#the tortured poet club song titles

[mabeljohnsonn]

The Tortured Poets Club TRACK TITLES RELEASED!!!!! 🩶🩶

TAYLOR😭😭😭😭🩷🩷🩷🩷

@taylorswift

[sapphicscience]

taylor swift + haunting/ghosts

lyrics search and screenshots from here

lyric transcripts along with album and song titles under the cut

Speak Now

Sparks Fly: Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around

Haunted: Can't breathe whenever you're gone / Can't turn back now, I'm haunted

Ours: Ghosts from your past gonna jump out at me

Electric Touch: Got a feeling your electric touch / Could fill this ghost town up with life

1989

Bad Blood: If you live like that, you live with ghosts

How You Get the Girl: Stand there like a ghost / Shaking from the rain

You Are In Love: And for once, you let go / Of your fears and your ghosts

This Love: Your smile, my ghost

Reputation

...Ready For It?: Wondered how many girls he had loved and left haunted / But if he's a ghost, then I can be a phantom

Lover

The Archer: I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost

Death by a Thousand Cuts: Now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club

Daylight: Not the things I'm afraid of / Or the things that haunt me in the middle of the night

folklore

cardigan: But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss / Knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs

my tears ricochet: You know I didn't want to have to haunt you / But what a ghostly scene

seven: And I've been meaning to tell you / I think your house is haunted / Your dad is always mad and that must be why

evermore

happiness: Haunted by the look in my eyes

right where you left me: Help, I'm still at the restaurant / Still sitting in a corner I haunt

Midnights:

Midnight Rain: I guess sometimes we all get / Some kind of haunted, some kind of haunted

Would've, Could've, Should've: And now that I'm grown, I'm scared of ghosts

The Tortured Poets Department

Florida!!!: Well, me and my ghosts, we've had a hell of a time / Yes, I'm haunted, but I'm feeling just fine

Guilty As Sin?: They don't know how you've haunted me so stunningly

loml: You low-down boy, you stand-up guy / Holy ghost, you told me I'm the love of your life

How Did It End?: My beloved ghost and me / Sitting in a tree

P.S. I did not include instances of "ghost" that solely referred to "ghosting" someone

[zot3-flopped]

Two months prior to its release, would-be doyens of Swift’s Tortured Poets Department have taken its barbed track listing very literally, leading to intense, often nefarious speculation regarding Swift’s six-year relationship with the British actor Joe Alwyn, which seemingly ended in early 2023.

The album’s title, revealed onstage at the Grammy awards, was quickly linked to a December, 2022 interview with Alwyn and Paul Mescal in which they revealed that Andrew Scott started their group chat, the Tortured Man Club. (“It hasn’t had much use recently,” Alwyn said: you wonder if it’s undergone a recent revival.) Swift revealed the leading track list a day later: My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys, So Long, London, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, to name a few, sending fans wild with speculation.

Swift, obviously, has every right to sing about her relationships however she wants to (no apologies to Eamonn Holmes). But in the absence of any music, some fans have spread baseless, dangerous and even libellous allegations about Alwyn’s conduct (which, for obvious reasons, I can’t repeat).

Last month, a brief fan-shot video of them dining in a New Orleans restaurant in December, 2022 was recirculated online with AI-doctored audio that made it sound as though Alwyn is saying “you don’t get to tell me about sad,” a line printed on the back of one of the new album’s four physical editions.

When Swift recently told a crowd that she was “lonely” when writing her 2020 album Folklore – some of which was co-written with Alwyn during the pandemic, a lonely time for most – fans took that as further confirmation of their theories. A live medley of three songs that all appear to reference cheating threw petrol on the fire.

Swift could make this stop. She is no stranger to airing her displeasure with the likes of Ticketmaster, Scooter Braun, Spotify and Apple Music, and, occasionally, politicians. Before she released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) last year, she gave a veiled speech at one Eras tour date effectively asking fans not to go after John Mayer, whom she dated when she was 19 and he was 32 and is understood to be the subject of that album’s Dear John.

“I am not putting this album out so you should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I wrote a song about 14m years ago when I was 19,” she said in Minneapolis.

But for whatever reason – and obviously, no member of the public has any idea what transpired between her and Alwyn so far – this time she has opted to stay quiet.

Establishing a baseline for conduct is neither commercially risky nor unprecedented: just last week, Ariana Grande said, after the release of her post-divorce album Eternal Sunshine: “Anyone that is sending hateful messages to the people in my life based on your interpretation of this album is not supporting me and is absolutely doing the polar opposite of what I would ever encourage”.

It feels like the endgame of a cat-and-mouse act that’s gone too far. Swift’s gestures towards meaning have led every single thing she does to be considered a kind of marketing, a clue to be solved. It leaves a superstar who’s usually hot on her messaging open to misinterpretation: hints about her personal life are turned by some fans into witch-hunts for anyone perceived to have wronged her; her current silence on politics allows politicians to invoke her name, from the New South Wales police commissioner quoting Swift’s anti-haters lines while defending police to Joe Biden joking that the matter of her apparently much sought-after endorsement is “classified” on Late Night With Seth Meyers.

When Swift made a blandly neutral handwritten post encouraging US citizens to register to vote on Super Tuesday, some fans speculated that her unusual left-leaning handwriting was the real indication of her loyalties – suggesting they’re so starved of substance that they’re reading into empty messages because of this dynamic she has established. (The more likely explanation is the insane way she holds a pen.)

For Swift to only direct fans as to her wishes when it suits her, it weakens her status as a truth-teller. If the comparisons with Dickinson mean anything, she might remember that nothing in the world has as much power as a word feels like the endgame of a cat-and-mouse act that’s gone too far.

[manysmallhands]

Favourite Songs of 2024: 19 - 11

If you've read one of these already you know the drill, if you haven't then it's really not that complicated. Previous entries can be found here, here, here and here. Read on as we approach the ALL IMPORTANT TOP 10...

