When a new Taylor Swift album comes out, it feels like Christmas morning. There are complex lyrics to unwrap, new music videos to indulge in, and tons of unexpected surprises — like Swift casually releasing a second part of the album at 2 a.m. So, we bravely took on the (quite challenging) task of ranking 19 tracks from The Tortured Poets Department. Read on to see where your favorites landed on our list.
The Tortured Poets Department marks Swift’s 11th studio album, undeniably one of her most brilliant, haunting, and heartbreaking releases. At 34 years old, Swift has been serving albums and re-records like clockwork in recent years, each filled with stories and revelations about her past and present. But she still has more to share—and it’s like catching up with your BFF that you haven’t seen in ages but has all the tea.
The anticipated record is finally here, and upon listening to it in full (spanning a stunning two hours), some moments stand out more than others, especially the tracks about her exes (“So Long, London,” “loml”) and dealing with depression while on tour (“I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”). Each song is vulnerable, uniquely crafted, and packed with poetry, so you’ll need to process it a few times (and watch hundreds of TikTok analysis videos).
In the CD booklet, Swift describes Tortured Poets as “A detailed rewinding / For the purpose of warning / For the sake of reminding,” she pens, framing it as a “mutual manic phase” in the wake of heartbreak. “A smirk creeps onto this poet’s face,” she writes. “Because it’s the worst men that I write best.”
The cathartic release also means that Swift can now place this aching stage of life behind her. “This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed,” she wrote on Instagram during the release. “And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”
TTPD is the first album of new music Swift has released since her split from actor Joe Alwyn, whom she dated for about six years until their breakup last April. She was then romantically linked to The 1975 lead singer Matty Healy in the late spring of last year before going public with Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce in the fall. There are tracks that seemingly reference all three relationships, including “So High School” about Kelce (one of the bonus songs).
As mentioned above, Swift released an additional 15 songs with the deluxe Anthology version. However, our list will only include the standard-edition tracklist with a few bonus songs. Now, let’s dive into the pure genius of Taylor Swift with The Tortured Poets Department songs, ranked.
This isn’t the first time Swift has written a song about a 20th-century woman (“The Last Great America Dynasty”). Actress Clara Bow was one of the first proclaimed “It Girls” in Hollywood. Swift honors the late beauty icon with the lyrics, “You look like Clara Bow / In this light, remarkable.” She also makes a joke about her own name, often used in the media to compare young pop stars to her. “You look like Taylor Swift / In this light, we’re lovin’ it,” she sings in the outro.
In “Fresh Out The Slammer,” Swift ponders a dying relationship nearing its end. She talks about feeling broken, having silent dinners, and how, in her dreams, he was bitter with her. The lyrics “Gray and blue and fights and tunnels, handcuffed to the spell I was under / For just one hour of sunshine / Years of labor, locks and ceilings / In the shade of how he was feeling” help to illustrate the six years she felt “trapped” inside, which she recently touched on in her Person of the Year interview with Time Magazine.
The chorus of “The Black Dog” is especially Healy-coded, including the part that says, “In The Black Dog, when someone plays The Starting Line / And you jump up, but she’s too young to know this song / That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming / Old habits die screaming.” Healy performed a cover of “The Starting Line” during the same concert he mouthed “I love you” onstage, which Swift reciprocated on the Eras Tour stage.
“My Boys Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” is one of the catchiest tracks on the album. This song is brimming with metaphors about dolls and childhood nostalgia, like sandcastles and Ken (hello Barbie). Beneath the surface, the toys could serve as a metaphor for a relationship that feels pretend or artifical. “My boy only breaks his favorite toys, toys, oh / I’m queen of sand castles he destroys, oh, oh / ‘Cause it fit too right, puzzle pieces in the dead of night,” she sings.
Aaron Dessner collaborated with Swift on “The Bolter,” which is why it fits the vibe of 2020’s Evermore. One of the standout parts of this narrative bonus track is the chorus: “Started with a kiss / Oh, we must stop meeting like this / But it always ends up with a town car speeding / Out the drive one evening.” Yep, we’ll sing that over and over again!
“The Alchemy” is infused with football metaphors, which many fans believe is a nod to her current beau, Travis Kelce. Swift describes being on a “winning streak” and alludes to a victorious moment: “There was no chance trying to be the greatest in the league / Where’s the trophy? / He just comes runnin’ over to me.” We’re getting flashbacks to their adorable moment at the Super Bowl.
