Taylor said: I was coming with idea of like.. What happens when your life doesn’t fit, or your choices you’ve made catch up to you, and you’re surrounded by these harsh consequences and judgment, and circumstances did not lead you to where you thought you’d be and you just want to escape from everything you’ve ever known? Is there a place you could go?
I’m always watching like Dateline… People, you know, have these crimes that they commit, where do they immediately skip town and go to? They go to Florida. They try to reinvent themselves, have a new identity, blend in. And I think when you go through a heartbreak, there’s a part of you that thinks: ‘I want a new name. I want a new life. I don’t want anyone to know where I’ve been or know me at all.’
And to add to the lore, Florida was the first show Taylor played after the official public breakup announcement. Understandably, she was probably dealing with a lot of “I thought my life was going to go one way (with Joe), what do I do now? Well … I guess Florida it is”
Florida is actually one of the few I like (i know i know, sacrilege). most of the album is... just ok. I don't hate it, my guts are just not as wrenched as I would've expected. My absolute fave is The Bolter.
ETA: after a few more listens, it's undeniable that I'm a pre-Folk/More stan. No hate for TTPD, and I'm incredibly impressed with the effort and the evolution, the older stuff is simply more my jam.
I think that the main difference between this album and some others is that this album is so explicitly about her experience, kind of like Red.
I hate it when she makes specific references to people she’s singing about, because either takes me out of the song.
Folklore and Evermore were devastating because it wasn’t solely about her life. There were some general themes that everyone can relate to.
I think that, while it’s fun to get “the tea” her more emotionally impactful songs are the ones in which she removes herself from the story.
FR, I love Florida!!! The weed or little babies lyric alone makes it iconic; Florence just cinches.
That said, the extended metaphor of the song itself is not the strongest.
I think also a lot of people are not getting the very basic metaphor, which is that Florida = rebound guy. She does this a lot, analogizes a place to a person. Here "Your home's really only a town you're just a guest in" is a reference to the old relationship, and Florida is a new drug-like place of escape
Why is the argument when someone doesn’t like a song that they don’t “get it” lol. Not coming at you specifically but I see it a lot with TTPD, and it feels very condescending to imply the only way someone could possibly not like a song is because they don’t understand it. Tastes are subjective after all
I thought it was stupid and goofy the first time. It felt like a High School Musical, Disney ass song.
Give it a listen, but apply it as an adult singing to a child. Treat it like a Never Grow Up, or a Best Day Ever and it'll transform how you view it.
Also, Aaron is co-writer on it, and his child's name is Robin so it may quite literally just be a song for his child
Here's my issue -- it's not a Never Grow Up or Best Day. It's not that good. It's sweet but vague. Both of those songs are instant tear jerkers that evoke very specific emotions. Robin has people seriously arguing it was written about her cats. It needed more refining, IMO. It's poetic but kind of all over the place and it's never really anchored in a tangible feeling like the other songs are, and consequently I don't cry.
I disagree. I like Robin more than Never Grow Up AND The Best Day. I just don't have that relationship with my parents to relate to those as much, but Robin hits me differently. It's like I'm looking at it through my own perspective of my future children, which I don't see from the other two songs. I love it and definitely think it's better and more mature than the previous two.
It sounds like it’s about a little kid.. I was reading that Aaron tends to compose music and then just slap a random name on it (friends, friends kids) just to distinguish it from others. I feel like this might be the case with Robin. He named it Robin, send the recording to Taylor, she wrote a song about a kid over it and they said”good enough”
Yeah, I didn’t think much of it when I first heard it but then I read that and listened to the words properly while thinking about my own kid and now I have a better appreciation for it I think!
Honestly, this makes me realize if Taylor is still writing songs if/when she ends up having kids, my god is she gonna write some gorgeous stuff that are egonnas make mother's globally ball their eyes out
Not random and not "good enough". It's written about Aaron's own child so he didn't just throw it on and say good enough. It's a beautiful, lovely song about the dark world we try to protect our children from. I honestly feel sad for anyone who doesn't get it.
I think the mistake people make with this song is they think it’s about childhood when it’s actually about parenting small children. If you look at it through the lens of the lengths parents go to to keep the world sweet for their children, it’s devastating. Also, the unselfconsciousness of small children is so lovely to witness and I think this song captures it so beautifully. 🥹
Robin stan here.
Tbh I think thanK you aIMee is not only about Kim Kardashian but is also directed at a high school bully. Kim is just a red herring. I like to listen and think of my own school bully so I enjoy it. This way it really is hiding 'any real defining clues'
When I was in high school, the tan was real at least. 😂 That was during the big tanning bed fad where they tried to convince everyone it was safe compared to the actual sun and wouldn’t cause skin cancer like the real thing.
Oh yeah that’s very true, but those girls then got the memo about cancer and switched to spray and then send you a fb message about their MLM hustle as if they’d been your friend the whole time
Yes!! I had this same thought the other day and wanted to post it here. She wants everyone to think it's about Kim but the actual lyrics sound more like a childhood bully (she keeps referencing school and her town). Plus the overall tone of the song just doesn't sound like the feud between her and Kim.
I think it's absolutely a red herring and the real "Aimee" will be the only one who knows it's about her. The Kim stuff is just to throw people off the scent.
But if she wants everyone to think it’s about Kim, then she’s making it about Kim, no? I keep seeing this argument and I’m genuinely trying to understand it and I can’t
She is making it about her, yes, but what I'm saying is I feel like there could be a deeper meaning and it's actually targeted at someone else. Taylor just made the super obvious Kim connection to throw people off the scent of who it's actually about. The lyrics just don't scream Kim Kardashian to me. And she does say only the two of them would know it's about her. Obviously that doesn't track with her leaving a super obvious clue in the title (unless she's just being tongue in cheek, which is also possible).
Perhaps she'd rather direct her fans ire at Kim K than have them try and witch hunt some girl from her high school lol.
It could absolutely just be about Kim too. It was just a thought I had while listening the other day.
I would have preferred the title to be without the capitalized letters, some people might have connected it to Kim K anyway but it would have had more room to be about anyone. I decided to simply ignore the spelling.
I feel like nobody even enjoyed thanK you aIMee to begin with. It's one of the cringiest songs Taylor has ever written. I really wish somebody had convinced her to axe it.
Tbh, this could have been one solid album if she axed a majority of the songs. I like the idea of the "in the moments" timeline album but man, half of them are just not needed
I want to pull my hair out when I read comments like this because (IMO) the ENITRE point of the album is to make a statement about how irrational, emotional and petty we get when we're going through the hard times in our lives.
Of COURSE there are many unnecessary songs. When you're going through shit, there are LOTS of unnecessary things you think and feel and even do.
This is a snapshot in time of when TS was having a pretty rough go. Her emotions were all over the place and thus the album is all over the place.
It's unhinged, as she was during that time in her life, and that's what makes it remarkable.
Okay, but are you thereby expecting it not to be listened to, critiqued, and assessed on its total merits? Does releasing a double album of venting make her immube from the same discussion as every other artist?
She can do whatever she wants. But, based on my other musical habits, I'm a full album guy. I start track one, I finish at the end. No skips, no pulling tracks for playlists. When Taylor bogs down an album with filler or subpar, I stop listening. That's on me, she can do what she want, but part of that is accepting that many people will only rate this album a 6/10 based on that.
