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You may think I’m just another crazed fan, but in reality, I have listened to Swift’s new album The Tortured Poets Department nonstop, as well as the deluxe version known as The Anthology.

If you could pick any decade to live in for the rest of your life, which would you choose? Would it be the fabulous fifties? The disco-tastic seventies? How about the futuristic 2120? For Taylor Swift, she would say the 1830s, without all the racists of course. How would I know this? 

You may think I’m just another crazed fan, but in reality, I have listened to Swift’s new album The Tortured Poets Department nonstop, as well as the deluxe version known as The Anthology. The album has beautifully encapsulated the ups and downs of Swift’s career between the end of her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn and her fake smiles after dumping The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy. While many have been quick to criticize the rather intriguing lyrics of the album, I will argue this album is one of her best. 

The album starts off with her first and currently only single off the album: “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone. While an AI version of the song about waiting for a lover for a fortnight (or 14 days) was trending on TikTok, the real song tells of a couple who have broken up and moved on in their lives, but still secretly yearn for each other. 

The song reminisces of Swift’s desire to date Healy since 2014, but different obstacles came into the way before they could finally get together. “Fortnight” kicks off the album’s theme of overreaching desires. In this case, her overreaching desire is to reunite with this lost lover, but they are both living separate lives. 

Some of my favorites on the album include “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” “The Alchemy,” “The Black Dog,” and “Guilty as Sin?.” “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” is about her journey of being criticized and molded throughout her career, while “The Alchemy” describes the events of Super Bowl 58, where Swift was seen head over heels for her current boyfriend, Travis Kelce. 

“The Black Dog” shows how hurt Swift is after a recent ex begins to go out with others again, and she wishes nothing but the worst for him. “Guilty as Sin?” describes Swift’s desires to get together with someone she has been pining over for a while.

It’s now time to address the elephant in the room – “So High School.” This song has been heavily criticized for its rather abnormal comparisons between her and Travis Kelce. One example of this has been the lyric, “Truth, dare, spin bottles / You know how to ball, I know Aristotle / Brand new, full throttle / Touch me while your bros play Grand Theft Auto.” 

While I personally am not the biggest fan of this song, I think it’s a cute ode to her boyfriend. After dealing with so much loss and emotion and having to fake happiness for the sake of her career, I think we can cut her some slack for professing her love for the man that makes her the happiest. 

Overall, the album gives you its desired effect: it makes you feel tortured. Going from happy to sad to confused to depressed and repeating this cycle takes the listener on a rollercoaster of fury, anguish, and disturbance. Whether she’s doing it with a broken heart, down bad for a questionable guy, or saying so long to London, Taylor Swift is still breaking records and producing emotional, effective songs that make you question life. 

I highly recommend this album to anyone and everyone. The Tortured Poets Department and The Anthology is a gorgeous, yet troubled masterpiece that deserves its time fresh out of the slammer and into the manuscript of the beholders.