Taylor Swift Reveals the Real Meaning Behind The Tortured Poets Department Songs

Taylor Swift recently talked about the concept of her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, as well as several of its songs, such as Fortnight, Clara Bow and Florida!!! Taylor explained in her Amazon Music commentary that the inspiration for the album came from the thought that society enjoys watching artists “in pain.”

Taylor stated, “What do we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives? We put them through hell. We watch what they create, then we judge it. We love to watch artists in pain, often to the point where I think sometimes as a society we provoke that pain and we just watch what happens.”

According to Taylor, the song “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” is most reflective of the above idea.  She wrote the song “alone, 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.”

Taylor explained that My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys song is about how some of us engage in relationships, like boy toys. “We are so valued by a person in the beginning, and then all of the sudden, they break us or they devalue us in their mind.” Swift fans have speculated that the album is a reference to Taylor’s tough relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn, which ended one year ago.

Talking about the Fortnight song, she said, “There are lots of very dramatic lines about life or death. ‘I love you, it’s ruining my life.’ These are very hyperbolic, dramatic things to say. It’s that kind of album.”

Talking about the Florida song, she said, “There’s a part of you that thinks, ‘I want a new name. I want a new life. I don’t want anyone to know where I’ve been or know me at all.’ And so that was the jumping off point. Where would you go to reinvent yourself and blend in? Florida!”