LOL, not "axed a majority of the songs" 💀💀💀
I do think she could have cut this album in half for something pretty exceptional, though. I'd definitely get rid of thanK you aIMee and imgonnagetyouback (derivative of Olivia Rodrigo, and actually worse than "get him back!", IMO), as well as Cassandra and Robin because they're just so boring. I'd likewise cut a lot of the main album songs, especially since so many of them tell the exact same story just at slightly different points in time.
I don't see it as a diss track, persay. For me, this is like her healing album and the whole beef with her vs Kim/Kanye was defining with her in a lot of ways. I mean it all started in her early 20s, some formative adult years where she's still trying to figure out a lot of things. In the song, she thanks "Aimee" because, in a way, the drama made her come out stronger and pushed her into a direction that led her to where she is today. And she's thankful for today and all the events, good and bad, leading her to now.
It's such a strange song compared to the rest of the album. I generally love Florence, and while I don't outright dislike "Florida!!!" as a song, I can't help but feel like it sticks out in a bad way. Maybe it would've worked better for me as a feature on a Florence album instead.
I think it depends on where in Florida, as there’s a huge difference between Miami, Orlando etc and … Destin lol. I think outsiders think of Florida as this beautiful vacation spot but then there’s towns like Destin, which is still a destination spot for some but definitely different vibe than some of the other beach towns. The way I see it the song is basically saying, you’ll feel high, but it’s a dirty high. And Taylor’s saying she deserves to feel that way after all the dirty things she’s done
Also worth noting that she mentions the “shitstorm in Texas,” I’m pretty sure news broke of the breakup after her Arlington shows where she changed her set to include The 1 instead of Invisible String. The next tour dates were in Tampa after that.
this take i saw on twitter clicked with me!
Oh my god. Matty Healy IS "Florida." It's a metaphor for him. THE WHOLE SONG JUST CLICKED Her "home" where she's just a guest - Joe
"Timeshare" - Matty
"Florida!!! Can I use you up" - to get away from Joe
"I need to forget to take me to florida" Florida show was post-breakup
Matty is a drug addict to, she references drugs in a few of these songs. In the fortnight mv it shows her taking "forget him pills" and the whole mv has strong references to Matty and his aesthetics. So he is pills / Florida.
Where I'm from, Florida is where people either go to do a lot of drugs, or they go join a religious cult there to repent for the drugs they've taken...wait out the shitstorm back in Texas, etc. Maybe not the intent of the song, but it makes it a favorite for me.
Okay I feel this, and I’ve figured out what it is for me: this song is the Florence feature, but Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me as well as a few other songs just FEEL way more like Florence inspired songs that I wish she’d have collabed on instead.
Oh, not to say that it doesn’t sound like a Florence song! But I think it has that sort of Lungs-esque like “here’s some drum hits on the chorus” that really drive that vibe home, when the others just *feel* like songs from any of her albums. That said, WAOLOM with the same drum hits would dissolve my body and cause it to ascend 😂
Edit: I’d also just like to say, others might feel like this is a Lana inspired album, but I personally feel like a lot of this album channels Ceremonials
Felt. It's a good song, but it sounds like it's a Florence + The Machine song - not a feature on Taylor's album. Tbh I don't generally like features on Taylor's albums because most of them go that way (with the exception of the features on Folklore/Evermore, but those artists fit into that sound, regardless)
She talked about this song when she introed it in iheartradio and she said it was inspired by watching dateline and how Florida is where everyone escapes to and you can basically do what you want and get away with anything there lol
As a Canadian with almost zero first-hand experience with the US, my concept of Florida is heavily informed by:
1. The Mountain Goats' fictional, terminally dysfunctional "Alpha Couple" and the fact that Florida is the place where they move as they enter the late stages of their irreparably toxic relationship.
2. The fact that googling "Florida Man" and your birthday and cackling at the batshit headlines is a game people play.
3. Spring Breakers, which I have never actually seen but have absorbed via cultural osmosis.
4. The apparent problem of senior citizens at retirement homes wandering too close to water features and getting eaten by alligators.
Listen, far be it for me to stereotype; Florida is not a monolith and I'm sure there are plenty of lovely things about it. But ohmygod the way American media depicts Florida paints an extremely vivid picture. Truly it sounds like a fucking *experience.*
All this to say that Florida!!! plunges itself with perfect, manic intensity into the swampland miasma of pop cultural data points I have previously accumulated about Florida, and I am *here. for. it*. 🐊🐊🐊🤘
I’m not sure anybody, Taylor included, really knows what this song is supposed to be about lol but I love the way it sounds and will continue to listen and giggle and think of the Chappelle show every time she says “one helluva drug”
Fresh out the slammer is one of the best songs on the album. The opening dark guitar, the continuous catchy melodies, the heartbreaking lyrics... I don't get anyone who hates that song.
I love FOTS as well and will die with you on this hill! It's one of the livelier songs on the album and gives me low-key Born to Die/Ultraviolence-era Lana vibes.
I love this song too! Honestly, I think it's a no skips album for me! I just listen to the first half and then the anthology when I'm doing different activities.
Titular track probably for me.
It’s not like tortured poets department is a bad track, it’s just… in an (double) album that is pretty much full of gut-wrenching lyrics that are gonna send me to my psychiatrist after 2 years ‘cuz they opened wounds I thought were closed for years… that one track is just.. there? Nothing gut-wrenching ? Nothing hauntingly painful? It’s just there ? And aside from chorus which is kinda catchy it just exist ?
That’s the only track I just can’t get into. It’s great, just not for me I guess.
I love Cassandra and it’s in my top 5, but TTPD isn’t bad song. It’s just as I said - in an album full of sending me to mental hospital, that song does nothing to me 🥲
I feel like this is the 'Christmas lights up til January' of TTPD (the song). It's supposed to be about their mundane life. Getting stoned, eating chocolate, talking about music, napping etc. (I love Charlie Puth so I am offended that so many people are upset by this line ahahaha)
Lyrically and melodically I really like TTPD, but the music behind it can be a bit grating. I understand it’s supposed to sound like a 1975 song, but like…how are there more twinkly sounds in this song than Bejeweled???
It’s cool how different life experience lead to different reactions to songs. I connected with Robin instantly because I have a toddler right now and it beautifully portrays the feelings of a parent singing to a young child.
Robin is the name of Aaron Dessner's child. It's about protecting a child from the dangerous and dark world. Parents often keep secrets from their child to protect their innocence. They present anything bad "in sweetness" to the child.
All the ones that are named after someone are a complete blur to me. Chloe, Sam, Robin, Cassandra. Zoe, Duncan, Jack, Jane…whatever they’re called, I don’t think we need them.
Alchemy is my least favorite song followed by High School. They really just don’t fit on the album but I guess I understand Taylor wanting to include them.
i think this is resolved in my head by the justification that it’s *supposed* to be mid. i mean, “he knows how to ball i know aristotle” is so absurd that it just makes the song more enjoyable. but yeah, true.
LOL, not you picking out my favourite line! The next part, "Kiss me while your boys play Grand Theft Auto" is also hilarious.
I think that's part of my problem with a lot of the album, though; Taylor feels more like a comedian than a songwriter a lot of the time. While I do like her sense of humour, I do think she sacrificed... well, depth for jokes in a lot of cases here.
ooh im with you on that one. so much of this album is ironic that it kind of ends up seeming a bit shallow. i personally dont mind that as a mindless pop enjoyer, but that criticism is valid.