19. Doechii - Wait

While busily dusting herself down from the wreckage of Katy Perry’s ill fated 143, Doechii found time to make some fantastic music on her own this year. Wait is the kind of slinky neosoul jam that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Doja Cat’s Scarlet album, combining smooth RnB vocals with tight rapping in a plaintive tale about holding things together. I’m a sucker for this kind of classic era hip hop throwback and Wait is as good as any yr likely to hear.

18. Lizzy McAlpine - I Guess

While she wasn’t able to build commercially on last year’s surprise hit Ceilings, Lizzy made huge artistic jumps in 2024, mastering the kind of wistful retro sound that informs I Guess and helps to make it such a great song. While she's largely remade herself as a 70s folkie, there’s something quite widescreen to the sound here in places that feels more of a piece with a modern production. But her pleading, soft toned voice remains her best attribute, telling a story of desperate dating where the payoff feels more resigned than triumphant.

17. Eminem - Houdini

There are things that absolutely make me wince about this song - Eminem’s current era may be high concept and character driven but it still has a strong “does this offend you yeah?” element to it that made me switch his album off inside 3 minutes. But ropey as some of its schtick undoubtably is, Houdini really is an absolute banger, full of gross out and extremely bad taste jokes of course but also living up to his claims of being a ‘lyrical technician’, as he recaptures the goofy cartoonish energy of his early material while exerting the kind of performance control that allows him to ramp up the comedy, drama or tension at the drop of a single word. 

16. Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department

Taylor’s all conquering *counts on fingers* 11th album was fine but a little too predictable by my reckoning and ran out of steam a bit in the 2nd half (as many of her records are prone to do). But when it did catch fire there were still some terrific songs and the title track was amongst the best of them. It channeled her newly verbose lyricism into a warm, diaristic romance with one of her finest melodies, a song which sparkled and burned with a nostalgic twinkle, as well as the sense of a life being lived that felt a lot more enviable than on some of her other songs this year.

15. Sonny Fodera Ft Jazzy, DOD - Somedays

Chart dance bangers have changed very little in the last 30 years: take a pounding beat, flashes of house piano, some generically uplifting lyrics and you may well have a hit. And yet it’s still possible to make these elements go extremely hard and Sonny Fodera - building on last year’s similarly terrific Asking - is the latest producer to really nail the formula. Jazzy’s vocal has the right mix of pathos, hope and yearning, the tension builds and dissipates in all the right places, but the thing that makes me love this unconditionally are the absolutely pummelling drops that run into the chorus, which blow me away every time this comes up on the radio and have given me life on so many occasions this year.

14. Charli XCX ft Billie Eilish - Guess remix

Possibly the crowning moment of the year in pop was hearing this daft, sleazy club banger crash into the charts at #1, the peak of a glorious ascent which had been rising steadily since the spring. Reminiscent of the kind of forbidden sing-song that you might hear in a school playground, Charli and Bilie’s back and forth adds an extra dimension to the already colossal OG version, spiking it with enough “what if?!” energy to set the internet alight for weeks on end.

13. Tate McRae - 2 Hands

While my Tate fandom has now reached mildly embarrassing levels, late entrant 2 Hands confirmed to me why she's still worth it all. It’s another iteration of her charming ‘tough but cute’ act, with a chorus just as strong as that of 2023 megahit Greedy, but this time as part of a more substantial song that works better as a start to finish listen. The breaks have a loose rattle that drift twds hip hop territory but there’s a space age zip too that feels new for her, adding extra energy to the already punchy production. And yet possibly the most intriguing aspect of all this is the “not one, not three” line in the extended chorus, posing important questions about exactly how many hands Tate’s exes have had?!

12. Beyoncé - Ya Ya

Beyoncé’s project to rediscover country music’s hidden past took a detour with this ramble thru a bunch of fun 60s RnB tropes. Ya Ya ties together Good Vibrations, Genie In a Bottle and These Boots Are Made for Walking as a way of reuniting some lost heritage, in a banging hard times anthem which, crucially, is a catchy song that you’d actually want to listen to (not always a given on Cowboy Carter). One of the most kinetic, powerful and often downright silly records released all year: if only all of her album had channelled this kind of energy.

11. Camila Cabello Ft Lil Nas X - He Knows

2024 was a tough year for Camila and Nas: both iconic hitmakers of the late 10s who made long awaited comebacks, both of which fell flat on their asses. Camila did at least get her album out tho, the flawed but fascinating “C, XOXO”, and this was my favourite song from it: a glitchy, minimalist pop banger where the momentum of two terrific vocal performances pull everything along in their train, the better to show that there was always more to them than star power alone.

[jalwyn21]

"The Tortured Man's Club" is a pretentious name, but in a self aware, referential way to make fun of the broody characters Joe, Paul and Andrew played. "The Tortured Poet's Department" is just a pretentious name, if it's meant to be taken literally (because TS has no sense of humor to poke fun at herself) or as a dig to an ex.

I hope at least is not another tired Jack Antonoff style album because it's going to be so ridiculous having such a snobby title with the plainest most generic pop music.

Well, if the titles that have been leaked are real.. yikes... the title is not gonna match the songs.. "I can fix him".. really, that is poetry? 🙄

[lunar-years]

I do think the notion that the song titles are too “corny” for the theme/vibe of the album is a bit funny because like. Are we taking the album title that seriously? Because if so, I do not think we should be. Like, as soon as the reminder came up about Joe’s “tortured men’s club” text chat I was like. Ohhh. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I think she’s making fun of him. And also, in a way, making fun of herself. Do I think she considers herself a “tortured Poet”? Yes absolutely but like. Only ironically! I think she’s making fun of the notion that you have to be tortured to produce worthy art, that genius is the byproduct of great anguish. And also making fun of the version of herself that sort of maybe once kind of believed that, too. I think the vibe of the album is going to be her “poetry” (music) spurning from a place of freedom rather than confinement. The love was torture but it was also magic and now it’s over and that torture, too for a little while, but only a little because it’s also magic, and it’s also a million other things—just like her and art x

[thetorturedpoetheadquarters]

The Tortured Poets Department Song Title Analysis

Similar Lyrics:

“Back when you fit my poems like a perfect rhyme” - Holy Ground

“Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die” - The Lakes

“On the way home, I wrote a poem, you say, “what a mind,” this happens all the time” - Sweet Nothing (which Joe wrote with her apparently)

The title “The Tortured Poets Department” is seen as a reference to a group chat Joe Alwyn was in with some of his co-stars called “The Tortured Man Club” - which was revealed to exist in a Variety interview of him and Paul Mescal that came out December 15, 2022.

