#like would she end with ttpd or keep midnights there

[likeimsittinginanairportbar]

my top 10 ttpd songs in order of how well i think they’d fit into the eras tour setlist

1. but daddy i love him

2. who’s afraid of little old me?

3. i can do it with a broken heart

4. the smallest man who ever lived

5. my boy only breaks his favorite toys

6. how did it end?

7. fortnight

8. the alchemy

9. down bad

10. florida!!!

EDIT: idk what the FUCK i was thinking putting florida!!! last it would eat so hard live, honestly i would switch this list around so much

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

“Paris” is kind of like the glitter gel pen prologue to “I Hate It Here.”

“Let the only flashing lights be the tower at midnight in my mind.” The whole song is about how she’s imagining this romantic getaway in the City of Love, perhaps even reliving memories of an actual trip there in the past. (The first two choruses being in her mind, “like we were in Paris” and the last one being “‘cause we were in Paris.��)

Not unlike Lavender Haze, for instance, she’s rejecting the intrusion of the outside world and painting the seclusion of the bubble she’s created with her lover as safe. She’s creating this whirlwind, romantic world inside her head in which only she and her lover exist on the streets of Paris. It’s sweet and full of the rush of intense love, and on its own is a tribute to romance.

But in light of TTPD and the themes of feeling caged and stifled, it’s kind of sad. The world she created in her mind in “Paris” to relive a romantic moment (before the relationship soured) turns sad when it’s a coping mechanism to escape a reality that is deeply painful to her. The flashing lights of the Eiffel Tower turn into lunar valleys she flees to avoid confronting some harsh truths. The imagined romantic getaway turns into entire universes she untangles to process her emotions. As though they can only survive in these curated, idealized scenarios and not the actual ones in which they exist. “Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours,” but the problem is, what happens when keeping the romance just yours is killing you? (That’s kind of one of the unanswered questions of Midnights.)

Whether the events of Paris are based on real memories or her imagined exploration of places outside of the cage she found herself in, it hit me that despite being a love song, the kernels of what would end up being some of her most painful work are sprinkled throughout it. The escapism, the need to block out the world, the wish to have her lover sit by her side, maybe even taking her back to a simpler time in their story all end up manifesting in darker ways by the time we get to TTPD.

Anyway. DIdn’t need to have these feelings but now they’re here.

[herejusttosufferalong]

(Re: About Joe Alwyn, Similarities with Nic, and Acquaintance with Luke Thompson)

Response to your shock about Ratty Healy : Hahaha as a swiftie myself I SIDE-EYED tay so hard when she had her rebound with him, like gurl he's nasty and disgusting with all of his past troubling behaviors no matter how sweet he might appear to you.

If you wanna know a glimpse of JoeTay relationship, it was officially started in September 2016 and ended in early April 2023.

They first met at Gigi's bday party (April 29th 2016, References: High Infidelity-Midnights, Gorgeous-Reputation, Dress-Reputation), then met gala (May 1st). She previously and was still dating Calvin Harris- long story short he was a D, she wanted to leave him. I didn't know what prevented things to go further between her and Joe but in met gala she also met Tom Hiddleston and danced together. They had a brief getaway car moment or rebound (Getaway car-Reputation), officially known to public from June to September.

Then Joe and Tay started their relationship on September 28th (Ref: September - Cover by TSwift).

2016-2017 was the hell of year for Tay because of the whole Kanye Kim drama and lies. The whole world turned their back on her and she was at the lowest point of her life. She disappeared for a year then came back with a new album Reputation released in 2017.

Albums that give us many insights about her life and love story with Joe are : Reputation 2017, Lover 2019, Folklore 2020, Evermore 2020, Midnights 2022, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology 2024.

He had part of writing and producing some songs with Tay in Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights in the pseudonym of William Bowery.

In TTPD, songs about Joe are So long London, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, loml, The Black Dog, How Did it End, and Peter.

I'm sad when people have to refer Joe only as Taylor Swift's Ex. He's a talented, low profile, and private actor. He's rarely active in SM. (Alwyn keeps his personal life private, which he described as a "knee-jerk response to the culture we live in". GQ labelled Alwyn a "notoriously low-key actor".)

Alongside with Paul Mescal, he is one the male leads of Sally Rooney Novel Adaptations. Paul in Normal People and Joe in Conversation with Friends. (I really would like Nic to have a project with him. Maybe another Sally Rooney adaptation would be great😭 *manifesting*)

Some of his projects are The Favourite (2018), Boy Erased (2018), Mary Queen of Scots (2018), Harriet (2019), The Last Letter from Your Lover (2021), Stars at Noon (2022), Catherine Called Birdy (2022), Conversation with Friends (2022), Kind of Kindness (2024), TBA projects: The Brutalist and Hamlet.

He is also friends with Lukey T. He ever talked about him in interview.

Similar with Nic, he is very vocal about activist/social movements and always stood on the right side of history. Nic came from her background as an Irish people and her late Dad with his humanity and military works to keep peace in middle east. Joe family also has deep connection to activism, particularly in Palestine, his late great uncle is a peace activist and patron of the Palestinian solidarity campaign. And both are private about their personal lives. But Joe is really silent and not chronically online as Nic.

I just love when Nic has so many connections and fully booked. She deserves it. And I would like the same things to happen to Luke too. They both deserve the best to not put their talent in waste. I wish my parents all the best.

DAMN ANON

Are you on his payroll????

