Taylor Swift’s album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” was released at midnight on April 19. Two hours later, Swift surprised her fans with a double album called “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.”
“The Anthology” includes 15 extra songs — making “TTPD” a 31-track, two-hour album.
At midnight on April 19, a two-hour countdown was displayed on Swift’s website. Fans suspected that she would do a surprise release, like she did with “Midnights (3am Edition).”
However, after listening to the standard “TTPD,” I went to bed a little disappointed. I woke up to “The Anthology,” and soon discovered that the new songs were more folky. I am a sucker for some melancholic piano songs, so I was excited. The same situation occurred after the release of “Midnights,” I was disappointed by the first half, but the second half saved the album for me.
“The Black Dog” is the first track of “The Anthology,” and also one of my favorites. Swift reminisces about an ex-partner who did her wrong. “The Black Dog” is the name of a bar that her ex-partner went into, but it is also a metaphor for depression. My favorite part of the song is when the production builds up in the chorus as Swift shouts, “Old habits die screaming.”
In “imgonnagetyouback,” Swift goes back and forth between wanting an ex-partner back or wanting to get revenge on them, “Whether I’m gonna be your wife or/Gonna smash up your bike, I haven’t decided yet/But I’m gonna get you back.”
The shoegaze-like track “So High School” feels like I am being transported into an early 2000s romantic comedy. Swift talks about a new relationship that makes her feel like she is back in high school, “‘Cause I feel so high school everytime I look at you/But look at you.”
“I Hate It Here” is reminiscent of something from her album “Folklore.” Like Swift does in “Folklore,” she imagines herself in a different world to escape reality, “I hate it here so I will go to/Secret gardens in my mind.”
In “The Prophecy,” Swift wonders if her misfortunes with love are her fault, “Change the prophecy/Don’t want money/Just someone who wants my company.”
After listening to “TTPD: The Anthology” for the past week, I hoped that it would resonate with me more, but I think I need more time with it. I do not think Swift’s work is meant to be understood right away, I think it is meant to marinate with you for a while.