A source talked to The Daily Mail (which is believed to be the news source that Joe’s PR team talks to) and discussed how Taylor felt about it.

"It’s undeniable that the name of her upcoming album is in reference to Joe’s WhatsApp group chat. Taylor knocked him for the name of this when they were together. She didn’t want people to think that it had anything to do with her, so when he spoke out about it, she was, of course, bothered."

Apparently, Joe also had a Soundcloud account where he read poetry. It dates back to a little bit before him and Taylor met. However, knowing Taylor this fact most likely helped him in winning her over.

Often accidentally called the Dead Poets Society which is a movie that came out in 1989 and stars Robin Williams.

Synopsis: Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.

Taylor does have serious ties with New England, mentioning Rhode Island in The Last Great American Dynasty due to Holiday House residing there - which is Taylor’s Rhode Island Home. She has been residing in Rhode Island since 2013 and it's where she holds her well-known Fourth of July parties.

It's also giving, "I'm standing in a 1950s gymnasium," from Suburban Legends.

[taylortruther]

The theatrical name of TTPD, along with the added context of the bizzare and frankly very unserious song titles gives me the vibes that a large part of this album is about to be satirical.

What cements this theory in my mind is that "Tortured Mens Club" group chat reference...like the concept of an edgy and pseudo tortured artist is a very famous genre of human...and dare I say Joe fits perfectly into that mould.

We're talking about Mr "your integrity makes me seem small" here, it would be very bold to assume that Joe didn't walk around brandishing his "deeper and more complex" persona to put Taylor down for being "superficial and inferior".

Ofc these are all only assumptions because I don't know Joe Pisces Alwyn personally, but it just reminds me of Taylor's dynamic with Jake and how he acted like he was more intellectual and important as compared to her. I still vividly recall that one anon long back who drew direct parallels between TTPD and Red and yeah... you know Taylor hates a pretentious boy (to be sung in the tune of London Boy). Joe and Jake are essentially the same person in different fonts.

Satirizing the idea of a tortured poet like Joe seemed to be, especially that one lyric "Am I allowed to cry?" makes me think he considered his problems to be greater than her, kind of like one of those dudes that listen to super emo music and go "you just won't get it" when you share your own music taste with them.

Idk, just my two cents. This album could potentially be very IBYTAM coded (but make it depressing).

i hear y'all that the chat name might be an influence, but a "tortured artist" is already a well-known stereotype (which the group chat is referencing.) there is an expectation that to be an artist you must be damaged, sad, misunderstood, twisted, tortured; it's one that taylor and critics of taylor have wondered: would she be able write when she's in love? (implying that her pain would go away with love, btw, "as if i'd be saved by the perfect kiss"!)

so yeah i think there is some edge and bite to these titles, because i do not think taylor is calling herself a tortured poet in all seriousness. i think she will discuss her mental health in even more straightforward terms than before, and also the pain of her last relationship, but there will also be other themes... i mean, no taylor album is "just" about the relationship, it's about her own self-reflection.

i think ibytam is actually a really big-brain influence and i'm kinda digging it personally. ibytam, yoyok, midnight rain are all coming to mind here.

[starlightervarda]

First Listen Thoughts

Note: I went into this with next-to-no expectations or theories

Fortnight sounds dated in an 80s synth-y way, I can imagine this in a movie montage with a furious edge to it. I was not expecting to hear Posty singing but he has a surprisingly nice voice. A few listens for it to become a favourite.

The Tortured Poet's Department has a similar effect, cinematic and classic Antonoff. I got jumpscared by the Charlie Puth line and hearing my name. I want this to be a favourite but I feel this is about the 1975 guy so it's ruining it for me

Favorite Toys This is classic Swift and has some Lana vibes lyrically but in a Bleachers-esque wrapping.

Down Bad Interesting opening, lots of imagery, aggravated vibes and I don't blame her. I can see why the next song is --

So Long, London I love the vocals at the beginning acting like church bells and how they're layered in various points. Lyrics hit me right in the chest. Definitely one of the best on the album.

But Daddy, I Love Him gives me Red vibes, also 'no I'm not but you should see your face' GIRL

Fresh Out the Slammer The tempo change in the middle threw me off a bit which makes the ending feel a bit rushed/unfinished?

Florida!!! I was looking forwards to this one the most because of my girl Flo and it delivered in the details and vocal arrangements and big dramatic sound!!!

Guilty as Sin? OK this is cute, very flustered crush / falling in love vibes. It's making me smile.

Who's Afraid of Little Old Me is a little cringe but I'm getting mad woman vibes from the theme but I love the instrumental, esp the beat and harp hints. It's hitting hard for me as someone that struggles with PTSD-induced anxiety and paranoia.

I Can Fix Him I like the idea and the music but Taytay if it's about who I think it is girl he's not worth this Bonnie and Clyde romanticization

loml This is reminding me of Fearless/Speak Now vibes-wise and I can't explain how?? But yeah this is a sad look back at a dead relationship...yeah now I get why the title is abbreviated - love/loss of my life

Do It With A Broken Heart I was not expecting a crying-in-the-club song on this album but it is appreciated. Lights, Camera, Bitch Smile!

Smallest Man Anyway fuck Big Machine

The Alchemy is sweet but girl is this a Midnights B-side? Antonoff stop using that beat/drum sound I'm begging you it's so distracting

Clara Bow is sad, in a sweet way, reminds me of The Lucky One and is staring-into-the-rain material

[denimbex1986]

'Andrew Scott has shed some light on the “Tortured Man Club” group chat he shared with Joe Alwyn and Paul Mescal, which some believe inspired the title of Taylor Swift’s latest record, The Tortured Poets Department.

