On February 4th, at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift became the first person to ever win Album of the Year four times with her album Midnights, which was released in October of 2022. She also won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album. While up on stage, accepting this award, she surprised the world by announcing that her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, will be released on April 19, 2024.
This marks another milestone after what was a tremendous year for Swift. In 2023, she embarked on the Eras Tour, becoming one of the highest-grossing tours of all time, all while releasing two more re-recorded albums, Speak Now (originally released in 2010), and 1989 (originally released in 2014).
What we know so far
As previously mentioned, this will be Swift’s 11th studio album, and it is set to be released on April 19th on all streaming platforms. Before she announced the album, many fans online had been speculating that she was gearing up to release her re-recording of her sixth studio album, Reputation, which she originally released in the year 2017. This is because on the day of the Grammys, Swift had changed her profile picture to a black and white version of the Midnights profile, and her official shop website was displaying an error message. This error message spelled out “hneriergrd,” and it didn’t take fans long to figure out that this was an anagram for “red herring,” which is a piece of information that is meant to be intentionally misleading. Of course, to everyone’s surprise, she was teasing something, but it was an entirely new album instead of the much-anticipated Reputation (Taylor’s Version). When she posted the official album announcement to Instagram shortly after, the post had already garnered 19 million likes within the first 24 hours.
The new album is to consist of 16 tracks, in addition to two bonus tracks; “The Manuscript” and “The Bolter,” the latter of which she announced at the Eras Tour while performing in Melbourne, Australia. During the Grammys, Swift revealed that she had been working on this album around the end of 2022, right after she submitted the Midnights album to her record label, and during the first leg of the Eras Tour in 2023. The album is to have two features; the first one being titled “Fortnight” with rapper and singer Post Malone, who is perhaps best known for singles such as “Circles” and “Better Now.” This is the first track on the album, and this was considered a rather unexpected collaboration by many fans online. The second feature on the album is titled “Florida!!!” and it is supposed to feature the popular English indie rock band Florence and the Machine.
song title speculation
There are many other tracks on the album that have piqued the interest of fans on social media, who have been speculating as to what certain titles may be in reference to, or what they could potentially be about. One of these is the fifth track, which is titled “So Long, London,” which fans think is in reference to Swift’s breakup with English actor Joe Alwyn, which was publicly announced on April 8th, 2023. Fans have also speculated that this song could be a reference, and direct contradiction to a song on her 7th studio album, Lover, entitled “London Boy,” which is a very upbeat pop song, and Alwyn is speculated to be the “London boy” in question.
Another song that fans have many questions and theories about is the 6th track, entitled, “But Daddy, I Love Him.” Some fans have wondered if this title is a reference to Disney’s The Little Mermaid, in which Ariel says this line to her father, King Triton, expressing her infatuation for Prince Eric. The context of this scene has also led fans to wonder if this song will revolve around the idea of society viewing Swift as naive, which is a view that Ariel was trying to break free from as she wanted to go up to the surface and have a feeling of freedom in her life.
The last standard track on the album, entitled “Clara Bow,” has also brought up questions and speculations from fans. Clara Bow was a famous American actress who was one of the more prominent stars of the silent film era in the 1920s, and she is known for being able to successfully transition to “talkies” (the first films with sound) in 1929. She acquired fame rather quickly, earning herself the nickname “The It Girl,” leading fans to wonder if Swift will use this song to draw parallels between herself and the actress.
Conclusion
Regardless of what the true meanings of these songs are, Swift considers this album to be a “lifeline” album for her, and she has been quoted saying “I have never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on Tortured Poets.” This album will be sure to blow audiences away, and let the world get an inside look on a side of Taylor Swift we may have never seen before.