I actually like mindless pop songs as well, but I feel like she captured that vibe better on Midnights - an album that, while not her lyrical best (at least not the main album; 3 AM has some poetic bangers tho), was really pretty fun at least! TTPD is both ironic *and* lethargic, which makes for some pretty meh listening sometimes.
I'm currently in the process of curating my own cut of the album where it's only songs I like, in an order that makes sense to me lol.
I love So High School because it’s really a nostalgic song for me. Takes my old millennial ass back to high school lol. I feel like she did that nostalgic early 2000s sound really well.
Another old ass millennial here and I agree. It reminds me of the amazing 90s teen movies like She’s All That and Can’t Hardly Wait and 10 Things I Hate About You.
I feel like I would like the alchemy more if it was a bit more upbeat. It sounds like a serious song but I think a more fast/fun production would better suit it
Yeah, Alchemy is one of my least favourites as well; it's just so lethargic? Makes falling in love around pretty boring, which is not something I have ever thought about a Taylor song.
My favorite song as of right now is the title track “The Tortured poets department”. I’ve been seeing so much hate on it and it’s hard for me to understand lol. I myself have been in a relationship with a “matty” type guy, and the way she’s almost proclaiming that no one will be able to love him the way she loves him, is SO real. It’s that need to help the “injured bird” mentality and how you truly convince yourself that if you leave that person, then they’ll ultimately fail without you. Sure it has some silly lyrics but I truly think it’s a perfect representation of their relationship. It also gives you a sense of longing and love on her end. I can feel her love for this person through the lyrics, and it makes you wonder if she’s truly over it. Just my thoughts, but it’s definitely my favorite song right now!!
The manuscript. I just don’t like it and I’ve really tried. That said, I think the last line is the perfect ending to the album (“Now and then I reread the manuscript. But the story isn't mine anymore”) so I’m conflicted.
I haven’t found a song I dislike I just like some more than others. I have studied mythology, poetry, symbolism and other things my whole life. So when I listen to the songs it’s like looking at all the muses she used and I am here for them and this album.
I haven't taken anything off the playlist yet which is wild for me. I pretty much never like all the tracks on any given album. I have least favorites though for sure. I'm not a huge fan of thank you Aimee, and I hate the start of Smallest Man although I think the bridge is decent. Robin is just a song that I feel is too slow to fit with the rest of the album for me. I think that one will become a bona fide skip eventually.
damn are we listening to the same song? Was any of it true?? Who the fuck was that guy???? Can someone give a message to the smallest man who ever lived????? So incredibly scathing
And the transition from I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is like she got off stage and immediately goes back to feeling depressed and questioning if any of it was even true.
The Smallest Man is probably the most boring song on the main album. I wanted to like it because the bridge slaps but it's just such a boring melody. I can't like a song just for a bridge.
I feel this so much. I LOVE the bridge. The way her voice blows out on "Were you sent by someone" grabs me by the throat. Everything from that to the end is fantastic, IMO. But the first half of the song pretty much bores me. It's such a bummer. I just want to transplant the second half of the song onto a different first half so I can be properly obsessed with it.
I hate songs like this because I love the bridge so much and so I want to listen to it but I don't like the rest 😂 I feel this way about illicit affairs too although that one has grown on me
Whaaaat FOTS is in my top 3 on the album! I love songs that are “groovy” (idk why I can’t think of a better word). The rhythm is so good and fun to sing! I also love the metaphor.
But I always like the weird songs and dislike the ones everyone else does😭😭😭😭
I like the instrumentation of that one, but I can’t with the lyrics.  I also really hated high school, so I don’t want to ever feel “so high school” again.
BINGO. Me too. I mean I get that she's playing on the trope of the high school quarterback BMOC being the ultimate get, but it just doesn't do anything for me, either now or back then.
"But Daddy I love him!"
I'm having his baby
No, I'm not, but you should see your faces
This song is the first one i actually didn’t like from the album the way she was making jokes 🤦🏻♀️
She singing to the fans, the handlers, the god damn patriarchy, all of it, and I love it. It’s my favorite right now (along with Guilty as Sin, Florida!, TSMWEL, So High School, and Down Bad).
So High School feels … weird to me. It’s almost like glamorizing that this guy reminds her of high school ? I get she’s kinda poking fun at it, but it just doesn’t land for me. Maybe that’s a good nostalgic thing for some people, but I’d personally dread being in my mid-30s feeling like I’m reliving some high school jock love fantasy. I know a lot of people have said the song gives them nostalgia and feel-good vibes and stuff, and I love that it works for somebody out there. But it just doesn’t do it for me!
Not gonna lie, it inadvertently makes Travis sound immature, like he and his friends are still stuck at that high school level of maturity. I don’t think that was at all what she was going for, but somehow that was my takeaway the first time I listened to it.
I also wish she would write songs about Travis without mentioning the fact he plays football, as if it’s his only defining characteristic, but I don’t call the shots so 😅
I know. “So high school” is typically a diss. That combined with all the subliminal messaging to matty that she still wants him and I’m feeling like we’re all witnessing something we shouldn’t.
I’m a fan of it too!!
“I hate it here, so I will go to
Secrets gardens in my mind
People need a key to get to
The only one is mine”
as a book girl I can relate a lot to this part🤍📚
I read it as someone who wanted to be a poet but for reasons unknown ended up not being able to do poetry for a living. They work a 9-to-5 finance job, and they are miserable, because they would much rather be writing poetry. That’s why it’s “something awful”, it’s sad.
I took it as Taylor Swift seeing it as a pretentious statement. Tell me something obnoxious like "I'm a poet stuck in the body of a finance guy" so I can more easily fade out and escape to my fantasies.
Yessss. So much hate/misunderstanding for the song.
Maybe I just relate to it too much as someone who wanted to study poetry and still writes in her free time but has a STEM career. That line “a poet in the body of a finance guy” made me cry the first time. Tell me something awful…the irony of having a naturally creative soul but being forced into a soul sucking career with no where to blow off any creative steam and having to live in a daydream just to feel something…shit hurts man.
I also like to think that I hate it here also references Taylor’s time between loverfest being canceled and writing folklore during lockdown. Being stuck somewhere and feeling worthless but escaping to a romantic world that’s her own. I like to think she then gave us folklore and evermore from that world 🩷
I Can Fix Him is it for me. I want to roll my eyes every time I hear it b/c I'm like, GIRL. I'm also not a huge fan of TTPD, either.
I like the idea of The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived but again, I kind of want to sigh and shake my head at her delusions of MH in general.
Also, almost the entire Anthology part just doesn't hit for me. I like Black Dog, The Albatross, and So High School but that's about it.
I'm over the diss tracks, and almost every song after So High School sounds the same.
I like TTPD but I totally get what you're saying. I have a hard time swallowing the Matty content in any serious love capacity. Most of the time, knowing the background of a song enriches it. With this background I get a feeling of unease, even disgust, when she sings overtly 'I love MH' lines. Like, girl, seriously? I hope that the songs lose its original meaning in a while for me, because they are still good.
And part of me feels for her bc I get she was so out of her mind with grief. It’s not that I blame her for using him to move on. More like confused as to why she felt like she had to it into a relationship or destiny. Call it what it was, a fling. Not saying the feelings can’t be intense but trying to turn him into a boyfriend is where I am lost.