While in dialogue with one another during the 2022 season of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Mescal and Alwyn revealed that they were in a group chat named “Tortured Man Club”, created by the latter’s Catherine Called Birdy co-star Scott.

Given Swift and Alwyn broke up last year, fans theorised that the album’s name took inspiration from her ex’s group chat.

Addressing the rumours with Variety in a new cover story, Scott (47) explained how the group got its name.

“Let me tell you what that is,” the Ripley star said. “So [Alwyn and Mescal] were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in Fleabag.”

Alwyn was about to star in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel, Conversations with Friends, while Mescal was preparing to take on his role in Charlotte Wells’ melancholic directorial debut, Aftersun.

“It wasn’t about our own characteristics,” Scott clarified, adding that the chat is no longer active. “I think there were three texts, like, ‘Hey, guys.’ You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse,” Scott said.

Mescal praised his compatriot, saying: “He’s a great guardian of actors, if you’re lucky enough that he admires you or has respect for you. He’s got an overseeing quality, in terms of understanding that good art and good actors are hard to come by.”...

Scott went on to praise TTPD, calling it “sensational”.

“I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is,” he said. “I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really amazing.”

Scott noted that his favourite song on the album is The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, which listeners have speculated is about The 1975’s frontman Matty Healy, whom she briefly dated after her break-up with Alwyn...

Elsewhere, in the Variety interview, Scott opened up about his late mother Nora, who died unexpectedly in March. The actor spoke of the need to keep talking about her, in order to keep her close.

“It came very suddenly to our family and it’s landed in the middle of all of this stuff. Her spirit is so alive in me in the immediate aftermath of her death,” said Scott.

“Her way of dealing with people was so kind, but she wasn’t very good at small talk. She connected with people in a very particular way. What I was taught was the idea of being authentically yourself.”

As one of the leading gay actors in the world today, Scott said he sometimes has to consider what he says about his sexuality as he doesn’t want to be defined by it. The term “openly gay”, for example, is something that he has no time for.

“It’s wonderful to be able to talk about sexuality in an open way. But I do feel sometimes, other people – and by other people, I mean straight people – don’t have to explain or talk about their sexuality every time they go to work.

“The idea that I’m being defiant by just being exactly who I am … Be open about it? Why wouldn’t you be open about it? But the word ‘openly,’ for me, just seems a little loaded.

“A lot of this stuff has really affected me in my own life growing up – God knows I didn’t have a lot of gay content. We live in an identity-politics era. We’re separating each other more than we need to. This hysteria about your sexuality and how that is something that is only understandable to people who belong to the same tribe as you – it just doesn’t seem truthful.”

The Dubliner also revealed more about the controversial incident at February’s Baftas awards ceremony where he was asked about Barry Keoghan’s genitalia. BBC reporter Colin Paterson asked Scott for his opinion on his fellow Irish actor’s naked dance at the end of Saltburn, ending with the question “How well do you know him?” before Scott smiled and walked off without answering.

“It was awkward,” said Scott. “It was a little bit weird. But I got an apology from the journalist. I think it was a series of unfortunate events. And I totally accepted his apology. I wouldn’t want him to suffer any more.”'

[lcndonboysstuff]

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/andrew-scott-ripley-taylor-swift-rejecting-openly-gay-title-1236010639/

It can be hard not to conflate the characters he’s played with the sense that Scott is Hollywood’s new prince of heartache. In fact, he has a direct line to the queen of such matters. “Taylor’s new album is sensational! I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is,” Scott says about “The Tortured Poets Department,” which came out three days before our conversation. Taylor Swift, he says, is a friend, and he beams with vicarious pride about her 31-track magnum opus: “I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing.” His favorite song on it, for the record, is “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” a ballad that begins with quiet heartbreak and builds toward a dramatic excoriation.

But Scott is perhaps being modest. Some believe that he is as much to credit for the title of the album as the men Swift sings about. Consider the explosion online after a 2022 Variety Actors on Actors conversation between Mescal and Joe Alwyn (who was dating Swift at the time, and is thought to have inspired a few songs on the album) in which they discussed their membership in a group chat called “Tortured Man Club.” Scott, they said, had initiated the chat.“

Let me tell you what that is!” Scott says. Just before Alwyn was to appear in the TV adaptation of novelist Sally Rooney’s “Conversations With Friends,” Scott — Alwyn’s co-star in the 2022 film “Catherine Called Birdy” — set him up with Mescal, of “Normal People,” another series based on Rooney’s work. “So they were about to play these tortured characters, and I had played a tortured character in ‘Fleabag.’ It wasn’t about our own characteristics!” The chat quickly died on the vine, he says. “I think there were three texts, like, ‘Hey, guys.’ You know those groups that you set up, and they just collapse.”

tortured poet department , Taylor’s magnum opus? people just be saying anything these days, my God.

and haha Paul and Joe said it was just Andrew in the group chat messaging himself😂

[whatsonmedia]

Taylor Swift Drops “The Tortured Poets Dept”: Release & Details

Get ready for the release of 11th studio album of Taylor Swift “The Tortured Poets Department.” Discover everything you need to know about this highly anticipated new era of Swift’s music, from the intriguing lead-up filled with puzzles and Easter eggs to the excitement surrounding its Friday drop.

When is the official debut of the album?

“The Tortured Poets Department” is set to release this Friday at 12 a.m. ET, and it’s available for preorder now. If you’re planning to stream the album immediately upon its release, be aware of potential delays. Similar to Swift’s recent album “Midnights,” which caused a temporary crash on Spotify due to high demand, anticipate possible streaming delays.

How many songs are included?

“The Tortured Poets Department” comprises 16 songs, including four bonus tracks: “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatross,” and “The Black Dog.” These bonus tracks will be exclusively available on separate physical album variants, not on the streaming version. Historically, Swift has made vinyl exclusives accessible on streaming platforms several months post their physical release.

