Tragic, Tortured, and Triumphant: The Tortured Poets Department Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- I hope you enjoy my one hour rant about this messy but beautiful project that I truly think will go down as one of Taylor Swift's most profound and daring releases. While it's definitely not perfect, it tackles new motifs and themes with familiar storylines and sounds, provides some of her most heartfelt tracks to date, and hits the highs of albums that are widely admired like folklore and reputation.
Also, I tried to be a little more serious as this is an analysis but ultimately this video is subjective and still very silly and most importantly, just my take on the project! You are welcome to agree or disagree, and I'd love to hear what you think in the comments.
I do not own or claim to own any of the music used in this video.
#taylorswift #ttpd
YOU ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY OTHER PERSON I'VE FOUND WHO CAN HEAR THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN HIGH INFIDELITY AND THE PROPHECY I COULD KISS YOU
I love that all of the songs on this album is a call back to another song she’s written! I love it.
I have heard a lot of criticism of her addressing the 2016 situation in Cassandra and thanK you aImEe. First of all, she has been re-recording her work. Re-visiting her whole life. The reflection that will bring will be immense and so it makes sense that elements of that will be on this album. Hot off the heels of losing the relationship that helped her to escape as well. Also, to have one person say they hate you for such inconsequential things is hurtful. To have THAT many people piling on would mess with anyone's head. And can you really ever get over the anxiety of that happening again? This kind of stuff needs to be addressed over and over because it is such an important topic in the age of the Internet. Cyber bullying kills people and Taylor talking about what it did to her, and how she is still in the process of healing is so important.
I love this so much, I am under the influence & don’t have the words, but I agree with this & it is what I think about these tracks too
For me Who is afraid of little old me was pretty chatartic: there was a lot of subdued or repressed rage up to that point, I personally really needed to hear it explode at some point during the album, and I really loved it. I guess the weird thing is that, for once, it’s not about the lyrics, it's about the emotion it conveys
i like to say its called the TORTURED poet for a reson ! its all over the place, its chaos, its all of the above with top teir songwriting and satire. its a MASTERPIECE.
FolkMore was testing the waters, Midnights was slowly submerging in, and TTPD is finally exploring the depths of her abyss
This is a PHENOMENAL analysis. Thank you so much for this video
The Albatross is a more sofisticated/cultured version of My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys. But it also may be a reference do Anti-Hero (lurching towards your favorite city, pierced through the heart, but never killed), therefore relating to Who's Afraid of Little Old Me (she's the ghost of the albatross)
7:50 > comment about the Torture Poet Department name.
My theory is that the "tortured poets department" is Taylor's type of man she tends to fall for. the tortured artist/poet. Jake, Harry, Matty, Joe, etc. And this album is an ode to those men/relationships/emotions. that's why you have the manuscript, for example.
does travis fit this theory? not really, but I think the songs that have been associated to him tend to sound differently from the rest of the songs in a way. and at some point I thought the albums maybe were not only an ode to her tortured poets, but also a farewell, so you need something to represent a new, fresh kind of love that makes you feel young and loved, like the poets were not able to do.
I'm not very eloquent, but I've been thinking about this since the album came out, and the criticism about how long the album is, and how "bland" it was. Because one thing I think of the album is that, yes on the first listen it seems like more of the same, but the true beauty of the songs is in the lyrics, and there are sooooo many great lyrics in these albums, to the point that's like: all 31 songs serve a purpose, they tell part of the story in a way and were so important to the storytelling that she decided to release 31 songs instead of the usual 12 any regular artist would release in an album. it almost feels like a word-vomit, you know? when you're spilling your guts.
thank you for reading this if you've come this far. great video!!!