No but seriously thank you for sharing 💜

I know nothing about the guy but I have seen multiple movies listed above with him in it

Will have to rewatch and check out some of his other work 🥃

[clarabowmp3]

hate brigade? I'm sorry but joe alwyn is directly responsible for a lot of the mental hurt that taylor will have to deal with for the rest of her life. I don't understand how people can hear sll, half the songs on midnights not to mention the anxiety ridden lover album and not see the emotional gaslighting joe was putting taylor through! Like that takes a toll and fans qnd the general public alike has a right to call that out. Now he's saying ish about tayvis when none of this concerns him?? Like if that's not manipulative, my name is Bennett cuz he's literally re inserting himself into the ex he resented' life. Unhinged if you ask me. So I don't think it's fair to characterize people as doing the most in this case. Alwyn could have just kept quiet and ate and ate food but now he deserves the dragging. Peace.

wowww wow okay so a couple of things:

we don't know much about their relationship. all we have is speculation based on taylor's lyrics, but we have to remember she is an unreliable narrator, so at best we can take them with a grain of salt. that is excluding how she might have modified certain things to present herself in a favourable light. I'm not saying she did or didn't, but it's a possibility. I say this because of how she's written music about her cheating. She very obviously focuses on how she was feeling and what led her to cheat, rather than her considerations of how it would affect her partner, which I think is yet another manifestation of how she perpetuates her victim narrative. I'm not saying all cheaters are villains, there's definitely some complex emotions involved, but she writes in such a way so as to encourage the reader to root for her by default.

This plays into her desire to be seen as the underdog or hero that everyone wants to support. She did this with Miss Americana too where she spun this whole standing up for women and other marginalised groups narrative, which I think contributed to being a swiftie becoming a trend, along with her whole 'relatable' schtick, fostering personal relationships etc.

There is nothing wrong with liking her music (I'm not gatekeeping), my issue is with people who treat becoming a swiftie as some girl scouts patch to earn by ripping into her 'enemies,' most popularly her exes. Naturally, he has been put through hell on social media since the break-up, up till ttpd dropped and the attention shifted to matty instead.

I agree that many of her love songs from as early as lover are anxiety-ridden, but I think that speaks more to her personality rather than his actions. Certain events may have transpired and he might have acted in a certain way which made her feel insecure etc but we have no reason to think he did it maliciously. What we do have is reason to think this is extremely unlikely. 2016 was rough man, no one knew if she would ever recover from #taylorswiftisoverparty, and yet he still stuck around. To me I think that shows he genuinely cared about her, something taylor has also thought.

Could you elaborate on the emotional gaslighting he has done, (and hence the "mental hurt" he has caused her) keeping in mind all those other reasons why her music is not an accurate source of info ^^?

getting more specific with sll, I don't see how he did anything wrong? I don't want to get too much into it but I know what it feels like to be burdened by someone else's mental health issues, and I do feel irritated by it at times, even though at the end of the day I know it's something they can't control. There's nothing wrong with creating art about difficult emotions, but I think she did not need to release it for the whole world to hear, knowing that they know who she is talking about. The song itself isn't too egregious, she just expresses her frustration with the whole situation ("you'll find someone," "I'm not the one" -> even she doesn't blame him for anything let alone the emotional gaslighting you're accusing him of anon what are you on 😭) the main problem is when people like you use it to villainise joe. like explain to me what part of it shows his gaslighting

For context here is what the whole deuxmoi thing is about, taken from this post:

You can clearly see that he was expressing an opinion on what he thought was a private enough setting. How could he have known he was going to be overheard and it was going to leak to the internet and eventually reach taylor (if any of this ie even true)? She is his ex of 6 years and it's only been a year since their breakup, I think it's fine that he's still somewhat emotionally occupied with her. We don't know if he obsesses about her every day and since the London travis thing is pretty recent, maybe it was just on his mind that day? Also why does he have to keep quiet? taylor can write whatever she wants in her songs, I think he is more than justified to have a conversation in public. We have no reason to think he meant for this to get out or to "[re-insert] himself into the ex he resented' life," as you put it.

to end off, anon I really think you should touch grass (and I'm not trying to be condescending here) because it feels like you're blowing up select details out of proportion to fit the narrative taylor has created through her music. We don't know how accurate that narrative is.

[9w1ft]

What is your personal interpretation of Happiness? I've seen ex Kaylors use it as the closure song between them, the ones who don't hate Karlie of course. But you said you don't really believe they broke up. So is it just a metaphor or actually fiction as more of a concept for what it feels to move on?

i have a really specific interpretation for it that has stood the test of time with what i’ve felt through midnights and ttpd, but as some may know i’ve been keeping it to myself for awhile now. i still think that im keeping it to myself unless a few things happen that would affirm my interpretation 🙂 but i thought id add a little more on to this answer for the fun of it, without fully showing my hand.

firstly, one broad thought i have about it is that people tend to ignore or not notice how the instrumental gets upbeat for the last section of the song, and her voice matches it. it’s sort of subtle but i think it’s important to understanding the emotions of the song.

in the fandom, the ‘are kaylor still together’ / ‘when did they break up’ questions are a not insignificant part of a lot of community discourse and so i think naturally a lot of people look to taylor’s songs for answers to these questions. but ultimately they are questions posed by us not her, and i feel like people never stop and think about if they’ve been asking the right questions. i think how did it end is a satirical take on this point actually. that there’s a thirst for answering our own questions that often disregards the people involved, because ultimately it’s about the thrill of knowing, the thrill of gossip, and the thrill of controlling the gossip. and in some cases, making a coin off of the gossip. but i digress.

