As a Swiftie, I’m used to Taylor Swift keeping me on my toes. But like many fans, the announcement of The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) was not the album announcement I expected. In fact, while watching the announcement live during the Grammys, I was making friendship bracelets based on her album reputation!
During one of her shows on The Eras Tour in Melbourne, Australia, Swift called TTDP an album she “needed to make,” an album where she needed songwriting more than any previous works. While we wait for the record that was a “lifeline” for Swift to release on April 19, what better way to prepare than by reflecting on her 13 most poetic lyrics (yet)?
Without further ado, here are Swift’s 13 most poetic lyrics from a seasoned Swiftie:
- “All my flowers grew back as thorns / Windows boarded up after the storm / He built a fire just to keep me warm”
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“Call It What You Want,” reputation (2017)
Swift referenced thorns and storms three years earlier in 1989’s “Blank Space,” with her lyrics, “Screaming, crying, perfect storms / I can make all the tables turn / Rose garden filled with thorns.”
- “I look through the windows of this love / Even though we boarded them up”
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“Death By A Thousand Cuts,” Lover (2019)
This feels like another callback to the previous lyrics on 1989 and reputation.
- “The drought was the very worst / When the flowers that we’d grown together died of thirst”
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“Clean,” 1989 (2014)
All of “Clean” probably could’ve made this list, but this lyric, which begins the song, is very powerful to me.
- “A red rose grew up out of ice frozen ground / With no one around to tweet it / While I bathe in cliffside pools / With my calamitous love and insurmountable grief”
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“the lakes,” folklore (2020)
She sure uses a lot of flower symbolism.
“the lakes” is a poetic masterpiece and manages to use “tweet” as a verb while simultaneously talking about insurmountable grief.
- “Your finger on my hairpin triggers / Soldier down on that icy ground / Looked up at me with honour and truth / Broken and blue / So I called off the troops / That was the night I nearly lost you”
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“The Great War,” Midnights (3am Edition) (2022)
Another reference to the icy ground. This lyric is so descriptive it feels like it’s describing a movie scene.
- “But now my eyes leak acid rain / On the pillow where you used to lay your head”
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“Happiness,” evermore (2020)
Most people would say they cried, but eyes leaking acid rain help get the point across.
- “Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire / Chains around my demons / Wool to brave the seasons / One single thread of gold tied me to you”
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“invisible string,” folklore (2020)
This song is a love letter to love.
- “All we are is skin and bone / Trained to get along / Forever going with the flow / But you’re friction”
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“Treacherous,” Red (2012)
Red has always been a standout album for poetic lyrics, in my opinion. “Treacherous” is a cautionary tale of the risks of falling in love in an unsteady relationship.
- “From when your Brooklyn broke my skin and bones / I’m a soldier who’s returning half her weight / And did the twin flame bruise paint you blue? / Just between us, did the love affair maim you too?”
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“All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” Red (Taylor’s Version) (2021)
Obviously, the ATW 10-minute version would be on this list. In particular, this lyric seems to depict the aftermath of the relationship in “Treacherous.”
- “God rest my soul / I miss who I used to be / The tomb won’t close / Stained glass windows in my mind / I regret you all the time”
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“Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve,” Midnights (3am Edition) (2022)
This song uses a lot of religious symbolism and references a lack of closure from a relationship that haunts her.
- “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky / Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life”
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“tolerate it,” evermore (2020)
Coming to the realization that someone who is your whole world wouldn’t even include you in the credits.
- “But I knew you’d linger like a tattooed kiss / Knew you’d haunt all of my what-if’s / The smell smoke would hang around this long / Cause I knew everything when I was young”
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“cardigan,” folklore (2020)
Some of her best songwriting is featured in folklore, particularly this line from “cardigan.”
- “Should’ve kept every grocery store receipt / ‘Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me”
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“marjorie,” evermore (2020)
“marjorie” will always have a special place in my heart. I get chills every time I hear this line; it breaks my heart.
These 13 lyrics from Swift’s expansive discography display her poetic writing style. Until April 19, I’ll be listening to these tracks on repeat!