album Taylor Swift - 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT'

[wastedpotential]

1 hour ago, Klein said:

The Alchemy isn't a Travvy song . Actually if it was, it would make sense to put it post-TSMWEL (albeit the transition is a bit brutal). But I guess you're right. SLL -> TSMWEL is a coherent storyline (if you remove WAOLOM). 

Who do you think The Alchemy is about then because in my head the football references are tooooo on the nose to be some sort of misdirection 

[wastedpotential]

1 hour ago, every1blinks said:

I've never understood the whiplash allegations. Bops come after sad songs or two separate stories/experience are consecutive on almost every album, so maybe it's something I just accepted.

 

I also personally get a kii out of things like All Too Well > 22 bc it's giving

and if that's not indicative of pulling yourself up by your boot strings, then 

Truly the only one that bothers me is "I hope my mother doesn't die of cancer" going RIGHT to juicycoochie.mp3 without a HINT of shame 

[Klein]

4 minutes ago, wastedpotential said:

Who do you think The Alchemy is about then because in my head the football references are tooooo on the nose to be some sort of misdirection 

I mean, it's not like it's the first time she's going off on sports reference, she's used everything attached to school for her entire career. The Alchemy is all about going back to something/someone from your past. I just don't see how it can actually be about Travis considering that, since they hadn't met prior to them getting together. The song is about the Rat for me (unfortunately ). 

[wastedpotential]

1 minute ago, Klein said:

I mean, it's not like it's the first time she's going off on sports reference, she's used everything attached to school for her entire career. The Alchemy is all about going back to something/someone from your past. I just don't see how it can actually be about Travis considering that, since they hadn't met prior to them getting together. The song is about the Rat for me (unfortunately ). 

Ah yeah I understand that perspective.

 

I personally choose to interpret it as a Travis song because A) she basically compares whoever came before (in this case Matty) to a mental hospital stay (which I think fits the rest of the album well), B) "these blokes warm the benches" really only makes sense to me as a reference to all of the British men she'd been with before getting back with an American because "bloke" is quite literally not a part of the American vocabulary (and really, Harry -> (Matty?) -> Calvin -> Tom -> Joe -> Matty is quite the streak), and C) the bridge is just too dumb jock coded to be about a heroin twink 

[Matchatea]

23 minutes ago, wastedpotential said:

Truly the only one that bothers me is "I hope my mother doesn't die of cancer" going RIGHT to juicycoochie.mp3 without a HINT of shame 

I guess you can say ppl grieve differently in emotional situations. 

[Klein]

13 minutes ago, wastedpotential said:

I personally choose to interpret it as a Travis song because A) she basically compares whoever came before (in this case Matty) to a mental hospital stay (which I think fits the rest of the album well)

That's actually one of the other reasons that make me think it's about Matty. To me the hospital reference is pointing to Joe, because she describes it as a "drag". For all the **** Matty has done, if there's one thing we can't take away from him is that he was anything but boring. Meanwhile Joe (at least at the end of the relationship, from what we can gather in SLL, FOTS...) 

 

The heroin line is also something that gives Matty away to me. Like, known drug addict joking about drugs makes perfect sense. Travis as someone taking drugs? No way in hell. 

 

But I agree, the use of the football reference for a song about Matty is quite strange considering that she ended with Travis right after. But I think for once it's just a coincidence. 

 

Spoiler

And also I'd be extremely scared about TS12 if the only two songs she had wrote about Travis up until now couldn't give anything more than "oh look he plays football". 

 

Edited September 25 by Klein

[wastedpotential]

1 minute ago, Klein said:

That's actually one of the other reasons that make me think it's about Matty. To me the hospital reference is pointing to Joe, because she describes it as a "drag". For all the **** Matty has done, if there's one thing we can't take away from him is that he was anything but boring. Meanwhile Joe (at least at the end of the relationship, from what we can gather in SLL, FOTS...) 

 

The heroin line is also something that gives Matty away to me. Like, known drug addict joking about drugs makes perfect sense. Travis as someone taking drugs? No way in hell. 

 

But I agree, the use of the football reference for a song about Matty is quite strange considering that she ended with Travis right after. But I think for once it's just a coincidence. 

I suppose the entire point of the record is that these relationships all blur together to some degree (you cannot convince me, for instance, that songs like loml aren't about both Hobo and Ratty at the same time), and she literally teased it with the red herring ****, so I think it being open to interpretation was probably by design 

[Klein]

Just now, wastedpotential said:

I suppose the entire point of the record is that these relationships all blur together to some degree (you cannot convince me, for instance, that songs like loml aren't about both Hobo and Ratty at the same time), and she literally teased it with the red herring ****, so I think it being open to interpretation was probably by design 

Well all the songs are always going be just up for speculation anyway, that I agree with (except some very very very obvious ones, like Style ).

 

And I also completely agree that she has become a master at writing songs about multiple things at once (and we love hoax for starting the tradition in a sense ). Even though I think loml is more directed towards the Rat, I can definitely see the Hobo be there in the writing too. The Alchemy might also be inspired by Travis, on top of Ratty, that I can get behind. It's just that the bulk of the song points hard to Ratty to me so I'm more inclined to think it's about him when I listen to the song (because my poor little brain cannot create a scenario with both guys at the same time). 