In another alleged nod to Healy, Swift talks about convincing the world that she can fix this “dangerous” man in her life. “They shook their heads sayin’, “God, help her / When I told ’em he’s my man / But your good Lord didn’t need to lift a finger / I can fix him, no, really, I can,” she recounts in the chorus. But by the end of the track, she comes to the realization that she can’t do anything.
“The Manuscript” focuses on a woman reminiscing about a torrid affair and fixating on the details she can’t forget, like struggles with intimacy. “He said that if the sex was half as good as the conversation was / Soon they’d be pushin’ strollers / But soon it was over,” the stinging lyrics read. But time heals all wounds, and she writes down what happened as a means to process it. Now, she finds comfort in the fact that the story isn’t hers anymore.
One of the heart-wrenching breakup tracks on TTPD is “loml.” Swift dives into the anguish of losing the love and loss of her life (likely Alwyn), reminiscing about moments when they discussed rings and future plans. It’s a soul-crushing account of the aftermath of their six-year relationship. “I’ve felt a hole like this never before and ever since,” she sings.
In the track, Swift says that she and her former lover (likely referencing Healy) are not like acclaimed poets Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas, joking that they are “modern idiots.” Some lyrics have already gone viral on social media, including “We declared Charli Puth should be a bigger artist” and “Like a tattooed golden retriever.”
Trapped in boredom, Swift contemplates “crashing” into a new fling but is scared to return to how things used to be. “One slip and falling back into the hedge maze / Oh what a way to die,” she admits. Still, the singer indulges in her daydreams with this new person. “These fatal fantasies giving way to labored breath taking all of me we’ve already done it in my head,” she sings in the second verse.
“Fortnight” serves as a powerful introduction to the themes of love and anguish woven throughout The Tortured Poets Department. The track details the brief romance between two neighbors, lasting only a fortnight, leaving them both with lingering emotions. “And for a fortnight, there we were, forever running / ‘Til you sometimes ask about the weather / Now you’re in my backyard, turned into good neighbors / Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her,” she sings.
Numerous clues suggest this song is about Matty Healy, including a mention of their short-lived romance: “I just want to know if rusting my sparkling summer was the goal,” she wonders. But the best part is the cutting bridge where her emotions overflow unapologetically. “‘Cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden / I would’ve died for your sins / Instead, I just died inside / And you deserve prison, but you won’t get time.” Ouch.
Swift was on tour when her breakup from Joe Alwyn was announced, leaving many wondering how she managed to perform night after night. It turns out, Swift was pushing through her pain in front of our eyes. She sings in an ironically cheerful tune, “I’m so depressed I act like it’s my birthday every day / I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like a plague / I cry a lot, but I am so productive; it’s an art / You know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart.”
Here’s a track you’ll love belting in the car. Swift directs her anger toward the crowd of critics and haters scrutinizing her every move. “Cause you lured me and you hurt me and you taunt me,” she sings, yet she emerges on top thanks to the power of her music. “Putting narcotics into all of my songs, and that’s why you’re still singing along.”
It’s safe to say we’re “Down Bad” for this track. Swift uses extraterrestrial themes to paint the aftermath of heartbreak and the sense of alienation. “For a moment I knew cosmic love,” she sings, adding that “I build you a fort on some planet,” and “For a moment I was heaven-struck.” But then, the “hollow” ache sets in, and she finds herself crying at the gym feeling powerless. “I might just die it would make no difference,” she laments.
With a much-deserved and substantial feature from Florence Welch, Swift explores the complexities, fantasies, and pitfalls of the Sunshine State. Florence’s signature style radiates in her haunting verse, where she sings of getting drunk with ghosts and drowning her former lovers in a swamp. She playfully asks, “Is that a bad thing to say in a song?” Maybe, but this is a fun one!
Swift uses dark humor in “But Daddy I Love Him” to call out the “judgmental” fans (or the “vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing”) who criticized her past romantic choices — likely alluding to her brief relationship with Matty Healy that garnered criticism online. Ultimately, Swift brushes it off as mere “white noise” and is unfazed by their opinions.
Are you crying yet? “So Long, London” is a gut-wrenching sequel to Lover’s “London Boy.” The emotional ballad delves into the end of the singer’s romance with Joe Alwyn, weaving poignant lines such as “And you say I abandoned the ship, but I was going down with it” and “My spine split from carrying us up the hill.”