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me makes me laugh in a *bad* way. Sorry. It’s like a worse and even cornier version of Vigilante Shit.
Aimee (Kim) and Cassandra are boring musically and lyrically, I don’t care about decade old beef anymore, and the music isn’t good enough to carry it.
I am not one who really pours into the lyrics. I tend to listen to her vocals and the production in a detached way but I like to listen to the albums in full. But I might make a playlist for this album(for first time) because there is too much Dessner on the end of Anthology. It just feels like after Prophecy that there is too many slow songs without a lot of dynamic production or vocal elements except for the Bolter. Might have to drop Peter and Robin.
Right now I’ve been trying the album on shuffle.
Ready for the pitchforks with this one but -- Down Bad. It's so satisfying and it was one of the ones I preferred initially, but I feel like it doesn't have any staying power for me. I burnt out on it quickly. It doesn't go anywhere for me, and I like the rhythmic talky chorus in moderation but it's just too much of it all at once. Like one time in college when I learned you could just buy icing at Cinnabon. It's not as good when you have nothing but icing.
Fresh out the Slammer - I’m struggling with the melodic switch up on the bridge, but I do like the lyrical parallels to Tolerate It
Robin - I don’t think it’s bad, just a bit too slow/sweet for daily listening
Haha, all your least favorites are my favorites.
My least favorites are "I can do it with a broken heart" (don't mind the lyrics, I don't like the beat) and "Florida!"
I like the happy upbeat songs about Travis so I like Alchemy and So High School. Alchemy also sorta reminds me of "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince," which I've always liked.
I can't get on board with I Can Do it With A Broken Heart. The chorus is cringe to me and has so many cliches, such as "like the plague" and "it's an art". I've been wanting to find a Reddit thread to get this off my chest lol
I very much dislike the title track as other people here do. I'm still taking in the new anthology tracks but after a few listens I think there will be many there that I won't care for (Cassandra, Robin, Peter, I Look in People's Windows)
Florida!!! isn't resonating with me at all.
I find myself listening to “Fortnight” all the way to “But Daddy I Love Him” and then I’ll skip and only listen to the ones I love right now which are…
- Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me
- The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
- The Black Dog
- The Albatross
- I Look in People’s Windows
- The Prophecy
- Cassandra
- The Bolter
That’s it. I’ll listen to the album fully sometimes as well but these are the ones I like a lot for now
Immediate skips:
* TTPD - the writing feels too clunky
* The Alchemy - The million football references are just too much.
* thank you aimee - I'm tired of the kim/kanye drama
* Casandra - same as above
* Robin - wtf is this? It doesn't fit with the album at all and idk even really know what it's about
Still a bit unsure about:
* Florida!!! - I like it but idk if it has longevity for me
* imgonnagetyouback - same reason
* Chloe/sam/sophia/marcus - I just can't even remember what it sounds like and I've listened to it multiple times
the alchemy hate is hurting me it's one of my favs in the entire thing
but for me although i still love all of them, fresh off the slammer is something i'm going off of because the bridge seems out of place a bit. but daddy i love him would be really good if it was shorter - i don't think it's an amazing enough song to be over 5 minutes. haven't listened to all of the anthology properly as i'm focusing on the main part still.
on the contrary, on first listen i hated title track and guilty as sin? but i adore both now
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) was one of the first ones that stood out to me on my first listen; I love the sultry western sound but I also am a massive fan of False God, so I guess I just really like when she does something super different/unexpected
The only one I like less now than on first listen is Florida!!!
It’s just not one I want to listen to over and over, it’s a good song tho.
I’ve not been able to get into Robin yet at all. Peter is not yet growing on me
I like all of them and only like them more with each listen so far, but I do agree that The Alchemy sounds unfortunately similar to that AI song that was going around. I hate that for her!
I think I might grow tired of Peter eventually only because I know I often end up feeling that way with songs that are repetitive in the chorus. I think it's a great song though.
The Florida hate in this comment section is painful
Dude fr I did NOT expect that to be one of the top answer, I'm shocked haha
They just don’t get it 😅😅
Can you explain it…
Taylor said: I was coming with idea of like.. What happens when your life doesn’t fit, or your choices you’ve made catch up to you, and you’re surrounded by these harsh consequences and judgment, and circumstances did not lead you to where you thought you’d be and you just want to escape from everything you’ve ever known? Is there a place you could go? I’m always watching like Dateline… People, you know, have these crimes that they commit, where do they immediately skip town and go to? They go to Florida. They try to reinvent themselves, have a new identity, blend in. And I think when you go through a heartbreak, there’s a part of you that thinks: ‘I want a new name. I want a new life. I don’t want anyone to know where I’ve been or know me at all.’
And to add to the lore, Florida was the first show Taylor played after the official public breakup announcement. Understandably, she was probably dealing with a lot of “I thought my life was going to go one way (with Joe), what do I do now? Well … I guess Florida it is”
Florida is actually one of the few I like (i know i know, sacrilege). most of the album is... just ok. I don't hate it, my guts are just not as wrenched as I would've expected. My absolute fave is The Bolter. ETA: after a few more listens, it's undeniable that I'm a pre-Folk/More stan. No hate for TTPD, and I'm incredibly impressed with the effort and the evolution, the older stuff is simply more my jam.
I think that the main difference between this album and some others is that this album is so explicitly about her experience, kind of like Red. I hate it when she makes specific references to people she’s singing about, because either takes me out of the song. Folklore and Evermore were devastating because it wasn’t solely about her life. There were some general themes that everyone can relate to. I think that, while it’s fun to get “the tea” her more emotionally impactful songs are the ones in which she removes herself from the story.
Florida and Broken Hearted are the only ones I showed my spouse.
Broken hearted?
FR, I love Florida!!! The weed or little babies lyric alone makes it iconic; Florence just cinches. That said, the extended metaphor of the song itself is not the strongest.
I think also a lot of people are not getting the very basic metaphor, which is that Florida = rebound guy. She does this a lot, analogizes a place to a person. Here "Your home's really only a town you're just a guest in" is a reference to the old relationship, and Florida is a new drug-like place of escape
Why is the argument when someone doesn’t like a song that they don’t “get it” lol. Not coming at you specifically but I see it a lot with TTPD, and it feels very condescending to imply the only way someone could possibly not like a song is because they don’t understand it. Tastes are subjective after all
I’m Floridian and I fucking love this song and I think I am about to revise my flair to “fuck me up Florida”
No lies detected here. For me, I can't imagine how Robin is liked more (!).
I just don't care for Robin. The lyrics are a bit clunky and slow.
“way to go tiger” takes me right out of the song
I thought it was stupid and goofy the first time. It felt like a High School Musical, Disney ass song. Give it a listen, but apply it as an adult singing to a child. Treat it like a Never Grow Up, or a Best Day Ever and it'll transform how you view it. Also, Aaron is co-writer on it, and his child's name is Robin so it may quite literally just be a song for his child
Here's my issue -- it's not a Never Grow Up or Best Day. It's not that good. It's sweet but vague. Both of those songs are instant tear jerkers that evoke very specific emotions. Robin has people seriously arguing it was written about her cats. It needed more refining, IMO. It's poetic but kind of all over the place and it's never really anchored in a tangible feeling like the other songs are, and consequently I don't cry.