With an average track length of 4 minutes and 4 seconds, “The Tortured Poets Department” ranks as the third longest album in Swift’s discography. The longest song, “But Daddy I Love Him,” runs for 5 minutes and 40 seconds, while the shortest, “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” lasts 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Stay tuned for the length of each bonus track!

What songs are on the new album?

“Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)”

“The Tortured Poets Department”

“My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”

“Down Bad”

“So Long, London”

“But Daddy I Love Him”

“Fresh Out the Slammer”

“Florida!!! (Florence + the Machine)”

“Guilty as Sin?”

“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”

“I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”

“LOML”

“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”

“The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”

“The Alchemy”

“Clara Bow”

What’s the reason behind the name “The Tortured Poets Department”?

Fans have noticed that “The Tortured Poets Department” holds the title for Taylor Swift’s longest album title by a significant margin, surpassing her third album, “Speak Now.” Speculation about the album’s unusual title largely centers around Swift’s 2023 breakup with British actor Joe Alwyn after their six-year relationship.

Following the album announcement, an interview from 2022 between Alwyn and Paul Mescal resurfaced, revealing their membership in a WhatsApp group called “The Tortured Man Club.” This prompted fans to draw connections between Alwyn and Swift’s forthcoming album.

While the true meaning of “The Tortured Poets Department” remains uncertain, the album rollout has featured nods to famous poems like Charles Baudelaire’s “The Albatross” and other literary references. Stay tuned for more insights into Swift’s latest creative endeavor!

When can fans anticipate the release of a new music video?

In an Instagram video showcasing the “TTPD Timetable,” Taylor Swift revealed plans to drop a music video at 8 p.m. ET on Friday. However, she kept the track’s identity under wraps. The timetable’s announcement was accompanied by 14 tally marks, prompting speculation among Swifties. Some theorize that the video might accompany the album’s first track, “Fortnight (ft. Post Malone),” which references a 14-day period, or the album’s 14th track, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” Stay tuned for updates on Swift’s latest release!

Read more about the new album: Heartbreak’s Symphony: Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets”

[thepenguinhbo]

27 for beegni on the kiss writing prompt

27.  Kisses exchanged while one person sits on the other’s lap.

this one got out of hand lmao but i also rly enjoyed writing it. it was... good to focus on something pleasant, for a change.

anyway, this one builds up slowly and is about their first kiss.

“Do you remember our first time like this?” Bee asked, resting her back against his chest. “With me in your lap?” “Of course I remember.” Igni replied immediately; even though it did take him a moment to remember. “It was... At the Honeycomb. Right?” “Mmmhmm.” she muttered in response, opening her book. “This feels like it happened... A lifetime ago.” “In a way, it did.” he replied, opening his eyes and abandoning his - somewhat feeble - attempts at communing with Rakdos. “Tell me about it.” “Again?” she asked; not impatiently. Softly. Eagerly. Like a storyteller, being asked by her favorite audience to once more tell their favorite tale of hers. “Again.” In the mirror in front of them, he could see her gentle smile; and without looking up from her book - Bee started to talk.

***

Igni muttered out a quiet apology to the man he just bumped into, already looking around the main room of the Honeycomb, his eyes searching for the peppy singer whose face was on all the posters advertising the club. She was young, and inexperienced; but her voice was strong and sweet at the same time, and something about her just made it impossible to look away when she was on stage. “G’evening, mister Hobblepot.” the bartender - a menacing-looking minotaur named Zul - greeted Igni as he sat down on the only vacant bar stool; and Igni had to stop himself from wincing at the sound of this ridiculous surname he was forced to use for the sake of the con he was trying to pull off.  “Evening, Zul.” Igni replied, doing his best to stop himself from looking around. “Is she here tonight?” “S’funny.” Zul said calmly, wiping the counter. “You’re the tenth person tonight to ask this question.” “And what did you say to the other nine?” Zul opened his mouth to answer - and in that moment, Igni heard an excited squeal coming from behind him. “You’re here!” Bee exclaimed excitedly, tapping against the counter with her violet fingernails; and Igni bit his cheeks, doing his best to conceal a lovestruck smile as she stared at him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes hopeful. “I’m so glad to see you again, mister Hobblepot!” “Likewise, miss Honeybee.” he replied, his heart pounding. “Did you write anything new recently?” “Only a very inappropriate song about Rakdos trying to get Isperia to crack a smile.” she giggled in response. “But imagine this - the club owner says I am not, under any circumstances, allowed to perform it on stage. He says, and I quote, this place only opened six months ago, I’m not looking forward to having the Boros thugs burn it down because you insulted that sphinx harlot.” “Isperia doesn’t control the Legion.” Igni stuttered out in response, doing his best to not stare at her soft, perfectly kissable lips. “And that’s exactly what I said! But I guess having this place burned down as a sign of appreciation by the cultists wouldn’t be great either.” she added with a sigh; and at the back of his mind, Igni could hear Rakdos chuckle. “But... He can’t stop me from a private show.” she added with a playful spark in her eyes; and he practically stopped breathing for a moment. “Would you be interested, mister Hobblepot?” “Hm.” he muttered, pretending to be considering her offer. “Hm. Yes, miss Honeybee.” he said finally; and Bee jumped up in joy, her heart-tipped tail swaying left and right. “Just name time and place.” “Come to my dressing room after tonight’s show. I’ll be waiting.” she said before disappearing in the crow, leaving him at the bar - longing. Yearning. Distraught over only walking into the Honeycomb - and into her life - to take over it in the name of the Cult, in the name of setting it all aflame.

