We frankly did not know how to start this article because our high school journalist brains cannot do justice to the lyrical masterpieces of THE Taylor Swift. “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor’s eleventh album, dropped last Thursday night. I (Tahlia Jain ’26) got my dates wrong and thought the album came out on Friday, so thank goodness Instagram enlightened me.
Another shock was the double release. Once the album dropped at 9 p.m., a two-hour countdown appeared on Taylor Swift’s official Instagram. Even though we both had early mornings the next day (it’s so high school to have to wake up at 6:30 a.m.), we stayed up, awaiting what we hoped was “reputation (Taylor’s Version).” At 11 p.m., we bolted to Spotify and were pleasantly surprised to see “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology,” with 15 extra songs.
The vibe of the album was exactly what we thought it would be: the jazzy “Midnights” album meets the melancholy “folklore” with angsty, angry lyrics. We were supportive of what we believe is a Kim Kardashian diss track, “thanK you aIMee,” which is more obvious than Taylor normally is with her digs at people.
With that, here are each of our top five songs (in no particular order) from “The Tortured Poets Department”:
Marci Rau ’24: “Florida!!!,” “The Black Dog,” “Clara Bow,” “TTPD,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”
Tahlia: “Fortnight,” “Florida!!!,” “Fresh Out The Slammer,” “Guilty as Sin?,” and “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”
Izzy Walker ‘24 agrees with one of our shared favorites: “Oh my goodness gracious. ‘Florida!!!’ hit me like a freight train. The drum hits to the beat actually blew me away. Jaw. On. The. Floor. Wow.” The powerful vocals from Florence + The Machine made the song even better.
As a fan of “So Long, London,” senior Siena Lopez shares, “Any true Swiftie knows that Taylor’s track fives on her albums are the most heartbreaking songs. Holding some of the most gut-wrenching and lyrically advanced lines, this song is definitely worthy of the track five honor. Also, the opening sounding like wedding bells was a serious jab to the heart.”
Taylor recently explained to iHeart Radio and Amazon Music how her lyrics pay tribute to powerful women before her, like actress Clara Bow, musician Stevie Nicks, and Greek myth character Cassandra; Taylor’s writing always contains plenty of metaphors and hidden meanings, so anyone who says she just writes about her exes is absolutely wrong. Maybe Mr. Bevins‘ classes should analyze Taylor’s lyrics as part of the poetry units.
Emma Muse ’26 shares, “I think ‘TTPD’ is my favorite album. It used to be ‘folklore,’ but now it’s ‘TTPD’ because it has a good mix of sad, deep, and happy, and she hits a lot of topics that are really relevant to me. I really like it.”
Other Swifties agree with Emma, as “The Tortured Poets Department” became Spotify’s most-streamed album ever in one day, and we can only hope it wins Album of the Year at next year’s Grammys.
If you’re interested in discussing Taylor Swift’s music with other Rosary Swifties, come to the Eras Club meeting tomorrow, April 26, at lunch in room 203, or join the club by emailing Tahlia or Marci or Lauren Marvray ‘26 or Mrs. Langenwalter.