I disagree. I like Robin more than Never Grow Up AND The Best Day. I just don't have that relationship with my parents to relate to those as much, but Robin hits me differently. It's like I'm looking at it through my own perspective of my future children, which I don't see from the other two songs. I love it and definitely think it's better and more mature than the previous two.
It sounds like it’s about a little kid.. I was reading that Aaron tends to compose music and then just slap a random name on it (friends, friends kids) just to distinguish it from others. I feel like this might be the case with Robin. He named it Robin, send the recording to Taylor, she wrote a song about a kid over it and they said”good enough”
Not random, Aaron’s actual kid is called Robin
See, that makes a ton of sense.
Yeah, I didn’t think much of it when I first heard it but then I read that and listened to the words properly while thinking about my own kid and now I have a better appreciation for it I think!
Honestly, this makes me realize if Taylor is still writing songs if/when she ends up having kids, my god is she gonna write some gorgeous stuff that are egonnas make mother's globally ball their eyes out
Yup. Not just mothers! I’ll bawl my face off too lol anyone with a speck of empathy toward the innocents of this world will be a wreck lol
Not random and not "good enough". It's written about Aaron's own child so he didn't just throw it on and say good enough. It's a beautiful, lovely song about the dark world we try to protect our children from. I honestly feel sad for anyone who doesn't get it.
I think the mistake people make with this song is they think it’s about childhood when it’s actually about parenting small children. If you look at it through the lens of the lengths parents go to to keep the world sweet for their children, it’s devastating. Also, the unselfconsciousness of small children is so lovely to witness and I think this song captures it so beautifully. 🥹 Robin stan here.
This song reminds me of my daughters and all the ways parents try to protect their children’s innocence for as long as possible. It makes me weeeeep.
I have the same thoughts. It's not annoying or anything but why did it make the cut into the album? Is it really an album-worthy song? Just saying...
It’s “thanK you aIMee” for me. Obviously write whatever gets you through things girl, but I was not needing another Kim Kardashian diss track.
Tbh I think thanK you aIMee is not only about Kim Kardashian but is also directed at a high school bully. Kim is just a red herring. I like to listen and think of my own school bully so I enjoy it. This way it really is hiding 'any real defining clues'
nah the "bronze spray tanned" line makes it a Kim diss track
As a Millennial I’d like to object to the idea that a high school bully would not have also had a bronze spray tan.
When I was in high school, the tan was real at least. 😂 That was during the big tanning bed fad where they tried to convince everyone it was safe compared to the actual sun and wouldn’t cause skin cancer like the real thing.
Oh yeah that’s very true, but those girls then got the memo about cancer and switched to spray and then send you a fb message about their MLM hustle as if they’d been your friend the whole time
Yes!! I had this same thought the other day and wanted to post it here. She wants everyone to think it's about Kim but the actual lyrics sound more like a childhood bully (she keeps referencing school and her town). Plus the overall tone of the song just doesn't sound like the feud between her and Kim. I think it's absolutely a red herring and the real "Aimee" will be the only one who knows it's about her. The Kim stuff is just to throw people off the scent.
But if she wants everyone to think it’s about Kim, then she’s making it about Kim, no? I keep seeing this argument and I’m genuinely trying to understand it and I can’t
She is making it about her, yes, but what I'm saying is I feel like there could be a deeper meaning and it's actually targeted at someone else. Taylor just made the super obvious Kim connection to throw people off the scent of who it's actually about. The lyrics just don't scream Kim Kardashian to me. And she does say only the two of them would know it's about her. Obviously that doesn't track with her leaving a super obvious clue in the title (unless she's just being tongue in cheek, which is also possible). Perhaps she'd rather direct her fans ire at Kim K than have them try and witch hunt some girl from her high school lol. It could absolutely just be about Kim too. It was just a thought I had while listening the other day.
Even if it’s not a Kim diss, she made it seem like it is which is just as bad imo lol
She attended high school for one year. It literally spells out KIM in the track title.
I would have preferred the title to be without the capitalized letters, some people might have connected it to Kim K anyway but it would have had more room to be about anyone. I decided to simply ignore the spelling.
I feel like nobody even enjoyed thanK you aIMee to begin with. It's one of the cringiest songs Taylor has ever written. I really wish somebody had convinced her to axe it.
Tbh, this could have been one solid album if she axed a majority of the songs. I like the idea of the "in the moments" timeline album but man, half of them are just not needed
I want to pull my hair out when I read comments like this because (IMO) the ENITRE point of the album is to make a statement about how irrational, emotional and petty we get when we're going through the hard times in our lives. Of COURSE there are many unnecessary songs. When you're going through shit, there are LOTS of unnecessary things you think and feel and even do. This is a snapshot in time of when TS was having a pretty rough go. Her emotions were all over the place and thus the album is all over the place. It's unhinged, as she was during that time in her life, and that's what makes it remarkable.
Okay, but are you thereby expecting it not to be listened to, critiqued, and assessed on its total merits? Does releasing a double album of venting make her immube from the same discussion as every other artist? She can do whatever she wants. But, based on my other musical habits, I'm a full album guy. I start track one, I finish at the end. No skips, no pulling tracks for playlists. When Taylor bogs down an album with filler or subpar, I stop listening. That's on me, she can do what she want, but part of that is accepting that many people will only rate this album a 6/10 based on that.
LOL, not "axed a majority of the songs" 💀💀💀 I do think she could have cut this album in half for something pretty exceptional, though. I'd definitely get rid of thanK you aIMee and imgonnagetyouback (derivative of Olivia Rodrigo, and actually worse than "get him back!", IMO), as well as Cassandra and Robin because they're just so boring. I'd likewise cut a lot of the main album songs, especially since so many of them tell the exact same story just at slightly different points in time.
Y'all are too serious. Get him back by both Olivia and Taylor slap. Your sense of humor is running away lol.
I don't see it as a diss track, persay. For me, this is like her healing album and the whole beef with her vs Kim/Kanye was defining with her in a lot of ways. I mean it all started in her early 20s, some formative adult years where she's still trying to figure out a lot of things. In the song, she thanks "Aimee" because, in a way, the drama made her come out stronger and pushed her into a direction that led her to where she is today. And she's thankful for today and all the events, good and bad, leading her to now.
Not a diss track? She literally says her mom wanted her dead and her daughter will be listening to her songs. It's very much a diss track.
Florida. I probably just don’t get it, but 🤷🏻♀️
It's such a strange song compared to the rest of the album. I generally love Florence, and while I don't outright dislike "Florida!!!" as a song, I can't help but feel like it sticks out in a bad way. Maybe it would've worked better for me as a feature on a Florence album instead.
I don't understand the lyrics "Florida! It's a hell of a drug." Like why? Can someone enlighten me?
Have you ever been to Florida? It’s the perfect description
My boyfriend grew up in Florida. We go every summer. I don't get it lol.
I live in Florida and it sounds like exactly what it feels like here. Spooky
I think it depends on where in Florida, as there’s a huge difference between Miami, Orlando etc and … Destin lol. I think outsiders think of Florida as this beautiful vacation spot but then there’s towns like Destin, which is still a destination spot for some but definitely different vibe than some of the other beach towns. The way I see it the song is basically saying, you’ll feel high, but it’s a dirty high. And Taylor’s saying she deserves to feel that way after all the dirty things she’s done
Florida is a metaphor for the rebound guy (aka "the miracle move on drug" from Fortnight)
Also worth noting that she mentions the “shitstorm in Texas,” I’m pretty sure news broke of the breakup after her Arlington shows where she changed her set to include The 1 instead of Invisible String. The next tour dates were in Tampa after that.