***

After the main show, he found his way into her dressing room; it was surprisingly small, considering she was the lead singer at the club - or maybe it simply appeared so, because she scattered her things everywhere. “Did you enjoy the show?” she asked with a playful grin, looking at his reflection in the well-lit mirror in front of her; Igni gulped quietly, biting his tongue to not tell her the way she lowered her voice a bit and tilted her head when singing her signature song, The Ballad of A Caged Bird, set his blood on fire and made his skin ache. “Yes.” he said instead, sitting down in the nearby chair and putting his top-hat down at the table. “I just so happen to thoroughly enjoy all of your shows, miss Honeybee.” “Aww.” she giggled; but he could see her cheeks turn purple. “You’re very sweet, mister Hobblepot.” “Please, call me Oswin.” he forced himself to say; by the gods, he hated that name. It wasn’t his. It wasn’t even chosen by him.  “Only if you start calling me Bee.” she replied, turning around in her chair.  “Of course, miss Bee.” She laughed, getting up from the chair; and finally he noticed she was no longer wearing her frilly dress and her golden dancing shoes - instead she was wearing a silk robe and a pair of flat, fluffy slippers. It took a lot of self control for him to not stare at her thighs; but she seemingly didn’t notice. “Alright, so. The song about Rakdos and Isperia.” she said, climbing atop of the nearby chest of drawers and sitting down on it, modestly crossing her ankles and folding her hands in her lap; her robe slid off her shoulders slightly, but she seemed to not’ve noticed it (but he did, by the gods, he did, and he wanted to kiss her shoulders and her neck and her collarbones and every other part of her he could see.) and instead looked at him, her lips curled up in a sweet smile. “I don’t have a title for it yet. But I suppose not all masterpieces need a title.” He nodded silently; she giggled again - and began to sing her tale of Rakdos, lord of the riots, trying to get Isperia, the supreme judge, to crack a little smile in increasingly more ridiculous, often salacious ways. Being a member of the Cult of Rakdos, and once of his warlocks, Igni had heard a lot of songs about his patron - but none of them were quite as sweet as that one. Being a tiefling, Bee was born with the ability to speak Abyssal, the demonic language often considered to be created by Rakdos himself; it sounded like crackling fire - but rolling off Bee’s tongue, it almost sounded sweet. Igni listened intently, his hands folded on his knee, his expression stern and static, as if his face was a stone sculpture; but it wasn’t easy, as the song was oftentimes vulgar and the way she sang of Rakdos pondering if Isperia’s nipples are ticklish made him absentmindedly ponder what color would Bee’s nipples be - would they be blue, like all of her skin? Would they turn purple when erect and aroused? And what about her groin? What color would her flower be? (Ignatius, my boy, Rakdos purred in his head. Oh, how she makes you burn! How she makes you ache! Such a delight to watch. A quiet torture. A silent spark, ready to engulf all of Ravnica in flames.) “So, what did you think?” she asked after finishing the last verse; she crossed her legs, causing her robe to slide up and expose her leg, and watched him with her eyes half-closed.  “It was... Spicy.” he said cautiously, silently cursing himself for allowing himself to think about her so much. “But I think Rakdos would like it.” (You’re damn right, my boy. I do like it. Wish it had a verse about setting a Senate courthouse on fire though.) “But did you like it, mis... Oswin?” she asked; and he almost groaned out of want to hear her say his actual name, to hear her moan it- “I did.” he said, against his better judgement, despite knowing damn well that the man he was pretending to be would not like it. (But he wouldn’t fall for her either; so to hell with being reasonable.) She smiled proudly. “I’m very happy to hear it.” she said softly, swinging her leg slightly. “To be honest, I... Assumed you’re too serious and stern to enjoy something as silly as this song.” Igni coughed, doing his best to conceal a bitter chuckle, doing his best to not let the terrible truth of their situation get to him. She doesn’t know me. I’m a cultist, and she’s good and kind and sweet, and I’m a liar, and she would never love someone like me. Even as a tiefling.

***

“Can I ask you something?” “Go for it.” “Why do you always tell this story from my point of view? Doesn’t it bore you? Never getting to tell how you felt back then?” “It’s very simple, my love. I find the fact you pretended to be a serious merchant very amusing... And very poetic. And I am a poet. And there you were - a con artist, trying to turn a legitimate business into a spot for the Cult to launder their funds... But then you fell for the sweet, honest, peppy singer.” “But you had a secret too.” “I did. But me living a double life is not nearly as compelling as you pretending to not be a warlock of Rakdos.”

***

“Can I offer you something to drink?” she asked, getting off the commode. “I have... Well, I don’t have anything, but Zul has a bit of everything stashed away. And he’s contractually obliged to make sure I get all the drinks and snacks my heart desires.” “Perhaps I could assist with that as well. I... Have a wide variety of exotic snacks among my goods.” he added quickly as she tilted her head in a silent question. “Both sweet and savory. So if you ever crave something Zul doesn’t have... Just let me know.” “You know exactly what a girl wants to hear.” she said softly, looking at him; and her golden eyes almost made him crack, almost made him melt. “But, in the meantime... Can I offer you something sweet?” “Of course.” “Close your eyes then.” she said hesitantly; and he raised his eyebrows in a silent question. “I promise I’m not going to stab you.” she added, turning around; and after a moment - he closed his eyes obediently, focusing on listening instead. “Don’t open them yet.” she said, walking up to him; and moments later - much to his surprise - she climbed atop of him and sat in his lap. She was a little bit heavier than he thought she would be; just a bit. He opened his eyes - and saw her face, inches away from his, and he looked at her in silence, admiring her long lashes, and purple markings, and freckles and soft lips - lips that currently had a piece of chocolate sticking out from between them. “I-” he said hesitantly, his heart pounding, his voice raspy. “Miss Bee, I-” She tilted her head slightly, and the corners of her lips curled up in a smile; and he groaned quietly and leaned in, promising himself he’ll back out as soon as she- the moment he cautiously locked his teeth around the chocolate piece - she practically swallowed it and pressed her lips against his tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck; and he didn’t back out, instead kissing her back and pulling her closer, his hands trembling against her body. His blasted monocle fell off his face; but it didn’t matter, all that mattered were her lips and her breath. She was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted; and he instantly knew - it was not going to be enough.

