Taylor Swift Recycling

Swift’s recent release of a double album including 31 songs raises the question of many “fans” alike: “Where have I heard this before?” Some people seem to think the songs in the Tortured Poets Department sound like songs previously released for example the outro of My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys “Just say when I’d play again/ he was my best friend/ down at the sandlot” and the chorus of All Too Well, “Cause there we are again on that little town street/You almost ran the red ‘cause you were looking you were lookin’ over at me.” This is just one of the dozens of comparisons to old Swift songs; I believe the lyrics of the two songs are not alike, but the melodies are causing people to mistake the songs for one another.

Another common contrast is between I Hate It Here and Paris. The lines fans seem to think that “I’ll get lost on purpose/This place made me feel worthless” sounds a lot like the chorus of “Like we were in Paris/Like we were somewhere else”. But the similarities overall are up for interpretation. The lyrics may have similar words in them, but does that mean they are repeats of one another?

What makes this album different from the rest?

The Tortured Poets Department differs from previous albums mainly because of the formatting of this album from it being not only one album but two-in-one. Originally Swift only announced the first 16 songs but 2 hours after the first 16 were released she quietly uploaded an additional 15 songs. The title of the tracks is irregular compared to her other songs: Fresh Out the Slammer, Guilty as Sin?, loml, and more!

With all of the differences between the albums, does this mean they also have a different meaning?

Meaning behind the album

The whole album had significant meaning to fellow listeners along with Taylor Swift herself. The first song on the album was titled Black Dog with the song being filled with her expression of frustration and rage amid a break up. Some context to the song title is that there is a pub in London called the Black Dog. The Prophecy, this song like most of the first half of the album is about Swift’s relationship struggling due to her fame and lack of privacy. In this song, she pleads for love over stardom.

Some may think that Taylor Swift is the world’s best singer, but could that just mean she is the most successful one? Or is it all just because of her recent release? 

Overall listeners

After the awaited release, The Tortured Poets Department became Spotify’s most-streamed album after only 4 days, with 1 billion streams. On its release day, it broke another record for more streams in a single day with over 300 million and 859,000 vinyls sold.

Popular music releases are coming soon!

On May 17, 9-time Grammy award winner, Billie Eillish’s new album: Hit Me Hard and Soft is finally released after being long awaited by fans. She announced the album on her Instagram story with a photo of the album cover and the caption:  “’HIT ME HARD AND SOFT,’ MY THIRD ALBUM MMMMMMMMMMM COMES OUT MAY 17TH AHHHHHHHHHH,”. 

Another awaited release from the one and only Lana Del Rey, she announced her upcoming album titled Lasso coming out in September 2024 at the Billboard Music Awards during her speech saying that it “will be a country album” which is a big deal for Lana fans because this is much different from her other albums.