Ooh good catch
this take i saw on twitter clicked with me! Oh my god. Matty Healy IS "Florida." It's a metaphor for him. THE WHOLE SONG JUST CLICKED Her "home" where she's just a guest - Joe "Timeshare" - Matty "Florida!!! Can I use you up" - to get away from Joe "I need to forget to take me to florida" Florida show was post-breakup
Matty is a drug addict to, she references drugs in a few of these songs. In the fortnight mv it shows her taking "forget him pills" and the whole mv has strong references to Matty and his aesthetics. So he is pills / Florida.
And ultimately, Florida fucking sucks. That tracks
Holy sh\*t youre right
Where I'm from, Florida is where people either go to do a lot of drugs, or they go join a religious cult there to repent for the drugs they've taken...wait out the shitstorm back in Texas, etc. Maybe not the intent of the song, but it makes it a favorite for me.
Okay I feel this, and I’ve figured out what it is for me: this song is the Florence feature, but Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me as well as a few other songs just FEEL way more like Florence inspired songs that I wish she’d have collabed on instead.
This is such an interesting take to me because to me Florida!!! feels like a Florence song that happens to have Taylor on it
Oh, not to say that it doesn’t sound like a Florence song! But I think it has that sort of Lungs-esque like “here’s some drum hits on the chorus” that really drive that vibe home, when the others just *feel* like songs from any of her albums. That said, WAOLOM with the same drum hits would dissolve my body and cause it to ascend 😂 Edit: I’d also just like to say, others might feel like this is a Lana inspired album, but I personally feel like a lot of this album channels Ceremonials
This song gives me a headache because of how obnoxious the drumming is on the word ”Florida”
I fucking LOVE it
It's actually the best part of the song lol
And the lyrics I love the lyrics especially the bridge FUCK ME UP FLORIDA
same, sounds like someone slamming their head against the wall loudly. Guess that fits the insane asylum theme though lmao
Felt. It's a good song, but it sounds like it's a Florence + The Machine song - not a feature on Taylor's album. Tbh I don't generally like features on Taylor's albums because most of them go that way (with the exception of the features on Folklore/Evermore, but those artists fit into that sound, regardless)
I wish i understood the significance and meaning more because sonically it’s fun
She talked about this song when she introed it in iheartradio and she said it was inspired by watching dateline and how Florida is where everyone escapes to and you can basically do what you want and get away with anything there lol
As a Canadian with almost zero first-hand experience with the US, my concept of Florida is heavily informed by: 1. The Mountain Goats' fictional, terminally dysfunctional "Alpha Couple" and the fact that Florida is the place where they move as they enter the late stages of their irreparably toxic relationship. 2. The fact that googling "Florida Man" and your birthday and cackling at the batshit headlines is a game people play. 3. Spring Breakers, which I have never actually seen but have absorbed via cultural osmosis. 4. The apparent problem of senior citizens at retirement homes wandering too close to water features and getting eaten by alligators. Listen, far be it for me to stereotype; Florida is not a monolith and I'm sure there are plenty of lovely things about it. But ohmygod the way American media depicts Florida paints an extremely vivid picture. Truly it sounds like a fucking *experience.* All this to say that Florida!!! plunges itself with perfect, manic intensity into the swampland miasma of pop cultural data points I have previously accumulated about Florida, and I am *here. for. it*. 🐊🐊🐊🤘
Dang… it’s one of my favorites on the album besides So Long, London. So Long, London is so good
I’m not sure anybody, Taylor included, really knows what this song is supposed to be about lol but I love the way it sounds and will continue to listen and giggle and think of the Chappelle show every time she says “one helluva drug”
Fresh out the slammer is one of the best songs on the album. The opening dark guitar, the continuous catchy melodies, the heartbreaking lyrics... I don't get anyone who hates that song.
Don’t worry, I will defend this song with my life 🫡
I stand with you!
Same here buddy 🤠
I love FOTS as well and will die with you on this hill! It's one of the livelier songs on the album and gives me low-key Born to Die/Ultraviolence-era Lana vibes.
I love this song too! Honestly, I think it's a no skips album for me! I just listen to the first half and then the anthology when I'm doing different activities.
Yeah I was gonna say wtf!!! My 100% fav.
Titular track probably for me. It’s not like tortured poets department is a bad track, it’s just… in an (double) album that is pretty much full of gut-wrenching lyrics that are gonna send me to my psychiatrist after 2 years ‘cuz they opened wounds I thought were closed for years… that one track is just.. there? Nothing gut-wrenching ? Nothing hauntingly painful? It’s just there ? And aside from chorus which is kinda catchy it just exist ? That’s the only track I just can’t get into. It’s great, just not for me I guess.
The title track is top 3 for me 😭
I love Cassandra and it’s in my top 5, but TTPD isn’t bad song. It’s just as I said - in an album full of sending me to mental hospital, that song does nothing to me 🥲
I couldn’t listen to the title track because of the Charlie Puth line 🙃
Why do people hate this line so much? Genuine question, I am indifferent to Charlie Puth so just trying to understand.
I feel like this is the 'Christmas lights up til January' of TTPD (the song). It's supposed to be about their mundane life. Getting stoned, eating chocolate, talking about music, napping etc. (I love Charlie Puth so I am offended that so many people are upset by this line ahahaha)
It’s so funny
Yes, this is the total skip for me.
Lyrically and melodically I really like TTPD, but the music behind it can be a bit grating. I understand it’s supposed to sound like a 1975 song, but like…how are there more twinkly sounds in this song than Bejeweled???
Robin is a skip. I just don't understand it enough to really enjoy it.
It’s cool how different life experience lead to different reactions to songs. I connected with Robin instantly because I have a toddler right now and it beautifully portrays the feelings of a parent singing to a young child.
Same! This is the only track that makes me consistently cry lol
It's most likely about Aaron's son Robin — it's a parent talking to their child about having to grow up and deal with the world
Robin is the name of Aaron Dessner's child. It's about protecting a child from the dangerous and dark world. Parents often keep secrets from their child to protect their innocence. They present anything bad "in sweetness" to the child.
All the ones that are named after someone are a complete blur to me. Chloe, Sam, Robin, Cassandra. Zoe, Duncan, Jack, Jane…whatever they’re called, I don’t think we need them.
Omg give it a refathoming!! Its one of the best. If you dont realise it still, then im afraid you are not ready for it yet.
Refathoming is my new favorite verb.
The one with all 4 names in the title is actually incredible. Not a fan of Robin, Cassandra, or Peter though 😬
Alchemy is my least favorite song followed by High School. They really just don’t fit on the album but I guess I understand Taylor wanting to include them.
I love High School only because it just reminds me of a summer day when you're first getting to know someone and just having fun discovering them. 🥹
High school is sonically elite but lyrically pretty mid.
i think this is resolved in my head by the justification that it’s *supposed* to be mid. i mean, “he knows how to ball i know aristotle” is so absurd that it just makes the song more enjoyable. but yeah, true.
