While performing her sold-out international tour and releasing three albums old and new, Taylor Swift has created yet another piece of lyrical excellence, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. Complete with 31 tracks, 11 of which were a 2 a.m. surprise, this collection of poetic ballads and sprinkles of unhinged lyricism is her most emotional yet.

While her fan base spans through all ages, the album is from the perspective of someone in their thirties and most appeals to those who relate. There is a false idea that as one grows one will be “put together” and no longer make mistakes, but you cannot grow into perfection. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is honest and emotionally vulnerable enough to cause discomfort. Here are 13 lyrics that will leave you wanting more. 

1) “So Long London” – “You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? I died on the alter waiting for the proof”

Swift’s track fives are famed for the emotional distress they put fans in. “So Long London” was no exception. The song describes the acceptance of a long-term relationship ending and realizing that it’s not normal to fear someone leaving at all times. With cheering vocals resembling wedding bells in the beginning followed by lyrics about a relationship that did not amount to a marriage, tissues may be necessary.

2) “But Daddy I Love Him” – “I’m having his baby/No I’m not but you should see your faces”

This musical joke in “But Daddy I Love Him” surprised fans with its hilarity and juvenile nature emphasized by its connection to The Little Mermaid. Swift describes the public’s shift from “griping and moaning” about her relationship to wishing they were invited to her wedding. The track is lyrically similar to “Love Story” from her 2009 album Fearless. However, “But Daddy I Love Him” criticizes the judgemental eye of the public rather than those who are close to her.

3) “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” – “You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me”

In “Who’s afraid of little old me?” Swift uses an asylum as a metaphor for fame. Whether the public was celebrating her suffering in anticipation of new music or publishing vulgar lyrics about her without permission. Growing up in front of the whole world since the age of 15 will impact one’s mental health. “We love to watch artists in pain often to the point where I think sometimes as a society we provoke that pain,” said Swift in an interview with iHeartRadio.

4) “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart” – “I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art”

The song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” has quickly taken over TikTok with its concerning lyrics paired with a danceable beat. It’s the catchiest track you’ll hear about high functioning depression and explores how she pushed through performing 3.5 hour shows while struggling from heartbreak. While most have not performed an international tour, everyone has once felt pressure to appear unaffected by a major change in their life. 

5) “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” – “In fifty years will all this be declassified?/And you’ll confess why you did it/And I’ll say ‘good riddance’”

Arguably the most petty song Swift has written, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” is a four-minute roast worth listening to. Including describing someone’s treatment of her as a crime that requires jail time, the bridge is composed of a marvelous stream of insults. If you’re wondering what they are, you should listen to the song.

6) “Clara Bow” – “You look like Taylor Swift in this light/We’re loving it/You’ve got edge/She never did”

The song “Clara Bow” points out how women in entertainment are used as comparison metrics for each other. Instead of recognizing each actress and artist for their talent, they are labeled as a better version of someone else, losing their sense of identity in the public eye. In this lyric Swift acknowledges that one day she will become one of these markers just like Clara Bow was for her.

7) “The Albatross” – “She’s the albatross/she is here to destroy you”

The Tortured Poets Department contains many words that most don’t have in their everyday vocabulary from petulance to esoteric. An albatross is someone who causes you great problems. Swift uses this term to explain how the public describes her to people who recently entered her life as an unnecessary warning. 

 8) “How did it end?” –  “Soon, they’ll go home to their husbands/Smug ’cause they know they can trust him/Then feverishly calling their cousins”

In “How did it end?” Swift tackles the pressure to have an in-depth understanding of what ended a relationship. In this lyric, she addresses feelings of inferiority as those lucky enough to still be together share her misfortune with their partners. If your heart doesn’t break hearing of someone grief-stricken and circling the grocery store maybe you didn’t have one to begin with.

9) “So Highschool” – “Are you gonna marry, kiss or kill me?”

Next, “So High School” is by far the cutest love song on the album with lyrics reminiscent of adolescent games. In this lyric, Swift contemplates the possible future steps of a new relationship. Is it the most lyrically complex song on the album? Absolutely not. Is it adorable? Of course. This track successfully carries the sound of an 80s romcom.

10) “thanK you aIMee” – “Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman/But she used to say she wished that you were dead”

Swift uses an experience everyone can relate to of a high school bully to connect listeners to her experience with someone who attempted to ruin her career. “thanK you aIMee” is a mix of appreciation for a person who pushed her to continue making music and a reminder that she can never forgive them for the hurt they caused her. One especially exciting way Swift makes this connection  is singing that her mother, whom she often describes as supportive and kind, had hoped for said bully to die. 

11) “Peter” – “Forgive me, Peter, please know that I tried to hold on to the days when you were mine /But the woman who sits by the window has turned out the light”

Swift continued the pattern of songs inspired by children’s stories with “Peter”, a track about losing someone because they choose not to grow up. Throughout the song, she describes her unmet expectations and apologizes for being unable to wait for him longer. The haunting repetition represents reassuring thoughts used to excuse what did not change which most have experienced in a romantic or non-romantic relationship. 

12) “The Bolter” – “It feels like the time/She fell through the ice/Then came out alive”

Stand out track, “The Bolter” is a tale of resilience through leaving. The beginning of the song describes a six-year-old who nearly died in freezing water. She grows up to be a woman who finds freedom in escape just like when she was little and survived the cold. The folk-like song is effortlessly catchy with a closing line that shows how childhood impacts future behavior. 

13) “The Manuscript” – “Now and then I reread the manuscript/But the story isn’t mine anymore”

The closing track, “The Manuscript” holds a rare spot in Swift’s discography as it does not have a chorus and no part of the song repeats itself. This final lyric represents her disconnection from the music after it’s released. After all, songs are her replacement for what most would put in a diary. Writing it down allows you to let go.

There are hundreds of lyrics within this two-hour-long collection of stories but these thirteen are particularly life-changing. While The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology may not appeal to the casual listener, its entertaining lyrics can be appreciated by all.