Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department' Isn't My Era, But It's Not an Error

by Tyler Glover

Photo: Republic Records

"You and I are about to go on a little adventure together and that adventure is going to span 17 years of music and it's going to be one era at a time."
 
This is what Taylor Swift says after welcoming all of her fans to her record-breaking Eras Tour, the tour Swift began in March of last year and will continue until December of this year. The tour has grossed over $1 billion and the film of the concert became the highest-grossing concert film in box office history last year. The Eras Tour celebrates the journey of Swift as an artist who has reinvented herself throughout her career-spanning different music genres, different sounds, and different Eras.  
 
The different Eras Swift has created throughout her career are the reason she appeals to so many people (if they let her, of course). If you are driving a pickup truck and listening to "Tim McGraw," you are in your Debut Era. If you’re Daddy's princess trying to have a "Love Story" with somebody forbidden, you are in your Fearless Era. If you are a girl born in "1989" going out on your own and discovering love and life, you are in your 1989 Era. If you are one who has been wronged and feels vengeful due to your damaged "reputation," you are in your Rep Era. Lastly, if you are in your sleepless nights era contemplating life and love, you are in your Midnights Era. (Personally, I am in my Midnights Era)
 
What is so great about these different Eras is that I may be in my Midnights Era today but I could be in my Rep Era tomorrow. Some of these Eras may never really appeal to me but that is OK. 
 
This brings me to the newest Era being entered into Taylor Swift's catalog: The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology.
 
The most important thing people need to know about this album before listening is that it is an album to soak in and reflect on. It is not a pop album you can listen to and fully get the meaning while dancing and moving on to the next album. The Tortured Poets Department is not an album to consume like a fast food burger and fries; it needs to be wined and dined. You need to allow the time to ruminate on all of the lyrics and fully immerse yourself into what Swift is trying to tell us. The Tortured Poets Department is an album that initially, I was skeptical about upon my first listen. However, the album grows on you the more you listen to it.
 
The best way to describe this album is that it has the overall continued synth-pop sound of Midnights matched with the lyricism of folklore and evermore with the biting pen she used when writing reputation. This really should not be too much of a surprise considering her producers are frequent collaborators, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner who had a hand in all or a few of those albums. This album truly has some phenomenal songs to add to her canon.
 
"Down Bad," a song where she imagines a love being reminiscent of an alien abduction. She falls in love with him and what he shows her but then he leaves her back into the world alone. This song is an absolute favorite and most of my Swiftie friends' favorite song on the album.
 
The lead single, "Fortnight" featuring Post Malone has one of my favorite new lyrics: "I love you. It's ruining my life." 
 
TTPD also has the anthem, "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart" that reminds us we can all put on a smile no matter what we are going through and still do what we need to do. "loml" is one of her saddest songs to date. (I'm not going to spoil what loml stands for). The song that sounds the most like her country days is called "But Daddy I Love Him." It tells the story of a girl in love with a boy that her community and her Dad don't like because he is wild. It is like a more adult version of "Love Story." 
 
There are many more pluses but these are the highlights for me. 
 
My biggest criticism of this album is that the lyrics are not always as concise as what we would expect from Swift. The most glaring example is during the title song where she sings: "You smoked, then ate seven bars of chocolate. We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist." I also was surprised to see so many songs without strong bridges. Swift is known for writing some of the best bridges of all time: "You're On Your Own, Kid," for example. While some of them are fantastic ("The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived"), they are rarer on this album than others.
 
Lastly, I feel during the ‘Anthology’ songs added at 2 a.m. the night of release, the songs run together a little too much. It is like they are full of so much melancholy, you may not notice the song changed if you are listening for the first time. (This happened to me the first time I listened). 
 
While this album is not Swift's best, it still has a lot to say and offer to the world. If you are feeling broken, this album can be healing, even the world's biggest superstar knows what it feels like to have her heart broken. If you are looking for an album full of pop bangers, this is not the album for you. What this album does so well though is to continue Swift's unparalleled success as a storyteller. We all are anxiously waiting to hear what she is going to tell us next. 
 
Swift's many different Eras appeal to so many different people and for so many different reasons. This Era is not the Era I would consider MY Taylor Swift era, but that does not mean this album is taking her career in the wrong direction. While this may not be her best, it’s not a career misfire. Even a Swift album that isn't on par with the rest of her work is still going to be better than a lot of music today. The thing I don't relate to her on is while I do share the sadness she goes through; I don't view things as darkly as she does. This makes some tracks not speak to me as much as others. 
 
While The Tortured Poets Department may be one of those Eras I may never find myself in, it is an Era that makes me believe that it is OK to be a flawed human being and reminds me that even though it may be in different ways, we all have ways in which this life tortures us.