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Taylor Swift ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’ Song Meanings and Easter Eggs
Swifties (and the rest of the world) assumed that the song meanings behind Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department would be about her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn, but it turns out, Matty Healy—with whom Swift briefly rebounded from Alwyn—is the subject of most of the tracks, though Travis Kelce gets his fair share of Easter eggs as well.
Part of why that’s surprising is that the album title was seen initially as a reference to Alwyn’s group chat with fellow actors Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. While Alwyn is addressed somewhat in the album, Healy is the main character here.
Swift confirmed it in her own way in a written prologue in the liner notes of her physical albums.
She writes in part:
“as you might all unfortunately recall, i had been struck with a case of a restricted humanity which explains my plea here today of temporary insanity.
you see, the pendulum swings. oh, the chaos it brings leads the caged beast to do the most curious things.
lovers spend years denying what’s ill fated, resentment rotting away, galaxies we created
stars placed and glued, meticulously by hand, next to the ceiling fan
tried wishing on comets tried dimming the shine. tried to orbit his planet. some stars never align. and in one conversation. i tore down the whole sky
spring sprung forth with dazzling freedom hues then a crash from the skylight bursting through. something old, someone hallowed, who told me he could be brand new.
and so i was out of the oven and into the microwave. out of the slammer and into a tidal wave. how gallant to save the empress from her gilded tower swinging a sword he could barely lift but loneliness struck at that fateful hour
She later describes the fling as “a mutual manic phase” and “self-harm,” adding, “It was house and then cardiac arrest … a smirk creeps onto this poet’s face because it’s the worst men that i write best.”
