor comparing getting out of a relationship to getting out of jail. Still, they listened enough to figure out that the song might be a reference to Swift’s past mentions on Reputation.
12. “loml”
Where it places on the album: Track 12
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 12
Up or down: Steady!
The text-speak-titled song isn’t actually about the love of her life, but about someone who is confirmed to not be. The numbers confirm: We’ve all been there, Taylor!
13. “The Alchemy”
Where it places on the album: Track 15
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 13
Up or down: Up two spots!
“The Alchemy” is one of the few songs on the album containing football references, naturally interpreted as a nod to Swift’s current partner, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Clearly, this piqued the interest of her fans enough to bump the chemistry-themed song up a couple spots. Touchdown!
14. “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”
Where it places on the album: Track 14
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 14
Up or down: Steady!
The last of Swift’s songs to round out her takeover of the top 14 spots is one of her most scathing double-entendres. Ouch, Taylor!
20. “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”
Where it places on the album: Track 11
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 15
Up or down: Down four spots!
This track about delusion comes in at No. 20 on the charts. Many fans assume this song is about Swift’s doomed belief that she can save (presumably) Healy from his problematic past. They may also feel that they were way ahead of her when it comes to the realization that she couldn’t, which could help explain their fatigue with this track.
21. “Clara Bow”
Where it places on the album: Track 16
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 16
Up or down: Steady!
Following at No. 21 on the charts is the song, named after the famed silent-film star of the 1920s, in which Swift name-drops herself as another “It Girl” whose moment in the sun is destined to pass. It’s perhaps surprising that this album closer didn’t place higher when it elicits this incredibly teary reaction from Swifties, though it doesn’t seem that fans are skipping it either.
23. “Thank You Aimee”
Where it places on the album: Track 24
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 17
Up or down: Up seven spots!
As soon as I heard that one of the songs on Tortured Poets was about Kim Kardashian—years after we all thought they had messily laid their feud to rest—I anticipated it getting a bump in the charts. (Note the none-too-subtle capitalization of K-I-M in its official title, “thanK you aIMee.”) Its place at the 23rd spot on Billboard’s list has proved my prediction right, as far as I’m concerned. I have even less hope now that we as a society will move past this.
24. “So High School”
Where it places on the album: Track 22
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 18
Up or down: Up four spots!
While some would say that reviving an old drama that already inspired an entire album seven years ago is so high school, Swift is invoking a different kind of high school experience here. The song—which landed at No. 24—is about how a relationship (her and Kelce’s?) makes Swift feel like a head-over-heels schoolgirl. If there’s one thing that Swifties love indulging in, it’s Swift-Kelce content, as this track’s performance proves.
25. “The Black Dog”
Where it places on the album: Track 17
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 19
Up or down: Down two spots!
“The Black Dog,” ringing in at No. 25, seemingly takes its name from Winston Churchill’s nickname for depression, but more literally it is simply the name of a London pub. I’m sure the establishment will receive a significant uptick in business, so plan accordingly before going to get your pint.
26. “imgonnagetyouback”
Where it places on the album: Track 18
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 20
Up or down: Down two spots!
A few brave souls have publicly mentioned that Swift’s revenge-or-reconciliation double-entendre of “get you back” isn’t as good as Olivia Rodrigo’s recent use of the phrase in her song “Get Him Back!” on the album Guts. The plot thickens significantly when one remembers that Rodrigo and Swift are allegedly former-pals-turned-foes. Maybe the thematic rehash is responsible for the song’s chart performance, coming in slightly lower at No. 26.
30. “The Albatross”
Where it places on the album: Track 19
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 21
Up or down: Down two spots!
Ah, a bird metaphor, that classic songwriting trope, and here one lifted straight from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Does it work here? Perhaps the fans have determined that after 226 years, the image is getting tired, resulting in this placement at the 30th spot on the chart.
32. “The Prophecy”
Where it places on the album: Track 26
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 22
Up or down: Up four spots!
Coming in at No. 32 is Swift’s heartbreaking song about wishing for a different life after a relationship that she thought would end in marriage eventually went south. The song’s relatively high placement might be owed to the fans connecting it to a resurfaced interview clip from 2012, in which Katie Couric asks the pop star where she sees her life in 10 years.
34. “I Hate It Here”
Where it places on the album: Track 23
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 23
Up or down: Steady!
Swift might existentially hate it here at times, but her fans certainly don’t hate the song’s placement on the album, which took the 34th slot of the Hot 100.
35. “How Did It End?”
Where it places on the album: Track 24
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 24
Up or down: Steady!
Right behind it is Swift’s song about how the public cares not about the feelings of those involved in celebrity breakups but purely about the salacious details of how they end. It seems that fans do care about this song, however, whether out of sympathy or prurient interest.
36. “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”
Where it places on the album: Track 20
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 25
Up or down: Down five spots!
At No. 36 is another song, allegedly subtweeting Healy, about a partner who struggles with drug abuse, tests her trust, and at times betrays her. Surprisingly, despite having some of her most revealing lyrics, the song isn’t being played as much as some of the others. Maybe it’s the delicate piano production that fans don’t care for?
39. “I Look in People’s Windows”
Where it places on the album: Track 25
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 26
Up or down: Down one spot!
No. 39! Voyeur Taylor Swift, Virgin Suicides Taylor Swift, Malcom from She’s the Man Taylor Swift, I salute you—even if some fans are looking away.
44. “Cassandra”
Where it places on the album: Track 27
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 27
Up or down: Steady!
Some fans believe that the song, which references the titular prophet from Greek mythology, is about her legal feud with Scooter Braun and her previous label, which is the reason why the singer has been rerecording all of her old albums, while others think it’s a “toldja so” suggesting that people should have believed her warnings about Kanye West. While the song isn’t as high up on the charts, it still falls in Swift’s intended track order.
46. “Peter”
Where it places on the album: Track 28
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 28
Up or down: Steady!
At No. 46 is Swift’s second obvious reference of a childhood classic with her riff on Peter Pan, the boy who never wanted to grow up. As one of the album’s final songs, it features the rare sound of a Taylor Swift asking for forgiveness.
47. “The Bolter”
Where it places on the album: Track 29
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 29
Up or down: Steady!
This acoustic ballad, which placed at No. 47 on the chart, tells the story of a woman who “runs like it’s a race” from every relationship she enters. Apparently it should learn to stay put, because fans think Swift put this deep cut exactly where it should be.
51. “The Manuscript”
Where it places on the album: Track 31
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 30
Up or down: Up one spot!
Some believe the 51st song on the Hot 100, Swift’s “Manuscript,” to be a follow-up to Swift’s monster hit “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” from her rerecording of the album Red. The original song, about her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal from years ago, was massively popular, and the singer’s extended version became even more so when paired with its award-winning music video. Now, it seems, she might be continuing the story, much to the apparent slight increased interest of her followers.
55. “Robin”
Where it places on the album: Track 30
Where it ranks among album tracks on the chart: No. 31
Up or down: Down one spot!
Jumping down a bit more to No. 55 on the Hot 100 is the final entry of Swift’s Tortured Poets songs, “Robin.” It’s the penultimate song on the album, swapping places on the charts with “The Manuscript.” Many fans believe the song about childlike wonder and innocence to be a reference to the same-named son of one of Swift’s frequent collaborators, the National’s Aaron Dessner. Some may say that they’re tired of Swift’s ceaseless allusions to tabloid figures, but the higher placement of so many of those songs, and the last-place finish of this one, suggests that some of those fans protest too much.
Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company.
All contents © 2024 The Slate Group LLC. All rights reserved.
