Taylor Swift is giving her fans a special treat. To unlock exclusive insight into her chart-topping album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” fans can now listen on Amazon Music with commentary directly from Swift herself.
By simply saying “I’m a member of ‘The Tortured Poets Department'” to Alexa, fans can delve into the inspiration and meaning behind tracks like “Fortnight” with Post Malone, “Clara Bow,” the Florence + the Machine collaboration “Florida!!!,” “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?,” and “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys.”
In the commentary, Swift discusses the overarching themes of the album, including “longing, pining away, lost dreams.”
“Fortnight”
Referencing the opening track “Fortnight,” she says, “I think that it’s a very fatalistic album in that there are lots of very dramatic lines about life or death. ‘I love you, it’s ruining my life.’ These are very hyperbolic, dramatic things to say. It’s that kind of album.”
“Clara Bow”
Named after the silent film star, Swift reveals that “Clara Bow” is a “commentary on what [she’s] seen in the industry” concerning the pressure placed on female artists.
“I used to sit in record labels trying to get a record deal when I was a little kid,” she began.
“And they’d say, ‘you know, you remind us of’ and then they’d name an artist, and then they’d kind of say something disparaging about her, ‘but you’re this, you’re so much better in this way or that way.’ And that’s how we teach women to see themselves, as like you could be the new replacement for this woman who’s done something great before you,”
Swift added that her references to Clara Bow and Stevie Nicks were to recognise legendary women who represented “archetypes of greatness” in the music industry.
“Florida!!!”
The upbeat “Florida!!!,” featuring Florence + the Machine, takes a surprising turn. Swift admits the inspiration for the song came from her indulgence in watching “Dateline.”
She compares the tendency for criminals to flee to Florida for a fresh start with a pos-heartbreak impulse, adding, “I think when you go through a heartbreak, there’s a part of you that thinks, ‘I want a new name. I want a new life. I don’t want anyone to know where I’ve been or know me at all.’”
“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”
“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” is a song Swift wrote during a moment of frustration. She acknowledges the harsh realities of the creative world, where artists are “put through hell” and their work is constantly judged. “We love to watch artists in pain, often to the point where I think sometimes as a society we provoke that pain and we just watch what happens.”
“My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys”
Swift explains that the gruelling “My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys” is about “being somebody’s favorite toy until they break you and then don’t want to play with you anymore.” She then elaborates on the devaluation that can occur in relationships, referencing the initial spark and the lingering hope that it will return.
The full track-by-track experience for “The Tortured Poets Department” is available on Amazon Music.
