On April 19 Taylor Swift released her eleventh studio album, “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT” or TTPD for short. Two hours after the initial release of the album, Swift released a second edition of it, called “THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY.”
The second edition was released to symbolize the five stages of grief. In the days leading up to its release, Swift had words scattered throughout her discography that spelled out a message, “We hereby conduct this post mortem.”
The album has had mixed reviews online, but we loved it and think it doesn’t deserve the hate it has been receiving.
Ok so maybe mother served again? – Mady Leick
“Taylor Swift needs an editor,” an opinion headline I saw on my Instagram timeline, made me laugh out loud at its accuracy. The opinion is similar to my own thoughts but feels a bit too critical. There’s a lot to hate about this album but also plenty to love.
They could never make me hate you Matty Healy, but that being said, wow. Most fans were expecting this album to focus on her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, but Swift focuses a majority on her relationship with Healy, which only lasted two weeks.
The 1975, in which Healy is the lead singer, is felt throughout this album, as Swift loves to take inspiration from her muses. For example, after breaking up with John Mayer, she mimicked some of his stylistic choices on her third album, “Speak Now.”
As a fan of “the band,” as Swift calls them, I can’t help but love the parts of the album, like “Fortnight” or “Guilty as Sin?” that give off the same vibes as the British band.
“I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” is a standout in my eyes. The way it masks depression with a pop beat makes it a rollercoaster of a listen. It discusses Swift’s journey with her new level of fame as she experienced a difficult breakup. Swift discusses how she is always “hitting her marks” despite feeling unable to get out of bed.
I also need to give some love to “The Bolter” which is such a fun story about running away. It reminds me of some of the elements from “folklore.”
I think it’s such a fun moment, and is incredibly relatable.
“Try and come for my job,” Swift said.
Leick can be reached at [email protected].
As an English major, I am eating this up – Taylor Boggess
While I enjoyed the majority of the songs on the album, some stuck out to me and made me sit back and think (or cry).
In the first album, while I enjoy many of the songs, I think my favorite is either “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” or “But Daddy I Love Him.” The bridge on the former just itches a special spot in my brain. While the latter has a beautiful lyric “‘I’m havin’ his baby.’ No, I’m not, but you should see your faces.”
On the ANTHOLOGY version, I think my favorite is “The Albatross.” However, I love almost every single one of the songs on the second version.
Despite having favorites in the album, I still love the concept of the album as a whole. I am a first-year creative writing student with a tattoo referencing “the lakes,” and to have a whole album like that with similar references makes my heart happy.
One thing I will note about the second version, is the song “imgonnagetyouback” had some questions arise when it was released. Many compared it to Olivia Rodrigo’s song, “get him back!” because of its similar concepts.
Some listeners went as far as to say that it was Rodrigo’s turn to sue Swift in correlation to when Swift’s legal team sued Rodrigo for having similar sounding melodies from “Cruel Summer” in her song “deja vu.”
However, I think this is a baseless claim. Rodrigo did not invent the play on words of getting an ex “back.” The songs may have the same concept, but they are different songs nonetheless.
Another song worth mentioning is “loml.” This song is going to be the perfect addition to my sad songs playlist. The turn from “love of my life” to “loss of my life” rendered me speechless.
I generally love this album and think the more I listen to the album, the more likely it could come into my top five Taylor Swift albums.
Boggess can be reached at [email protected].