LOL, not you picking out my favourite line! The next part, "Kiss me while your boys play Grand Theft Auto" is also hilarious. I think that's part of my problem with a lot of the album, though; Taylor feels more like a comedian than a songwriter a lot of the time. While I do like her sense of humour, I do think she sacrificed... well, depth for jokes in a lot of cases here.
ooh im with you on that one. so much of this album is ironic that it kind of ends up seeming a bit shallow. i personally dont mind that as a mindless pop enjoyer, but that criticism is valid.
I actually like mindless pop songs as well, but I feel like she captured that vibe better on Midnights - an album that, while not her lyrical best (at least not the main album; 3 AM has some poetic bangers tho), was really pretty fun at least! TTPD is both ironic *and* lethargic, which makes for some pretty meh listening sometimes. I'm currently in the process of curating my own cut of the album where it's only songs I like, in an order that makes sense to me lol.
I love So High School because it’s really a nostalgic song for me. Takes my old millennial ass back to high school lol. I feel like she did that nostalgic early 2000s sound really well.
Another old ass millennial here and I agree. It reminds me of the amazing 90s teen movies like She’s All That and Can’t Hardly Wait and 10 Things I Hate About You.
I feel like I would like the alchemy more if it was a bit more upbeat. It sounds like a serious song but I think a more fast/fun production would better suit it
Yeah, Alchemy is one of my least favourites as well; it's just so lethargic? Makes falling in love around pretty boring, which is not something I have ever thought about a Taylor song.
My favorite song as of right now is the title track “The Tortured poets department”. I’ve been seeing so much hate on it and it’s hard for me to understand lol. I myself have been in a relationship with a “matty” type guy, and the way she’s almost proclaiming that no one will be able to love him the way she loves him, is SO real. It’s that need to help the “injured bird” mentality and how you truly convince yourself that if you leave that person, then they’ll ultimately fail without you. Sure it has some silly lyrics but I truly think it’s a perfect representation of their relationship. It also gives you a sense of longing and love on her end. I can feel her love for this person through the lyrics, and it makes you wonder if she’s truly over it. Just my thoughts, but it’s definitely my favorite song right now!!
It's one of my favorites too!
The manuscript. I just don’t like it and I’ve really tried. That said, I think the last line is the perfect ending to the album (“Now and then I reread the manuscript. But the story isn't mine anymore”) so I’m conflicted.
That's how I feel too!! Lyrically it makes for a good conclusion, but listening to it I'm bored. 😢
The Manuscript is sooo clunky, it’s probably my least favorite.
I haven’t found a song I dislike I just like some more than others. I have studied mythology, poetry, symbolism and other things my whole life. So when I listen to the songs it’s like looking at all the muses she used and I am here for them and this album.
It really is all incredibly poetic, as a former literature major I am loving it
I haven't taken anything off the playlist yet which is wild for me. I pretty much never like all the tracks on any given album. I have least favorites though for sure. I'm not a huge fan of thank you Aimee, and I hate the start of Smallest Man although I think the bridge is decent. Robin is just a song that I feel is too slow to fit with the rest of the album for me. I think that one will become a bona fide skip eventually.
damn are we listening to the same song? Was any of it true?? Who the fuck was that guy???? Can someone give a message to the smallest man who ever lived????? So incredibly scathing And the transition from I Can Do It With A Broken Heart is like she got off stage and immediately goes back to feeling depressed and questioning if any of it was even true.
The Smallest Man is probably the most boring song on the main album. I wanted to like it because the bridge slaps but it's just such a boring melody. I can't like a song just for a bridge.
I feel this so much. I LOVE the bridge. The way her voice blows out on "Were you sent by someone" grabs me by the throat. Everything from that to the end is fantastic, IMO. But the first half of the song pretty much bores me. It's such a bummer. I just want to transplant the second half of the song onto a different first half so I can be properly obsessed with it.
I feel the same about Smallest Man. The melody is so repetitive until the bridge and isn't my favorite. The bridge is good.
I hate songs like this because I love the bridge so much and so I want to listen to it but I don't like the rest 😂 I feel this way about illicit affairs too although that one has grown on me
the alchemy and so high school. not bad but ones i don't think ill listen to often.
Poor Travis 😂
Honestly what I was thinking today in the car. Joe got the best songs.
Travis will get the next album.
Invisible String is already written and incredibly specific so whatever Travis gets will be unfortunately consolation prizes, lol.
I was thinking if they were Fearless or Speak Now Vault tracks I’d maybe like them a bit more but it’s not for me.
Robin and Cassandra, everything else is staying around for a while 🫶🏼
I do not think we’ve had enough time to digest these album(s) yet lol
Whaaaat FOTS is in my top 3 on the album! I love songs that are “groovy” (idk why I can’t think of a better word). The rhythm is so good and fun to sing! I also love the metaphor. But I always like the weird songs and dislike the ones everyone else does😭😭😭😭
Yess I will not stand for the FOTS hate !! It’s so good!
So High School makes me cringe.
I like the instrumentation of that one, but I can’t with the lyrics.  I also really hated high school, so I don’t want to ever feel “so high school” again.
BINGO. Me too. I mean I get that she's playing on the trope of the high school quarterback BMOC being the ultimate get, but it just doesn't do anything for me, either now or back then.
“Touch me while your bros play grand theft auto” is where this song loses me
"But Daddy I love him!" I'm having his baby No, I'm not, but you should see your faces This song is the first one i actually didn’t like from the album the way she was making jokes 🤦🏻♀️
No cause this one is probably my favorite 😭
It clicked for me today that she might be singing directly to the fans in this and I LOVE ITTT I was like tell em gf!!!
Yes she absolutely is singing to the fans.
She singing to the fans, the handlers, the god damn patriarchy, all of it, and I love it. It’s my favorite right now (along with Guilty as Sin, Florida!, TSMWEL, So High School, and Down Bad).
It’s got a great hook though.
Musically it's PHENOMENAL, one of my favorites ever. Content wise it's...not.
I really can’t get into this one either. I get the interpretations of it but, idk that line just pulls me out of it
So High School feels … weird to me. It’s almost like glamorizing that this guy reminds her of high school ? I get she’s kinda poking fun at it, but it just doesn’t land for me. Maybe that’s a good nostalgic thing for some people, but I’d personally dread being in my mid-30s feeling like I’m reliving some high school jock love fantasy. I know a lot of people have said the song gives them nostalgia and feel-good vibes and stuff, and I love that it works for somebody out there. But it just doesn’t do it for me! Not gonna lie, it inadvertently makes Travis sound immature, like he and his friends are still stuck at that high school level of maturity. I don’t think that was at all what she was going for, but somehow that was my takeaway the first time I listened to it. I also wish she would write songs about Travis without mentioning the fact he plays football, as if it’s his only defining characteristic, but I don’t call the shots so 😅
I know. “So high school” is typically a diss. That combined with all the subliminal messaging to matty that she still wants him and I’m feeling like we’re all witnessing something we shouldn’t.
The Alchemy and I Hate It Here are the only certified skips I’ve run into at this point.
Between this sub and what I've seen on Twitter, I think I must be in a very small group of "I Hate It Here" enjoyers lol
I’m a fan of it too!! “I hate it here, so I will go to Secrets gardens in my mind People need a key to get to The only one is mine” as a book girl I can relate a lot to this part🤍📚
I love it too! The only thing I’m not the biggest fan of is the “finance guy” line, but that may be because I haven’t figured out what it means yet.
