For me, nothing will ever beat the release of Taylor Swift’s eighth studio album, folklore. In the height of the COVID pandemic, that album housed the songs of the long-awaited summer. I remember blasting “august” through the car speakers with the windows down and breathing rare, unmasked fresh air.
What I love about folklore are its beautiful lyrics, so I was highly anticipating the release of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT, which was advertised to have this same poetic feel.
But… I didn’t like TTPD upon first listen. I attribute this to the fact that there were THIRTY (!) new songs to listen to as I ran between classes. To me, most of them sounded the same, and I was disappointed.
Now that I’ve had more time to listen to the album, my feelings have changed. While it isn’t my favorite of Swift’s albums, there are a few tracks that I have been playing daily, and I’ve been diving into the aesthetic of this new Swift era. It was hard to narrow it down, but here are my five favorite new tracks….
1. FRESH OUT THE SLAMMER
I think “Fresh Out the Slammer” is the most romantic song on the album. I love the Western twang in the first few seconds that really makes it feel like the speaker is escaping jail. To the first person someone wants to see when they get out of jail, or to “know who my first call will be to…” is like an out-of-the-movies love story.
2. I LOOK IN PEOPLE’S WINDOWS
I need to stop walking around singing that I look in people’s windows, but Swift paints such a vivid (and catchy!) image of one pining after love that it’s hard to not sing along. The idea of looking into someone’s window “in case you’re at their table/What if your eyes looked up and met mine/one more time?” is the epitome of “right person, wrong time.”
3. Fortnight
I’ve liked Post Malone’s music in the past, so I was looking forward to this collaboration. It was my favorite track on the album the first time I listened. The song talks about a short lived relationship, one in which the speaker “touched you for only a fortnight/and I love you/it’s ruining my life.” The album has various tracks about multiple romantic relationships, so placing the story of “Fortnight” as the first track on the album frames this narrative.
4. IMGONNAGETYOUBACK
The way this song infers that the speaker wants to get their partner back no matter what it takes—“whether I’m gonna be your wife or gonna smash up your bike/I haven’t decided yet, but i’m gonna get you back”—showcases how strong the speaker’s love is. I think “imgonnagetyouback” is the quintessential break up song. This song also has my favorite bridge off the album—I love the way it speeds up at, “Even if I’m handcuffed I’m leaving here with you” line.
5. DOWN BAD
“Now I’m down bad crying at the gym” was just a bit too relatable… I guess all’s fair in love and poetry!
Overall, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT is definitely growing on me. I wrote about this in our group article for this week, but I appreciate a lot of the songs on the album as poems more so than songs. A common critique of TTPD is that most of the songs sound the same—I think the lyrics shine more than the music, and that having the songs sound similar highlights the powerful words, instead. I hope to hear more lyrical mastery in Swift’s next era!