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The Tortured Poets Department

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024)

“The Tortured Poets Department” is track two on Taylor’s eleventh studio album, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (2024). Co-written and produced by Taylor and Jack Antonoff, the song satirizes a relationship between two self-important artists who see themselves as lauded modern-day poets.

Background and Release

Taylor started writing THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT immediately after she submitted her tenth studio album, Midnights, in early 2022. She continued working on it in secrecy throughout the US leg of “The Eras Tour” in early 2023. The album’s conception took place when her personal life was once again a widely covered topic in the press. Two significant events changed her life during this period: the end of her relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, and the short-lived romance with English singer-songwriter Matty Healy immediately afterwards. Taylor described THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT as her “lifeline” during this time, and as an album which she “really needed” to make:

«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 titular track, “The Tortured Poets Department” seems to reference Taylor’s relationship with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, tracing its lifespan and the complex emotions it invited.

Lyrical Theme

The song portrays a tumultuous relationship with an unpredictable and emotionally unstable partner. The “Tortured Poets Department” serves as a metaphor for the his erratic, self-destructive tendencies. Taylor describes her relationship with him as equally chaotic and “crazy,” implying that their compatibility stems from their shared emotional turbulence as so-called “tortured poets.” However, the lyrics carry a satirical tone—Taylor juxtaposes their self-perceived artistry with literary greats like Dylan Thomas and Patti Smith, only to mockingly label herself and her lover as “modern idiots,” a self-aware critique of their artistic pretensions.

One of the song’s central symbols is a typewriter, introduced in the opening lines. This detail is significant, as Matty Healy’s well-documented attachment to his typewriter—once listing it among his essential possessions—adds an autobiographical layer to the lyrics. Within the song, the abandoned typewriter becomes a tangible representation of the relationship’s downfall.

Notably, “The Tortured Poets Department” name-drops several contemporary musicians. Charlie Puth is mentioned explicitly by his full name, while “Lucy” and “Jack” are references to singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus—best known as a member of the band boygenius alongside Phoebe Bridgers, who collaborated with Taylor on the song “Nothing New“—and producer Jack Antonoff, one of Taylor’s most trusted creative partners. Lucy, also a close friend of Matty Healy, addressed the lyric in a 2025 interview, saying:

«She actually texted me and asked for my approval. I pushed 'Play' on the album just like, 'Oh, this is so crazy!' This is the first Taylor record to come out since meeting her, and listening to a friend's record feels so much different than a stranger's record. So I was like, 'This is really weird. This voice that I've heard basically what feels like my whole waking life saying my name.' It was definitely an experience. I sat down and I was like, 'Huh. Wow.' But I think that that record of hers is super open-hearted, and I don't know how many people at her level, if anyone is at her level, are writing from the heart that openly.»

Lucy Dacus

Production

Music critics have drawn comparisons between the song’s production and the signature sounds of the 1980s. “The Tortured Poets Department” is a midtempo track blending synth-pop and pop-rock elements with indie pop influences. Its rich production is anchored by a steady drumbeat and enveloped in lush, layered synths that shimmer with a nostalgic, retro quality.

Live Performances

“The Tortured Poets Department” received its first live performance acoustically on guitar on May 25, 2024, in Lisbon during one of Taylor’s shows on “The Eras Tour” (2023-2024). She mashed it up with “Now That We Don’t Talk” (2023). During the tour’s final weekend on December 7, 2024, she paired the song with “Maroon” (2022) in Vancouver.

Critical Reception

Most music journalists complimented the production of “The Tortured Poets Department”. Billboard‘s Jason Lipsthuz highlighted the “light and unobtrusive” drums that leave space for Taylor’s voice and describing the sound as a “synth fantasia”. Tom Breihan of Stereogum praised the song as an earworm and selected it as one of the album’s well-constructed tracks. Webb contended that the track contains “unchartered sonic ground” for Taylor, specifically praising the nostalgic 1980s production by Antonoff. Lindsay Zoladz, writing for The New York Times, described “The Tortured Poets Department” as a “chatty, radiant” song that effectively portrays “the flushed delirium of a doomed romance”.

Commercial Performance

Upon the album’s release, “The Tortured Poets Department” debuted at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, during the chart week ending on May 4, 2024. Internatioally, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached the Top 10 on charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and the UK.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You left your typewriter at my apartment
Straight from the Tortured Poets Department
I think some things I never say
Like “Who uses typewriters anyway?”
But you’re in self-sabotage mode
Throwing spikes down on the road
But I’ve seen this episode
And still loved the show
Who else decodes you?

[Chorus 1]
And who’s gonna hold you like me?
And who’s gonna know you, if not me?
I laughed in your face and said,
“You’re not Dylan Thomas.
I’m not Patti Smith.
This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel.
We’rе modern idiots.”
And who’s gonna hold you like me?
Nobody.
Nofuckinbody.
Nobody.

[Verse 2]
You smokеd then ate seven bars of chocolate
We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist
I scratch your head, you fall asleep
Like a tattooed Golden Retriever
But you awaken with dread
Pounding nails in your head
But I’ve read this one
Where you come undone
I chose this cyclone with you.

[Chorus 2]
And who’s gonna hold you like me?
And who’s gonna know you like me?
I laughed in your face and said,
“You’re not Dylan Thomas.
I’m not Patti Smith.
This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel.
We’re modern idiots.”
And who’s gonna hold you like me?
Nofuckinbody.
Nobody.
Nobody.

[Bridge]
Sometimes I wonder if you’re gonna screw this up with me
But you told Lucy you’d kill yourself if I ever leave
And I had said that to Jack about you so I felt seen
Everyone we know understands
Why it’s meant to be
Cause we’re…Crazy.
So tell me
Who else is gonna know me?
At dinner you take my ring off my middle finger and put it on the one
People put wedding rings on
And that’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding
Who’s gonna hold you?
Me.
Who’s gonna know you?
Me.

[Final Chorus]
“And you’re not Dylan Thomas.
I’m not Patti Smith.
This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel.
We’re two idiots.”
Who’s gonna hold you?
Who’s gonna hold you,
Gonna know you
Gonna troll you?

[Outro]
You left your typewriter at my apartment
Straight from the Tortured Poets Department
Who else decodes you?

Artist

Taylor Swift

Album

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

Released

April 19, 2024

Recorded

2023

Studios

Conway (Los Angeles)
Electric Lady (New York City)
Hutchinson Sound (Brooklyn)
Big Mercy Sound (Brooklyn)
Pleasure Hill (Portland)
Audu Music Studio (Brooklyn)
Sterling Sound (Edgewater)

Genre

Synth Pop

Length

4:53

Label

Republic Records

Songwriters

Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff

Producers

Jack Antonoff
Taylor Swift