i also think a lot of ex-kaylors, through no fault of their own, had that immediate ‘breakup’ reaction and interpretation for the song in the context of the time that it was released, winter 2020. people were very much looking around from october 2020 and thinking “what happened??” but now, we can go back and observe how things have played out since then, and with that new context i think it’s a bit easier to arrive to the interpretation i did

phrases like “i see it for what it is” or “leave it all behind” can sound quite negative when sung in a somber tone, but can also sound resolute or even positive when sang with more conviction. i think that so many of the lyrics in this song can come off sounding breakuppy but, and as people in long term committed relationships might help me attest, there are often disagreements or changes or moves that happen that were not what you had planned for and you can hold it against your partner and/or loved ones and you cling on to it, return to it, and harbored feelings can morph into something that looms larger for you over them than it should. and that state of mind often gets in the way of your happiness and everyone’s happiness. you are haunted by your strong feelings that something should have gone a particular way, the way you wanted it to and you had planned for. and maybe you realize that in pursuit of the very specific way you wanted things to go that you might have hurt people along the way, you may have made things harder or more complicated to proceed, and maybe you acknowledge that it’s just not worth it to be hung up on it anymore. maybe you acknowledge that happiness is something that has been built by everyone, and it’s here, and it’s within your reach. and from a birds eye view, you can see this reality and you can see that ultimately you’re not that far off from where you wanted to be and you can see the happiness on the horizon that extends from your history to beyond your lifetimes, and you could be happy with everyone if you just allow yourself to get over the particulars that you’re hung up on.

ultimately, taylor describes life as a willow, so i think we can guess how she proceeded. she didn’t break, she bent with the wind! and to me i see a little bit of the trademark wryness she kept with her through everything, we see it in songs like willow, and fortnight is another example of this, for me. to me, happiness is taylor working through feelings like i described above from within the existing relationship. and to me, especially knowing what we know now (and by knowing i mean, what anyone is able to see with their own eyes), the song doesn’t mean they have to have broken up. and i really think the song shows how they came out of it more unified than ever.

[taylortruther]

I think people in early 20s and teens have a very black and white thought process on relationships. As they grow older, they will learn there are relationships that end with no closures and our mind wanders when we are lonely and don't have a great future to look forward to. There is a reason why so many relate to I hate it here. It is not just romantic relationships even friendships severed due to some small fights might make us wonder if we lost life long friends for silly things which could have been avoided. Especially for people who are ruled by emotions and Taylor in relationships is all ruled by emotions.

yeah i've said so many times, you don't need to have experienced a longterm romantic relationship to understand some of the strange, confusing emotions depicted in midnights or ttpd. we all have regrets, we all wish we'd done things differently, we all wonder "what if?" about people we knew. and with ttpd, the way people take issue with guilty as sin? or how taylor was so very bad for cheating, why didn't she just LEAVE If she was so unhappy, etc... like. think about the shitty relationship you have with a friend. or a parent. or a boss. why don't YOU just leave? you might say: it's hard, they need me, i would feel bad, i have to go back to school, etc.... doesn't that mean you understand fear, uncertainty, and all the many reasons that keep you in a bad situation?

[folkwhore1998]

I just don't understand...

how you don't miss me in the black dog

I had no idea what to expect with this album. Taylor's brand is "never let them know your next move"

So, was it going to be more of a folklore/evermore/red vibe? Or was it going to be pop in the way midnights was? I did not think it was going to be straight up pop, but you just never know. I don't have cable so it can be really hard for me to watch award shows in real time, so I pulled a few strings so I could stream the grammys and thank god I did. I could not believe the album announcement and I was honestly gagged about the whole thing.

Now... This is a devastatingly beautiful album and is so vulnerable and raw.

The Prophecy... she literally said "I will go bankrupt. I will give up everything because I am hurting so much I need someone to tell me things are going to be okay and I don't care what I have to do to get this confirmation/assurance. I just want someone to love me the way I love them and I don't care about the superficial things." and she was so real for that.

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived... the first time I listened to it was like 12:30 AM on album release night/day, and I was yaknow, chilling, listening. and then we hit the bridge... my jaw hit the floor. I literally shot up in bed and was like "holy fuck." when i thought the song was wrapping up, it just kept going. Obviously I had to listen to it again right after it ended. (and I am NOT mad about it. I feel this song in my bones) ((My fiance was also dead asleep during all of this and I made him listen to it at like 10 AM the following day))

(peace: i'll die for you in secret ➜ TSMWEL: i would have died for your sins) ((actually screaming crying vomiting idk))

My favorite part of when she sings this on the eras tour is when she says "hey.. give this message to the smallest man who ever lived" and then turns to the audience and starts singing the bridge. She's like "Yup- heres this message, and another thing- fuck you!" literally incredible. i have an emotional attachment to this song. I could write an essay and honestly, maybe I will.

It's so funny to me because every time Taylor puts out a new album, there are some songs that I hear where i'm like "WOW. This is it. This is the song. She summed up my entire experience in a way I never could. I don't know how much more accurate she could get." And then she comes out with some insane song that keeps the cycle going.

(it's the cycle that keeps on giving and the cycle that keeps me alive! no, seriously. when i was in the hospital at one point in my life, i was asked everyday "and what is something you want to live for?" my answer: my cat and taylor swift's music")

All of this to say... I am so happy I was/am medicated when this album came out.

Here is my ranking of the Tortured Poets Department! (This was incredibly difficult because all of the songs are just so good. Noting that I don't think that any song is a bad song.)

The Black Dog

The Smallest Man

The Prophecy

How Did It End?

