The official countdown for Taylor's brand new original album has officially ended with 31 brand new tracks, including features from Florence + The Machine & Post Malone. This new addition to her highly successful discography is sure to solidify 2024 as Taylor's year.
Following this year's Grammy awards where the announcement of a new body of work from the singer was on its way following her for Best Pop Vocal album, fans were at the ready to save the date and keep their eyes peeled for any teasers. Despite there being no early releases or audio snippets, she's delivered beautifully cinematic cover art and a glimpse into the writing process with these brand new collaborations.
Taylor Swift | Instagram
We're diving into the new album, the backstory, and more.
1. Fortnight feat. Post Malone
The album opens with a chilling track as she describes her prior relationship as a momentary experience of love, in which she indicates as a 'fortnight', despite her coupling with one of her most recent exes being 6 years. Through the simple yet powerful lyrics, such as "I love you, it's ruining my life', she's seemingly stuck in a predicament where the one thing that ignites her life is inadvertently draining her of such. The visuals to accompany this track pay homage to Clara Bow and the 1920s through its black & white aesthetic, vintage makeup, and costume design, which we see a further connection to woven throughout the songs.
2. The Tortured Poets Department
Listed as the leading single to new release, we experience the thrown hypotheticals directed at her prior love, such as asking how he will move on, who will replace her, and who will be able to give him the love he so desires. In it, Swift compares herself to successful, world-touring poet, Patty Smith and her lover to a 1920's self-destructive poet, Dylan Thomas, although she explicitly states she doesn't want their story to follow suit to their legacies.
3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
The following track describes the careless nature of her ex where he destroys the things that truly matter in his life. Such that within her lyrics "He saw forever so he smashed it up", where their relationship hit a point of almost too much good that he used his self-destructive nature to tear it up.
4. Down Bad
Despite feeling closure and coming to terms with the end of the relationship, Taylor also feels bursts of resentment, anger, treacherous heartbreak during her daily life. A feeling she has experiences similarly as a teenager post-heartbreak. Although she is able to easily let pieces of their relationship go by, she also deeply acknowledges the pain she feels today as she simply was a girl in love.
5. So Long, London
What seemingly is the other side to "London Boy" from her album "Lover", the solemnly curated track explains how she was the only one to carry the relationship until its very end and grew tired in the process. During this time, she felt lonely, although being in a two person relationship and at times, felt as though she was the only one who truly cared. She described most of their love as being verbal, specifically from his side, however, she was quick to follow with his lack of action. Specifically within the lyrics, "I died on the altar waitin' for the proof" as she was ready for the next phase of their relationship, which was marriage but he never met her there.
6. But Daddy I Love Him
As Taylor reaches the bitter end of her relationship timeline, she continues to defend his actions and her devotion for him to her parents as they no longer believe he's right for her. She continuously tries to get them to see her perspective and doesn't want to believe that things are over or hear anymore opinions on the matter. She even goes as far as to say "I'm having his baby. No I'm not but you should see your faces", where she's grappling at straws trying to get them to support her desire to stay with him
7. Fresh Out The Slammer
As the ever-pressing pain of missing him is upon Taylor, she also feels a string tied to him no matter how hard she tries to unravel herself. As she endures these painful moments, her initial actions are to do anything it takes to keep him, whether it's trying harder or bending over backward, however, she was the only one fighting for it. The sinfer continues to revert back to glamorizing the beginning of their love story where things felt fresh, new, and fantasy-like, which ended up being the motivation to keep their relationship.
8. Florida!!! feat. Florence + The Machine
The second collaborative track on the album is almost a mythical sounding one that is similar to Florence + The Machine's discography, which in turn, sets itself apart from the other songs in the tracklist. Fans have even correlated its themes to a prior song, titled "no body, no crime" feat. HAIM from "evermore". Not only is there a connection to her 2020 hit, but she continues the streak with grabbing inspiration from "London Boy", which was initially dedicated to her ex. The state of Florida in this sense, is describes as a place to run away to and relinquish any portion of reality and instead sink away into a fantasy realm.
9. Guilty as Sin?
As we dive into Taylor's overthinking mind that are seemingly too powerful to keep within, she begins believing them and feeling guilty for doing so. Whether it's the media creating falsities in the tabloids or words that were spewed from her partner, she's left with nothing but scrutinizing all of the commentary she's heard. The singer begins to wonder if it was ever love at all or solely false ideas conjured up in her mind that she began believing was love.
10. Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?