I totally agree with you on this. Word-vomit is exactly how to describe this album, cuz although the majority of it was inspired by a heartbreak, that same heartbreak just triggered all the suppressed trauma she may have, starting with how she was treated in the industry (waolom, clara bow), the infamous kimye situation (first part of cassandra, thank you aimee), her being groomed and how it affected her view of her own love life (the manuscript), the masters situation (second part of cassandra), her unhealthy coping mechanisms (i hate it here), her unhealthy relationship pattern (the bolter), finally her simple human desire to be loved (the prophecy). This whole album was a way for her to let it all out, and i genuinely hope it will help her to move on to new page of her life, full of love and happiness (i love how both the alchemy and shs are so different in production compared to the rest of the album, like it really showcases how she’s in different, happier place rn)
I really enjoyed this video and how much you got into every song. A 51 minute video is what TTPD deserves. TTPD is easily in my top 3 taylor albums. I think every song is good. Some are skips because they are a little too lowkey for me. But just the album as a whole is so clever and so mature for taylor. It's a mixture of folklore, evermore and midnights. Especially the songwriting is on another level. I love how the sounds on the album are so diverse and the placements of the songs are so fitting. I feel like she put in the synth sounds in the beginning for example fortnight to mimick the sound of the 1975. I just feel like this is THE taylor album. It has everything in it that she is about. You can tell that she is so comfortable in her sound and writing right now. I feel like this is the most natural album of her meaning it just came naturally to her without a big concept behind it. She really let out everything. As she should. I love it. All the albums before had like a specific purpose and concept but TTPD feels different. It feels bigger and more authentic. It's like she reached her final form. I know it's not the most vocally impressive album of her but I don't think she needed to do that on TTPD. Her vocals in TTPD just fit so much to the themes of each song, even when her voice is more monotone in fortnight or the tortured poets departement, it fits to the overall mood. I think every production on TTPD also fits to the mood of each song. And the fact that she worked on it during her big tour, and 31 songs, that's just crazy how she can come up with so much and with not even 2 years between midnights and TTPD. It just shows her talent and how experienced she is. Anyways I just love TTPD and I think it will always be an iconic moment, even if it wasn't so big for the general public like 1989.
great video! i struggle with seeing the bigger picture and overall themes in projects because i tend to analyse songs in isolation, so i loved this video. thanks!
30:43 "I'll go to The Eras Tour in my mind" that was hilarious (too close to reality as well)
to me the first act is really depression, the second is escapism (ending in the prophecy, accepting she cant escape her reality) and the third is accepting her past and dealing with it
Interesting how you connected the manuscript back to the tour! I’ve been seeing people saying that it could also be about the making of the ATW short film; the actors being Sadie and Dylan, the slow dance alight with the sparks being the “dancing ‘round the kitchen in the refrigerator light”, and the tears falling in synchronicity with the score is pretty self-explanatory
When it comes to the title track, there’s a number of things that I think are actually good lyricism but just got hated upon. It’s quite representative of the album as a whole, including the most overarching theme: *anti*-romanticism. While that idea definitely picks up around the Anthology, it shows up in quite a number of songs such as the title track itself, But Daddy I Love Him, Florida!!!, Guilty As Sin?, Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me, I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can), I Can Do It With A Broken Heart, The Alchemy and Clara Bow.
ohh the idea of anti-romanticism makes so much sense! but can you elaborate on how it relates to Guilty as Sin? and Florida!!!
but i'm not quite sure about it because songs like i hate it here (escaping from the world into your mind) and the manuscript (turning your tragedies into art like a tortured poet) do seem kind of romantic
@@chiaratanevski5040 Guilty As Sin? - the idea of the “long-suffering propriety” is a very romanticist ideal
Florida!!! - Honestly, I’m not sure what I thought here. Overall, it’s a pretty modern take though, with the whole “is that a bad thing to say in a song?” lyric in particular
I Hate It Here - I actually think this exemplifies it the most. It reminds me of the opposite of The Lakes in a way, especially with the second verse, but it’s just fascinating in that way.
The Manuscript - Honestly, one of the few pieces of the album that I feel is relatively on the side of romanticism - still, if anything, it’s the exception, not the rule.
hope this cleared things up!
I love this track and agree that it really is the track which really represents this sort of conflict between the "tortured poet" (the romantic/ romanticism) vs the "realist" who laughs at and points out that it does not have to be that deep.
I love the production, the melody, the vocals and the very well written and deeply personal lyrics.
@@CyanWatercress4 Also in Down Bad she literally says "how dare you think its romantic leaving me safe and stranded" , a great callback to her very romanticism inspired song "New Romantics" where she asks to be left "left stranded" as it is "so romantic."
I believe Daddy I Lobe Him - 3rd verse is about Travis also which is why it goes into So High School at the concert!!