Guilty As Sin

My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

loml (but sometimes it changes places- just depends on the day, but it never goes lower)

Fresh Out The Slammer

But, Daddy I Love Him

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?

So Long, London

Down Bad

I Can Do It With A Broken Heart

So High School

I Hate It Here

TTPD

Fortnight

Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus

Peter

Cassandra

Flordia!!!

The Alchemy

The Bolter

thanK you aIMee (thank You aimEe)

Clara Bow

The Albatross

The Manuscript

imgonnagetyouback

I Look In People's Windows

Robin

I Can Fix Him (no really I can)

Honorable mentions:

CHILLS

I was so shocked (I watched on a grainy livestream)

When I say I sobbed, I'm not joking. I texted my sister and said "You need to get on this livestream RIGHT NOW.

Check out these small businesses:

Here is the link to a down bad t-shirt: So good for the gym and its a comfort colors t-shirt!

Direct link to the storefront: They have so many cool items!

Check out the link: It's a TTPD vinyl/cd holder and it is actually the coolest thing I've ever seen (I will be purchasing)

Direct link to the storefront: There are a few different options! Check them out!

@taylorswift @taylornation @taylorswift @taylornation

[midnightjewel]

Taylor Swift Songs For Your Relationship With The BNHA Boys <3

(Part 2) Part 1

Characters Include: Midoryia, Mirio, Todoroki, Shinsou

Midoryia

Mine (Speak Now TV)

Do you remember we were sitting there by the water you saw me start to believe for the first time

Everything has Changed (Red TV)

Is something I know now, know something now I didn’t before.

And all I’ve seen since 18 hours ago is green eyes and freckles and your smile

New Years Day (Reputation)

But I stay when it’s hard or it’s wrong or we’re making mistakes

Cornelia Street (Lover)

Windows flung right open, autumn air, jacket round my shoulders is yours. We bless the rains on Cornelia Street, memorize the creaks in the floors

Daylight (Lover)

And I can still see it all in my mind, all for you all for me intertwined

Sweet Nothing (Midnights)

They say the end is coming, everyone’s up to something I found myself running home to your sweet nothings

Mastermind (Midnights)

What if I told you none of it was accidental…

Angst

Champagne Problems (Evermore)

“She would’ve made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s fucked in the head” they said

Peace (Folklore)

Your integrity makes me seem small, you paint dreamscapes on the wall, I talk shit with my friends… it’s like I’m wasting your honor!

Come Back…Be Here (Red TV)

This is when the feeling sinks in, I don’t wanna miss you like this…

Back to December (Speak Now TV)

I’d go back in time and change it, but I can’t. So if the chain is on your door, I understand.

White Horse (Fearless TV)

Cause I’m not your princess, this ain’t our fairytale, I’m gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well…

Should’ve Said No (Taylor Swift)

I can’t resist, before you go tell me this, was it worth it? Was she worth it..?

The Prophecy (TTPD)

Please, I’ve been on my knees, change the prophecy

Mirio

So High School (TTPD)

Get my car door, isn’t that sweet then pull me to the back seat. No one’s ever had me, not like you…

But Daddy I Love Him (TTPD)

And I’m running with my dress unbuttoned. Screaming “but daddy I love him!” I’m having his baby… no I’m not, but you should see your faces!

Ours (Speak Now TV)

Don’t you worry your pretty little mind, people throw rocks at things that shine but they can’t take what’s ours

State of Grace (Red TV)

And I never (never) saw you coming! And I’ll never be the same…

Begin Again (Red TV)

And we walked down the block to my car and I almost brought him up but you start to talk about the movies that your family watches ever single Christmas and now I wanna talk about that…

And for the first time, what’s past is past

I Know Places (1989 TV)

They are the hunters, we are the foxes and we run. Just grab my hand and don’t ever drop it, my love.

Baby, I know places we won’t be found and they’ll be chasing their tails trying to track us down…

False God (Lover)

We might just get away with it. Religions in your lips. Even if it’s a false god, we’d still worship. We might just get away with it the alter is my hips even if it’s a false god…

Angst

So Long, London (TTPD)

I didn’t opt in to be your odd man out, I founded the club she’s heard great things about

The Great War (Midnights)

It turned into something bigger, somewhere in the haze got a sense I’ve been betrayed

Looked up at me with honor and truth, broken and blue, so I called off the truce. That was the night I nearly lost you…

Blank Space (1989 TV)

Screaming, Crying, Perfect Storms

Oh my god, who is she?! I get drunk on jealousy

I Wish You Would (1989 TV)

You always knew how to push my buttons, you gave me everything and nothing…

Is It Over Now? (1989 TV)

Think I didn’t see there were flashing lights? At least I had the decency to keep my nights out of sight, only rumors about my hips and thighs and my whispered sighs, oh lord

Death By A Thousand Cuts (Lover)

I dress to kill my time, I take the long way home, I ask the traffic lights if it’ll be alright they say “I don’t know…”

imgonnagetyouback (TTPD)

(My personal favorite)

I can feel it coming humming in the way you move, push the reset button we’re becoming something new. Say you’ve got somebody I’ll say I’ve got someone too. Even if it’s handcuffed I’m leaving here with you.

Todoroki

Love Story (Fearless TV)

Romeo save me I’ve been feeling so along I keep waiting for you but you never come, is this in my head I don’t know what to think he knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring

Timeless (Speak Now TV)

Even if we’d met on a crowded street in 1944 and you were heading off to fight in the war, you still would’ve been mine we would’ve been timeless

Holy Ground (Red TV)

Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress, We had this big wide city all to ourselves. We blocked out the noise with the sound of “I need you”

Delicate (Reputation)

Sometimes I wonder when you sleep, are you ever dreaming of me?

