While receiving the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album on February 2, 2024, Taylor Swift announced her eleventh studio album. As expected, fans all over the world went berserk over the surprise announcement, and have eagerly awaited the album since. Then, on April 19, 2024, Taylor Swift finally dropped The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), shocking fans again by delivering having a double album. Without a doubt, it is currently the biggest musical release of 2024.
Since the album dropped, it has accomplished some groundbreaking feats, and Swifties can’t get enough of it. They’ve also enjoyed deciphering many of the somewhat cryptic lines the singer included in most songs. Taylor Swift seemingly references several people throughout the songs on TTPD such as Jack Antonoff, Charlie Puth, Dylan Thomas, Patti Smith, and Stevie Nicks, among others, throughout the album. Here’s a list of people she references.
Matt Healy
Taylor Swift and Matt Healy met in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2023 that they got romantically involved. The two dated for a while in 2023, but broke up in June of that year. Following the release of TTPD, many fans believe Taylor Swift indirectly refers to the 1975 frontman in some songs. She seemingly references Healy on “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” and “Down Bad,” where fans believe she sings about their breakup. This also happens in “The Black Dog,” “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart,” and “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.” However, Taylor also sings about when she was head over heels for the singer on some tracks. She does so on “But Daddy I Love Him,” “Guilty As Sin?” and “LOML.”
“God save the most judgmental creeps who say they want what’s best for me / Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see / Thinking it can change the beat of my heart when he touches me,” Swift sings on “But Daddy I Love him.” Fans believe the lyrics are a response to the reproach she got for dating Healy after it was revealed he had made racist remarks and offensive jokes in the past.
Joe Alwyn
Before Matt Healy, Taylor Swift dated the British actor and heartthrob Joe Alwyn, and many Swifties thought the two would be endgame. However, they broke up in April 2023. Following the release of TTPD, many listeners believe that Taylor Swift references Alwyn and their breakup on a few songs. These include “So Long, London,” “Fresh Out the Slammer,” “LOML,” and “How Did It End?” Swifties believe “So Long, London” is a heartbreaking sequel to “London Boy” from Lover, which she also wrote about Alwyn. On “So Long, London,” she seemingly refers to Alwyn as “London,” saying goodbye to their romance.
Travis Kelce
On TTPD, Taylor Swift lovingly sings about Travis Kelce on the tracks in which she references him. After going through the motions of heartbreak, she moves on to a glowing new love on tracks like “The Alchemy” and “So High School.” Swift and Kelce have been dating since late 2023, and the fire of their romance seems to be burning brighter than ever. Many who have listened to TTPD are convinced that Taylor Swift wrote “The Alchemy” about Kelce.
For one thing, the song contains many football references. Also, it is one of the songs in which Swift does not reminisce but sings about a current lover. All evidence points to the song being about the football player she is madly in love with right now. She also briefly references Kelce on “Chloe or Sam or Sofia or Marcus.” On the track, she sings, “And you saw my bones out with somebody new / Who seemed like he would've bullied you in school.”
Kim Kardashian
When fans saw the title of the track “thanK you aIMee,” they assumed it would be about Aimee Mann. However, the capitalized letters that spell out “KIM” eventually convinced them it was about Kim Kardashian. Taylor Swift never actually mentions Kim’s name on this TTPD track. However, from fans’ speculations, the message is pretty clear: the singer is not a fan of the Kardashian. “One day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you,” one lyric states. “Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman / But she used to say she wished that you were dead,” Swift also sings.
Lucy Dacus
Lucy Dacus is a singer/songwriter, and a third of the Grammy-winning group Boygenius. On “The Tortured Poets Department,” Swift sings, “Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me / But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave.” Although Lucy’s last name isn’t mentioned on the song, fans believe Taylor is referencing the Boygenius member. Dacus was one of the opening acts for The Eras Tour. Due to their history, it’s very possible Dacus was the one Taylor Swift wrote about on the TTPD title track.
The Starting Line
Throughout TTPD, Taylor Swift namedrops a few people, and on “Black Dog,” she mentions The Starting Line. Matt Healy is a big fan of the pop-rock band, so Swift mentioning them is clearly a reference to her ex-lover. “When someone plays The Starting Line/ And you jump up, but she’s too young to know this song/ That was intertwined in the magic fabric of our dreaming,” Taylor Swift sings on “The Black Dog.”
Clara Bow
When Taylor Swift revealed the tracklist for TTPD, many fans were curious about who or what Clara Bow was. “You look like Clara Bow in this light,” Swift sings in the opening of the eponymous track. Clara Bow was an American actress, and if you’re unfamiliar with the name, there’s a reason why. The actress was a movie star in the silent film era, and she died in 1965. Her name isn’t one that comes up often in recent film discourse. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that young fans of Swift’s music didn’t know her before. However, they certainly do, now.
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