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The clock struck 2am on release night of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT and my delusional refresh of Taylor Swift's Spotify page resulted in stunning black cover art and the words THE ANTHOLOGY flashing before my eyes. "It's a double album. IT'S A DOUBLE ALBUM!"
While the first chapter of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT leans towards tumultuous, rich synth-pop, THE ANTHOLOGY is more darkly poetic, crushingly soul-baring, and instrumentally majestic indie-alternative, with Swift's masterful skill of storytelling never shining brighter. Unlike the original album, dominantly produced by Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner leads the charge on THE ANTHOLOGY, expertly weaving layers of simple-yet-intricate instrumentation to bring Taylor's anecdotes, myths, romances, and poems to life. But much like the first installment of the album, THE ANTHOLOGY cannot be properly understood, or even inferred, after a listen or two - these are tales to be heard and deciphered for years to come until it's considered a lyrical literary classic.
Stand-out tracks: "How Did It End?" "The Prophecy" "Cassandra" "Peter"
My favorites: "The Black Dog" "So High School" "The Bolter" "The Manuscript"
Old Habits Die Screaming
Starting THE ANTHOLOGY with "The Black Dog" makes it immediately clear that these aren't just throw-away tracks, they're deep-rooted in vivid storytelling and tangible emotion that pair perfectly with the original album. The final straw of heartbreak on "The Black Dog" is Taylor's shudder of breath at the end of the lyric, "And I still can't believe it/Cause old habits die screaming."
Easily overlooked when surrounded by a work as colossal as THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY, soft-spoken "I Look In People's Windows" incorporates immersive elements like hushed twitters of birds and simplistic acoustic melodies to illustrate the isolation and irrationality of searching for familiarity in the faces and behaviors of strangers. "I look in people's windows/In case you're at their table/What if your eyes looked up and met mine/One more time?" is as striking and uncertain as the feeling it's meant to depict.
I Love You, It's Ruining My Life
Coming out of "How Did It End?," "So High School" is like the "Begin Again" at the conclusion of 2012's Red - it's the glimmer of hope, the heartwarming joy of new love, the belief that all the pain can lead to something beautiful. Each little anecdotal detail illustrates that "You knew what you wanted/And, boy, you got her" in the sweetest, most starry-eyed way.
A youthful, star-crossed romance meets its fateful end in piano ballad "Peter;" there is sorrow in each repetition of the song's hook, "Said you were gonna grow up/Then you were gonna come find me." And the tragedy of the story doesn't end there: "The shelf life of those fantasies has expired/Lost to the lost boys chapter of your life/Forgive me Peter, please know that I tried."
You Don't Get to Tell Me About Sad
Weaving the mythological tale of "Cassandra" into the story of THE ANTHOLOGY, Taylor inadvertently compares herself and her professional misfortunes to the Greek prophetess who was cursed to foretell the future but never believed, ultimately resulting in irreparable destruction. "Blood's thick but nothing like a payroll/Bet they never spared a prayer for my soul/You can mark my words that I said it first/In a mourning warning no one heard." This one serves as one of the many truly literary allusions in THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY, solidifying its deep-rooted intellectual brilliance.
Am I Allowed to Cry?
Taylor Swift has always masterfully crafted heartbreak into her songwriting. So if THE ANTHOLOGY is considered a second album in any way, the fifth track (if you know) is "How Did It End?." This might be the most devastating track she's penned in her entire career; the piano instrumental is ghostly and the lyrical illustration of the isolating spiral in the aftermath of a separation is tragically vivid. And the bridge speaks for itself: "Say it once again with feeling/How the death rattle breathing/Silenced as the soul was leaving/The deflation of our dreaming/Leaving me bereft and reeling/My beloved ghost and me/Sitting in a tree/D-Y-I-N-G."
While the prior may be the most devastating heartbreak track we've heard from Taylor, "The Prophecy" is a different kind of sad, one that is hopeless, desperate, and begging the question "Oh, was it punishment?" There is no despair like the loss of time come and gone: "But even statues crumble if they're made to wait/I'm so afraid I sealed my fate/No sign of soulmates/I'm just a paperweight."
An ode to childhood dreams, imagination, and naivete, "Robin" (likely inspired by Dessner's daughter of the same name), is soft yet powerful, hopeful yet heartwrenching. With its childlike imagery ("You have a favorite spot on the swing set/You have no room in your dreams for regret") and resounding piano production, "Robin" is a true light amongst the dark.
The illustrious achievement that is THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY concludes with "The Manuscript." For an album that holds so much power in its words, finding a way to accurately explain why this is the most exquisite, complementary resolution to this work of art is challenging. It's intimate, it's transformative, it's quite simply poetic. After over two hours of music on the full album, Taylor concludes THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT with one final introspection:
"And at last/She knew what the agony had been for/The only thing that's left is the manuscript/One last souvenir from my trip to your shores/Now and then I re-read the manuscript/But the story isn't mine anymore."
AM I OBSESSED?
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