Music
Taylor Swift’s New Album Might Be One Big History Lesson
The Tortured Poets Department is seemingly inspired by historical events and women.
Taylor Swift wears a lot of hats, from singer-songwriter and performer to director and actor. But if some theories about her upcoming 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, turn out to be correct, then she just might be about to add history professor to her resume.
While Swift’s Tortured Poets tracklist may look like a Joe Alwyn breakup album on the surface, it actually contains a lot of historical references, from a Disney Princess to women who seemingly made an impact on Swift. With each new bonus track announcement, this focus becomes clearer, with fans linking song titles back to unsung women and overlooked events in history.
Granted, there’s a possibility that Swift’s song titles are red herrings, but it’s becoming likely that Tortured Poets may just be one big history lesson, which is emphasized by the academic, English-scholar vibes of the album’s merch and visuals thus far.
If her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore emphasized fictional narratives, with Swift crafting tales about infidelity, hometown flings, and high school love triangles, then Tortured Poets seems primed to be their historical non-fiction counterpart. Read on for all of the Easter eggs that point toward this theory.
“The Albatross”
When Swift unveiled the third Tortured Poets bonus track, “The Albatross,” during her Feb. 23 show in Sydney, fans linked it back to an unusual event in New York history. In 1903, a fire erupted at Coney Island’s Albatross Hotel, situated at the west end of the Bowery, which was said to have been started by a former employee who pined after a woman that was in love with the hotel’s owner.
After announcing “The Albatross,” Swift sang “Coney Island” from evermore, seemingly hinting at the new song’s origins. Additionally, the reference to the Bowery points back to Alwyn, who used William Bowery as his pen name when he co-wrote songs with Swift on her past three albums, folklore, evermore, and Midnights.
“The Bolter”
After Swift announced the album’s second bonus track, “The Bolter,” some Reddit fans connected the song to Lady Idina Sackville, a member of Kenya’s Happy Valley Set in the 1930s. She got married and divorced five times in her lifetime, earning her the “Bolter” nickname. Sackville’s great-granddaughter Frances Osborne even wrote a book about her ancestor entitled The Bolter.
While there are no known direct connections between Swift and Sackville, fans speculate that the new song could draw parallels between Sackville’s life and her own public reputation.
“Clara Bow”
The album’s final track, “Clara Bow,” seems to be named after the late actor. Bow rose to fame in the 1920s as a silent film star, and was even one of the first women to be called an “It Girl” before she retired from acting in 1933.
Like many stars that came after her, Bow’s love life was a huge tabloid focus even in the ’20s. Swift knows that sensation all too well (pun intended). Even Bow’s family, who weren’t aware of the song in advance, noted similarities between her and Swift to People.
“But Daddy I Love Him”
When Swift announced the Tortured Poets tracklist, fans immediately connected “But Daddy I Love Him” back to Ariel in The Little Mermaid. When the Disney Princess’ father, King Triton, attempts to ban Ariel from going to the surface to see Prince Eric, she tells him the infamous line, “But daddy, I love him,” and later sacrifices her voice to become human.
Swift is a proven Little Mermaid fan, having dressed up as Ariel for a New Year’s Eve party in 2019, so it’s likely that “But Daddy I Love Him” was inspired by Ariel’s story and connects to her own life, with many fans speculating that the song is one of many that could be about Alwyn.