Dancing with our hands tied (Reputation)

I’d kiss you as the lights went out, swaying as the room burned down. I’d hold you as the water rushes in if I could dance with you again

All of the girls you’ve loved before (Lover)

All of the girls you’ve loved before…

Made you the one I’ve fallen for

The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD)

Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw things up with me. But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave…

Angst

Cold As You (Taylor Swift)

And you come away with a great little story, of a mess of dreamer with the nerve to adore you

Mr. Perfectly Fine (Fearless TV)

So dignified in your well pressed suit, so strategized all the eyes on you, sashay your way to your seat, it’s the best seat in the best room

All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Red TV)

You kept me like a secret… but I kept you like an oath…

I Bet You Think About Me (Red TV)

At your cool indie music concerts every week, I bet you think about me in your house with your organic shoes and your million dollar couch

Wildest Dreams (1989 TV)

Someday when you leave me I’ll bet the memories follow you around…

You’re Losing Me (Midnights)

And I wouldn’t marry me either, a pathological people pleaser, who only wanted you to see her

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived (TTPD)

We’re you sent by someone who wanted me dead?

Shinsou

I Can See You (Speak Now TV)

I could see you in your suit and your neck tie, pass me a note saying “meet me tonight” then we kiss and you know I won’t ever tell yeah….

You Are In Love (1989 TV)

You can hear it in the silence…

You can feel it on the way home

Don’t Blame Me (Reputation)

And baby for you I would cross the line, I would waste my time, I would lose my mind…

Afterglow (Lover)

Hey, it’s all me… just don’t go, meet me in the afterglow

Willow (Evermore)

The more that you say, the less I know. Wherever you stray I follow, I’m begging for you to take my hand, wreck my plans

Labyrinth (Midnights)

Lost in the labyrinth of my mind…

Mastermind (Midnights)

And the first night that you saw me I knew I wanted your body…

I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork, the dominoes cascaded in a line. What if I told you I’m a mastermind?

Angst

Haunted (Speak Now TV)

You and I walk a fragile line… I have known it all this time

Clean (1989 TV)

The rain came pouring down, when I was drowning that’s when I could finally breathe

Now That We Don’t Talk (1989 TV)

I don’t have to pretend I like acid rock, or that I’d like to be on a mega yacht with important men who think important thoughts, guess maybe I am better off

exile (Folklore)

“So I’m leaving out the side door”

“So step right out!”

Right Where You Left Me (Evermore)

When I felt the moment stop, glass shattered on the white cloth…

loml (TTPD)

Your arsons match your somber eyes…

[notoriousbeb]

TTPD Thoughts - The Manuscript (Pt. 1)

TTPD Notes Glossary

"Fortnight"  

Definitely written in the spring of 2023. I think the video was shot in the fall.  

The concept of treason/being a traitor comes up in reference to Harry in 1989 as well (“you dream of my mouth before it called you a lying traitor”)  

In the music video, the typewriter Taylor is using is missing the 1 key (like the song “The 1”?) and she leaves several blank spaces in her writing of “I love you, it’s ruining my life” (perhaps a nod to the “Blank Space” song?)  

When Taylor and Post Malone are laying in the Taylor head silhouette it's a callback to the "Style" music video from the original 1989 era, where the Harry stand in guy is standing on a beach in a silhouette of Taylor's head.  

You know who is tattooed and kinda hot and thus a good Harry stand in a MV? Posty.  

I think she's envisioning a kind of nightmare future of being trapped in the metaphorical neighborhood that is their small industry and having to watch him move on while she continues to love him (ugh. thanks, it's beautiful and sounds awesome and i hate it).  

The last new album, "Midnights,” ends with "Hits Different,” on the line, "Is that your key in the door, down the hallway? Is that your key in the door, is it okay? Is it you? Or have they come to take me away? To take me away?" First line of Fortnight, the first song on TTPD? "I was supposed to be sent away but they forgot to come and get me.”  

A slight diversion into "Hits Different" and why I've always believed it's about Harry:  She's clubbing, so that narrows down the choices right away to either Harry or Calvin, but based on how she went right from Calvin to Tom to Joe and was definitely not heartbroken enough to be puking, but rather immediately enamored with someone else....We learn that, technically, she broke up with him ("curse the space that I needed") but she's devastated. Like "I broke my own heart, cuz you were too polite to do it?" This really seals it as 1989 Harry to me.  

“The Tortured Poets Department”  

Definitely written in the spring of 2023  

“Who else decodes you?” reminds me of how Harry called their back-and-forth song writing to/about each other (cue the “Fortnight” typewriter smoke battle) “the most amazing unspoken dialogue ever.”  

A “tattooed golden retriever?” I mean… come the fuck on. That’s a Harry descriptor if I’ve ever seen one.  

“You’re in self-sabotage mode, throwing spikes down on the road, but I’ve seen this episode and I still love the show.” “You awaken with dread pounding nails in your head. But I’ve read this one where you come undone." These aren’t the words of someone who merely wondered about what it would be like to be with a friend or acquaintance. These are two people who deeply know each other and have been together before.  

