Happy Tortured Poets Department release week! In honor of one of the biggest commercial music releases this year, done by the iconic global superstar Taylor Swift, I am starting the Tortured Poets series on Industry Plant, leading up to and after the release of The Tortured Poets Department on Friday April 19th.
For this series, we are going to cover The Tortured Poets Department in a multitude of ways, starting with a fan theory turned successful pre-release marketing activation. We’re going to explore the 5 Stages Of Heartbreak playlists on Apple Music, and analyze the specific songs Taylor chose from her discography to represent each stage of grief in a breakup. Inspired by Taylor Swift bringing this fan theory into fruition, I curated my own 5 Stages Of Heartbreak playlists on Spotify, combining Taylor Swift songs with a selection of my own taste to fit her message.
As soon as The Tortured Poets Department was announced at the Grammys this past February, her fans, popularly known as Swifties, decided to use their investigative skills to theorize the themes and the lyrical content of the album before the release. Taylor Swift also likes to use the “Surprise Song” portion of her Eras Tour shows to leave hidden messages, and for her Australia and Singapore tour dates, she announced different variants of the new album with a song that matches the cover lyrics thematically. The original cover she announced at the Grammys had the lyrics “I love you, it’s ruining my life”, yet as she revealed the alternate covers, new lyrics started to unfold. She then announced variants “The Bolter” with lyrics “You don’t get to tell me about sad”, “The Albatross” with “Am I allowed to cry?”, and “The Black Dog” with “Old habits die screaming” all present on the cover artwork.
With these four album covers accompanied by those specific lyrics, Swifties began to do their usual pre-album theorizing. Although The Tortured Poets Department is widely speculated to be about Swift’s breakup from her ex-boyfriend of 6 years Joe Alwyn, it wasn't until the tracklist was revealed that we were able to get a full picture of what TTPD will be about thematically. In particular, track 13 (Taylor’s lucky number is 13) on The Tortured Poets Department is titled “I Can Do It With A Broken Heart”, alluding to the fact that this album will be about the stages of her breakup with her long-term partner. Combined with the four variants and focus lyrics, a common theory began to emerge in the Swiftie community: The Tortured Poets Department is a representation of the 5 stages of grief in a breakup.
Well, what exactly are the 5 stages of grief? The 5 stages of grief are known as denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. In a relationship context, this can be representative of the stages of grief in a breakup: being in denial that the relationship won’t work out, the anger of how the end is unfolding, bargaining to keep the relationship alive, the depression of losing someone you love, and the acceptance of the end of the relationship. As soon as Swifties realized that the 5 stages of grief could pertain to the themes of The Tortured Poets Department, they instantly pinpointed the variants and tracklist as indicative of Taylor going through the five stages of heartbreak through this album. Some five stages of heartbreak theories relate back to Taylor Swift’s last five studio album releases, with Lover, the album about her relationship with Alwyn as denial, rooted in “imagination” folklore and evermore as anger and bargaining, revisiting her past with Midnights as depression, and the upcoming The Tortured Poets Department as acceptance. There is plausibility in both of these theories, and Taylor Swift seemed to notice.
As part of her TTPD promo with Apple Music, Taylor Swift acknowledged the 5 stages of grief fan theories by creating five separate exclusive playlists consisting of songs from her discography (that she owns, so nothing off of reputation or Taylor Swift). Starting off with denial and “I Love You, It’s Ruining My Life.” Taylor threw Swifties for a loop when one of the most popular wedding first dance songs and overall ode to love, “Lover”, was on there. Accompanied by arguably the ultimate denial song “Lavender Haze” from Midnights and songs that screams “my heart says yes, but my head is saying are you sure?” “Style”,“Cruel Summer,” and “Treacherous.” (We will cover the latter later)
On the anger playlist “You Don’t Get to Tell Me About Sad”, Taylor showcases all of her songs filled with rage to madness. Filled with classic fan favorites such as “Dear John” and “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”, to songs from the folklore/evermore collection such as “tolerate it” and “illicit affairs”, we truly get to hear the mad woman. Notably on this playlist of folklore is “exile”, co-written with her now-ex Joe Alwyn, which is indicative of the true anger she experienced during that time.
On the “Am I Allowed to Cry?” playlist, representing bargaining, the collection of songs resemble someone fighting to keep a relationship alive and feel better about the situation at hand. “Cornelia Street” a song about Taylor hoping to never lose Joe, is a standout chosen to be featured on this playlist. Alongside that, songs like “Say Don’t Go” and “The Other Side Of The Door” showcase the range of emotions that someone bargaining is going through: at what cost can someone keep going like this.
“Old Habits Die Screaming”, representing depression, is a compilation of quintessential Taylor Swift breakup songs. Taylor Swift uses nostalgia as a vehicle to evoke strong emotions, hence “All Too Well”, “Last Kiss”, and “right where you left me” symbolize the sadness of remembering. Another Taylor-Joe co-write, “champagne problems”, is also on there, is a melancholic recount of the end.
