Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: Best Lines

Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: Best Lines

(SPOT.ph) The torture of waiting is over for fans of billionaire artist Taylor Swift—and a new one begins. The Tortured Poets Department or TTPD finally dropped on April 19. TTPD is Swift’s 11th studio album, the arrival of which she announced at the 2024 Grammys in February.

Officially introducing the album’s standard version to the world, Swift penned on her social media platforms, “The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions, and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time—one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up.”

She also spoke of the songs in this album as if they’re monuments to her past suffering: “Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.”

Nearly two hours after the album’s release, Department Chairman Swift dropped 15 additional tracks under the package The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. She wrote on Instagram, “I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you.”

From the 16 main tracks and four bonus songs on the standard, to the 15 extra ones from its Anthology, Swift covers a lot of ground. Thus, the torment continues for Swifties, who like to dissect, interpret, and intellectualize her songs, as they have much work to do. But no worries if you’re a casual listener; you can still appreciate the lyricism of the confessional album—with lines that evoke her exes Matty Healy and Joe Alwyn—even without delving into the Swiftian lore.

Continue reading to view the ten hard-hitting lines we handpicked from the standard version. Yes, Swift has more quotable lines than any quota would allow across the 31 tracks. But let’s keep things simple, shall we?

All is fair in love and poetry: Our top 10 hard-hitting lines from TTPD

“I love you, it’s ruining my life” – Fortnight

The title track, which features Post Malone, describes two ex-lovers who still cling to each other despite having families of their own, and the narrator hasn’t completely reconciled herself to the friend zone. This repeated line holds weight to it, albeit sounding dramatic.

“F*ck it, if I can’t have him I might just die, it would make no difference” – Down Bad

In this despondent track, the narrator longs to be achingly close to someone but doesn’t pursue them and admits defeat, dropping several F-bombs. Even the title holds two meanings: being depressed and being desperately in love.

“They shake their heads saying “God help her” when I tell ‘em he’s my man” –  I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)

From the lyrics of this song alone, it’s safe to assume that it’s directed at Matthew Healy, frontman of the British rock band The 1975 and Taylor’s ex. Coincidentally, it’s the shortest track on the album, like it’s written as a nod to the brevity of their situationship.

“You sh*t-talked me under the table, talking rings and talking cradles, I wish I could un-recall how we almost had it all” – loml

Like several other tracks  in TTPD, loml is a melancholic song of heartbreak. It concludes with the narrator mourning what could have been, with her final words being, “You’re the loss of my life.” 

“I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it’s an art” – I Can Do It With a Broken Heart

The narrator shields her emotions to be in performance mode while going through a major heartbreak. She candidly sings, “I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday every day.” She’s just like us, for real.

“You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for proof” – So Long, London

A lyrically poignant track, So Long, London is believed to be a farewell ode to Taylor’s ex, Joe Alwyn. The narrator questions the validity of her lover’s commitment until their relationship reaches post-mortem.

“You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me” – Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

The line is possibly a shoutout to the narrator’s critics, as the entire song reflects on how fame has hardened her since she came of age in the spotlight. She essentially tells the public they can’t walk a mile in her shoes.

“Once I fix me, he’s gonna miss me” – My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys

It talks of a toxic relationship that’s been worn down like plastic scraped-off toys played with frequently in the schoolyard. But of course, the narrator eventually knows better.

“I would’ve died for your sins, instead I just died inside” – Smallest man who ever lived.

Swifties online have theorized that this is yet another song in TTPD that alludes to Matty Healy. The narrator sings about a guy who showed her off but didn’t treat her right in private, painting him as some malevolent force.

“My boredom’s bone-deep. This cage was once just fine. Am I allowed to cry?” – Guilty as Sin

The song tackles the temptation of infidelity, in which the narrator also ponders why she should care about what other people think. She sings, “Without ever touching his skin, how can I be guilty as sin?”