Also, Harry has documented anxiety that she’s also sung about it previously (“did you get anxious though, on the drive home?” - Now That We Don’t Talk)  

I hate and love the fact that they both told people they would kill themselves if it didn’t work out. I hate it, because that’s a terrible, dumb plan. But I love the passion. Also, who is Lucy? Was he taking to Lucy from Boygenius? That Lucy openly dislikes Matty on main, so I think it’s weird people are using her as a proof point that this song is about him. Did Taylor change that particular name here because it would have been a dead giveaway for this song being about Harry?  (Someone like, Ed, perhaps?)

“My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys  

Probably written in spring 2023  

She refers to the muse as the “sickest (I believe this is a double meaning as in cool and also having mental illness issues) army doll purchased at the mall.”  

You ever seen a G.I. Joe under the fatigues? They don’t look like a pasty ex heroin addict. They do look like a certain former boy-bander from Manchester, though. Just saying.  

“Oh, here we go again,” “put me back on my shelf,” “we could’ve played for keeps this time,” “I knew too much/there was danger in the heat of my touch,” “he saw forever so he smashed it up.” Again, these are things you say about someone you’ve been with before, on and off, not someone you saw in concert twice and worked with once. You, especially, don’t see forever with someone after only 20 days.  

“But you should’ve seen him when he first got me.” We did see Matty. Was there someone else in the background who, perhaps, we did not see? Perhaps a certain curly haired former Boy Bander?

“‘Cause it fit too right/Puzzles pieces in the dead of night.” Hmm. Doesn’t sound like the mediocre sex described in “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” to me

Want to know what lines had me crying in the club on my sad girl walk? “Just say when—I’d play again. He was my best friend down at the sand lot.” Again, these are two people who know each other very well, and have for a long time.  

[chickawah23]

Can you expand on interlude eras? Like she’s building to something?

Sure. Sorry if this is too long winded.

Way back when I would say that I felt like folklore and evermore were interlude albums. Like they were created because the pandemic happened and the masters issues happened which both created a perfect storm that destroyed Lover’s plans. And whatever was supposed to happen with that era had to be shelved and replaced with a new plan to hold onto fan and public engagement so these albums created a way to do to hold onto engagement. Then the pandemic ended and the new plans and narratives had to play out which took time and further detoured from where Lover intended to go. Taylor also had to focus on rerecording her old albums.

So to me she’s been trapped in this limbo of keeping fans engaged in the re-recordings which already have a public facing lore about various guys while continuing to move forward. So Midnights comes towards the tail end of this rerecording process with a reintroduction to herself and revisiting some concepts from Lover (Daylight closed the ts7 and was almost the album title before things changed). So in my mind Midnights was the first glimpse into returning back to her main plan to get back to where she wanted to go with Lover. Also Taylor used this clock motif and added a countdown to Midnight where the real Taylor can exist. She even had a pocket watch with that 3, 2, 1 to exile countdown in the Bejeweled mv.

Then MidnighTS 3am version came. Then with TTPD we got this double length album surprise at 2am. And the 3,2,1 imagery has continued. And it makes it feel like this is all part of a countdown. TTPD is an album that feels like it serves to clean up the pr mess from the detour plans created by the pandemic and whatever mess happened with her former boyish beau (MH) while also feeding the same narrative of getting back to where she wants to be which is back on the track Lover was headed to. And this album is just biding that time.

An interlude until daylight.

But to wrap up the 3,2,1 hints: idk if there will be 1 more new album (not a rerecording) that gives off interlude vibes before a daylight moment but it seems to fit with what I’m seeing. But who knows plans can change. And I could be completely wrong.

Anywho just my rambly thoughts.

[tayfabe75]

Thoughts on the TTPD tracklist?

Hi anon! Oh boy, I'm still gathering my thoughts!

First and foremost, I don't think that this album is going to be what anyone expects it to be (in the same way that everyone expected "Slut!" to be a power anthem and it ended up being a 'lovelorn' ballad). From what I'm seeing around on Twitter and Reddit, everyone seems pretty certain that this will be a breakup album full of "tea" about a certain ex, but I'm going to have to disagree.

Now, I don't much care for tabloid culture, myself, so please take this with a grain of salt! That said, I remember reading very early on that Matty had moved in with Taylor, shipping off all his "things that made sounds", since he'd be bunked up with her "to help write her next album". While The Sun is a tabloid, it was the same publication that predicted Matty would be in Nashville on May 5th and that The 1975 would feature on 1989 ("debunked" by most other sources, yet confirmed by several sources on Christmas day…)

If it's true that Matty helped write for the album (he did add "Writer" to his Instagram profile following the "Slut!" leak), I hope we see his name reflected in the credits (again, that is IF he helped write anything). If he has nothing at all to do with it, then it's incredibly likely he inspired several tracks. I could tell you which ones I suspect, but the likelihood anyone agrees with me is slim, because my theorizing includes allusions and parallels to lyrics and themes in older songs or albums, many of which have already been "attributed" to other exes without any further discussion or speculation. I try to keep my answers palatable, but I personally think Matty's been a chief muse for far more albums than almost anyone suspects.

Since it took me a couple days to get to your ask, Taylor has since cleared up that, yep, she wrote TTPD after turning in Midnights, so roughly two years. If you'd like to know who the muse of TTPD might be, let's keep in mind that this happened over two years ago. Whatever people think the timeline is… isn't. That definitely includes me, but I'm at least picking up on inconsistencies that are going largely ignored by many people blinded by personal biases. I'm hoping there are some direct lyrical allusions to the man, himself, to clear up any confusion… or perhaps to cause a whole lot more! They're both fans of chaos, after all. 🤍

[magxit]

You may not count the re-records as releases, but the rest of the world does. And you can't completely ignore the impact they have had on her exposure, her popularity, etc. And even if you take them out of the equation, she is still averaging 1 album per year, which isn't common these days. I just don't think that will necessarily be the formula going forward. She's 34.....I think she's at a place in her life where she's ready to move forward with new adventures, personally and professionally. I don't know why it would upset you to believe that the level of insanity surrounding this woman will begin to diminish at some point if she doesn't keep churning out music and touring like a machine. It's a good thing. She will always be successful and famous, but it would be a great thing if it could drop to a level of fame that allows people to treat her like a human being and not a possession.

