Studying The Tortured Poets Department as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ends 
Who, in what world, would ever, ever, pay thousands of dollars, for just one night of live entertainment?
Taylor Swifts’ fans would.
But why? It can’t be just the lyrics — there has to be something worth that amount of money, some idea or feeling, that promotes the expensive cash point. And with the Eras Tour finally ending, after a full year, 149 shows, and five continent span, it seems apt to discuss Swift’s discography — and its effect on women worldwide — specifically, the romantic aspect of it, which is probably Swift’s most covered topic in her songs; and what precisely inspires the reputation Swift has acquired.
The Tortured Poets Department (link to Spotify here) is Swifts’ most recent album and therefore the most up-to-date version of her beliefs, so that’s what will be studied below.
(Songs discussed in the following excerpts are some that have strong themes concerning relationships)
Quoted lyrics in the following segments appear in italicized quotes, with the stanza breaks represented by //. (“Cause the sign on your heart // Said it’s still reserved for me”) If there’s lines in between ones quoted, it’s represented by // … //.
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
This song’s a hazy, almost monotonous mantra of something lost, marched along by a relentless beat echoing in my earbuds. It’s a lamentation of a breakup, basically, in drumming prose. Fortnight makes me feel weirdly indifferent to my life, and also, weirdly adverse to society. Which is a component of the TTPD; the kind of unbelonging, rebellion to traditional social constructs, a theme which will be carried out in many of the following songs.
The Tortured Poets Department
This song will be much more relatable to your average pop songs, unlike others on this album. The Tortured Poets Department is a love song, discussing, in essence, how perfect Taylor (Or whoever the protagonist is of this song), and this love are for each other “Who’s gonna hold you like me? // Nobody. //…//Everyone we know understands // why it’s meant to be”. But while this story has a good ending, it begins the series of contrasts between happiness and sorrow in later songs, where Swift expresses her inability to have love, receive love, etc.
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Again, like in the analysis of The Tortured Poets Department, this is one of Swift’s juxtapositions. It’s confusing — one moment she’s celebrating this forever love, and the next lamenting this toxicity of a relationship “He saw forever so he smashed it up.” This is dizzying for the women listening to Swift’s songs, because it tells two separate stories: Either you’ll find this wonderful partner, or you’ll end up used or discarded with a broken heart.
Down Bad
Speaking of broken hearts. It’s another loss of love, and also a yearning for another ‘“What if I can’t have him” // “I might just die, it would make no difference.”’ Down Bad might be one of the more confusing songs on the album, because the listener can never be sure whether Swift is in a serious depressive state because of this person, or whether she’s pining after someone. It’s also quite dark, with plenty of hints at yes, death, blood, giving up, etc., which adds to the sorrow as discussed above.
So Long, London
So Long, London is yet another… lost love. And, of course, it’s not Swift’s fault. We’ll get into that later, but here’s a good lyric: “And you say I abandoned the ship // But I was going down with it” among other grievances relating to this person leaving Swift, even after all of her dedication to their relationship. Which is the danger of this song… it communicates to the listener that, presumably, that Swift is blameless.
But Daddy I Love Him
On the surface, this song retains a Little Mermaid nature — a kind of blissful naïveté. “Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned // Screaming “But Daddy I love him!”’ But Swift’s message isn’t just about simple, Romeo-and-Juliet-esque romance, but a backstabbing group of judgemental people. Or so Swift says. It’s the forbidden, “true” love with this man, that is so scandalous to the town, that drives Swift and this love away. It’s the “judgemental creeps” and the “Sarahs and Hannahs”, the gossips, the elders, who are the sabotages of Swift’s relationship. And, in fact, when she comes back, her parents love him, and they’re, of course, getting married. This seems ironic to me, because if Swift is talking about any other boyfriend than Travis Kelce, they’ve broken up by now — which brings back the double standard.
Guilty as Sin?
This very well may be the most impactful one on the album. It’s a love song — but not a relationship… It’s basically Swift justifying her sensual, sexual, thoughts concerning this person; because it’s never really happened. (Now, I understand that a good chunk of my audience is not Christian, but as a Believer myself, I find this song deeply unsettling). For example: Without ever touching his skin // How can I be guilty as sin? // …There’s no such thing as bad thoughts // Only your actions talk // …We’ve already done it in my head //…What if he’s written ‘mine’ on my upper thigh // …..et cetera. Not to mention the DIRECT scrapping of Christian values “What if I roll the stone away? // They’re gonna crucify me anyway // What if the way you hold me // Is actually what’s holy”, where Swift discards any moral value faith may have in place of physical contentment.Guilty as Sin? sends a message that whatever fantasies a person has can be completely justified, because a) it never really happened, and b) because romance replaces moral value.
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
This song tells the story of Swift “fixing” this man. And usually, it’s not a particularly good idea to enter a relationship with the intent of simply “fixing” the other person, which communicates that you’re not satisfied with whoever they are now. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) makes Swift seem like the protagonist, the doctor “But your good Lord doesn’t need to // Lift a finger, I can fix him”, which, again, replaces any moral construct — because Swift has it all covered. This implies that the woman is the good one, the hero, who comes in to fix her partner… probably not the best idea.
loml
loml stands for Loss of My Life, which tells us just how much we need to know. Yep, it’s a breakup song. It’s extraordinarily sad, and it’s empowered by strong lyrics and consistent, melancholy music. loml, again, emphasizes the double standard — you might get a wild romance, or you could get the most devastating, heartbreaking, gut wrenching thing ever. And it’s not your fault. It’s definitely the other person’s.
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
Look! Another song about how devastating love is! And how this person destroyed and backstabbed Swift! And how it’s not Swift’s fault! Enough has been said!
The Alchemy
We’re ending with the crowd favorite. For a love song, it’s unique and really adorable. This one has strong suspicion to be about Travis Kelce, because the lyrics are heavily influenced by football and other references. And there’s honestly not much to say about it, except its contribution to the double standard.
TTPD, while lyrically and musically impressive, has a dangerous mantra. Swift’s emphasis on feminine power, a theme throughout her career, is admirable. Yet TTPD carries confusing, and at times, concerning opinions. First, Swift offers a double-standard of relationships — they’re either fated and feel-good (The Tortured Poets Department, But Daddy I Love Him, The Alchemy) or, more often, toxic and torturous (Down Bad, So Long, London, loml, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived). Second, she promotes the idea that in a relationship, the woman is the right, responsible one, who is almost always blameless. Third, in her world, romance seems to take the place of morality.
These ideas, if put to use, would almost certainly damage any potential relationship, because they place unfair expectations or eliminate any mutual respect in a relationship. But if these ideas could be so detrimental, why do people listen to Swift’s music? Why is she so popular? At the end of the day, it might just be the feminine power behind it. It’s Swift actively expressing her views, her sentiments and feelings, in a raw, emotional way. Being true to yourself has been a recurring mantra in the past few decades, and Swift is fueling the fire.
Taylor Swift displays impressive musical prowess and is obviously very talented. I do like her music. But her fans, myself included, should consider that if some of the ideas, attitudes and values embedded in these songs manifest in our own relationships, they’d be very detrimental. Whether you think about it or not, what you listen to and ingest does impact you, probably more than you think. Whatever music you listen to, know that your mind, heart and soul are processing the music — all of it.