I can't believe you missed the Wizard of Oz reference "What a valiant roar [...] The coward claimed he was a lion"
Really good analysis, in line with how I think about the album. A few new insights, a lot of confirmation. Having said that I want to thank you for your efforts. Subbed.
I've loved this album since first listen, I've been waiting for people to see how insanely good it is! Glad we are finally realising this is one of her best and deserves to be treated as such!!
Yes! I was hooked from the start and it’s definitely my number 1 Taylor album. It’s a stunning masterpiece
Someone else said the songwriting felt messy and like it needed to be edited (for the first half) and I think that is IS messy, but it needed to be. Tortured poets are those who weave stunning masterpieces from messy experiences. The first part felt like a peek into what she was really dealing with and the second half felt like the art she created from it. Ending with the Manuscript was perfect, bringing those ideas all together. It isn't my favorite album of hers, but it isn't her weakest like people claim
Not 3 elephants... One is a rat( matty) , one is a eagle(travis)one is a sloth( joe)
Oh, definitely not a rat, rats are soft, cuddly, trustworthy and intelligent 🐭
Heirloom turkey (Joe) lol
We declared LANA DEL RAY should be a bigger artist
I also prefer the Anthology. I don’t tend to over analyse lyrics but instead prefer how the songs make me feel and I feel more with the Anthology 🖤
THis was incredible. You've inspired me to do my own research into her work. Making my own notes instead of school assignments😂😭
This is a really great analysis of the album I didn’t know I needed in order to fully appreciate it in all its glory. Thank you
Love this video so much a lot ore makes sense. I knew I loved the album but this helped me make sense of why
I find it interesting how the more recent albums (evermore, Midnights, and TTPD) have been some of the most disliked online (at least that I’ve seen) while being some of her most honest-feeling ones, or the ones that she put most of her true self into? Idk just funny how people react when she’s focused on herself and not necessarily pandering to others
Thank you for making this video! I think it is a wonderful thoughtful breakdown of both parts of the project. I don't agree with every take you have on every song but I respect your thoughtful opinions. I myself love this album. It has been 2+ months and I continue to fathom more after each listen. I am curious as to what you think of some of her latest mash ups. I Hate It Here x The Lakes; Red × The Manuscript; Sweet Nothings x Hoax; The Great War x You're Losing Me; Cornelia Street x Maroon. She is giving us insight and at times telling stories.
Glad you enjoyed! I haven't kept up too much with the mashups but they're likely all very intentional yes. Cornelia street x Maroon is especially devastating like wow
Really good video! I do have to say though that just as a nitpick, The Alchemy is remotely about Travis it's 100% about Matty, she mentions all across the song that this isn't the first time they've had an romantic encounter, Matty and Taylor met in the 1989 era and they had short "relationship", while Travis and Taylor met on the Eras Tour.
Would you care to quote the lines that mention that “this isn’t their first romantic encounter”? I’ve looked through the lyrics and I can’t seem to find anything that indicates that.
Omg TTPD is an absolute masterpiece but ya gotta listen to it several times for it to reveal itself as one big cohesive project.
I hate ME!!! so I will go to THE ERAS TOUR in my mind has me rolling
i didnt know who dylan thomas or patti smith were but i knew what the lyric was about due to context
I think she blames her issues with confinement due to her fame as her downfall in the ‘love’ department. She starts with this theme in midnights already
Id also like to add, ttpd is her emotion during the ordeal & the anthology is after she came out on the other side & is reflecting on all the events shes been through. The heightened state has come down & she has to actually deal with it & cannot run from it.
Im commenting as i watch (i have no swiftie friends) BUT i hate it here is giving therapy ‘safe place’ which is for anxiety. Thank you aimee is also double layered with it being the worst and best thing to ever happen to her going back to the breakup songs and acceptance post the main album.
Folkmore and Evermore are great albums. I love them both. TTPD , I like your explanation of each.
I did not realize that the lakes what is very similar to I hate it here But that makes so much sense, because they're both songs of escaping two a different place instead of the one that you are in 😮
I loved this analysis, tho i have a slightly different opinion on the muses of heartbreak songs. I will try to explain my views of this album maybe someone will be interested.