Similar to the sounds of "Reputation", the following song is a direct hit to her ex as she metaphorically bites back and attempts to instill fear into her old lover. As she toys with the youthful perception she used to place herself into, she feels defenseless as those who want to see her fall have stripped her of all weaponry, however, Swift doesn't need such armor to seek revenge.
11. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
Taylor knows that her partner is broken but whole-heartedly believes she is the only one who can fix him despite onlookers consistently doubting her due to his concrete problematic ways. Although she knows the danger that emanates from him, whether it's through his antics, public perception, or his words, she feels drawn to him in more ways than not and finds beauty within his broken pieces.
12. loml
What was once love at first sight became indefinitely waiting for it to crumble. Although her lover described their devotion as something real and consciously planning for the future, it was only for a fleeting moment and nothing that was worth taking action on. Its title, which could be thought of to mean "love of my life" in actuality means "loss of my life", which describes their relationship as swinging in both directions as she accepts that he is both to her.
13. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
As we get a glimpse into Taylor's perspective where society sees her at the peak of her career, hitting massive milestones, and doing so with a smile, this isn't the case. Ironically, the beat and tempo of the track are upbeat and can even be classified as "fun" or a "dance track", however, it correlates beautifully to the messaging of how things seem on the surface but if you were to dig deeper, you'd see the cracks underneath. The way in which she performs the song sounds almost as though she knows the combination of harsh lyricism within an upbeat song is ludicrous and she's poking fun at the hypocrisy.
14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
The unanswered questions continue as Swift feels robbed of her love and questions her partner indirectly of if their relationship was just an act. In addition to directing these hypothetical questions in their direction, she also ties in those she asks herself, such as if she'll ever find the love she's sought out. The understanding that her public image and indefinite spotlight will drive away potential suitors, however, she wonders if anyone will truly love her for her. One of her biggest hits "Cruel Summer", written specifically about this individual seemed as though she found the peak of love that she had once been craving but she takes it all back through the lyrics "if rustling my sparkling summer was the goal" and questions his manhood in the process.
15. The Alchemy
The first song that openly describes her current relationship as one of pure true love. She compares it to one created of gold, such as transforming the basic blocks of whom she is and creating something magical with it. As we're given the timeline of their story from the early moments to being his "lucky charm", an ode to her public presence at his games to being loved simply yet extravagantly. Her current partner sees her as the main prize rather than any materialistic award sent his way, where instead he looks towards her for all the good that has come.
16. Clara Bow
Titled in honor of 1920s actress, Clara Bow, who was the 'it girl' of her time and described as a sex symbol during her reign as a successful actress. Swift points at correlations to both of their careers in that Bow was the depiction of female accomplishment, however dealt with immense societal pressure, mental health issues, and a rocky yet public love life. Although Taylor is grateful for the success and support she has been given throughout he career, she feels the incoming pressure to live up to the standards placed on her, specifically within her music & touring.
17. The Manuscript
The bonus track on the album is a simplistic-sounding track where Taylor discovers that all of the pain this individual had caused brought upon some light into her life. All that she had endured has its purpose and although it was a treacherous storm to walk through, she's come to terms and accepted the fate of this relationship and allows herself to move forwards & onwards.
18. The Black Dog
Titled after a bar in London or perhaps the symbolic nature of a black dog, which furthers the conclusion of whom she is referencing as it refers to a British folklore and a figurative representation of grim emotions. Throughout the song she tells us that at times she moves about life in a depressed state after devoting so much time and love towards this person and is left to wonder if they do the same. She reverts back to a repetitive theme of cowardice as she feels her partner has always been so, specifically in the lyric "You said I needed a brave man, then continued to play him", referring to "loml" where she refers to him as a "coward claimed he was a lion".
19. Bolter
The singer admits to running away from things when it feels to good to be true as a way of a defense mechanism. There are connections to her album "Reputation", specifically within "Getaway Car", which correlates love with a sense of freedom woven into impending doom as they both run rampant together.
20. I Hate It Here
The song's themes could be described as a plea to escape the world Taylor currently inhabits and wishes it were possible to run away into a world or a decade where simplicity & youthfulness exists. As her life has been a plethora of moments of pain, heartache, and pressure, she dreams of a place where she could live without the fears and traumas she must forever coexist with. Only within her own mind does she thrive in a realm that is worthwhile and free of all of the sorrow she's experienced.
21. Peter
What may allude to the fairytale story, Peter Pan, she speaks to him directly, where one would think is a symbol for her prior partner, which is done so for a multitude of reasons. One of which is to provide an figure in which to speak to about her lingering questions rather than let all of the words fall into the ether and the other is the point out parallels within Peter & Wendy and her own life. She sees her ex as an immature being with no incentive or desire to grow up, similar to Peter Pan. Although her partner promised he would do just that, it's too late now.
