By Maiya Tomlin
This April 19th was practically Christmas for me and those who consider themselves to be “swifties.” Taylor Swift released her 11th album titled “The Tortured Poets Department.” She released the first 16 songs at 12AM, which I stayed up for with a few of my friends in a group chat. (I had a French quiz the next day that I was last-minute studying for, so I was up anyway).
I was texting two of my friends about our current ratings on the new songs, and Grace was enraged that the album was only an hour long, but when we woke up the next morning we saw “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” had been released. So it was a double-release album, and there were 15 more songs.
I was excited to walk into the advisory that day because I knew my advisor, Ms. Howard, as well as a couple of the biggest swifties I know, would be ready to discuss the new album. Bridget Casey walked in with her airpods, and asked me if I had listened to one of her favorites, Peter, from the second batch of songs. I hadn’t, and she didn’t hesitate to hand me her other airpod. Ms. Howard and I laughed because Bridget has a twin brother named Peter. Even though this was a total coincidence, listeners are always relating to Taylor Swift’s music.
Nadia Infante told me she relates the lyric, “I cry a lot, but I am so productive.” It caught her attention when she first listened partially because it was funny, but mainly because it reminded her of being a student. “School can be stressful sometimes, but there’s no choice but to be productive and keep going.”
After my quiz (success for the most part with my verb conjugations…besides apercevoir. I hate that one) I headed over to newspaper class, where I continued listening to the 16 new songs I hadn’t yet heard. That’s when Mr. Newman brought up the idea of writing about the album. I sprung at the idea, quite literally.
After that period, I went to biology, where we had a project workday. On our nature walk (it was giving Folklore), I asked Cate Turner for her takes on the album, and she told me this was Taylor’s best album yet. That is the hottest take I’ve ever heard. “It’s the best lyrical album she’s ever written,” she said. Perhaps she was compensating for her dad’s comment that morning that the songs are so boring, and that he doesn’t even consider them to be songs. She corrected him by saying, “Correct, they’re not songs, they are pieces of poetry.”
Cate’s older sister, Walker Turner, didn’t entirely agree with her take. Unlike Cate, Walker did not stay up for the release: “I fell asleep!” Walker admitted she was skeptical about the album, but told me it’s growing on her. “There are some songs that I love and others that I don’t really like,” adding, “it’s definitely not my favorite album, but overall it is okay!”
Of course, there are grinches that come with Taylor-Christmas-In-April. Looking from an outside perspective, I can see how a release day could be an “anti-swiftie”’s worst nightmare.
I was trying to decide who to interview, the options seemed limitless. It’s almost like I know more people who are against Taylor Swift than I do swifties. “Just ask any boy at Lovett,” Palmer Elsas advised. It seems like someone can’t hate Taylor without loving Kanye after the situation at the 2009 VMA awards. That’s when Palmer told me what every swiftie hates to hear: “Kanye made her famous, all of her fans are just people that don’t like Kanye.” Bridget Valls defended Taylor by growling, i “How did he make her famous if she was winning an award to begin with?”
After Palmer told us that every boy at Lovett hated Taylor, this accusation was immediately debunked when William Zelnak said he considers himself a swiftie. He told me that he stayed up for the release of the album, so I was curious to hear his takes.
“Personally, I think that Taylor has released better albums,” he said. “The last few ones that she has released like Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights (Midnights not as much) have been overall really slow, and I was hoping that we’d get something more upbeat and exciting like 1989 or Reputation.”
It is true. This album is very slow, except for a few upbeat songs such as I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, So High School and Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? That last one is William’s #1 at the moment.
As for me? On a spectrum between Cate and Cate’s dad, I’d put myself closer to Cate, but I would have liked a little more variety in the album.
There are also two features on this album, Post Malone in Fortnight, and Florence + The Machine on Florida!!!. From what I heard, William isn’t crazy about either, and to be honest, neither am I. Walker, on the other hand, said Florida!!! is her favorite out of the two because she likes the beat drop and chorus.
Fans are loving the drama behind how Taylor’s love for her London Boy turned into So Long, London and given her long history of mining her former relationships for song lyrics, I can’t help but think about how one particular listener/football player is feeling…