YOU ARE WRONG.

FOLKLORE/EVERMORE 2020

MIDNIGHTS 2022

TTPD 2024

Yes, she released Lover in 2019 but planned to tour that so without the pandemic we would not have gotten Folklore/Evermore. The only time she didn't do every 2 years was 1989 and reputation. I think she is going to release rep/debut within the next 3-9 months. Take 2025 off from releasing new music. She needs a break but she will still write/record every day if she could. I think she will release a new album in 2026 because she knows everyone needs a little break.

Also the level of insanity is because of the tour and her relationship with Travis. The tour ends this year. Her being at every football game on the weekends from Sept -Feb for the next 2 plus years isn't going to help decrease the hysterics either. You are insane to think that it is going to stop. She is only getting more fans every second of the day. She will never be able to go shopping or out dinner like she did before OG 1989. She will forever be surrounded by bodyguards. Her life will never be 'normal'. Wait until people find out she is pregnant. Don't even get me started on when/if she gets engaged and pregnant.

[the1975attheirverybest]

The 10 year on/off narrative maylors keep pushing is annoying to me. Yes we don’t know exactly how much contact they had starting in 2020 but just based on things Matty has said himself, and that Taylor reveals in her lyrics (subject to interpretation), it really doesn’t seem like a continuous period. Not even close. They dated extremely briefly in 2014. Matty says in an interview post-NMEs that he hadn’t spoken to her in like 6 yrs until that award show. Okay so that brings us from 2014/5 to 2020 with no speaking. Down the drain goes 6/10 yrs of the “10 year on-off.” By this time Matty is with FKA which by all accounts was a very serious relationship that didn’t end for good until Spring 2022. The boys didn’t bring Jack Antonoff into the process of BFIAFL until late 2021. Jack is the only reason he crossed paths with Taylor again and got to work on Midnights. So Matty and Taylor weren’t even friends again until late 2021 or early 2022. Post-Twigs Matty was seeing several different women which is well documented as occurring up to March 2023. Taylor was obviously with Joe. Taylor writes in TTPD about fantasizing about Matty but seems to make it a point to say it never got physical until after Joe. Could be a lie but she’s not shy about admitting to affairs. So someone explain to me how this is a 10 year on/off instead of on-OFF-on with the on totaling 4-5 months maximum. This is all without even accounting for the amount of time they were on opposite sides of the planet during 2021-early 2023 making physical interaction impossible such as when Taylor was with Joe on various movie and tv sets.

As I’ve been saying, I don’t know Taylor enough to speak on this. They have common friends and run in similar circles sometimes so it’s very possible that they’ve interacted. At the very least we know they could’ve been in touch since collaborating on her album. All of which is normal and understandable.

But I think to say anything more about this would be to cross a line. it strikes me as disrespectful to assume that every move that with TS or Matty make are about one thing and one thing only. I mean, Matty was out there posting Simulacra and Simulation quotes and posting a book on American theatre and yall are out here talking about “clues for Taylor swift.” Do you not see how that belittles the thoughtfulness and work that he’s put into the show??? It’s also quite presumptuous to think that either of them would wanna “send signals” for fans to decode. Why would they feel like they need complete strangers (who destroyed their relationship) to know if they’re trying again?????

Also, if yall really believe that they’re together / trying to be together again wouldn’t letting them have their privacy be best given all that’s happened? Intruding on them would only bring back the hate and attention. Idk bro.

[taylortruther]

Rae I was just having thoughts about You're Losing Me a while ago, and it really is just such an enigmatic song yk. I can never explain the way it made me feel the first time I heard it.

Just sumn about hearing all those wonderful, romantic, idyllic love songs about Joe for five whole albums and then just. YLM hits you like a truck because till then we still hadn't processed it all. Joe had been painted as this perfect, calm supportive partner who can do no wrong and Taylor is happy and it will always stay that way...and then April 9th happened.

Public perception is a crazy thing, and it's even crazier how nobody even DARED to speak the words that thy could've broken up before they did...but the red flags were there all along. It reminds me of the line in sotb "I don't speak, afraid to jinx it" and now that song is in the denial playlist. Truly everyone was in denial for like a month after the news dropped and we weren't even IN the relationship, I can't imagine how bad it was for Taylor herself.

Someone on Twitter quoted the breakup announcement with "Isn't this the guy she wrote Lover for? Yeah, we're all screwed". Amazing how much her own songs made everyone believe everything was okay till the very last moments.

I think especially what YLM strikes me as is a song centered around not wanting to throw away a "good thing" i.e. the Do I throw out everything we built or keep it?

YLM is so horribly bleak imo, because it's not hopeful AT ALL. The last line is very literally her "making the decision" that unless he chooses her, she's done. And to think this was written in 2021?? Had she already accepted the truth back then? Did the denial stage start even BEFORE that? Was she sitting in the dark room for an year and a half?

