QUIZ: Is this a lyric from 2000s emo or The Tortured Poets Department?
The Tortured Poets Department is basically the name for emo kids in high school
Taylor Swift released The Tortured Poets Department at 9pm PST last Thursday and ever since, I’ve been…warming up to it! I genuinely believe there is something in Taylor Swift’s music a la Josie and the Pussycats’ subliminal messaging where even if you don’t like it at first, it will follow you, track you down and turn you into a fan. Some people are more susceptible than others, but it’s pretty powerful on me. I didn’t think I was a fan of this album(s) at first, but every day, I seek it out and find new favorites.1
Another powerful trend with Taylor Swift’s recent music is that it’s getting more emo by the album. It’s always had shades, but since 2020’s Folklore, she has just full on leaned in. She is writing lyrics that Ben Gibbard is probably stewing over. She is a metaphor possessed poet who has always had a penchant for spite. Musically, she is still steeped in Antonoffian synths, but lyrically, she is LiveJournal.
As a seasoned emo fan, I love this turn for Taylor. I love drama, and I was a poetry major for two years before being talked out of it by someone in the non-tortured poets department (otherwise known as a career counselor).
Her lyrics are basically becoming the same lyrics I carved into my desk in high school. In fact, I bet most people could not tell the difference between a Taylor Swift TTPD lyric and 2000s emo. So I made a quiz to prove it.
“Fortnight” is my favorite by far, but I also love “But Daddy I Love Him,” “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)”, “The Black Dog” and “So High School.”