I hate discussing taylor’s relationships but this time the context is just very important, so let’s call them relationship 1 & relationship 2. The only song about relationship 1 in the standard version of the album is so long, london (if we don’t consider tidbits in fresh out the slammer & guilty as sin). No, she did not write loml, mbobhft about muse 1. Why? Because that relationship was long dead & gone & buried before the breakup. So when she finally broke up with him (on her own terms!) she mostly feels freedom, not a total devastation. All of the songs about how the relationship 1 died are actually not on the ttpd (like midnights & some of them can even be in folklore & evermore) and some are not even in taylor’s albums (dare i say renegade).
She breaks free and thinks that now her life finally makes sense, cuz she’s running to her “twin”, her old flame. And at first everything is okay, tho muse 2 is very extravagant, so to say. He thinks of himself as a tortured poet, he says jokes that are far too loud and revolting, he has voices in his head that serve as a clocking bomb, but taylor is ready to face it together, cuz she chose to be with him and she thinks he truly is it for her. Until it’s suddenly all gone. Muse 2 just ditches her under the false pretence of “protecting her” from the public’s criticism. And now taylor feels a heartbreak she hasn’t felt in a long time, because this time someone broke up with her completely out of the blue. She can’t believe that her friend, who lured her out of a dead relationship, who promised her rings & cradles just disappeared like a coward he is. And at the end she realises that he just love bombed her and he’s actually the smallest man who ever lived, but it takes her some time to get there.
All of that is reflected in the way she describes how the relationships ended in songs. On one hand we have her abandoning the ship, but on the other we have her being left, as if some ufo just abducted her, made some experiments and then just disappeared.
That’s what i think of the album (standard version). In my opinion we just underestimate just how lifeless was the relationship 1. To the point she didn’t have a lot to say about it, cuz she already said everything in previous songs. Imo it’s just easy to know “which song is about who” when you realise she experienced two clear & distinctive types of breakup. First, she left, and then was left herself (and the second one took a toll on her mental state)
Anyways, i hope i explained my pov and it’s not too confusing
People deliberately misinterpreting the 1830s line on I hate it here shows the bad faith reactions these people are having to the lyrics on this album just to go with the crowd
Exactly - it felt so obvious to me?? Like if you don’t say that, people are going to say that you’re glorifying that period, but if you do say it they’re going to say that you’re insensitive and out-of-touch. I do find that line extremely relatable though idk about anyone else (the first time I heard “But Daddy I Love Him” I literally thought “reminds me of the old west and the frontier” and then she actually mentioned the 1830s lol)
I enjoyed your analysis!
Great video, but I have to disagree about The Alchemy. I think it's super cute, but I think if she didn't include it she would feed the fans who think she's secretly miserable and just acting with Travis.
Same omg! The alchemy feels to me like a big triumphent moment. A relieve. A come down. Enjoyment. A remedy.
this video is soo good! thank you for making this
I did no know until now that fortnight and Florida is CONNECTED LIKE WHAT????
fortnight, the song that has the lyrics "move to Florida, buy the car you want" ? it literally has the word "florida" in the lyrics.... 😅
😂😂😂 I just loves the folklore evermore reference lol
Thank you!!! I loved this!
Torcherd poets department and red are the same album one hundred percent.I'm glad you clarified that
Yes, the anthology is the third sister of folkmore 100%
The Alchemy is filled with football references because they are a red herring. It’s not about Travis
Sorry, but loml is about Ratty. She especially mentions "something counterfeit", while back in Midnights, she mentions "It must be counterfeit" in Glitch - a BRIEF interruption, they had a thing before Halvin Carris. That's no coincidence.
There is no way she would trade her billion + $s for a lifelong relationship with someone. 😂
That's 100% facts cause. Stay stay. Stay is not really a good song for me. At least I love how you match that parallel 😂
my issue was how shallow the album was, i looked past all the hate on the lyricism to form my own opinion, and i feel like folklore and evermore had way more thoughtful writing.