The final stage, acceptance, is indicative of coming to terms with love lost and being at peace with oneself in the aftermath, with the playlist “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” The songs about moving on and healing from her discography are very much present here, including “Clean”, “Begin Again”, “long story short”, and “closure.” Notable inclusions on this playlist also include “Daylight”, the closing track from Lover in which Taylor says “I wanna be the defined by the things I love,” and “You’re On Your Own, Kid”, with cathartic lyric “everything you lose is a step you take.” Taylor Swift showing the fans that she has found peace through her music makes this theory whole.
Upon listening to these playlists that Taylor made, I realized that a lot of the heartbreak related music I listen to also can fit in one of these five playlists. And I do love curating a good playlist, even five of them, so I decided to make the 5 Stages Of Heartbreak (Alethea’s Version) in anticipation for TTPD.
Focus Tracks: “Treacherous” by Taylor Swift, “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” by Taylor Swift, “Diet Mountain Dew” by Lana Del Rey
Out of all of the playlists I curated, this one was the hardest to not exclusively have Taylor Swift songs on it. On Taylor’s denial playlist, most Swifties were taken aback by the inclusion of “Lover.” Me on the other hand, was shocked that Taylor included “Treacherous”, one of my all-time favorite Taylor Swift songs. Highlighting that song is a part of denial less touched upon: torn between your head and heart in a situation that leaves your heart unguarded. I also included “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” on it: while on the “falling in love” album reputation, this song in my opinion reveals cracks at the surface from the beginning. From my personal taste, I put on my heart shaped sunglasses to include “Diet Mountain Dew” by Swift-collaborator and prolific songwriter Lana Del Rey, with the lyrics, “Do you think we’ll be in love forever?”
Focus Tracks: “illicit affairs” by Taylor Swift, “Haunted” by Taylor Swift, “Casual” by Chappell Roan
Anger manifests itself in many ways throughout the music I listen to: from rage to agony to resentment. Taylor herself has showcased her anger with her pen, with lyrics from focus track “illicit affairs”, “Don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby” releasing pent up rage in this show stopping bridge. “Haunted”, another favorite Taylor track of mine also represents a fresh wound, and although Taylor put it on the bargaining playlist, the themes of the song overlap with anger as well from my personal standpoint. Anger also can lead towards self-hatred and bitterness, with the inclusion of “Casual” by Chappell Roan reflecting all of those emotions, no matter how serious the relationship is in the eye of the beholder.
Focus Tracks: “Say Don’t Go” by Taylor Swift, “All You Had To Do Was Stay” by Taylor Swift, “Cool About It” by Boygenius
Bargaining is such a complex emotion, so this playlist has a wide range of songs. From fighting for the relationship, to questioning yourself and your feelings, the songs I chose encapsulate this particular struggle. “Say Don’t Go” off of Taylor’s playlist, accompanied by “All You Had To Do Was Stay” on the same sides of the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) coin encompass this feeling. These songs deal with not wanting to lose someone, even if they don’t harbor the love you want from them. It makes you ask yourself “Why?” And because this playlist deals with negotiating with yourself, I put “Cool About It” by boygenius front and center. And after you are “trying to be cool about it”, you can listen to “Waiting Room” by Phoebe Bridgers right after on the playlist. And yes: you are allowed to cry.
Focus Tracks: “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift, “right where you left me” by Taylor Swift, “Liability” by Lorde.
Once you have sulked hard enough to the bargaining playlist, it’s time to enter the depression. This combination of songs from Taylor Swift and other artists is the ultimate “sad girl playlist”, and it is the essence of being stuck in your feelings. Both of my Taylor Swift focus tracks are on her playlists: the former, “All Too Well”, is the magnum opus of Taylor Swift’s discography. A big theme of the song is focusing on “the remembering”, as the song tells a vivid tale of remembering it “All Too Well” in a way that only nostalgia makes us feel. And even if “time won’t fly, it’s like I’m paralyzed by it.”, it can lead you to be “right where you left me”, for those “still at the restaurant.” While a lot of songs on my playlist focus on the inability to move on, one depression track I chose, “Liability” by Lorde is about wallowing in self-hatred way beyond the bargaining stage, self-criticizing to the point beyond no return.
Focus Tracks: “You’re On Your Own, Kid” by Taylor Swift, “Clean” by Taylor Swift, “Fine Line” by Harry Styles
Acceptance in the context of this playlist spans many things: finally letting go and moving on for what’s no longer serving you, accepting that a situation is over for good, and even shining brighter than ever before. “You’re On Your Own, Kid” as mentioned earlier, is demonstrative of how loss and things not working out the way they should is imperative for growth, and there’s no reason to be afraid of change. “Clean” is another cathartic Taylor Swift song: along with “Begin Again” in her discography, it represents the feeling of finally moving on from the situation that has been dragging you down. When creating this playlist based off of my own tastes, one particular lyric resonated with the theme of acceptance: “We’ll be alright”, off of “Fine Line” by Harry Styles. The entire 6 minutes of that song coupled with the build-up to the majestic ending is a symbol that everything will be alright, and encapsulates acceptance.
With all of that being said, looking at The Tortured Poets Department through the 5 Stages Of Heartbreak lens adds to the future consumption of the album, and I am very much looking forward to dissecting this album when it comes out on Friday.
Stay turned for more of the Tortured Poets series coming soon!
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