Two hours after releasing her highly anticipated album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” Taylor Swift announced a big surprise: It’s a double album.
“I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs,” Swift posted on Instagram at 2 a.m. ET. “And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”
Among the 15 extra songs were four previously announced bonus tracks — “The Manuscript,” “The Bolter,” “The Albatross” and “The Black Dog,” which were set to be available on separate physical album variants. Now, they and 11 more tortured tracks make up the second installment of “TTPD.”
The 2 a.m. surprise drop might not have been so shocking for all devoted Swifties, as the pop star started subtly hinting toward the timetable a few days ago. First, inside the Spotify library installation promoting the release, which popped up on Tuesday at the Grove in Los Angeles, Swift left her first easter egg: the clock above the card catalogue was set to 2:00. Plus among the knick-knacks on the bookshelves was a peace sign, which she’d flashed at the Grammys back in February while announcing that she’d been keeping this album a secret for two years. Then, on Wednesday, Swift released a teaser video that tracked the transition from her “Midnights” era to the “Tortured Poets Department.” The clip begins on a wall clock set to 2:00. Finally, just as Swift released the album at midnight on Friday, a mysterious two-hour countdown appeared hidden on her Instagram profile.
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Upon a deep dive into the new tracks’ lyrics, a few songs stood out. One track titled “thanK you aIMee” is styled with a captial K, I and M, leading many on social media to believe the diss track is about Kim Kardashian and their longtime public feud. Swift sings “Your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you,” which some think is a reference to a TikTok posted by Kardashian’s daughter, North West, signing “Shake It Off.”
On the track “So High School,” Swift pauses to celebrate the good times, describing how she feels “so high school every time I look at you,” presumably talking about her current love, NFL champion Travis Kelce. We made this connection after the “ball” mention: “I’m watching ‘American Pie’ with you on a Saturday night. Your friends are around, so be quiet I’m trying to stifle my sighs.” And later, “Truth, dare, spin bottles. You know how to ball, I know Aristotle. Brand new, full throttle. Touch me while your bros play ‘Grand Theft Auto.’”
Below is the tracklist for the surprise second half:
“The Black Dog”
“imgonnagetyouback”
“The Albatross”
“Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus”
“How Did It End?”
“So High School”
“I Hate It Here”
“thanK you aIMee”
“I Look in People’s Windows”
“The Prophecy”
“Cassandra”
“Peter”
“The Bolter”
“Robin”
“The Manuscript”