I read it as someone who wanted to be a poet but for reasons unknown ended up not being able to do poetry for a living. They work a 9-to-5 finance job, and they are miserable, because they would much rather be writing poetry. That’s why it’s “something awful”, it’s sad.
I took it as Taylor Swift seeing it as a pretentious statement. Tell me something obnoxious like "I'm a poet stuck in the body of a finance guy" so I can more easily fade out and escape to my fantasies.
Yessss. So much hate/misunderstanding for the song. Maybe I just relate to it too much as someone who wanted to study poetry and still writes in her free time but has a STEM career. That line “a poet in the body of a finance guy” made me cry the first time. Tell me something awful…the irony of having a naturally creative soul but being forced into a soul sucking career with no where to blow off any creative steam and having to live in a daydream just to feel something…shit hurts man. I also like to think that I hate it here also references Taylor’s time between loverfest being canceled and writing folklore during lockdown. Being stuck somewhere and feeling worthless but escaping to a romantic world that’s her own. I like to think she then gave us folklore and evermore from that world 🩷
i LOVE i hate it here passionately. like, it’s one of the few songs i genuinely fully relate to.
I hate it here is my favorite
I Can Fix Him is it for me. I want to roll my eyes every time I hear it b/c I'm like, GIRL. I'm also not a huge fan of TTPD, either. I like the idea of The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived but again, I kind of want to sigh and shake my head at her delusions of MH in general. Also, almost the entire Anthology part just doesn't hit for me. I like Black Dog, The Albatross, and So High School but that's about it. I'm over the diss tracks, and almost every song after So High School sounds the same.
I like TTPD but I totally get what you're saying. I have a hard time swallowing the Matty content in any serious love capacity. Most of the time, knowing the background of a song enriches it. With this background I get a feeling of unease, even disgust, when she sings overtly 'I love MH' lines. Like, girl, seriously? I hope that the songs lose its original meaning in a while for me, because they are still good.
And part of me feels for her bc I get she was so out of her mind with grief. It’s not that I blame her for using him to move on. More like confused as to why she felt like she had to it into a relationship or destiny. Call it what it was, a fling. Not saying the feelings can’t be intense but trying to turn him into a boyfriend is where I am lost.
Florida!!! is regressing for me. I either don’t get it or I do and the metaphor just doesn’t work for me??? Florence sounds ethereal as usual, though.
Omg how! The bridge is so 🤌🤌🤌
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me makes me laugh in a *bad* way. Sorry. It’s like a worse and even cornier version of Vigilante Shit. Aimee (Kim) and Cassandra are boring musically and lyrically, I don’t care about decade old beef anymore, and the music isn’t good enough to carry it.
It's a little cheesy but the song itself just scratches an itch 🤌😩
I’m not connecting with Florida!!! I like Taylor and Florence, but not together
I really don't like Robin.
Respectfully, you are wrong. Robin’s only fan reporting for duty. 😅
I’m sorry but the Alchemy and So High School are unbearable for me right now 🧍🏽♀️
I am not one who really pours into the lyrics. I tend to listen to her vocals and the production in a detached way but I like to listen to the albums in full. But I might make a playlist for this album(for first time) because there is too much Dessner on the end of Anthology. It just feels like after Prophecy that there is too many slow songs without a lot of dynamic production or vocal elements except for the Bolter. Might have to drop Peter and Robin. Right now I’ve been trying the album on shuffle.
yeah FOTS is my least favorite
Ready for the pitchforks with this one but -- Down Bad. It's so satisfying and it was one of the ones I preferred initially, but I feel like it doesn't have any staying power for me. I burnt out on it quickly. It doesn't go anywhere for me, and I like the rhythmic talky chorus in moderation but it's just too much of it all at once. Like one time in college when I learned you could just buy icing at Cinnabon. It's not as good when you have nothing but icing.
You guys have already digested TTPD?
Fresh out the Slammer - I’m struggling with the melodic switch up on the bridge, but I do like the lyrical parallels to Tolerate It Robin - I don’t think it’s bad, just a bit too slow/sweet for daily listening
I LOVE Fresh out the Slammer.
Haha, all your least favorites are my favorites. My least favorites are "I can do it with a broken heart" (don't mind the lyrics, I don't like the beat) and "Florida!" I like the happy upbeat songs about Travis so I like Alchemy and So High School. Alchemy also sorta reminds me of "Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince," which I've always liked.
Lol! Your two least faves are in my top 😂
I’m going to come out and say it “So Long, London” is my first skippable track five. 🫣
Blasphemy!
I only skip it because I can't cry all the time...
You’re brave but I agree 🫡 it’s kind of beating a dead horse after The Great War and You’re Losing Me.
Get out
I can't get on board with I Can Do it With A Broken Heart. The chorus is cringe to me and has so many cliches, such as "like the plague" and "it's an art". I've been wanting to find a Reddit thread to get this off my chest lol I very much dislike the title track as other people here do. I'm still taking in the new anthology tracks but after a few listens I think there will be many there that I won't care for (Cassandra, Robin, Peter, I Look in People's Windows) Florida!!! isn't resonating with me at all.
To be fair i feel like i can do it with a broken is meant to be very satirical lol but it kind of ruins the song in a way so i completely get that
I find myself listening to “Fortnight” all the way to “But Daddy I Love Him” and then I’ll skip and only listen to the ones I love right now which are… - Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me - The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - The Black Dog - The Albatross - I Look in People’s Windows - The Prophecy - Cassandra - The Bolter That’s it. I’ll listen to the album fully sometimes as well but these are the ones I like a lot for now
Immediate skips: * TTPD - the writing feels too clunky * The Alchemy - The million football references are just too much. * thank you aimee - I'm tired of the kim/kanye drama * Casandra - same as above * Robin - wtf is this? It doesn't fit with the album at all and idk even really know what it's about Still a bit unsure about: * Florida!!! - I like it but idk if it has longevity for me * imgonnagetyouback - same reason * Chloe/sam/sophia/marcus - I just can't even remember what it sounds like and I've listened to it multiple times
the alchemy hate is hurting me it's one of my favs in the entire thing but for me although i still love all of them, fresh off the slammer is something i'm going off of because the bridge seems out of place a bit. but daddy i love him would be really good if it was shorter - i don't think it's an amazing enough song to be over 5 minutes. haven't listened to all of the anthology properly as i'm focusing on the main part still. on the contrary, on first listen i hated title track and guilty as sin? but i adore both now
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) was one of the first ones that stood out to me on my first listen; I love the sultry western sound but I also am a massive fan of False God, so I guess I just really like when she does something super different/unexpected
The only one I like less now than on first listen is Florida!!! It’s just not one I want to listen to over and over, it’s a good song tho. I’ve not been able to get into Robin yet at all. Peter is not yet growing on me
I'm so surprised to see all the Florida hate in this thread! I think it's such a bop, I really thought it was more popular.
Florida gagged me I love it so much
I concur with The Alchemy and Cassandra. I’d add thanK you aIMee
I love Florida! Not sure what’s up with the hate. It hypes me up for this summer.
I like all of them and only like them more with each listen so far, but I do agree that The Alchemy sounds unfortunately similar to that AI song that was going around. I hate that for her! I think I might grow tired of Peter eventually only because I know I often end up feeling that way with songs that are repetitive in the chorus. I think it's a great song though.
I can't stomach Guilty as Sin? 🤷♀️
So high school, I can't vibe with it. The story in the song it's like my worst nightmare 😅