The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Megan Brownell social media editor
On April 19th, Taylor Swift released her highly anticipated 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD). The album contained 16 tracks with four bonus tracks on four different edition vinyls.
Quickly the album broke records, with 313 million Spotify streams on the first day of its release. This was only one of the many records broken, with one of the other big ones being that she filled the top 14 spots in the billboard hot 100. The lead single for the album, ‘Fortnight’ featuring Post Malone, took the number one spot.
Swift also surprised fans at 2am eastern time on April 19th with a second half of the album, 15 more new tracks to enjoy including the four bonus tracks on streaming services. With this, all 31 tracks landed on the billboard hot 100 list, with the album itself going number one on the hot 200.
‘Fortnight’ is the opening track to the album. I enjoyed it as the opener, setting a good tone for an album that no one was sure how it would sound like. Post Malone was the perfect feature on this track, their voices blended beautifully producing a great song.
One of the most anticipated moments about the new album for fans was that it would be the ‘breakup’ album after her and long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyns split. Track fives ‘So Long, London’ showed her iconic gut-wrenching track five songs. During her relationship, she spent lots of time in London as that is where Alwyn is from. The song is almost a goodbye to the city, as what the relationship did to her is forcing her to say goodbye while sharing some of the hardships she went through in those six years.
Track eight brings us to a fan favorite, ‘Florida!!!’ featuring Florence and the machine. This song is more upbeat and fun, as the chorus yells Florida accompanied with a repeated drumbeat. While the song makes me want to get up and jump along too, Florence and Taylor sound amazing together. The two sing about how Florida is somewhere to get away from everything in life, and the ups and downs of doing that.
The album itself was almost promoted as an album about her and Alwyns breakup. This theory proved strong in fans as there was a pop-up event in LA the week before its release where many hints were shown towards this. Surprisingly though, there were quite a few songs written about her short-lived relationship with the 1975 singer Matty Healy. The song that resonates most with me that is about him is ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.’
The song was filled with anger, sharing information of how the short-lived relationship ended. The bridge makes this song incredible. She pours out all the anger about what he did to her and how she cannot forgive him even after they were friends for years before dating. I would sit here and explain all the symbolism she expresses in the bridge, but you just must listen for yourself.
The original version of the album ends with track 16, ‘Clara Bow’. It was a cute little song, singing about the ‘its girls’ of different decades and how they have changed over time. The reason I love this as a closing track is at the end she sings ‘you look like, Taylor Swift,’ being the first time, she sang her own name in a song.
Overall, listen after listen I fall more in love with the album. The album does feel more special to bigger fans, as the lyrics and messages channel more to those who have followed her for some time. I give it a 10/10, and it may take you a few listens to really understand the music, but it will be worth your while.