Background

Released in April 2024, “The Tortured Poets Department” is the title track of Taylor Swift’s eleventh studio album. The song was written and produced by Swift alongside her long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff.

In this review of Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” I explore how she uses self-deprecation, the way her songwriting captures a destructive relationship, and how she introduces legendary artists to a new audience.

The Power of Self-Mockery

I self deprecate a lot. There’s an argument to be made that self deprecation is a shield used by an insecure person. Others suggest it denotes confidence, because for someone to genuinely laugh at their own flaws, their good qualities likely outweigh their mistakes. And I find a lot of that humour in “The Tortured Poets Department”. She’s the last person who should engage in this behaviour. But she does anyway, and that made me feel seen.

In the chorus, Taylor Swift uses the phrase “modern idiots” to poke fun at herself and her partner. She is admitting that while they might act like legendary, tragic poets, they are actually just two regular people making messy, foolish choices in a relationship. I don’t know if everyone has overestimated their place in this universe. But I certainly have.

The line “Who uses typewriters anyway?” is another funny way she mocks the pretentiousness of the situation. When I first heard the line about her partner leaving their typewriter at her apartment, the absurdity already crossed my mind. So for her to make a 180 degree turn immediately after uttering the words, I felt like she was reading the inside of my brain.

Beyond the Initial Overdramatic Impression

Hearing the description “tortured” made me think that Taylor was being a bit overdramatic. But listening to the song “The Tortured Poets Department” got me thinking that the word is not only apt, but maybe even understated.

In “The Tortured Poets Department”, Swift delivers a raw, unfiltered look at a relationship that is clearly spiraling. Instead of romanticizing the connection, she highlights the brutal honesty of two people who are bad for each other but cannot seem to stay apart. She describes a cycle of mutual self-destruction. The lyrics focus on two people creating a bond based on shared intensity and emotional messiness rather than stability.

The song is packed with vivid imagery that creates a sharp mental picture of their shared world. She uses descriptions of seven bars of chocolate and shared secrets in quiet rooms to build a sense of deep, messy intimacy. She paints a scene of two artists drowning in their own drama. The visual cues make the listener feel like a fly on the wall, witnessing a private, frantic moment between two people who are hopelessly entangled in their own emotional wreckage.

A Bridge to Other Artists

I’ve seen Charlie Puth in concert. And that has made me realise how underappreciated he is. As for Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas, I’ve never heard of them. And that’s not shade. That’s due to my ignorance.

With “The Tortured Poets Department”, Taylor manages to spotlight three artists who don’t need the shoutout. But they end up getting exposed to a different audience who were probably not as aware of art prior to hearing this song.

In the song, Swift name-drops Charlie Puth. She sings that she and her partner declared that “Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist”, a line that feels like a private, late-night conversation between two people who think they have better taste than the rest of the world. Puth was initially in “complete denial” when he heard about the mention, even wondering if it was a joke created by Artificial Intelligence. He eventually shared that he “just cried” upon hearing the real track and felt deeply validated that an artist he idolizes recognized his work. This “stamp of approval” even gave him the “newfound courage” to release his own music that he had been nervous about sharing.

The song also contrasts the couple with legendary figures like Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas. Swift sings, “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith”, which serves as a reality check for the drama they are experiencing. While Thomas and Smith are icons of the “tortured artist” lifestyle, known for their intense, often self-destructive creativity in New York and London, Swift is pointing out that she and her lover are just two people in a messy, modern relationship.

Conclusion

It is surprising to see Taylor Swift use self-deprecation in “The Tortured Poets Department”. Given her immense talent and kindness, she is perhaps the last person who needs to be so hard on herself. Similarly, she has no obligation to promote other artists, yet she chooses to use her platform to lift them up. While some might find the song’s title dramatic, the music proves that “tortured” is not an exaggeration – it might even be an understatement.