The thing that hurts the most about a song like this with all the lyric parallels, is watching something you thought was gonna last forever turn out to be so disapointing in the end. Not WANTING to lose something you've built with so much love, even when you realise that the love has disappeared. The shattering of a mirage. All the We survived the great war imagery on Midnights to My heart won't start anymore for you. Her paralleling her own past songs will always break me. The silence that only comes when two people understand each other to You say 'I don't understand' and I say 'I know you don't'.

Of course the fandom believed at a point that they were endgame, but SO DID SHE. That is what makes the song harder to digest because it really feels like a personal letter to her fans, released ONLY for us months before it was made available to the public. I stand behind the theory that Midnights was the Denial album, and YLM (the bridge between Midnights and TTPD) is her waking up.

i know this isn't the point of your ask, but bear with me! i would argue that many fans realized some songs were describing dark or heavy moments - but, call it parasocial if you like, the fandom just wanted to believe they were working through those issues, not that the relationship was unhealthy or bad. (and no one wants to be labeled as a hater, which, maybe we can work on as a fandom now lol.) for example, i thought hoax and renegade were troubling, the line "your integrity makes me seem small" rubbed many of us the wrong way, we all clocked "maybe it was her"... meanwhile, unfortunately there were lots of theories about how it was "all in her head," which fortunately i think we can all put in perspective now. OK BUT MY POINT IS, it also makes it easy to imagine (as you said), that when you're IN the relationship itself, the good parts might overshadow the bad. you could cling to something that is beyond saving because there's still comfort or hope, and denial is extremely strong. denial can feel like hope tbh.

i think ylm really shows that she was trying so so hard, for so so long, that she was running out of steam in late 2021. and he wasn't make it easier for her, because he wasn't making his needs or true desires clear.

ANYWAY good thoughts, i enjoyed this ask!

[eyra]

just cooked, ate and washed up the contents of a Sunday sausage sandwich, contemplating my fave ts album… brain hurts… voted and still feel like what if it was the right choice lmao. but i am also a huge robin fan. it’s funny cause the main other person who i know likes her (my sister) keeps talking about the real stuff/people the songs are about, and I’m like wow my knowledge of pop culture is weak lol. just making up my own little sceneries to these sad tunes. what are your major thoughts atm

would love a sausage sandwich right now. my unfiltered stream of consciousness thoughts right now are: this might end up in my top 3 alongside folklore and evermore, it’s so sprawling and deep and layered and I think the sheer size of it is kind of the point so when people are saying it needs editing down I’m just like no I don’t think that’s right. I’m not the same person I was on Thursday. the albatross robin the prophecy down bad the manuscript but daddy I love him fortnight ttpd Cassandra I look in peoples windows Clara bow so long London…. so many standouts I can’t whittle it down right now! I think I fancy post malone. I wonder if she will incorporate this album into the tour and if so how. unfortunately I too have your sister’s knowledge of the lore. I can understand how this album won’t be for everyone and might be divisive but the girls that get it get it etc. and I for one am glad the glitter gel pens got left in the Midnights era.

[wrongcaitlyn]

heyy! i LOVED this chapter

will, my poor baby, i actually just want to hug him and never let go (also the conversation with apollo was SO well written)

on another completely different topic, haunted house by mckenna grace is a very hauted era coded

just one thing more, is reyna going to apper again, cause she's perfect and nees her again in this fic

and i cant belive that by the time the next chapter is out TTPD is also going to be out, please if you dont mind give your toughts on the album, i would LOVE to know them

byee!

ahsdhf thank you so much!! i'm SO glad that convo was giving me so much stress ngl😭 i wanted to make sure it was conveying what i wanted it to, so i'm glad that you liked it!!

I HEARD LIKE AGES AGO BACK WHEN I STILL HAD TT THAT SHE HAD A SONG CALLED HAUNTED HOUSE and i was like omg i should listen to that?? but then i just never did???

atm im listening to taylor's whole discography in prep for ttpd, and just taylor's discography (i started this morning with debut, and just started rep like two minutes ago, so hopefully i timed it correctly to be on midnights tmrw just before ttpd comes out though i might have to put midnights on loop for a bit) but i WILL listen to it i swear. i have a list of songs on my phone that i need to listen to for talk ur talk😭😭 i love mckenna grace tho even if i haven't listened to her music before so i'm excited!!

and GOD I KEEP THINKING THAT TOO. like, back when i added her i was like oh omg im so excited to have her here as a character!! but then i realized that making her an actress made it extremely hard for her to be around a lot in *nico's* storyline. i lowkey regret it and wish i could go back to add her to the current plotline, and make her like nico's manager or something.

but i can't go back and change that, so! i know of a few different plotlines that i'll eventually include her in, though they're not for a while, so unfortunately we've gotta wait for a bit to bring her back :// i will see though if i can have her appear in a scene at some point! she hasn't seen the doomsday tour yet, so...

and LITERALLYSDFLKJA I CANT WAIT EITHER?? I STILLC AN'T BELIEVE THAT IT'S LITERALLY COMING OUT TMRW FOR ME. im pst so it's 9 pm for me, and i usually listen to it once, then listen to it again while looking at lyrics and text messages bc the first time i turn off all my devices and just listen - so i will DEFINITELY be updating y'all here, and also in the ao3 end notes, probably with any thoughts relating ttpd lyrics to talk ur talk nico bc that's all my brain can do pretty muchSLKDF

it honestly makes me so happy that you guys are interested in my thoughts on these things bc i'm always thinking to myself "ahsdlfj you need to stop rambling for so long on things taylor swift related in the end notes, not everyone's a swiftie" so this always reassures me!!! i love rambling and i always have soo many thoughts on these things so i will definitely be sharing them!!! thank you for the ask <3