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The Prophecy

Bonus Track | THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY (2024)

“The Prophecy” is track twenty-six on THE ANTHOLOGY, the double album edition of Taylor’s eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024). Taylor delivers a desperate plea, reflecting on the pain of her past relationships. She expresses the feeling of being cursed or destined for heartache, as if her romantic misfortunes are written in the stars. Through the song, she earnestly begs for a change in her life’s “prophecy,” longing for a love that is unwavering and unbroken.

Background and Release

Taylor started working on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, Midnights (2022) for release and continued working on it in secrecy throughout the first US leg of “The Eras Tour” in 2023. She reflected on the creation of the record as a “lifeline” for her, as it took place amidst countless media reports on her personal life and her relationships with Joe Alwyn, Matty Healy, and Travis Kelce:

«TORTURED POETS is an album that I think, more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me, just the things I was going through, and the things I was writing about. It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life. And I’ve never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I’d needed it on TORTURED POETS.»

Taylor Swift

“The Prophecy” is part of the double-album edition of the record, THE ANTHOLOGY, which was released digitally on April 19, shortly after the standard edition.

Lyrical Theme

In “The Prophecy,” Taylor delves into themes of fate, heartbreak, and personal growth, examining the cyclical nature of her romantic struggles. The song is rich with biblical and mythological imagery, such as the idea of being cursed or destined to face trials, underscoring her feeling that she’s at the mercy of fate. While she’s often an unwavering romantic, always hopeful that love will find her again, in this moment, Taylor has given up. Like tragic figures in mythology, she likens herself to someone at rock bottom, howling at the moon like a wolf, having lost all faith that the stars will ever align for her. Trapped by an inevitable “prophecy” that predicts heartache, she questions whether her struggles are simply bad luck or an unbreakable fate.

Amid this sense of being stuck, Taylor expresses a profound yearning for a love that transcends her past pain, hoping for solace and transformation at long last.

Live Performances

“The Prophecy” received its first live performance acoustically on guitar on June 2, 2024, in Madrid during one of Taylor’s shows on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). She mashed it up with “long story short” (2020). In Indianapolis on November 2, 2024, she paired it with “This Love” (2014) on acoustic guitar, which led to the lyric, “These hands had to let it go free to change the prophecy.“

Critical Reception

“The Prophecy” has been praised for its emotional depth and vulnerability. Capital FM described it as “one of the most emotional songs on THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT,” highlighting its devastating lyrics that delve into themes of fate and heartache. American Songwriter noted that the song features “stunning songwriting bouts,” with Taylor submitting a plea to a higher power in hopes of changing her romantic fate.

Commercial Performance

Upon the album’s release, “The Prophecy” debuted and peaked at No. 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100, during the chart week ending on May 4, 2024.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Hand on the throttle
Thought I caught lightning in a bottle
Oh, but it’s gone again
And it was written
I got cursed like Eve got bitten
Oh, was it punishment?

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Pad around when I get home
I guess a lesser woman would’ve lost hope
A greater woman wouldn’t beg
But I looked to the sky and said

[Chorus]
Please
I’ve been on my knees
Change the prophecy
Don’t want money
Just someone who wants my company
Let it once be me
Who do I have to speak to
About if they can redo
The prophecy?

[Verse 2]
Cards on thе table
Mine play out like fools in a fablе, oh
It was sinking in
Slow is the quicksand
Poison blood from the wound of the pricked hand
Oh, still I dream of him

[Chorus]
Please
I’ve been on my knees
Change the prophecy
Don’t want money
Just someone who wants my company
Let it once be me
Who do I have to speak to
About if they can redo
The prophecy?

[Bridge]
And I sound like an infant
Feeling like the very last drops of an ink pen
A greater woman stays cool
But I howl like a wolf at the moon
And I look unstable
Gathered with a coven around a sorceress’ table
A greater woman has faith
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
In shades of greige
Spending my last coin so someone will tell me
It’ll be okay

[Final Chorus]
Please
I’ve been on my knees
Change the prophecy
Don’t want money
Just someone who wants my company
Let it once be me
Who do I have to speak to
About if they can redo
The prophecy?

[Post-Chorus]
Who do I have to speak to
To change the prophecy?

[Outro]
Hand on the throttle
Thought I caught lightning in a bottle, oh
But it’s gone again
Pad around when I get home
I guess a lesser woman would’ve lost hope
A greater woman wouldn’t beg
But I looked to the sky and said
Please