Taylor Swift took the world by storm again this spring when she released her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19. The original 16 songs on the album provided plenty of fodder for Swifties to discuss, but Swift surprise-dropped a *double* album, with 15 additional songs. And still, even out of all 31 brand-new songs, fans quickly began to note the lack of dance-able tracks on this album — a notable difference from Swift’s large collection of bop-filled albums.
The complaint isn’t unfounded. In 2022, Swift curated three separate playlists of her discography for her fans, separated by “fountain pen” songs, “quill pen” songs, and “glitter pen” songs. In her intro clip for the playlists, she said about the glitter pen songs, “These are songs with lyrics that make you want to dance, sing, and toss glitter around the room.” She cataloged many of her upbeat songs in this playlist, including “You Belong With Me,” “22,” and “I Forgot That You Existed” — aka, songs that fans could easily dance to at a wedding, party, or just in their own car. There was a noticeable lack of these glittery songs in The Tortured Poets Department.
But don’t you worry your pretty little minds: This isn’t stopping fans from dancing to some of the fountain and quill pen tracks on the album! Here are five songs from TTPD you really can dance to.
1. “Down Bad”
Track 4 of TTPD has a catchy chorus and a steady beat you can keep time with while you’re dancing. In fact, TikTokers have already created a new dance trend to go along with the chorus.
2. “Florida!!!”
This collaboration with Florence and the Machine has a drum beat you really can’t help but dance to. The bridge, in which the two singers take turns singing lines, is also perfect for coming up with a synchronized dance with your friends to.
3. “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”
The lyrics to this song are heartbreaking, but the rhythm is undeniably catchy. Many TikTokers have been showcasing their dances to this song, because the combination of fast-paced music with sad lyrics is something Swift has proven time and again to work all too well.
4. “imgonnagetyouback”
This song, from The Anthology portion of The Tortured Poets Department, starts off slow but gets faster during the chorus. There’s also a consistent synthesizer sound in the background to help you keep time as you dance your heart out to the revenge-driven lyrics.
5. “thanK you AIMee”
This song is one of the most upbeat on the album, even if the lyrics start off emotional. Turn the volume up and dance with the guitar to the fast chorus — that is, if you can move on from the drama fans believe this song is about!