It has been two weeks since Taylor Swift released THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, and I feel I’ve listened to the songs enough times to fully share my opinions. Overall, I really enjoy the album. I think the lyricism is amazing, and the songs are so heartfelt. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite album Taylor’s ever made, but I really love the concept.
When the track list was released, I wrote a HerCampus article ranking how excited I was to hear the songs. Now that I have listened to the album an unhealthy amount of times, I will rank the track list by how much I actually like each song. For the purposes of saving time (it is finals week), I will not be ranking THE ANTHOLOGY, but just know I love those songs just as much, if not more!
- “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” – My favorite! This song is so haunting in the best way. I’m a big fan of the production on this one. I’ve also seen many Hunger Games edits to this song, so it gets bonus points for that.
- “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” – I think this is a song so many people can relate to, pushing through despite personal issues/poor mental health. Taylor encapsulates the feeling perfectly, while keeping the song fun and upbeat.
- “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” – Dare I say one of Taylor’s best bridges??
- “Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine)” – Before the album came out, I was not very excited about this one, but it’s turned out to be one of my favorites! The production is amazing. Every time I hear this song, it makes me want to choreograph a group modern dance, which for me translates into “it’s a good song.”
- “So Long, London” – This song is so sad. I really like the double meaning of her using “so long, London” and “FOR so long, London” to convey a goodbye to something that’s characterized such a long period of her life.
- “But Daddy I Love Him” – I like the way this song captures the feeling of the stubbornness of trying to convince loved ones you’re making a good choice. I also love the narrative switch at the end.
- “Fresh Out The Slammer” – I don’t even have comments, I just love this song.
- “Guilty as Sin?” – This song is kind of feral, but I love that. However, I’m not sure how I feel about the amount of people who are now getting “mine” tattooed on their upper thigh.
- “The Tortured Poets Department” – I think this one’s solid. I’m also a sucker for title tracks.
- “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)” – I like this song a lot; however, I’ve been listening to Channel 13 on Sirius XM, and they keep playing it, so I’m getting a bit tired. Also, I have yet to see the music video (my bad), but I’ve heard good things.
- “Clara Bow” – I love the parallels in this song, and the general concept. I’ve heard some people don’t like the way Taylor says her own name in the last verse, but I like the message it sends.
- “Down Bad” – This song is very catchy, and I enjoy it! It’s just not my favorite out of the album.
- “loml” – this song is so sad.
- “The Alchemy” – I think this song is so cute, and I really like it! Unfortunately, everytime I hear it I can’t help but think of “My Travvy made it to the big game,” which makes it hard to rank it higher.
- “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” – Good, just not a favorite.
- “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)” – I like this song, but it’s not a standout for me!
My final ranking ended up being much different than my initial one. Like I said, this ranking does not include THE ANTHOLOGY, which includes some of my favorites from the album, like “The Black Dog” (which is a perfect song), “The Manuscript,” and “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.” Miss Swift has done it again, and I’m excited to have these songs to play on repeat for the summer (though I’m not sure they give off the summer vibe).