***

“Gods, back then I was so horny for you.” he sighed; and Bee laughed, her laughter light like wind chimes. “Well, so was I for you.” she said, reaching up with her hand to stroke his chin; she turned her head to look up at him and he smiled sheepishly, wrapping his arms around her. “Oh, you were driving me crazy. Tall, handsome, muscular, perfectly polite, distant... Mmmm. Delicious.” “And now I’m a touchy-feely mean bastard who can’t get his hands off you. Are you... Still happy?” “Well, you’re still my Igni. And you can still act like a gentleman. So... I can’t imagine a scenario where I’m happier.” she said, putting her book down and clumsily turning around in his lap to face him. “Now... All that talking made me want to be kissed.” she added, batting her lashes at him.  He grinned, and pulled her closer; and he kissed her, he kissed her all over, again and again and again.

that was long and fun and im glad i had the opportunity to write it.  also, here’s a younger bee from back when she was the lead singer at the honeycomb (made in a now-defunct mega fantasy avatar creater by rinmarugames)

[kittoforos]

A Beginner’s Guide to the Music of Aleksandr Bashlachev

By popular demand, here is a starter kit, in mostly English, to help anyone interested get into the work of my absolute favorite late-Soviet poet (/rock poet/singer-songwriter/guitarist of sorts) and one of my best beloved poets, as they say, всех времён и народов: Aleksandr Bashlachev (Александр Башлачев, or, if you’re feeling extra helpful, Александр Башлачёв— that last “e” is always pronounced “o”). 

Aleksandr Bashlachev was born May 27, 1960, died February 17, 1988 (by his own hand; sometimes people count him in the so-called “27 Club”), and left around 60 poems/song texts and various recordings (audio and some video), many of which are available on YouTube (a lot of his stuff is on Spotify, too, if that’s your thing). Despite the short length of his life/career, his body of work was/is a sort of massive hidden influence on Russian rock music/the associated culture from Perestroika forward; he’s not at all well-known among the general public in Russia today, but if you’re at all interested in any of that cultural history (or if you just like Russian rock), he’s worth at least a passing familiarity.

I’m making this post partially because I just love him and want to share his brilliant work,*** but also because his poetry (like, frankly, a lot of Russian poetry) is graceful and rewarding on its own, but also densely loaded with intertextual meaning, and his performance style (messy snarly vocals, messy acoustic guitar, just a bit of a mess really, albeit a through-composed one; also incredibly intense, somehow simultaneously explosive and hypnotic— one of his contemporaries, Yuri Naumov, used the term “thermodynamic”, which I like a lot) can be a rather “acquired taste” for a lot of people, especially for those who aren’t already familiar with the stylistics of Soviet bardic music or, like, garage folk-punk or something idk. I know it took me a long time to get into his stuff, at any rate (but once I did, I didn’t listen to anything else for months).

Themes and frequent images in his work include: Russia’s fate, politics (complicated ones, for which he got “shaken down” by various “security” organizations a couple of times— they only stopped doing that in 1987), spiritual freedom, spiritual honesty (”it’s impossible to sing one way and live another”), human contact, human nature (each unique individual as part of the whole), words, bells, birds, heights, Leningrad, love (unconditional and all-encompassing: “even those I hate, I love— they’re just not good enough people to realize it yet”), the sun, the role of the artist in society, the utopian future, suicide.

Also a key point here: SashBash (that was/is his nickname) wrote not so much songs, as fellow rock musician Boris Grebenshchikov put it, as entire emotional spectacles, so when you watch a video of him singing, there’s a helluva lot to take in on top of the words and music themselves, even though he was given to keeping the mis-en-scene pretty minimalistic (just a snarly Russian dude, his guitar, and his bell bracelets). It can be pretty intimidating stuff overall, (especially if your first language isn’t Russian! and/or you’re not used to listening to poetry in Russian, in which case I’ll tell you up front that this is gonna be really rough, but ultimately totally worth it— all the time I’ve spent listening to this stuff and frantically trying to decipher it has helped me a ton with my Russian!) and it can be hard to know where to start with him because his poetry is very complex and he wrote in a couple of different “genres” (to use the term loosely); hopefully this guide will help.

So with that, here are ten (10) songs (plus important musical/poetic background) to get you started— all listed, linked, and commented on under the cut!

(i love this pic there’s something magical and telling about the combo of rocker-style leather jacket and komsomol lapel pin)

***and because this man desperately wanted to be remembered (he believed that people are reincarnated as soon as they are forgotten, and absolutely did not want to ever come back), and I get so much out of the art he made, I feel like i should try at give back at least a little, if only now, and like this

I see you’re still with us! Excellent! Поехали!

Okay, so, the first thing to know with Russian rock music is, a lot of it is based on (at least) two traditions: Western rock music (and/or the contemporary Soviet perception of it) and the Soviet bardic song genre of the 1960s and 70s (e.g. Okudzhava, Vysotsky). Russian rock tends to be heavily text-based and very individual-driven (in the sense that the lead singer of a group is often pretty much synonymous with the band— it doesn’t really matter who’s playing backup to Boris Grebenshchikov, as long as he’s there, the band is “Akvarium”), and SashBash’s work is definitely no exception to those rules— if anything he takes them to even higher levels. He worked almost exclusively alone, and a lot of his singing uses a dramatized speech-like recitative timbre; his main concern was not so much with rock music as such as with the poetry, with the Word, with expression through the Russian language (великий, богатый и проч. и проч.). 

Although that artistic concern remains fairly constant throughout SashBash’s repertoire, his genre choices are less consistent. Roughly speaking, his work can be divided into short comic songs, short serious songs, and long-form epics or meditations. Texts for all the songs I’m about to list can be found at http://www.bards.ru/archives/author.php?id=1927.