24:52 ☠️ 😂😂
Only 400 views? You are so underrated
Don't you dare compare ICFH with Stay Stay Stay. SSS is cute and silly, while ICFH is a melancholic contradiction to BDILH. In BDILH, she's like "I'm a grown womanI know what I'm doing, I'm capable of taking my own decisions", while ICFH is like "I was grown woman acting like a girl, trying to fix a grown man, I was so stupid". BDILH and ICFH cancel each other, so I don't know what those songs are doing in the album.
i don’t think them canceling each other out means they shouldn’t go on the album. on speak now there’s songs about john mayer like dear john but also ours and superman, just like on red there are songs about jake like the moment i knew and stay stay stay. they were just written at different times or about different times, which is perfectly fine if not beneficial for telling a story.
how i see it BDILH is written from the perspective of her having just taken “the miracle move on drug”, and ICFH is the start of her realizing the effects were temporary.
i think that the standard edition is a better album, while the antology has better songs
Guys, pls tell me what the grave line means… pls pls pls
In saltburn there's a scene where a character shags a grave
istg people who think loml is about matty healy need to up their brain tonic intake.
the albatross is about travis kelce
I feel like Taylor tried very hard to output a double album while being on tour but she tried too hard.
It doesn’t feel like a genuine album just trying to realize new music…
I think lyricism in the anthology is really strong in many songs but some songs like the manuscript I feel like a production doesn’t on point at all and it feels very sleepy. The anthology feels more like an evermore v2 because of storytelling style and production wise and I think many songs are weird like So high school I don’t get it why she have to write about high school perspective when she’s 34 now, Peter childish perspective isn’t that interesting ,Robin Just sent it to Dessner email ,thanK you aIMee Kim slander is no used anymore. The standard part is great I think some songs really are poetry etc. fresh out the slammer , but daddy i love him . Comparing to Midnights I think this album is better because it’s back to confessional writing style that she has been known for. Midnights is extremely vague in my opinion but it’s still a good album
So High School - What’s the issue? It’s the “It girl” with the football boyfriend stereotype of high school couples and she hasn’t felt so giddy. Nothing wrong with that.
Peter- It’s literally about Peter Pan and it’s not a childish perspective it’s her GROWN UP and him NOT.
Robin - Get mental help.
Thank You Aimee - Kim slander is always allowed.
The Manuscript is top 5 on the entire album. You didn’t even listen to the album did you
@@TheNraveles You can say you don’t agree with me but I listen to entire album and this is my opinion so what’s the point to say I didn’t listen to it
Loved this thoughtful analysis. I’m not sure I agree with how you have linked and grouped songs, but you’ve gotten me thinking and given me more to process. On first listen I was absolutely overwhelmed by TTPD; the experience felt like 31 songs got thrown into a blender and as a result were hard to differentiate. I can’t believe I’m saying that because it took very little time for each to crystallize in my mind, and now each feels so different from the others. I’ve actually come to like or love almost every song.
I truly believe after her release of this album, anyone who doesn’t feel enormous empathy for Taylor, and respect for both her pen and the crafting of each song, has not paid close attention. Which is fair, because it took some committed listening on my part to embrace it.
@@karenvalentino3412 I agree with you that many critics do not care for her like she cares for them. The strongest point in this album is writing
I can see why they said it’s overwritten but you just have to take time and digest all 31 songs. She’s just being confessional and spill all of her guts into this album. Because she’s really mad so she writes songs to understand her feelings
The Alchemy is not about the Travis. Look as the football References and who would do herion with a E
yeah...football references, as in Travis, the professional football player. 😂 c'mon!
the song is about going back to someone....she met travis in 2023 and didn't wait that much to start dating so....
"like a tattoed golden retriever"
Come on...
I liked the album, I believe the best part is the anthology, because some songs have a bland songwriting compared to previous work like Folklore and Evermore, and I'm sorry if you feel attacked by this, but you need to be real.
Absolutely not but keep trying
That songs purpose is to be cringe....
To be fair, that song is supposed to have a lot of cringe in it. Because the relationship it was based off was, in fact, very cringe
@@Prettyreader3just because it’s purposely cringe doesn’t redeem it. It just makes it cringe
@@mateoa7675 so you'll give a lecture to a comedian that his comedy is not factual.... Be fr
Hey BluHaven! Love your videos so far, especially this one :)
P.S Anyone noticed how So High School and Hits Different's instrumentals sound really similar?!
Yes! The opening guitar of So High School sounds just like the opening to Hits Different (though maybe a bit louder and in a slightly different key)