22. The Prophecy
Plain & simply, Swift begs for true love and compares her history of failed relationships to a curse or perhaps fate. She acknowledges her line of heartbreaks and wonders when the cycle will end and she'll finally have the one thing she desires in life. Instead of Taylor allowing this heartbreak to be her forever ending, she's begging to whomever will listen to change that rhetoric.
23. How Did It End?
Similar to Taylor's previous relationships where the breakups were quite public, she hoped that this one wouldn't follow suit, but she was wrong. Despite the ending being so visible as she's set sail and moved on, she's still processing the lingering pain. Her acceptance of their compatibility at the budding of their timeline was also met with the inevitable ending where they were left dancing to different tunes and in the end, desiring something different from the relationship. She also alludes to the breakup between Sophie Turner & Joe Jonas, which occurred at the same time that Taylor was mending her heartbreak.
24. Cassandra
What could be centering around Swift's painful past with rapper Kanye West & Kim Kardashian, where the infamous 2016 phone call between the artists took place following the release of his song "Famous". At the time, society caught wind of the interaction, which was falsely edited to make Swift out as a liar, which was met with heavy backlash and the prompt release of "Reputation". Swift sees a massive correlation to the Greek prophetess, Cassandra, whose story is that of being devastatingly cursed to never being believed.
25. I Look in People's Windows
The wishful lyrics within the soothing track provides a sense of hopefulness that one day they might meet again and rewrite the story. It seems as though she's seeking his love, his presence, a sense of love in every corner of the earth, or perhaps living vicariously through other people's perfect love lives. Doing so, she's even hoping he's out there doing the same.
26. thanK you aIMee
Fans have pointed out the eerie spelling choice of this next title where you can make out the name"Kim". One can initially assume this is a diss at celebrity, Kim Kardashian, the second song referring to the 2016 incident. Despite their feud occurring well into Taylor's 20s, she finds connections to how one was bullied in high school, using Aimee as the chosen antagonist for the story. Despite Kim's efforts to destroy Taylor's career, the singer has built herself up even higher above them and inadvertently thanks them for their soured attempts at doing so.
27. So High School
As she describes portions of her current relationship, connecting them to a young love experience, one that she had as a teen, she portrays an almost gitty, almost nostalgic performance. The sound and lyrics feel quite young and playful, with subconscious links to Taylor's teen debut album and "Speak Now". Lyrically, she even delves up interviews her boyfriend has taken part of in years prior where he's expressed interest in Taylor and pokes fun & highlights the youthfulness in their love.
28. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
Although Taylor hints at the multiple reasons as to why she and her former partner ended, the track dances around the idea of infidelity within the relationship with an unknown individual. The questionable titling includes both male & female names to fill the void of the "that's all we should know". His false perception of her and adoration for the "old Taylor" is demeaning as she no longer finds that she falls within these characteristics anymore and has no desire to. All in all, she feels it would've been better had they stayed friends rather than crossed the line.
29. The Albatross
One of the bonus tracks from the album discusses the downfall of the relationship as she correlates herself to a physical albatross, a bird that is symbolic for something that causes problems and prohibits you from doing or being what you'd want. Furthermore, she explains how her presence or women similar to herself are described as an ever-pressing doom or a blaring warning for other men to avoid. The public used Taylor's prior relationships as a source of gossip where she experienced vast criticism from others for her dating history and as a result, Swift conjures the idea that she is the problem.
30. imgonnagetyouback
Listed as a surprise track as it was not on the originally released track list, Taylor emits an aura of self-confidence in getting her ex back or perhaps seeking revenge. She uses the play on words, specifically within "gonna smash up your bike, i haven't decided yet...take you back to my house, i haven't decided yet" as though she's sitting in the middle and tossing around the options and we're a part of the ride.
31. Robin
Yet another correlative story to fantasy tales, this time with Winnie The Pooh's Christopher Robin, however, this song may be devoted to her younger self, the first one on the album to do so. She celebrates her curiosity and youthfulness, remembering a time where she had yet to understand heartbreak and pain. Similarly to "Never Grow Up" from "Speak Now", she's memorializing a time where all she knew were fairytales and believed love existed only in the ways it was written in stories.
The complete album is a mythical body of art as she's strayed away from her typical pop-sounding music and instead focus on a more folk, indie pop sound. Although the songs are new for our ears, she's moved forward and is welcoming this new chapter. Upon the official release, Taylor describes these stories as ones she has outgrown now.
"An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it." - Taylor Swift via Twitter
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