Short Serious Songs: (i’m starting with these because because there’s a lot of them, because they include some of his best known songs, and also because they’re just a good place to start to get a feel for what he was about as an artist without buckling in for a twenty-minute Suffering Session— that comes later)

1. Время колокольчиков (The time of little bells) — SashBash’s most famous song, just generally a famous song, gave its name to the whole era in Soviet music culture. If you’re only going to listen to one of these, this is the one, and I highly recommend watching the linked video of him performing it (all of the videos I’ll link here are from a квартирник (apartment concert) at Boris Grebenshchikov’s place— there exist other videos of SashBash performing, but a lot of them are from large concerts which he was very uncomfortable playing, and a lot of the time it shows). Rock and roll, the role of the artist in a time of individualist upheaval, the fate of the Russian soul, and more. (3:20)

2. Лихо (Likha (Slavic mythological personification of Evil); Dashingly) — One of SashBash’s major influences on the Russian rock scene was an eye toward Ancient/Medieval Rus’ as both a source of contemporary Russia’s problems and model of possible futures, whether good or bad. These certainly weren’t new ideas in Russian literature (see: Westernizer vs. Slavophile debates of the 19th century), but SashBash’s deft, unforgettable phrasings (and passionate, agitated delivery) brought rock and roll into conversation with these classic Russian arguments, and imbued them with new urgency. (2:41) 

3. Влажный блеск наших глаз (The wet shine of our eyes) — This is a bit sexier. Actually it’s all about sex. And love? And misery. And sex. (3:08)

4. Поезд №193 (Train №193) — This is a straight-up suicidal ideation song, an attempt to catch at a working definition of love, a swift pile up of quick-fix definitions, desperations. A genuinely short song with a pointedly circular structure. (2:16)

5. Вишня — This is the last song Aleksandr Bashlachev wrote whose text and audio survive. It’s a relatively melodic, life-affirming song full of fairy-tale imagery and general generosity of spirit, and the advice the singer gives to the princess character is actually pretty solid imho, especially for the 1980s (be brave, be kind, rejoice in all the things that please your heart and especially in your own freedom/will). (4:17)

6. В чистом поле дожди косые (In the open field slanting rains) — A treatment of a lot of the same themes as Время колокольчиков, but more explicitly and imagistically Russian (as opposed to Soviet), with the theme of rock and roll expanded to art/literature in general, a lot more Orthodox Christian imagery and ideas (anticapitalist), a less ecstatic and more lachrymose ambiguous ending...  A lot of people claim this to be the best song he wrote. (4:57 (song starts around 30 seconds in))

Short Comic Songs: (We need a break...such as it is. Soviet humor. If you don’t know the drill, you will shortly. I’ll go ahead and put trigger warnings in for these.)

7. Подвиг разведчика (The feat of an intelligence agent (title of famous WWII movie)) An average late-Soviet asshole with a brutal hangover daydreams about going on Cold War spy adventures, is ridiculous. The linked video has a pretty solid translation in the drop-down. (4:55) TW: alcohol, food, domestic abuse, poison, homophobic slur, torture mention, guns, suicidal ideation, rape mention (casual use of term)

8. Верька, Надька, Любка (Faith, Hope, Love (girls’ names)). Sometimes subtitled Исповедь весеннего рака (Confessional of a spring crab). A very strange, ultimately sweet and oddly earnest song that starts fairly concretely and gets rapidly, cosmically out of hand. A giant confused metaphor for a single Leningrader’s personal ideological development, with metamorphoses. (5:20) TW: food, suicidal ideation, religion, alcohol/drugs, brief casual transphobia (? tbh i’ve been chewing on this line for two years now and in context i’m still not quite sure), unreality

Epics/Meditations: (ok here we go, от винта!)

9. Имя Имён (Name of Names) — A chant of shifting rhythms over a monotonous pair of guitar chords, an uncertain, lurching, demanding, overawed and underserved Credo. (8:19)

10. Ванюша (Vanyusha (boy’s name, affectionate)) — This is an arc-structured song, about trying to understand the loss of a loved one, of a child, to find or make meaning out of that suffering (Bashlachev, whose philosophy in total seems to me simultaneously very Soviet and very Orthodox Christian, believed that all personal development, and indeed all that, which is worthwhile in life, comes to us through suffering— “if your soul hurts, it means it’s working”). It uses a lot of Russian folk structures and motifs, both lyrical and musical. (11:53)

Please note that these are not my personal favorite songs of his, necessarily— just a good first set that I hope represents and can act as a starting point for his whole body of work. Thank you for reading!! Спасибо за внимание!!

BONUS SashBash singing Russian 19th and 20th century pop hits with some friends. Laughter, joy, and contextually inappropriate quotations of Lenin ensue

[denimbex1986]

'After Taylor Swift announced that her new album would be called The Tortured Poets Department, a 2022 edition of Variety’s Actors on Actors featuring Taylor’s ex Joe Alwyn and Paul Mescal saying they had a WhatsApp group with Andrew Scott called the “Tortured Man Club” resurfaced online.

In a recent Variety interview, Scott explains that Alwyn and Mescal were “about to play these tortured characters” — Alwyn in Conversations with Friends and Mescal in Normal People — while, Scott says, “I had played a tortured character in Fleabag. It wasn’t about our own characteristics!” But Scott says the chat collapsed after three texts.

While Scott didn’t confirm that the group chat inspired the album’s title, he and Taylor are friends. “Taylor’s new album is sensational! I texted her yesterday to say how amazing it is,” Scott tells Variety.

“I think she is just a force of nature, just an extraordinary human, and this album is really, really amazing,” he adds. He says his favorite song is “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” who many fans believe is about The 1975 singer Matty Healy.

Scott doesn’t describe how he and Taylor became friends, but it could have been through Joe, or perhaps through Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who’s another one of Taylor’s pals...'

[denimbex1986]

'...What are the songs on The Tortured Poets Department about?

Given Taylor and her boyfriend of six years Joe Alwyn broke up in April 2023, fans have been speculating that the album is probably going to draw inspiration from that relationship and breakup.

Some have even wondered if the title could be taking a shot at the actor, after footage of a 2022 Variety discussion between Joe and fellow Sally Rooney adaptation actor Paul Mescal resurfaced in which the pair hinted that they had a WhatsApp group chat with Andrew Scott.

“It’s the Tortured Man Club, I think,” Joe says in the clip. “It’s me, you – and Andrew Scott started the group.”...'