Taylor Swift Lyrics: Who’s Talked about on ‘Tortured Poets Division?

When Taylor Swift launched “The Tortured Poets Division,” on Friday at midnight, her fan base shortly set to work decoding the album, in search of layers of which means and perception into Ms. Swift’s life. After all, that features the pop singer’s romantic historical past.

Like lots of her previous works, the songs on this album — which options over a dozen extra tracks as a part of an prolonged album known as “The Tortured Poets Division: The Anthology” — are laden with names and references, lots of which look like to actual individuals from Ms. Swift’s universe and the literary canon. No less than two poets, Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith, are talked about.

Right here’s a take a look at a few of these characters.

Matty Healy

Loads of traces from “Tortured Poets” have followers guessing that sure songs — together with “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” “The Black Canine” and “Down Unhealthy” — could also be about Matty Healy, the frontman for the 1975 who was noticed out and about with Taylor on a number of events final spring. One clue Swifties are latching on to: On the “The Black Canine,” Ms. Swift refers back to the band the Beginning Line. Mr. Healy lined one of many band’s songs whereas he was touring final spring. After which there’s the much-discussed reference to an individual Ms. Swift describes as a “tattooed golden retriever” on the album’s title observe. Mr. Healy appears to suit the invoice, based on her followers.

Travis Kelce

Ms. Swift’s followers have been floating the notion that the various sports activities references within the observe “The Alchemy” allude to the soccer participant Travis Kelce, the singer’s present boyfriend. “So after I / Contact down, name the amateurs and minimize ’em from the group / Ditch the clowns, get the crown, child, I’m the one to beat,” she sings within the refrain. “The place’s the trophy? / He simply comes operating over to me,” she provides within the bridge. However there’s some debate, with some followers noting that her use of the time period “blokes” would appear to suggest the music isn’t about an American. (A winking line about “heroin however this time with an E” has some guessing the music is about Mr. Healy, who has beforehand spoken about his drug use.)

Joe Alwyn

Ms. Swift and the actor Joe Alwyn broke up final yr after a prolonged relationship. Within the lead-up to the discharge of “Tortured Poets,” many followers believed this new album would course of the tip of that relationship. (Mr. Alwyn stated in a 2022 interview that he was in a bunch textual content chat with the actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott known as “The Tortured Man Membership.” Some followers imagine Ms. Swift was nodding to this identify along with her newest album title.) There may be some hypothesis that Observe 5, “So Lengthy, London,” is about Mr. Alwyn, who’s British.

Jack Antonoff

A longtime collaborator of Ms. Swift’s, Jack Antonoff, who’s credited as a producer on most of the new album’s songs, seems to get a lyrical shout out on the album’s title observe.

Lucy Dacus

The musician Lucy Dacus additionally seems on that very same observe. (Along with her work as a solo artist, Ms. Dacus is a member of the supergroup boygenius, who shocked followers with a efficiency throughout a cease on Ms. Swift’s Eras tour final yr.) “Generally, I ponder in case you’re gonna screw this up with me / However you instructed Lucy you’d kill your self if I ever depart / And I had stated that to Jack about you, so I felt seen,” Ms. Swift sings.

Kim Kardashian

Ms. Swift usually leaves clues for followers by capitalizing seemingly random letters in phrases which, when strung collectively, spell a special phrase. Within the case of this album, the music “thanK you aIMee,” appears to disclose the identify Kim. (Ms. Swift and Kim Kardashian have a lengthy and unfriendly historical past.)

Cassandra

In Greek mythology, Cassandra is given the present of prophecy by Apollo, however is cursed such that nobody will ever imagine her. On a music with the identical identify because the goddess, Ms. Swift sings, “So that they killed Cassandra first / ’Trigger she feared the worst / And tried to inform the city / So that they crammed my cell with snakes, I remorse to say / Do you imagine me now?” Snake emojis have additionally performed a key position within the feud between Ms. Swift and Ms. Kardashian.

Charlie Puth

The singer-songwriter Charlie Puth will get a reputation drop on the title observe: “You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate / We declared Charlie Puth ought to be a much bigger artist.” Mr. Puth, by way of a consultant, declined to remark.

Peter Pan

The music “Peter” seems to confer with the storybook character Peter Pan. “You stated you have been gonna develop up / Then stated you have been gonna come discover me,” Ms. Swift sings. She has made related allusions prior to now, together with a line about “Peter dropping Wendy” on her music “cardigan” in 2020.

Patti Smith

The American singer, songwriter, poet and creator Patti Smith will get a reputation test on the title observe in a line about New York’s iconic Chelsea Resort, the place she as soon as lived. Ms. Smith has been hailed because the “punk poet laureate.”

Dylan Thomas

The Welsh poet, identified for works like “Don’t go light into that good night time,” can be talked about together with Ms. Smith. ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas / I’m not Patti Smith / This ain’t the Chelsea Resort / We’re trendy idiots,” Ms. Swift sings. Thomas, who was additionally a resident on the Chelsea, is known for his work as a neo-Romantic poet. (Ms. Swift has an older music, from her album “1989,” titled “New Romantics.”)

Clara Bow

Clara Bow, an actress from the silent movie period often called the primary “it woman,” has a whole music devoted to her on “Tortured Poets.” In 1927, Bow starred in a movie titled “It” and have become a nationwide intercourse image earlier than leaving the business. Followers have identified that Ms. Swift’s thinly drawn eyebrows in a video teasing a brand new music video to accompany the music “Fortnight” bear a hanging similarity to Ms. Bow’s.

Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks is known as on the music “Clara Bow.” Ms. Nicks has stated that Ms. Swift’s music “You’re on Your Personal Child” reminds her of Christine McVie, her Fleetwood Mac bandmate who died in 2022. “You seem like Stevie Nicks / In ’75, the hair and lips,” Ms. Swift sings within the music. (Ms. Nicks additionally wrote an authentic poem that accompanies particular vinyl version of “Tortured Poets.”)