"The Tortured Poets Department" By Taylor Swift Analysis
An analysis of Taylor's 11th studio album The Tortured Poets Department.
The Tourtured Poets Department.
Album by Taylor Swift.
Hey Swifties, on April 19th a brand new album of Taylors came out. I really enjoyed the tracks, my favorite was “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”. So, for today I will write about a song from her new album. Today I am planning on doing track 2, The Tortured Poets Department.
All of the tracks on the original TTPD are sad, crushing, and overall just a breakup album about her ex, Joe Alwyn. In her songs, she mentions Marriage, Death, having a child, or all of that. In her song “Your Losing Me” on Midnights she states “I wouldn’t marry me either.” implying Joe, her boyfriend of 6 years, did not want to marry her. Over the years lots of conspiracy has come into play about Joe and her. With all that information let's dig into “The Tortured Poets Department”
“You left your typewriter at my apartment”
“Straight from the tortured poets department”
“I think some things I’ll never say”
“Like, "Who uses typewriters anyway?" ”
“But you're in self sabotage mode”
“Throwing spikes down on the road”
“But I’ve seen this episode”
“And still loved the show”
“Who else decodes you?”
“And who’s going to hold you Like me?”
“And who’s going to love you, if not me?”
“I laughed in your face and said,”
“ "You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith" ”
“This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel”
“We’re modern idiots”
“Who’s going to hold you like me?”
“Nobody.”
“No f—king body. Nobody.”
“You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate”
“We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist”
“I scratch your head you fall asleep”
“Like a tattooed golden retriever”
“But you awaken with dread”
“Counting nails in your head”
“But I’ve left this one”
“Where you come undone”
“I chose this cyclone with you”
“And who’s going to hold you like me?”
“And who’s going to love you like me?”
“I laughed in your face and said,”
“ "You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith" ”
“This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel” “We’re modern idiots”
Who’s going to hold you like me?” “Nobody.No f—king body. Nobody.”
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re going to screw this up with me”
“But you tell Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave”
“And I had said that to Jack about you So I felt seen”
Every we know understands why it’s meant to be”
“'Cause we’re crazy.”
“So tell me, who else is going to love me?”
“At dinner you take my ring off my middle finger”
“And put it on the one people put wedding rings on”
“And that’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding.”
“Who’s going to hold you? ....Me.”
“Who’s going to know you? ...Me.”
“And you’re not Dylan Thomas”
“I’m not Patti Smith”
“This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel”
“We’re two idiots”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“Who’s going to hold you?”
“You left your typewriter at my apartment”
“Straight from the tortured poets department”
“Who else decodes you Like me?”
The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift
This song is so incredibly shocking and amazing. We all are still processing these lyrics, but let's get into the facts. And my analysis of the lyrics.
“You left your typewriter at my apartment” Healy has expressed his liking in the past for typewriters such as in an interview for GQ in 2018. He states “The thing with typewriters and writing, putting a pen to paper, there is kind of an element of commitment that goes with the ceremony of it.”
“Straight from the tortured poets department” When I first heard about this album I assumed her life was in the Tortured Poets Department, but if he left his typewriter there does that mean he was in the Tortured Poets Department? Or after he left and she saw the typewriter her life turned into the Tortured Poets Department? (This is just a theory).
“But you're in self sabotage mode” There is not much to say about this other than if this song is about Joe, how is he in self sabotage mode...? Is it him breaking up with her? “Throwing spikes down on the road”..... (Also just a theory).
“ "You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith" ” Dylan Thomas is known for his poetry and Patti Smith is known for her punk rock movement in the 70s.
“This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel” Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith were known to frequently known to go t the Chelsea Hotel
“We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist” This does point to this song being about Matt Healy because of a tweet from 2018 where Matt Healy stated “That Charlie Puth and Boyz II track is harrrrrd” where Charlie replied with “Thank u matty!”.
“Like a tattooed golden retriever” This lyric reminds me of something.. Maybe like the lyric "Made your mark on me, a golden tattoo” from “Dress” her first album while she was dating him, Reputation. Once again this does point to the song being about Joe. There is another theory where this lyric is talking about all of Matt Healy’s tattoos, but I feel like there was too little information to prove that was really the meaning behind this lyric.
“But you tell Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave” This line is so f–cked up in so many ways. I cannot believe he could say something like that. “Lucy” is believed to be Lucy Dacus, you may know her from the band ‘Boy Genius’. That band has three people in it, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker, and Phoebe Bridgers who is a very good friend of Taylor. She even went on stage with her and performed at the Eras Tour. The strange thing is Healy and Lucy do indeed have some bad blood after he said in a tweet “I told Lucy Darcus that ‘Boy Genius’ has inspired me and George to start a new band called ‘GirlR-slur’. I don’t really hear from her that often”. Lucy replied later on to his tweet saying “you don’t hear from me at all”. Healy then deactivated his account, but not before saying “Yeah this never goes well does it,”.
“At dinner you take my ring off my middle finger” I have no idea what this lyric or “And put it on the one people put wedding rings on” means, but I will continue to do more digging. If I find anything I will probably post an update.
I think that’s all I have for today. My lyric rating is probably a 7/10, but overall is most likely a 7.5/10. That is not bad coming from me, it just needs time to grow on me more, but that is fine.
I have already done one of these kinds of writing if you enjoy I would recommend checking out my page. I will keep posting these for the TPD. I am ecstatic to do this song, I enjoyed it on my first listen. This album is growing on me, these writings help me understand the story behind it and help me enjoy the songs more.
Thank you for reading my analysis of The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift. Written by Veda Chopp. April 20, 2024.