Taylor Swift has given a track-by-track interpretation of the lyrics in her latest album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ through an Amazon commentary. Fans can access and stream the album and the commentary by saying “I’m a member of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ through their Amazon Alexa account. Alternatively, music enthusiasts can stream the track individually with their Amazon accounts if they do not own an Alexa device. In her new album, Swift highlights the common themes of fatalism; longing and lost dreams, which are common throughout the album, through her lyrics.
The controversial new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ was recently released on April 19, amid mixed reviews. In a rare approach, Taylor Swift has given a detailed explanation of the inspirations behind the lyrics of ‘Fortnight (Featuring Post Malone)’, ‘Clara Bow’, ‘Florida!!! (Featuring Florence + the Machine)’, ‘Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?’ and ‘My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys’ in the album. Swift shares that she drew her inspiration from the occurrences of crimes and tragedies in Florida and how people skip town immediately following such events.
The inspiration behind ‘Clara Bow’ arose from her experience of being compared to other artists while trying to attain a record deal, often with negative comments about the other individual. She also points out that women artists are usually taught to fit into a particular archetype in pop culture. The album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ explores ‘what we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives,’ and the societal trend of loving and watching artists in pain.
Various music enthusiasts have speculated that Swift wrote, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ inspired by The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy, whom she dated briefly in 2023. The album contains numerous references to him and dissimilar artists, with Swift drawing inspiration from them. The album may have scored three stars upon its release, but Swift’s followers continue to generate a buzz around her music, with anticipation around her upcoming tour in June 2024
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