[Matchatea]

Off topic, so ignore me if needed, but anyone else really like gonnagethimback? I think it's my favourite along with who's afraid but I haven't met alot of people who like it. 

[Klein]

1 minute ago, Matchatea said:

Off topic, so ignore me if needed, but anyone else really like gonnagethimback? I think it's my favourite along with who's afraid but I haven't met alot of people who like it. 

From what I gathered it's a beloved track overall. But I'm not the biggest fan. 

[wastedpotential]

2 minutes ago, Klein said:

Well all the songs are always going be just up for speculation anyway, that I agree with (except some very very very obvious ones, like Style ).

 

And I also completely agree that she has become a master at writing songs about multiple things at once (and we love hoax for starting the tradition in a sense ). Even though I think loml is more directed towards the Rat, I can definitely see the Hobo be there in the writing too. The Alchemy might also be inspired by Travis, on top of Ratty, that I can get behind. It's just that the bulk of the song points hard to Ratty to me so I'm more inclined to think it's about him when I listen to the song (because my poor little brain cannot create a scenario with both guys at the same time). 

And if I told you Style is actually about Karlie Kloss because she's a model 

[wastedpotential]

2 minutes ago, Matchatea said:

Off topic, so ignore me if needed, but anyone else really like gonnagethimback? I think it's my favourite along with who's afraid but I haven't met alot of people who like it. 

I think it's pretty highly liked. It's not in my top 10 (mostly because I think the verses are a bit of a drag) but I love the bridge so much 

[Matchatea]

Just now, Klein said:

From what I gathered it's a beloved track overall. But I'm not the biggest fan. 

I see slander a lot about that track, so was wondering if I was missing anything.  I love a lot of the songs on this album, however I don't think it's in my top three.

 

[Klein]

3 minutes ago, wastedpotential said:

And if I told you Style is actually about Karlie Kloss because she's a model 

I mean she does have that James Dean daydream look in her eyes 

[Matchatea]

1 minute ago, wastedpotential said:

And if I told you Style is actually about Karlie Kloss because she's a model 

Long hair, slick back, white t-shirt….

 

would she wear this to dinner with the Kushners? 

[wastedpotential]

7 minutes ago, Klein said:

Well all the songs are always going be just up for speculation anyway, that I agree with (except some very very very obvious ones, like Style ).

 

And I also completely agree that she has become a master at writing songs about multiple things at once (and we love hoax for starting the tradition in a sense ). Even though I think loml is more directed towards the Rat, I can definitely see the Hobo be there in the writing too. The Alchemy might also be inspired by Travis, on top of Ratty, that I can get behind. It's just that the bulk of the song points hard to Ratty to me so I'm more inclined to think it's about him when I listen to the song (because my poor little brain cannot create a scenario with both guys at the same time). 

 

3 minutes ago, wastedpotential said:

And if I told you Style is actually about Karlie Kloss because she's a model 

More seriously though, I do think The Alchemy in general is about like... starting new with someone after leaving someone dreadful, and in her mind that probably applies to both Ratty and Travvy  

[wastedpotential]

1 minute ago, Klein said:

I mean she does have that James Dean daydream look in her eyes 

 

Just now, Matchatea said:

Long hair, slick back, white t-shirt….

 

would she wear this to dinner with the Kushners? 

Oh exactly exactly don't tell the g-anon patrol but I think we're becoming Gaylors in here 

[Klein]

Just now, wastedpotential said:

 

More seriously though, I do think The Alchemy in general is about like... starting new with someone after leaving someone dreadful, and in her mind that probably applies to both Ratty and Travvy  

She certainly rebranded it as the Travis song anyway on The Eras Tour. 

[Matchatea]

1 minute ago, wastedpotential said:

 

More seriously though, I do think The Alchemy in general is about like... starting new with someone after leaving someone dreadful, and in her mind that probably applies to both Ratty and Travvy  

I always thought Alchemy was Travis, but I can see how it applies to Matty as well tbh! Def another fav song off the album!

[Matchatea]

1 minute ago, wastedpotential said:

 

Oh exactly exactly don't tell the g-anon patrol but I think we're becoming Gaylors in here 

When the A in ATRL is for gAylors!! 

[Klein]

Also let me drop this in here to brighten the mood (or not actually, but the song deserves some love, it's way too overlooked)

 

 

[wastedpotential]

1 hour ago, Klein said:

Also let me drop this in here to brighten the mood (or not actually, but the song deserves some love, it's way too overlooked)

 

 

Please be quiet y'all, this is a church and I'm praying

 

[1989]

2 hours ago, Matchatea said:

Off topic, so ignore me if needed, but anyone else really like gonnagethimback? I think it's my favourite along with who's afraid but I haven't met alot of people who like it. 

I love it, and I also feel like it's underrated. 

[Great Username]

The verses of The Alchemy do not make any sense being about anyone other than Matty. Nor doee "the sign on your heart says it's STILL reserved for me" 

 

It's basically Fresh Out The Slammer in a different font.

 

Oh we love a Travis-free ablum. Matty the muse you are 

 

 

[BloodLuster]

oh now that we're talking about The Alchemy… imagine if it took Question…?' spot on Midnights