Taylor Swift revealed some of the inspirations behind The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD).
In a special track-by-track experience, available to stream on Amazon MusicThe pop star, 34, provided insight into her latest album by recalling her mindset during the creation process.
Following the release of her 11th album on Friday, the 14-time Grammy winner described TTPD as an “anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and feelings from a fleeting, fatalistic moment in time, one that was both sensational and painful in equal measure.”
“This period of the author’s life is already over, the chapter is closed and walled up,” he told his fans. ‘There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once the wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted.
He concluded: ‘This writer firmly believes that our tears become sacred in the form of ink on a page. Once we have told our saddest story, we can free ourselves from it. And then all that remains is tortured poetry.
Two hours later, he announced that The Tortured Poets Department was a “DOUBLE secret album” since he had “written so much torture poetry in the last two years” and couldn’t resist sharing “everything.”
Below you’ll find everything Swift has said about her songs, including Fortnight with Post Malone, Clara Bow, Florida. with Florence + the Machine, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me, Down Bad and My Boy Only breaks her favorite toys.
Taylor Swift revealed some of the inspirations behind The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), which has broken multiple records on Spotify and other music streaming platforms.
Florida!!! (Florence + The Machine feat)
‘I’m always watching Dateline. People have these crimes that they commit; Where do they immediately leave the city and go? They’re going to Florida,’ she jokes about what inspired her to write the Sunshine State-inspired song.
And he continued: “They try to reinvent themselves, have a new identity, integrate. I think when you go through heartbreak, there is a part of you that thinks, ‘I want a new name.'” I want a new life. “I don’t want anyone to know where I’ve been or know me at all.”
And that was the starting point. Where would you go to reinvent yourself and integrate? Florida!’
‘I’m always watching Dateline. People have these crimes that they commit; Where do they immediately leave the city and go? They’re going to Florida,” she jokes about what inspired her to write the Sunshine State-inspired song.
Who’s afraid of little me?
“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me was a song I wrote alone, sitting at the piano in one of those moments where I felt bitter about all the things we do to our artists as a society and as a culture,” the hitmaker said. of Cardigan. in the interlude.
He continued: ‘There is a lot about this particular concept in THE DEPARTMENT OF TORTURED POETS. What do we do to our writers, artists and creatives?
‘We put them through hell. We observe what they create and then judge it. “We love to see artists suffer, often to the point that I think sometimes we as a society bring on that pain and just watch what happens,” she reflected.
“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me was a song I wrote alone, sitting at the piano in one of those moments where I felt bitter about all the things we do to our artists as a society and as a culture,” the hitmaker said. of Cardigan. in the interlude
Fortnight (Post Malone feat)
“Fortnight is a song that showcases many of the common themes found throughout this album,” Swift explained.
‘One of which is fatalism: longing, longing, lost dreams. I think it’s a very fatalistic album because there are a lot of very dramatic lines about life and death. “I love you, you’re ruining my life.” These are very hyperbolic and dramatic things to say. It’s that kind of album.’
In addition to making Fortnight the lead single, she released an emotional music video, featuring Malone as her ex-lover.
Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, stars of Dead Poets Society, also made a cameo.
After posting the video, he wrote on social media: “I wanted to show you the worlds that I saw in my head and that served as a backdrop for making this music. Almost everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to one corner or another.” from the album.’
‘For me, this video turned out to be the perfect visual representation of this album and the stories I tell in it. “Post Malone blew me away on set as our tortured tragic hero and I am so grateful for everything he put into this collaboration,” she concluded.
“Fortnight is a song that showcases many of the common themes found throughout this album,” Swift explained.
Clara Arco
“Clara Bow is a song I wrote as a commentary on what I’ve seen in the industry I’ve been in over time,” Swift said. ‘I used to sit around at record labels trying to get a record deal when I was a little kid. And they’d say, ‘you know, you remember us,’ and then they’d name an artist, and then they’d say something derogatory about her, ‘but you’re this, you’re so much better.’ this way or that.’
She added: “And that’s how we teach women to see themselves, as if they could be the new replacement for this woman who has done something great before you.”
Swift, referencing Bow, an actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s, and Stevie Nicks, explained that she “cast women who have done great things in the past and have been these archetypes.” greatness in the entertainment industry. to name.
‘Clara Bow was the first ‘it girl’. “Stevie Nicks is an icon and an incredible example for anyone who wants to write songs and make music,” praised the Cats actress.
“Clara Bow is a song I wrote as a commentary on what I’ve seen in the industry I’ve been in over time,” Swift said.
My child only breaks his favorite toys.
‘It’s a metaphor from the perspective of a child’s toy; being someone’s favorite toy until he breaks you up and then he doesn’t want to play with you anymore,’ he said of the breakup song.
He continued, “This is how many of us are in relationships where one person values us a lot at first and then all of a sudden they break us up or devalue us in their mind.”
‘We’re still holding on to ‘No, no, no.’ You should have seen them the first time they saw me. They will come back to that. They’ll come back to it,’ he recalled.
‘It’s a metaphor from the perspective of a child’s toy; “Be someone’s favorite toy until he breaks you and then he doesn’t want to play with you anymore,” he said about My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys.
down bad
“The metaphor in Down Bad is that I was comparing the idea of being love bombed, where someone rocks your world and dazzles you and then just abandons you,” he said in a recording that aired on iHeartRadio on an album. premiere event.
She then compared it to a girl being ‘abducted by aliens’ but ‘she wanted to stay with them and then when they drop her off in her hometown she’s like, ‘Wait, no, where are you going?’ I liked it there. It was strange but it was great. Go back.”
“The character in the song felt like, ‘I’ve just been exposed to a whole different galaxy and universe that I didn’t know was possible.’ How can they just take me back to where I was before?” he told listeners.
“The metaphor in Down Bad is that I was comparing the idea of being love bombed, where someone rocks your world and dazzles you and then just abandons you,” he said in a recording that aired on iHeartRadio on an album. premiere event (seen in the studio while recording the song with Jack Antonoff)