#album: the tortured poets department

[inocennt]

5 most important tracks from TTPD?

This question feels very similar to a little game I saw a few weeks ago that asked people to turn TTPD into a 5-song ep, and for that question, I'd chosen The Albatross, Peter, The Bolter, Robin and The Manuscript. Because those songs encompass The Gender Of It All™ to me, and I feel like gender and the the impact that gendered expectations in a binary/patriarchal society can have on people's behavior is a huge central theme in TTPD (particularly in the anthology section when we start to explore the hows and whys of the main narrative coming to play).

But despite the relevance of that theme, I feel like only choosing anthology tracks would be to neglect the actual main storyline of the album itself, which obviously is very important and relevant as well. So in terms of "most important" tracks, I would say:

But Daddy I Love Him -- Establishing TTPD's main narrative following a forbidden/disgraced love affair, the potential red flags on the part of the lover, and the narrator's own sense of self-assuredness and dedication, both to the relationship as well as her own idea of control and proving others wrong. Heavy use of religious metaphor and iconography, relevant obviously in the wider context of TTPD, but also to songs from past albums (most notably Would've Could've Should've). Narratively depicts an idealized scenario in which she tells off everyone poking their noses into her love life and ultimately wins them all over, which also calls back to songs from previous albums (Love Story, Ours). This song on its own carries and alludes to the themes from nearly every other main album song that is relevant to the lover storyline (MBOBHFT, Down Bad, Florida, I Can Fix Him, Guilty As Sin).

Clara Bow -- Honestly, a good case could be made for WAOLOM as one of the most important TTPD songs too, but I raise this one up as the most important fame-centric track because of how it is not just about the brutal nature of the industry, but also the cyclical nature of it. Cycles and habits are also a central theme of TTPD as an album, perhaps the central driving force behind everything that happens, so while Clara Bow may feel like an odd closer to the main album on its own, its inherent nature as an exploration of the constant cycling through "It Girls" within celebrity culture goes hand in hand with the romantic narrative of TTPD being a textbook reenactment of a previous relationship experience (the Speak Now narrative). The events of TTPD are perpetuated by a mentality that is born out of trauma responses, inflicted in part by past relationships, and in part by past industry experiences, which is why the romantic narrative and the fame narrative go perfectly hand in hand in TTPD.

The Prophecy -- I feel like this song touches on basically every underlying theme in the album. The desire for romantic connection. The looming shadow of fame and its worst facets. The gendered implications and societal dynamics. Religious and witchy iconography. I don't think there's a single song on this album that you couldn't find some thematic or narrative tie back to this song. And obviously, given TTPD's thematic nature as an exploration of cycles and habits, this song can be applicable to many of Taylor's past projects as well.

Peter -- The ultimate song depicting the gendered ideas at play in TTPD. Lamenting the loss of a past lover who swore that they would mature and find their way back to the narrator over time, but ultimately never staying true to that promise. In so many ways, this song depicts how girls are often forced to "grow up" much quicker than boys, and how even grown men are often given a pass for immature behavior, because that's just "how they are." "Life was always easier on you than it was on me." Perhaps, if these gendered restrictions/freedoms were not at play, the story of these two characters could have played out differently, but despite this album's wistful longings implying otherwise, there is no more than one ending to this story.

The Manuscript -- I honestly feel like this one is self-explanatory. It says everything so bluntly and straightforwardly, as is expected of the unrefined and unedited nature of a manuscript. With this single closer alone, you can recontextualize basically every entry in Taylor's discography from Speak Now to today, and even see the tragic fragments of foreshadowing at play in Debut and Fearless (A Perfectly Good Heart, TWILY, You all Over Me).

[arrowverse-next-gen]

Crowd goes wild at her fingertips

Half moonshine, full eclipse

[ariadneslament]

🤍 Black and white photograph

🤍 Sensuality

I am looking forward to seeing the full glory of this album

All’s fair in love and poetry… New album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Out April 19 🤍

store.taylorswift.com

📷: Beth Garrabrant

[thissmycomingofage]

It's still crazy to look at my music stat of 2024 and to see how TTPD almost cracked my top 20 albums listen just because I listened to it all once. Which is already 31 listens, I only listened to it 43 times in 2024 and it still made the list just because of its length, it's insane, and really it makes me loose so much respect for it

[soniruza]

Appreciation post with every single Taylor Room I've done so far! 💛💜❤️🩵🩷🩶🤎💙🤍

The Taylor Swift Room and the Reputation Room won't be done until we have their Taylor's Version re-release (it would only be fair!).

[purpleyearning]

First Listen Rankings!!

1. Florida!!!

2. Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me

3. But Daddy I Love Him

4. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

5. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

6. Fresh Out The Slammer

7. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart

8. Loml

9. imgonnagetyouback

10. The Albatross

11. So High School

12. The Prophecy

13. Cassandra

14. thanK you aIMee

15. The Bolter

16. The Black Dog

17. How Did It End?

18. Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus

19. The Alchemy

20. I Hate It Here

21. Guilty As Sin?

22. Down Bad

23. So Long, London

24. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

25. The Manuscript

26. Clara Bow

27. Peter

28. I Look In People’s Windows

29. Robin

30. The Tortured Poets Department

31. Fortnight

[rainbowfelions]

Stunning 💜

📸 credit to phillyswiftieee in Twitter

[tinkerlock]

[taylornation]

The anthology of work that became everything to us is nominated for five GRAMMYs… 📃 Album of the Year 📃 Record of the Year - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) 📃 Song of the Year - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) 📃 Best Music Video - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) 📃 Best Pop Vocal Album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT members are proud of you, Chairman! 🤍  Also, we couldn’t miss us. 🥹 Congrats, Gracie Abrams, on your nomination for… 📒 Best Pop Duo/Group Performance - us. (feat. Taylor Swift)

[recordshop-archive]

[ID: Three flags made of five concentric circles on a white background. From the outside in, they fade from white to grey to black. In the center of the middle flag is the album cover for Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” a black and white image of Taylor laying on a bed with the name of the album in white. End ID]

[PT: Go Forth Without Falter, With Your Heart As Your Guide…

(Heart) TTPDALBUMIC: a gender connected to the album the tortured poets department by taylor swift, also includes the anthology. End PT]

@musicamogai @io-archival @onglydooplemogai

Go Forth Without Falter, With Your Heart As Your Guide. . .

♡ ɜ * ₊ ･ TTPDALBUMIC : a gender connected to the album the tortured poets department by taylor swift , also includes the anthology

i will be making other flag variations with the other covers do not worry !! stream ttpd btw this woman has bpd omg

taglist : @nyanatomy @selunamor @timmy-bee @nexolord @fwus @haunted-thing @themothnotthemap @jiiamp @jigumis @loveasappho @violetbunkuromi @bjdboyy @smilepilled

[inocennt]

I scratch your head, you fall asleep Like a tattooed golden retriever

vs

'Cause tail between your legs, you're leaving I still can't believe it

vs "good boy, that's right, i'll show you heaven if you'll be an angel all night"

[jakeperalta]

favourite 2024 albums → THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY by Taylor Swift

"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."

[ariadneslament]

MOM!

At this hearing, I stand before my fellow members of The Tortured Poets Department with a summary of my findings. 

Album tonight. 

Fortnight music video tomorrow at 8pm et.

https://taylor.lnk.to/thetorturedpoetsdepartment

[thissmycomingofage]

Phone gave me ttpd songs back to back to back and I just let it pass by until I realized that it had been 3 songs and she wasn't...singing..? Tried some more and yep! I forgot how this album was her most atrocious with talk-singing to the point of absurdity