After listening to Taylor Swift’s latest release, The Tortured Poet’s Department, many times, I have come up with an accurate depiction of how I feel about each song. Overall, I enjoyed listening to the album and I thought it was a fine addition to her discography. However, compared to Taylor Swift’s previous songs and lyrics, I found this album did not meet her standards. Although the songs are fun, I thought the lyrics weren’t as intellectual or philosophical as I had hoped. She released 31 songs in this album which can be admirable, but I would rather have a smaller number of better quality songs instead. Considering that she released so many songs, I am only sharing my opinion of a few songs that I have the strongest feelings towards.
But Daddy I Love Him 9/10
I love this song so much. The chorus is very catchy and the verses are very heartfelt. I really liked the majority of the lyrics from the song because there is a broad use of vocabulary. However, one of the lyrics reads, “I’m having his baby, No, I’m not, but you should see your faces.” I didn’t like this lyric because it isn’t very thoughtful and just seems stupid. Among her other great lyrics in the song, this one stood out to me as an outlier.
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? 8.5/10
At first, I didn’t understand why everyone loved this song, but now it’s easily one of my favorites. This song has some of the best lyrics in the whole album and it’s very catchy. The chorus is the best part of the best song; it’s catchy, fun, heartfelt, and lyrical. The main issue I have with this song is that she seems very self-centered and narcissistic throughout the song. Many times she expresses that no one has ever had worse pain than her. I don’t believe this could be true considering that she is a famous billionaire doing what she loves most for work. Obviously this portrays a more exaggerated version of her emotions, however I think she may have embellished a bit too much for my taste.
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart 8/10
This is easily going to be the most popular song on the album. It’s very upbeat and catchy. I found this song to be very similar to songs she’s already released such as Bejeweled, Anti-Hero, and Suburban Legends. I love listening to it because it is super fun but the lyrics are very depressing at the same time.
Loml 6/10
I love that the title of this song has a double meaning; love of my life and loss of my life. This is one of the only songs that I found to have really creative aspects in it. I thought the song was a little boring, but I think it will grow on me the more I listen to it.
Clara Bow 2/10
I liked the historical aspect of this song and the attributions to certain historical figures. I think the lyrics in this song are way better than they are in some of the other songs. However, I got bored listening to the song so I don’t care enough to really understand the philosophical aspect of her lyrics. I think if I listened to the song more I would begin to really love it, so this opinion isn’t definitive.
Florida!!! (feat. Florence+The Machine) 0/10
This song is awful. The lyrics are okay, but none of them seemed creative or thought-out. I liked the part that Florence + The Machines sang but other than that I disliked the singing. Overall, my least favorite aspect is that Taylor Swift pronounces the ‘I’ in Florida.
