The Tortured Poets Department

Album

Tortured Poets Department, The

Label

Republic Records

Genre

Folk-pop

Composer(s)

Taylor Swift;Jack Antonoff

Entered Chart

May 4, 2024

Peak Date

May 4, 2024

"The Tortured Poets Department" is the title track of Taylor Swift's 11th studio album. An ode to chaotic love between two modern poets, fans believe the song chronicles the brief summer 2023 love affair between Swift and The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy. There's a clue tucked away in the very first lines that Swift is addressing Healy: You left your typewriter at my apartment Straight from the tortured poets department This seemingly innocuous detail becomes a Rosetta Stone when you consider Healy's well-documented attachment to his typewriter. He's even gone on record as naming it on a list of things he couldn't do without. Suddenly, the abandoned typewriter transforms into a tangible symbol of the relationship's demise. Swift's lyrics wrestle with the unanswered questions left behind: "Who else decodes you? And who's gonna hold you like me?" Her answer, delivered with a sigh that could shatter glass, is a single, desolate word: "Nobody." Here's where things get a bit more literary. Some Swifties have drawn a connection between the song's title and the 1989 film Dead Poets Society co-starring Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles. Their cameo in the "Fortnight" music video supports this. There's also the curious case of the missing apostrophe. The official title is indeed "The Tortured Poets Department," not "The Tortured Poets' Department." This, the theorists argue, is a deliberate echo of the film's title. In Dead Poets Society, the inspirational teacher, Mr. Keating (played by Robin Williams), leads a group of students in a secret literary society. Theirs is a world of passionate expression, a refuge for "tortured poets," much like the department alluded to in Swift's song. By omitting the apostrophe, the theory goes, Swift is using "Tortured Poets" as an attributive noun (similar to the film's title) and not as a possessive construction. The song namechecks multiple musicians and writers, enough to make even the most diehard Swiftie reach for a decoder ring. 1. First, there's the chorus, which references two poets who each lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan: Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith. 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 For the uninitiated, the Chelsea Hotel was a Manhattan haven for creative souls, a place where Dylan Thomas once raged and Patti Smith found her voice. Swift's point? Don't get too full of yourselves, kids, we're not exactly reliving a bohemian revolution here. We're just, you know, "modern idiots." 2. In the second verse, there's a line about singer-songwriter Charlie Puth. You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist Puth, a self-proclaimed Swift admirer, has covered her songs and sang her praises on several occasions. It's a little inside joke, a "thanks for being a fan" from Swift. 3. The plot thickens further with the cryptic mentions of "Lucy" and "Jack" in the bridge. Sometimes, I wonder if you're gonna screw this up with me But you told Lucy you'd kill yourself if I ever leave And I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen Music critics, ever the bloodhounds, have sniffed out these names as likely referring to singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus and producer Jack Antonoff. Here, things get a touch more personal. Swift reveals that Healy once made a grand (and hopefully melodramatic) declaration about killing himself if she ever left him. Now, Lucy Dacus is part of the Boygenius band with Phoebe Bridgers, another Swift collaborator, who has opened for her on tour. Dacus was also friends with Healy, and Jack Antonoff produced this song. See how it all intertwines? The Tortured Poets Department is a double album with the second part, "The Anthology," released as a surprise just two hours after the first. For Swift, it seems, "The Tortured Poets Department" was a deeply personal project. She describes it as a "lifeline" album, something she "really needed" to create. The creative fire ignited quickly, with the initial ideas sparking right after finishing Midnights in 2022. The songwriting process continued throughout her 2023 Eras Tour. Two significant events changed her life during this period: the end of Swift's relationship with her longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn and the short-lived romance with Matty Healy. Naturally, the internet being the internet, fan theories have sprung up like mushrooms after a summer rain. The album's title itself has become a source of much speculation. Some see it as a haven for passionate artists, a place where tortured souls can find solace and unleash their creativity. Others delve deeper, suggesting it's a metaphor for the artistic process itself, a swirling vortex of emotions and experiences that ultimately birth a work of art. But perhaps the most intriguing theory involves a rather unexpected source: a group chat. Apparently, Swift once shared a digital space with actors Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, and her longtime beau, Joe Alwyn. This virtual haven was christened "The Tortured Man Club." Could this be the inspiration for the album's title? Did the late-night musings and emotional baring within this digital haven bleed into Swift's songwriting? Just five days after its release, The Tortured Poets Department became the first album in Spotify history to surpass one billion streams in a single week.

You left your typewriter at my apartment
Straight from the tortured poets department
I think some things I 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 gonna hold you like me?
And who's gonna know 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"
And who's gonna hold you like me?

Nobody
Nobody
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
Pounding nails in your head
But I've read this one where you come undone
I chose this cyclone with you

And who's gonna hold you like me?
(Who's gonna hold you? Who's gonna hold you?)
And who's gonna know you like me?
(Who's gonna know you?)
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"
And who's gonna hold you like me?
(Who's gonna hold you? Who's gonna hold you?)

Nobody
(Who's gonna hold you? Who's gonna hold you?)
Nobody
(Who's gonna hold you? Gonna know you? Gonna troll you?)
Nobody

Sometimes, I wonder if you're gonna screw this up with me
But you told Lucy you'd kill yourself if I ever leave
And I had said that to Jack about you, so I felt seen
Everyone we know understands why it's meant to be
'Cause we're crazy
So tell me, who else is gonna know 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 gonna hold you? (Who?)
Me
Who's gonna know you? (Who?)
Me
And you're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith
This ain't the Chelsea Hotel, we're two idiots
Who's gonna hold you?

Who's gonna hold you?
Who's gonna hold you?
Who's gonna hold you?
Who's gonna hold you?
Who's gonna hold you?
Who's gonna hold you?
Who's gonna hold you?
Gonna know you? Gonna troll you?

You left your typewriter at my apartment
Straight from the tortured poets department
Who else decodes you?