I Genuinely Can't Listen To Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" The Same Way Again After Reading These 15 Facts

1.First, Taylor Swift told fans at an Eras Tour concert in Tokyo that she'd been working on The Tortured Poets Department "for about two years." She added, "I kept working on it throughout the US tour, and when it was perfect, in my opinion — when it was good enough for you — I finished it."

2.When Taylor announced the title, The Tortured Poets Department, some debated the grammatical correctness of "Poets" instead of styling it "Poets'" or "Poet's." The title is styled like the 1989 movie Dead Poets Society, which starred Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, who also appear in the music video for "Fortnight."

3.The album cover for The Tortured Poets Department was shot by photographer Beth Garrabrant, who previously took photos for Folklore, Evermore, Red (Taylor's Version), Midnights, Speak Now (Taylor's Version), and 1989 (Taylor's Version).

4.With a total of 31 songs on The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, it's Taylor's longest album. Previously, her longest album was Red (Taylor's Version), which has 30 songs.

5.The spoken voice heard in "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart" is producer Oli Jacobs, who produced several tracks on the album. Oli can be heard counting Taylor in, which is reminiscent of a click track that performers hear in their earpieces when performing live.

6.Taylor said that she wrote "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?" while "sitting at the piano in one of those moments when I felt bitter about just all the things we do to our artists as a society and as a culture." She wrote the song alone, too.

7.For "Clara Bow," which is named after the famous silent film actor, Taylor explained that the track is "a commentary on what I've seen in the industry that I've been in over time." She added that the reason she name drops Clara Bow and Stevie Nicks in the song is a reference to her being told "you know, you remind us of" by various record labels when she was starting out.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images, Clayton Call / Redferns / Getty Images

Taylor continued, saying, "And that’s how we teach women to see themselves, as like you could be the new replacement for this woman who’s done something great before you. I picked women who have done great things in the past and have been these archetypes of greatness in the entertainment industry. Clara Bow was the first ‘it girl.’ Stevie Nicks is an icon and an incredible example for anyone who wants to write songs and make music."

8.Speaking about "Clara Bow," the actor's great-granddaughter said, "My family and I love the song and are thankful for Taylor connecting with Clara's legacy through her songwriting." Clara was an actor in the silent film era of the 1920s and was given the nickname "The It Girl." She's also considered the first Hollywood sex symbol.

9.In the Amazon Music commentary for "Florida!!!" (feat. Florence + the Machine), Taylor said that the inspiration for the track actually came from "always watching Dateline." She added, "People have these crimes that they commit; where do they immediately skip town and go to? They go to Florida."

10.In the album's liner notes for "Florida!!!" (feat. Florence + the Machine), Emily Jean Stone, aka actor Emma Stone, is credited with "oddities" on the track. While it's unclear right now what "oddities" means, some fans have pointed out the similarities between Taylor's TTPD aesthetic and Emma's costumes in Poor Things.

Republic / Taylor Swift / Via youtu.be, Searchlight Pictures

This isn't the first time Emma has been linked to a song by Taylor. When Speak Now (Taylor's Version) was released in 2023, the song "When Emma Falls in Love" was rumored to be about Emma. The duo have been friends since 2008.

11.Speaking about "Fortnight" featuring Post Malone, Taylor explained that this song "exhibits a lot of the common themes that run throughout the album. One of which being fatalism — longing, pining away, lost dreams."

12.Stevie Nicks, who is mentioned in "Clara Bow," penned a poem for Taylor on Aug. 13, 2023, which is featured as the prologue in physical copies of the album. In Oct. 2023, Stevie talked about Taylor in an interview, saying, "I never don't tell the truth. And I think that's something that if Taylor Swift, who is my friend, if Taylor got anything from me, that's what she got."

13.Following the release of "The Black Dog," fans began to flock to a London pub named The Black Dog because of the lyrics: "And so I watch as you walk / Into some bar called The Black Dog." One video posted to the pub's TikTok has over 600,000 views and counting. They even posted a video joking that they are trying to figure out if Taylor is referring to Joe Alwyn or Matty Healy in the song.

14.In the song "The Tortured Poets Department," Taylor sings, "I laughed in your face and said / 'You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith / This ain't the Chelsea Hotel, we're modern idiots.'" And Patti posted her appreciation for being included in the song on her Instagram, writing, "This is saying I was moved to be mentioned in the company of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. Thank you Taylor."

15.And finally, The Tortured Poets Department is the first album in Spotify history to have more than 300 million streams in a single day on April 19, 2024.